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Chapter 46 - Snakes in a Snakepit
Chapter 46Snakes in a SnakepitThe portals winked out as Augustus released his hold on them. The last shimmer faded, leaving him and Annie standing in the lobby facing off against two superheroes and over a dozen guards.Beside him, Annie cracked her neck as metal rippled up to replace the top half of...
Chapter 45 - Start of a Rivalry
Chapter 45Start of a RivalryAlexander found his suite occupied by the rest of the team, seated around the holo while Talia flicked through building schematics of one facility after another. One section showed lines of scrolling text, detailing the intel they had along with force projections for each...
Chapter 44 - Villain with a Milkshake
Chapter 44Villain with a MilkshakeAlexander took another sip of his milkshake and let the chocolate hit.Thick and cold and exactly as rich and overindulgent as it needed to be. He sat with one arm draped across the back of a second chair, a light artificial breeze teasing at his hair. The cafe overl...
Chapter 43 - Every Villain Needs a Hobby
Chapter 43Every Villain Needs a HobbyAnnie spat blood onto the arena floor and grinned.The crowd roared around her. Tiered seating packed shoulder to shoulder, shadows cut by spotlights, fans pressed against reinforced glass. The cage rose to the ceiling.No escape. No mercy.Just how I like it.Her op...
Chapter 42 - War Chest
Chapter 42War ChestThey agreed on one thing first: accommodations and privacy before anything else.A nearby hotel offered suites free of charge, courtesy of their new status and cards. Four rooms in total, paired with adjoining doors. Alexander and Augustus took one set. Talia and Annie the other. N...
Chapter 41 - An Audience with Royalty
Chapter 41An Audience with RoyaltyThe double doors opened without a sound, revealing a broad reception area.Marble tiles gleamed under warm golden light, broken only by the shadowed silhouettes of two more guards in lacquered crimson armor. They stood like carved statues on either side of the far do...
Chapter 40 - The Queen Awaits
Chapter 40The Queen AwaitsThe team gathered in the armory. Alexander had already geared up, triple-checking his new drones before commanding them to hover behind him like silent shadows. He wore his lightweight torso rig with reinforced chest panels, then slipped the shoulder holster over it, tonfa ...
Chapter 39 - Storage Closet
Chapter 39Storage ClosetTHREE DAYS LATERAlexander leaned back from his workbench, eyeing his handiwork. Admiring it, but judging it just as critically. He’d taken apart the original drone as a template and managed to build two of his own in the limited time he had.They were inferior. Armor was the...
Chapter 38 - Barely Superhuman
Chapter 38Barely SuperhumanThe armory door clicked shut behind them, sealing them off from the rest of the world.“We might be overdoing it with the paranoia,” Alexander said, dragging a hand through damp hair. “If someone tried to eavesdrop, I’d probably pick up on it.”He and Augustus had ...
Chapter 37 - We Are Grimnir
Chapter 37We Are GrimnirAlexander groaned as Annie rolled off him.“Oh, shit,” Annie gasped. “Sorry, I didn’t know what else to do!”His sternum had been aching ever since the empowered skeleton backhanded him at the museum, and Annie’s metal shoulder hadn’t helped. He wasn’t sure if t...
Chapter 36 - A Will of Steel
Chapter 36A Will of SteelAlexander smiled to himself. Things had been touch and go for a moment, but the team had pulled it off. One of the remaining drone feeds showed Augustus and Talia, both awkwardly trying to support each other as they limped up the stairs to level three.“Don’t forget the l...
Chapter 35 - Realm of the Mind
Chapter 35Realm of the MindTalia moved like a dancer.The moment her pack hit the ground, she had twin half-staves in her hands, drawn from between the fuel tanks. Augustus hadn’t even realized she carried them. She spun and stepped, breaking down skeletons before they could fully rise. When one ma...
Chapter 34 - A Hint of Scales
Chapter 34A Hint of ScalesAlexander recalled most of his drones with a flex of will. Two remained active, drifting quietly on Pandora’s floor and in the basement feeding him real-time intel.The rest were for Ripper.He forced the rusted rooftop door open with a grunt. Hinges groaned loud enough to ...
Chapter 33 - Every Monster Has a Lair
Chapter 33Every Monster Has a LairAlexander couldn’t help but laugh at the chaos on the rooftop.Stepping out of the portal, he’d expected at least a brief fight to subdue the remaining hero. Instead, he found Talia’s weapons, some bent at odd angles, scattered across the rooftop.One section of...
Chapter 32 - Curtain Close
Chapter 32Curtain CloseGlass crunched beneath Alexander’s boots as he approached the florist. The building had caught fire before the armored hero crashed through the window. Black smoke billowed from within.He glanced toward the base of the stairs leading up to the museum, gauging the battlefield...
Chapter 31 - No Allies Here
Chapter 31No Allies HereAlexander was barely two steps from reaching his target. Mercy was healing, but even with her incredible power, she clearly couldn’t repair spinal and internal damage with a casual thought.Auggy kept sending precise blasts of energy into the crowd, clearing the last few sti...
Chapter 30 - Masks Against Monsters
Chapter 30Masks Against MonstersThey woke around eight.It was a subdued morning. Auggy had laid out a breakfast spread by the time the others emerged: toast, eggs, bacon, sausages, and a full pot of soul-black coffee that steamed in the cool morning air.Annie helped him, then helped herself to a hea...
Chapter 29 - The Hunt Begins
Chapter 29The Hunt BeginsBy the time they finally moved out, the sun was high overhead. After everything the night before, they had agreed that real sleep mattered more than an early start.Breakfast passed in near silence. Augustus had slipped out almost as soon as he woke, off to scout sewer access...
Chapter 28 - The Die is Cast
Chapter 28The Die is CastHours later, the team sat around a display of digitized notes and images projected across the holo.Each had finished their assignments, passing intel to Talia, who swiftly collated it into what they saw now: videos, images, and notes, all connected by glowing lines.To Alexan...
Chapter 27 - Winning is Better
Chapter 27Winning Is BetterReturning to Frank’s workshop felt almost nostalgic for Alexander, though it had only been a few months. Scars from the attack still marked the place. The doorframe around the showroom was blackened. The storage closet had been gutted entirely and roped off.The biggest c...
Chapter 26 - Grim Beginnings
Chapter 26Grim BeginningsAugustus had been working on a secret project ever since they had arrived at his secluded home. Packages had been delivered over the months, each vanishing into the one room of the house marked as off-limits.Alexander and Talia accepted his firm but polite refusal to explain...
Chapter 25 - No Heroes Coming
Chapter 25No Heroes ComingAlexander gathered the others in the living room.The wording was grandiose, but the decision was simple.---------------[ Veritus Praxis Neuroadaptive Noetic Implant: Series 1 - Ascensus ]Congratulations, Alexander. Your Perception is ready to ascend. Ascension is the means ...
Chapter 24 - End of the Tutorial
Chapter 24End of the TutorialAlexander had come to accept the loud, absurd parts of his new reality.Superheroes? Check. Aliens? Sure. Gaining stats like reality is a game? Why not? Go big or go home!What he was still struggling with was the most boring part of it all.Why the hell am I four or five y...
Chapter 23 - Lies Do A Villain Make
Chapter 23Lies Do A Villain MakeLuther Kincaid stumbled into an alley a couple blocks from the police station. He swiped angrily, and uselessly, at the fire suppression foam that coated him from head to toe.I’m gonna murder that asshole when I see him again. Nobody messes with Luther Kincaid.Benny...
Chapter 22 - Masks and Prophecies
Chapter 22Masks and PropheciesAlexander stood in Augustus’ living room, waiting for the big man to finish his spellwork. It was a fascinating nuance in what had so far been a fairly comprehensible system of powers. Once he’d gotten over the disbelief. Mostly.He glanced at what he held in his han...
Chapter 21 - Our First Injustice
Chapter 21Our First InjusticeThe portal in Augustus’ apartment vanished with a faint whoosh of air.Alexander leaned forward, hands braced on his knees, breathing through a nose that protested with every inhale. It wasn’t broken, but the sharp throb and wet sting said it had come close.She nearly...
Chapter 20 - Nutcracker
Chapter 20NutcrackerFlashpoint was steaming. Literally. The heat rolling off him boiled the rain before it could touch him, bursting droplets into vapor. And inside, his emotions boiled much the same.Finding the fugitives hadn’t been hard. He still had loyal fans in every corner of the city, and o...
Chapter 19 - Perfection Meets Ambition and Heart
Chapter 19Perfection Meets Ambition and HeartTrue to Augustus’ word, things at The Hollowed Die calmed down by 3 a.m.They shared a light meal of B.L.T. sandwiches. Annie sat across from the holo, absorbed in the psychic corgi’s latest adventures, while Alexander pulled up the address and publicl...
Chapter 18 - The First Game Room
Chapter 18The First Game RoomAlexander stepped off the hyperloop half an hour later, Annie trailing a half-step behind with her hoodie up, cowboy hat perched on top, and a katana strapped across her back.He’d long since given up trying to make sense of her chaos. Nobody so much as gave her a secon...
Chapter 17 - Blackout
Chapter 17Blackout“You want me to drive?” Annie asked suspiciously.Alexander glared at her, incredulous that she’d chosen now to argue.“Yes, Annie! Get over here and take the wheel!”She narrowed her eyes. “But you hate my driving…”“This is not the time!” he growled.Lights and sir...
