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

The front of her body was totally covered, and Gus worried that she wouldn’t be able to breathe. He formed a shield into the shape of a small cylinder the size of a toilet paper roll, and pushed it through the goop, which was already hardening. The woman’s lips grabbed hold of the makeshift snorkel, gasping. Gus touched the two supers and Leeched them dry. The material had almost solidified in the air and the limp supers were held in place, but did not appear to be sinking deeper into the material.

Gus went to assist Jet and saw that two of his opponents were unconscious, one of them the ‘cling-on.’ One of the supers touched her temples upon seeing him and he could hear a voice in his head, trying to compel him to stop the polearm. Gus almost reached forward to recall Jet, then stopped, shaking his head when a chime sounded.

You have unlocked a subskill of Coerce: Psi-Resist (Level 1).

Psi-Resist (Level 1) [Passive]: Having obtained the ability to control others’ thoughts, you have the increased ability to resist attacks of a similar nature.

1,000 XP awarded.

500 FP awarded.

6,700 XP to level 20.

Gus looked at the woman and shook his head, wagging his finger ‘no.’ The woman paled and turned to run. Jet interposed between her legs and she tumbled to the ground. Crawling in the sand to get away, Gus grabbed her by the neck and activated Leech, taking her abilities while holding her until she stopped twitching.

The last opponent had retreated when he heard Aurora’s voice remark over the mental comms.

“Gus, hurry!” she choked out before the message suddenly cut out.

Gus turned his attention to see how she was doing.

Aurora’s hands tingled with the amount of power she was holding. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt this angry. The pain she felt in her month of torture fueled her anger and she focused it sharper than a monomolecular blade. The two supers she blamed for that pain were here in front of her. Right as she activated her meager flight skill, she heard the tinkle of a windchime and suddenly she was flying with much less effort. In her rage, she barely noticed.

Mercurio was wearing a jetpack, while Slipstream was maintaining herself aloft, light emanating from the soles of her boots and her hands. They looked at each other in recognition as they saw Aurora approaching.

Aurora attempted to remotely trigger the EMP, but found the signal was being jammed. She growled to herself as she assessed the situation. She would have to separate the two and focus on Mercurio first. Slipstream could absorb her attacks and also provide a shielding that would protect Mercurio.

Aurora first activated Dazzle and punched through the curtain of sparks, connecting with Mercurio as hard as she could. Her fist stretched through him, distending like a trampoline with the force. She worried he would be impervious to this type of attack, due to his rubbery, fluid nature. Rubber… that gave her an idea.

Taking advantage of Dazzle’s effect on him, Aurora clung onto him. She hit Ion Storm repeatedly, engulfing Mercurio’s entire body with the effect, just as she had to her rubber restraints in the dungeon. His more pliant tissue succumbed more easily to the oxidizing effects of the ability, and his suit and skin began to crack and blanch under the onslaught.

Aurora noticed that he really wore no suit at all, that it was really all his skin imitating a semblance of a suit. The added weight of Aurora had overtaxed the jetpack and the soft blue hue emanating from the jets had darkened to a sickly purple. Before they hit the ground, Aurora spring boarded off of Mercurio’s back, letting him hit the sand. The jetpack shot forward without her weight, and pushed him through the wet sand, plowing a furrow like a drunk farmer curving back and forth. With a large *pop,* the backplate of the jetpack flew away as a fuel canister exploded. Mercurio spun around, arms elongating with the centrifugal force until he lay prone on his back, tiny flames guttering away in the wet sand.

Sensing someone behind her, Aurora ducked to the side and took only a glancing blow from Slipstream’s kick. The two women grappled, Aurora grabbing her opponent’s wrists to keep her from launching any light bolts her way. Each time Slipstream inhaled deeply as they struggled, she pulled in photons and though in broad daylight, the area around them became darkened like standing in a shadow. With a glint in her eyes, she made spheres of bright light around Aurora’s hands. With a twist, a long needle began to extend out of a wide banded bracelet that usually surrounded Slipstream’s wrists, but had been pushed further up to her mid forearms by the struggle.

“Seems like we have the same strength levels. Too bad that’s not my only trick. Say goodnight again, Aurora.”

Aurora smiled back. Slipstream thought she still needed her hands to focus her power. She concentrated Ion Storm at the base of the needle and saw it begin to glow red in less than a second.

Slipstream’s expression morphed from arrogance to confusion to horror as she saw the tip of the needle dip down to her own exposed wrist.

Aurora suddenly let go of Slipstream and used her fist to hammer the needle deep into the skin. In an instant, all of her muscles relaxed and she slumped to the ground. An ignominious smell alerted Aurora that whatever was in that needle relaxed all the muscles in Slipstream’s body. Did that happen to me on the station? Gross!

“That was very satisfying,” she said. Despite her revulsion she felt elated she had beaten them. After Gus took their abilities, she definitely had plans to visit these two and gloat a bit.

A sharp pain hit her neck and she reached up to find that she had a small dart embedded in the side of her neck. Turning