Supers - Ex Gods 2: A Superhero Harem Space Opera Read online

  We charged for the back of the ship, to the ramp. The endless cacophony of explosions continued outside, but we ran out into the chaos without a second thought. We knew we were generally in the correct location thanks to Navani’s location ability, but we had to search the area to get more specific.

  The way Sacrada figured it, the more noise we made, the more attention we’d get. Only problem was, we didn’t know who was on what side of this war, so instead of fighting we had to basically call the Blue Lady out. When we reached the nearest wall, Threed made her copies of herself and sent them out as distractions. Though she cringed with their pain, she insisted it was more like an echo of the actual feeling. In a messed-up way, she seemed to be enjoying it.

  Meanwhile, Sacrada thrust out her hands and turned to the heavens, wings outstretched and gold light emanating from her as she rose into the sky. She spun, rising high above the others, and her voice boomed out as she said, “We’re looking for the Blue Lady.”

  With a final thrust of her gold light so that it lit up the sky, she dove back down to join us.

  “If that doesn’t get her attention, I don’t know what will,” Sakurai said, then shrugged and turned to Threed.

  “See anything yet?”

  Threed waved her hand in a way that I knew meant she was dismissing her replicas, and then she blinked, absorbing whatever they had seen. “Not her, exactly, but there was a group talking when Sacrada made her announcement, who reacted differently to it than the rest. They might know the Blue Lady or at least know where we might find her.”

  “Lead us,” I said.

  “I thought you’d never ask,” Threed replied, then sent off her replicas to take point and warn us of danger along the way.

  We gave them a few seconds head start, then charged on after them. Sakurai went ahead of us, with Sacrada flying low, zipping between buildings and looking for problems before we came to them.

  That didn’t last long. Soon we came to an underpass and rounded a wall where there was a group waiting in ambush. One of their members had a green glow from his eyes, and I imagined they worked similarly to Navani’s blue ones, allowing him to spot supers or see through walls.

  A wall of energy seemed to crack, one that had likely blocked our powers of our supers from seeing them. The enemy parted for a man with black spikes jutting out from his arms. He waved his team forward. Sakurai was the first to react, drawing her sword and cutting through her opponents. Her sister moved next, followed by the rest of us. Threed made quick replicas to provide poisonous punches to our enemy, and I was actually looking forward to being able to work my magic.

  Unfortunately, none of them had shields, so my newest shield-piercer skill didn’t come into effect yet. Still, watching two of them in a row get stunned was a thrill, and when I landed a one-two punch and then came in for an uppercut, it was great to see my combo attack bonus kick in and send the guy flying over the heads of his buddies. That caused at least a handful of them to step back, giving me time to land another combo on two of those who had persisted. The last got a sweep kick and then a punch to the face as he was falling, the result being that he fell into the ground. Not on, but actually into, creating an indentation in the process. If he woke from that, it would hurt like a bitch.

  I turned at the sound of a shot firing nearby, but stumbled back as an energy shield appeared, saving my ass. A glance behind showed Navani charging over to us. My first thought was worry. She wasn’t supposed to be here, but must’ve found somewhere to park the ship and thought we needed her help.

  She started blasting the enemy and throwing up energy shields in the forms of hovering lights, while Sacrada took to the sky and unleashed blasts from there, careful to fly down for cover when the opposition realized what was happening. I had my blaster too, so took a few shots from behind one of Navani’s shields, and when I was done Sakurai took out two to my left. As far as I could tell, there was only the super with glowing eyes left.

  He took one look at us closing in on him, and ran. As he did, he vanished. I started to run after him, certain that it was just his powers creating the invisibility wall, but Navani held me back, glowing eyes glancing around anxiously.

  “Check it out,” she said to Sacrada.

  A gold beam of light shot out from Sacrada in a circular pattern, and then she turned, receiving it as it returned.

  While we waited, I leaned into Navani and asked, “What’re you doing here?”

  “And let you have all the fun?” Navani grinned.

  “You’re supposed to stay safe… You were supposed to do research.”

  “Got it,” she replied with a wink, and then saw that Sacrada was looking our way.

  “Three groups, moving in,” Sacrada said. “Heavily armored. Them and,” she paused, indicating a tree nearby, “that man.”

  A man stepped out, large machine gun aimed our way, and said, “You’re against them?”

  “We’re looking for the Blue Lady,” I replied. “We’re on her side. You?”

  He nodded, waving us over. “Standing out here like that, you’re going to get yourselves shot from both sides!”

  Sacrada spun and her voice boomed as she said, “And you? With or against the Blue Lady?”

  “I’m not against her and, in fact, can get you to her.”

  I started to move, but Sakurai held out a hand and turned back to her sister again.

  “You have to be on a side?” Sacrada demanded. “Which?”

  “The side trying to help her,” he replied as a beam of laser singed a wall nearby. “Can we save the questions for after you’re down from there?”

  Sacrada agreed and we darted after him. He led us past ground zero and through several back alleys, where fighting was still happening, but not at full throttle.

  “So how do you know where she is?” Sacrada demanded, picking up the pace to be at this man’s side.

  “Not me, but someone I’m with.” He motioned us left and then busted through a door. The building seemed unoccupied, but then I noticed two snipers at placements throughout the large warehouse, and when he led us to a back door, a woman stepped out from being cloaked, weapon at the ready. After brief words between her and our guide, she stepped aside, cloaking again, and the man led us through the door.

  “They say they’re here to help the Blue Lady,” the man said stepping off to one side as we filed in.

  Another woman stood in here, staring up at several screens that were showing images of the battle. She waved him off, then turned to us and stared intensely as he backed out of there. She wore a green skinsuit with swords crisscrossed on her back, and had emerald eyes and flowing, black hair. There was something about the way her eyes darted over us that made me uneasy.

  Finally, we were alone and she motioned to the screens. Fighting everywhere.

  “This Blue Lady character showed up and promised us a way out, freedom,” the woman said, indicating images that she froze from her feeds. They showed the Blue Lady and her tunnels of metal, people being sucked in as she emerged, looking every bit the evil seductress. “Your friend here led an attempted assassination on the Leader, a man many of us would be very happy to be done with.”

  “She’s essentially teamed up with the local rebels,” Threed said, nodding. “Sure.”

  “Only it failed, and now his forces are onto us,” the woman replied, turning away from the cameras to take us in.

  “If it’s her,” I said, purposefully avoiding the use of “The Blue Lady,” wouldn’t she be gone by now?”

  “Some thought she’d fled, but I knew better, I knew she was using this war as an excuse to get close to him, and I know where and how… or can easily find out.” The woman moved to the windows and gestured for us to have a look. “This new message just started, and has been on repeat every five minutes.”

  Sure enough, the Blue Lady appeared in the large screens, her eyes wild. Seeing her there, larger than life with her blue skin and eyes, my first thought was that I di
dn’t want to get on her bad side. While Sacrada had seemed like an angel or goddess when we met, this woman had more of a water demon look to her. She was seething, steam rising from her skin, and when she opened her mouth, her words struck like daggers.

  “The holy guards of this city have been destroyed. While your armies resist, your coward of a leader is hiding from me, but he will be dead by evening. The reason I can say this with such confidence is that, if you all haven’t handed him over within the hour, you will die. Not in his stead, mind you. I will say it again—you have one hour.”

  With that, the screens went black.

  3

  “This is our hero?” Sakurai asked as soon as the video of the Blue Lady stopped. “I jack off dudes for pay, and hell, worse, but even I seem like an angel next to this lady.”

  “My sister has a point,” Sacrada said. “A crude one, but a point nonetheless.”

  “Navani believes in her,” I argued. “So, I do too.”

  Maybe. I actually wasn’t convinced, and with good reason—Navani had put her trust in Threed, and as great as that woman was, she certainly wasn’t your typical hero. She had proven useful, and was here to help, after all. Then again, I might have been a tad biased, because the woman knew how to bring it in the sack. Neither her willingness to help nor ability to bring me immense pleasure countered who she really was though.

  Where would this woman fall on the spectrum?

  Judging by the timer that showed only thirty-five minutes left, we didn’t have much time to find out.

  “So the war?” I asked, eyes searching for a sign of where the Blue Lady might actually be hiding or standing and watching all of this.

  “The leader’s supporters versus those who would hand him over,” the woman answered simply. “But if you’re looking for her, I’d guess that means you’re on her side?”

  “That’s right,” Sacrada said, and I nodded.

  “Brilliant, I’ll lead you to her, see if that can get me on her good side.” The woman beamed. “She’s also mentioned a reward in terms of joining her army for anyone who brings her the leader’s head.”

  “This leader, he has a name?” Sakurai asked.

  “Yeah, but we try not to say it. Doing so…”

  “A curse?” Threed said, face suddenly going even more pale than it was. “You don’t mean—”

  “Don’t say it!” the woman said, jumping forward and putting her hand on Threed’s mouth, eyes wide with fear.

  Instinctively, Threed lifted a hand, green, poisonous mist drifting out. The woman twitched and was suddenly a snake, shifting around Threed, squeezing.

  “Enough,” I shouted, preparing to intervene. The snake pulled free and slithered away before becoming morphing into the woman again. She knelt and glared at Threed.

  “I was just helping you,” the woman said.

  “Funny,” Threed said, not yet dismissing her poison mist, “I think you’re the first large snake I haven’t loved at first sight.”

  The woman frowned, not following, but stood, holding out her hands. “Do you accept my help or not?”

  “Yes,” I said before Threed could say another word. At my glance, Threed backed off, the green fading.

  “Nyoka, I presume?” Sakurai said, a smile toying at her lips.

  “That’s right” the snake woman replied. “Not many other snake changers that I’m aware of.”

  “Me neither,” Sakurai replied, and she stepped forward, sticking out her hand. When the other woman took it, Sakurai added, “I’m actually a big fan. Heard about the way you used to roll with the red jackets.”

  Nyoka laughed. “Those boys couldn’t handle a snake larger than their own in their—ohhhh…” She turned to Threed. “Now I get your joke, about the large snake. Sorry, my mind wasn’t there yet. Funny.”

  “I miss something?” Sacrada asked.

  “Nothing more than usual,” Sakurai said with a grin, then whispered to Nyoka, “The innocent one in the group, my sister.”

  “I’m not so innocent,” Sacrada said, nostrils flaring. “Relative to these two, I’m a saint, sure, but I can appreciate a good trouser snake when the time’s right.”

  “That so?” I asked, but she ignored me.

  “We’re in business then?” Nyoka asked. “I mean, seeing as it’s agreed you all three are into snakes, and here I am, a snake offering up help.”

  Threed laughed and Sakurai nodded enthusiastically, so the newcomer grinned and motioned for us to follow.

  “I’m sorry, but why do you think you know the way?” I asked. “Or better yet, what reason do we have to trust you?”

  “Hey, D,” Threed said, frowning, “this is Nyoka. Weren’t you listening?”

  I wasn’t sure if she was contributing or mocking Sakurai’s fan-girl attitude here, but nobody else questioned it, so I frowned and kept on after them. After a few paces, Nyoka glanced back my way and smiled.

  “He’s cute,” she said. “Where’d you all pick him up?”

  “They didn’t pick me up,” I countered.

  “We did, actually,” Sacrada said. “Well, not us, but Navani did for us. He’s our sperm bank.”

  “What the fuck?” I looked to Threed for help, but quickly remembered that wasn’t the person to look to for help in that situation, as she winked and licked her lips.

  “You all sleep with him?” Nyoka asked.

  “Only me and Navani so far,” Threed pointed out. “But the other two are just waiting for the right opportunity.”

  “That so?” Nyoka looked from me to Sakurai.

  “I’d go down on him right now if there wasn’t a war going on,” Sakurai replied, but then nodded to her sister. “And sis here wants to make him earn it, or some shit.”

  “Not… exactly,” Sacrada said, and I was glad to see her actually growing uncomfortable with the discussion.

  This conversation was straddling the line between making me very uncomfortable, and curious. Suddenly I had fantasies of Sakurai’s head bobbing up and down on my crotch, while Sacrada was eyeing me, clearly thinking about the two of us fucking. I had to take a breath to keep my stride.

  “Well?” Nyoka asked, and I wanted to hug her as she looked at Sacrada, waiting for an answer.

  “I’m just not the type to throw myself at a man because of some stupid prophesy or world-saving strategy that sounds like complete bullshit,” Sacrada blurted out. “If my interests and all of that align, sure, I’ll ride his dick raw. But until then—”

  “Damn, even the innocent one has a mouth on her,” Nyoka cut in, laughing. “You all are hilarious. Sorry, big guy, but I don’t see what these ladies do. As much as I like snakes, I only like the real kind.”

  “Meaning you’re into females?” I asked.

  She grinned at Threed and then Sakurai, and nodded. “Either of these two wants to throw you aside and see how a tongue’s meant to be used, we can say screw this war and find a private place to find pleasure.”

  “Oh my God,” Sacrada said, rolling her eyes in frustration. “Are we here to find the Blue Lady or act the part of a red light district?”

  Sakurai grimaced. “Honestly, I’m buying into this prophesy shit. As much as I’d love to take you up on that offer, Nyoka—and I mean it, as much as I’m into guys, if there was one woman I’d love to go down on me, it’d be you—we have a duty here. And from what Threed has told me about Drew’s dick and the way he brings it, I’m very much looking forward to that moment.”

  “Oh my God, ladies,” I protested, but then turned to Threed. “What’d you say, exactly?”

  She laughed and pulled out her blaster, pointing to the wall ahead. “Focus. Maybe I’ll tell you when we’re out of this mess.”

  At that moment, a man ran past our line of sight, shots firing over his head, and an explosion went off in the distance. Screams filled the air. It was an unpleasant reminder of why we were really there.

  “To be continued,” Nyoka said, and she drew two long blades from her
back. “Maybe by the time this is over, I’ll be able to steal one or two of your ladies away, Drew.”

  “No comment,” I replied, feeling the rush of anticipation sweep over me as we prepared to charge into the midst of the warfare. “Where are we headed?”

  She motioned me forward and we leaned against the wall, looking out at a field of bloody death and destruction.

  “All of this because of her,” Nyoka said. “And yet, I have to follow her.”

  All of this because of the Blue Lady and her quest for revenge. I shook my head, wondering again if we were really making the right call here in trying to side with her.

  “Stay close,” Nyoka shouted, and charged out.

  This time it was worse than the little ambush we’d faced before. Mortors and superpowered explosions were going off and a small army of exo-suited fighters had emerged from a tall building in the distance, like smaller versions of the mechs I was used to. Their rounds tore into our shields even as they aimed for others, and once a head went flying and landed at my feet—luckily, it didn’t belong to anyone I knew, but the urge to vomit still took hold and I had to regain my composure behind a wall for a moment.

  I told myself to get back out there, but first pulled up my screen to see where my leveling up was. Still a ways, but I imagined this battlefield would do its part toward earning another skill point or two.

  “Move your ass!” I heard Threed call out, so I quickly swiped away the screen and charged out to meet her.

  Good timing, too, because two of those mini-mechs had just met the ladies and were putting up a pretty good fight. Sacrada flew past, using her sun-bursts to throw one back. In spite of how damn hot those things were, the mech stayed intact, which led me to assume it had shields.

  That excited me, because my latest upgrade had been for a shield piercing capability. I waited for Sacrada’s next blast—not wanting to get caught in the cross fire—then charged out behind the closest mech and shouted through my comms, “On it!”

  “On what?” Navani replied, then turned and said, “Oh, shit, no—”