Death Makes Me Stronger -- Chapter 5

“Gib me all yer money!” the robber slurred.

The man’s teeth were blackened from drug use, and his breath smelled like he’d fallen into a distillery and drank his way out. Needle marks covered the crooks of his elbows all the way down the vein to his wrist from years of getting high. The junky swayed a little as if it was hard for him to stay upright, but the gun pointed at Raven never waivered.

“We don’t have much,” I said and stepped forward so that I was between the junky and Raven. “Why don’t you come in and get a hot meal with us. No one needs to get hurt.”

“If I wanted food, then I would’ve asked for food,” he snarled, and it took all of my self-control not to gag as he got in my face.

The junky’s eyes were bloodshot, and there was a deep purple ring around his iris that almost glowed, and it reminded me of a claim that my buddy took in the call center. A lady had been robbed by some teen that was high, and she’d claimed that the girl had purple rings around her eyes like she was a super, but it was the only story that we heard about it, so we all wrote it off.

But if there was a new drug that gave the user superpowers, even for a short period of time, then things were about to get a lot more complicated in the city. And yet, there was nothing from the police or the superheroes about just such a drug, though it was hard to believe they couldn’t know about it.

I really hoped that the purple glow was just part of the drug use, but my gut said that wasn’t likely. There were always stories that circled the conspiracy sites about drugs that gave people temporary powers like the heroes, but no one could pinpoint any actual examples, and I never put much stock into anything that didn’t have proof. Although, that evidence might have been standing right in front of me right then.

“We don’t want any trouble,” I said and moved so that the gun stayed on me even as the junky tried to point it at Raven. “We’re just out to get some breakfast.”

“Then go eat,” he laughed. “But first, you give me all of your cash. No plastic. I don’t want those uniformed bastards to track me down.”

I wasn’t sure if he meant the cops or the heroes, but either one would be able to track some stolen credit cards. The only problem was that I didn’t keep cash on me, especially since they’d come out with an app that let me pay with my phone. I didn’t know anyone that actually carried physical money anymore, but the drunk drug addict didn’t look like he’d believe that.

“It’s not as if you’d be hard to track,” Raven huffed from behind me.

The junky blinked a few times as if he wasn’t sure the vampiric-looking woman was real or not, but then he broke out with a toothy grin that made my skin crawl. Raven was still behind me, but the petite woman  gave off the impression that she’d have some kind of weapon stashed in the top of her leather platform boots.

“You shut the hell up, or I’m going to shoot you!” the man shouted.

A few cops came out of the diner at the end of the block and stared down the street as if they were deciding if we needed help or not. I forced myself not to look directly at them so that I didn’t alert the would-be robber of their presence. They must’ve thought that we were just in the middle of a friendly conversation, because I saw them shrug their shoulders and head to their patrol car.

“There’s no need for violence,” I said in a calm voice.

I put my hands in the air to show the guy that I didn’t have a weapon and shoved a smile onto my lips. My skin had been impenetrable to needles, had bent the crowbar, and smashed a wooden bat to smithereens, but a bullet was a very different thing. I didn’t want to test my newfound superpowers just yet, especially since Paul hadn’t given me the results of the gene test, and one resurrection might be all that was in me.

“We all die eventually,” Raven said as she stepped around me. “And I’m about to die of hunger. Now, we don’t have any cash on us. No one does. As you can see, neither of us have any valuable jewelry. If you wish to send us into the great beyond, then that is your choice, but I will not stand in the cold while my stomach rumbles because you have decided to rob us. Death and I have done this dance long enough, and if he wished to finally take me to the hereafter, then so be it.”

“What the hell did you just say?” the junky snapped and shook his head.

The purple rings around his iris seemed to blink in and out as if the drug had started to wear off, but at the moment, it was currently so vibrant that it made the rest of his dark eyes glow. I wasn’t sure if whatever it was actually gave him superpowers, but I didn’t want to test that theory on Raven, and unfortunately, the goth girl clearly wasn’t afraid of dying. The junky blinked a few times as if his vision was messed up, and then he gripped the gun a little tighter.

Fuck this.

The would-be robber swung towards me as I shouted and reached for his arm, and the gun went off right as it was aimed at my chest. I grunted from the strike, but no pain bloomed from where the bullet should’ve entered me, and the echoing sound was enough to make the cops in the patrol car hop out and run in our direction.

“That was rude,” I said and brushed my shirt off, closed my jacket, and then rolled my eyes.

The guy stumbled back a few steps and shook his head in disbelief before he turned to run, and instead, slammed straight into one of the officers. The cop he ran into quickly disarmed the freaked out junky while the other one slapped cuffs on the would-be robber. Our attacker seemed to realize that he was trapped, and the purple rings around his iris grew so bright that I was shocked it didn’t blind him.

He flexed hard and snapped the cuffs apart like they were made of silly string instead of metal.

The cops both reached for their guns as if it was reflex, and I noticed the terrified look that they shared like they’d seen this kind of thing before, but I’d have to figure that out later, because the junky was headed straight at Raven. His veins and muscles bulged like some kind of steroid-crazed bodybuilder, but thankfully, the extra bulk managed to slow him down, and so I made it to the medical examiner before he could hurt the petite woman.

Raven stepped aside at the last minute to give me room, and in seconds, her cat sticker notebook was in hand.

I grabbed the junky’s wrists and held them in place for as long as I could, but super strength wasn’t exactly my forte. The blow to my temple would’ve crushed my skull if I didn’t have impenetrable skin, and I was suddenly grateful that pain didn’t follow. I swung upwards and landed a hit on the guy’s ribs and was surprised when the man crumpled to the ground in a heap.

The rings around his eyes had officially disappeared, and he shrank back to normal size as the last of the drugs burned out of his system. A groan crossed the man’s lips before he slowly started to climb back to his feet like the sudden muscle loss was a normal occurrence.

“Alright,” one of the cops said and pulled out another set of handcuffs. “That’s enough. You’re going to lock up.”

“Are you okay, Miss LaLune?” the other cop asked with a sweet smile at Raven.

“Of course I am,” she said and snapped the notebook closed. “My boyfriend was here to save me. But I appreciate you capturing this degenerate. I suspect that he’ll be one of my charges before too long. Until then, however, John and I are late for breakfast.”

“You’ll need to answer some questions first,” the other guy said as the junky started to look around like he’d just woken up.

“How are you alive?” the junky gasped and stared at me. “I shot you.”

“The gun misfired,” Raven said smoothly and slipped her fingers into mine. “Clearly, you don’t maintain it well.”

“That’s not true,” the would-be robber said as he swayed like it took all of his energy just to stay upright. “I know that it fired. You should be dead. And… and I hit you.”

“Your punch sucked,” I said. “I’ve been in a lot of fights, and I know when to turn my head so that I don’t get hit full force.”

“Bullshit,” he spat and then looked over his shoulder at the cop holding him. “You saw it, right? He should be dead.”

The rejected cop studied me for a few seconds, but his main priority seemed to be my hand in Raven’s. I was almost positive that the two had never dated, but the younger man clearly wanted to, and it looked like the goth woman had just stomped on his heart. The officer took a deep breath and shook his head as if he needed to rally himself, and then he nodded towards the patrol car.

“If Miss LaLune said that the gun misfired, then it probably did,” he said. “Let’s take him in for booking. I hope you both have a wonderful day.”

“Thanks,” I said and then started towards the diner. “Do you know that guy?”

“Yes,” Raven said with a roll of her eyes at the mere mention of the cop. “And don’t let his smile fool you. He’s awful. He’s very good at putting up an act, but even the gods of war wouldn’t take him into their service. I wouldn’t be surprised if he challenges you to some sort of idiotic Neanderthal type of contest for my hand at a later date.”

“Really?” I asked and glanced over my shoulder.

The cop hadn’t seemed like he was a threat, but then again, there were a lot of people that hid terrible natures behind sickeningly sweet smiles, and even more did so behind a badge. I made a mental note to be wary of the guy if we came across each other again.

“Raven,” an older woman with gray hair said as we walked in. “How are you today, my dear?”

“Better now,” the goth woman said with a small smile. “Could I have my usual?”

“Sure,” the waitress said and motioned to a table in the back. “Your favorite spot is ready. And you, dear, what did you want to eat?”

I glanced at the laminated menu on the counter while Raven strolled to a corner booth in the back of the diner. It looked like pretty standard fare, and my stomach growled to remind me it had been a full day since I’d eaten.

“I’ll take the three egg omelet, fully loaded, with hashbrowns, bacon, sausage, and cinnamon raisin toast,” I said. “And a water to drink. Thank you so much.”

“Sure thing, dear,” the older woman said and then turned to give an order slip to the cook. “It’ll be right out.”

I nodded and followed after Raven, slid into the seat next to her, and glanced out of the window as the cops took the junky away. My chest hurt a little from the impact of the bullet, and a quick glance down my shirt showed a bruise had started to form. I definitely should’ve died, but it was like my skin acted like kevlar, and the mark was so small that it was barely noticeable.

“Any pain?” Raven asked as she pulled out the notebook again.

“Not much,” I said. “And it’s already starting to fade. It didn’t hurt at all when it happened, but there’s the tiniest bruise, and it just feels like somebody hit me with a rubber band.”

“Interesting,” the black haired woman said and scribbled some notes down. “And the blow to your temple? I assume it didn’t do any damage after seeing the impact of the bat, but that man was on a supers drug, so his power was stolen from the gods.”

“Didn’t feel a thing,” I shrugged. “Soooo, you called me your boyfriend?”

“Of course,” she flashed a smirk and then grinned as the waitress brought our food. “I intend to spend quite a bit of time with you. Especially since we will need to conduct more experiments. It only makes sense to take full advantage of our time together. That will include a trip to my apartment after breakfast, so you should eat well. You’ll need your energy.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I chuckled and then dug into my omelet. “You’re the strangest woman I ever met.”

“Says the guy who came back from the dead,” she retorted.

“Touche.” I nodded.

The food at the diner was a lot better than anything else that I’d had in the city, and I made a mental note to stop by more often. It wasn’t too far from my apartment, and if Raven and I were going to spend more time together, then we’d probably eat there a lot. It didn’t take long for either of us to finish our food, and soon we were on our way to the medical examiner’s apartment.

She only lived about a block from me, and I wondered how our paths had never crossed. Of course, the assistant medical examiner worked the night shift while I worked the day shift, and my office building was in the opposite direction of the morgue. Raven also didn’t look like she shopped at the same clothing stores, and there were about fifteen different grocery stores in the area for us to choose from.

“You are quiet. Nervous?” Raven asked as we stepped into the elevator in her building.

“No,” I winked and grinned. “Just thinking. I don’t live that far.”

“Ah,” the black haired woman said and nodded. “Well, the city is pretty busy, so we might not have ever met if you hadn’t become one of my charges. Though, I am glad that you did.”

“Me, too,” I said. “And not just because I discovered that I have superpowers.”

I reached down and grabbed Raven’s hand as the elevator doors slid open. We were on the fifth floor, and the window at the end of the hall looked out over the morgue and the city center. I was shocked at how well everything was maintained, especially for the neighborhood, though the building was upwind from the dump, and a medical examiner’s salary was a lot higher than a call center employee.

“Shit,” I muttered as Raven opened the door to her apartment. “I forgot to call my boss. He needs to know that I’m alive.”

“I think that can wait,” the goth woman smirked and tugged me inside. “I have a few more experiments that I’d like to do.”

“Oh?” I teased and watched as she shut and locked the door. “Like what? Do you have another bat around here?”

“Of course,” she shrugged and then tugged the backpack from my shoulder, tossed it aside, and then started to unbutton my pants. “But I was thinking more of a cardio test. It’s important to know if your heart will be able to maintain its strength for long periods of time.”

“Yes, yes it is,” I grinned and pulled my shirt over my head.

Raven’s apartment was only a little bigger than mine, but there was a clear bedroom and bathroom instead of the studio design. She led me past a blood red couch and a coffee table shaped like a coffin towards a room with black silk hangings over all of the walls. A four-post king size bed sat right in the middle with a black comforter embroidered with mushrooms and ferns, and matching black silk ties hung from each of the claw-shaped posts.

“Lay down,” the goth woman ordered, and I happily obliged.

“Yes, ma’am,” I said and then climbed onto the bed.

My eyes were glued to her every movement as she unzipped the black platform boots and tossed them aside. Raven smirked as my dick hardened, but the goth woman’s strip tease had just begun. She took her time to slip out of her tight leather pants and then moved onto the torn t-shirt that covered up a black lace bra that matched her thong.

I devoured every inch of her pale skin, every tattoo, and the scar that ran from one hip to the other like a smile. She was hauntingly beautiful, and it took all of my self-control not to reach for her, but the second that I twitched to do just that the goth woman shook her head. I licked my lips and watched as she slipped out of the rest of her clothes and then slowly, painstakingly climbed onto the bed.

“I’m never this forward,” she said in a husky voice.

“Oh?”

“But I’ve never met a man who came back from the dead and then took a bullet for me, so I figure this is permission from the universe or the gods to take what I want.”

“What about what I want?” I chuckled.

“We’ll, how do you feel?” she asked as she straddled me.

“Great,” I grinned as my fingers traced lines up her silky thighs. “But I think that I could feel better.”

“Oh really?” she said and then leaned down to kiss along my collarbone.

I sucked in a breath and started to reach for her hips, but she grabbed my wrists and shoved them back into the satin pillows above my head. In no time flat the goth woman had tied my hands to the bedposts and then sat back down on my stomach.

“This is pretty kinky for a first date,” I chuckled.

“You don’t seem to mind,” she whispered. I could feel the curve of her ass against my shaft, and she slowly rocked backwards until I was practically inside of her.

“I don’t mind,” I moaned as she moved back up to my stomach. “Just kinda wondering if you’ll play fair.”

“I never said that I would,” she winked and then leaned down to press her lips to mine.

Her venom bite piercings scraped against my bottom lip as she kissed me hard, and I slipped my tongue against hers as a moan crawled up her throat. I tugged on my restraints, but the silk bands held strong, and Raven smirked as she pulled away.

“I can’t properly test my cardio if I’m all tied up,” I pointed out.

“Oh, I don’t think that will be a problem,” she said and then leaned down to nibble on my nipple. “Your heart seems to be beating just fine. It’s even getting a little faster.”

“If you sat on my face, then I’m sure it would beat even faster,” I grinned.

“But you just ate,” she rocked her hips back against my cock.

“There’s always room for dessert,” I promised and bucked my hips upwards.

“Later,” she said and sat down on my throbbing dick.

I groaned as she started to work her hips in a figure eight motion. Raven dragged her nails down my chest and then leaned down to claim my mouth again as I thrust into her velvety tunnel over and over. I tried to pull free of the restraints to hold her, but the goth woman just intertwined her fingers with mine and kept riding me like a stallion at the rodeo.

“Fuck, that’s so good,” she whined in my ear.

“You are so tight and wet,” I groaned as I thrust up into her.

“Yeeeeesss,” she panted. “You are so hard and deep in me. Ohhh… ohhhh… ohhh!”

Her body shivered and then spasmed on top of me, and I could feel her tunnel squeezing my shaft with an iron grip.

“Wow,” she whispered as soon as she could breathe again. “That was… quick.”

“Quicker than normal?” I asked as I began to thrust up into her again.

“Quicker than when I use my fingers,” she moaned. “Yes, that’s a good spot. Soooo deep… yes.”

She wasn’t riding me as much as I was thrusting up into her by now. And I watched her beautiful face twist into agony when she climaxed again, and then a third orgasm hit her just a few minutes later.

“I can’t believe it,” she said once she found her voice again.

I couldn’t really believe it either. I wasn’t exactly a virgin, but Raven was definitely enjoying my cock more than any other lover I’d ever had, and her pussy was so drenched that it was soaking my balls and the sheets on her mattress. The wet, juicy sounds of our love making filled her apartment, and the whines she made every time I drove my cock deep into her were driving me crazy.

“I’m going to come,” I hissed as Electric shivers pulsed through me.

“Do it inside me,” she growled. “Fill me uuuuup…”

I didn’t bother reconfirming, and Raven threw her head back as she reached her fourth orgasm.

“Fuuuuck!” I cried out as my balls emptied into her, and the goth woman’s pussy squeezed and drank my seed like it was life giving water. I thrust upwards to pour it all into her, and she slammed her hips down one last time before she collapsed on my chest in satisfaction.

Then we didn’t do anything but pant for a good five minutes.

“How are you feeling now?” she finally asked.

“Very, very good,” I said. “And you?”

“Very, very good,” she said and then reached up to untie my arms. “I’m glad that you survived our first encounter. It would be terrible to have you become one of my charges again. At least, not while you’re in my bed and I’m stuffed full of your sperm.”

“I’m happy I didn’t die, too,” I laughed and then grabbed her hips, rolled over, and pinned her down to the bed. “Especially since I’m just getting started.”

“Oh?” she asked, and her cheeks flushed with excitement.

“Yes,” I said and scooted down to kneel between her thighs. “I told you that I wanted dessert.”

Raven gasped as the tip of my cock rubbed against her already sensitive nub, and then she gasped as I thrust my slick shaft deep into her tunnel with one thrust. I held onto her hips tightly as I plowed into her cream-filled pussy, and the goth woman arched her back up off her bed as another orgasm ripped through her a few minutes later.

“Oh, yes, John, yeeeees!” she gasped and shivered as the last of her orgasm raced through her.

“I’m cumming again,” I growled, and then her bedroom started to spin as I released my essence deep inside of her tight body.

We stayed locked together for what felt like ten minutes as we both climaxed, and then both of us slowly relaxed and I collapsed onto her stomach.

“You, you certainly know what you’re doing.” Her fingernails stroked through my hair, and her voice was barely a murmur.

“I aim to please,” I said and then started to kiss her body all the way up to her lips while I kept my cock buried inside of her.

“I-I think that we’re going to have to do that experiment a few more times, just to make sure,” she moaned.

“I’m fine with that,” I kissed her.

“But later,” she said yawned sleepily and snuggled into the pillows. “After we’ve slept. Can you keep your cock inside of me? It still feels amazing.”

“Sure,” I said and then laid on top of her with most of my weight on my elbows so that I didn’t have to pull out.

Raven’s breathing steadied long before mine, but then sleep dragged me under as well.

I closed my eyes for what felt like a few seconds before they opened again, but the light that poured through the windows was so bright that it had to be close to noon. Raven was still sound asleep with a contented smile, so I slipped out of bed and then donned my clothes.

There had been a coffee shop on the way to her apartment that looked pretty good, and the smell of cinnamon rolls had washed over me like a tidal wave. I grabbed my gear and then wrote a quick note to tell her that I’d be right back, and then hurried off to grab our late afternoon breakfast.

The city was warmer than I expected as I stepped out of Raven’s apartment building to head to the coffee shop. It almost felt like it was summer instead of early spring, and every warning bell went off in the back of my head. The only reason that it would be that hot was if Inferno was around, and I quickly scanned the area to see if the flame villain was anywhere to be seen.

I could see the coffee shop a few stores away, and it looked like it was jam-packed with people. Another quick look around revealed that the streets were almost completely empty despite it being the busy period of the day, and the worried faces that looked out from large glass windows seemed to be silently pleading for me to go back inside. I was about to do just that when I saw a group of teenagers meandering their way down the block like they hadn’t grown up in a city full of supervillains.

“Hey!” I shouted and waved my arms. “You need to get inside.”

“Whatever,” one of them shrugged. “It’s not like Golden Weaver can’t take care of him.”

“Maybe he’s right,” one of the girls said. “We should just go into the ice cream shop. I could use something to cool off, anyway.”

“Whatever,” the guy shrugged and let the girl lead him into a nearby ice cream parlor.

I sighed with relief and then started to look around for any other civilians that might be caught in the crossfire. The air had started to get hot enough to mimic a sauna, and that could only mean that Inferno had gotten closer. I was sure that Golden Weaver would be able to take down the flame villain, but it would help if there weren’t any people to get in the way. Besides, I did want to become a superhero, so it was time to start acting like one.

An old woman poked her head out of a nearby alley, and I raced over to help.

“Hey,” I said with a friendly smile. “Why don’t we get you inside somewhere. Do you live around here?”

“No,” she said in a shaky voice. “I’m here visiting my grandson at college, but he was in class, so I thought that I’d explore. I-I’m not used to seeing villains. But that man was on fire. I told Eric that it was too dangerous to go to school in the city, I told him, but he never listens to me.”

“I get it,” I said and wrapped an arm around her waist.

The frail old woman shook like a leaf in a hurricane, but with some support she was able to take a few steps forward. I kept a reassuring grin on my face as we made it out of the alley and started towards the coffee shop. She gripped the hand that I offered so tightly that it might’ve broken my fingers if it wasn’t for the invulnerability.

“Here,” a barista said as she opened the door. “Hurry. There’s enough room for you guys. I think the fight should be over soon.”

“I hope so,” a man with salt and pepper hair huffed. “I have a court case to get to, and the judge doesn’t care if I’m late because Inferno decided to turn the city into a living hellscape.”

A few people nodded their heads in agreement and muttered about their own deadlines, but no one took a step towards the exit. There was barely enough standing room for the old woman, so I found her a seat and then headed back outside.

It had somehow become even hotter, and sweat dripped down my body like I was at the gym. At least it was a dry heat instead of a humid one, but it still felt gross, and I was sure that the fighting duo would be nearby. Inferno was one of the worst villains that the city had, and his bloodlust was well known throughout the world.

I debated whether or not to continue my search for civilians, but the streets looked completely clear. There was no way that I was about to grab the coffee and cinnamon rolls and then just go on with my life, though.

It took a moment, but I spotted Golden Weaver’s webs as they dangled down from a building down the block, and the glass skyscraper nearby rippled from heat. The windows were too fogged up for me to see a clear reflection, but I was almost positive that I saw Inferno fly by one of them. The spider hero would only last so long against the flames, and my feet were headed in their direction before I had a clear plan of how I was going to help.

A window shattered and showered glass down on top of me, and someone behind me screamed, but a quick glance showed that it was just the barista. I turned back around to see that there were sharp shards of glass all around me, and the girl probably thought that I was about to be impaled. Another window broke, and a waterfall of molten glass poured down, but I dodged around it and picked up speed.

All of the spiderwebs had gone up in smoke, and the heat had gotten so much worse. It was clear that Golden Weaver needed help to take out the fire villain, but it didn’t seem like any other heroes were on the way.

I dodged around a metal beam that flew through the air from one of the nearby construction sites. It slammed into a car right next to me, and I caught sight of Inferno as he dodged down another street with Golden Weaver right behind him. I hadn’t been the target, but the hero moved too fast for the villain to catch, and I made a mental note not to get hit with another piece of flying debris intended for a superhero.

It wouldn’t be able to kill me since my skin was impenetrable, but it would still be a pain in the ass, and if Golden Weaver saw that I was in danger, then she might be distracted enough to lose the upper hand.

I finally slid around the corner and onto the street where the fight was in progress and stopped in my tracks.

Golden Weaver had created an elaborate web to catch Inferno.

But it was on fire.