Saving Supervillains 1 Chapter 20 (Patreon)

We were all strapped into a military cargo plane and jetting off an hour after Kim had announced the mission. Each of us had overnight bags squeezed between our legs.

“There’s nothing you can do?” Stella had my arm pressed between her breasts, her electric blue eyes full of pleading while she looked up at me.

She was trying to break my will, but unfortunately I couldn’t do anything for her.

“You need experience before you can directly confront the titan. Besides, all they do is cut off tentacles for a heavy hitter to come in and blast it.”

She pointed at herself. “I’m a heavy hitter.”

“I do not want you to get that close. This is the leviathan.” I reminded her.

“Yeah, but isn’t it pretty much docile?” Stella argued.

Melody lent me a hand. “It is only docile because nothing else in the world threatens it. They think the Leviathan hasn’t made landfall for fifteen years; it is going to be hungry.”

Stella let go of my arm and sat back in her seat. “And this is going to push out our date.” She was referring to her and Melody’s date.

“I don’t see why it has to. After the Leviathan, why don’t you two go out on a date?” I suggested.

Both of them looked at me like I’d suggested they go roll in the mud.

“We have no clothes besides our super suits and what we wore this morning.” Melody emphasized.

I shrugged. “Sounds like a shopping date could be pretty fun.”

They both perked up, seeming to give it some thought.

“We’ll see how we feel after the titan.” Melody looked out across the aisle at one of the few little windows on the plane.

It was still broad daylight out, but I knew that this fight might go past dusk.

“Listen up everyone.” Kim’s voice came over the speakers. “We have intel the leviathan has breached the surface off the coast and spotted the city. It is now headed directly for the coastline. We will land at Coast City’s airstrip in two minutes.”

Melody tuned to me. “If anything happens, will you protect me?”

Given what little she knew about my powers, I understood what she was asking.

“I will do everything I can to protect you both.”

“Awe.” Stella hugged my arm again, and people were definitely noticing. “Look at you, caring about both of us. He sure has changed, Melody.”

Melody nodded. “Even during our date this morning, he was wildly different. We actually had a decently deep conversation.” She decided to get in on it and pull my other arm into her smaller, but no less comfortable, chest.

A manager across the way raised an eyebrow in question at me, and I could only smile sheepishly. I was a damn lucky man.

Besides, if I tried to struggle away from Stella, she’d only push harder.

The plane tilted sharply, and I found an excuse to pull my arms out to grab onto the netting above me.

Stella still grabbed my arm back. “Don’t worry, you can hold on to me.”

Where my hand was, there was only one place to hold on to, and that wasn’t appropriate.

The plane tilted sharply in the other direction, and I heard the landing gear descend.

About thirty seconds later, we touched down in a bumpy landing.

“Everyone out.” A voice spoke over the speaker as the plane continued slowing down. The back hatch opened at the same time.

I unbuckled myself and Stella scooped me up, gliding out the opening as all the heroes gathered together on the tarmac.

My tablet pinged a location. We were meant to go to a tall building in the center of the city. A note popped up for the managers to meet there on the roof.

“Demoness, Pulsar, we have our destination. Take me up into the air.”

Stella was ecstatic to carry me; she shot up into the air as Melody followed her.

“See that tall building with the flat roof?” It was the only one with a flat roof on the city skyline.

“On it.” Stella shot high into the air and glided over the city.

A few dozen other heroes were following us. Some were managers flying on their own, but at least a couple were being carried like me.

I took a moment to enjoy the sights.

Coast City was a bustling metropolis that butted up against the ocean.

The central part of the city was filled with massive skyscrapers, but the buildings dropped in height as they approached the coastline.

Given that five of the seven known titans were aquatic in nature, the housing along the coastline was new and not as nicely built as the rest of the city.

Little dots of people were moving away from the coastline, heading deeper into the city. And out in the ocean, waves parted as something huge swam beneath the surface.

As Stella brought me up level with the building, I could see dark green tents setup on the roof, their corners flapping in the wind, straining against their anchors.

Swooping down, Stella dropped me off and pushed me inside the tent to protect me from the wind before flying off on her own.

I flipped on our comms via the tablet. “Comms are on with just us three.”

“Love you Miles!” Stella shouted into the wind.

Kim flew into the tent behind me, riding on her dark red flames. She landed effortlessly. “Alright, Tracey, what do we have?”

Kim rolled right past me, barking orders at the leadership of Coast City’s branch of the BSH.

There wasn’t another Kim for Coast City. She was in charge of all BSH, but she happened to be located in Point City.

The head of Coast City appeared to be named Tracey. Kim stood next to her, shooting off rapid-fire questions to the older woman with graying hair pulled back in a tight bun.

Throughout the tent were monitors, and all of them were watching the coastline from different angles and distances.

This wasn’t their first titan. They were ready for this.

A timer on the screen counted down until estimated landfall.

Stepping to the side so I didn’t interrupt anyone, I spoke quietly into my comms. “Demoness, Pulsar, we have less than a minute. Get to the shoreline.”

“We can see it, Miles.” Pulsar sounded worried. “It is a lot bigger in person.”

I checked one feed. It hovered over the water. I assumed it must be a UAV or hero flying to give the shot.

A massive shadow lurked underneath the water. Scale was hard to see from the distance, but the edges of the coastline made it an impossibly large creature.

Its size would rival the largest skyscraper in Point City, and that was just in the longest direction. It was far wider than any skyscraper, and many times the mass.

“Welcome to your first titan. We haven’t had one in Point City in over two decades.” I told the girls.

I heard the girls gasp just as I saw the massive head breach the ocean.

The leviathan was a dark gray, slightly blue creature. Its eyes were little dots along the side of its head, where the first tentacles writhed. Currently, its tentacles were just barely breaking the surface, churning the water into a white froth.

As it came closer to the shore, it didn’t slow. Instead, it sped up into the shallows. The shrinking depth forced more and more of its massive head out of the water.

Even from miles away on top of the building, I could hear the crash of the waves and the long grumble of the leviathan.

“Everyone. Collateral teams ready.” Kim yelled. “It’s going to wash out the shoreline.”

I hadn’t come into the mission with much knowledge of the leviathan, but I was about to see it.

The titan opened its mouth, and water flooded out like a tsunami, crashing and crushing the buildings along the coast.

Heroes swooped in, firing all manner of attacks at the leviathan, but it didn’t even flinch as it was hammered by two cities’ best heroes.

Tentacles curled away from its neck, stretching out and trying to snatch heroes out of the air.

“Stella. Do. Not. Engage.” I reminded her, almost sensing that she was moving towards it. I was angry enough at the idea that I forgot to use her hero name.

There was a small curse from Stella’s line while Pulsar laughed.

“He has you pegged.”

“Pulsar, you two work as a team. I need you to look out for her.”

“You got it, boss. Don’t get me in trouble, Demoness.”

Demoness whined. “It's right there! I could just—”

“You could just do what? Titans have been around since the beginning of superheroes, and no one has been able to kill one.”

I paused. “Let me rephrase that. No one has even been able to cause permanent harm to one. They all have incredible regeneration, on top of everything else.”

“Understood.” Demoness moped.

“Cheer up. You have a date after this.”

The leviathan finally stopped its onslaught of water and drew back away from the shore. It left a giant groove in the sand that functioned as a funnel. All the buildings it had smashed with water were carried back to the ocean through that channel.

It opened its massive maw, swallowing the wreckage and anyone who had been caught up in it.

“Damn.” Pulsar whispered. “How do we help against that?”

“Watch the wave for anyone floating in it, and snatch them up before they reach its mouth. Saving human life is the goal.”

But as I looked, there were no people floating in the water.

Unlike minor emergencies, this one the city took seriously. They’d begun evacuating hours ago.

Kim was shouting orders for the titan team, and heroes were circling above the titan. They got into position as more and more tentacles rose from around the titan’s neck.

At this distance, it almost looked like a mass of tangled hair and little ants flying among it, cutting off strands.

I watched one of the longest tentacles get cut and its momentum carry it deeper into the city.

“Pulsar, Demoness, stop that tentacle from landing.” I pushed both of them into action.

They weren’t alone. Another dozen heroes flocked to it. Together, they all lifted the mile long tentacle, throwing it back into the ocean.

“Great job.”

Now that I started them, both of them understood what to do. They began reacting in the moment as dangers popped up.

The managers coordinating the attack on the titan were busy barking off orders.

Heroes were swarming the leviathan like gnats, and tentacles were being cut off left and right. But one hero flew by herself, floating above the monster.

“Who’s that?” I asked one of the Coast City managers who didn’t look busy.

“Venus. Been heroing for almost a year now. She’s a rising star, and this just might be her chance.”

“Doesn’t look like she’s doing much.” I squinted at the image. There was a brightness around her that made it hard to see, but she appeared to have a roman style costume in line with her name.

“Her power is S grade light manipulation. She’s waiting for a shot at the weak spot.” The manager pointed at a different screen.

A ball of light was growing in size high above the titan.

“That’s her?”

“Mmmhmm. She’s gathering and condensing as much light as she can. We hope she put a dent in it if we clear enough tentacles.” The manager tapped on her own comm and turned away to deal with her heroes.

I watched, curious about her light manipulation abilities.

It was heroes like her that I learned from. With the limitation of a single form of energy, she’d have to get creative with her powers for some problems.

There was so much I could do with my power, it often took seeing somebody’s use that got me thinking or helped me find new ways to use it.

Her massive ball of energy up in the sky was certainly interesting, but if I wanted a large-scale attack, I already had one more effective than that.

But how she flew with the power over light really interested me.

While she was floating, I noticed several moments when she jerked quickly to the side. I had to sense her out over the bay while it happened to get a good sense of what was happening.

Venus was actually riding on passing rays of light, sort of like using a sail.

It was very interesting that she could shift it, and the new direction would jerk her so quickly. I couldn’t help but wonder if that could improve my own flying speed. It would be helpful for later tonight.

I smiled, happy for the chance to observe other supers.

“Venus is ready and in position. We need a coordinated effort on the tentacles.” Kim’s Coast City counterpart shouted.

Everyone started chatting over their comms, and the effect was instantaneous.

Heroes spread out in the sky, tentacles chasing after them as another group did a low pass, burning off hundreds of the tentacles.

“That’s the best shot you are going to get.” Tracey must have been directly managing Venus.

That ball of light in the sky emptied itself down on the leviathan.

A blinding flash of light struck the monster, leaving a wake of fire in the air. It shocked me it had reached a temperature hot enough to burn air. That wasn’t easy and I’d never condensed light to that degree. Then again, I never tried hitting a titan.

As the beam struck the leviathan, it shifted in the bay, sending massive waves crashing deeper into the city.

The tentacles on its side were a mass of blackened stubs, but the leviathan righted itself. Almost instantaneously, tentacles grew over and cover its weak spot once again. The thing was a massive ball of ki, and with that came amazing general enhancements such as healing.

“It failed?” A manager asked the quiet room.

The leviathan pulled itself further out of the water as if to answer his question; the tentacles regrowing and stretching out into the city.

“It failed.” Kim cursed. “Keep the city safe. We’ll have to give it another shot.”

I watched as the titan pulled itself further out of the water. A lone hero dove, trying to stab its eye out.

The leviathan swung its head just in time to catch the hero, who became a bloody paste against its side.

While it might have just appeared to be a small twist of its head, given its size, it hit the hero with a couple hundred mile per hour momentum.

But that hero hadn’t been alone. Coast City heroes were desperate to drive this titan back to the sea as it continued to pull itself out.

With only Venus bringing the firepower for the weak spot on its neck, the others were going for the two little beady eyes and its soft throat.

Unfortunately, both of those spots were right next to the dangerous head. A simple twist or turn could turn these heroes to paste.

“Demoness, how are things? Pulsar, have you at least saved more than her?” I tried to encourage my heroes.

“Ha, bullshit. Pulsar over here was too busy pausing for the camera.” Demoness mocked her.

Pulsar sounded tired. “I’m not some S grade super. You don’t even fucking tire.”

It seemed they were both getting along fine. Shifting my attention back to the titan, I did something to help.

This all needed to end sooner rather than later if I were to meet my own plans for the evening.

Reaching out with my power, I probed around in the air until I found Venus, then I shoved all the ki I could into her.

There was no reason to hold back, not when the city was at risk.

Besides, no one would know it was me.

On screen, Venus’ orb of light grew several times in size. In just moments, it was blindingly bright.

“What’s going on?” Tracey demanded into her comms. She stood baffled for a moment before she started to strategize around the newest development. “Everyone, we need to part the tentacles again. Now!”

Kim pressed her brow down for a moment before turning back to the screen to watch.

Who is this?A voice rang out in my head. A psychic tether hook latched onto my mind.

Fuck. Fuck fuckity fuck. Of course, Venus’ second power was telepathy.

The cursing is unnecessary. What are you doing to me?Venus asked via telepathy.

I put up walls around my mind, or at least imagined them. It was a simple exercise that could be used to at least defend oneself against a telepath. She respected those walls, but I knew an S grade telepath could rip them down in a heartbeat.

Focusing, I directed my thoughts to her. I’m helping you. Now focus on the leviathan. The city is what is most important.

This was just about the worst-case scenario for me. While I might be able to stop most things physically in the world, telepathy had no energy for me to stop.

The only option for me was to disable the specific hero’s powers by taking their ki, and that wasn’t really viable at the moment if I wanted to save the city.

Venus gathered more energy than before, using my boost. The ball of light she held was almost literally a second sun. She held it above her, waiting until the tentacles were cleared enough, and then she ripped it open and lanced another beam down at the leviathan.

The world flashed white; the light seeping in even through the cracks in the tent and blinding everyone inside.

I watched with my powers instead of my eyes, feeling the massive beam of light energy impact the titan.

I hadn’t realized until then how much ki was inside the titan. Maybe it was its massive size or its toughness, but the density inside of it was far beyond anything I had ever seen in a human.

As it got hit, the titan crumpled in under the blast, a section of its neck burnt through.

Well done.I mentally sent to Venus.

I killed it!

No, you didn’t.I could already sense the leviathan healing as it drew away from the city.

My physical eyes cleared, and I turned to the videos that were still working to get a clear picture.

The leviathan’s neck hung at an awkward angle, bleeding enough to dye the shoreline red. But it was alive enough to pull itself back into the ocean.

“It’s retreating. Good job everyone. All heroes shift to clean up and recovery mode.” Kim announced to the room. Everybody started organizing around their new orders.

“Pulsar, Demoness, the leviathan is retreating.” I announced into our comms.

Pulsar groaned. “When I can see again, I’ll keep working.”

“I bet I could have punched it harder than that.” The vision of Stella crossing her arms and a cute pout on her face took over my mind.

Where are you?Venus interrupted my thoughts, metaphorically knocking on the walls I had built.

You don’t need to know. The threat is gone.I tried to pull my mind away, even as I stopped giving her ki. But she had her telepathic power fixated on me, and she wasn’t letting it go.

Venus’ mind pressed up against mine. You don’t understand the good we could do together.She pushed lightly on the walls I’d built.

Don’t do that.I warned her.

But it was no good. She was sure what she was doing was for the good of her city, so she pushed enough to crack my walls, her telepathic power questing with the same question. Where are you?

Pissed at her pushing, I reached my power out to her and ripped every bit of ki from her.

On every screen in the manager’s tent, it was like Venus was a puppet with its strings cut. She plummeted down to the ground.

“Stella, Venus is falling, catch her.” I said over the comms just as panic ensued in the tent.

Venus had pushed me, but her death would only cause problems.

Demoness swooped in, snagging the fallen goddess out of the air and landing on a nearby roof. There was a collective exhale in the tent.

AN - Thanks for all the encouragement. I love this story and I think it just gets better as it goes along. I know some authors are saying there's an exodus from the genre because they can't make money and I'm sitting here going 'Really?!' Because I'm in a comfortable enough position to just write what I want. That's thanks to all of you. So thank you all for your support!

Though one of these days I need to eek out a weekend and finish Monstrous Horizon book 1.

SS 1 is done, some edits at the beginning from what you guys have seen, but it's off to the editor and I've been outlining Mana 6 (I end up scrapping my outline 5 chapters into most books, but it's a good exercise).