Published at 4th of July 2026 6:53 am

Chapter 33 Artificer (??? POV) + Art

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

The sound of my phone blaring rips me from the blissful slumber I was enjoying. I groan, and then I feel a sudden weight on my back as Bruce jumps onto me. He barks playfully at me, and then I feel his nose tickling the back of my neck. Rolling over causes Bruce to hop off me and then pounce on my chest, the full force of his sixty-five pounds hitting my abdomen. My phone continues to blare, and he's barking when I suddenly grab him, wrapping him in the down blanket. He squirms, trying to escape, but I've captured the intruder, and now he'll feel my wrath. Ticking his sides and tummy, he howls as my relentless attack continues. I shuffle out of bed, shutting my phone off as he tries to free himself from the clutches of the blankets.

Good morning, buddy. You wanna go outside, Bruce? I asked him.

He barks in agreement, scrambling to stand up on the bed, which is now a mess due to his escape. I grab my phone and head for the bathroom with my buddy following along. His nails tap on the tile floors. I need to bring him to the groomers soon. It's been too long. Thankfully, I have this weekend off. After today's job is done, I'm free for two days. I'm seeing Jessica on Saturday, so I'll see if they have an appointment open on Sunday. I put both events into my calendar as reminders. Bruce patiently waits as I piss into the toilet, checking the news on my phone. Cowl violence on the rise. Of course it is. The damn Capes aren't doing enough to stop them.

I wash my hands and head downstairs with Bruce to the kitchen. Bruce trots over to the back door, tail wagging frantically in excitement. Hes staring at me, tongue hanging out of his mouth, and he looks at me like Im the best guy ever. I fucking love Bruce. The coffeemaker starts to boil, and I unlock the door as he takes off into the backyard. He spends a few minutes sniffing around, investigating his own paw prints in the snow from last night, before he finally goes to the bathroom.

After he finishes doing his business, he trots on over to me, and I give him a good head scratch for his trouble. He's been my best friend for the last eight years; I raised him from a pup to the big boy he is today. We head back inside, and I grab one of my mugs from the drying rack. The sound of the coffee sloshing into the mug is one of my favorite sounds. My detail doesn't start until ten, so I've got three hours before I need to leave to get into the city on time. Wait, no, it's at the Heroes' Union Headquarters; the security alone is going to take at least an hour.

If the hazard pay weren't insane, I'd never take on these types of prisoner transports. It's a fact that seventy-five percent of Cowl transports are attacked in an effort to facilitate a prisoner escape. It's why the BNA funds the expense to allow the government to pay out ten times the average rate. The only bad part about the detail is that you are given no information about the Capes participating in the transport or the identity of the Cowls youre escorting. We arent given the name of which Omnimax prison were headed to either. We find out all of it during the mission briefing before the departure. I take a deep drink of my coffee as I start weighing out Bruces kibble. He sits patiently in front of his bowl, focused on me like hes a hunting dog and Im a quail hes been told to fetch.

You hungry? Alright, I got you, Brucey, I said, plopping his bowl in front of him.

The sound of crunching kibble and Bruce's collar hitting the bowl is all I can hear as he attacks it. I don't have anything to do to prepare for today, so I should just do my best to relax and enjoy my morning with Bruce. Slowly sipping at my coffee, I plop down onto the couch, making sure not to accidentally spill my drink. I turn the TV on, flipping over to a channel running reruns of old cartoons. Bruce comes over to join me on the couch after hes finished eating, lying down next to me with his head resting on my lap. I scratch the top of his head and enjoy the moment. Todays going to be a good day.

Marshal Perry, its good to see you, man, Marshal Howard said to me.

Of all the other Marashals to be partnered with, it had to be him. Terrance Howard is, for lack of a better word, a slimeball. Hes a crackshot in a firefight, but thats his only redeeming quality. Hes a coward, the type to run at the first sign of danger, and I suspect hes got dirt on a couple of guys with pull. Theres no other explanation for why the man continues to have a job after abandoning his fellow Marshals to their death. I dont give a fuck what the courts say; I know what you are, dirtbag. I shake his hand and give him a polite nod. Professionalism is all hes going to get from me. I refuse to pretend I dont hate the man.

The contingent of BNA agents accompanying us, eight total soldiers, are mostly keeping to themselves in the loading dock where were waiting for the prisoners. Like most BNA agents, theyre wearing the tactical uniform that has become synonymous with the group. The gold lettering spelling emblazoned with the groups acronym is impeccable. All eight of them are carrying automatic rifles, and their helmets have tracking Tinkertech visors. Were waiting on the two Capes who will be part of our contingent. Well find out the identity of the Capes and the Cowls at the same time.

The elevator dings, and everyones heads turn to look at the opening doors. Out comes the two shackled criminals. FrostyWyrm and Shock&Awe. Wearing orange jumpsuits, provided by the Heroes Union, they dont look half as terrifying as they normally would. Shock&Awes shackles are coated in rubber, designed to prevent the Neuvohuman from channeling any electricity. Frostwyrms arms are encased in solid steel tubes sealed together and bound behind his back. The two men are shoved forward, revealing the two Capes behind them.

Arsenal and Tenacity. Not a bad roll considering some of the Capes we could have gotten. Arsenal, a female Cape who has the ability to telekinetically control objects within several feet of herself. Her costume is a Hyperweave suit of blue and silver, with a scale metal skirt, steel bracers, boots, and a chest plate inscribed with her crest: a falcon surrounded by a ring of swords. Chainmail covers the unarmored parts of her body, and she has a chainmail hood with a built-in face mask that covers her nose and mouth. Two very large boxes are attached to her back; they look like missile launchers, with each having twenty rockets. They arent launchers, theyre custom sheaths for her to carry around her forty swords. Her blonde hair is short, kept inside the hood and out of her face.

Tenacity is a bit like Howard, but with superpowers. The main body of his costume is green with black accents, but it is just basic fabric instead of Hyperweave. The boots and clawed gloves are black, along with his cape and the attached cowl. Besides having sharp claws, the knuckles on the gloves are ridged and metal-plated. The boots have hooked spurs and are pointed at the toes. The top of his cowl has a smaller spiked mohawk, and the portion covering his forehead is built up to allow him to break bones when he headbutts people. The black goggles cover his eyes, and the mans unshaven stubble adds to the unprofessional look he has. Hes a violent, highly skilled close combatant that I am very happy is on our side, even if I find his demeanor and conduct unsavory.

Tenacity and Arsenal help lift the two Cowls up into the armored transport truck. Howard and I are the drivers for the transport, with the two Capes sitting in the back to watch the prisoners. There are two other armored trucks that the BNA soldiers will be riding in, one in front and one behind us. Knowing that our prisoners are members of The Triad, it all but guarantees that were going to get attacked. I doubl-check the straps on my Kevlar vest and inspect my pistol one more time. Howard looks like hes seen a ghost, but once youve signed up for the detail, you cant back out. Now, where are we headed? Arsenal hops out of the back of the truck, and everyone gathers around her.

Thank you all for being here today. Today weve got two goals: get these two to the Dollhouse, and get everyone here home safely. Im going to do everything in my power to make sure that we accomplish both goals, she said.

The Dollhouse? Thats in Hagerstown, Maryland. This escort is going to take over eight hours. Well be stopping at either a Heroes Union Headquarters or a BNA office when were halfway there for a resupply and a rest. Thats when all the drivers will switch so that no one is overly tired. Ill have to take first watch; Howards likely to piss himself if we hit a pothole hes wound so tightly. All eight of the BNA soldiers salute, and Howard stammers out a yes.

Same here, I joked. Lets all end the day the same way we started it.

Well said, Marshal Perry, Arsenal said nicely. Well be setting off in five. Make sure youre all ready.

Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck, Howard screamed as I swerved us out of the way of the exploding armored truck containing half of the BNA soldiers.

Pull over. We need to make a stand, Arsenal ordered through the metal grate.

When a white van pulled up next to us, my gut tingled, but then they sped past us. I relaxed only for them to cut off the lead truck, and then it exploded. Fucking hell. I quickly pull over to the side of the highway were on, a couple of hundred feet from the last exit. Its been less than two hours since we left, and were not even out of the state yet. Four lanes on both sides, cars whip past us as I kill the engine and grab my shotgun off the seat. I shout at Howard, and he snaps out of his hysteria. We both get out of the truck and take up defensive positions. The white van has slammed on the brakes and is now driving into oncoming traffic toward us. Howards rifle is balanced on the hood of the truck, and he takes aim at them as they speed toward us, civilians honking and veering out of the way.

He hits the driver, killing them instantly. The white van swerves, flipping and rolling off into the ditch. The second BNA truck has joined us, all four surviving soldiers hopping out with weapons drawn. I move toward the back of our truck, knocking five times against the doors. Then I go back around to join Howard. Arsenal and Tenacity come out quickly, one going right and one going left. One of the BNA agents, I think his name is Ben, comes over holding two white poles. Arsenal nods her assent to him, and he runs over into the highway, where already several vehicles are abandoned, their drivers getting out of there quickly.

He plants one pole onto the median and another into the grass on the side. Both poles expand upward until theyre ten feet tall. Then the sides facing each other open, glowing red before hundreds of beams form between them. Words begin forming on the beams, saying danger, dont enter, in Spanish and English. The BNAs signs are extremely helpful in locking down a position. Theyve given us an area free of civilians; everyones taught not to cross the red line from the moment they start school.

Stand back, Tenacity barked at everyone. Ill investigate the van.

Fan out, and keep your heads on a swivel, Arsenal said to the BNA agents. Marshals, you two will watch the prisoners.

I have no idea how long its been, but my hearts pounding in my chest. All those BNA soldiers are dead, a small mercy that their lives ended instantly. Ive never been this close to death before. Ive had details stopped, held up at gunpoint, even shot at, but Ive never lost a member of the group. Howard waves his hand in my face, and I register that I havent moved. Arsenal is looking at me, her green eyes filled with pity. I shake my head, clearing my mind of everything except for the current. My fellow Marshal and I post up at the back of our van, Howard reloading his rifle and ejecting the spent cartridge. I need to lock in. I need to get out of here alive, for Bruce, and for Jessica. I keep my gun trained on both prisoners.

Youre gonna die here, you know that? You are so fucked, Shock&Awe cackled.

Personally, I wouldnt antagonize a man pointing a shotgun at my face. Especially when Im not a Bruiser, Howard said, his slimy grin portraying a confidence I know cant be real.

The sound of gunfire fills the air, and Howards grin slips. FrostWyrm hasnt said a word, but he shifts in his seat, and I point my gun at him. Why are they so confident? The gunfire continues, orders being shouted over the deafening sound. Then a roar reverberates out, and I feel chills go down my back. That was the sound of a predator. No. Thats why theyre so confident; one of the three heads of The Triad came here.

Howard, watch them. Im going to take a look, I said, moving around the left side of the truck, keeping myself hidden. I peek my head out and see a humanoid tiger with talons and bird wings on top of the white van. TigerHawk. His talons dig into the metal, and he crouches slightly before flying into the air with the van. He puts the vehicle onto the road and jumps down onto the pavement, his inhuman gold eyes stopping on me. Shit. He smiles, showing off his fangs, and then he leaps at me, crossing the fifty feet in an instant. Right before he hits me, Tenacity tackles him, causing him to miss me. They collide with the truck, denting it. I scramble to my feet, getting as far away from them as I can. I crouch down behind a green abandoned Subaru, letting out a breath I didnt realize I was holding.

Carefully, I scoot over, lying down on the road to get a glimpse of the fight underneath the vehicle. The side door on the van slides open, and six men pour out of it. One of them is bleeding from his arm, but hes still clutching an AK47. All the men have weapons with them. Two stand out to me, one of them is an Asian man wearing a black suit with sunglasses and a katana. The other is dressed like a luchador, complete with a colorful cape and mask. Hes got a red crown on his head and the letters U, R, and F on his chest. Thats Lin and Ultra Ray Fantastico. Two more Cowls came with TigerHawk. If they can free Shock&Awe and FrostWyrm, theyll outnumber our sides Neuvohumans five to two. From behind several cars, the BNA soldiers start firing at the new arrivals, and they all rush to dive over the median, concrete exploding into the air from the gunfire.

The soldiers stop, reloading as they wait for the smoke to clear. Suddenly, all of the dust starts being sucked up from where the criminals are hiding. Lin, the enigmatic Cowl, stands up with one hand on his sword and the other on his sunglasses. No one knows what his powers are; he only uses them on people he plans to kill. Realization dawns on me. They arent here to free the captured Cowls and escape; theyre going to kill everyone here. The soldiers start shooting at Lin as he rips the glasses off his face and opens his eyes. A deep fear emerges from inside me as I gaze upon the swirling purple and black orbs that are his eyes. The light distorts and bends as it's sucked into the swirls. All of the bullets, chunks of concrete, dust, and several cars are condensed and then inhaled into the void. What the fuck? I tear myself away, looking anywhere but there.

Tenacity ducks under a swipe from TigerHawk, his claws shredding the side of the truck like paper. The Cape jumps up, punching the towering Shifter in the jaw, but TigerHawk lets him, pinning the Cape to the side of the truck with his left talon. Tenacity tries to move the avian foot, but he cant escape. Howard comes around the corner of the truck with his rifle pointed at TigerHawks head, only for the bullet to bounce off him harmlessly. He lets out a deafening roar that makes my fellow Marshal drop his gun and un. I cant even blame him; this is so much worse than I couldve imagined. Lin walks forward casually, his shadow on the ground growing as his eyes suck the light from his surroundings. This is hopeless, were all going to die.

Arsenal finally makes her appearance from behind the Cowls; she mustve circled around when they were pinned down. She has a sword in each hand and eight rotating around her like a saw blade. She dashes into their midst, forcing all of them to scatter. The guy with the bleeding shoulder points his AK47 at her and fires. My breath hitches in my throat for a moment, but Arsenal moves four of the swords in front of herself, spinning them in place to create a shield. Bullets ricochet off the rotating weapons, sending the man diving out of the way. She closes the gap, swinging the sword in her right hand at him. Just when I think shes going to behead him, a floating blade flies into the back of his head hilt-first, knocking him out. Of course, she isnt going to kill him. Shes a Cape.

All around me, Capes and Cowls do battle, and bullets are flying through the air. Its chaos, but I can tell that were losing the fight. I need to do something; I need to move. MOVE DAMNIT! I pull my Glock out of its holster and fire a shot at Lin, hoping to catch him off guard. His head whips toward my direction, and the primal terror of how insignificant and small I am in the scope of the universe returns. My bullet did nothing, sucked into wherever everything else has gone. I crouch back down behind the Subaru, praying he leaves me alone. The BNA soldiers fire at him, and hes forced to turn his attention back on them. The longer we all survive, the longer the BNA and the Heroes Union have to send reinforcements. But thats the crux of the issue, I dont think we will survive long enough for reinforcements to arrive.

Ultra Ray Fantastico finally makes a move, thrusting a palm in Arsenals direction. Shes sent flying, along with all of the cars around her. Imprecise telekinesis. All power and no finesse. He looks over at the BNA soldiers and flicks his index finger down at them. All of them are slammed into the ground, the road cracking, and the nearby cars all have their roofs crushed. You dont need finesse when you have that much power. TigerHawk throws Tenacity away and then slashes through the armored truck before plying it open. Inside are the two captured Cowls, smiling as their leader slices through their restraints with ease.

Its over. Sorry, Jessica. Sorry, Bruce. The idea that hell never know where I went breaks my heart. Im gonna miss you, buddy. Im resolved to my fate. This is where I die. I look up at the sky, admiring the clouds one last time. What is that? Amongst the white fluffy clouds and blue open sky, there are some dots growing larger and larger. Disbelief fills me as I stare up at something that cannot be real. Its a bunch of vehicles; cars, trucks, vans, an eighteen-wheeler, a moving truck, and more are raining down toward us. Arsenal appears over me, her swords slicing a taxicab into pieces before it hits us. She helps me up as an explosion from behind me makes her stumble, but I catch her to stop her from falling. I turn to see the destroyed remains of the eighteen-wheeler crumpled in a crater.

Then the rest of the vehicles came smashing down. Lin points his head up, the force of the suction crunching eight, nine, ten cars into his eyes. A moving truck slams into TigerHawk and Tenacity, exploding and sending shrapnel in every direction. All of Arsenals swords are out of their sheaths, spinning so fast theres a wall of blurred metal shielding us from the metal chunks flying at us. A silver SUV crushes the remaining BNA soldiers. Shock&Awe and FrostWyrm had dived down the ditch out of the way at the last second. Ultra Ray Fantastico is swinging his hands at the sky, batting away the several-ton projectiles descending upon the highway.

It finally stops, and no one, Cowl or Cape, moves. I am so out of my depth. I dont know what to do. But theres a growing dread within me. Who was able to throw a parking lot at us as an orbital bombardment? Whoever it is, they targeted both the Cowls and us. Whoever it is, they arent reinforcements for either side. Its a third party. All the Neuvohumans are waiting to see what comes next. All is still, until it isnt. A single red light shoots down, burning a hole through the head of the gangbanger. Then another and another, until all non-Neuvohuman Triad members have smoking holes through their skulls. I wait for my turn, because surely Im next, but it doesnt come. Arsenals still standing close to me, poised for whatever is coming.

From the center of the highway, between both sides, comes a sustained stream of lasers. Twenty of them in total, they begin moving in a circle, picking up speed until an impenetrable red cone reaches up into the heavens. Then the lasers abruptly stop, and in the center is a man hovering above the ground, standing on a floating black board. Hes wearing a hooded black labcoat, covered in white lightning bolt patterns. Tight, off-white jeans, black heeled boots, and a charcoal croptop. Hes got a vizor on that covers his eyes; the green glow from it is extremely unnerving. With his arms behind his back, hovering above with a sneer, he looks down disdainfully at us. TigerHawk pushes his way out of the wreckage, roaring at the newcomer who only yawns in response.

Dont you know how rude it is to interrupt a fight? TigerHawk shouted at him.

I dont care for niceties with those who are so far beneath me. Polite conversation is saved for those who are capable of higher-level rational thought. Do you think to apologize when you step on an insect? He asked.

Youre calling me a bug? Im fucking TigerHawk, one of the three heads of The Triad. Who the fuck do you think you are? TigerHawk roared.

You are nothing but a brute, a future test subject, a guinea pig for my experiments, a low-minded lifeform, a dog barking at its master. I am Artificer: a scientific genius, a surgeon without peers, a once-in-a-millennium intellect, the greatest Tinkerer alive, the man who shall revolutionize human evolution, and the architect of your destruction.

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