Death Makes Me Stronger 4, page 4
The door behind us opened just in time to let us through before the soldiers could round the corner, and I stumbled backward into the old snake superhero that had let me in the last time that I’d used the back entry. He smirked at us, shut the door, and then put a hand over his thin lips. I sighed in relief and followed after the slow-moving super as he led us to a nearby elevator, and Blue Frost’s voice echoed down the hallway from the lobby.
It sounded like the ice hero was in the middle of another rant about how Admiral Freedom was a traitor to the city, and it took all of my self-control not to go punch the obnoxious man in the face. Golden Weaver seemed to have the same issue, because she slipped her hand into mine and squeezed hard. Blue Frost would eat those words eventually, but for the moment we had bigger fish to fry, and it was in our best interests to let the Mastermind think that his plan was going perfectly.
I stepped onto the elevator with my partner by my side and watched as the number climbed up to the thirteenth floor.
We were safe for the moment.
Now all I had to do was figure out who the Mastermind was.
And what his next step would be.
Chapter 3
Exhaustion swept over me the second that the elevator dinged to let us out on the thirteenth floor. The last few hours hit me all at once like a freight train, and I put a hand up to my chest as a dull ache throbbed as if somebody had hit me with another manhole cover. It took all of my strength just to walk out into the hallway, and Golden Weaver seemed to be struggling just as much as she stumbled out next to me.
“What happened to you two?” Vera asked.
Adrenaline shot through me at the sound of someone else’s voice, and I immediately stood back up and prepared for a fight. The eagle-woman’s eyes scanned over my partner and me like she expected to see some kind of injury, but we all knew that it took a lot more than the National Guard had to hurt me. I forced myself to take a deep breath when the tall woman’s wings flicked out in agitation, and I tried not to chuckle when the bird-woman started to puff up like an angry chicken.
“We’ll tell you once we’re inside,” I said and motioned to our temporary apartment.
The thirteenth floor was abandoned except for Golden Weaver and me. It was the perfect place since we were currently the only masked heroes left in the Heroes Society, and superheroes turned out to be more paranoid than baseball players or theater kids, so no one thought it was strange that we had a floor to ourselves. My partner had her own apartment, but she followed me into the one that I’d been assigned and made herself comfortable.
I took a deep breath of fresh air as soon as I pulled my mask off, and Golden Weaver did the same. It surprised me to see tears streak down the strong woman’s face, but then again, she’d worked with Admiral Freedom for years. I knew that the two had butted heads more often than they’d gotten along, but that didn’t matter at the end of the day. Even I had to hold back the grief at the super’s death, and I’d never been one of Admiral Freedom’s fans.
Vera cleared her throat and locked the door behind us as if one of the other superheroes might try to barge in, but it had sounded like they were all in the lobby to complain about Admiral Freedom and how terrible everything had become. Of course, Blue Frost would try to listen in the second that he realized that Golden Weaver and I had snuck out, but the little shit had been too preoccupied, and the old snake-man had snuck us into the elevator before anyone had noticed us.
“I’m sorry,” Anora sniffed and swiped at the tears all over her face.
“It’s okay, dear,” Vera said in the gentlest tone that I’d ever heard her use. “You two clearly went through something. Harper reached out and told me that you found an underground bunker, but that he couldn’t say much more than that because the National Guard was listening. We acted like an old married couple, so they thought that he was just telling his wife that he wouldn’t be home until late.”
“Good idea,” I said as I finally managed to control my emotions again. “It’ll be all over the news by tomorrow morning, but you should know that Admiral Freedom is dead.”
“Dead?” the eagle-woman said and spun to stare at me.
“Dead,” I repeated.
I grabbed a glass of water and chugged it before I answered. The cool liquid forced back the lump in my throat, but it did nothing for the image of the once-great superhero with his eyes in one hand and his throat in the other. I’d have nightmares about that for years to come, but for the moment, we had more important things to worry about, and my grief could wait until I could mourn all of the people that the Mastermind had killed.
“How?” she asked in a strained voice. “Wait. Let me sit down for this. I want to know everything from the beginning.”
The eagle-woman sat on the couch next to my partner, flicked her wings out a few times, and then settled in like we were about to tell ghost stories around a campfire. Vera curled and uncurled her talon-like hands a few times as if the strong woman was nervous, but since she was about to hear how the number one hero in New Liberty had died, she probably knew it wasn’t going to be a pretty tale.
I grabbed a glass of water for each of the women so that they could drink it if they were overwhelmed and then handed them the cups as I sat on the coffee table. The adventure in the bunker rushed through my head rapidly, and it took me a few seconds to figure out where to start. I decided to begin with Admiral Freedom and then work back to the break room, the weapons, and the Vis.
“Okay,” I said and cleared my throat. “First things first… he was killed by the Mastermind. No matter what the news says over the next few days, you should know that Admiral Freedom died because of that psychic bastard.”
“Okay,” Vera said slowly, like the word was six syllables instead of two. “Did you take pictures?”
“Harper did,” I said. “He’ll send them over later, but I’m not sure that you’ll want to see them. There won’t be any evidence in them, and it’s pretty gruesome.”
“I’d still like to see them,” the eagle-woman said with a clack of her beak. “It’s my duty as the head of the Heroes Society to investigate the death of any of our heroes. No matter how gruesome.”
“Vera,” Golden Weaver said and reached a hand over to put it on the eagle-woman’s knee. “You should listen to Osiris on this one. I wish that I could get rid of that image. Spare yourself.”
“It’s worse to imagine,” the proud woman huffed and then turned her attention back to me. “What happened?”
“The Mastermind made him kill himself,” I said fast like I was ripping off a Band-Aid.
“How?” Vera asked when I didn’t elaborate.
“He ripped his own throat out,” I said and met the strong woman’s gaze. “And he pulled out his eyes. I’m not even sure how he did it, but he was also hanging from chains when we found him.”
“I think he was hanging before his throat was ripped out,” my partner said and balled her hands into fists. “There was blood and bits of tissue in the chains.”
“H-he ripped out his own eyes and throat?” the eagle-woman asked in a small voice. “That son of a bitch! I’m going to tear his organs out and eat his liver.”
Vera hopped up from the couch like an avenging angel, and I was suddenly very glad that she wasn’t armed. The eagle-woman flapped her wings a few times and stomped around the small apartment with the fury of a thousand angry wasps. It took her a few seconds before she finally managed to calm down, but Golden Weaver and I stayed completely silent until the head of the Heroes Society gripped the back of the couch, took a deep breath, and then glowered at the wall behind me.
“I apologize,” she said in a strained voice. “I shouldn’t have lost my temper like that. I think that I just need to go and rest a little.”
“That’s fair,” I said with a reassuring smile. “It’s a lot to deal with.”
“Is there anything else that I need to know?” Vera asked and turned her attention back to me.
“It can wait until the morning,” I shrugged and glanced at my partner.
“Just tell me now,” the eagle-woman sighed and came around to sit down again. “I’d rather know everything right now than find out later from the news. We all know that the mayor is corrupt. Whether he’s the Mastermind or not is still to be seen, but there’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll use whatever you found in that bunker to discredit us. I don’t want to be blindsided.”
“Okay,” I said and tried not to picture the corpses strewn across the break room even as I prepared to talk about it. “There were other bodies down there. In a break room. It looked like Admiral Freedom had torn them all apart.”
“We think the Mastermind made him do it,” Golden Weaver spoke up and then chugged her glass of water. “And there were enough weapons to build an army.”
“And enough Vis to make them unstoppable,” I frowned. “But someone tipped off the National Guard to the bunker. I think that the Mastermind intended for the soldiers to find it so that all the blame can fall on Admiral Freedom’s shoulders.”
“That makes sense,” Vera said and then clacked her beak irritably. “This bastard has been operating in my city long enough to enact a plan like this. We need to find out who he is. Whether it’s the mayor, or someone else.”
“We can watch at the funeral,” I pointed out. “If the plan is to pin everything on Admiral Freedom, then tonight’s news should put it on blast. Tomorrow morning at the latest. And I’m sure the city will have a funeral for him.”
“Of course,” my partner rolled her eyes and set her glass on the coffee table. “So that the mayor can mourn the fall of such a great hero and bemoan the disgrace of the Heroes Society.”
“But all the city officials will be there,” the eagle-woman nodded. “If it’s not the mayor, then it’ll be someone close to him. We can go and keep an eye on everyone.”
“Exactly,” I said. “We just have to wait for them to announce it. Of course, the National Guard will be there in force to keep the protestors back. But I have no doubt that they’ll have orders to let the angry citizens get really loud.”
“Naturally,” Vera said in a dry tone. “They’ll probably broadcast it all across Unada. Maybe the world. To show that the number one hero not only died, but he killed innocent people on the way out.”
“And they’ll blame Vis,” Golden Weaver said. “They’ll hold the funeral and say that it’s to celebrate the hero that he was before he went evil.”
“It’s the perfect stage for the Mastermind to make everyone think that the major evil has been taken down,” I said. “I’m sure that the mayor will call for the hearing to restart. They’ll want to take all of the Heroes Society down for this.”
A heavy silence fell on the apartment as we thought about the upcoming funeral. It was hard enough that we’d lost so many good people in the prison break and in the attack on City Hall. But now Admiral Freedom was gone, and there was a war on the horizon that could end with the blood of non-supers running through the street.
“I’ll let you know when the funeral is,” Vera said and stood. “Get some rest. Mourn. Because we won’t be able to at the actual funeral.”
“You, too,” I said. “Let yourself grieve for a little while tonight.”
Vera nodded, and affection flashed across the stern woman’s face before the mask slid back into place. There was no doubt in my mind that she’d make good on that promise to eat the Mastermind’s liver, and I had to admit that I’d pay to see that. The eagle-woman was a terrifying opponent, and the psychic super had claimed one too many lives.
“This funeral is going to be a farce,” Golden Weaver said as the door shut behind Vera. “It’ll just be a publicity stunt to supposedly mourn a great hero while also spitting on his grave.”
“Yep,” I said and started to peel off my uniform.
The little bit of adrenaline that had kept me awake disappeared in a puff of smoke, and I barely had enough energy to take a quick shower and then climb into bed before sleep washed over me. Golden Weaver joined me at some point, and the scent of her lavender body wash drifted into my nightmares to turn them into sweet dreams.
“Breakfast is here,” Anora’s voice broke through the heavy clouds around me.
“Hmm?” I mumbled as I pried myself awake.
“Breakfast is here,” the beautiful woman repeated.
My eyes fluttered open to see the gorgeous woman in the kitchenette with two silver breakfast trays. Anora must have gone back to her own apartment at some point, because she had on one of her baggy t-shirts splattered with paint and a pair of black lace boy shorts that cupped the superhero’s perfectly round ass. I watched my partner pour us coffee, flipped off the blankets, and then strolled over to steal a kiss.
“I should stay over more often,” she said breathlessly when we finally pulled apart.
“You definitely should,” I winked and then slapped her butt.
Anora laughed and shook her head, but a faint blush crawled up the gorgeous woman’s tanned cheeks. It was rare to see my partner so shy, and for a moment, the rest of the world faded away. Golden Weaver was one of the best superheroes in New Liberty, and I was one of the few people who had ever seen her without a mask, and the only one that had shared the sexy woman’s bed.
My attention shifted from the sway of her hips to the bacon and croissant on the breakfast tray. I’d gone straight to bed without dinner the night before, and hunger cramped my stomach like it had been years instead of just a day since I’d tasted food. It didn’t help that whoever made the food at the Heroes Society made everything look delicious, and I licked my lips at the sight of the honey-drizzled strawberries.
“Eat,” Anora smirked and fed me a strawberry. “I think I heard your stomach growling while you were still asleep. And we’ve been summoned to the basement. I have no idea why the Designer wants to meet in Orion’s lab, but it will probably be for something that requires a lot of energy.”
“Probably,” I shook my head and then tucked into the breakfast.
It didn’t take long for us to finish eating, especially since both of us were ravenous from the night before. My metabolism had increased significantly since my first death, but that made sense since I now had several superpowers that demanded a lot of energy. It took a lot to run at full capacity, and a grin spread across my face when I saw that the chef had sent an extra bag of high protein snacks to get me through the day.
“Shall we?” I asked and snatched the bag off the counter, checked that my face mask was in place, and then pulled the hood over my head. “Don’t want to keep the Designer waiting.”
“I’m ready,” Anora said as she came out of the bathroom.
We’d both changed into the standard black sweatpants and hoodies that the Heroes Society kept on hand for emergencies, and they were so comfortable that I planned to ask for extras once we were finally allowed to go home. I’d only be able to wear them around the apartment since they had our logo stitched into them, but they also had plenty of give for when I worked out in Junior’s basement training arena.
I led the way to the elevator and watched as the numbers slowly descended toward the basement. Some part of me had expected the Watcher to drop me like she usually did, but the secretive super never tested Golden Weaver’s patience. I had no doubt that my partner would find the woman wherever she was hidden in the skyscraper and make her pay, so it was always a good idea to have Anora with me if I didn’t want a roller coaster ride instead of an elevator ride.
“Have a good visit,” the Watcher broke the silence as the doors opened to the basement. “And try not to die.”
“What?” I asked and turned around to stare into the metal box as the doors shut behind us. “What does that mean?”
“John,” Anora said in an amused tone. “It’s almost impossible to kill you. I think she was just messing with you.”
“Fair,” I said and ran a hand through my hair. “This basement just gives me the creeps. It feels like a serial killer is going to jump out at any moment.”
“Boo!” Orion shouted and jumped out from behind a crate tower that reached the ceiling.
“Bro!” I snapped and forced my shoulders to retreat from my ears. “I could’ve killed you. You do know that my fist doesn’t break, right?”
“Of course, I do,” the inventor waved his hand dismissively. “I have a personal shield on, just in case. Honestly, I was kind of hoping that you would punch it so that I could test how strong it is.”
“That can still be arranged,” I laughed and shook my head. “What are you doing out here anyway?”
“Oh, the Designer sent me,” Orion said with an exasperated sigh. “He’s been working all night. I really need him to go back to his own studio. The old man has used half of my nanobots. I mean… obviously I can make more, but I had plans for those as well. And he drank like half of my coffee stores.”
Golden Weaver and I shared a look before we followed the talkative inventor along the corridor. Orion rambled on about how the Designer had left fabric all over the place like there weren’t enough gadgets and tools spread out everywhere. I swallowed a laugh when the frazzled man turned to wait for our agreeing nods, and Anora quickly bobbed her head so that he’d continue.
The basement hallway was the same as it had always been with crates and abandoned inventions scattered everywhere. Overhead fluorescents blinked in an out like they were about to die, but that was just part of Orion’s aesthetic. The whole place was designed to look like something out of a horror movie with shadows all around us so that the weaker heroes wouldn’t bother to visit.
Not that they could get to the basement without the Watcher’s express permission, and Orion had given her a very short list of approved visitors. I’d been added almost immediately since the inventor wanted to test my abilities as well as his new hoverboard technology. Even the secretive Heroes Society guardian had seemed to take to me almost immediately, though she treated me more like a sibling on her shitlist than someone she wanted to invite over for Thanksgiving dinner.
