Corpies (Super Powereds Spinoff Book 1) (58 page)

“No, this is perfect,” Bubble Bubble said. “You can go help him! Gale just threw him inside the mech without joining. Even for Titan, that has to be dangerous. If you hurry, you two can bring that thing down before he gets hurt.”

“The concern is touching, but misplaced,” Topsy assured her. “Do you ever wonder why he’s called Titan?”

From the battlefield nearby, a huge metal beam suddenly burst out of the mech’s lower torso and was dragged upward, like an inverted stabbing. The behemoth’s legs began to shake, no longer capable of making the smooth, controlled motions that it had previously. Slightly higher, a blast of wind shattered another of its eyes, the third one taken out since Gale began her outer assault.

“Because he’s really strong, like Titans from mythology,” Zone said.

“That’s probably why Titan agreed to use the name, but I actually know the Hero who suggested it to him, and that wasn’t the reason.” Topsy paused to glance over the edge of the roof, taking in the shuddering robot with a dark smile. “That fellow was Titan’s rival back in their HCP days, and when they first started out he was much more powerful than our friend currently killing a robot from the inside. But every time he lost, Titan kept coming back, stronger and more determined than before. He just couldn’t be stopped.”

Suddenly, the mech’s legs gave out. It came crashing to the ground, the weight of its body clearly no longer being offset by a gravitational anomaly. The arms flailed, now too heavy to move properly, and smoke poured out from the holes in its torso.

“You can never really kill a Titan,” Topsy said, nodding to the fallen monster that only moments ago had seemed so indomitable. “Even the gods could only imprison them. That’s why the name was suggested. Because if you’ve ever seen him in a real battle, walking through blood and fire completely unstained, you understand what it is to witness something that’s truly unstoppable. The man you’ve been working with all this time is a good fellow, but he isn’t the real Titan. Titan is a destroyer, a force of nature, a monster that only the grace of God has put on our side.”

Topsy raised his hand and pointed to the collapsing mech. Flames began to rise out from the many openings punched in the giant body. Around it, the smaller robots suddenly began to twitch, then collapse, like puppets whose strings had been cut. After one last outward explosion from the place where the torso joined to the metal legs, a figure could be seen walking out from within the mechanical beast’s belly. Even from so far away they could recognize the familiar red and blue costume as the man strolled, dirty and sooty but unharmed, away from his fallen foe.

“
That
is the real Titan. And as an over-the-hill Hero who’s witnessed too much evil in his lifetime, I can’t tell you how fucking ecstatic I am to see him again.”

111.

               The first thing Hexcellent noticed as her eyes fluttered open was the strange man wearing a red and white costume with his fingers on her forehead. The second was Titan, standing over the other man’s shoulder and looking anxious. The third, a realization that quickly dwarfed the other two, was that she was lying in the paw/hand of a massive rabbit, which was stooped over to allow Titan and the stranger access. Surprisingly, it wasn’t panic that welled in her at the sight of the towering creature, but relief, like something long trapped had finally gotten free.

“Is this. . . Hopcules?”

It nodded, a gigantic gesture that was impossible to miss, staring down at her with those black shiny eyes. He looked much the same as he had when she was a child, armored and human-like, but easy to cuddle. She wondered if he could still cast light from his mouth, like he did when something in her room had made a noise and he lit it up to show her nothing was there. It was possible, though clearly things had changed.

Slowly, Hexcellent pulled herself to a reclined lean, noticing for the first time Galvanize, Zone, and Bubble Bubble were also there, albeit standing farther back from the giant bunny. Next to her team stood Gale and an older Hero that she half-recognized as Titan’s friend. Around them were dozens, if not hundreds of the robots, all collapsed lifeless on the ground. There was also a fair amount of damage to the nearby buildings, some in the shape of giant rabbit-like footprints.

“Oh fuck me running. Am I going to be held liable for all this? ’Cause if so, you can go ahead and just kill my ass now.”

“Good job, Bedrest,” Titan told the man in red and white. “Looks like she’s back to her usual cranky self.”

“She should still take it easy for a while; healing or not, that sort of damage takes a toll. I have to get going, though, lots of our people need patching up.” Bedrest walked away from the paw and Hexcellent, over to where a nondescript man in a rumpled suit was standing. Seconds later they were gone, seemingly vanished into thin air.

“Okay, but seriously, how much of this is on me?” Hexcellent asked, just before Titan wrapped her in a hug so tight that for a moment she worried Hopcules would have to intervene.

“You damn kids are going to give me a heart attack, and I don’t think I can even get those.” Titan slowly set her down, at which moment the rest of the team swarmed her. Hard as she tried to seem unbothered by the attention, it was impossible not to be a little moved by the influx of warmth.

“Anyway, to answer your question, you’re technically clear on all this,” Titan told her. “For one thing, it was self-defense, since Hopcules only attacked robots that came after it. Not to mention the fact that you were unconscious, so you had no say in what was happening. I ran everything up the ladder while we waited for Bedrest, and while there might be some hearings and paperwork, you’ll come out fine. I’ll make sure of it.”

Something about his voice made it clear that Titan meant those words, possibly by any means necessary. Hexcellent had a good idea of just how many means the man had. As the others finally let go of her, she turned around to take in Hopcules in all his glory.

“When I summoned him as a kid, he was like five feet tall, tops,” Hexcellent said.

“You said you summoned him to drive off your fears, right?” Bubble Bubble ventured. “Well, you’ve seen a lot more since then. Maybe you’ve got much bigger fears.”

“On the subject of your rabbit, I need to talk with you about something,” Titan interrupted. “We’ve learned that those giant robots are acting as relay points for the smaller ones. Basically, kill the big guys, and the little ones go limp.”

Something in Hexcellent’s brain wriggled again. Why did that seem familiar?

“Unfortunately, just like with the little ones, once the big bots are damaged to a certain point, they self-destruct everything we might be able to use, signal relays included. Currently, the Heroes have been able to take down four of the large mechs, and they’re dealing with the fifth right now,” Titan continued. “The sixth will be a special case, however. We’re going to try to infiltrate it, find the device that’s receiving and relaying the master signal, and trace it back to the source. Brewster can’t take another attack like this one; it needs to end today.”

“So do you need me to unsummon Hopcules to clear space or something?” Even as the words left her mouth, Hexcellent hated the taste of them. She’d just been reunited with an old friend; the last thing she wanted was to send him away again.

“Actually, pretty much the exact opposite.” Titan pointed up at the giant rabbit, who was still watching everything with those glassy eyes. “Your summon is incredible, and right now it might be the most useful piece on the battlefield. If you’re willing, we’d like to have you and Hopcules help contain the mech while a team hunts through its insides for the signal device. If the robot is fighting something of equal strength, that will keep it from tearing up the city, which will minimize damage and casualties while we take the time to search. It’s dangerous work, though, I won’t lie to you about that. I understand if you don’t want to take the risk, especially so soon after a close call.”

“Risk comes with the turf of being a PEERS,” Hexcellent replied. “But you’re sort of skipping over a big detail, aren’t you? Self-defense is one thing; what you’re describing sounds a lot more like picking a fight, and that’s Hero work. Giant bunny or no, I’m not a Hero, remember?”

“No, you’re not,” Titan agreed. “But this work is messy, and it’s far from the first time that a Super who had what we needed wasn’t wearing a mask. The DVA has protocol for this kind of situation, and with Brewster’s predicament, you weren’t hard to sell them on. The technical term is Temporarily Authorized Hero Asset, and it means you can fight the good fight until the current threat is neutralized.”

“And if I screw up?” Hexcellent had seen what happened to Heroes who made serious mistakes; the DVA wasn’t shy about letting the public watch the trials. It was important to show that these enhanced beings charged with people’s safety were held accountable. That was part of why people were comfortable trusting Heroes.

“Then that’s on me as the one that authorized you.” Titan set a hand on her shoulder, his massive palm almost engulfing her whole upper arm. “But you won’t screw up. If you decide to fight, I know you’re going to kick that thing’s ass.”

“And what makes you so certain?” Hexcellent shot back, wishing she had as much confidence as he did.

“Because I know you. Because I’ve seen you work. And because the first time we trained together, your immediate instinct was to try and show up me, a Hero renowned for his strength.” Titan smiled down at her. “Half of this job is just having the guts to wade into dangerous, impossible situations and try to fight them back to salvageable. Guts are something you’ve got a lot of. Guts and a giant fire-breathing rabbit.”

“He breathes fire now?” Hexcellent glanced up at Hopcules, as if expecting an explanation, but only received the same endless stare looking back at her. Shit, she’d never given him eyelids, had she?

“Oh good, that’s news for you, too. We were wondering how that bunny didn’t burn your house down,” Zone said.

“He can do a hell of a lot, and so can you, but only if you want to.” Titan dug into his pocket and pulled out a small silver device. “This was dropped off along with your healer. It will connect you with all the other Heroes out there trying to save this city. Take it, and until that last mech is beaten, you’re one of us.”

Hexcellent reached out, her fingers with their chipped black nail polish wrapping around the device and carefully lifting it from Titan’s hand. The dream she’d had as a child, the one she’d pissed away with years of bad decisions, seemed to glow in the gizmo’s metallic depths. She was never going to be a real Hero, and she’d made peace with that a long time ago. But if she couldn’t grab hold of her dream, she would still settle for grazing her fingers against it.

“Tell me how this thing works, Titan. It sounds like we’ve got some robot ass to kick.”

112.

“Hooooly shiiiiit!”

Hexcellent’s scream was drowned out by the thunderous boom of Hopcules landing on the street below and launching himself upward once more, leaving only a giant footprint behind. She stood nestled between his neck and shoulder, while Titan and the rest of her team clung to the top of Hopcules’s armor a few feet away. Her words seemed to sum up everyone’s sentiment; there was no carnival ride in the world that could simulate riding on the shoulders of a giant rabbit as it hopped through town.

With no teleporter on hand capable of moving a twenty-story bunny, there was only one way to get to the final mech’s location. Several Heroes had already evacuated a path. Others were driving the mech toward them in an effort to minimize how much damage was done. Word came down from Dispatch, the strange woman relaying everything through the new comm Hexcellent had shoved in her ear, that they were converging on a spot that had already been halfway leveled fighting an earlier mech. Better to rebuild one section of town than two.

Nearby, Gale and Topsy floated alongside Hopcules, her powers keeping the two of them aloft. Though they’d been offered the chance to ride on the rabbit’s shoulder, the two Heroes had declined. Hexcellent wasn’t sure if it was out of pride or prudence, and she didn’t really care. They were free to miss out; all the more room for her and her team.

“Hexcellent, you’ve reached the rendezvous point.”

Dispatch’s voice brought her back to reality. She looked down and noticed a cluster of brightly-colored costumes dotting the ground. The Heroes that were waiting for them. For her. There was a moment as Hexcellent began to rise from Hopcules’s shoulder that she genuinely thought it was her joy lifting her up. Then she felt the swirling wind and realized that it was Gale transporting her team to the ground.

Even as she was losing altitude, Hexcellent could see the mech, which was only a few blocks away. It was moving slowly and steadily as the other Heroes drove it toward her. She wasn’t sure if it had noticed Hopcules or not, but as soon as she got the order, she’d make sure it couldn’t pay attention to anything else.

“You know, I have seen some crazy shit in my days. Really, truly insane stuff. And this doesn’t take the cake. . . but it’s still pretty impressive.”

The man speaking had his head tilted back as he took in Hopcules. Of all the people waiting for her, he looked the least like a Hero, wearing a simple outfit that was mostly notable for the large array of pockets. Eventually he turned from the bunny to the woman who summoned it, making his way over to Hexcellent and taking her hand.