H.E.R.O.: Anarchy

H.E.R.O. -

Anarchy

Kevin Gerald Rau

SMASHWORDS EDITION

H.E.R.O. – Anarchy

Kevin Rau

Copyright © 2014 Kevin Gerald Rau

Published at Smashwords

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to the online store and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

Editors

Frankie Sutton

Kimi Johnson

All characters are original and fictional. Any likeness to real people is purely incidental. Cover created by Kevin Rau.

Also written by Kevin Rau - the H.E.R.O. series:

H.E.R.O. – Metamorphosis (1)

H.E.R.O. - New Markets (2)

H.E.R.O. - Rise and Fall (3)

H.E.R.O. - Dark Research (4)

H.E.R.O. - Horde (5)

H.E.R.O. - Paragon (6)

H.E.R.O. - Illustrated Guide

H.E.R.O. Shorts – Gatecrasher (7)

H.E.R.O. Shorts – Silverlash (8)

H.E.R.O. - Gene Front (9)

H.E.R.O. - Incursion (10)

H.E.R.O. - Dolldrum (11)

H.E.R.O. - Malice (12)

H.E.R.O. – Dark Breach (13)

H.E.R.O. – Nightmonger (14)

H.E.R.O. – Battlefronts (15)

H.E.R.O. – Riftguard (16)

H.E.R.O. – Augments (17)

H.E.R.O. – Summoned (18)

H.E.R.O. – Bio-Organism (19)

H.E.R.O. – Anarchy (20)

Other Novels by Kevin Rau:

Necromancer’s Ascent (World of Dur)

Want more information on Kevin's books? http://www.kevinrau.com has information on the author's novels, as well as images of the H.E.R.O. superheroes and villains.

Feel free to like the author's page on Facebook, and to ask questions or make comments! http://www.facebook.com/herobooks

Chapter 1 – Alien on the Loose

Lightbeam’s Viewpoint

I gloated over the head of the robot we had captured. After we attacked the alien ship twice … and were successful once and run off once, the fools had come after our crew at Nightmonger’s chop shop.

The boss had just broken Shadow Angel, Radu, Carey and Shrinker out of the prison made for supers. His break-in had been enabled by the distracting attack Shag, Gavril and I had made against the Hastings Museum, of course.

I thought about that attack. We had a group of four heroes falling, with two of them down, and would likely have taken down Diva once Gavril reached her. Then, that guy in the cloak had shown up and helped the heroes. I needed to talk to the boss about that.

I shifted back into my elemental form, making me a being of pure light. My clothes converted with my physical form, and I flew up to the windows lining the ceiling of the large building. I looked outside, searching for Shag. The half-mutant, half-brick had rushed after the alabaster-skinned alien that had attacked along with the robot.

I doubted that the alien would return, as he had re-captured the froglike alien we had kidnapped from him, but one never knew. His big muscle, the robot, was gone, so he was more likely to flee than to come back for another beating, especially since Mindblade had struck him with multiple psychic knives.

I saw a great deal of smoke rise from two blocks west of the chop shop. It had to be from a super-fight. I flew through the window to the area. Granted, for me, a ‘flight’ was a nearly instant transportation as a beam of light. I remained in my light form and hovered in the air to look around.

Below, Retten and Shag were in a fight. Shag had been knocked through both walls of the corner of a building. He rolled to his feet and bounded around the building at the alien. The 7’ mutant brick was ugly and hairy enough to be called furry, but he was tough.

Retten pulled out an alien pistol matching the ones that Shag and I had retrieved from the alien ship in orbit. I blasted a pair of lasers from my eyes at the alien’s chest. I had thought that he was a brick, and expected them to do little injury, but the beams burned through his white tunic and his skin, albeit slowly. He screamed and dove sideways as he fired the pistol at the fur ball.

He hit Shag mid-leap, and the yeti crashed limply to the ground. He didn’t break his fall at all, though as with a normal brick super, the man’s body was so unbelievably dense that he bounced several times and rolled before stopping.

I was about to fire again when I heard helicopters. I looked southeast and saw an entire group of them heading directly toward me. Then I noticed the small spaceship sitting on the rooftop of the building kitty-corner to Nightmonger’s chop shop. I swore, as they had to be coming for it. I zoomed my vision through the windows of some of them … they were packed with armed soldiers.

I looked down at the ground. Retten had grabbed the frog alien, Arga’kor, and was fleeing. I knew the boss wanted Arga’kor, but if the military unloaded dozens of men in the area, they were sure to find the chop shop. We had at least one or two million in inventory just counting the stolen vehicles.

I flew down to Shag, touched his shoulder, and then realized I no longer had a clear line of sight to our building. I looked up toward the center of the city, converted him into light and flew up to a skyscraper, and then flew back down through one of the windows of the garage.

As soon as I appeared inside the building, I returned to my physical form and pulled my phone out. I dialed the proxy number that rerouted to Nightmonger’s phone.

He answered in his deep voice, Lightbeam … did Shag recapture the alien?

I replied, No, boss. The idiot aliens landed a small ship on the building next to ours, and there is a group of military helicopters on the way.

Can you fly it out of the city and hide it?

I’ll try, but if they land here, won’t they find the chop shop?

Yes. I’ll return for the equipment and Dr. Savu. Have the men get the vehicles out of the building immediately.

On it.

He hung up, and I turned and shouted, Get those vehicles out of this building and to the backup site now! We’ve got military incoming.

The men stopped and stared at me for a moment, and then a frenzy of activity began as they opened the garage doors and guys drove the stolen cars that were in operational order out of the building. Several of them tried to push a car up a ramp into the back of a truck.

I pointed at Dr. Savu, the young-looking inventor just added to Nightmonger’s crew. Get your stuff packed up. You gotta go now.

He nodded and scrambled, while Mindblade assisted him. I ran over to the mechanics and helped them push the hotrod up the ramp. While not as strong as some supers, I could still lift six hundred pounds. We got the car into the back, and the group scrambled to grab high-value parts to put in the truck with it.

I ran to the door and looked out. The guard outside the door had been killed, probably by the alien and his robot buddy. I pulled him into the building to hide it, and hopefully to delay the military from looking at the chop shop.

The corner of the room darkened into a deep shadow and Nightmonger walked through it. The crime lord was still dressed in a business suit. I noticed that it was new and tailored to fit the extra bulge of his muscles from the man’s second change that occurred on Friday.

I looked around to see where everyone was located. Gavril had been taken elsewhere by the boss to heal. Shag lay on the floor where I had rematerialized, as the big fur ball was too heavy for me to drag, much less lift in my physical form.

The sound of choppers approaching could be heard through the building, and Nightmonger said, Did you move that ship?

I said, On it. I sprinted to the door, stepped outside, and converted my body into light. It only took me a second to fly to the rooftop with the ship.

I strongly doubted that I would be able to move such a large craft. I had a weight limit, and something had to be carried for me to convert it to light, which was why Shag was generally so useful for heavy objects. The limit didn’t seem to apply to smaller items or to people.

I looked to the south and extended my vision to see a parking lot some five miles away. The building was too low for me to see past the southern buildings in Metrocity, so I couldn’t aim for a field if I wanted to.

I put my hand on the side of the craft and tried to convert it to light, but it wouldn’t shift. I grit my teeth and tried harder, but it was simply too large.

I looked at the incoming helicopters. I could fly to them and destroy them, but then the military would know I was involved. I looked back down toward the chop shop and flew to the door. I converted myself back to my physical form and ran inside.

Nightmonger was missing, as were Shag, the crude robot body we had taken from the starship south of the city, and both cannons from the starship wreck in the hands of the military. Dr. Savu boxed up parts as fast as he could. The men had the two eastern garage doors open, and had driven away in all of the functioning vehicles. The truck drove out as I watched, and other men ran to their own vehicles with small boxes.

Dr. Savu looked up at me. He said, I need more time.

I replied, Doc, you’re outta time.

I need these parts to be able to recreate them, especially with the alien escaping.

I sighed, Fine. I’ll go start a fight with the soldiers. Hurry up. Tell the boss I’ll meet him later at another site.

I left the building again, shifted in my light form, and flew back up near the shuttle. The helicopters were hovering over the building, and men were sliding down ropes as I appeared.

I immediately blasted a pair of high-powered laser beams at the rotor of the nearest helicopter. It sheared off the blade, which flew off to the side of the building, crossed the street, and smashed apart on the wall of the next building. The body of the helicopter dropped like a rock to the rooftop. Several men were low enough to roll to the side, but the helicopter crashed down with a loud bang, and then it rolled over. I was disappointed that it didn’t explode.

Two of the men were skilled at their landing. They dove to the side and fired short bursts toward me with their machine guns. As usual, the rounds went through my light form without harm, and I laughed. So many people thought they could harm a being of pure energy with simple bullets.

I blasted at the second of the six helicopters. It took evasive action as soon as I looked toward it, and my lasers went through the body, but missed the primary rotor mechanism.

I snarled and kept up a continuous laser after that craft, raking it with the beams. They easily went through the sides, I heard a scream, and then my beam caught the shaft and sheared it off.

A grenade bounced near me and exploded. As with the machine gun rounds, they held no danger for me, and shrapnel flew through my body and bounced behind me. I blasted a pair of two-inch holes through the thrower, and then looked back up at the flying craft.

A voice behind me said, Murderous scum! You’ll pay for that!

I turned just as a huge white mace crashed into my head. Not only did it feel solid, it held the strength of a brick behind it, at least one prior to the virus last week.

I didn’t have a solid skull to crack, but the weapon felt physical to me, and I was knocked back and stunned. I flew a dozen feet back and shook my head. Stars and black spots appeared in my vision.

It gave Spectral Warden time to leap into the air after me. He swung the mace over his head with his right hand, and now held a rectangular shield in his left hand. I blasted a pair of eyebeams at it, but the shield absorbed the two blasts.

He hit me again and I went unconscious.

Chapter 2 – Preparation

Pinpoint’s Viewpoint

After the mutants attacked and destroyed Ironsite Security, my team returned to the building we were using as a local base. Fortunately, while Ironsite was our benefactor and creator of the cybernetic technology in our bodies, we had not been based out of their building in Metrocity.

The techs worked on our vehicle and weapons, as well as repairs to our cybernetics. None of the team was in bad shape, as our skinweave technology prevented the black claws, fangs and stabbing weapons from cutting through us easily. That left only our purely bionic pieces vulnerable, such as my right arm.

Rangefinder, our sniper, paced angrily back and forth. I said, Knock off the marching, man. You’ll wear out the floor.

He scowled at me and said, This has to be a retributive strike by the mutants we captured earlier in the week.

Risktaker sat on a chair nearby and sharpened his sword. Can you blame them? We did kidnap them and shoot up their place.

Rangefinder said, I don’t know what the eggheads wanted with them, but they obviously deserved it. They took down an entire building.

I said, Two of them, if you include the parking garage.

He waved a hand at me and nodded. The garage door opened and a limousine pulled into the large room. An older man with white hair got out of the car, as did a woman. He was General Angelich, the man who had directed us to attack Spellbound in the first place. I liked that he did not hide behind a blackened screen. He seemed to be an upfront kind of guy.

He approached and I stood and saluted him. He waved his hand. I’m not in the Air Force any longer, Pinpoint, and you aren’t in the service either.

I nodded, Understood, General. Doesn’t mean I don’t respect you the same.

Thank you.

What can we do for you, sir?

I’m new with Ironsite Security, but we’re unwilling to accept the destruction of our location by the mutants.

Rangefinder pumped his fist. Good. What’s on the plate, sir?

First, you’ll need a larger team. We have more men being prepped over the weekend with the latest version of the skinweave. They don’t have time for the full cybernetic procedure, but I want you to have some grunts for an action in response to their attack.

I asked, Are we going to hit Spellbound again?

No, our early analysis from your eye cam is showing that this is a different group from that one. I’ve got people out searching for that information. I want you to be ready for action by late Sunday, though it depends upon how soon we obtain data.

What will the parameters of this coming mission be? Capture or elimination?

Elimination. These people are a threat. I want to do a series of strikes against them. Weaken and confuse them, and then eradicate them. You’ve heard about Fargene and Regenetics?

I nodded. Not a lot, but some. Both companies were attacked my mutants.

Fargene was wiped out. Both companies do genetics research. While related to the test we did in that old factory near the river, Ironsite is more involved in technology. That didn’t stop those freaks from coming at us, though. We were fortunate that they attacked at night, or we could have lost our people as well.

But our surgeries and implants were done out east. Were the parts made here?

Some were designed here. Our information is backed up across numerous sites, so we didn’t lose much, but it’s still costly. We need to ensure these people won’t go after our other sites, or our people.

I nodded.

Shadowdancer, my team’s stealth specialist, approached. She said, General, you mentioned the ‘latest’ skinweave. Has it been improved?

Yes, it has. I have a man flying in with it now. You will all have it implanted as well.

Risktaker said, At least that stuff was just a series of injections. Better than the full surgery for other parts.

I nodded and looked at General Angelich. I take it you’ll contact us with the next action, sir?

He nodded. Yes. Rest up, get the bus repaired, and be armed and ready.

Our pilot, Wheelbase asked, Was that a dragon that hit me? The blonde woman looked at the hovercraft, which had been tipped over during the attack.

General Angelich said, It was. One of the heroines in town rides one as a mount. It’s about thirty feet long. The woman is Rayna.

I said, It was there, as was Rayna. I had to use the ‘government agent’ cover.

The heroes, at least in Metrocity, have a tendency of getting into things. I’d prefer to avoid a war with them.

Understood.

He pointed a finger around at the team. Be ready. In a day or two, we’re lighting up these bastards. I’ll contact you soon. He nodded to us and returned to the car. It left the building, and I watched as the door closed.

I said, The skinweave upgrade will be useful. They stabbed through with our current armor with those black blades. It still won’t protect much from their punching and kicking attacks, so watch out for that.

The others nodded, and we turned to repairs on our individual gear to ensure it was in good working condition, since most of us had been at close range to the explosion at Ironsite Security.

Chapter 3 – Razorwing

Psystar’s Viewpoint

Diva, Rayna, and I were in the Overlook rec room, along with all of Rayna’s pets except Duff. The small B had been sent along with Spectral Warden to scout the building I had seen in Lady Celeste’s precognitive vision.

I had been unconscious due to someone knocking Gavril out of my mindview range while I was in his mind. I hated that I got such strong psychic feedback when that occurred. While I was out, Diva had brought me back to Razorwing’s penthouse for our operation and laid me on the couch. The two fuzzy dragons had flopped down on my chest and between my legs to relax and play a game on the television, at least in Kar’s case. I hadn’t seen the new dragon, Rak, play a game yet.

Rayna tried calling Razorwing, but his phone immediately went to voicemail. She then called the prison. Hi, this is Rayna, from H.E.R.O. Razorwing went down to check on someone you’re holding, Rampart. Is Razorwing still there?

One moment, I’ll patch you through to the super section.

A moment later, Tera answered. This is Tera. Rayna repeated her question, and Tera replied, We were attacked by a black shadow man. She coughed and breathed roughly. Sorry, got stabbed. Lost prisoners and Razorwing captured.

Are you alright?

Will be. Bruce is worse. Shadow man took Radu, Cary, Shadow Angel, Shrinker, and Tim.

That had to be Nightmonger.

Could be. Was just a big shadow. She breathed hard a few times and coughed again. Whole group disappeared into shadow.

They took Razorwing?

Yeah.

Did he have his phone with him?

Dunno.

Do you need anything from us? Are the wounds flesh deep only?

No, fake F.B.I. agent threw glowing knives at us. Went deep.

Sorry to hear that. Try to rest. Is the super section protected?

Not well with Bruce and I hurt, but what does it matter if someone can show up inside this place and take people?

I agree, still, I’ll see if Spartan’s available. Call me if you need anything. She ended the call, called Spartan and said, Hey, you and Black Tiger are out on patrol, right?

Spartan replied, Sure, is there a problem?

Will you help at the prison? They were attacked.

On our way. Come on, BT. Thanks, Rayna. He hung up.

Rayna looked at Diva and me and said, This is bad. Nightmonger got his crew back.

I slapped my forehead. Capturing some of these villains was a major pain in the rump. I asked, How did he get Radu? That guy is frozen solid in a metal container.

"No idea. I’m going to get cleaned up while we wait for food. She went to the command center, ordered food, and sent Jim and Mike on a search for Razorwing’s phone. The techy guys had a knack for finding information.

She returned to the rec room and said, Boys, you’re all dirty. We all need a shower. Come on. She was covered in grime from the sewers, especially during her multiple fights with Rael. She did not seem upset with him, as he had been controlled by a weird blue energy that supposedly came from the black energy breaches. Sadly, Blake had been the one to help those afflicted. The man had worked out a deal with Captain McCain to sort of reset his misdeeds in exchange for helping us.

I watched through all of their eyes as she shampooed the dragons. They liked the attention, although Kar wanted to get back to the couch to continue his game. I found it humorous that she had them sit on Tuff’s eighteen-inch or so ball-shaped body. He seemed to put up with being a floating platform for each dragon, and mostly hovered and stared at her. She was agitated about Razorwing’s missing status.

I tried to ignore the many mindviews showing her in the shower, and tried to focus on those of Tiriffa. The blue-skinned alien was out of mindview reach. Although I heard her thoughts as she contemplated the specifications of a device to send into the dark energy rift to study the energy, as though the meteor infused with dark energy was the primary reason her squad of researchers had come to our solar system in the first place. Tiriffa’s thoughts shifted to a programming language as she did something with the two boys.

Serreka had to be near her, as I also heard her thoughts as she built the next piece of a space shuttle for Razorwing. The boys, Jim and Mike, were around the same range, which meant they were in the command center on the far side of the floor.

Part of me wished that Razorwing had put the locker rooms in one corner of the building. As it was, I could not escape seeing the people in the shower no matter where I went in the building, not to mention hear and feel their sense of touch. Every time someone went in there, I felt as though hands were running over my body.

A buzzer sounded from the ceiling speaker, and I heard Jim’s thoughts to grab the money and let someone up. I said, Food’s here.

Diva grinned and led the way out of the room. I followed her along the southern corridor, and we saw Jim pay someone in the elevator and take some bags. He looked down toward us and grinned, distracted by Diva’s long legs in the short robe, or short on her, as the attention-seeking woman hadn’t selected one of the larger ones. I had a feeling the choice was intentional.

The freight elevator door closed just before we reached it, and I asked, Do you need money for that, Jim?

He shook his head, Rayna gave me money. How’s your head?

I smiled, Better. I wished my pheromones worked as fast as my telepathy. That never has a side effect like this.

Diva snorted as she laughed, It only makes everyone want to kiss you.

Jim walked ahead of us to the command center, which had the huge, rectangular table. He placed the bags of Thai food on it and said, Food’s here. Uh, one of you want to let Rayna know? She said something about a shower…

I said, Got it. I gestured to pull her mindview up to fill my vision and thought to her, Food’s here.

She said, Be right there. She quickly finished rinsing off Gruff, who complained about too many showers, and rushed to dry off. She gestured to the pets. Dry off, boys. I don’t want you dripping everywhere. She left her hair mostly wet, put on a spare costume, and rushed out to us.

I pushed her mindview away, and it shrunk back down to a tiny television screen in my vision. The boys and alien women joined us at the table and we dug into the food.

Rayna asked, Jim, did you find the last place his phone pinged?

Jim nodded. Southeast part of the city. It’s weird, because the last tower before that was near the prison.

She finished a bite and said, So we’ve got an area.

Jim stuffed food in his mouth and walked to the line of computers. He pulled up a map of the city and pointed at a dot. He mumbled, There.

I said, That’s in the region with the warehouse we were looking for, the one with the Borgz robot.

Rayna said, Wonderful, one more thing to fight.

I shook my head, It was lying on the ground in Lady Celeste’s vision like it was off or damaged.

That’s where Spectral Warden was going to watch. I sent Duff with him.

She pulled out her phone and sent a text. ‘R u at whse?’

Duff quickly replied, ‘R.’

I asked, What does R mean?

She glanced up at me. He uses ‘arr’ for ‘yes.’ It’s his short form.

Ah.

She texted, ‘Is big robot in whse?’

‘R. On floor. Peeple run all over. Blowed up spot.’

She blinked, A fight happened there. Come on, girls. You up for more action?

Diva said, Lemme fly home and grab something to wear, or I’ll be chewed out again. Meet you there?

Rayna nodded and said, Thanks, guys. Boys, you’re all with mama.

Kar said, But I’m in the middle of a game?

It’ll still be there when you return, baby.

We all stuffed food in our mouths, and I grabbed Diva and flew near my top speed back to her house. We ran inside and she threw the robe on the bed and changed into one of the small workout outfits she had bought that matched her hair.

As she slipped on tennis shoes, she looked at me and said, This better not last more than an hour. After this is done, we’re going to your mom’s place for our costumes. I hate wearing these workout clothes.

I smiled, You look good in them.

She finished with her second shoe and we ran outside. I pulled up tight against her and pushed into the air again, and then jabbed my left knee up to crank up my speed. We blew past Mach 1 and reached about Mach 6. The city flew past in a blur, and I had to slow down within fifteen seconds or so.

Diva spotted Rayna’s dragon before I did and we followed it down to the ground. The building to the south had an alien shuttle on it that I recognized.

Chapter 4 – On Duty

Spectral Warden’s Viewpoint

It sounded as though half the heroes of the city were injured or out for the night after some nasty fights with villains, not to mention the weird blue-glow thing that made some of the guys go crazy. One thing was certain. Being a hero would not be a boring job.

I rode my Harley back to the southeast side of the giant city. This time, I knew where I was going, as I had spotted the building described by Lady Celeste, or at least what Psystar had passed on from doing her telepathy gig on the strange woman. Rayna’s tiny white eye-monster clung to a projection on the dash with a small black crab claw.

I stopped a block away and snuck toward the building as much as I could while wearing a white and red suit of anime-style armor. I wondered if I could change the appearance of my psychic armor. Last night was the first time I had brought up a shield, so there had to be some control over it. Duff floated ahead of me, but then faded out of sight. I assumed that he had some form of invisibility.

I came out of my reverie as a group of six military helicopters drew close. They headed directly toward me, and then hovered over the building to my right.

One of the small doors on the building I was here to watch opened, and a man with sharp facial bones and a black costume stepped outside. He glowed, and his body and suit disappeared to be replaced by bright light in the shape of a man … Lightbeam.

He looked up at the building where men were rappelling down from the helicopters. He disappeared, only to reappear up on the building.

I glanced at the building. There was a water drainpipe attached to the side behind the villain. I sprinted to it, leaped up twenty feet, and climbed up the pipe. Prior to becoming a super, I probably would have had a difficult time doing it, but now that I could lift about eight hundred pounds, scaling the pipe was a breeze.

One of the helicopters crashed onto the rooftop and rolled to the side as I reached the top, and the villain activated his eye lasers and went to town on the second helicopter. He cut off the rotor of the second aircraft as I moved toward him, and a man threw a grenade at Lightbeam. The villain’s reply was to blast a pair of large holes through the soldier. It was then that I realized a small alien spaceship sat on the rooftop.

I sprinted at the villain, creating my psychic shield and Mace of Doom as I ran. I said, Murderous scum! You’ll pay for that! Then I hit him with the mace. He was knocked back. There definitely had to be some kind of psychic feedback when I struck with my mace, because the man laughed off machine gun shots and the grenade as if they weren’t there, and yet seemed stunned when I hit him.

I leaped at him again, and he blasted his beams at me. The shield took the lasers, though I felt it weakening from the damage. I was angry about the soldiers. The men and women worked hard in the service of our