Supplying Supers - Ch. 31 - Blood Soaked Fists - Alpha (Patreon)

Monday June 19th, 2025 Mazuma City, Mazuma Amerika

Gunner Webb

OSDB Hero Rank: N/A - Civilian

OSDB Threat Rating: N/A - Civilian

As Gunner tumbled backward, he ignored the ache in his stomach. There was too much to lose. The Charon Cube was stabilizing the rift with each passing second. If they didn’t stop it before the doorway opened, the city wouldn’t just have cultists to deal with. The entire country would have an army of untold horrors invading them from the inside. However, Gunner had one major obstacle in his way.

He twisted his body and landed on his feet, sliding to a halt. He raised his weapon as Berserker fell down on him. With a quick trigger pull, he dumped his entire magazine into the brute, dodging a split second before his foe slammed his fists into the ground, shattering the nearby road.

Berserker smiled smugly as he scooped his fingers through his beard, combing out a few smashed bullets. “That little pea shooter isn’t going to help you.”

Gunner pulled off his slung weapon and tossed it to the side. “Yeah… I figured, but today’s been full of surprises, so I was hoping my luck would eventually turn around.”

“If you think luck is going to beat me, then you’re in an entire world of hurt.”

“You know we don’t have to do this,” Gunner said, unclasping his plate carrier.

“Oh, we most certainly do. I have a mean itch to pummel that pretty boy face of yours.”

“You’re being manipulated. Both you and Divinity are. Forte orchestrated this whole thing. That portal is going to unleash hell on the city unless we stop him. Even if you don’t believe me, go ask the others. They’ll tell you the same thing.”

Berserker cocked his brow and looked back at the tower of purple light. For a moment, Gunner assumed he’d gotten through to him. But when he turned back with a wicked grin, his voice rose to a boom as he shouted, “Don’t think I didn’t notice the SOC’s most wanted witch right next to you. You’ve done nothing but flap that silver tongue of yours since we’ve met. I think it’s about time I rip it out!”

Gunner raised his fists as asphalt shunted from the viking’s heel when he lunged toward him. His foe swung wildly, focusing more on strength than speed. It gave him the opportunity to dodge. Each blow came with a force of wind that pressed against his body.

I’ve got to find out a way to get through to him, Gunner thought. Each second I lose here is a second I lose to help the others.

After dodging a right hook, Gunner flipped backward and flew into the air. “Just listen to me, dammit! My team and I arrived here after the ritual had already started. You can validate that with the first responders. We’re here to stop that thing.”

Berserker reached for a parked sedan, gripped the front, and threw it up into the air like a child’s toy. “Just shut up and fight!”

Gunner ducked easily and continued. “I don’t want to fight you. I’ll even turn myself in. But you have to let me stop the ritual before it completes.” As he dodge another, he thought about how to tweak his argument. “You’ve been around here longer than most. Both you and Divinity have. You should know a portal to the Gale when you see one.”

Berserker stopped. His hulking chest rose as he took another look back. When he turned back around, he reached for a motorcycle. “So what?”

“You know what horrors lurk beyond,” Gunner said, dashing to the side.

“Nothing I can’t handle.”

“Maybe you can, but the people can’t! Just look at what you’re doing. You’re destroying the city!”

When Gunner jolted to the side, he felt the fly spell give way, and he fell. He saw the mischievous grin on Berserker’s face when he realized he was coming back to the ground. The hulk of a man sprinted down the street and pulled back his arm. All Gunner could do was shield himself from the incoming blow.

Berserker's giant fist slammed into Gunner’s forearms and shins, sending him barreling backward with incredible speed. The car he hit folded around him, showering the surrounding area in broken glass. He felt his power activate. It seeped through his suppression to soothe his throbbing body.

Before Gunner could stand, he raised his arms to shield him from the shadow above. Berserker pummeled him as he yelled, “And why should I care? Why should these pissants matter to me? I used to be a god. Millions worshiped me. And now look at them. They turned away from their protector, believing themselves to be too smart for their own good. Yet, when science fails them and they’re too scared, whose name do they cry out? Mine! It’s about time the people learn fear once more!”

With each resurgence of pain, Gunner felt the flame inside of him burn hotter. I’ve got to get out of this, he thought. The seal is breaking. If I lose control… it won’t just be him that I hurt. I need to find an opening to hit him with enough power to drop him. Otherwise, his strength will grow with the more damage he takes.

When Berserker raised both fists for a finishing blow, Gunner seized the precious seconds. He pushed himself out of the twisted car and kicked his foe's knee. When the goliath dropped down, Gunner pulled his arm back. He timed it perfectly.

As soon as Berserker raised his head, Gunner swung as hard as he could without breaking the seal. The punch connected across the behemoth’s jaw. The crack echoed throughout the row of surrounding skyscrapers.

Berserker’s head popped, and he stood still. When he didn’t move, Gunner thought that he’d killed him. But when the viking’s neck popped back into place, he slowly turned his head and gave a wicked smile.

“Now, we’re having fun!”

Gunner threw two more jabs and a kick. Berserker ignored the first two, caught his leg, and charged forward. The first concrete wall didn’t hurt. Neither did the fifth. It all hit him at once when they clashed through the other side of the building and into the side of a bus.

Gunner’s instincts took over. He rained elbows on the top of Berserker’s forehead until he dropped him. Without reservation, he lunged forward and threw a four-hit combination. The viking backpedaled until the last punch sent him airborne, creating another set of holes into the structure.

Gunner looked down at his blood-soaked fists. His vision pulsed with each beat of his heart. He could feel him slipping. His anger broke the seal, and the beast inside of him screamed to be let out.

Gunner’s eyes widened as the panicked screams of the surrounding civilians reached his ears. He scoured his surroundings. Blood splatters and twisted bodies littered the skyscraper floor and broken vehicles. Brave volunteers attempted to pull survivors out of the wreckage as flames threatened to cook them alive.

Gunner looked down at his body. His torn clothes were covered in blood that wasn’t his or his foes. He could feel the sticky blots of brain matter sliding down his back, mixing with his sweat.

I—I need to get out of here, he thought. If I don’t stop, I’ll lose control. I can’t let it happen again.

His head darted up at the sound of moving rubble. Berserker stood to his feet. Gunner wasn’t sure if it was the thick dust or the dim light, but somehow his arms and legs looked bigger. His foe wiped the blood that dripped from the corner of his mouth. After taking one look at it, he looked up at Gunner and smiled.

“It’s been over five hundred years since someone has made me bleed,” Berserker said, rotating his shoulders as he ambled toward him. He pulled out his axes from their metal rings and tossed them to the side. “I’ve never felt so alive.”

“Please don’t do this,” Gunner said, raising his fists. “You don’t want to see the consequences.”

“Is that a threat?” Berserker asked before leaning back, bursting with laughter. “You’ve got me curious. Now, I want to see everything you’ve got!”

The beast lunged forward, his speed even faster than before. Gunner’s body moved without command. He ducked under the swung haymaker and slammed his fists repeatedly into Berserker’s liver. The hulking man gripped his abdomen and dropped to his knees. Gunner followed it up with a kick across his temple, sending him spiraling down the street like a bowling ball. The cars and chunks of asphalt flung into the surrounding buildings.

The intensity of his movements spiked his adrenaline, calling for more power. He grunted and clenched his chest as he struggled to contain his true nature. Every action was another pin pressed against his soul, threatening to burst.

With his focus pulled within, by the time he heard his opponent's charge, the blow slammed across his jaw. His head slammed into the ground. Asphalt shattered across his face. His body flipped endlessly until it came to a grinding halt.

Before he could move, he was airborne. Berserker swung him by his legs with such velocity, his gut fought his brain for room in his skull. After several spins, the pressure around his legs released, only to be bombarded by several floors of concrete.

It wasn’t until he felt the fists slam him down from above that Gunner realized he was still airborne. The powerful blow sent him torpedoing down to the ground. The ground cratered underneath him. He lay motionless, giving him a moment for his brain to catch up.

Gunner pushed himself up and watched the blood pour from his face. His adrenaline kept the pain at bay. But his eyes focused on the pooling red. Hate seeped into his mind as he looked over at the hulking mass of muscle that stood down the broken street. His crazed smile pissed him off. All the care for the reason not to do this, to play into what he wanted, faded. His desire to crush him became his focus.

“Yes!” Berserker shouted. “I see that look in your eye. The hunger for blood. The glory of combat. You want to kill me? Let us drink in our rage together and put on the spectacle for all to witness! Toast with me, brother!”

The speed of Gunner’s launch sent a sonic boom throughout the city’s streets. He grabbed Berserker by the head and dragged it through the ground. With heavy blows, he pummeled his face, cracking the earth deeper.

A surprise punch from the bottom was enough to throw Gunner off balance enough for Berserker to swap mount. He pummeled him twice before picking him up like a rag doll, slamming him by the head into the ground.

After the third slam, Gunner slipped his foe's grip and unleashed a flurry of blows into Berserker’s chest. His body convulsed as it caught up with the speed of each hit, landing fist sized dents into his exposed chest and abdomen. A final uppercut sent the brute flying twenty stories into the air smashing into the side of a skyscraper.

Gunner sprinted and lunged into the air. When he reached the smashed opening, his opponent was already charging forward. Berserker tackled him out of the opening. The pair exchanged blows as they twisted in the air. Gunner grabbed his arm and twisted him as they careened across the broken pavement.

His follow up punches seemed to have little effect as Berserker grabbed him by the neck and threw him into a nearby box truck, plowing a hole through both sides. As Gunner pushed himself off the ground, the massive viking grunted as he picked up and slammed the truck to the ground.

Gunner jumped out of the way before Berserker flattened him into a pancake. The hidden super seized the moment to throw a jab, cross, and calf kick to the same leg he hit earlier. When Berserker fell to his knees once more, Gunner followed up with a haymaker that smashed the entire intersection.

As the hulking specimen pushed himself off the ground, Gunner slammed his fists into the side of the man’s face, to no avail. Each blow turned his face less and less. The swipe that lifted Gunner off his feet was one of annoyance rather than damaged. He crushed the top of the car as he landed.

Gunner groaned as he looked down at his arm. The cracked glass had sliced his tricep from his shoulder down to his elbow. He watched as the fibers twisted back together and sealed his wound. His frustration reached the edge. His arms twisted as he struggled to keep himself under control. But as he looked over his enemy, he knew that was out of the question.

Berserker stood hunched over. His eyes glowed pure white. The muscles in his arms and legs bulged as he grunted. The ground underneath him buckled as he grew in size. His canines extended in length and his nails grew to sharp points. His beard and hair grew to form a dark black and gray mane.

“Do you see it!” Berserker roared. “Very few have earned the right to witness such a transformation. You should feel honored to witness my Úlfheðinn form. What a glorious sight before your end. You have been an honorable opponent. Now, I shall grant you a warrior’s death!”

Gunner sprinted forward, not waiting for his opponent to finish. He picked half as he closed the distance, smashing it across his foe’s massive body. He swiped it three times. It did nothing.

Berserker grabbed him by the throat and punched him with his free hand. The speed and weight sent shockwaves of pressure throughout the surrounding streets. Gunner’s vision turned blurry after the first hit, and his ears dampened the thuds.

When Berserker was done toying with him, he dropped him, grabbed his foot, and chucked him as hard as he could into the nearest building. Gunner’s back popped all the way down, caving into a concrete beam. Berserker covered the hundred feet in the blink-of-an-eye, hammering him deeper through the structure.

Each cracked his body through the steel rebar and solid concrete. His body frantically repaired the damage after each bang. After the final punch, Gunner’s body flailed into the street, digging up a mound of asphalt as he slid to a halt.

The small tower groaned and shook. Civilians frantically screamed as they tried to escape from the collapsing building. When the building leaned toward Gunner’s side, he scrambled to his feet, barely jumping out of the way as it smashed to the ground.

Gunner scoured for his foe, but didn’t see the hit. He soared through the air, only to have Berserker appear above him. When his foe gripped him, Gunner threw two punches before Berserker headbutted him. The attack dazed him, giving the viking the opportunity to throw him to the ground.The eruption when he hit the ground sent a shockwave that shattered the remaining glass nearby.

Gunner’s blood boiled, and his body pressed forward without his mind’s command. His eyes shot open and scoured the sky. He saw the white of Berserker’s eyes above as he leapt to his feet. He crouched and jumped upward, meeting his opponent in the air.

When Gunner pulled his fist back, Berserker’s hubris met the attack with his face. It was a mistake. The punch cracked him across the jaw, sending him spinning toward the ground. When the pair landed, Gunner bolted for his foe, who pushed himself up to his knees. He grabbed him with both hands by the mane and threw him overhead into a nearby cathedral.

When Berserker crashed through the steeple, Gunner’s stride cleared the distance in less than a second. He followed up with several punches, knocking his target backward through a pillar. After picking up the remains, he swung the tower piece of stone at the viking like a bat. It sent the threat soaring through the air before smashing through the stained-glass rose window.

Gunner’s jaw dropped as he saw the sky above him. “No, no, no!” He charged through the exterior wall before looking up at the sky. He was so focused on his fight with Berserker that he hadn’t realized that the ritual had already been completed.

The bright pillar of light was gone. The sky was pitch black. An orange hole swirled in the center. The inside was wavy like a mirage coming off of scorching dunes. It revealed the desert home he once knew.

Hundreds of purple fiery meteors rained down. Only Gunner knew they weren’t meteors, they were Gale creatures. The flashes of lightning illuminated the additional hundreds of winged beasts that flew down. Distant screams of civilians filled the air as the invasion continued.

Muted laughter preceded the chaotic screech of an overturned vehicle being thrown in a pile of flaming steel. Berserker stood and brushed himself off as he said, “Even during my days battling roman legions, not once did they ever try to swing a column at me.”

The laughter pushed him over the edge. Gunner’s eye twitched, and his muscles strained.

His jaw popped as he bit down hard.

“What have you done?” Gunner said through strained breaths.

“What?”

“You caused all of this. I could have stopped the ritual, but you wouldn’t listen. Now millions will die because of you.”

“Who gives a shit?” Berserker smirked. “The only things that matter in life are a good drink, a good fight, and a good fuck.”

His hate for the towering man fueled his power. He couldn’t restrain it any longer. Steam rose from his body seconds before a purple flame spread from his body to his chest. His clothes disintegrated from the heat. A glowing purple light illuminated his insides before casting his body completely white.

The explosion drowned Gunner’s scream. Berserker raised his hands from the brightness of the flash. In a fraction of a second, everything in a half-mile radius vaporized. Steel melted, skyscrapers toppled, and organic life seized to exist.

The shockwave continued beyond the initial blast. Fires lit throughout the city, filling the sky with smoke. Cars flew airborne. Civilians lucky enough to survive did so with internal bleeding.

When the smoke cleared, Gunner marched toward his foe. Two curled wrists protruded from the glassed ground, revealing scorching knuckle bones from the missing fingers. Berserker’s skin was blackened and split, with bloody caverns stretching across his naked body. Sizzling flesh protruded from his missing nose and lips. Stubs replaced his legs, kicking as if they remembered themselves.

Gunner stood down and glared without remorse.

“What are you?” the viking struggled to ask.

“What you strived for.”

“Then make it worthy.”

Berserker closed his eyes as Gunner raised his foot. He smashed through his skull like a moldy pumpkin. The legs fell motionless.

Gunner gazed at his surroundings. The ground shined like glass, with purple streaks of fire snaking from the epicenter. Fallen towers of steel acted like thorny brush hindering every direction. The growing smoke threatened to limit his view.

Gunner looked down at his shaking hands. Purple flames flickered from his glowing white finger tips. What have I done? This power… this curse. Countless dead because of me. His disgust with himself brought more anger as he shouted into the air. He wanted to fall to his knees and wallow in his self pity.

But he felt the pull of the Gale, like a beacon calling to him. The familiar feeling of its presence sickened him more than himself. His fists tightened as he jumped to his feet and sprinted forward.

The one who made me this way is to blame, Gunner thought. Everything rotting inside of me is her doing. She destroyed my life and turned me into this abomination. Her followers caused the rift in Boston, and they’ve returned to finish the job. She’ll pay for this.

As the streaks of fires blurred with his speed, a soft whimper of his name caused him to slide to a halt. He turned around and jogged backward, hoping it wasn’t the voice of one of his companions. When he heard it again, his stomach sank.

“Gunner…” Flux cried.

Gunner’s eyes darted everywhere. Everything was covered in dust, soot, and flame. He couldn’t see her.

“Flux, where are you?”

“Here…”

Gunner rushed into an overturned building, calling her and using her weakened voice to guide him. When he found her, his eyes widened. A small blackened puddle no longer than the palm of his hand bubbled from the inside of a destroyed elevator cabin.

His hands shook as looked down at her. She was the smallest she’d ever been. He could tell she was in excruciating pain. When his flames got close, she slumped back.

“I saw the flash. I jumped into the cabin before the blast reached me.”

“What were you doing here?”

“When I killed Forte, I came to come find you.” Her slime dripped like water and her bubbles fizzled. “I don’t feel good.”

Gunner’s chest tightened. He felt helpless. He wasn’t like MartyrDOM. All he knew of his powers were that they destroyed and controlled. They couldn’t heal her.

“Can you feed?” Gunner stammered. “You always feel better after eating.”

“Everything is too hard. I can’t break it down.”

Gunner jumped to his feet and looked around. Nothing soft remained. Only hard metals and rock remained. There was nothing nutritious left that she could eat.

There has to be something, he thought. I did this to her. I’m not letting her die here. Not because of me. Me…

Gunner looked down at his hands when an idea popped into his head. He dashed out into the opening. He built as much power as he could and shot his hands to the air. Waves of power and energy gushed from him like an endless geyser. He pressed everything he had into the air. The blast lasted over a minute before he felt his power wane.

When he lowered his hands, the flames receded. The light in his body faded, and he felt the overwhelming heat around him. Gunner rushed back into the decrepit tower and slid to his knees. He extended both hands toward Flux.

“Come on Flux,” he said. “Come to me.”

She slithered into his palm. Her body was cold and wet.

Gunner stood and slammed his hand on a sharp piece of rebar as hard as he could. With a meaty thunk, he pulled away, exposing his crucified hand.

“Drink,” Gunner commanded.

“No… I’ll never harm you.”

“And I won’t lose you!” he shouted, his voice full of emotion. “You must feed to heal. I can’t help you any other way. So… please drink before it heals. For me.”

Flux slithered over to his other hand and did as she was asked. The effects were immediate. Her color returned to purple. With each slurp, she grew in size.

Gunner rolled his lips under his teeth as he tried to hide the pain. Her sizzling flesh burned his wound to keep it open. He felt himself growing weak and lightheaded. Everything in his mind was screaming, telling her to stop. The beast inside slumped at his chest. But with every ounce of willpower he left, he stood at its caged door.

Gunner slumped to the ground and closed his eyes. The last thing that he heard was the frantic cries of his purple-eyed companion as she screamed his name.