Mod Superhero (Book 6 STUBBING on Oct 27th)

Chapter 6.51 - Overshadow

For the second time that day, Emmett was fighting for his life.

At the start of the battle, he'd held formation with Arsenal and Mod, while Lock plowed through heavy mechs.

Emmett felt like a man torn in two. Fighting alongside his comrades felt both strange and familiar. He'd fought beside them before—not just earlier that day on the field, but in the beginning too. That was why it felt strange; Emmett had never fought beside this version of his teammates. He'd never stood beside Arsenal and caught bullets with walls made out of nanites and fire.

And then there were Mod and TINA, not quite in Emmett's mind, but subtly guiding his hands. Maybe that was why fighting beside everyone felt familiar. It felt like someone guiding his steps and whispering in his ear, or like training wheels on a bicycle. Or like memories that weren't his.

He didn't have the time or the energy to contemplate the thought for long. He already felt like he was balancing on a knife's edge.

Then the three enemy supers joined the battle.

It was the first time Emmett had faced down a squad of Class 4 supers. The Freakshow and the Deep Ones had been bad enough, same with the lab's defenses, but there was something about facing down humans that were that powerful.

They were Summit capes, but it sure felt like they were playing for keeps. Who knew what lies Bastion and the Brotherhood had told them en route.

Abyss was using the power of darkness to cut off parts of the swarm—anything that stretched too far or too thin. Emmett needed to keep a secure tether to keep control. So far, Mod's nanites were keeping Siphon at bay. It didn't matter how strong she was if she couldn't close the gap. Then there was Nail—

He scared the shit out of Emmett. Nail's projectiles should've been deadly. Emmett couldn't even see the shots, he could only register where the projectiles had been by the scorch marks they left in the outer barrier. Emmett was sure he'd been shot already, but he didn't have time to check.

Emmett's brain might've been upgraded, but he didn't have the senses to match. Mod and TINA were guiding him, but that wasn't much of a comfort in the moment. Emmett felt like he was running on pure instinct.

He had to trust in his teammates. Had to trust in his other self.

Then Mod leapt out of formation to intercept the last few drones—

That was when everything went to shit.

Power surged from Abyss and from Nail. Darkness expanded, covering the street and leaking out across the block like the world was splitting in half. Nail's projectiles ramped up until they battered their shields like hailstones.

Arsenal and Emmett pulled back their outer barrier to compensate. It had to hold. It had to.

If Emmett had been balancing on the edge before, now he was clinging to it—hanging on by his fingernails.

TINA's next words echoed through cyberspace and in Emmett's ear.

"Just survive."

~ ~

Darkness surged through Mod's childhood neighborhood. Now it was growing upward as well as outward with cracks of darkness that towered over homes across the block.

It was impossible to see past the criss-crossing blackness, so Arsenal had pulled back her fire barrier. But the ambient power was enough for Siphon to leech off of. Siphon's power was even negating the nanites beneath her feet—in the moment, Mod could tell if she was outright destroying them or if Siphon was merely causing small warps in reality.