Chapter 30

MASKS AGAINST MONSTERS

They woke around eight.

It was a subdued morning. Auggy had laid out a breakfast spread by the time the others emerged: toast, eggs, bacon, sausages, and a full pot of soul-black coffee that steamed in the cool morning air.

Annie helped him, then helped herself to a heaped pile, muttering good mornings through a mouthful before wandering off to get dressed.

Half an hour later, they were all geared and ready.

Alexander buckled the last strap of his vest, adjusted the shoulder holster, and took a deep breath. Across the room, Talia tied back her hair, already slipping into her calm, analytical mode.

Now for the hardest part of the day.

“Talia,” Alexander said quietly, pulling her aside. “I need you to bring your full kit.”

She frowned, not understanding. “Why?”

“Because I want you on overwatch when the fighting starts,” Alexander said, anticipating her next question. “I know you’re not fully recovered from the skeletons.”

“I’ll be fine, Alex,” she argued. “It’s just bruising and stiffness. I’ll stretch it out while we wait. I assure you I’m ready.”

He glanced at the others, who did their best to appear busy and not listening.

“Talia. There’s no doubt you’re the best hand-to-hand fighter among us. Perhaps one of the best in the world. And though I have some doubts about your ascension plan, I genuinely hope you’ll prove me wrong. But right now, you’re not ready to face what we’re going up against in close combat.”

He could almost see the arguments flickering behind her eyes, asked and answered without needing to be spoken. To Alexander, it spoke volumes about her professionalism.

“I understand, Alex,” she said with a measured clip, then turned to retrieve the rest of her kit.

While he double-checked his gear, Auggy padded over and clapped a hand on his shoulder.

“You did good, lad,” he said. “It’s a difficult call to make, but she’ll realize you were right. And you’ve given her a role that matters and plays to her strengths.”

Alexander nodded his thanks. “Let’s get the portal up.”

Augustus smiled, conjured the wand to his hand, and began weaving the arcane, shaping a portal to the high-rise rooftop.

Talia returned with a heavy black duffle bag of weapons slung over her shoulder. Alexander met her eyes, and she gave a subtle, resolute nod.

He turned to Annie—only to startle at finding her right beside him.

“Jumpy, huh?” she said, sticking her tongue out.

He squinted down at her. “Just surprised we’re bringing kids on this ride.”

She huffed, but he caught her suppressing a smile as she turned away.

The portal snapped into existence with a thrum of magic. Annie stepped forward, metal rippling up her arms and neck as she jumped through, her role as vanguard becoming second nature.

Alexander and Talia followed, Auggy bringing up the rear.

The rooftop was broad and flat, bare except for a few metal ventilation units. A thick, waist-high wall framed the perimeter.

From here, Argentum spread in all directions, the city center and its cluster of skyscrapers far to the north. The morning sun peeked through clouds, casting long shadows.

While Talia and Alexander grabbed binoculars and began to survey the areas they had marked as the most likely targets, Annie whispered to Auggy and jumped back through the portal.

She returned moments later, shoving the sofa ahead of her.

“Really, Annie?” Alexander asked.

“There’s no reason we can’t be comfortable,” she said. “Besides, it’s not like it’s our couch anyway.”

He caught movement to the side as Annie zipped back through again, this time returning with an armful of snacks.

He shook his head and went back to surveilling.

Hours passed. While he’d thought the sewers were bad before, Alexander realized he had underestimated the ceiling for boredom.

When he’d said as much to Auggy, the older man just laughed and told him to get used to the art of ‘hurry up and wait.’ They swapped roles every hour, and Alexander retracted any complaint made about the couch. And the snacks.

As he was reaching for one such snack, his tablet beeped. He grabbed it, checking the urgent headline with both hope and trepidation.

Supervillains spotted at Argentum Art Museum — Evacuation of Local Area Advised

“Talia!” Alexander called. “North northwest. Art museum. See anything?”

She spun, training the binoculars where he pointed. Everyone else waited, seconds stretching as she adjusted the lens.

“Smoke. Vehicles fleeing the area…” She paused, then turned to him. “Skeletons.”

The word hung in the air between them. Leathers and fabric rustled as the team turned to look at him.

Alexander felt the weight of the moment settle on him. With his next words, he would be committing his team, his friends, to a fight that could end in death. The villains they had chosen to hunt were not playing games.

They were murderers. Monsters. Psychopaths.

If any of them died, he’d be responsible. And that made him hesitate. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“We’re ready, Alex,” Annie said, her voice quiet but steady. Firm. “This is what we all want.”

Alexander opened his eyes, glancing at her. As much as she could be a lovable dork, he had never doubted her willingness to charge into danger to do what she thought was right. She was the kind of person who always chose to act.

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He turned to Talia, who simply nodded once, meeting his eyes with determination. While he didn’t know her as well as he knew Annie, the woman’s quiet competence was more impressive than even the ridiculous array of skills she had displayed since they met. That she had been a vigilante once told him this was something she had already decided for herself.

Augustus stood quietly, arms crossed, watching him patiently. When Alexander glanced in his direction, he smiled, moustache twitching. The man was a retired Space Force veteran, the kind that jumped from starships at the edge of atmosphere, armored suit burning and screaming all the way down.

Alexander threw his head back and laughed at the craziness of it all.

Annie joined in a second later, more giggling than anything. Talia looked confused but amused. Auggy just grinned, understanding.

I can be such an idiot sometimes, Alexander thought. I’m not deciding for any of them. They’re just waiting for me to fire the starting pistol.

“Talia, pass Auggy the binocs. Auggy, get us to any rooftop with line-of-sight of the museum. We’ll drop Talia off first and reevaluate, then make the call for where the rest of us portal in.”

Talia handed Augustus the binoculars.

“You got it, boss,” Auggy said, stepping to the edge.

The others were already moving, grabbing gear without a word. Annie said goodbye to the sofa, giving it a gentle pat.

Thirty seconds later the portal snapped into place. As one, they slipped on their demonic masks. This was the first time they had seen Auggy’s, and it didn’t disappoint: a blue-scaled dragon snarled at the world, teeth bared and fury in its eyes.

Annie, arms already morphed into shields, dashed through. Talia went next, with Alexander right on her heels.

Auggy, as always, passed through last.

Twenty seconds later, they crouched behind the rooftop’s parapet, just across and slightly adjacent to the museum.

Alexander gripped the concrete with such force it bit into his gloves. Beside him, Auggy knelt calmly, wand poised, eyes tracking every movement below. Annie peered over the wall just to his left, her arms returned to their normal metallic form.

Behind them, Talia unzipped her heavy duffle and unfurled a large cloth, then began laying out her kit with practiced ease: pistols, shotgun, rifles, grenade launcher, and a katana. Each was placed within easy reach. Her expression was unreadable behind the mask, but her motions were clean and efficient.

The scene below was chaos.

A hovercar exploded in the street, shards of glass and flaming metal spraying across blood-slicked pavement. Several others burned where they had crashed or been overturned. Storefronts were smashed in, some burning from within.

And the people…

Skeletons, dozens of them, dragged screaming civilians through the chaos toward the front steps of the Argentum Art Museum. Each of them still alive and struggling.

At the top of the wide, decorative staircase, two figures stood. Or in one case, lounged.

Pandora Hex was perched near the top, stretched across the steps like a bored teenager, one boot bouncing lazily in the air as she sucked on a bright red lollipop. She watched the carnage with idle amusement.

Mercy Graves stood beside her, leaning forward, hands grasping the newest victim delivered by her skeletons. Her touch lingered briefly, but the result was catastrophic. The moment her fingers made contact, the man shriveled, rotted, convulsed, and crumbled into husk and bone. In her hands was a flickering orb of light, translucent and writhing, trying to escape. She thrust it into the remains, and seconds later another skeleton rose to join the ranks stretching across the plaza and down the road.

They weren’t just killing. They were building an army.

Alexander gritted his teeth. Seeing it in person was worse than anything on the recordings.

“Auggy,” he said, low and urgent. “I need two portals in quick succession. A small one Annie can dive through, behind them at the top of the steps. Another in the middle of the street, right in front of the skeletal guards.”

He glanced at Annie. “Annie, you get your wish. I need you to separate them and keep Pandora busy. Auggy and I are on Mercy; we take her out fast, the skeletons go down.”

He turned to Talia. “I know Tier 2s are harder to hurt, but do what you can.”

“It’ll depend on what they’ve got,” she said, nodding. “But I’ll cover you.”

“Are you ready, Annie?”

She nodded, extending a metal fist. “We are goddamn superheroes.”

Four fists met. Then they moved.

Auggy spun up the first portal, small and hovering midair. He was already conjuring the second when Annie dove through the first.

She burst from the portal a meter above the museum’s portico, its stone steps descending to the street, flanked by towering columns.

Arms tucked, knees tight, she turned the dive into a forward roll. Metal limbs crashed against polished granite.

She sprang to her feet, then launched forward with explosive force.

Mercy didn’t even have time to turn. Annie drove a combat boot into the small of her back just as a spike of metal burst through the sole. It pierced cleanly through Mercy’s spine and burst from her abdomen in a wet spray.

Mercy screamed as she was sent hurtling forward, limbs flailing.

She crashed into the skeletons at the bottom of the stairs, sending them tumbling in every direction.

Annie didn’t pause. Arm-blades swung with deadly intent, down toward where Pandora lay.

Alexander sprinted from the second portal the instant Annie’s kick landed.

He ran for the museum steps, tonfa already in hand and crackling with electricity. Reaching outward with his mind, he felt the faint hum of a few still-functioning hovercars scattered down the street.

He commanded them. Activate. Come to me.

The first skeleton lunged. He drove both tonfa forward into the creature’s sternum, shattering bone and shoving it into the others behind. Another came from the side. He spun, tonfa cracking across its skull, shattering the jaw to pieces.

Just ahead, Mercy was trying to rise, hands glowing faint gold, but a wall of skeletons barred his path.

He pressed forward.

Auggy emerged behind him, wand already up, moving in tight, calculated flicks. Each gesture unleashed something different: a firebolt detonated a skull, a stream of ice froze a foot to the ground, a shockwave of force sent another hurtling backward. He shifted sideways as he cast, slipping behind an overturned hovercar for cover.

A skeleton leaped at him from the other side.

He conjured a shimmering disk of purple energy in his other hand. It caught the blow and shattered, but bought him the second he needed to blast its head off with a whip of lightning.

One by one, the way was clearing.

Alexander was almost to her.

Talia unfolded the bipod on her precision energy rifle and leaned into the scope, tracking Mercy Graves through the skeletons crowding around her.

Too many in the way. She adjusted the zoom and exhaled slowly, waiting for a clear shot.

Movement.

One of the skeletons lunged at Alexander’s exposed side. He hadn’t seen it. Talia didn’t hesitate. Her rifle hummed, and a thin bolt of white energy lanced through the air, striking the skeleton in the temple. The skull burst apart, the body crumpling mid-leap.

Back to Mercy.

No line of sight. She shifted, reacquiring just in time to see Alexander break through the last of the front line. Still no clean shot. Her scope tracked higher.

Annie and Pandora were weaving beneath the front columns, the fight fast and vicious.

Pandora hurled red-flashing candies that exploded on contact, forcing Annie to pivot and twist as she tried to close the distance without getting shredded.

Annie swung around a column. Pandora was waiting.

A sharp crack echoed. Part of the column where Pandora had slapped her hand a moment earlier detonated just as Annie rounded it, spraying dust and rock shards. The impact threw her sideways, metal limbs scraping across stone as she hit the portico hard.

Talia swung her scope. There.

She exhaled and squeezed the trigger. The shot caught Pandora in the shoulder instead of center mass, jerking her around. The woman staggered, stumbling forward.

Talia adjusted, ready to fire again.

But Pandora slipped behind another column, out of view.

Damn it.

Annie rolled back to her feet with a curse. Blood ran from a gash at her temple, mixing with stone dust. She cracked her neck, then shifted liquid metal upward, replacing her head and face.

The explosions didn’t do as much damage as she’d feared with her Temperature Flux Control countering most of the heat and flame; it was the force and debris fragments that were a problem.

Can’t let this drag out. That goth-bomb-bitch hits like a truck.

Something small clattered at her feet.

Annie threw herself sideways without a second thought.