Mod Superhero (Book 6 STUBBING on Oct 27th)

Chapter 6.40 - View from the Ground

Explosions echoed through the sky.

Emmett stood in the middle of the field as the battle unfolded. His other self was ten stories in the sky, exchanging fire with the incoming drone fleet. The smaller drones fell from the sky in a constant stream of destruction. Mod moved so fast that Emmett could only follow the vague outline of the exchange, but somehow Emmett knew exactly what was happening. He may not have been able to dodge bullets and shoot artillery shells out of the air, but he knew how Mod was doing it.

Emmett was awestruck as he watched the deadly aerial dance. Even though it was on a smaller scale than Tina's horizon-spanning battle in cyberspace, it was no less impressive.

And Emmett was jealous. Both his real muscles and his nanite constructed one twitched as he watched the display, like he should've been up there instead of Mod. Awe, he understood. Even envy would've been understandable. But jealousy... That part Emmett didn't understand.

Every moment since his capture had been spent on escape and survival. He needed to see this through. He needed to survive and help his allies survive—

If only because Emmett desperately needed answers.

Arsenal and Lock were taking Dr. Venture underground through the nearby abandoned building. Emmett had peeled off a small part of his swarm to help defend Venture, and he could track the doctor through the swarm. Then Arsenal and Lock were back to the field.

Both Arsenal and Lock looked toward the oncoming drones. Power flared around her while Lock's muscles rippled beneath his suit. They looked like superheroes, and Emmett was glad to stand beside them. He knew this wasn't the first time they'd stood together against insurmountable odds... But it felt like a dream he couldn't quite remember.

In those first few seconds, Tina sent everyone battle plans.

The drones were nearly on top of them, but Tina was wrestling Bastion for control. She wanted to bring the drones in low and slow enough so the team could engage, but she couldn't make them stop. Eventually, the drones would circle around, and then stray shots would hit the city. Which meant the goal was to take the drone fleet down as fast as possible.

Emmett heard all her words through cyberspace, but Tina's next words echoed through his swarm and into his ear.

"The others are going up. I need you on the ground."

Emmett almost refused. If everyone else was going up, then so should he. But there was a desperation in Tina's orders—this was the hardest battle of their lives, and somehow, they had to end it as quickly as possible.

Emmett relented and sent half his swarm into the ground.

Mod rocketed to the ground, then reversed thrust to slow himself. His landing was still hard enough to shake the field and cause his nanite layers to quiver.

The first shots arrived shortly after. Bullets fell around them like rain.

It was Emmett's turn.

The ground shifted. Tons of earth rolled like a wave beneath their feet. It rose up ten feet between the supers and the drones, forming a thick barrier of dirt, stone, and silt.

The first artillery shots exploded, but thanks to Tina messing with the fuses, the blasts were contained on the other side. The earthwork barrier stayed intact—still, Emmett shuddered at the power. Each explosion rippled through his nanites and vibrated through his chest.

Again, Emmett felt wordless communication through cyberspace—this time from Mod.

"Let's go!"

Mod and Arsenal shot into the air, hauling Lock with them.

Emmett tried to cover them. He stayed safe behind the earthwork barrier and traced the drones' signals. On the other side, stolen rifles emerged from the dirt and opened fire. Nanite rounds flew through the air, hitting both heavy drones and the handful of smaller drones that were left. Normal nanite rounds wouldn't be effective, but these bullets were denser and harder than normal. They would at least be a distraction, and at best, they would take out the remaining small drones.

Between Emmett's firing, and Mod and the others, the rest of the small drones dropped out of the sky.

Then the twin heavy drones passed overhead. Emmett's world went dark as the drones blotted out the sun. They were three stories up—the thrust was deafening, and any regular human would've been thrown from their feet. Emmett's swarm rippled, but held firm.

Somewhere deep in his mind, Emmett knew that he'd once fought beside those monstrous weapons. He couldn't remember it, but he knew it was true. But those days were impossibly far away. Now those drones were the enemy. Seeing them was every bit as awe and fear-inducing as the AI battle in cyberspace. Except that he wasn't looking up at rolling storm clouds—

Here in the real world, the threat of the drones was much more physical and immediate. He felt like a mouse watching the shadow of a hawk pass. Primal dread seeped into his bones and almost overwhelmed him.

But right beside that fear was something else. Something that made Emmett move reflexively—instinctively.

The sides of the heavy drone looked like a battleship bristling with weapons. They were smaller than the main gun, but still bigger than personnel weapons. As the heavy drones passed, these guns targeted Emmett. He was already slipping around the earthwork barrier, and bullets impacted harmlessly against the dirt and his swarm.

He let the swarm ebb out around the barrier. The edges of the swarm continued to draw fire. It wasn't much, but every gun that was shooting at him was one that couldn't shoot at his allies.

Emmett turned his own guns, shifting dirt and nanites so that they were tracking the drones. None of his stolen rifles could breach the drones' armor, but he could still damage their side guns. While Emmett hugged the dirt barrier, he honed in on the drones in cyberspace. He could just make out the electrical signals controlling their weapons.

He honed in on those and returned fire.

As the drones passed, Mod, Arsenal, and Lock also went into action. They were already above the fray. Mod and Arsenal held Lock between them and used their spare hands to fire lines of plasma at the drones.

As the drones passed, Mod and Arsenal tossed Lock onto one of the drones. Then the pair turned to continue firing, cutting scorch marks across the second drone's hull.

The drones didn't stop. They swung around the field and the nearby block. More explosions and lasers lit up the sky as Mod tried to keep their main guns contained.

Lock clung perilously to the front of the other drone. Even with his immense strength, he could barely dig his claws into the drone's thick armor.

As the drone slowed and turned, Lock half-climbed, half-lunged for the main gun. It was big enough around that Lock had to wrap his entire arm around it, like he was putting it in a headlock. All the while, the main gun didn't stop firing. Each shot was so powerful that the recoil shoved the fifty ton, building-sized drone backward several feet.

And Mod and Arsenal were hovering in front of it, shooting down artillery shells in mid-air. Mod wasn't dodging anymore. Both he and Arsenal stood their metaphorical ground, three stories in the air. Mod multiple lasers at a time, while Arsenal fired steady streams of plasma out of her gauntlet.

The pair stayed close together, both defending each other. Emmett caught glimpses of them from behind the earthwork. If anything, they were drifting closer together as they fought back the assault.

Then Mod and Arsenal grasped one another, like they were going to start dancing in mid-air. Arsenal glowed with white hot light, and power flowed through Mod and into his rifle arm.

On the ground, Emmett shielded his eyes but couldn't look away. He felt a new kind of awe.

And a new kind of jealousy.

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