Published at 7th of July 2026 7:24 am

Chapter 34 Reinforcements (Marshal Howard POV) + Art

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(Howard POV)

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 peer, a once-in-a-millennia intellect, the greatest Tinkerer alive, the man who shall revolutionize human evolution, and the architect of your destruction, Artificer announced.

Silence stretches out as no one, neither the Capes nor the Cowls, knows how to respond to such a claim. Hes insane; some sort of megalomaniac. The black board hes standing on splits into two pieces, and he begins to walk back and forth through the air, the pieces moving in front of his feet whenever he takes a step. The casual way hes strolling the middle of a battlefield as if hes got nothing to worry about makes me think that it might not be arrogance but the confidence that comes from knowing you cant lose. I dont know if its meant as an intimidation tactic, but its working. I tear my eyes away from the Cowl to look at the dead gang members. All of the holes burned through them are still smoking, and the smell of burning flesh is the final straw. I empty the contents of my stomach onto the road, puking until theres nothing left inside.

Stand down, Artificer. Reinforcements are on their way from the BNA and the Quinstin Heroes Union. You may feel confident taking on two Capes, but what about six or seven, along with several squads of soldiers? Arsenal asked him. Your odds of victory drastically drop once our allies arrive.

He stops mid-step, spinning on his heel to look down at us. He tilts his head slightly, looking at us confusedly. The fact that the Capes question stumped the supposed genius is relieving. Things might not be as bad as I feared. He might actually be an idiot.

There seems to be a bit of confusion on your end. I do not feel confident. Feelings have no place in the field of science. Victory, odds, I do not exist within the same realm as those words. I deal in certainties, provable hypotheses, and irrefutable evidence. Fools believe in luck and chance. It is an undeniable fact that I will accomplish the task I came here for. Youre acting as if you have any effect on the outcome, but my missions success is predetermined, as fundamental as the law of gravity. Ignorance is the source of your misconception; allow me to enlighten you.

His voice is calm, detached, almost robotic, like he's going through the motions and not like he just murdered twelve people. From behind him, black orbs begin to grow. They swirl around him, two rings of ten orbit him in a cross pattern. There are twenty of them, each with an identical red glow at the center. They look like demonic eyeballs. What the hell are those? All Tinkerers have a specialty, but what the hell could his be? Is it related to flight? But that doesnt explain how he was able to drop a motorcade out of the sky. It doesn't matter what his specialty is; truthfully, I'm just using it as a way to distract myself from the awful reality I'm experiencing. This is one of those Cowls that make people afraid of Neuvohumans. The kind of person who should never be given superpowers.

Four of his demon eyeballs separate from the rings and fly out straight for Tenacity and TigerHawk. They glow brighter until all four of them fire a laser bolt at TigerHawk. He flexes his wings and crosses them, shielding his body from the attack. A few of his feathers burn, but he shakes his wings to discard them. The animal Cowl releases Tenacity, turning around to roar a challenge at Artificer. In response, the Tinkerer flicks his wrist, sending out eight more of the orbs. They circle around the Shifter, and the shape of the red light theyre giving off changes slightly. Twelve thicker, continuous streams of energy and heat descend upon TigerHawk. The beams rotate around the chimeric Cowl, frying feathers and fur as they burn him.

Ultra Ray Fantastico thrusts a palm at his boss, and all twelve of the drones are sent spinning away. Then he fires more waves of psychic force at Artficer, who rises higher into the sky to avoid the attack. The Tinkerer makes a grasping motion, and all of his robots right themselves in the air, flying back into the orbiting rings formation around him.

Marshall, I have to stop that man, Arsenal whispered to me. Please stay hidden until reinforcements arrive. The three trucks are linked, constantly pinging each other and then both the Union and the BNA. The moment the first truck went down, it immediately sent a distress signal.

Okay, I said shakily.

Ive done several prisoner transports, and I had no idea about the signal relay. The Capes and the BNA have too many damn secrets. Regardless, Im not eager to attract attention, nor am I trying to die pointlessly. I crouch down, using the windows to watch the battle. Arsenal pulls a blade from her mega sheath and climbs on top of the car. She points her blade at the floating Cowl before jumping forward, a chunk of broken concrete floating up to meet her boots. The female Cape rises into the sky, shooting straight at Artificer. The remaining swords slide out of the sheath and fly alongside her. Artificer, whose hands are still folded behind his back, reconnects his hoverboard, zipping away from the trailing Cape. His drones have switched back to the laser bolts, and the hum of them fills the air.

As their aerial battle gets faster and higher, I cant follow along anymore. A furious growl draws my attention to TigerHawk, staunching a wound on his forehead. Tenacity is holding a bloody hunk of the road and smiling. Here, kitty kitty. He jabs the Cowl in the stomach three times rapidly. Tigerhawk bends forward and gets smashed in the face again. The Cowl lets out a guttural snarl, grabbing Tenacity by the head, pushing him down into the road with enough force to send fissures spreading out. The captured Cape swipes at his feline foes arm, trying and failing to draw blood with his clawed gloves.

Whats the problem, hero? Cat got your tongue? TigerHawk asked, taunting him.

Fuck you, Tenacity spat at the Cowl through gritted teeth.

Meanwhile, Lin walks over to the dead gang members, going through their pockets to grab wallets, chains, and anything else of value. Then he takes his sunglasses off, sucking their bodies up into his eyes. Ultra Ray Fantastico makes his way over to the ditch that FrostWyrm and Shock&Awe dove down when it was raining vehicles. He passes the armored truck I drove and is out of my sight. Arsenal is stuck dealing with the new arrival, and Tenacity is barely holding out against TigerHawk. That leaves Lin, Ultra Ray Fantastico, and the two freed prisoners free to do whatever they want. We are so fucked.

Then I hear the sirens from behind. I see a contingent of police cars, SWAT vans, and BNA squad vehicles driving toward us. The black fortified vehicles can transport twenty soldiers at a time, have a mounted machine gun, and are capable of going through all types of treacherous terrain. I dont see any Capes, but there might not have been any Travelers available. We arent fucked. Im going to be able to get home to Bruce, and Im going to get to see Jessica. I relax, slumping against the Subaru. Im too tired to move. Were going to be fine.

The police cars all swerve to the left or the right, staggering the squad cars. The officers draw their weapons and take up position, aiming at us. The three BNA squad vehicles park bumper to bumper behind them, forming a barricade. Soldiers stream out of them, forming orderly lines as their commanding officer begins giving out orders. They break, spreading out as they make their way toward the battle, moving past the graveyard of abandoned cars.I see a SWAT team moving close behind them, with two Capes I dont recognize following along. One is a dark-skinned man whose hyperweave suit is entirely silver, except for the right sleeve, both shoulders, and the pads on top of them, and his helmet. All of those are gold, with the Spartan-like helmet having a crown built into the top instead of the plumage or crest. It covers his eyes, nose, and follows his jawline. He has a half-cape that ends at his waist, which is silver and lined with gold embroidery. The second is a honey-brown-skinned woman wearing a crop top and a pair of shorts that are both ruffled, dark gray, and covered in tons of straps. Shes wearing a full mask that goes down to her collarbone, which matches the other two pieces of her costume. Shes not wearing boots or gloves, with plenty of skin showing. Its poor taste to say, but with all the skin and straps, my mind goes to an inappropriate place. Shes so sexy.

Arsenal and Artificers battle draws them back down out of the clouds. I look up and immediately notice that more than half of her swords are gone, but Artificer is also down to fifteen of his demonic lasers. Her armor has scorch marks all over it, and the Cowls jeans have several cuts in them with the white dyed red around each slice. But is she winning or losing? The glow of the drones changes, and I know what that means. Something is about to change. All fifteen of them fire a smaller beam, chasing her through the sky. The lasers slice through cars and concrete, carving a trail of destruction after her. She dodges, weaving through the red lines on top of the chunk of road shes telekinetically controlling. Artificer is floating in place as his robots pursue her, and then he holds his left hand up to his face, speaking into some sort of communicator on his wrist.

Hey, where the hell are FrostWyrm and Shock&Awe? Ultra Ray Fantastico said, climbing back up from the ditch.

What? Lin asked.

They arent over here. I called out to both of them, but no one answered me, Ultra Ray Fantastico responded.

Where are they? TigerHawk roared at Tenacity, picking him up by his head.

Hah. How the fuck would I know? Tenacity remarked.

Arsenal dives down low, barely a foot off the ground, and jumps off her rock, sending it flying into the pursuing robots. Several of them explode, while the others manage to avoid her projectile. Instead of retreating or attempting to grab something to fly on, she charges toward the incoming lasers. In an insane feat of grace and agility, she moves through the laser grid like a super spy breaking into a museum. The flying drones arent able to react fast enough, and she fires swords into their centers. Several of them instantly explode, but a few survive the stabs, causing their lasers to fracture and split wildly. One of the split lasers hits Lin, severing his left hand and cauterizing the stump. TigerHawk uses Tenacity as a meat shield to block the laser that almost hits him.

FUUUUUUUCK! Lin screamed.

Urf, grab Lin. Were leaving, TigerHawk said.

But what about Shock&Awe and FrostWyrm? Ultra Ray Fantastico asked.

We outnumber them three to two, but theyve got two more coming. I doubt the flying dickhead is going to take our side. So were cutting our losses. The two of them clearly escaped; they know where to go to meet up, the gang leader said.

NO! I cant let them leave. I spring up, leveling my pistol at the Cowls and firing at them. TigerHawk snarls and then throws Tenacity at me. This detail sucks. He comes at me too quickly, and we collide, knocking me back onto the road, hitting my head, and rendering me unconscious.

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