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

Basileus turned his fist, so that his palm faced upwards and the net began to constrict.

Weak to this kind of attack, Gus’ shields kept popping with minimal effort. He had to keep spamming shields, each one getting smaller and smaller as the net ate up the space as it constricted between shields.

Basileus was unrelenting, tightening the space and it was all Gus could do to keep generating shield layers while his MP was burning up quickly.

Finally he stopped, with Gus contorted with his arms pressed up in front of him. Basileus turned his attention to the core. “At last, brothers and sisters, the world will see the dawning of a new age. We shall be gods among men. Gods among supers!” A cheer sounded from the group. He placed his hands on the core and his eyes opened wide, the pupils dilating. “There’s so much…” he moaned as he began to absorb abilities.

Gus held as still as possible while his MP slowly began to refill. Without the constant need to reform shields, he found that his armor was protecting him and a shield was unnecessary. It interposed itself between the crackling energy, not even heating up. If only he could reach his pocket, he could down a couple blue gels and be at full power. If only he wasn’t trapped with his arms in front of him like a, like a…

Like a T-rex! Or a T-Wrecks in Gus’ case. He had just enough MP. Activating the skill, a terrorizing roar reverberated off the walls of the small chamber. Chaos ensued and supers scattered as the dinosaur rampaged through the room.

Basileus was oblivious to the disturbance as he was so enraptured with the core and absorbing abilities.

Gus took the opportunity to activate his Energy Absorption skill and slurped up the energy in the net. The construct thinned and unraveled into nothingness as the energy powering it dissipated.

Free to move again, Gus felt in his left pocket and drew out the last three MP gels he had. Chewing into them, he found that Aurora must have notified the chef; this batch tasted like coconut instead of blue raspberry.

Much better. With his MP restored to seventy-five percent, he formed a shield around the core, breaking Basileus’ contact with it. He slapped against the glassy surface, frustrated until he realized that the core hadn’t stopped functioning but that there was a barrier there.

He turned and looked at Gus, his eyes glowing with a blue aura. Waves emanated off his exposed skin, like heat shimmering on an Arizona highway in August. Gus couldn’t tell if that was steam, excess MP, or a heat mirage, but the effect made Basileus appear more otherworldly and menacing than he ever had. His usual cocky sneer had evolved into a maniacal rictus.

Supers dashed around in the background, getting out of the reach of the stampeding dinosaur. They jumped up to the next tier or down to a lower one as the creature pursued them relentlessly.

Gus hit his fists together and with a thought his armor shifted. It was now studded with spikes, interspersed with small ridges that were razor sharp. Basileus hopped in the air slightly and shot forward in a blur with a punch to Gus’ shoulder. There was a muted *thud* and even with his armor absorbing a huge amount of the force, he still was spun around.

Basileus looked at the mangled wreck that was his hand after hitting the newly-studded armor and watched as the bones regenerated, broken tarsals reforming as muscles weaved back over them and the skin rolled over like a new coat of paint, pristine and whole again. He threw back his head and laughed, and Gus could see areas of his skin bubbling and protruding as his body worked to assimilate the powers.

In addition to fighting Basileus, there were a good number of supers who glared daggers at Gus, waiting for their chance to attack. Some were visibly confused that their powers would not activate at all if their attacks were too close to Basileus, but Gus found it difficult to focus on both Basileus and that many opponents.

With a loud crack, Jet appeared behind three supers as they fell forward, hit from behind by the haft of the weapon like a blackjack to the base of the skull. The agile weapon dipped and twirled, easily evading shots taken at it. Someone threw up a shield and Jet was blocked from attacking. Changing it up, Jet spun the tip of its blade like a drill in one area of the shield. The effect popped the entire shield as the polearm spun. The super in question kept throwing up shields but the group was retreating back.

I know how that feels, Gus thought wryly, TimeSight guiding him to move. Turning his attention back to Basileus, he barely sidestepped a lunging attack, feeling the brush of air moving around the fist that almost brushed his nose, causing him to flinch back and blink.

Gus attempted to grapple Basileus as he passed, but he had covered himself with a plasma shield. Gus’ hands rebounded off without getting purchase, sparking as the energy cascaded off his hybrid-Nth armor. No contact meant Leech was off the table.

Faster than expected, Basileus twisted around and grabbed Gus by the neck and then by the waist, lifting him high overhead. Despite the armor’s protection, the constriction on his neck made it difficult to breathe.

Gus grit his teeth. Two can play that game. He activated Incapacitate and made an ether weave around Basileus’ face, pulling it tight as he could.

Basileus raised Gus high overhead, flipping him to face the ceiling of the chamber.

Gus clenched tightly to the weave, hoping he could outlast the super.

Basileus appeared to double down on the pressure and Gus felt pain in his hip as the iron grip grated against the bone, and his airway was closed off.

Flailing in desperation, he pulled open his abilities, trying to find anything to get loose. He almost fired