Mod Superhero (Book 4 STUB on JULY 30th)

Chapter 4.62 - Venture 18

The lights in Venture's living room flickered back on. The eerie red glow of emergency lights was replaced with stark white. There was no hiding the destruction. The slain biomech lay in a heap, leaking oil and gore onto his carpet. The kitchen table lay in splinters nearby.

Midas stood arrogantly in the center of it all, flanked by two hulking biomechs.

Venture could feel the power radiating off of the technopath. He'd brought the overhead lights and the wall turrets back online. But as he reached through the nearby systems, he'd left others offline—notably Venture's nanites and bionics.

Despite the mutagen in Venture's body, he felt drained. His body had been carefully built and upgraded to work in sync. Now, his shoulders sagged, his muscles quivered. A headache built behind his eyes, partly from his glasses being offline and weeks of sleep deprivation finally catching up to him.

Ava Savanus walked in with poise that was almost mechanical. Another time, Venture might've been glad to see her. Now he just felt regret at seeing standing beside Midas.

Venture swayed on his feet, but managed a small smile. "Ava, you're looking well."

Even though only a little of her face peeked out from behind her mask, she didn't return his smile.

Midas stepped over the puddles and glared at Ronin Tekno. The cyborg lay unconscious against the far wall.

Midas glanced back at Ava. "I expected more out of him. Blackmail used to be such good inspiration for people. Don't worry, I got what I needed before your lackeys rescued them."

Venture interjected, "That's what the hostages were for? You paid off Angel Eye and the others just to get info on Ronin? What did you get on him?"

Midas ignored him. "You may be surprised to learn, Magnus, that most of the Brotherhood stayed loyal to you until the very end. Only Ava believed me."

Ava's face twisted like she was trying not to argue.

Midas continued, "Ronin took some convincing, yes, but it turned out he wasn't needed. Do you want to know Ronin's real name?"

Venture clenched a tired fist and ignored the question.

Midas turned toward Venture. "Here in a few short months, none of it will matter. We'll have everything. ...Do you know what the death toll is so far, Magnus?"

"I'm afraid I don't have access to that information anymore."

"Guess."

Venture scoffed. "I know that it would be much, much higher without TINA and I."

"The current estimate is over one million total deaths, but it's climbing by the minute. Do you know the percentage of those deaths that were supers? Less than one percent."

Venture retorted, "Without TINA, we wouldn't have discovered the crystal bombs until it was too late. The death toll would've been incalculable. We saved you, and this is how you repay us!?"

Midas shrugged. "As I said, other members are sympathetic—"

"Ava... Look at me. You know I'm right."

Ava shook her head. "I don't think we're on the same side, Magnus. I don't think you've been on our side for some time."

Midas stepped forward. "You're right, Magnus. You've done humanity a great service... But no one will ever thank you. No one will ever know."

Ava said, "Midas, that's enough—"

"No, he deserves to hear the future—one he helped build. Supers are old news. People across the world have seen what our technology can do. Governments are already begging for Ava's biomechs, your drones... And not just your drones, Magnus.