“Yeah, lots of spiders…” A shiver ran up my spine at the thought.

  “Well, only one giant snake around here we have to worry about,” Lamb said with a smile my way.

  “Lamb!” Navani said with an apologetic glance Sacrada’s way.

  “Oh, get over it,” Lamb said. “Everyone keeps assuming that because I worked with the Elders and that because I’m kinda dead, I shouldn’t have a healthy sexual appetite.”

  Did that make me a bit of a necro-whatever they call people who have sex with the dead? It wasn’t like that, right? I mean, she was more like an A.I., like a virtual reality simulation on crack. I shook my head, trying not to focus on little things like that.

  Oddly, her joke had made me forget about the spiders. Even letting my mind wander back to them, I felt less worried. Something about a woman like her complimenting my dick just made all the worries seem less important. I laughed at myself at the thought that life and death situations might be somehow diminished in importance simply because my ego had been fed. How many other guys would be so shallow? At least I acknowledged it.

  “So, Threed…” Navani said, turning to meet Sacrada’s gaze. “We need to go after her. We have to get her on board.”

  “Why not any of the others first?” Sacrada asked. “The one they call the Blue Lady now, for instance. Why couldn’t we just go get her, then come back for the fight?”

  “Alesa, AKA Tunnel, now AKA the Blue Lady.” Lamb scrunched her nose. “Last known position, incarcerated.”

  “Meaning,” Navani explained, “that we’d have to break into the prison ship and rescue her. Thing is, that’s impossible.”

  “Actually,” Lamb had images flickering across the screen. “Not for long.”

  “What?”

  Lamb turned to me and smiled as one of the images froze. I couldn’t believe it—my brother was there with two hot chicks, one with green hair and the other wearing some sort of silly fox ears and heavy mascara. They appeared to be running…

  “I don’t understand,” I said.

  “Your brother, his mission is in effect.”

  “He’s going to save the Blue Lady?”

  “Uh, technically he doesn’t know she’s involved.” Lamb glanced around, grimacing. “She wasn’t added to the list because of her… newly villainous ways.”

  “So there’s my answer,” Sacrada said, seemingly done with the topic.

  I wasn’t, however. “My brother? My little bro?” I laughed. “No way, that’s a fake. He’s no hero.”

  “Zero to hero,” Navani said, nodding. “Classic hero story.”

  “No, but I mean all he does is work and watch old movies and make fun of Planet Kill. Get this, most popular show ever, and he says it’s stupid, barbaric. Can’t stand the blood and—”

  “He’s changed,” Lamb said, freezing a new image on the screen of my brother, bodies around him. Some sort of energy seemed to be forming between his hands, black on the inside and blue on the outside, and he looked like a new man. “My point,” she continued, “is that Chad, AKA Breaker, is growing very close to actually setting things right there. The Blue Lady might be back in play again soon.”

  “And if she’s still on her quest for revenge?” Navani asked. “We can’t risk that.”

  “Even for your mission?” Sacrada asked, smiling at the turn of the tide.

  “Do you have any pictures of her?” Navani asked Lamb.

  “Let me see,” Lamb went through a few more images of my brother fighting, and my mind kept getting blown over and over. He was becoming an actual badass. Not someone to make fun of with my friends anymore, that was for sure. The little boy who would insist on wearing his underwear over his pants and pretending to fly was now becoming a superhero, just like me.

  An image of him with those same two women, again, froze on the screen, all three nude, the fox-ear wearing lady with his cock in her mouth.

  “Oh, damn,” Navani exclaimed, and Sacrada groaned while I laughed.

  “My little bro’s a badass!” I said.

  The others looked at me, then nodded or said they agreed. He certainly seemed to have grown one.

  She quickly flicked to the next image, one of him dressed again, staring in a mixture of horror and amazement as metal seemed to have twisted and distorted around him into a tunnel, a woman, all blue, walking toward him. Or, more like floating.

  “That’s her?” I asked.

  Navani said it was, but then sat there staring at the image for a moment. So was I, though I had to admit my thoughts were a tad more inappropriate than I imagine hers were. As scary and intimidating as this Blue Lady looked, she was damn hot. There was something about the arch of her brows, her high cheekbones, and pursed lips, that made me think she would dominate the fuck out of me in the bedroom, and maybe I’d like that.

  “Would she be an excellent ally?” Navani asked. “Yes. Would we be able to get her in time to help fight Goros and save your sister, Sacrada? Not a chance. I’m sorry.”

  Sacrada nodded.

  “She might, however,” Navani turned to me now, curious, “be next on our list after this is over. If we can trust her.”

  “What exactly did she do to end up in this prison?” I asked.

  “Murdered a few high-tier supers, some good, some bad,” Lamb answered. “The claim on her part is that they were all involved, or working to support, a supervillain who destroyed her birthplace and all the people who lived there.”

  “So she was sent to this prison ship,” I said, getting it.

  “Maybe,” Lamb replied. “But some think she went there to finish her revenge. That someone, or multiple someones, on that ship was her next target. Me? I doubt it was the last piece of the puzzle, however. I think she’s going to be a bit of a gamble in this endeavor.”

  All thoughts of ramming her from behind as I pulled on that beautiful blue hair started to fade. This chick sounded batshit crazy, and maybe we didn’t need that.

  “The thing is,” Navani interjected, “we can figure that out next. Check in when we’ve saved Sakurai. Until then, we have our mission, and the steps to getting it done. Lamb, pull up Threed.”

  Lamb did so, while I tried to push the image of my brother and those two chicks out of my mind.

  On the screen now was the image of probably the craziest looking woman I’d ever seen. She stared at us with mismatched eyes of red and blue, eyes that resembled old-school 3D glasses. They didn’t seem to fit, those mismatched eyes, and I stared at them for a long moment, wondering if the red eye was some sort of cyborg implant, or what. Her mouth was turned up in a wicked grin, her bright, pink hair shaved on the side and combed over to the other side. She also had pink tattoos on her shoulders and upper thighs, which were both exposed in the black and violet outfit she wore.

  “Called Threed because of her ability to create replicas of herself, similar to 3D printing,” Lamb explained, throwing off my guess that it was related to the old-school blue and red glasses, “Threed can make up to two copies at any given time, no more. In theory, she could, I suppose, but it would take too much focus. But it’s not just her though. She’s able to make replicas of those around her, of objects too. Anything up to about the size of two of herself, give or take.”

  “So not a building,” I clarified. “Or a ship.”

  “That’s right. Although there are supers known for their ability to amplify others, to our knowledge Threed has never gone beyond her limits.”

  “I see why you want her,” Sacrada said, glowering. “Three of me in the battle… that would have its advantages.”

  “Yes,” Navani replied, curtly. “Three of you, or other combinations of us.”

  Sacrada scoffed, apparently amused by the idea that anyone would go into a fight with anything less than three of her if given the option. “Oh, you’re serious? Sorry.”

  “These replicas, how long do they stay in play?” I asked. “I mean, do they have a shelf life?”

  “Until she wants to create a new one, or loses her focus,” Lamb answered. “If she’s getting the shit kicked out of her, for example, we lose whatever replicas she’s created.”

  “So the battle plan is,” Navani said, “we get her and keep her safe enough to continue replicating us in the battle based on what powers make the most sense at any given moment.”

  “Okay, so if we all suddenly need a good lay, she makes two of loverboy here,” Sacrada said, then looked pensive before adding, “Actually, a question there—would a replica’s sperm still be able to do the job?”

  I frowned, not sure how much I liked the idea of two fake mes getting to do the deed.

  “Let’s assume not,” Navani said. “And… stay focused.”

  “Sure, sure, why the hell not?” Sacrada leaned back, arms folded. “Oh, I remember—because your crazy ass fucking plan has more holes than a fuck-cushion after this guy’s done with it?”

  “A fuck cushion?” I asked, too curious to be offended.

  “I’ll buy you one for your next birthday so you can see for yourself,” she said with a wave of her hand as if dismissing me. As if my voice in all this didn’t matter.

  “You know, for someone who prides herself on being the angelic sister, you sure act like a bitch.”

  “What the fuck did you just call me?” She turned on me, eyes glowing gold. Maybe I didn’t want to piss her off.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. But seriously, you don’t talk like an angel, that’s for damn sure.”

  “I’m the angelic one,” she said. “Not an actual angel. Means I don’t dress like a slut or give hand jobs for money. Okay? Now if you’re satisfied, how about we both agree that the next time you call me a bitch, I fry your face off and eat it like bacon?”

  “Agreed,” I said, trying very hard not to think that was a bitchy and disgusting thing to say. Also, the slut comment—while Sacrada didn’t wear an ultra-tiny skirt like her sister, her battle suit was mighty revealing. Hell, I wasn’t complaining about the fact that it was so tight you could even see the shape of her belly button, and that you didn’t need much imagination to picture her nude.

  But if that was her idea of being less slutty, sure. Surrrre.

  “Now that that little spat’s over with,” Navani chided us, “how about we land this bitch and get on with it?”

  Sacrada wore an expression that showed she wasn’t sure about the use of the word so soon after I’d used it to refer to her, but she didn’t say anything.

  We were pulling up to the edge of the city, and my focus had left the conversation to take in this sight. Other ships were coming and going, several patrols making their rounds. The city was the opposite of the place in the short, rolling dunes where we’d picked up Sacrada. Here it was tall spires, thick slabs of metal that stood upright, and spikes sticking out from the metal.

  No, not spikes I realized—turrets.

  “It’s a military city?” I asked.

  “That’s correct,” Lamb said. With a movement of her hands, several of the metal slabs lit up on our display, green lines assessing them. “The spires on the outside are a combination of missiles and sensors, these buildings are mobile defense shields. Line them up, an energy shield forms around the city, or wherever they’re needed. They also have anti-aircraft missiles loaded, and a small fleet.”

  “I see why Goros didn’t want to attack the city.”

  “Yes, this could’ve helped keep him away, though I imagine Ranger could send more forces and take this place down fairly easily.”

  “As he did the Citadel,” Sacrada added.

  “Not completely fallen,” Lamb argued.

  “Not that.”

  That comment earned Sacrada glares from the other two, but I was confused. “They’re on the same side as the Citadel, no? So why did they even let Goros into orbit, much less land?”

  “They’re officially on the same side, but now that the Citadel has fallen, I imagine we’ll find many of the outer realms doubting their allegiances.”

  “And if they find out we’re with the Citadel?”

  “We’re not,” Sacrada said. “At least, not all of us.”

  “If they find out,” Navani interjected, ignoring Sacrada’s comment, “we’ll find some friends and some enemies. It’s the nature of the beast.”

  We were hailed by the local guard and given clearance, soon flying down into what appeared to be the base of one of those tall metal things, but was actually an opening just beneath it.

  They had us exit the ship and go through scans, but when their system didn’t recognize me or understand my powers, a large man guided me off to the side. I looked back to Navani and Sacrada for help, but the woman they started arguing with simply ignored them. The man led me into a metal room lined with mirrors.

  “What is this, a disguise?” the man asked.

  Figuring the truth would work best here, I explained, “I’m a Marine, from Earth.”

  “From Earth?” The man laughed. “That’s a good one.”

  “It’s the truth. I’m here to help them with a mission against Ranger.”

  “Uh huh.” The guy was barely listening now. He went to the door and opened it before calling out, “Check this guy’s story out.”

  A moment later, he returned with the woman from outside. She was almost as large as him, though in a beautiful way. I was starting to wonder if, in most people out here having some sort of superpower, the same mutations had caused an attractive gene to dominate.

  “Tell her where you’re from,” the man commanded.

  “Earth,” I repeated. “As I explained—”

  He started cracking up, his laughter causing his belly to jiggle. The woman, however, glared at me and said, “Strip.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me. Search.”

  I looked at the man for help, but he was still laughing, now holding his hands up and saying, “Not me. I’m not doing it to this whackjob.”

  “Strip,” the woman said, ignoring the guy and pulling out a glove that she starting putting on.

  “You’ve gotta be kidding,” I said, looking around at the mirrors as if I hoped to see through and catch a glimpse of Navani coming to rescue me.

  “Two choices here,” the woman said, lifting her other hand to show a shock of electricity run across it. “Strip, or get shocked the fuck up. Either way, I get my jollies.”

  “This can’t be allowed,” I said to the man.

  “Considering the fact that you’re not showing up in our search, I’d say you better hurry and do what the fuck she says,” the man finally said. “You’re either some sort of terrorist or a spy, and we mean to find out which.”

  Another thirty seconds passed, then the woman stepped forward, electricity lighting up around her hand.

  “Okay, okay,” I protested pulling off my upper body armor. “But just to show I’m not concealing anything.”

  “You have five, four…”

  As she spoke, I quickly undid the clasps of my lower body armor, stepping out of it. While it was technically the liquid metal biotech armor form Lamb, in situations like this, it acted just like any other armor.

  She cleared her throat and nodded at my briefs.

  “No fucking way,” I said, glaring at the two of them.

  She grabbed me and then I felt a shock running through my body that hurt, although it was more of a surprise than anything. She reached, knelt, and pulled off my undies, and in the same motion, she had the gloved hand on my ass, two fingers doing their search.

  I yelped and shouted, “Get the fuck off, er, out of me!”

  And she pulled them out with a pop. Without a glance at the glove, she pulled it off and tossed it in a trash receptacle that jutted out from the wall and then vanished again. A glance at the mirrors and I froze, feeling very awkward at being totally naked like that, and seeing my own ass and front at the same time.

  “Can I dress now?”

  “How’re you hiding your identity?” she asked, eyes roaming across my nude form in a way that I knew couldn’t be allowed. The guy was having the same thoughts she was, judging by the way his eyes lingered.

  My mind was racing with options. I could fight them, possibly win, considering how others’ powers had affected me so far. But we weren’t trying to cause problems with law enforcement. Then again, I was standing there stark naked, and this lady had just had her fingers up my ass. If that wasn’t fighting business, I wasn’t sure what was.

  “You can’t go—” a voice said, interrupted by a yelp and then the sound of the door swishing open.

  There stood Navani and Sacrada, neither being rude enough to stare other than with the first initial shock.

  “What’s the meaning of this?” Navani demanded. She stormed up to the woman. “Do you have any idea who he is?”

  The woman looked her up and down, then her eyes flickered to Sacrada. “I didn’t, until now…”

  Before I could even take my next breath, the room exploded with electricity—the man flew back, Navani’s eyes blazed blue as shields rose up before her and me. Sacrada was hit, but the impact only infuriated her.

  The woman was standing there, hand still sparking, glaring at each of us in turn. “You won’t leave this room alive, Earther,” she said and turned to point the attack full-on at me this time. Navani and Sacrada moved in for the attack, but so did I.

  Just as that first attack in the bank hadn’t killed me, this one hit with a force that should have made me shit myself. But I didn’t. Instead, I was charging her, the blue lightning flowing over my body. Navani and Sacrada paused in their assault, both amazed at what they were seeing, while the man cursed and pressed back against the wall, taking on the metal of it as his own form of a shield, I imagined. I leaped up, powered by the energy that had come off her attack, and slammed my fist into her. She blocked, but the impact still sent her flying across the room, so that her head smacked against the wall and caved in on itself.

  All eyes went to me, and I stumbled forward, catching myself on Navani.