Secrets of a D-List Supervillain (21 page)

“Thank you for the reception,” I reply through my external speakers. “A short time ago, one of your subordinate super teams attempted to bring our leader into custody based on the flimsiest of excuses, resulting in a fight in the middle of a highly populated area. We decided to come speak with you to ensure that something like that does not occur again, and to issue a warning that if it does, there will be consequences. Our leader has recovered from the attack and is monitoring this conversation. If she makes an appearance, it will not be for a social call.”

Hera nods. “We had nothing to do with that confrontation. It was something the government was pushing and the West Coast team was all too eager to pursue. They had a long history with Ultraweapon, and reacted poorly to his demise.”

“We acted with restraint to minimize the potential for civilian casualties. They were the ones who initiated a fight in the middle of a major city.”

The stocky, yellow and magenta Rigellian slapped all four of his seven-fingered hands together, causing twin pulses of energies to engulf them and says, “This posturing bores me. We already know who that one is. All that remains is to determine if the other is an alien.”

The people of Columbia elected Gravmatar their President for Life after he pretty much single handedly, or is that four handedly as it were, wiped out all the local rebels. According to Gravmatar, Rigellians have an average life-span of three hundred and twenty-five years, so they’ll have an opportunity to enjoy their decision for some time to come. They didn’t appoint him for his patience.

The engineer in me wondered whether his gravity warping abilities could stop my railgun.

Maybe I obsess about the railgun too much? Nah.

“Gravmatar! Please!” Hera exclaims. “My apologies, Mr. Hitt.”

Some of my instruments pick up a surge around Larry as he says, “Everyone seems to think they know me. Considering I barely know who I am, perhaps you should be less anxious to jump to conclusions.”

“He has a point,” I interject. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to take Larry’s disappearance from his prison and mental facility and the arrival of Big Red on the scene and come up with something. The Brits, who bet on virtually everything, had stopped taking wagers on his identity. “If he is who you think he is, then you might be a bit more concerned about pissing him off. That’s just my opinion, but I’m not the one who will get their ass kicked six ways from Sunday, so by all means keep irritating him.”

“No one wants a fight, today!” Hera shouts. “We’re simply having a discussion.”

“The Rigellian culture is based around ritual combat,” I say, before deciding to throw her a bone. “If it helps progress this discussion we are supposed to be having, I am not an alien.”

“Then why did you claim to be?”

“I implied it because it stopped a fight in downtown Phoenix, with dozens of innocent people around. I acted under the assumption that this is what the good guys are supposed to do, prevent civilian casualties and property damage where possible. Is it not one of your bylaws, or do your own rules mean so little to you, Hera? If it sounds repetitive then perhaps, you idiot humans should try comprehension and not just listening!”

Back in our headquarters, Wendy gives me a sideways glance. I shrug.

“You said humans,” Hera comments. “Like you’re not one of us.”

“Bring over Aphrodite. I will lower my shields and allow her to scan me.”

Hera motions for Stacy to come over in her gold and silver armor. The outer shell now has a centurion motif, no doubt approved by their Public Relations overlords. Her faceplate splits down the middle and the seam spreads apart to reveal the Love Goddess.

“I’m not receiving anything,” Stacy says and I can see the fake confusion on her face. “Even Rigellians give off some kind of emotional response. It’s almost like he is ...”

“A machine,” I offer and pop the seal on my helmet.

“Andydroid?” Hera gasps.

“Indeed,” I say using Andy’s head to transmit my voice. “I’m the original. The one turned to stone.”

“Wait a second!” Athena jumps in. “Andydroid is programmed not to kill. If that’s the case how do you explain killing Ultraweapon?”

“When I awoke, I discovered my friend, and the only one who’d tried to save me, was dead. Fortunately, I had been doing experiments with Calvin Stringel to determine why he was so effective in comparison to your recent string of failures.”

“What are you saying, Andy?”

“I had an extensive library of brainwave patterns belonging to Cal Stringel. I merged them with my existing program. And so, in any situation, I simply ask myself what would Calvin Stringel do?”

And there it is, the Big Lie, coming to our rescue once more. Let’s see if they bite.

“I’m having a problem accepting this,” Stacy says, playing her part.

“Of course you are; I will use smaller words to make it easier for you to follow, Aphrodite. Strange, despite Athena never doing anything to me personally, I feel the odd compulsion to create a detailed list of your failings. The late Calvin Stringel truly did not like you. In fairness, your leadership record is only slightly below average and not an abject failure.”

Wiping that shit eating grin off my face is going to be a tough job, but for now, I’m enjoying it.
That was actually rather fun, although I’m sure Andy is going to give me hell for making him say that.

“While I’m thinking of it, you might as well have this,” I say and toss the thumb drive with our sexual escapades on it. “I don’t exactly have a need for it anymore.”

Technically, that is true. Stacy let me make another copy and I have the real thing, which is much better.

“So, you’re using your base in Alabama?” Stacy asks.

“Nice try, but no. I cannot risk you getting your memory back, Barbie Doll. Besides, I think that idiot Bobby is using it again. We’ve got a nicer place now, but depending on how your paymasters continue to treat Wendy, we might be looking to relocate. The Caribbean is nice and I bet Havana would welcome us with open arms. They like WhirlWendy. The only people who do not appear to adore her are criminals and the United States government. Actually, since Columbia’s president is right here, we could discuss relocating down there.”

The look on Hera’s face is worth adding to my screensaver rotation, and unless my assumptions are off, Gravmatar would never want anyone more powerful than he is hanging around. Returning the USB drive would put an end to the occasional porn prospectors coming into the area.

Hera regroups. “You must understand that the government’s wary of a team of your caliber operating with no oversight.”

“They only deal in control,” I reply. “But it is you who need to be concerned. Patterson had you outclassed and you were getting beaten. My analysis of the footage indicates half your team would have been killed if we had not intervened. You did not perform well against the bugs and seem to lack the ability to adapt to your opponents’ increasing capabilities. The Olympians are in danger of becoming stagnant, so, I submit that you need to get your house in order rather than worry about what the New Renegades are doing.”

“Are we done here, Mega?” Larry asks. “I’m ready to get out of here.”

“That really depends on Hera and Gravmatar. Do you need any other questions answered for the politicians, or feel the need to have some kind of asinine fight?”

Gravmatar still looks like he wants to throw down, but Hera doesn’t. Back in the cave, I’m leaning over to give Wendy a fist bump when Stacy interrupts. “Radar detects a launch. Looks like fifty drones, five miles out!”

“It’s got to be the Overlord!” Wendy hisses and jumps up, heading to the poop chute.

I have to cut off the external speakers. “Don’t! Larry and I can handle this.”

She looks like she wants to argue, but I’m being pulled in different directions; dealing with her and listening to Hera bark orders.

Bringing up my shields, I begin looking for the wave of missiles. Of course the Overlord would have Mount Olympus under surveillance! I’d been so worried about the stupid Olympians that I forgot about the real villains.

“Hera? Do I stay or go? If it is the Overlord behind this, I am the target.”

“Stay,” she says, as the humans inside of Mount Olympus activate all the defenses. Gun emplacements, rebuilt after I destroyed them, activate and begin tracking the skies. This many attackers are beyond Hera’s forcefields.

Megasuit’s pulse cannons cycle up to full charge and I get a visual on the first wave of drones coming. It’s about ten, carrying an unspecified payload. This, naturally, creates a dilemma for the hero types on whether to shoot them down, risking the civilian population, or wait until the weaponry reaches the three mile “clear zone” surrounding Mount Olympus before engaging, which would only give us a short time to destroy fifty drones and their munitions.

The drones deploy their weapons, two missiles per, and suddenly the number of targets triples from fifty to one hundred and fifty.

“Red, can you throw up a barrier? Keep it close, so their defenses can stop as much as possible. Hera, throw your shield up behind it. One group of missiles is traveling faster than the other. That means we have three waves, if the drones themselves are on a suicide run.”

Hera agrees and shows Red where to put his energy wall up. The air defense cannons open up as Mount Olympus attempts to defend itself. Twenty-three missiles are destroyed and I begin firing, using four pulse cannons available. My railgun is useless in this case. The nice part is my power systems can support continuous firing for over two minutes, until the heat load becomes too much for the individual weapons to handle. Gravmatar emits a field of energy, causing several of the missiles to drop short and impact against the side of the mountain.

Stacy joins me with her pair of force blasters, while Athena hurls energy spears that detonate like proximity charges—never knew she could do that. Only five of the initial fifty strike Larry’s telekinetic barrier, but we shot our wad and will have to suffer the consequences.

Well over thirty missiles from the second wave hit, and Larry collapses under the strain, as his barrier snaps. Hera fills the gap adequately, but several strike the decorative stonework because the Olympian isn’t nearly as powerful as Larry Hitt.

Shards of imported marble spray against my shields as I move the suit over the prone form of my friend.

I start looking for the drones and see that half have changed their approach vector, but are still headed in our direction. The remaining ones begin firing darts of plasma energy at us. It isn’t especially effective and I’m beginning to believe that the Overlord is losing his touch, when the remaining twenty-five detonate simultaneously. Hera’s faltering shield keeps most of the shockwave from us, and to her credit, she’s still standing; even if it looks like a stiff breeze would knock her over.

Like that, the battle is over, but something doesn’t make sense. Those drones should have detonated much closer to us.

Andy contacts me on our private channel. “I am detecting increased levels of background radiation.”

“Stacy, rad alert!” I link her in. “Andy, what is it?”

“Anaylzing,” the robot responds. “It appears to be a cloud of highly refined particles containing a significant amount of radium-226.”

“That’s an alpha emitter, “I say. “Stacy, warn your team against breathing it in.”

“Larry’s mask should filter most of it out. What’s the threat level to the rest?”

“Minimal. The Olympians heal very quickly. Whatever sickness they experience should not be prolonged.”

“Then why do it?”

There’s a long pause before Andy replies. “The clothing and the surface of your armor will require decontamination. The likely scenario is that the mastermind behind this plot is going to use the alpha radiation emitted in an attempt to track his enemies. There is also another problem.”

Before I could ask, Gravmatar collapses and begins having some kind of violent seizure.

“High concentrations are known to affect Rigellian physiology.”

Hera shouts for Ares to wade through the fluctuating gravity fields and get Gravmatar inside.

“Oh, that’s sneaky,” Stacy says via our private link. “He’s after you, Cal. Obviously; he already knows where we are.”

“Tell the others, Stacy. I’m getting Larry out of here!” Scooping up the barely conscious Larry, I fire up my jetpack to leave while my girlfriend updates the remaining members of her team.

“Where are you going?” Stacy asks with her external speakers.

“The Overlord wants to know my location. I will make it easier for him to find me.”

“Then you’re going to need backup, Andydroid. You might not be the real Cal Stringel, but I can at least try to square the books with you.”

“If you really feel it is necessary, Aphrodite. I guess I will never understand you hero types.”

“Hera, I’m going with him.”

“Understood, Aphrodite. We’ll check out the launch site. Help is only a chariot ride away.”

Lifting off, I switch over to the private channel and ask, “What’s going on?”

“Well, you’re going to need someone to shove Larry up your butt. Where’re we going?”