“That’s what we needed to tell you about,” Lamb said. “We received a message from my home planet. Apparently there are some survivors there, though not many.”

  “Oh?”

  “The message said a duo had come through, one of them named Kai, and that—”

  “You mean the enemy doesn’t have him?” Andromida cut in, stepping up to my side in a way that pushed Gale aside.

  “Watch it,” Gale said, giving her a slight shove back—enough that told her not to be a dick, but not enough to cause real trouble.

  “Considering the situation…” Twitch whispered into Gale’s ear, and all of us turned back to Lamb.

  “Exactly!” Lamb said. “He’s there with some woman from the fox cult named—”

  “Destiny!” Charm said, excitement causing her voice to go super high.

  “Yes! And the best part is they’re going off in search of my niece. Meaning—”

  “All we have to do is find your niece,” Twitch said, “and we should find Kai, assuming Kai and Destiny are capable.”

  “Which we should assume, because they made it this far,” Andromida added.

  Charm nodded enthusiastically. “And Destiny seemed pretty cool, so she’s probably taking care of Kai.” She tilted her head, lips pursed. “Maybe in more ways than one?”

  “Not the time,” Andromida said, and she turned to face me. “We have to go after them.”

  “But Sam and the fight,” Shimmer said. “We can’t blatantly ignore Hadrian’s orders, can we?”

  “It wouldn’t be the first time the Citadel was mad at us,” Gale noted, and I remembered the stories I’d heard of her and how she had ended up in the supervillain prison where we’d met. Always a different story, ranging from fraternization and violence to straight up betrayal.

  “If it’s between losing my status as an Elder of the Citadel but saving my son versus the alternative…” I didn’t need to say the rest, and Andromida nodded, taking my hand in both of hers.

  “How do we do this?” she asked, eyes darting between me and Lamb.

  “We’ll cover for you with Sam,” Lamb said, even though I could tell this was tearing at her sense of right and wrong. “After all, the enemy wanted Kai, too, so there must have been a reason for that. If you can get to him before they do and stop that part of their plan, I imagine that would have as big of an impact on this war as if you did whatever it is Sam has in mind.”

  “We’re serious?” Twitch said, hand at her chin in contemplation. “We’re really talking about going off on our own? Becoming vigilantes, more or less?”

  “Hey, the best superheroes often are,” I replied, thinking back to Earth stories of the bat-guy superhero and others of the like.

  ‘It’s going to be tough,” Charm said. “And don’t forget, Diadra the assassin might come back into play.”

  “Most likely will,” I replied, then took a deep breath. Finally, I grinned. “Fuck it. Hopefully Sam will see our side, but if not, we’ll figure all that out after we return with Kai, safe and sound.”

  It was settled. Breaker’s Berserkers would not be joining Hadrian’s war, or not yet at any rate. We were going off on our own.

  CHAPTER 27: SNAPDRAGON

  Spaceship

  All of my past experiences seeing Amira’s power in action had left me in awe, but this time I was too damn impatient for any such feelings. Staring out through the windows of our stolen spaceship (we had already committed at least one crime, what did one more matter?), I couldn’t think of anything more than finding out what this Cosmic Connector did and using it to destroy our enemy.

  A planet came into view. To my surprise, it was green and blue with streams of white clouds.

  “What planet is that?” I asked.

  “Earth,” Amira replied eyes focused on the controls as she flew. She laughed. “According to the thread, this is where we’ll find him.”

  I turned to see Glaze asleep, so I nudged him.

  “Huh? Why?” He sat up straight, looked first at me, then out at Earth. “We’re going back?”

  “According to her, Ragnor is here,” I replied.

  As the ship jolted and vibrated, I clutched the armrests, feeling a wild thrill racing through me. The view from the cockpit window was a riot of color as the outer layer of atmosphere gave way to streaks of brilliant orange and red.

  Gradually, the chaos gave way to a smoother descent, and I found myself leaning closer to the window, drawn by the emerging spectacle below. Clouds parted to reveal the beautiful blue of the oceans below. In my mind I’d said farewell to this planet, so it was humorous that we were returning so soon.

  “Dad’s gonna be furious,” Glaze said, and I turned to see that he wasn’t watching our descent at all, but staring ahead, eyes wide.

  I reached over and put a hand on his. “Bro, we’re going to be okay. Trust me.”

  He turned and met my gaze, the anxiety within him fading. Finally, he closed his eyes and I withdrew my hand, shifting to look outside again. What looked like Tokyo Tower came into view and I craned my neck, wondering where Amira was going to take us down. In the middle of Tokyo, Japan, there weren’t exactly a lot of open spaces with room for landing a Citadel cruiser.

  A crash sounded and our ship shuddered, all of us falling sideways under the impact. Outside, what looked like a woman with pink fox tails wearing a mask was there, tearing at the side of our ship. Her eyes glowed through the helmet, and then I saw sunlight glinting off of those tails—they were metal.

  “Are you seeing this?!” Glaze shouted.

  “You bet your ass I am!”

  “Not that… there!”

  I turned to see that the ship was sideways, the ground beneath us shifting. An earthquake? No, it wasn’t the ground shifting, but an army—and above them, a portal. This motherfucker was invading Earth! And from what I could tell from my limited view of them, this was going to be the biggest invasion Earth had ever seen.

  Metal screeched and I turned back to see a section on the side of our ship missing. That metal fox chick was there, three more climbing in after her, and one flying in the air along with us.

  Damn, this was it. So much for my hopes of sneaking in to steal the Cosmic Connector. We’d have to find another way. A quick pulse scan showed that these metal fox ladies had a variety of powers, and not the type we would want to take on.

  “Crash it,” I said.

  Amari flinched. “What?”

  Not taking the time to explain it, I lunged forward and hit the controls. We plummeted downward, at least for the moment losing some of our attackers. One clung on, throwing herself in and at Glaze.

  He was off-balance but strapped in, so he managed to replicate his arms to try and fight her off. Punches don’t land well on metal, however, so the fox had the advantage. His mother’s level of acid, however, did the trick.

  “FUCK!” the fox lady said, stumbling off him before lifting a hand and sending lines of metal out at him. The metal cut through his hand, severing it at the base of the glove.

  I spun, looking for options and ignoring the horrid scent the acid had on flesh—like rotten meat soaked in chemicals. Our ship was losing control, spinning, and since the rest of us were strapped in, the fox lady was the only one getting thrown around. At one point she slammed into my chest, knocking the wind out of me, but as she started to go the other way, I grabbed her by the hair and yanked. She screamed, body flying out away from me as I held onto her hair.

  My free hand found my knife and I quickly slammed it into her throat.

  By the time we crashed, the fox lady was dead. Her friends likely weren’t far off though, and I knew we needed to ditch ASAP. I pinged with my power to see how much time we had. Apparently our crash had thrown them off. The flying one had ensured the others didn’t die from the fall. That said something about them, but I wasn’t sure what yet.

  “We’ve gotta go!” I shouted.

  “You want to find this Ragnor?” Amira asked. “Give me two secs and I can trace a path to him.”

  Shit, shit, shit. I glanced at the dead fox lady, most of her armor melted off. Giving Amira a nod, I went for the armory to retrieve weapons while she did her trick.

  “My fucking hand!” Glaze said.

  I tossed him a med pack and said, “Shut the fuck up and use this. Superhero made, so it’ll close off the wound. You want a new hand, you’ll have to wait and see what the Citadel can do when we get back.”

  “Well…” Glaze grinned and created a new arm, making the stumped one vanish.

  “Then what the hell are you complaining about?”

  “It fucking hurt! Plus, this is only a replica—I’ll still want to get the original fixed up.”

  I rolled my eyes and slid a rifle over my shoulder, then handed him a rifle. This one was also superpower made, so the rounds offered additional benefits. What those benefits were, I looked forward to finding out.

  “Got him!” Amira said, hand on the fox lady and eyes lighting up.

  “Wonderful,” I replied, already at the exit and checking for those powers incoming. They were on their way, but on the ground.

  We booked it, using a little help from one of Glaze’s handy devices that he must’ve made with the help of Uncle Breaker’s friend, Shimmer. It gave us the cover of illusion, as if we weren’t there at all.

  “Hope that thing has more juice left in it,” I said glancing over my shoulder and seeing the fox group on our downed ship, not noticing us as we darted between tall buildings and past a ramen stand.

  No doubt that army would be on us in no time, and with that number of people, no amount of illusion would hide us. We were damned close, which meant our next steps would have to be made with extreme planning and foresight.

  We had to keep moving and, somehow, find a way to lie low in Tokyo until we could figure out a way to follow Amira’s path to Ragnor.

  EPILOGUE: DREW

  The Citadel

  “About time, Drew,” Lamb said as I came jogging up from the shitter, my stomach still rumbling. She didn’t need to know where I’d been, so I simply grunted and took in the rest of my team there, ready for action.

  Lamb stood with arms folded, Threed stood on the other side of her, and behind them were Sacrada and then the rest.

  Others were standing around Sam as well, all of us surrounded by spaceships and portals, ready to move out.

  “Where’s my brother?” I asked, confused by Breaker’s absence.

  Lamb cleared her throat, eyes briefly going to Sam before returning my way. “He isn’t coming.”

  “What?”

  “Excuse me?” Sam stepped over, hands out in frustration.

  “We just spoke with him and—”

  “There’s a new development, related to his son and my niece,” Lamb explained. “The Berserkers have… flown the coop… Is that the saying?”

  She had turned to me since I was from Earth, but I ignored her, too furious at my brother to answer.

  I turned to Hadrian. “We have a war on our hands and my brother is leaving us?”

  Hadrian ran a hand along his chin, his white eye glimmering. Over recent years he had spent more time with the Seers, to the point that he had started to somehow absorb some of their powers.

  “It is not the worst scenario,” Hadrian said, “though it is far from the best. Emotions can work for and against us—let us see which way this develops.”

  “You’re going to allow this?!”

  “It’s possible that your brother’s choice will end the war much faster than any other route could have. It’s also possible the end will bring about more casualties than many of us can stomach. Regardless, would you be the one to try and stop Breaker or his team? Would they listen to you, if they know his son is out there waiting to be saved?”

  I considered, then spun, searching out my own children in the crowd. They were nowhere to be seen.

  “My children?” I asked. “Has anyone seen them?”

  “At least one of ours has,” Hadrian said, and turned to a guard at his side. The man looked pale, eyes barely able to meet mine. “Go ahead, tell them what you just told me.”

  The guard bowed his head as if disgraced. “My duty is to guard the supervillains, but… Snapdragon and Glaze attacked me.”

  “Horseshit,” Threed shouted, then added, “Or if they did, I have to ask what stupid shit you were doing to earn it.”

  Hadrian held a hand up for silence, and even she obliged. To the guard, he said, “Go on, please.”

  “They killed another guard and freed a supervillain… and killed her as well,” the guard said. “Why? I cannot say. After that, they stole a ship and took off.”

  “The hell?” I asked, glancing around for any sort of explanation.

  “We are tracking the ship and… it appears to have gone to Earth. Already a team is in pursuit, others on the planet have been alerted and told to intercept.”

  My head was spinning as I tried to make sense of this. We didn’t have time to be chasing around after my offspring, not in the face of the war that was finally upon us.

  Shaking my head, I said, “Please alert me when they’re… with us. Find out what you can. They have to have had a good reason.”

  “Yes, of course,” Hadrian said. “And you…?”

  “My team and I will lead the defense against the forces arrayed against humanity. We must not let them break through.”

  “Indeed. Ragnor must be stopped. I believe this is the first phase of the Supreme Leader’s push against us, and the first move to the end of this damned war. Let us hope we come out from it victorious. Sam, if you would?”

  Sam stepped forward, eyes on me. “I’m going to need you to play double duty. Your brother’s actions aren’t completely irrational, but this puts us in a bad spot. Your children’s actions are completely irrational and put us in a worse spot.”

  “You can count on us,” I said, still trying to subdue the rage boiling up inside of me at the news.

  “And me,” a man who had been introduced as Flintlock called out, his eagle letting out a shriek in what seemed to be agreement.

  “And us,” Death Girl shouted above the rest, her team nodding behind her.

  “All of us,” another voice said, and I turned to see a woman with a red hood and cloak strolling up, portals active behind them.

  “Good to see you, Red,” Sam said. “Everyone, move into position and head out. I’ll brief the new arrivals and then get them out there on their own missions or with you, wherever they’re needed. It’s time we get this war started.”

  Our time was here, and I was fucking ready to both start and end this war. I clenched my jaw in annoyance at my brother’s choice to abandon us, but I had a feeling I’d do the same if my own children were powerless and had been taken. As it stood, mine were badasses in their own right and I knew they’d bring the pain to our enemies.

  THE END

  AUTHOR NOTES

  Welcome to my world of supers! I'm Jamie Hawke, and I'm thrilled that you've embarked on this epic journey with me. I have big plans for this series, and I'm excited to let you know that book two is already in progress and shaping up nicely.

  More about me – I’m a fun-loving former Marine who enjoys life and movies. I could watch The Lord of the Rings movies one thousand times over and never get bored of them, and recently have been enjoying The Boys and Gen-V. Watching those latter two makes me feel like maybe I’m not so crazy, you know?

  Also, I have been a writer on various video games, including Telltale’s Tales from the Borderlands. Have you played that one? A bit whacky with lots of ball and fart jokes. I also spent a bit of time on the JamCity mobile game Marvel’s Avengers Academy, which was a great chance to get paid to read comics and research the various Marvel characters. And it all started when I was eleven or twelve trying to draw and write comics, including some weird nude series that my friend of the time threatens to blackmail me with. Ha, in his face! Now I write that kind of stuff for a living. So that’s me, and you can learn more and connect with me and other readers by joining my Facebook Group and my Newsletter.

  Before we dive deeper into this universe of superhumans, I want to share a bit about my previous works in the Supers universe. You might be familiar with the Supers: Ex Heroes series, consisting of eight thrilling books where we follow the adventures of Breaker. If you haven't had the chance to explore that series yet, you're in for a wild ride! And if you have, you know that this new series takes the excitement to a whole new level.

  As for the Supers: Ex Gods series, it's a spin-off that delves into the adventures of a Marine in space, teaming up with three incredible super ladies to take on an army of supervillains. It's a story filled with action, adventure, and, of course, superpowers.

  Now, let's talk about my inspirations. Growing up, I was an avid reader of X-Men comics. These stories of mutants navigating a world that feared and misunderstood them left a lasting impression on me. The themes of being different, wielding immense power, and the moral dilemmas that come with it have always fascinated me and can be seen in many of my works, including this series.

  Another major influence on my creative journey was Tank Girl comics. Tank Girl's anarchic spirit, irreverent attitude, and punk-rock aesthetic showed me the limitless possibilities of storytelling. While this series has its unique tone and style, I've carried with me the idea that fiction should be bold, unconventional, and always ready to push boundaries. If you haven’t read Tank Girl ever (and no, the movie isn’t the same), you’re in for a treat! Go check those whacky comics out.

  So, with the exploration of superhero themes from X-Men and the fearlessness of challenging norms from Tank Girl, I set out to craft a Supers series that would captivate and entertain readers while delving into the lives of superhumans in a world both extraordinary and relatable.