Sidekick by Carl Stubblefield (10 best novels of all time .txt) 📗

many supers I’ve seen killed because an opponent used their good nature against them? Some people are just evil, and you have to accept that and react accordingly. If you tap dance around them trying to be all airy-fairy, they’ll crush you and everything you hold dear. You probably are a big fan of comic books, and that’s what you’re basing your personal code around. Well, news flash: You’re not a mystical chosen one. You’re not the savior of the world. You’re a naive man-child playing superhero, who has powers he has no idea how to use to their maximum capacity and probably never will. You need to accept reality and your own limits, or you’re going to screw us all!”

She broke eye contact and it felt like a physical weight had been lifted from Gus. He got to his feet, trying to equal the dynamic. Aurora wouldn’t, or couldn’t, stop talking as she paced in circles.

“Who knows what hell Basileus will rain down on the world when he gets his hands on the manor, Gus? You’re still clueless about what it could be, so all we can do is prevent him from getting a hold of it. I’m heading to the control room, because I guess I’m going to have to figure this out, since you can’t. You’re just like everyone else, expecting me to do everything,” she spat, turning to leave.

Aurora stormed off into the manor, signaling that she was obviously done with the conversation. Gus’ eyes narrowed as he stood there stunned. He muttered, “I guess I’ll take care of all these supers. Don’t mind me, I don’t need any help.” He almost expected her to peek around the corner and ask ‘What was that?!’ but she was truly gone. He almost wanted her to challenge him so he could really say what was on his mind.

First, he retrieved the supers floating in the water and dragged their spheres to the shore. One had a twisted ankle but the other looked healthy. Gus activated Leech and noticed that he could take all of their powers with a single touch, the increased capacity of the hybrid-Nth making a big difference. Leaving these two on the beach, he fished out two others.

Gus decided to carry the supers instead of making stretchers and ferrying them around. He was still seething from Aurora’s scathing words and needed to bleed off some energy. A bonus was that he could use Leech on them as he hauled them to the courtyard, multitasking the cleanup. He threw a super over his shoulder and carried another by his side. Before becoming a super he never could have done it, but with his new strength it made the task only a mild strain. He hardly got winded as he muttered angrily to himself.

“Worthless, huh? I am so done with being treated like a piece of crap.”

Gus threw one of the supers onto the sand like a sack of rice.

“If you can’t see that I’m doing everything I can to make this work out here, then you’re a damn idiot.” Another toss and he stalked back to grab another couple supers.

“I bust my ass, and this is the thanks I get. I would expect that from these damn mercs, but we’re supposed to be on the same side.” His body tensed as he remembered other times throughout his life where various people also assessed him as ‘worthless.’

“Tempest, you were worthless as a father,” Gus growled as he flung another super up onto his shoulder.

“Graviton, you were worthless at protecting your station and those who trusted you.” He strained as he pulled the metal exoskeleton off another and trudged back to his pile.

Faces cycled through his mind, everyone who had put him down and made him feel lesser. Girls, coworkers, classmates; it wasn’t a small list. The rage in him began to burn hotter and he became firmer in his resolution that he was done allowing anyone to treat him that way again.

“I have nothing left to prove to you people!” he screamed into the uncaring sky.

Gus hit Leech on both the supers simultaneously and absorbed all of their abilities without a thought. They wriggled and spasmed and he gripped even harder, as if they were trying to wrestle free. He clamped down, giving in to the anger and securing them with a stony, unrelenting grip as he stormed towards the manor.

“Too soft. People have called me things like that my whole life, and I’ve just accepted it. Enough.” Gus threw the two supers unceremoniously to the ground and headed back. He could have flown but he was in no hurry. He needed some alone time. It turned out that the two supers who had fallen from the jet-skies were not dead, but had some major injuries. He used the remainder of his gels so they could be moved. “Yeah, leave me to clean up your mess from the drones, Aurora.” His anger focused on her.

“If that’s what you want, Aurora, that’s what you’ll get. I’m not your dumping ground for whatever baggage on your end sparked this little tirade, but obviously something else is going on with you.” He grabbed two more supers, but due to their size decided simply to drag them. Sure, they’d get beat up as they bounced against rocks and the ground. Good. Deal with it.

“I’m tired of always having to be the one who ‘goes along to get along.’ It’s high time someone else works on their issues instead of always being me who has to make the changes. Try taking your own ego down a notch or two, and stop expecting the world to accommodate you.”

He pulled and took their powers like a rabid wolf tearing a piece of meat from a kill. He mentally wiped away the pop-ups on his display, unread, and let himself seethe.

“This. This is the problem with the world. Everyone is so damned entitled that they just worry about having things their way at the expense