Published at 7th of August 2026 7:05 am

Chapter 41 Retaliation (V)

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Vivienne Pov

My phone rings, waking me and Anika from our mid-afternoon nap. My girlfriend looks beautiful, as always, even with her black hair stuck to her face. No, she looks even more beautiful. Shes frowning, so I kiss her before rolling over to grab my phone. Who would even call me? Eryks back home for the funeral. The name displayed is a little green face emoji. Goblin. Why is he calling me?

Hello? I asked.

Miss V? Are you currently occupied? He asked calmly.

No, not really. Why?

FUCKING HELP! STOP WASTING TIME BEING POLITE, GOBLIN. V, WERE BEING ATTACKED BY THE FUCKING TRIAD, AND WERE ALL GONNA DIE! Casper shouted in the background.

WHAT? I shouted, startling Anika.

You okay, babe? She asked me.

Yeah, Im fine, I said, covering the phone. Getting out of bed, I head for the bathroom, closing the door behind me. Who is attacking you and where are you? Be specific.

I hear an explosion on the other line as well as sounds of machine guns. Wherever they are, shit is clearly going down.

Cowls from the Triad. Three of them. Tigerhawk and two new recruits: Lycan and Burnblast. Its really bad, Miss V. We will likely die if you dont interfere. Were over in the Abandoned District. They ambushed us at the warehouse after a pickup, Goblin answered.

Im on my way, I said, hanging up the phone.

I slip on a sports bra and some leggings before throwing on a hoodie over it. I start to tie my shoes to leave when Anika clears her throat loudly.

And where are you going? She asked, sitting up on the bed, with her hands on her hips and the blanket wrapped around her waist.

For as long as I live, I will never not appreciate the sight of a gorgeous pair of tits. It saddens me that I have to go rescue my minions instead of staying here with her. Eryk would never let us down, so I cant let them down. Im going to take out my frustration on The Triad.

Sorry, somethings come up at work, and they kind of need me to handle it, I lied.

My guts twist themselves into a pretzel every time I lie to her. The alternative just isnt possible, yet. Maybe in a few years I can tell her about Vesuvius, but not now.

I understand you guys are just getting off the ground and the mayors being a little shit, but you might be the only CEO in the city who doesnt take a day off. You work too hard, Vivienne, Anika said.

For what I'm making, I can't really complain, I responded, kissing her goodbye. I'll be back soon; remember theres grilled chicken with vegetables portioned out, and a pre-made Greek salad if you want it.

Youre too good to me, Anika smiled.

I treat you as the queen you are, I said, blowing her a kiss.

She catches it, holding it close to her chest and blushing. The door shuts behind me, and I wipe the lovestruck look off my face. Go time. Theres no time to take the elevator, so I take the stairs, jumping down a flight at a time. I feel the strain on my ankles, but as soon as I shift, itll all heal. The Traid is going to pay for screwing with my people and for ruining quality time with my girlfriend.

The warehouse Casper and Goblin bought for the operation isnt even in a bad part of the Abandoned District. Its in a section close to the Commercial District, and theres even a gate with security codes required to get on the lot. Several automated production facilities surround it; theres no homeless population or drug users. They know better than to sell anywhere near there. The only illegal thing there is that they keep the coke, money, and guns there. The rideshare driver honks his horn; traffic is stuck in a standstill. I dont have time for this. Damnit.

Hey, I gotta go, I said to him, getting out of the car.

Hey, w-wait.

Hood up, I shove my way through the crowds of people. Every minute I waste getting there means another minute for The Triad to hurt my people. And they are my people. Nobody isnt here to bail them out or come up with a plan. Its all on my shoulders because I chose to spare them and take over. I have to be their Nobody, and nothing gets in Nobodys way. Even running my absolute fastest, itll take me thirty minutes to get there. Thats too long. I sprint down an alleyway thats behind a bunch of small restaurants, and look around to see if anyones here. The coast is clear; no one around. I unzip my hoodie and feel the biting cold in my bones. Pulling out the small plastic bag in my pocket, I toss my phone, which is on silent, my hoodie, and my shoes into it and tie it shut. Dropping down to the snowy asphalt next to a dumpster, I slide my bag under there. Ill have someone retrieve it later.

A double check for any cameras, and then I transform. The heat in my chest rises, building hotter and hotter to the point my skin steams as snowflakes touch me. The area around me is melting as muscles start to bulge and grow. The heat continues to spread through me, dyeing my skin black and transforming my clothes into obsidian. My entire body quivers and shakes as I finish growing, glowing cracks appearing all over me. My hair bursts into flames, and I can no longer feel the chill at all. I hop onto the roof of one of the restaurants, then crouch low before I launch myself into the air. Its unfortunately eyecatching, civilians below me are screaming and shouting as I jump off the side of a law firm and leave splintering cracks in the stone. I leap off the top of a much taller building so hard I leave footprints in the roof as I bound over several city blocks at a time. Im coming, you guys.

There arent any authorities there when I arrive in the area. Theres a reason they call it the Abandoned District, Vivienne. Bullets are flying, and I can see the warehouse burning. A couple of jumps get me on top of the adjacent warehouse. Thats when I see just how bad it is. Oh my god. Casper and Goblin are hunkering behind a flipped-over white van with two Scythes and four Cloaks in a firefight with The Triad. Twelve Triad gunmen and the three Cowls are surrounded by so many dead members of my gang. Every Scythe besides the two with Casper and Goblin is dead. I count fifteen different Cloaks lying in pools of blood, dismembered, or shot full of holes. There are several charred corpses, burned black beyond recognition, that could belong to either side. But a sinking feeling tells me theyre mine. TigerHawk and Lycan are covered in blood, none of it their own, and Burnblast is setting everything on fire.

TigerHawk is one of the three heads of The Triad, but Lycan and Burnblast are new additions to their lineup. Considering Kais debut, Im not surprised they felt like they had to recruit some new Neuvohumans. Lycans a Shifter like I am, but much weaker. The sixteen-foot-tall wolfman is just a bargain-bin werewolf in ripped jorts and a white tee thats struggling to not split. Burnblast is a male pyrokinetic Manipulator and Caster with pretty blonde hair. None are enough to give me a challenge, even together. Theyre all hacks, picking a fight against people much weaker than them.

They havent seen me arrive; The Triads back is to me. I can make the smart decision that Nobody would, and get to a better spot to ambush them. I should observe and make a plan. One of the Cloaks, Jake, takes a bullet through his skull and drops back into Caspers lap. She screams, and Burnblast launches a fireball at the van. Theyre forced to retreat back into the burning warehouse as the van explodes, blasting them all back. Ricardo, one of the Scythes, gets hit by a chunk of shrapnel, and Goblin lands weirdly on his right leg. I wasnt supposed to get attached. I didnt mean to like them. Screw a plan; theyve killed too many of my guys. I leap over into the middle of The Triad, crushing the ground as I land.

YOU MOTHERFUCKERS!

What? TigerHawk asked.

They al turn to me, eyes widening in surprise. Lets turn that to fear. I inhale the smell of ash, blood, and gunpowder filling my nostrils. Im angry, so freaking angry. They pepper me with bullets, but all they do is bounce off my body. The Cowls recover quickly, but Im on their asses immediately. A backhand sends Burnblast flying through the air, skidding and rolling along the ground. The two Shifters are fast to retaliate, both of them slashing a clawed hand at me. I slide out of their reach, Spartan kicking TigerHawk in the chest so hard he dents the metal wall he collides with. I wince, spinning around to face the wolf. Shit. Mightve hit him too hard. Holding back is a skill Ive honed over years of fighting; its second nature by this point, but my temper can make me slip up.

Recentering myself, I grab Lycans wrist and punch his elbow, snapping it sideways. He roars in pain, and I toss him into a parked car. The regular gang members dont pose a threat to me, but my people arent bulletproof. They killed my people. I roundhouse two at once, feeling their ribs break as theyre blown back. None of these men will die here; Im not a killer, but I have no problem severely reducing their quality of life. Its what these bastards deserve. An overhand chop fractures a womans clavicle, and she falls to the ground screaming. I send a palm into a mans chest, feeling his sternum give and crack as he falls onto his back, grasping at his chest as he struggles to breathe. I am Vesuvius, a natural disaster, a cataclysm in human form. Grabbing two different people by the shoulder, I slam them onto the ground so hard the only sound is their legs snapping as they pass out from pain. Jagged bone pieces are poking through their pants, which are soaked in both blood and piss. Cowardly weaklings.

The heat Im giving off is rising, not enough to start melting the ground, but my touches are going to start causing burns soon enough. I let out a guttural roar at the final six gang bangers. Three point their guns at me and fire; the other three make the correct decision and run. The Mac 10s blast through their magazines, and I dont bother to put a hand up; its not like they hurt. They scramble to grasp fresh mags, but Im on them like a lion amongst gazelles. I palm a womans face, the skin sizzling as I shove her into a wall. Before the remaining two men can run, I grab one by the shoulder and the other by the ankle and squeeze hard. Not as hard as I possibly can, but enough to pulverize the bones. The Union or the police can handle getting them medical attention. This is what they deserve.

I hear a shout from the warehouse and see TigerHawk cut down another Cloak. The girls hoodie is sliced open, and the skin of her back is ripped open. The bleeding gashes are so large. She wont survive long enough for emergency services. They need me. Goblins limping and Casper looks shell-shocked. Im about to charge in when Lycan smashes into me, knocking me off my feet. His wrist is healed; the damn werewolf is hard to put down. The fire in the warehouse is out of control, and my anxiety is spiking. Before I can stand up, he tackles me even further and grabs my wrists.

Get off me, I said, wrestling against Lycans grip.

Youre not going anywhere til TigerHawk finishes off those skull-faced freaks. No one messes with The Triad, he snarled.

Dont push me, mutt, I spat.

His silver fur is smoking, the gray skin beneath it bubbling from the heat coming off me. The hands gripping me are melting and growing back simultaneously. Every time he speaks, he slobbers on me, the spit sizzling when it touches me. Ew, thats so freaking gross. His regenerative powers might be the best Ive ever seen. Every injury is healing rapidly; even the constant heat is being outpaced. Hes honestly not too bad of a challenge; if I had the luxury of taking this less seriously, I could have some fun with him. Wait, where is Burnblast? The sound of the explosion plunges me into the freezing ocean. That came from our warehouse. I hear distant sirens and huge smoke plumes coming from the building.

My heart drops. Losing Cloaks and Scythes is sad, but losing Casper and Goblin will hurt me. I like them. No. NO. I rip my wrists free and spear Lycan through the abdomen. The hole is cauterized by the time I pull my hand out. Shoving him off me, I kick off the ground and start sprinting as fast as I can. The front half of the warehouse is caved in; the roof collapsed on top of the blazing rubble. The fire is spreading to the adjacent buildings. Its like hell on earth. Burnblast is standing in front of the destruction, laughing, and Im overcome with rage and guilt. He sees me just as I reach him, holding both palms out to blast me with flames. They dont affect me; fire cant hurt my Shifter form. Burnblast isnt fireproof; hes just immune to his own flames, which means he can be burned. I lift him up by his throat, feet dangling helplessly as he tries and fails to escape my grip. His throat burns beneath my grasp, but he hasnt suffered enough yet. I grab the right side of his head with my other hand, holding it just long enough for his pretty blonde hair to catch fire and the moisture to evaporate from the skin, causing it to shrink and crackle. I drop him on the ground, his throat charred black and the right side of his face roasted. A single tear comes out of the left eye, the other tear duct incinerated. He doesnt make a sound as I rush into the wreckage; his vocal cords will never work again.

Every time you swallow, and the debilitating pain makes you shit yourself, I want you to remember who did this to you, I shouted back.

Theres smoke and fire everywhere, and Im thankful that neither affects me. I charge through a wall, burning a hole straight through it. Running over enflamed machines, boxes, and drugs, I make a break for it. I find Casper, Goblin, the remaining two Cloaks, and the last Scythe trying to escape out the emergency exit at the back. TigerHawk is chasing them, taunting them all the way. Goblin doesnt look good; hes deathly pale with black veins visible under his skin, and one of the Cloaks is helping him move; his right leg is barely moving. Caspers eyes are glowing bright blue, a look of extreme focus on her face as she fires shots at the encroaching Cowl. Holy shit, did she trigger? Stop focusing on the wrong thing!

TigerHawk, you have all but annihilated my people. He has to pay dearly. He will. I run up behind him, the roar of the inferno and gunfire drowning out any sound I might make. His wings are spread wide, and I realize that like Burnblast, he needs to suffer permanently for this. If I learned anything from my time with Nobody, its that you need to strike fear into someone the first time or the problem will never go away. That or you need to remove them from ever becoming a problem again. With one wing in each hand, I press my bare burning foot into his back, forcing him to the ground.

ARRRGGHHHHH, he roared in agony.

YOU DONT FUCK WITH MY PEOPLE! I shouted, making sure he heard me over the cacophony of our surroundings.

I see the back door finally open as the remnants of my gang rush out. The weight on my chest is still there, but its lightened just a tiny bit. I stopped it from becoming a complete massacre. One last thing to do, though. Pulling back on both wings, I gradually increase my strength as my foot sears his back. He cries out in pain again, but Im not done yet. A single synchronized yank on both wings as hard as I can rips them off his body; blood bursts out of the open wounds, and I toss them into the flames. He isnt moving, just sitting there motionless on his knees. Good. This is what he deserves. Less than ten of my gang have ever killed someone, and yet they were all slaughtered without a second thought, and for what? Because they dared to sell the same drug as The Triad? If the Skulls had been here, theyd all be dead. I leave behind the flightless furry fuckface and head back out the front, ignorin the blazing inferno raging around me.

Outside, the sirens are closer, but I barely even register them. Burnblast and Lycan are gone. More importantly, however, is that every dead body is gone. The dead Triad members and all the corpses of my guys have vanished. What the fuck is going on? Theres no sign of Casper or Goblin or the three that were with them. There are fewer vehicles here than when I arrived, but Im struggling to figure out why someone would get rid of the corpses. Whatever is going on is only stoking the anger thats raging inside me. With Lycan gone, I have no one to take my anger out on.

Vesuvius! Deactivate your power and stand down, a familiar voice shouted.

I look up in the sky and see a female figure in a gold and white costume with a matching cowled cape. Tan skin, short brown hair, and an air of superiority. Violet Graves, aka Virtue. Two other Capes are flying next to her, and I see a gigantic metal wolf coming down the street, carrying another Cape on its back. The Heroes Union has arrived. Flashes of Friendsgiving, the scene of her murdering Eryks childhood friend, of endangering him and Anika. The reveal that she lied about him and tried to force herself on him. The pettiness and cruelty shes capable of. How she cheated in a friendly game the first time we met. And how much of an insecure bitch she is. That anger raging inside me has finally found an outlet, and Im not holding back against her. I hate her more than I hate anyone. Even Tuesday.

Im going to beat you within an inch of your life: you lying, cheating, murdering, rapist.

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