The Becoming (Super Heroes)

[LadyTevar]

I keep wondering what would have happened if this agency had found Argent. She's only 4-5 years younger than Blackheart. If they got her early, think of all the things a proper training in her Empathy could have done.

[Imperial Overlord]

February 14, 2002

"Chronos has a nasty sense of humor," said Penumbra. His voice seemed to come from every corner of the warehouse. The meta himself was invisible, concealed by his shadow powers. "Fucking their shit up on Valentine's Day? That's cold man."

"Mmm," grunted Corpse King. He was massive, muscled like Arnold in his steroid abusing body builder days and eight feet tall. His skin was a blood red and his shoulder length hair greasy black. Gleaming white fangs peered from between his lips and ebony talons tipped his fingers. Plates of bone-white body armour covered most of his nearly invulnerable body and a golden crown rested on his brow.

He wasn't paying attention to Penumbra's ramblings. Instead he was going over the corpses that lined the interior of the eighteen wheeler's trailer. They had been thieved from morgues and funeral homes by Diva's worshipers and each one was armed with an M-16 and carried extra ammo, also courtesy of Diva's worshipers.

He had filled them with his power. If he willed it they would rise. Rise and kill. As long as they were close to him they would be swift, inhumanely strong berserker savages. The power would fade though. After an hour away from him they would be slow, strong shamblers. After a day they would be lifeless corpses.

"So we hit Manhattan, the Canadians, those Intel guys, and now Ultima," continued Penumbra. "Who is next? Guardian Force?"

"No," said Corpse King. "If they fuck with us, we fuck them up but otherwise leave them alone. Prophet says it's better if they stay in the picture."

"Really? They're a bunch of do gooders like the rest?"

"That's Prophet's word on it," growled the Corpse King. "Unless you would like to take it up with him? Or Chronos?"

"That Nazi fuck? Pass."

"Watch it," growled Corpse King.

"Okay, okay," said Penumbra. "But he was a Nazi."

"Was. Past tense. Now shut up and get in the driver's seat. It's just about time to roll."

"Better than being in back with you and the corpses." Shadows coalesced into a humanoid form in the truck's driver seat. "Okay, we're getting the show on the road." He turned the key in the ignition and the engine rumbled to life."

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Getting a sniper's perch with a good view of the front of the Ultima Headquarters in Washington was a lot easier when Diva was doing to getting. A few minutes after meeting her and people were stumbling over themselves to do her will. Which was why Gunslinger was sitting in an apartment with a good line of sight a little more than a kilometer away from the concrete barriers that were intended to protect Ultima HQ from car bombers.

"Oh yeah," said Gunslinger. "We'll show you some explosive action." He was set up with the fourteen millimeter again, but this time he was merely back up. This was Corpse King's show. Penumbra was around to do transport and he was there for some fire support, but Corpse King would be doing most of the damage.

The eighteen wheeler was conspicuous. Not exactly a lot of them around that part of town at noon. That was alright. He could see a security guard's head move to follow the progress of the truck. Gunslinger chuckled. Rent-a-cop security at Ultima. They might just be there to handle the schizos who thought they had powers or the whiners who thought their poor boy was mistreated by the federal super cops, but they were a joke. He considered capping the rent-a-cop for a moment, but it would mean revealing himself early and it was unnecessary.

The side of the eighteen wheeler burst open and Corpse King jumped out. The rent-a-cop fell and twitched and turned an interesting shade of lobster-red. Half naked corpses with assault rifles jumped out of the breach and ran like Olympic sprinters towards the Ultima building. Fuck, there were a lot of them. The security guard got up and followed in their wake. That's the thing about Corpse King, when he started rolling his army just got bigger and bigger. Oh yeah baby, it was on.

[Imperial Overlord]

Superhero comics took off in the thirties. When World War Two rolled around and real superhumans started appearing, they didn't slow down. In the aftermath of the war the question of how to handle the superhumans in government service and the increasing numbers that seemed to spontaneously appearing around the world become increasingly urgent. In the west, particularly in the United States, the image of the costume hero had already burned itself into the collective imagination as a result of the those early comic books and wartime propaganda. Superhumans fought evil. Nazis, Japs, commies, and gangsters; it was all the same. One of the results was Ultima.

Every government department wanted a piece of the relatively small superhuman pie and the Department of Justice ended up with one of the larger slices. The Metahuman Affairs Division was tasked with investigating criminal activity and espionage involving metahumans and grew rapidly throughout the fifties as a stalwart foe of communist subversives everywhere, real and imagined. Of course to actually combat and apprehend metahuman criminals and agents required teams of specially trained and equipped agents or metahuman agents. Both kinds of agents were combined to form the elite Ultima Teams.

The bosses cultivated good press for the Ultima Teams and they got it. The whole division came to informally be known by the shorthand "Ultima" and the bosses got their own building in DC and increasingly greater power and a greater slice of the budgetary pie. That success had certain unforeseen consequences. One of those consequences was coming at them right now.

A dozen zombies stormed forward towards Ultima's lobby and smacked into panes of bulletproof glass. Trouble had not been entirely unanticipated. The security guard at the main desk pulled his gun and crouched down, having already hit the alarm. Super strong undead surged through the door and smashed the panes of bulletproof glass out of their frames. People were running screaming away from the lobby. The zombies advanced, firing their rifles on semi-auto at any target they saw.

Blockader stomped out of a room next into the lobby and towards the undead. An attack hadn't been entirely unanticipated. The meta was huge and his costume consisted of massive slabs of grey armour plate. Bullets rang off him as he closed. His first swing turned a zombie's torso to jelly and sent it flying, knocking three more zombies down.

Blockader waded in. Bones were pulverized under his relentless fists. The surviving zombies broke around him like a wave, scattering to either side of the lobby. Blockader reached out and crushed two as they tried to scatter passed him. Corpse King walked through the door.

Blockader roared and surged forward. Around him he could hear the sounds of gunshots as the undead engaged the living. He needed only hold out for a few more moments before reinforcements arrived. Blockader lunged forward. Sweat dripped from his brow. It was stiffling in his armour. His heart was racing. He felt weak. All the strength was draining from his limbs. He was roasting alive.

He forced himself forward. One step. The next. And then next. He wound up to swing and stepped into the blow. Corpse King dodged back, out of the way. The infernal strength sapping heat vanished. Blockader roared and lunged.

Corpse King smashed Blockader in the side of the head. His claws gouged steel and the force of the blow smashed the other meta into the floor, shattering tiles. Blockader got to his feet with a roar. Corpse King kicked him hard in the chest, driving him across the lobby and through a wall. Corpse King spared a moment to fill the dead with his power, adding his victims to the ranks of his soldiers.

A jet of fire roared into the lobby from the left. A wave of scorching air hit Corpse King like a fist. The huge meta backed away as Blockader got to his feet and a glowing humanoid shape glided through a wall of fire. A crackling voice came from the shining Ultima agent. "Try your blood boil powers on me, Corpse King. You're going to burn."

Blockader broke into a slow trot across the lobby. Corpse King backed away. "I'm going to kick your ass," rumbled Blockader.

"Maybe," said Corpse King. "Maybe not."

The blazing Ultima agent jerked and fell. Behind him a large hole appeared in the wall, courtesy of a tungsten penetrator wrapped in carbon sheathing. The problem of how to kill a super hot metahuman had been around since World War Two and the solution that worked most of the time was custom made bullets with very high melting points. Corpse King smiled at Blockader. "Just you and me big boy," and he rushed to meet the other meta.

[LadyTevar]

And this, my friends, is why you always have ranged weaponry for backups.

Great fight so far, luv. Blockader's struggle towards CorpseKing had a very epic feel to it.

[White Haven]

It's somewhat refreshing to see the 'huge lumbering brute' not be a bad guy for once. *peers eagerly and starts hitting F5*

[Imperial Overlord]

Two men dashed down the halls towards the gunfire. One wore a Kevlar vest over a black t-shirt and slacks. He was a light skinned Hispanic with the build of a marathon runner and short cropped hair. Pistols and knives hung off his harness and he had an axe in each hand. The other man was on the short side with light skin and shaggy blond hair. He wore a blue woven body armour with snowflake designs.

"Jack," said the axe-man. "Bottle me up in there after I get our people out." A look at the security camera feeds had told them what they were about to go into.

"Will do," said Jack Frost, "but zombies are one thing, how the hell do you plan to go toe to toe with Corpse King?"

"I'll figure something out," replied the Executioner. He sprinted around the corner and into hell. A half dozen bullet riddled zombies were relentlessly going from office to office, cubicle to cubicle, killing anyone they found. Two agents and a security guard were at crouched behind corners, putting bullets into corpses that would not fall. Two zombies were advancing on them. Despite over a dozen bullet wounds each, the dead didn't fall.

The Executioner was on them before they could react. The metahuman's axes took off the zombies' head and arms in a blur of motion and then he was charging into the main mass. Limbs went flying and gore was splattered everywhere. The zombies tried to turn their rifles against him or claw at him in close quarters, but they were so. Axes struck and flesh parted. His kicks disarmed them or crushed ribs and sent them spinning to the floor. He dodged with inhuman speed and struck and struck again. In less than half a minute it was over, the red soaked metahuman was standing, panting, over a mound of the dead. He had been hit half a dozen times, but only a trickle of blood came from his injuries. Behind him a huge wall of ice blocked the corridor.

"Zombies greased. I'm moving to the lobby," he said into his earpiece and broke into a jog.

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Blockader and Corpse King smashed each other with enough force that their impact was felt three floors up. Corpse King swung at Blockader's face and succeeded in tearing off most of the meta's helmet. Blockader headbutted Corpse King in the mouth and broke a tusk. Corpse King took a step back, howling in pain.

Blockader buried his fist into Corpse King's gut. White armour cracked from the impact and Corpse King slid across the lobby. Behind him white mist appeared and hardened into a huge half dome of ice. Blockader stomped forward to finish the fight.

Gunslinger watched the ice dome go up. "Motherfucker," he said. He switched his scope to IR, but no joy. The ice had to be at least two feet thick. "Penumbra," he said, "they just sealed our boy up."

"I see," he said. "Nothing that Corpse King can't go through."

"No shit," said Gunslinger, "but shooting through two feet of ice at targets I can't see because there's two feet of ice isn't going to fly. I can't help him while he's in there. Get him out and drag the fight onto the streets."

"Hey, I'm just transpo. Even if I don't get smushed in there, Chronos will have my head."

"You fucking pussy. Get him out. Now."

"Or what? You think you're scary than Chronos? Corpse King can handle himself."

"Fuck this shit," said Gunslinger. He ejected the clip out of his rifle and cleared the breach. "Hate to fucking waste the round," he said as he hand loaded a red tipped bullet into the gun.

Corpse King jumped to his feet and swung his right claw at Blockader's face. The meta blocked and the two giants grappled. Corpse King strained and lifted Blockader off his feet. "No leverage now, bitch," he said. He turned and hurled the meta through the ice dome. Blockader smashed through the ice and the antivehicle concrete posts to come to rest in the middle of the street.

Corpse King stepped through the hole in the ice and towards his prey. His eyes glowed softly. Blockader moaned and stirred, getting to his feet as waves of heat again assailed him.

A kilometer away Gunslinger was watching through his scope. "Well done my man," he said ejecting the bullet and reloading with armour piercing. "Now fuck his shit up and get back to business."

"Time to die," said Corpse King as advanced on Blockader. "I could cook you from a distance, but I want to feel you die under my hands."

"Talk is cheap," said Blockader as he staggered forward. Corpse King struck, feinting high and then striking Blockader in the chest. Hammer blows hit the Ultima meta in the shoulder and in the face. He struck back, cracking Corpse King's armour before being smashed to his knees.

"Pathetic," said Corpse King who then kicked him across the street and into the side of a building. The wall cracked and Blockader slid down to the sidewalk. White mist shrouded Corpse King and hardened into a cocoon of ice.

"Chill out," said Jack Frost as he layered more ice onto the sarcophagus entombing Corpse King. The Ultima meta stepped out of the ice dome. "You're not going anywhere. Blockader, you alright?"

"Uhh," Blockader moaned. "Get cover."

"What was that?" Jack Frost asked. Chunks of ice calved off Corpse King's prison. The meta flexed his arms and the ice tomb cracked. "Fucking heat vision." He reached out to intensify his hold.

Steaming chunks of ice fell away from Corpse King's prison as it collapsed into frozen rubble and streams of hot water. "Fuck," said Jack Frost. Sweat beaded his forehead. White mist gathered around his right hand. "I hate doing this."

"Goodbye asshole," said Gunslinger as he pulled the trigger. Jack Frost's head exploded.

[LadyTevar]

Yeah... Do you think Ultima will be hiring after this one?

[Imperial Overlord]

"God damn fuck!" swore Executioner as he saw Jack Frost's body fall. The last parts of the ice prison fell away from Corpse King, leaving him at the center of a large pool of water.

He laughed. "So much for that asshole. Your ass is mine." He strode toward where Blockader was trying to stand. "Just lay down and die. I'll make it quick."

Blockader roared to his feet and charged. He barreled into Corpse King and knocked the other meta over. Blockader locked his hands around Corpse King's throat.

Executioner did a quick calculation based on the angles. In order to hit both Frost and Shining Star meant that the sniper had to be in one of two general areas and the direction of the hole left by the tungsten penetrator after it went through Shining Star's body ruled out one of those.

He couldn't do shit to Corpse King, not with the weapon's he had. He could, however, do something about that god damned sniper. Something like send him on the express lane to hell.

He burst through the breach in the ice dome like a bullet and he cleared the antivehicle barriers with a single leap and then he was across the street and gone.

Gunslinger tried to track him, but couldn't get a bead on him before the Executioner found cover. "One inbound," he said through the radio. "Get ready for extraction."

"Standing by," said Penumbra. "Corpse King is having some trouble."

"Well, unless he moves his ass about three or four meters, I don't have the shot."

As Blockader squeezed, Corpse King raised his hands to his enemy's head and squeezed. The red skinned meta curled his thumbs and then drove the talon tipped digits into Blockader's eyes. Blockader let out a high, hoarse scream as blood and ocular fluid ran down Corpse King's hands. "I'm not finished with you yet, bitch!" Corpse King shouted and increased the pressure on his thumbs.

Blockader twisted and shuddered as Corpse King drove his talons into the meta's brain. He went through a series of spasms and then lay still. Corpse King pushed the corpse off him and stood up. There was at least thirty cops surrounding him. He laughed. "Time to die."

Bullets flew. Many of them hit Corpse King, but they didn't hurt him. He turned his blood boil vision on the officers, systematically boiling their internal organs in their own blood. The dead then rose at his command to attack their comrades. It took less than ten seconds for him to reduce the situation to murderous, desperate anarchy. The dead continued to rise. Within thirty seconds, every officer was dead or dying.

"Spread out into the city and kill everything," the meta ordered his new slaves. Penumbra slid out from an alley.

"Gunslinger is about to have company. We have to go."

"Fuck," said Corpse King, "I was just getting started."

"You can argue with Chronos."

"Pass. Alright, get me out of here."

[LadyTevar]

So... who's the next target?

[CaptainChewbacca]

IT LIVES! I'm betting Blackheart takes an interest in this incident.

And damn, if this can come back, so can Stargate: 1939.

[Imperial Overlord]

February 18, 2002


"When Executioner reached the sniper's nest it was empty," said Taskmaster. The wall screen behind him displayed several images of the empty room. "The sniper, presumably Gunslinger, had escaped via teleportation by Penumbra. Questions?"

"They have nukes right?" asked Iron Mike. "Why the fuck didn't they use them?"

"Black Arion wishes to spark a human-metahuman war that will result in Armageddon," said Taskmaster. "Their stockpile of nuclear weapons is limited and reckless use of them will merely solidify opposition, both human and metahuman, against them. Their goal is provoke anti-metahuman pogroms, thereby radicalizing a substantial part of the world's metahuman population and driving them into Black Arion's camp. The resulting war, metahumans against conventional militaries and remaining metahumans, still has to be won. Or, in other words, they don't have the bombs to spare on counterproductive actions."

"We know their leaders think long term," said a slight blond youth. "They also have access to advanced technology and a metahuman creation techniques. We need to disrupt their operations before they escalate much further and I'm not talking about neutralizing their foot soldiers."

"Synapse is correct," said Taskmaster. "Other organizations are floundering, attempting to anticipate and defeat their strikes and merely succeeding in neutralizing expendable operatives on the rare occasion when they do manage a success. This is partially attributable to political pressure for quick results. We, on the other hand, are preparing to deliver meaningful successes."

A loud whoop greeted his words. Taskmaster waited until it died down before continuing. "You'll be briefed in the next few days about your targets as final preparations are being made. Any other questions?"

There were none. "Then you are dismissed." A dozen metahuman operatives got up and slowly walked out the doors of the briefing room.

"Hey man," said Iron Mike to Valkyrie, "did you here-"

"Man?" the big blond said questioningly with an arched eyebrow.

"Don't bust my balls woman," Mike replied. "You here about those Guardian Force dudes? Light rings and those gay ass colour coordinated costumes off a bad Japanese TV show?"

"You just found out about those attention whores?" said Valkyrie with a snicker. "They've been beating up every petty criminal and brain damaged would be super villain in range of a camera for a while. Talk to Blackheart about them. He follows that kind of shit. Probably because the internet is the only place he can have a relationship without the other person ending up hating his guts."

Iron Mike looked behind him guiltily. It wasn't the kids fault, hell he wasn't even that much of a kid anymore, but Blackheart was Blackheart. He was trailing the group, as always. "Hey Blackheart, what do you know about these Guardian Force dudes?"

"Amateurs," said Blackheart, "but amateurs with a huge fucking bankroll and gear out of nowhere. Matching costumes, apparently matching light rings, some other toys like magic swords and shit and god knows what else. If Taskmaster knows more, he isn't saying."

"Wait," said Iron Mike. "You're telling me they have a whole bunch of super shit and cash no one has any fucking clue where it came from?"

"No one. It's not US gov or Russian supertech."

"German?" asked Valkyrie. "They've got some sweet shit, they just don't show it around as much."

"No," replied Blackheart. "It's got to be someone private. I think someone stumbled on a stash of out dimension or uptime tech and decided to play hero. Or the pawns of extradimensional horrors are prancing around in public while their secret masters arrange Ragnarok."

"Nice," said Valkyrie. "You always this optimistic?"

"Having giant space wasp larva in your chest will do wonders for your outlook," deadpanned Blackheart. "Now you'll have to excuse me, I have to go so I don't prematurely psychicly poison you and fuck up our teamwork." He walked past them and down the empty hallway.

"Poor bastard," said Iron Mike softly. "You want a coffee or something?"

"In your dreams," said Valkyrie.

"Can't hold it against a brother for trying?"

"Yes I can," but the smile she gave him took the sting out of the words as she walked away.

"Oh yeah," whispered Iron Mike as he watched her go. "One of these days I am going to hit that."

[CaptainChewbacca]

"Having giant space wasp larva in your chest will do wonders for your outlook," deadpanned Blackheart. "Now you'll have to excuse me, I have to go so I don't prematurely psychicly poison you and fuck up our teamwork." He walked past them and down the empty hallway.

Oh yes, Blackheart is definitely my favorite. If I were him, and I was hanging around super-tech-geeks, I'd see if someone could build me an android girlfriend (or even just regular friend). Full-on AI and awareness, that should provide SOME companionship.

[Imperial Overlord]

Oh yes, Blackheart is definitely my favorite. If I were him, and I was hanging around super-tech-geeks, I'd see if someone could build me an android girlfriend (or even just regular friend). Full-on AI and awareness, that should provide SOME companionship.

Wrong kind of geeks he's hanging with. There are AI projects in universe, but they're done by different people and closer to T-600 and HKs than fembots.

[Imperial Overlord]

February 20, 2002

The wall screen displayed an apparently undisturbed jungle valley. "As you can see, the base is completely invisible to satellite coverage," said Taskmaster. "The stealth capabilities of Black Arion are quite impressive. Nonetheless, we have managed to discover this facility due to chinks in their operational security."

The jungle scene vanished to be replaced with the face of an attractive woman of clearly Mediterranean or South American descent. "Diva," said Taskmaster. "She has chemical based mind control powers and is the key to Black Arion's control of its press ganged recruits and compromised government agents. People exposed to her literally worship her as a goddess. The effect is quite long lasting, but requires reinforcement. We have been able to track Black Arion's couriers and the supply stream back to the source."

"Underneath the camouflage field there are three bunkers and a main base. Secondary teams will hit the bunkers, which are equipped with as of yet unknown beam weapons for air and missile defence, when your team hits the main base."

"Top priority is the death or capture of Diva. Neutralizing her will limit Black Arion's ability to swell their ranks with easy converts and their ability to subvert intelligence organization. Capture is preferable as she is likely to be a member of Black Arion's inner circle.

"Your second objective is the capture of as many of Black Arion's personnel and data as possible. I do not need to tell you how crucial our need for intelligence is in this matter. Your third objective is the neutralization of all Black Arion personnel on site." Snickers greeted the last.

"How do you think we're going to get our hands on goddess-girl if we don't beat the ever living shit out of all of her worshipers?" Valkyrie asked.

"A valid point," said Taskmaster. "A high body count is expected on this mission. You'll undoubtedly be facing multiple enemy metas and capture may become impossible. Operational considerations restrict the number of people we can deploy and the availability of reinforcements. Any questions?"

"What does limited support mean?" asked Blackheart.

"Three heavy weapons teams that will be tasked to neutralize the bunkers." Taskmaster declined to mention the cruise missile that would be launched if the operation failed. Diva's death was a priority.

"That's it?" Blackheart asked.

"Unfortunately. Any other questions?"

"Do we still have some of that late Twenty-Second Century alt universe Russian military hardware in the arsenal?" Blackheart asked. "Because I think we're going to need it."

[LadyTevar]

YES! you need BIGGER GUNS!


Ok, Cyncat, you know we're waiting for the next chapter. We're expecting another all-out smackdown with bodies flying and metas throwing powers every which way.
Don't keep us waiting!

[Eleas]

Jesus fuck, this is good. Been meaning to check out this since it was first posted, but haven't gotten around it until now. Had to read it all, but it still wasn't nearly enough.

Highly entertaining. Please keep posting.

[Imperial Overlord]

February 24, 2002

Blackheart unslung the massive missile launcher and rested the weapon on his shoulder. The Russian weapon massed a little over fifty kilos, making it unlikely that it was issued to baseline humans. Blackheart mused briefly about its intended users. Cyborgs? Metas? Genejobs? Power armour operators? He would probably never know.

His watch showed a little over two minutes until go time. If everyone was where they should be, the three antiair bunkers, which could probably also fire down into the valley and fuck up everyone's day, would be taken out at the same time Valkyrie and he knocked on the base's door. If everything went according to plan, the exterior defenses would be taken out before the defenders knew they were being hit.

Of course, things might not go according to plan. Which was why two of the teams toughest members, and the ones with long range weapons, were doing the knocking. If fire started raining down on them, they might live through it and could respond in kind.

There was a gust of wind and Blackheart looked up to see a large bat flitter overhead. The nigh tsky was empty, save for the moon and the stars. Anyone looking back down would see nothing but jungle. The hillside bunkers with their sensor masts and beam weapon mounts would be just as invisible as the walled ranch style mansion that was probably built over the base. How the fuck did Black Arion do that? Blackheart didn't know, but he was betting that particular piece of intelligence was one that Taskmaster would like the team to retrieve.

"One minute," Patricia whispered. She started to slink away. She was the group's most powerful meta, but not much less vulnerable than an ordinary human. If things went wrong, she was the last person they wanted catching a stray bolt.

Thirty seconds. The compound had a ten foot wall around it and a raised guard tower at the front gate. There were a pair of guards at it and a multibarreled cannon of some kind. It really screamed "secret drug kingpin lair". Blackheart shifted position, exposing himself slightly, as he shouldered the launcher and removed the nightvision goggles

Ten seconds. Passive scan through the view finder gave him an even better view than the goggles. Both guards had mustaches and were wearing fatiuges. One was smoking a cigarette. The cannon was a GE minigun. He raised the sight to the antenna cluster at the top of the house.

Lightning flashed and the guard platform exploded. Chunks of burning wood flew in all directions and after half a second there was a slew of small secondary explosions and brilliant fireworks as the ammunition cooked off. The viewfinder compensated to save Blackheart's night vision. Valkyrie had jumped the gun by a second.

He pulled the trigger. There was a surprisingly gentle kick as the back blast scorched the ground behind him and the missile flew from the launcher like a bat out of hell. Ten meters from the target the missile detonated in a shaped cone blast wave that reduced the antennas to tiny pieces of molten slag flying very rapidly away from the house. The magazine dropped the next missile into the launcher.

Valkyrie hit the gates with another night shattering lightning bolt and they blew inward. Blackheart rose up half a meter into the air and then rushed forward. As flyers went he was near the bottom of the barrel, but it was faster than sprinting through the jungle and had a lot less chance of tripping on something.

"Echo Two executed," said a voice in his earpiece.

"Echo Three executed."

"Echo One executed." Thunder begin to roll in as the sound from the distant explosions reached the base. Valkyrie broke out of the jungle, flying up fifty meters in the air and then hovering above the house.

Beams of eye searing white light flashed around Valkyrie. Several hit. Lightning flashed from her hands and hammered the ground. Thunder rolled away from the compound. There was a wall in the way so Blackheart couldn't see who she was shooting at, but the number of beams lashing the sky decreased considerably. More lightning came from her hands and then the firing ceased.

Blackheart cleared the last of the trees and rose into the air for a better look. A dozen corpses were sprawled on the ground. Valkyrie appeared unhurt. It took a lot to put her down.

The front door opened and a giant in bone white armour walked out. He was eight feet tall with red skin and black hair. Blackheart recognized him immediately.

"Bitch!" He roared as he glared at Valkyrie. Valkyrie extended her hands and smashed him with lightning. The flash blinded Blackheart for a moment. When his vision cleared there was a hole in the wall behind Corpse King and the middle section of the porch he had been standing on had been blown to pieces. "That the best you got?" he roared.

"No," Blackheart whispered as he dropped the sight over Corpse King's chest and pulled the trigger. The antitank warhead left a trail of fire as it blazed its way through the air and struck Corpse King in the chest. The huge meta was smashed to the ground as if struck by the fist of an angry god.

"Nice shooting," said Valkyrie as she dropped to the ground. "Let's beat the shit out of the rest of these assholes and secure everything worth taking."

Corpse King jerked up to sitting position, chunks of what had been his cuirass sliding off his chest. Heat assailed Blackheart. It was like he was out under the desert sun. He's trying to cook me with his blood boil vision, the meta thought. Blackheart's finger closed on the trigger just as sparks shot from the vision finder and smoke rose from the weapon. Corpse King had shifted targets and cooked the insides of the future tech launcher.

"Aw fuck," said Blackheart as he let the weapon drop. The charred bodies of the dead rose to their feet.

"Blackheart," said Patricia's voice in his ear, "take out the dead."

Valkyrie hit Corpse King with another lightning bolt, which knocked him back a step but didn't drop him. He threw a piece of rubble at Valkyrie and missed. Blackheart's eyes glowed like stars as he faced the mass of animated corpses. Blue-white beams shot from his eyes.

Burning through torsos would require a lot of energy. Blackheart aimed low, slicing through the zombies legs just above the knees. The dead toppled to the ground and then began to pull themselves forward with their hands. "Fuck," said Blackheart.

"Good enough," said Heatwave behind him. "The dead still burn." The cracks in the grey skinned meta's flesh were glowing an angry orange. When he really got going even the special heat resistant uniform would eventually melt. "Corpse King," he rasped. "Hell is coming for you."

"Fuck-" said Corpse King and then his eyes rolled back in his sockets and hell fell over.

"Got him," said Patricia. "Now put the asshole out of commission permanently and lets finish the rest of this job."

[LadyTevar]

Body of steel, mind of Kleenex

[White Haven]

...Alright, that qualifies as sufficiently hardcore. Good stuff!

[CaptainChewbacca]

NICE. I like the casual supernaturalism you have. The weapons cache from '22nd-century alt-universe russia' was just perfect.

So, was lightning shooting from BLACKHEART'S eyes, too?

[Alan Bolte]

Blackheart grew "energy beam projectors" at the bottom of page one.

[Imperial Overlord]

Matador appeared out of nowhere next to Corpse King's prone body. The government meta wore black body armour like his comrades and had a matte black charged particle beam rifle slung over his shoulder. He leaned over Corpse King and reached out with his bare left hand to deliver his death touch.

A wave of psychic effluvium washed over him and all the metas nearby. Matador staggered back as a torrent of caustic mental filth overloaded his senses and filled his mind with agony. Valkyrie stumbled. Blackheart shook his head to clear it.

Patricia unleashed a hurricane of psychic force that swept away the torrent of black thought as nightmarish meta ducked down so it could clear the threshold. Standing its full height it was about ten feet tall and roughly humanoid. It was armoured in green-black scales and its feet were claw tipped like a bird's. It had powerful, steely tentacles instead of arms and a fang filled dinosauroid head.

A tentacle lashed out at Matador. The meta flickered away, leaving the Black Arion monster to strike empty air. The other limb caught Black Heart across the chest and sent the meta tumbling across the lawn toward the mass of crawling cannibal undead. Corpse King stirred as the monstrous meta stepped through the remains of the porch and bellowed. A silvery humanoid walked out behind him, accompanied by a lance like thrust of psychic power.

Lightning lashed the tentacled meta. It raised it's head and cried out in what might have been joy as electrical arcs danced over its skin. There was no sign of injury at all and its movements seemed slightly faster. "Motherfucker," said Valkyrie.

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Patricia blinked and shook her head. The jungle had gone. She was on a dark plain beneath a starless sky. Dark, cyclopean obelisks erupted from the ground and towered hundred of feet in the air. She was barefoot and wearing only a thin blouse and a plaid shirt. No underwear either. This is a mindscape, she thought. Her attacker was immensely strong to drag her into a mindscape and reorder her mental image in that brief, savage attack.

A dark, shapeless mass slithered out from behind a obelisk on her left. She couldn't make out many details other than a huge mass of writhing tentacles. A dozen of them shot towards her. Two wrapped around her arms, another pair coiled around her neck, as other pocked at her chest, and coiled around her legs. The tentacles pulled and her legs opened. "I'm going to fuck you in all your holes," said a leering mind voice.

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The undead swarmed over Blackheart, biting and clawing futility at the downed meta. Blackheart struggled against the pinning mass, crushing flesh and bone but they were dead and he couldn't get the space for full powered strikes. Oven-like heat rolled over and a scent strongly reminiscent of cooking bacon filled the air. The weight and the number of his attackers diminished. He tossed the few feebly remaining away and surged to his feet.

Heatwave was beside him, putting off enough heat to burn mundane flesh. "Thanks," said Blackheart and then he rushed back into the fight. Valkyrie had already gotten the party started.

The blond meta swooped down on the reptile meta and smashed him in the muzzle, shattering his jaw and sending bloody teeth flying. The meta had crashed back into the house by the expedient of being slammed through the wall. The metal man's arms changed. The left one became a blade, the right a huge hammer. He swung the hammer at Valkyrie, but she dodged out of the way and hit him with lightning.

He laughter followed the peel of thunder. "I'm metal, you dumb bitch." She swooped in again, smashing him off his feet with a solid blow to the face. He got up immediately. There was a large dent in his face. It smoothed over and his face reformed, as cold and perfect as before.

"Fuck," Valkyrie swore. Then Corpse King heaved again and pushed himself to his feet. Blood trickled from the wound on his massive chest.

He roared as the reptilian meta stomped out of the house. "Now you are all going to fucking die," he said.

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The tentacles holding Patricia burst into flames. The other telepath hastily retracted his scorched members as the government meta's skin turned grey and armour-like. Chrome-steel blades sprouted from her unflesh, tearing through the school-girl clothes as Patricia's size swelled.

"That was you best shot? Japanese perv comics was the best you can do?" She laughed mockingly. "Poor little boy, with out an imagination or balls to call his own. Pathetic." The armour titan was now thirty meters tall and gazed down upon her opponent with eyes of fire. "Let me give you a real reason to be afraid of women, you fucking eunuch." She strode forward and raised her foot to crush her enemy into paste.

The mass of tentacles shifted, turning into a giant red skinned demon with a mouth full of fangs and a long tongue. "I'll fucking kill you, you cunt."

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"Valkyrie," said Blackheart, "take Corpse King. Heatwave, metal boy." He rose up, his eyes glowing like stars as Valkyrie came down like a comet on Corpse King. She smashed into the big meta and sent him flying a dozen meters. She followed up, flying low to grab his arm, swing him around, and toss him over the compound wall.

The grass around the metal man caught fire as he advanced. The air swam with heat shimmers and distortions. The ground ten meters away was instantly backed hard. "I'm metal," he said, advancing on Heatwave. "You're going to have to do better than that."

"I did," said Heatwave as the metal man's foot sank up to his knee in molten glass. Heatwave had only a limited ability to focus his powers, but by hitting the earth between them he had bought precious time.

"Idiot," said the metal man. "This can't hurt me, only slow me down." He wadded forward, sinking almost up to his hips.

Blue-white beams struck the reptile meta's chest, sending cherry red chunks of scales tumbling away. The meta bellowed and lashed out with his tentacles, which elongated and seized Blackheart's arms. Blackheart didn't attempted to dodge or fight. He just kept his flash vision focused on his enemy's chest. Scale ceased to flow away. Smoke rose from the wound. The reptile meta screamed and his tentacles went limp as he collapsed to his knees. A gurgling wail came from his mangled mouth and then he fell.

The metal man had almost reached Heatwave, who had been retreating while maintaining his bombardment of the earth and the Black Arion meta. The metal man was now glowing a bright red. "Too little and not enough focus," said the metal man. "Your time is up."

"No, yours is," replied Heatwave. Blackheart's flash vision struck the metal man in the back of the neck. Under normal circumstances Blackheart could only vaporize a small amount of steel, and the Black Arion meta was far tougher than conventional steel, but Heatwave had already raised the Black Arion meta's temperature to over a thousand degrees Celsius. A blazing golden scar appeared at the back of the metal man's neck. A moment later his head toppled forward and into the trench of molten glass.

Blue-white beams lashed out again and again as Blackheart quartered the meta's body, slicing away his arms and legs. The pieces dropped into the cooling trench of molten glass. Blackheart then turned around to help Valkyrie.

Teeth flew from Corpse King's mouth as Valkyrie hit him again. The next two blows smashed his abdomen and a third hammered his shoulder. Corpse King staggered back from the onslaught. He still hadn't recovered full from getting slammed with the missile and the relentless battery that Valkyrie was subjecting him to wasn't giving him any chance to recover. A kick to the side of his leg dislocated his knee.

Bellowing he fell forward. She jumped back, but the eight foot tall meta had much better reach than she did. His hand closed around her ankle and he pulled her down and then yanked her toward him.

He had nearly sixty centimeters and two hundred kilos on her, something which would have meant more if they weren't super strong metas but still meant something. He slammed his fist into her gut and then into her face. She grabbed his left wrist and smashed in in the face. He headbutted her in the stomach and pulled himself on top of her.

Kneeling, he struck her once and then twice in the head. She drove her fists into battered short ribs and he groaned. She thrust him off her and got to her feet. He staggered up and used his good leg to power a flying charge towards her. She met him. The hammered each other.

There was a pop of displaced air as Matador appeared behind Corpse King. His hand slapped the huge meta at the base of his spine. Corpse King arched his back in agony and roared. Valkyrie hammered him in the chest and he fell. Matador dodged out of the way of the falling body.

Valkyrie was breathing hard as she straddled Corpse King and gave him another shot to the head. Matador leaned down and touched the Black Arion meta on the head. The body jerked and convulsed and then Corpse King let out a scream that seemed to shake the jungle. Corpse King lay there as if frozen, eyes and mouth open.

"He's done," said Matador as he stepped away from the cooling corpse.

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The giant demon and the armoured goddess were locked together in mortal combat. "You're going to beg to suck my dick before I'm done with you cunt," the demon cried.

Patricia's response was to grow two more pairs of arms from the sides of her body. Each hand clenched a jagged thorn like dagger of gleaming chrome-steel. Her new arms thrust their blades into demon's sides. The telepath jerked. The hands pulled back and thrust. Again and again and again.

Black blood dribbled down the demon's flanks. "Kali motherfucker," said Patricia. "Don't fuck with the Black Mother." The blades vanished from the middle pair of arms and they held the enemy psychic while the bottom pair continued to tear and stab. The top pair grabbed the demon's head and twisted.

There was a moment of resistance and then the neck snap. Another, longer moment, and then Patricia tore the psychic's head free from his corpse. She let the body drop and then the head. The mindscape dissolved with its creator's death.

Her mind sought out and found her team mates. They were alive and conscious. She projected a thought into the their heads. Enemy telepath is down. Let's finish the job.

[CaptainChewbacca]

Excellent badassery all around. What exactly are matador's powers again?

[Imperial Overlord]

Excellent badassery all around. What exactly are matador's powers again?

Short ranged teleportation and death touch. His cooking, while excellent, is not a super power.

[Rahvin]

Out of curiosity, is the death touch controllable, or is he like Rogue and everyone Matador touches for more than a moment dies?