Supplying Supers - Ch. 24 - Following the Trail - Beta (Patreon)

Sunday June 18th, 2025 Mazuma City, Mazuma Amerika

Gunner Webb

OSDB Hero Rank: N/A - Civilian

OSDB Threat Rating: N/A - Civilian

“So, are we going to talk about what the fuck that was?” MartyrDOM asked.

Gunner looked up through the rearview mirror as the highway lights flashed overhead, illuminating her face briefly. The metal rocker bared her teeth with her arms crossed. He understood her unease. Anyone who would have seen a tear in the fabric of reality would obviously be shaken. He was just thankful closing didn’t attract any entities like Yokai’s spell did.

“It’s better if you don’t know,” Gunner said.

“Look, I know you’ve got me and everyone else by the balls,” MartyrDOM said. “But… This NDA crap is bullshit.”

Gunner sighed. “I know you will not want to hear this, but it’s for your own benefit that you ignore what you saw and try to forget about it.”

MartyrDOM clicked her mouth and cursed under her breath. Gunner didn’t hold it against her. He knew he was asking a lot. She was in an unfavorable position, but a necessary one. Her powers would prove valuable if he or any other member of his team was injured. Hearing about Whisper's unfortunate incapacitation reassured he made the right call.

“I don’t even know what I’m doing here,” MartyrDOM said, throwing her hands up in the air. “I’m a fucking singer, not some hero.”

“Wait, you’ve never been in combat?” Velocity asked.

“There’s no reason to lie,” Gunner said, staring up at her through the rearview mirror. “You trained at the Gunther Academy for eighteen months before you took your first assignment via the SOC. You’ve had more weapons, tactics, and combat training than our military gets. And to maintain your registration, you have to attend the yearly classes or submit hours of work. I’ve seen your scores. You’re more capable than you’re letting on.”

MartyrDOM slumped back in her seat and shook her head. “God, you’re fucking annoying. That shit is supposed to be confidential.”

“Oh trust me, it is. I’m just an exception to the rule.”

“You could have picked a dozen other people besides me, you know?”

“True. But I chose you based on leverage. You’re someone who has the most to lose. That makes you desperate, and more willing to accept our agreement. I know it doesn’t mean much, but I am sincere in my apology. If there was another way—”

“Just shut up, please,” MartyrDOM said, looking away and holding up her hand. “And tell me what’s next.”

“We’re headed to the location that houses the third anchor. The assumption that Yokai and I have is that it’s also the same place where our foes are located.”

“And where’s that?”

“I don’t exactly know,” Gunner said, shrugging.

“What do you mean you don’t know? We’re just going to be driving around Mazuma City all night?”

“Not exactly. The spell I performed can be thought of like an internal compass. I can feel the end point and when we get closer to our destination, the pull is stronger.”

“The city is fucking massive though.”

“Yes.”

“So, like I said, we could be driving all night.”

“Possibly, but unlikely. Given the distance between us and Yokai’s point, I’d imagine we’ll be there in the next ten minutes or so.”

“Good. The sooner this is over with, the better. I’m supposed to be starting a tour in less than a month.”

“Well, I appreciate you accepting the offer.”

“You didn’t really give me a fucking choice, dude. If that information leaked, I’d be fucked. My fans would turn on me and my entire career would be over. I’ve spent my entire life working on this dream. Years of failure after failure.”

“The Kingdom of Katy stint in country music, I’m assuming?”

“Yes!” MartyrDOM shouted. “Fuck, it feels weird to hear someone else say that. My agent and the record labels all swore to me they’d buried that shit. Then Richard Rock helped me finally kick off my career. I’m just now hitting my stride. Ain’t nothing going to stop me now. Not even you and your bullshit.”

“Well, I’m a man of my word,” Gunner said, smiling. “Once we’re done with everything, I’ll purge all the evidence of your past I have.”

“That’s what sucks. I can’t tell if you’re telling the truth or that I can trust you.”

“He is,” Flux said. “He’d never lie.”

“Yeah, like I’m supposed to believe you,” MartyrDOM said, rolling her eyes. “You work for the asshole.”

“You better watch what you say to him,” Flux said. She puffed up and flared her nostrils.

“Flux…” Gunner called. “It’s all right. Ms. King is rightly frustrated by my actions. Let her vent.”

“She shouldn’t call you that!”

“Damn, you’re really up his ass, ain’t you?” MartyrDOM asked with a cocked brow.

When Flux snarled, Gunner jumped in and said, “Ms. King, please don’t patronize Flux. She’s just passionately protective of me.”

“You two fucking or something?”

“No,” Gunner snorted. “But we’ve been together for a very long time.”

“Seems like both of your guards are loyal. They both jumped to your aid when Mach10 went for you. Hell, even Yokai did.”

“Yes… well… Yokai and I have history.”

“I’m not surprised. She called you something back at the meeting that sounded like you two knew each other.”

“Koibito. It’s Japanese. It’s a word of endearment.”

“Seems like you two have worked together before. Something about that magic you were casting?”

“Quite perceptive, Ms. King,” Gunner said with a wink.

“So what are you? Some kind of supe or something.”

Gunner rolled his tongue in his mouth. He wasn’t sure how to respond. He felt everyone’s gaze on him, even Velocity. Very few people knew who he was, and even fewer, what he was. It didn’t benefit him to reveal that side of himself. He deflected.

“Not quite,” Gunner said with a sly smile.

“What the hell does that mean?”

“It means our time for questions is over. We’re getting close. Everyone get ready.”

Gunner took the next exit off the highway. The location flabbergasted him. They were on the northeast side of the city, just beyond downtown central.

Mega high-rise skyscrapers ascended like metal gods into the sky, stacked next to each other like cards in a deck. Laundry hung from strewn lines between balconies. Rusted air units whined as they struggled to combat the summer heat.

“Wow, I’ve never seen anything like this,” MartyrDOM said, gawking through the windows.

“They’re self-contained neighborhoods,” Gunner said. “They have over ten-thousand residents in a single building. Each floor has its own shops and amenities. Most people don’t even leave.”

“That sounds terrible.”

“Living in them is rough. In the early two-thousands developers flooded the north side with buildings like these when the government offered subsidies in an effort to combat the housing crisis. There was this entire marketing campaign that promised cheap housing for the poor. It was supposed to fix a ton of problems with homelessness. The interiors weren’t lavish, but it was perfect for small families. And for a time it worked. A small two-bedroom apartment could be afforded on a reasonable salary of a single parent. However, when the political parties shifted, they canceled the subsidies. Then they removed all the set rental protections. You can imagine what happened next.

“Prices skyrocketed?”

“Yup.”

“Fucking corrupt pigs.”

“Then things got terrible. Evictions blew up. People lost their homes. But they refused to move out. MCPD riot was involved, but the people pushed back. It became nearly impossible in such compact and large buildings as neighbors defended neighbors. With no one paying rent, companies folded overnight, creating a new crisis. Eventually, concessions were made to have the city repurchase the buildings and reset the rents.”

“Did things get better?”

“Not really. This caused the local government's budget to balloon. There was no money for repairs or services. Living conditions dropped significantly. Residents nicknamed the buildings, coffins, for the feeling of being trapped inside the superstructures once entered.”

“Seemed like a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation.”

“Something like that. Lots of mistakes were made. I just hope history won’t repeat itself. The people living in those buildings are good people just trying to survive.”

The SUV got quiet as everyone was left with their thoughts, and Gunner soon questioned the choice of area. This location for the last anchor made little sense. It was too heavily populated. For their targets to set up in such density would leave them prone to exposure. A nosey neighbor would have the perfect excuse to call MCPD for anything suspicious.

However, as they progressed deeper down the roadway, Gunner noticed a gap of towering steel missing. It was as if someone had taken a giant eraser and cleared a section of the city. Portable steel fencing marked off multiple blocks and side streets.

Giant signs supported on the rings indicated an active construction zone. Dozers and trailers lined along the fenced edges. But even more interesting were the sentries dressed in reflective vests and white hardhats walking around the perimeters.

It’s a little late for construction, isn’t it boys? Gunner thought. The barriers and seeing unmarked trucks coming and going would make for a plausible avenue of getting in and out unseen. However, there’s nothing here. Where would they have gone?

Gunner continued to drive forward. When they passed halfway through the block, he could feel the pull of the anchor go the other direction. He wasn’t sure where it was, but beyond that gate was the final anchor.

“This is it,” Gunner said as he sped forward.

“Where?” Flux asked.

“Beyond the fence in the construction yard.”

“There’s nothing there though,” MartyrDOM said.

“I count eight sentries patrolling the ground,” Velocity said, leaning forward in her chair. “There’s also movement in the mobile office. They could be using that as a command center.”

Gunner turned and smiled at Velocity, who beamed back. He drove two streets over before pulling the car to the side of the road. After tapping the rear hatch release, Gunner exited the vehicle and walked to the back.

The trunk was loaded with equipment that he’d brought for his team. He over-packed, given he wanted to be prepared for anything. Multiple weapons crates, bullet-proof vests, and cases of ammo were stacked neatly behind the back seat. A few of his favorite occult books sat in the corner. However, what he wanted was in its own hard-shell container. He unclasped the box, revealing a small camera drone with a controller and first-person goggles.

Gunner pulled everything out of the box and set the drone on the ground. He started the drone with a flip of a switch. It whirred to life, idling on the ground.

“What’s that, a drone?” MartyrDOM asked after turning in her seat.

“Yeah,” Gunner said. “We need to get a good look inside the compound. I figured this was easier than climbing one of the nearby buildings.”

After shutting the trunk door, Gunner made his way back to the front seat and put on the goggles. He directed the drone high enough to test its movement and connection. Once he was confident everything felt good, he ascended it into the air.

He passed over the streets and cars before finding the cleared blocks. The drone had a 4k sixty-hertz camera with multiple zoom levels, giving him a crystal clear view. Thankfully, the grounds were lit with plenty of standing work lights, keeping the area nice and bright.

“Okay, I’m over the field. Looks like there is an ingress that goes underground. It’s pretty large. Easily big enough for a dump truck to get in there. It’s reinforced with concrete and rebar.”

“So they’ve been here a minute,” Velocity said.

“Yeah… that doesn’t happen overnight.”

“That’s concerning,” Flux said.

“There’s a lot about this I don’t like,” Gunner said, spinning the drone around to get a closer view. “The guards are likely armed. There’s all this equipment, so they are heavily funded. And with this kind of progress, they’ve been here for weeks, minimum. My gut is telling me that whatever is down there isn’t just the final anchor.”

“This could be their staging area to kick off whatever they’re trying to do,” Velocity said.

“I agree. This isn’t just a few cultists.”

After taking one more sweep of the area, Gunner centered the drone in the middle of the field and set it to hover. He took off the goggles and pulled out his phone. After opening the drone’s app, he connected the video feed and turned in his chair to address everyone.

“Okay, here’s the border,” Gunner said, pointing to the edge of the picture. “There are eight guards patrolling right now, four in the front and four in the rear. We’re also assuming there are guards in the trailer, with an unknown amount underground. The top level is fully illuminated, so we’re going to have to take out all the targets within quick succession.”

“Can you zoom on that?” Velocity asked, pointing to a square near the crates. Gunner spread his fingers on the screen to increase the zoom. He smiled when he realized what it was.

“That looks like a generator to me,” he said.

“If we can disable it beforehand, it could give us a few seconds of cover. With how spread out they are, I could use my Burst to take out four before it ended.”

“I should be able to slither in undetected,” Flux said.

“How are we going to get in, though?” MartyrDOM asked. “It looks like there’s only one front gate. We can’t go straight in.”

“We’ll have to go from the side. The shadow from the closest coffin lets us get within ten feet.” Gunner looked behind his seat. “Flux, we’ll need you to chew us a hole through the fence.”

“Shouldn’t be a problem,” the slime-girl said.

“What about Yokai’s team?” MartyrDOM asked. “Shouldn’t we wait for them?”

“We can’t,” Gunner said. “They ran into trouble during the trace. Whisper’s been incapacitated. They needed to get him help.”

“What? When were you going to tell us that?”

“Just now.”

MartyrDOM groaned. “I could have helped.”

“I thought the same thing. Yokai said he was too wounded. They needed to take him to the emergency room as soon as possible.”

“What happened to him?” Velocity asked.

“Whenever a spell is cast like the one we did, it has a tendency to attract… adversaries. They ended up in combat and he was wounded. Unfortunately, her team took the brunt of the attack when we performed the ritual.”

“When did you talk to her?” MartyrDOM asked. “We didn’t hear anything over the comm.”

Gunner let out a frustrated sigh. “Look. I know you have a lot of questions, but we don’t have time for this. We have to move now. If they detect that Yokai and I are tracing the final anchor, things can get really bad. We have to move in quickly and safely.”

“What’s the plan once we secure the top?” Velocity asked.

“We need to see what’s inside. I hesitate sending us all in there, only to get trapped.” Gunner glanced over at Flux. “Would you feel comfortable scouting it out yourself?”

“I’ll do anything you need of me, Sir,” Flux said with a firm nod.

“That’s what I love about you,” Gunner said, cracking a smile.

When Flux bashfully grinned and looked away, MartyrDOM asked, “Are you sure you two aren’t fucking? Because you could cut the tension in here with a knife.”

Gunner chuckled and shook his head. “All right, any other questions before we get started?”

When everyone shook their head, Gunner slid his phone in his pocket and popped the trunk once more. Everyone exited the car and followed him to the rear. The fixer took off his suit jacket and set it in the back.

He unknotted his tie and folded it on top of it. After rolling his sleeves up, he reached in and grabbed a soft armor vest. He didn’t need it, but still needed to keep up appearances. They’d already questioned his abilities once for the day and didn’t need anymore prodding. Once he slipped it on, Gunner pulled out a crate and placed it on the ground, leaving room for Velocity to retrieve her gear.

From it, he retrieved his heavily modified IWI TAVOR X95, with an EOTECH holographic scope, a Magpul RVG vertical grip, and Manticore Arms curved buttpad and gasket cover. He tightened his CGS Hyperion suppressor before loading a magazine and chambering a round. After setting it down in the crate, he picked up the four thirty-round magazines and slid them into the two front pouches that were on his soft armor.

After slinging his weapon, he set the crate back in the SUV and retrieved his drop leg holster. It held a Kimber Stainless 1911 with two spare magazines. Once he clicked it onto his belt and around his legs, Gunner turned and addressed his team.

“Is everyone ready?”

“I feel a little naked with both you and Velocity carrying guns,” MartyrDOM said.

“Do you want one? There are more in the SUV.”

She tilted her head up for a second and then shook it. “Nah, with my powers, I don’t really need one. As long as I can see the target, I’ll be fine.” She pulled out two butterfly knives from her black-jean pockets and twirled them with expert finesse.

Gunner tapped his comm and performed a check. “Looks like we’re ready?”

“I’m good,” MartyrDOM said, double clicking her equipment.

“Velocity?”

The assassin adjusted her suppressed SA-58s strap before tapping on her all-black ensemble of plate carrier and helmet. “Good to go.”

Gunner turned to his purple-eyed companion. “Are you ready?”

Flux firmly nodded. “Ready.”

“Lead us out.”

Everyone jogged across the two streets, keeping in the shadows of the surrounding coffins. The overcast sky kept the surrounding area perfectly dark for their approach. Once the construction yard came into view, they slowed down to a march. Velocity and Gunner raised their weapons as they approached.

Flux led them behind a thick row of bushes that decorated a cement walkway in between the tower and the clearing. It was decent coverage from any prying eyes before they made their move. They all kneeled behind them before Flux turned around.

“I’m heading in,” she said, pointing over the bushes. “I’ll carve a hole big enough for everyone. Once the generator is down, I’ll push the four in the front.”

“I’ve got the back,” Velocity said.

“MartyrDOM and I will push the trailer,” Gunner said, looking behind him. When the rocker nodded in agreement, he continued. “If things get out of control, don’t hesitate to go loud.. We’ll increase the tempo and push down into the underground together.”

“Roger,” Velocity said.

Gunner nodded to Flux. “Whenever you’re ready.”

Flux’s insides bubbled as she turned toward the fence. In one quick motion, she melted into a puddle and slithered toward her objective.