Supers: Ex Heroes 6 - Ch 2

I’d always been the lucky type when it came to figuring out what to do on the fly. Maybe there was another way to describe that—like being ‘quick on my feet.’ Point being, this was no different. I wasn’t sure it would work, but my idea was to get close enough to a ship that I’d be able to material-port myself inside. 

Meaning, I had to be fast, and I had to limit my passengers to Letha and her two followers. Even with that, I wasn’t sure it would work. When I told the team I was going without them, Charm pouted, Gale shouted that it was stupid, but the rest looked unsure. 

“Listen, we need Letha to do this,” I said. “Any of you have a better way?”

“Why can’t we just fly straight at the fucker,” Gale said. “Take it out the old-fashioned way.”

“Suicide bomber?” I laughed. “First, because the shield or some other protective layer would keep them safe.”

“So I go with you on this, hope you don’t leave me floating off into space, and then… what?” Letha asked. “Our best bet is that you might be able to kind of teleport me through a ship?”

I grinned. “Got a problem with that?” 

Letha scrunched her nose, ran a hand along the shaved side of her head—which was growing out a bit now that she hadn’t been able to trim it lately—and shrugged. “Can’t think of a better option.”

“I’m coming with,” Charm said, and the look in her eyes showed there was no arguing. 

“It’ll be risk enough as it is,” Twitch pointed out. 

“Haven’t you ever heard the old saying about foxes being good luck?”

Twitch chuckled at that. “No.”

“I don’t think there is one,” I pointed out. “But I’m still alive and you’ve been along for most of this, so…”

“And the rest of us?” Gale asked, clearly agitated. 

“We’ll scan for Asterisk,” Andromida said. “Be ready for Charm and Breaker when they need to high-tail it out of there.” 

Charm arched an eyebrow at the tail reference, but laughed. “Good to go.”

“Good. To. Go.” I nodded, motioned to the others to follow, and ran for the rear of the ship. 

The five of us, prepared, sweeping past one of the enemy ships, and I laughed at how crazy this was. 

“When I say on me,” I said, “it means on me. Everyone got it? Like literally, hand on me.”

“Got it,” Charm said. 

“Since it’s that or float off into space, yup,” Letha added. Her duo grunted, suiting up. Since this was a ship for supers, they had suits in various shapes and sizes, adjustable as well. We flew toward one of the ships on the outskirts, clearly roaming the perimeter, serving as a scout for trouble, ready to move when the order came. When A.I. Lamb gave us the go ahead, flying right beside them and close, we went for it. Shooting ourselves out into space, all staying close, and floating toward the ship as our own moved away before being noticed. 

“Steady,” I said over the comms, reaching out for the ship. Almost there, the ship started to turn, so I had to propel myself faster. “Grab on, it’s go time!”

Letha was at my side, the two guys on her, and Charm reached, but missed! My hand hit the side of the ship and I shouted for her, but she was somehow off course now, starting to move away from us. Her eyes went wide behind her faceplate, and I cursed, realizing my best bet was to get Letha inside, then come back for Charm and figure it out from there. 

I used my travel skill and felt the metal of the ship around me, the pull, and then I was in, Letha and her two sliding out of the wall a second later. Shaking off the feeling, I said, “Kick ass,” and went for the wall. 

“You’ll end up floating off with her, both of you gone,” Letha said, hand up to stop me.

I brushed past her. “We’ve always figured out a way before. This won’t be any different.”

She was about to argue further, clearly, when her gaze shot past me and she smiled. My heart nearly stopped when I spun to see Charm appearing in a burst of white light, removing her helmet and shedding her outfit so that her tails could get out there. 

“Fuck,” she said, and then threw her arms around me. 

“How…?” I started, but remembered the way she had teleported when fighting the dragon. 

She nodded as if she could read my thoughts, hugging me close, and only let go when a blast from Letha told us we had company. A man in green armor fell, and Letha darted past him, not wasting a second. I couldn’t blame her. Charm and I charged up the corridor, me with my scanner at the ready to search out supers. So far, nothing, which most likely meant the ship was clear of them. 

More fighters came at us, but this time Charm took a huge breath, sucking in the air in that way that made her glow, then she was darting between them, her breaths causing them to fall, unconscious. 

At a grunt from Letha, Charm turned and shrugged. “We don’t know—they might just be under bad management. No reason to waste life if we don’t have to.”

Letha shrugged, but her man, Rand, lifted his blaster and shot, dropping a man who had managed to push past the breath and rise again. 

“Also no reason to let any of us get hurt,” he said. 

Charm glanced down at the man with a smoking hole in his face and tsked. “Sure, sure.”

“As long as we let Andromida kill Asterisk, I’m good,” I said, moving ahead and scanning again, to be safe. Still no supers aside from us. As I scanned, though, I couldn’t help but notice that the reading for Charm wasn’t what it had first been. It read: Moniker: Charm. Status: Team Breaker all the way. Special Powers: Cloaking, charming, light absorption. Notes: Kitsune classification, likely. 

Interestingly, the same scan showed Darnell as a super now. It hadn’t before, and read: Suggested Moniker: Big Green. Status: Team Letha. Special Powers: Insane strength, life drain. Notes: Tall and silent type. 

I had to remember that this whole scanning system was put in place by some weird sort of essence Lamb had left behind before my brother had saved her, so it probably had a bit of her personality to it. Interesting, about Darnell’s life drain—I would have to keep my eyes open for that. 

We were advancing again, Darnell’s yellowed eyes on me for a moment before he snarled and I looked away. I let Charm and Rand take the lead, while pulling up my screen for a quick check of my own skills. Level thirty-four and badass. No need to switch back and forth between powers anymore, as a recent upgrade had taken care of that hindrance. On ‘paper’ I looked about as badass as they came, at least in my opinion. Space dragon paladin with the ability to heal, travel through materials, shoot lightning, and more. Fuck, I almost felt sorry for anyone who got in my way. 

Giving thought to my team, I used my troubleshooter skill to add a new window. It popped up as we turned into the bridge. Charm had taken out the pilot before the rest of us could even react, and then Darnell had ripped apart a guard while Letha and Rand took care of another. I blasted the last of them with a shot of my tempest lightning, while looking over my new screen—a screen that showed my team. 

It was crazy to see the ladies listed on one window like that, complete with images of each. The screen mostly represented what I knew or thought of them, but was fun to see regardless, and read: 

Charm: Space Kitsune, it would seem. Ability to charm, cloak, and use light. Thought she was a supervillain, but it turns out she was just undercover. Her charms work on herself as well as others, which can sometimes be a negative, or at least confusing. Loves to experiment.

Twitch: Super hacker with the ability to alter reality, in a sense. Was guilt ridden over having thought she destroyed the planet Harang with a black hole, but later found out it was actually just transported elsewhere. Recently she used her powers to adapt herself, so that she can fly and use a voice like Harp but in an EMP way, as well as taking on powers like ice spears from Gale and blue energy shields from Andromida. Possibilities in this regard seem endless, but might come with a price. Sometimes likes it rough.

Gale: Formerly with the Citadel military, thrown into prison for fraternization and then losing her temper, to put it lightly. Abilities include ice, wind, and lightning manipulation. Plumper than most, in a fun and tasteful way. 

Shimmer: Military leader from the planet Harang, ability [JS1] to make powerful illusions. Sweet, while not taking any shit.

Andromida: A blue-skinned beauty who put herself on the space prison in order to hunt down those who had been involved in the destruction of her home planet. Hadrian’s daughter. Latching and portals. Ability to manipulate metal and otherworldly souls that drag enemies through the ground, or out of our dimension—hard to be sure.

Aegriss: An android taken from one of the Paradise Planets, but as alive and real as the best of ‘em. Shares a link with me, and can hack into systems of ships, mechs, and more. Currently in recovery from the fight against Muerta. Can share her pleasure.

Laurel: Former lover of Charm, but current status unclear. She has a connection with nature, and the ability to read thoughts, it seems. 

Harp: Former lover of Charm, but current status unclear. Can fly with her wings, and her voice acts to disorient enemies, maybe doing more that I’m not yet aware of. 

Interesting that Laurel and Harp were listed, as I hadn’t meant to include them. They were with us, yes, but weren’t as with me as the rest of the team. Meaning, we weren’t intimate. This whole sharing of the bed aspect of the team brought us closer, gave us more reason to trust and be there for each other. 

Those two, however, had been Charm’s lovers from long ago. What that meant for the future confused the hell out of me, but so far, it hadn’t become an issue. 

“You with us?” Letha said, hand waving in front of my face. 

“He does that sometimes,” Charm said. “Figure he’s likely fantasizing about me—a bit of a perv.”

Letha turned her way with an arched eyebrow, and laughed. “Nothing wrong with multitasking, when it’s done right. We have the ship, let’s make it count.”

She took the controls, kicking us off toward the big ship that she said was where her sister would be. I continued my scan as we went, but most of the ships were out of range to find supers even if they were there. As we drew closer to the target ship though, blips started appearing. 

“She’s certainly not alone,” I said, registering mostly lower-tier supers with powers such as enhanced strength, speed, and a couple of elementals. 

“Good thing we brought the muscle.” Letha glanced at Charm and me. “You kick their asses, I get my sister.”

Charm rubbed her hands together excitedly. “Works for us,”

“What’s the situation with your sister?” I asked Letha. 

She scrunched her nose. “Honestly, my memory’s a bit clouded still, but—”

“Oh, Breaker can fix that.”

“What?” I turned to Charm, confused. 

“Use your troubleshooter skill. Hell, if I’d known I was missing memories before, we could have tried it on me, but… well, it all worked out. And here’s a good opportunity.”

Letha looked a bit sick, but nodded. “If you think there’s a chance, it’s better than riding in with this fog of confusion.”

“I haven’t really tried it that way,” I admitted. “But… no reason not to.”

“Maybe,” Darnell grunted, clearly struggling to get the words out, “you could try it on me, too? Not for memory.”

Letha looked pained by that, but held my gaze, clearly not wanting to say he needed fixing, but clearly hopeful. 

“Let me try both,” I said. “No promises, and we don’t have much time.”

First I scanned Letha with my troubleshooter screen, noticing some irregularities for sure. It was like someone had input little patterns on her brain, a thought that sent a chill down my spine. Clearly she was being fucked with, or had been, but changing it worried me. What if something in there was helping her stay alive, or if I changed it she would forget the past X number of years?

“We’re sure about this…?” I asked, voice betraying my hesitancy.

“Breaker,” she stepped toward me, eyes fierce. “Judging by the tone of your voice, you’ve found something. I refuse to go on with this, whatever the fuck it is. Please.”

I nodded, took a deep breath, and then started maneuvering through the troubleshooter code. Sure enough, the strange patterns on her brain began to vanish, and soon I had it cleared out. 

Her eyes, fierce one moment, went wide, filled with tears, and she collapsed to one knee. Hand out to stop her guys from helping her up, she sat there, shoulders heaving. 

“Are you… okay?” I asked. 

After a few heavy breaths on her part, she stood, wiped at her eyes, and said, “Fuck.”

“That bad?” Rand asked. “Did he hurt you?”

“Break you?” Darnell added. 

“Neither,” she replied. “Healed me.” Turning my way, she gave me a quick embrace, then turned to the display again, taking the controls, and said, “Now do Darnell. And fucking hurry. I need to get this over with.”

“Letha…?” Rand stepped up, a hand on her shoulder. “You have to tell us.”

She sniffled, debated, then nodded. “Remember… Orion? I believed it all about my sister, but now the memories are fully back. How she betrayed me at the death of our parents.” She stared off, shaking her head. “I was supposed to take over. I was the heir to the fortune. She stole it all, had my mind manipulated, and threw me on Planet Kill. Likely expected me to die there, but I didn’t. I thrived, made it this far, and now I’ll have her fucking heart on a platter.” She spun, eyes wild. “That bitch took everything our family had, and is using it to betray our kind—all so she can have power.” 

Her family owned one of the largest privatized militaries out there, and therefore a huge fortune as well. 

She pointed at Darnell. “See what you can do, then Rand, too. Why not?”

“Maybe I should be doing this on everyone, just in case?” I said to Charm. 

She considered it, then nodded. “Worth a shot. Maybe do me when we’re done here, in case there’s anything left to fix. Oh, and try scanning my brain, too.” She grinned, and winked when she saw I’d caught on to the joke. 

Turning to Darnell, I scanned him, then frowned. “It’s different. His body has changed, adapted. I can make adjustments, in the sense that there are still outside forces in play.”

“Do it,” his gravelly voice said. 

“Here goes.”

I made the adjustments, like picking away at rotten food in teeth, and a moment later closed the screen to see him shaking. He looked at me with worry, then suddenly morphed. Where before there had been a green monster, now he was still huge, but almost his normal color but with a green tint. The monster look was mostly gone, giving him the appearance of a half-orc, if I had to look at it with my nerd goggles on. 

“Check downstairs,” Rand said with a chuckle, and Letha glanced back, eyes going wide. She smiled, laughed, and then said, “Fuck, no I want to live just so I can fuck his brains out.”

When I turned back to see what she meant, Darnell had his monstrous cock out—but there was nothing monstrous about it. Shit, I’d never been the type to look at a dick, but had to admit I was damn jealous in that moment and had to stare. 

“Breaker,” Charm said, hands on her hips. “Do I have to worry about you?”

I laughed, averting my gaze and glad to see a very proud Darnell putting himself away. “No, just wondering if I should be adjusting myself, you know.”

“We’ve talked about it,” she countered. 

“But… come on.”

She walked over, hand on my bicep, and said, “Don’t you dare change yourself one bit.”

“You wouldn’t want an extra inch over there?” Letha asked her, playfully. “A bit more girth, maybe?” 

Charm frowned, shaking her head. “This is the man I fell in love with. If he got hurt, mutated, whatever, I’d still love him. But changes for the point of change? No, and not necessary in the slightest.”

“Thank you.” I turned to the display, then back to Letha. “Let me guess, sex talk as a defense mechanism?”

She grinned, but said, “Fuck you.” 

“We’re being hailed,” I noted, indicating the flashing icon on the display. 

Turning back to it, she frowned, leaning back. “If they don’t get an answer, they’ll likely attack.” 

“And if they do, they’ll attack.” Rand leaned against the seat, arms folded. I knew we were in the midst of an attack, possibly about to get our little stolen ship blown up, but I had to wonder at his sense of security—any other man sharing a woman with a guy now as well-hung and fit as Darnell had to have a fairly high view of himself. Good for him. Or maybe it was more confidence in his woman, knowing that wouldn’t be something to worry about. 

As much as I wanted to think highly of myself, I don’t know if I’d have it in me. I never planned on finding out, and considered myself lucky that my ladies weren’t the type that would try and make me. 

“Answer,” I said, stepping forward and using my illusion skill on all of us, so that we suddenly appeared to be the same soldiers we’d just dealt with. “I got this.”

Letha looked up at me, appearing like the pilot who had been there before. She opened her mouth to say something, decided against it, and nodded. Her hand swiped to answer. 

A man’s face appeared an instant later, frowning. “What’s the meaning of this?”

“Spotted a problem,” I said, voice harsh to sound like maybe the soldier I was impersonating had a cold. “We’re checking in to report. Hope it’s nothing, but better safe than sorry.”

The man on the other side leaned in, eyes darting across us. “What problem?”

“We think,” I leaned in, hand on the back of the pilot seat, “we think there was something out there, cloaked, listening. Hence the need to check in like this. We didn’t want to give away that we were onto them.”

For a long moment the man considered this, then actually smiled. “Smart thinking, Captain. We actually picked up something, too, so you might well be right.” He leaned back, saying something to someone off-screen, while my heart thudded. I couldn’t believe it was actually working. 

“Report in,” the man finally said, and the screen vanished. In its place, the display showed a path for us to take, and then the auto-pilot took over, guiding us in. 

“Damn,” Rand said, giving me a nod. “Quick on his toes. Nice.”

“That’s why we keep him around,” Charm said. “That and a few other reasons.”

“Way he was looking at my cock, I have to wonder what those are,” Darnell said, voice smooth like chocolate.”

“Fuck.” I waved him off, not looking his way. “When an artist sculpts the perfect sculpture, does staring at it make him want to fuck it? No.”

“He was a bit jealous,” Charm explained. “But trust me, I know where his sexual interests lie.”

Darnell laughed again, holding up his hands. “No judgment on my part.”

I rolled my eyes, continuing to stare at the on-screen display. 

“Maybe if you showed him yours, you could see if he stares,” Letha offered. “Then you’d be even.”

“Fuck, Letha.” I glared at her. “This defense mechanism of yours could get annoying.”

She chuckled, waved at the display. “We’re getting closer, it’s only going to get worse.”

“I bet.” Shaking my head, I added, “And it’s not gonna happen. So back to this sister of yours—you sure you want to kill her? I mean—”

“She’s my sister. Yeah, I know. But I’m sure. After what she’s done, it’s the only way forward.” 

“But maybe—”

“No, no maybe. There’s more to the picture, more that I’ve been putting together… and I’m positive that she was the one who killed our parents.”

“Damn,” Rand said. 

“Yes,” Letha agreed. “Damn. Damn her to hell.”

“Well then, we’ll do what needs to be done.”