Supplying Supers - Ch. 12 - Steelheart - Beta (Patreon)

Monday June 12th, 2025 Miami, Florida Amerika

Steelheart

OSDB Hero Rank: C

OSDB Threat Rating: 74

As his tires shrieked, Harry glanced at the digital clock. The numbers read 12:01.

“Shit, shit, shit!” he yelled, his deep voice peaking with panic. He unbuckled his seatbelt and jumped out of the car. When he slammed the door shut, the steel groaned and popped out. It didn’t shut. When he examined at the side latch, it was completely bent inward and broken.

“Fuck me…” he groaned. Harry glanced at his busted car and then back at his office. He was already way too late and would have to deal with this later. With a long stride, he took off into a sprint. He lunged over the turnstiles, clearing them easily.

Harry slid to a halt in front of the staff building. His hands scoured his chest as he searched for his badge. When he didn’t find it, he cursed once more and ran back to his car. He saw his badge dangling from his rearview mirror. With a firm tug, he reached in snatched it. When he raised it over his head, the mirror dangled with it.

Harry slapped his head and groaned. “Ugh… are you kidding me? Can this day get any worse?!”

After tossing the broken part back into his car, he raced back to the locked security door. The door buzzed when he waved the card in front of the reader. He bent down underneath the door frame and ran down the white halls. His feet skirted with each tight turn down a new path.

When he reached the security office, he stopped in front of the door and caught his breath. After tucking in his white uniform shirt, he scanned his badge and walked in. He stepped behind his superior, who was sitting in his normal chair, watching the monitors.

“Mr. Young, I’m so sorry,” Harry said, clasping his hands together. “I know I’m late, and I know that this is the third time this month. But my alarm didn’t go off, then my battery died, and I had to jump it…I… I’m just really sorry, Mr. Young. I know I’ve said this before, but I really need this job.”

His superior spun in his chair and looked up at him with an intensity he’d never seen before. “You’re fired. Leave.”

His boss’s voice sounded a higher pitch than normal, but the words were all that mattered. He dropped to his knees, looking at him at eye-level. “Please, Mr. Young. I need this job. Things have been hard for my family. This is the perfect job for me. I don’t want to lose it.”

“I said leave!”

Harry hung his head and nodded slowly. He knew he deserved this. His superior had given him so many chances already. He’d squandered all his good will thanks to his secondary job.

Being a daytime hero was a low paying position. Hero pay in Amerika through the SOC was like contract work. They paid him a low, hourly on-call rate. And once he was involved with an emergency, he was paid thirty-seven dollars an hour. An amount he’d earned from his hero rank and time in service.

Because crime happened mostly during the night, he rarely got any calls. He had no mobility powers to help him be a first responder. Most of his work came just at the end of the shift, like tonight, where he helped with a business fire.

The black char and grime still embedded underneath his fingernails. Accepting those calls was always a risk because they always put him over the start of his shift. But he needed the money.

With his third kid on the way and his wife refusing to work, he needed the additional money just to support his family. Harry loved being a hero, but his hero work just didn’t pay the bills.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t tell Mr. Young. Like so many other heroes, Harry kept his life as a super a secret. He and his childhood sweetheart felt it was the safest option when he decided he was going to venture into this line of work.

Villains and other criminals loved to target their families. They were an easy exploit. He’d heard too many horror stories of what happened to their personal lives if the information eventually got out to a rival. This left him with only one option.

Harry closed his eyes and lowered his head. “Please Mr. Young, I’m begging you. Don’t let me go. I’ll do anything.”

He didn’t receive a response, only pain. Something wrapped tightly around his neck. His eyes shot open to see Mr. Young standing over him. Only it wasn’t Mr. Young. It was something wearing Mr. Young’s skin. Its smile was unnaturally wide, with the edge of its mouth up near its cheekbones. A purple tentacle extended from its arm, strangling him.

When it spoke again, its voice sounded feminine, but there was an underlying darkness behind it. “No need to struggle. Just sleep.”

It took Harry a few seconds for his mind to process what was happening. He didn’t understand what that thing standing in front of him was, or what had happened to his boss. But his instinct told him, if he lost consciousness now, he might not wake up. And Harry would not go down without swinging.

His six-foot seven and three-hundred-pound frame gave him size over his enemy, and he used it. Harry tightened his chin and activated his Steelskin, covering himself in metal. The increased durability around his neck allowed him to take in a deep breath before he charged forward, smashing his foe through the wood and cinderblock wall.

Harry lost his balance as he crashed through the second wall, rolling into the office lounge area. He pushed himself up to his feet and gazed through the two holes as he rubbed his metallic hand across his neck, catching his breath.

His foe was no more. It looked like someone had taken a glass jug of grape jelly and smashed it against the concrete. He paid no mind to the dripping sludge until all over it moved at once.

Of course, it couldn’t be that easy, he thought.

The ooze dripped and slithered off the walls and into a pool. When enough gathered on the floor, an alien figure rose from the middle. It had two arms, two legs, a body and a head. But it was all smooth and lacked the detail of a human.

Harry’s adrenaline shouted through his thoughts. “What the fuck are you?”

Bubbles popped from where its mouth should be, however, it didn’t give him the answer he was looking for. “We’ve got a problem. The last security guard is a supe. Hold on, let me ask.” The creature’s held tilted up. “Hey you, what’s your name?”

Harry cocked his brow. He wasn’t sure if this was some sort of trick, but figured if he could keep it talking, maybe he could find out more about them and what they were doing here. It was obvious it was speaking to someone else, either telepathically or through some kind of communication device he couldn’t see.

“Steelheart,” he said, not lowering his guard.

The creature crossed its arms and leaned on the broken wall. “Steelheart. Yeah… I’ve never heard of him either.”

The words got underneath his metallic skin like a steel file. Harry gritted his teeth and lunged, swinging with a right hook. “You’ll remember me after I pummel you into dust!” His punches were wild, only connecting with the nearby structure as the creature dodged out of the way. It was agile. Before every blow, it would duck into a puddle or shift its body in an unnatural form, creating a gap just large enough for his fist to whiff through.

Her constant talking while he attacked flamed his rage. “He’s trying to hit me and it’s not working. No, there’s no danger. I just wanted to keep you informed. No need. Just focus on the secondary objective, I’ll take care of him.”

Second objective? Harry thought. What the hell are they doing here? This is an abandoned amusement park. She thinks she can take care of me? Who does she think she is? She’s no criminal or villain I’ve heard of and I have Amerika’s top one hundred memorized.

Harry jumped back from his foe and repositioned himself. The lounge room was filled with shattered cement and broken furniture from chasing her around. What he was doing wasn’t working.

The slimy monster pushed itself off the wall and strolled toward him. “It’s been so long since I’ve gotten the opportunity to test myself. Civilians are no threat. But you… you’re no civilian!”

It sprung from its position. Soaring through the air, its arms shifted into spear-like points. After it landed, it jabbed with incredible speed.

Harry instinctively raised his guard. The power behind the strikes surprised him. He was thankful it didn’t do this earlier, otherwise he’d have been a stuck pig. Each blow glanced off his metal forearms, pushing them back toward his head. The thuds played a symphony of death that rang throughout the destroyed lounge like a dinner bell.

Worry flashed into the back of his mind as the consistent pressure became painful. He needed to do something, and fast. “If a weapon fight is what you want, let me show you what I’ve got!”

He clapped his hands together and pulled a steel mace from the palm of his hand. He could have pulled one of five weapons from his frame, but given his charge through the wall, he figured a bludgeoning object would work best. The mace was nearly as long as he was, had a brush steel look to it just like his body, and had five flange points on its oversized head.

His first swing of the weapon connected to his foe like a flyswatter hitting a fly. It plastered purple sludge on the floor, ceilings, and the destroyed furniture. As it dripped from every surface, Harry pressed his attacks. He shouted violently as he slammed his mace into every purple surface.

By the time he finished, he’d destroyed the entire lounge. Beach Ball sized craters littered the floor. The ceiling’s tiled ceiling and metal frame were little more than twisted aluminum and powdered dust. The surrounding walls cracked as the remaining pillars struggled to maintain the roof above.

Harry paced around the room, watching the speckles of purple remaining. When they didn’t move, he flipped his mace over and used it as a crutch to lean on. He took a moment to catch his breath.

That thing was tough, but I’ve fought worse, he thought with a smile on his face. This will be a nice payday from not only the SOC, but from Blueguard Security. They’d have to keep me around if other supes are targeting this place. Speaking of… that thing was talking to someone else, and they said something about a secondary objective. There could be more people around here. I should take a look at the security cameras and see what’s going on.

Harry picked up his mace and turned around. He flinched when he saw the purple creature rising from the cracks in the concrete floor. Only this time, she was as large as he was, with dozens of tentacles snapping from its back.

“I’m having such a fun time,” she bellowed. “The hunt is always fun when the food tries to fight back.”

A shiver ran down Harry’s back when he heard food. There were villains that were more like beasts than people. It wasn’t unheard of that they’d eaten people. The public always feared them the worst. But he wasn’t going to let it have him. He tightened his grip and charged forward, giving his swing everything he had.

It didn’t connect.

The creature bent back with the grace of a ballerina, its fluid body springing back end-over-end until it stood a throw away.

“You’re sort of a one-trick pony, aren’t you?” she chided.

Harry grimaced and dropped his mace with a heavy thud. He smacked his hands together and pulled out a long javelin. He pulled his arm back and launched it with as much force as he could muster. It passed through the purple goo and pierced the wall behind her.

“That’s better,” the creature said mockingly. “Now it’s my turn!”

Its body drained into the floor, reappearing in a bubbling pool underneath him. Before Harry could jump back, four tentacles latched onto his wrists and ankles. The hero jerked at the restraints, tearing the ones on his hands, only to have two quickly replace them.

While he fought to free himself, the creature ascended from the pool. After her lithe shape fully reformed, she pulled an arm back and formed a large mallet on the end.

Harry’s eyes widened. He was pinned. He knew he wasn’t going to free himself fast enough to dodge. Raising his hands above his head, he braced for the blow.

It connected to the front of his knee.

Pain radiated throughout his entire torso as he heard pop and fell to the ground. He let out a blood-curdling scream as he fell backward. When his back hit the ground, more tentacles rose from the darkened pool, restraining him further. He raised his head to look at his leg, which now bent the opposite way like a folded piece of rebar.

“Your skin is too strong to penetrate,” the she-beast said. “So, I figured I’d try something else. Thanks for the inspiration.” His foe stepped over his chest, conjuring another mallet in her other hand.

Harry closed his eyes. He knew this was going to hurt.

The subsequent blows slammed into the top of his face. The thump rang through the room like a jackhammer slamming into a steel bar. His head pounded and eyes watered. The pain faded to only pressure.

The surrounding tentacles lightened from him, and for a moment he thought it was over, but a thick grip wrapped around his legs removed any notion. His stomach sank as he felt weightlessness before the entire front side of his body hit something. Then he fell; pins and needles covering his backside. He lost count of how many times the cycle repeated itself until he felt nothing.

His body made noises he’d never heard before. Cracks, pops, and snaps clanged through the air. When the sounds normalized, he knew it was getting bad. He couldn’t speak, and he couldn’t scream. Once it finally stopped, it felt like there was a train sitting on his chest. He gasped for air.

Am I dying? he wondered.

The thought alone didn’t scare him. It was the images of his wife and children that did. The thought of him not seeing them grow old. That his unborn child would never know his love. He’d never regretted being a hero until this moment.

Every alarm was firing in his mind, telling him to move. He had to survive. Out of all of his limbs, only his right arm followed his thoughts.

He couldn’t see where he was going, but he just needed to get away. If he could get away, he could see his wife and kids again. He just needed to keep crawling.

After a few seconds, he heard laughter behind him. “You realize you’re not going anywhere, don’t you? I’ve got your legs pinned. Or… maybe you can’t feel them?”

The creature flipped him over, and a purple teardrop blur filled his vision. “My love tells me I shouldn’t play with my food, but it’s always so much fun.”

“P-please,” Harry stammered as he gasped for air. “Let me go.”

As his captor spoke, her tone shifted from laughter to anger. “From the very start, that was my intention. If you’d have gone to sleep like you were supposed to, we wouldn’t be here. But no. You had to charge me through the wall and hit me. Only one man may put his hands on me. And you are not him!”

“I’m s-sorry,” Harry groaned. “My kids…” He couldn’t finish his thought. The pain was unbearable. Every breath lit his chest aflame.

He knew there was nothing he could say. This thing wasn’t human. It was an animal, a beast. But when he thought this was the end, she said something he didn’t expect.

“I want to make a deal.”

“Anything…”

“I’m going to be honest with you. There is a part of me that wonders how you’d taste. A part I work on every day to keep locked deep inside of me. Years of training just so I don’t become what I once was. That thing wants nothing more than to clamp down on your throat and drink you like a soup. But… that’s not me anymore. At least what I strive not to be. That’s not what He wants me to become.”

Harry felt the weight shift off of him. He opened his eyes and watched the blurry shadow lean toward his ear and whisper. “Here’s the deal. You forget everything about me. You fought someone else tonight. Lie. Make something up. I don’t care. You do that… I’ll let you see your kids again.”

Harry didn’t hesitate. “Okay.”

“Do you have any natural healing?”

“N-no.”

“You’re going to need medical attention. I’ve broken a dozen bones in your body and you have a collapsed lung. You need medical attention, but we’ve still got a job to do. Do you think you can hold out for a few more hours?”

Harry winced as he tried to move. Everything hurt. He’d never been in so much pain. But that wasn’t what scared him. It was the struggle to breathe.

“N-no,” he grunted.

The room fell quiet to where he’d thought his foe had left, but when he heard her feminine voice again, he felt an odd sense of relief. “Okay, I think I’ve figured out a way to get you the help you need, but you’re going to commit to our deal, right?”

“Y-yes.”

“I’m going to have to move you, and it’s probably going to hurt like crazy, so prepare yourself.”

Harry took in a few quick breaths. “Okay.”

His adversary turned savior, leaned next to his ear and whispered with a truth he could feel in his heart. “Don’t forget our agreement. You didn’t fight me, and you’re not going to say anything about what happened. If you open your mouth and alert the authorities here before we’re done, I promise you. I’ll find you, finish the job, and then have your entire family for a snack.”

“I won’t.”

“Good. I believe you. Now get ready because this is going to hurt. A lot.”

Harry barely nodded as the woman counted down.

“One.”

“Two.”

“Three.”

Harry screamed.