Chapter 25

The train yard.

I pulled myself from the crater, dropping to my knees. Carmen had turned into a full-fledged villain, complete with a secret lair. The building had been turned into a graveyard of decommissioned cars. Hundreds of cars littered the tracks. Off to the side, on a raised platform, she had set up her base of operations.

I staggered as I climbed to my feet. "Is that one of my generators?" That bitch had stolen tech from my smart building. As it hummed, I followed the wires to a dozen stasis tubes. She had captured heroes and villains alike. I didn't need to understand her powers to know it was part of the process. The people in the tube would eventually be added to her abilities.

Further to the side, I struggled to make sense of the heap of discarded garments. No, not uniforms, a pile of bodies.

"Carmen, what have you done?" Lying on top was the checkered suit of Truthseeker, and beside it was the oversized skull of Mastermind. At least two dozen supers were strewn about as if an afterthought.

"Once upon a time, you'd leave a trail of bodies. You've gotten soft, Vex."

She stood in front of the stasis tubes, admiring her handiwork. Would those in the tubes be fresh corpses tossed with the others? Carmen had gone from noble citizen to madman. Had she ever been sane? Or had she fooled all of Vanguard? Myself included?

I needed to save Won-Ho. It'd take the others a few minutes to reach us. I appreciated Hellcat's offer to help, but this was between me and Carmen. Like the Machinist, she'd learn that nobody fucked with my man.

Three fingers pressed the band on my wrist. Black lines swirled around the bracelet, racing along my arms like liquid onyx. Asher's creation enveloped my clothes until it consumed me. They'd be getting a thank-you card. The black suit covered my body but left the gem exposed. When it glowed green, it appeared as if it pulsed with life, lines of energy running through the suit.

"A new suit? Damien, you've become a walking cliche. Now, I suppose we fight to the death?"

Carmen knew the playbook. Hell, she had written most of it. The dutiful strategist. She most likely studied every tape of me using my abilities. She'd be prepared for the old Damien Vex?—

"The old Damien Vex would revel in their deaths," I said.

I looked past her to Won-Ho, suspended in green liquid. He didn't make me soft, not in the least. But he had changed me. The old Damien Vex wouldn't kill for a man. The new one, however…

From the suit, smoke rolled outward, solidifying until I wore it like an exoskeleton that matched Carmen's stature. When the cavalry arrived, they'd find me standing victorious over her broken body. With a single leap, I cleared the train yard, ready to squash her under my heel.

Carmen's skin turned silver, arms transformed into blades. Black tendrils shot from my hand to hold her in place. Lightning-fast reflexes, and she sliced them away as if nothing more than a mild inconvenience. She darted to the side, leaving my heel to crush concrete. Before I could turn, she took a swipe with the blade. The tip slashed the exoskeleton, dragging along the shoulder of the suit.

I owed Asher as sparks flew.

With a forceful exhale, a gust of wind knocked me off my feet. Skidding along the platform, I smashed into the suspension tubes. Carmen had absorbed more powers than I expected. Speedster. Super breath. Liquid metal. Energy bolts. She had created a one-woman army.

Zipping forward, with her fist drawn, she attempted to impale me. The smoke flew outward, coating the platform. I sank into the void and reappeared behind her. Bringing both fists down, the platform cracked under the weight of the blow. It should have dropped her.

"Damien. Dear, Damien." She hadn't flinched.

Spinning, I blocked her arm, slamming a fist into her torso. Every time she swiped, I vanished in a puff of smoke, only to reappear and take a quick jab. It wasn't the single killing strike I had hoped for, but I'd wear her down before snapping her neck.

With the next punch, my knuckles struck metal. She ditched the blade, crossing with a solid punch against my jaw. Somewhere inside my suit, I bled enough to taste copper. There'd be bruising come morning.

From the shadow-covered platform, massive tendrils of smoke caught her around the waist. With a flick of the wrist, metal shards appeared in the air and sliced through the shadows. While they distracted her, I pooled the shadows in my hand. With a thrust forward, a spear punctured her shoulder, forcing a scream from her lips.

The world flashed white.

Something struck my chest, burning while making my ribcage vibrate. Everything spun as I rocketed through the air. I couldn't concentrate enough to summon the shadows. The most I could do was cover my head and brace for impact.

I hit the stasis tubes again. Lying on my back, I stared at Captain Awesome. Such a stupid name, and his invulnerability was only second to his ability to spit out horrific catchphrases. His cape rippled as bubbles moved up the green liquid. I'd conveniently forget to save him.

"You're weak without your henchmen."

Steam wafted from my chest as I touched my ribs, looking for breaks. If not for Asher's suit, her blasts would have torn a hole through my torso. I'd be funding his next fashion show.

"They serve their purpose." I rose into the air, ignoring the ache permeating my very bones. Wisps of smoke radiated from my body. This needed to end. The longer she dragged on the fight, the more…

"You're stalling," I mumbled.

She laughed. "Damien, you were always one step behind." Sparks rained down from the roof. A second later, corrugated metal vanished, vaporized by a searing white light. Valiant, the new leader of the Centurions, let the energy pour from his hands and eyes. Descending from the sky, he, along with Iris, Synch, Crimson, and Lightyear, hovered behind Carmen. It would be too much to think they came to stop Carmen.

"Henchmen," she said. "A play I learned from you."

I glanced at the pile of dead heroes. I thought I had recognized the purple and neon green suit. "Mastermind," I whispered. Not only did she have an impressive arsenal of powers, but now she had Vanguard's strongest heroes at her command.

The shadows pulled from my body, forming tiny diamond-shaped knives. Carmen laughed again. With a little practice, she'd master the classic villain chuckle. Her ego would be her undoing.

"You're outmatched."

"Oh," I pointed to the shards. "These aren't for you."

Her eyebrow rose as they shot backward. The glass holding Won-Ho shattered, and the fluid drained from the stasis tube. If she had hurt him, I'd ensure a long and painful demise.

"Him? Really, Damien?"

"You're not the only one playing by the rule book." Eventually, I'd find it, read it, and then burn this so-called playbook. But if I knew one thing, timing was essential. "And you're not the only one who brought friends."

Three. Two. One.

A streak of flames slammed into Valiant. The fireball drove him through a train car and buried him in a locomotive. Diesel had arrived just in time. That meant the stomping behind me was the rest of the cavalry. I'd never admit I needed them. If their presence ensured Won-Ho got home safely, and Carmen LaToya drowned in her own blood, then so be it. I'd learn to be a team player.

"I've traded up."