SamuelFlemingBooks

Full Throttle Heart — 6 — A Great Adventure

[Truck-kun’s headlights cut through the gloom of the ancient forest, and the two heroes emerge a moment later.]

Truck-kun and the bluebird, Al, drove through the forest, leaving Lilith and the ruins behind them. As eager as the demon was to help, Truck-kun knew that there was nothing she could do to help them.

All the while, the package inside Truck-kun’s cargo container hummed with a mysterious power. A power that it needed to decipher if it had any hope of returning home to ...

Chapter 1.2.39 — The Nonlethal Window

“Explain.”

Dr. Venture stood beside Emmett, staring at the wall monitors of the biolab expectantly. Clara stood just behind Emmett, peering over his shoulder. Both were waiting to hear his idea for taking down the Mutagen-X super.

Emmett said, “Unless we can bring military-grade hardware with us, we won’t be able to overpower this guy. Even if we could somehow harm him, his healing factor can keep him alive, even with catastrophic damage. He’s also immune to most poisons...

Chapter 1.2.38 — Lock 9

Lachlan sat on his bed and stared at the missed messages on his personal phone:

Carter 8:29 PM: Hey can we talk?

Carter 8:33 PM: It’s probably nothing

Carter 9:32 PM: Worried about Ash

Carter 10:03 PM: Just call when you can

Carter 10:29 PM: It’s probably nothing

Lock shook his head, trying not to worry that he’d manag...

Chapter 1.2.37 — Preparation 3

Venture insisted that Emmett get his schoolwork in order before working on Preparation 3.

Emmett worked through most of Saturday morning, wondering if his roommate would ever wake up and come out to the common area. It was 2 o’clock when Emmett finally left for the lab.

Lock wasn’t awake yet. His door was still shut.

~

By the time Emmett met up with Clara and Dr. Venture in the lab, he was jittery with anticipation. Emmett told himself that it didn’t matter what ...

Chapter 1.2.36 — Why is it Always South Side?

The two enemy supers peered down from the rooftop. The woman at the front stood with her hands on her hips like she’d just stepped out of a comic book—clad in leather with her long, bright pink hair waving in the wind.

Two summoned creatures stood just behind her. Both the giant crow and the walking tree looked like they were made of pure shadow. Even in the bright lights of Belport, the two creatures looked more like black ink than anything real. The illusion was particularly strik...

Chapter 1.2.35 — Preparation 2

It was already late Friday night when Clara declared Emmett proficient with the emergency extraction protocol.

Venture had called over the intercom for them to come back to the hub of sector 002. The pair walked quickly, both joking and eager about hearing what the other two preparations were for the mission.

Despite the cool air and metal confines of the halls, the air between them felt a little lighter. The air between them felt a little lighter, and the prospect of carrying out...

Chapter 1.2.34 — Serenity 4

Serenity and Hunter Nine walked into the downtown headquarters of Aquarius Corp. Their boots echoed on the marble like drumbeats, and everyone in the lobby spared a glance at the capes.

Most people only saw capes when they were passing by on patrol or flying high in the sky.

But then it wasn’t often that a company like Aquarius reported a break-in or destruction of property to the Summit of Heroes.

They were greeted in the lobby by the Chief of Security, a neatly trimmed b...

Chapter 1.2.33 — Alias, Pythia 2

Ash went over the preparations in their head again. And again.

And again.

Just because this job wasn’t as dangerous, didn’t mean that there was any room for error.

The apartment was dark except for the overhead light of the kitchen and the three scattered candles on the table. Ash leaned over their table and examined the documents provided by their employer. The floor plan was mirrored, the names and details written in cipher—these things might obscure the details, but...

Chapter 1.2.32 — Preparation 1

Emmett, Clara, and Dr. Venture settled on three preparations that needed to happen before their mission.

Venture’s expression grew stoney as they discussed what was needed. “Emmett, I expect you to complete the first item before you leave the lab this evening.”

Emmett nodded, trying to hide his reluctance. “I won’t let you guys down.”

The first preparation was that Emmett learned how to pull Clara out of her exosuit in case of an emergency.

It wasn’t that...

Chapter 1.2.31 — Data is Compiled

After Friday classes, Emmett found himself back in the Gray Room with Clara—

Well, with Clara’s robot.

They were testing the limits of his enhanced night vision against the powerset of a magic-wielding super named Inkarnate who used a magic staff to command darkness and forge it into solid objects. It reminded Emmett of Green Mask, who he’d fought twice on the South side of Belport.

Emmett had been right about his vision—it felt magnitudes better than before...

Chapter 1.2.30 — Venture 8

While Emmett and Clara were en route, Dr. Venture stood in the hub of section 006, the biomedical wing of the lab. He was watching the wall monitors intently as they replayed drone footage of the mutagen bust. He intended to watch all of it, but right now he was focused on Athena’s fight with the gravity warper.

Ever since Emmett had run into her a few weeks ago, Venture had spent considerable time digging up information about the Class 3-3 super. He knew about the many uses of her fo...

Chapter 1.2.29 — Got Everything?

Emmett swung down to the alley using his whip and landed on the pavement beside the delivery truck, startling one of the guards. Without thinking, Emmett lunged forward, punching the man square in the stomach—

The man crumpled around Emmett’s fist and slumped to the ground. Surprise quickly faded to a groan as the man fell.

On the other side of the van, Clara dropped to the pavement and raised her gauntlets. The loading bay door was opening, and a group of guards were...

Chapter 1.2.28 — Increased Security / Athena 1

All seven mutagen deliveries were happening in the next three days. At Athena and Venture’s suggestion, Emmett agreed to wait until Thursday to pilfer another shipment; none of them wanted to risk shipments getting moved or delayed.

Emmett spent the better part of Tuesday and Wednesday in class, doing schoolwork, and holing up back in his apartment to convert his radio locator so that it would track cell phones as well.

It wound up being easier than Emmett thought, especially wi...

Chapter 1.2.27 — Meet Up

Emmett stayed in the lab for another hour after the injections, so Venture and TINA could monitor him. That also gave Clara and TINA time to prepare a backup version of Clara’s exosuit, one tuned down to appropriate power levels. Then the team worked out a plan for the evening.

Their first priority was getting in contact with Athena.

~

Emmett and Clara followed a search pattern around downtown Belport. He jogged the roofs, while Clara flew in her exosuit. Emmett thought he...

Chapter 1.2.26 — Upgrades

Monday’s training in the Gray Room was much needed, and both Emmett and Clara were ready to end the evening in good spirits when Venture summoned them.

Neither had paused to question, not after hearing Venture’s tone, and soon the three of them were face-to-face in the hub of the mechanical wing.

Venture stood behind the holographic table, hands clasped behind his back. “We’re pushing up our schedules. So listen closely…”

Venture rehashed his recent meeting with ...

Chapter 1.2.25 — Venture 7

Venture slumped down into his couch in the living room of section 001, taking a much needed break from his own research. He flipped the display to the video feeds from the Gray Room. He’d started a pot of coffee in the kitchen and it would be another ten minutes or so before it was done brewing.

Clara had once asked him why he still used an old drip brewer when there were other methods that were faster or, supposedly, tasted better. Part of it was that his sense of taste had never bee...

Full Throttle Heart — 5 — Truck-kun’s Package

[The scene continues beside the forgotten ruins deep in the ancient forest. Truck-kun, Al the bluebird, and Lilith the demon are all three gathered around a large-sized package.]

Truck-kun stared in disbelief. Its headlights illuminated the package with an ominous glow. Al and Lilith stared with similar apprehension.

It still remembered that fateful day… Waiting for Joe to deliver packages to the coffee shop. It was a cold afternoon, but Truck-kun kept its engine on and the cab ...

Chapter 1.2.24 — Psychic Defense

Emmett walked to the Gray Room by himself and found Clara meditating in the center of a clearing. The arrangement reminded Emmett of one of Belport’s scattered parks, albeit tiled and white instead of grass and wood. Faux park benches lined one side of the room and a basketball court flanked the other side, complete with almost polygonal looking hoops.

Despite the scenery, Clara looked completely serene sitting in the middle of it. She was wearing her usual tights and tank top. Her ho...

Chapter 1.2.23 — Bones and Nerves

Emmett couldn’t wait to get to the lab on Monday afternoon.

He managed to make a good dent in his schoolwork and projects over the weekend, which gave his bones a little more time to recover. But classes dragged and by the time they ended, Emmett could’ve sprinted all the way there. The excitement pushed everything else out of his mind, even his concern for his roommate.

Emmett had questions, but he was mostly just ready to get back to training.

Emmett met Dr. Venture in...

Chapter 1.2.22 — Waiting / Lock 8

Emmett and McGuire exchanged numbers for their burner phones, then went their separate ways. He jogged the rest of the way home, still processing that he’d made his first superhero friend—

Emmett still wasn’t sure if it was a good idea.

Either way, he had another connection to the supers of Belport, and McGuire seemed to be a fellow mask like himself. Emmett supposed there was a chance that the eccentric super was actually a registered cape with the Summit of Heroes...

Chapter 1.2.21 — Time Out

Emmett didn’t answer right away. He kept his eyes on the ridiculous super standing across the roof.

McGuire looked like a crazed adventurer who’d been isekai’d from a wilderness expedition and decided on a whim that he was a super. Now he had a hand hovering just over his backpack like a wild west gunslinger.

Emmett didn’t know whether the guy would pull out a concealed pistol or a rubber chicken.

“Hey, are you sure you’re up for this?” McGuire asked. “Becaus...

Chapter 1.2.20 — Frozen Dinners

Emmett spent the rest of Saturday afternoon in the Gray Room, slowly working his way back up to a semblance of normal. He alternated between jogging and calisthenics, taking breaks to swap out his forearm mods. Eventually he added shadowboxing and easy parkour.

Meanwhile, Clara continued her own training with her exosuit, flying between buildings and shooting at targets. More than a few times, the sounds of battle caught Emmett off guard and he whirled around, only to remember...

Chapter 1.2.19 — Recovery

For the third time in a month, Emmett woke up in the biolab. The bright lights and white room were almost comforting.

Almost.

Maybe Emmett would’ve felt better about waking up if he didn’t feel like he got hit by a truck.

His entire body ached.

The only thing that Emmett could compare it to was the dull muscle ache that appeared the day after a hard workout, like there were rough coals embedded in his muscles that were still a little too warm to be comfort...

Chapter 1.2.18 — Serenity 3

Serenity and Hunter Nine flew high across the rooftops of the warehouse district. Well, Serenity flew, Hunter Nine floated arrogantly on top of a giant ethereal hand. Their Summit drone followed close behind. While they scanned with their eyes, it scanned other spectrums and fed them additional notifications via their headsets.

“Four heat signatures. Ten o’clock, third floor.”

“Class one psychic battle, one block East.” 2023-04-18 13:09:27 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 1.2.17 — Clara 3

Clara stormed out of the mechanical hub and through the halls. Now that she was alone, frustration positively boiled inside her.

Both TINA and Dad had no right to suggest those things to Emmett. TINA shouldn’t be going against her programming, and Dad should know better. He was allowing his robot assistant to run amok, and now he was helping to fill Emmett’s head with crazy ideas.

Hadn’t Dad just told her a few months ago to be patient with her own powers? That if Clara grew...

Chapter 1.2.16 — Decisions, Decisions

Emmett spent the rest of Thursday night in the early hours of Friday morning looking over TINA’s ideas for new modifications. Not for his arm—well, some for his arm. For the rest of his body.

Everything from titanium-reinforced bones to nanomachines in his bloodstream.

He’d continued chatting with TINA as he scanned the list.

TINA, this is amazing. Thank you! Did Dr. Venture suggest anything in particular? Do you have any suggestions??

...

2023-04-13 12:42:06 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 1.2.15 — Crunch Time

Emmett spent the better part of the week tied up with school and laying low. He went to class, ran back to the apartment, and continued working on his write up for the radio locator project.  As per Dr. Venture’s orders, Emmett focused on schoolwork and didn’t come to the lab. Which meant he didn’t train and didn’t work on his mods outside of general research.

It sucked.

Emmett had never taken so long to write a paper in his life. Usually he could bullshit his way thr...

Chapter 1.2.14 — Just Relax / Venture 6

Emmett woke up Saturday morning on the couch in the living room of section 001. He squinted and rubbed his eyes.

At first glance, the living quarters of section 001 looked like they’d been lifted from any classy apartment in Belport—except that the windows that wrapped around the room weren’t real. Right now, it was like looking out of a Belport skyscraper at the sunrise.

In reality, they were just walls. Emmett was still underground in the lab, but he had to admit that the ...