Mod Superhero

Chapter 7.74 - Venture 3

Venture dove toward Savanus's flagship. Power surged into his exosuit's point-defense lasers. The new beams danced across the hull, weakening outer panels and bisecting support struts. He probably could've cut through cleanly, even moving as fast as he was, but he wanted to make an entrance. Given the occasion, shock and awe seemed appropriate.

Venture crashed through the weakened hull—

And the next two floors.

Metal squealed and sparks flew. Venture had made a point to blow through several critical systems on the way in. Lights flickered and went out throughout the ship. He landed on the main deck—the entire structure buckled and bent under the force of his landing.

Venture had also made a point to land close to Midas. The technopath flew across the deck, tumbled across the floor, and slammed against the far wall. He lay then in a sputtering heap.

Internal defensive measures engaged. Mini quadcopter drones spilled out of the walls and converged on Venture, like an angry hornet's nest. Each carried some combination of EMP, explosive, or incendiary charges. Venture's point-defense system cut them down as quickly as they came. Smoke and tiny explosions filled the room.

Midas winced and slowly staggered to his feet. Venture was already striding across the room. The feet of his exosuit echoed dully on the warped deck.

Venture was halfway across the deck when Midas held up a hand.

"Enough!" he shouted. Power flooded the room. Lights flickered and systems whined.

Venture's exosuit staggered. Venture strained, and his suit trudged forward, like he was walking in slow motion.

Midas's eyes went wide with surprise, then amusement. "My, my, you've been busy. New suit. New hardening protocols. I'm almost impressed."

Midas pushed harder, and the flow of power became a surge. Across the main deck, lights popped, screens cracked, and sparks flew. Soon, all that was left was the red emergency lighting. The flagship rumbled, like Midas was going to wrest it from the sky.

Venture froze mid-stride. His exosuit locked up. Warnings flashed through his HUD. He minimized them.

Midas's hands were shaking, and sweat was beading on his forehead, but the technopath smirked, clearly pleased with himself.

Venture could feel the power in the room changing. Midas had pushed back hard and didn't have time to focus his power. But the longer this went on, the more the technopath could focus on the exosuit. Venture was losing control.

Midas lowered his hands without losing grip on Venture. The bastard was relaxing.

"How many years, Magnus? Testing systems, trying to find a workaround... It's sad, really." Midas pushed his sweat-slicked hair back and paced forward. "You're supposed to be the smart one, and yet, somehow, you can't see it. All the information is right here, and you still can't figure it out...

"You can't beat me," Midas said, enunciating every word. He stopped a few feet in front of Venture and stared up at the exosuit.

Venture's expression was hidden behind his helmet, but he scowled down at Midas.

He was completely frozen now. He couldn't move and his weapons didn't work. Not even his interior adjustment controls were responding. The suit might as well be dead.

The MAG-0165 represented the best that the Resistance could put together. Venture, Emmett, and TINA had developed new ways to shield the suit from Midas's power. It had worked—the fact that Venture had been able to resist Midas at all was a victory, however small. And yet, that wasn't enough.