Mod Superhero

Chapter 7.75 - Clara 10

Another heavy drone plunged toward the street. Molten metal trailed from its flanks where Clara had sheared off its guns. It crashed and gouged a trench in the pavement. Lock and Athena set to ripping it apart before it ground to a halt.

Clara left the dying drone behind and flew above the battlefield, chest heaving from exertion. She'd pushed herself so hard she felt like she was bleeding fire. It wasn't far from the truth—her suit was melting under the strain. Clara couldn't stay too low or she'd set nearby buildings on fire. The wind whipped across the battlefield. If the temperature differential got any worse, it would probably cause a cyclone.

In that relative moment of calm, something tugged at her. It might've been intuition or anxiety... Either way, the source didn't matter.

Clara searched her HUD for her dad's signal, but it was gone.

A few seconds ago, he'd been on Ava Savanus's flagship... Clara blinked in disbelief. The flagship was gone. That couldn't be right. It had to be a glitch, or maybe Dad had been cut off. Had Midas done something? Had Midas found a way to circumvent TINA and Bastion?

A pit had formed in her stomach; Clara couldn't tell where it ended and her fiery well of power began. It felt like the two were one and the same, like Clara was collapsing in on herself.

"TINA, where's the flagship? Where's Dad?"

TINA's voice was measured. "Your father was onboard the flagship with Midas. His exosuit went critical, and the backup fusion reactor detonated. There's nothing left. He didn't survive."

A higher-resolution picture appeared in Clara's HUD. It was an aerial view from one of Daedalus's spy satellites.

Daedalus came through a second later, voice riddled with static. "I'm sorry, kiddo. He's gone. You need... focus... almost time..."

If Daedalus was still talking, Clara didn't hear him. The comm melted out of her ear along with the rest of the metal and nanites. All that was left was the layer closest to her skin. The remnants of her molten armor were flung away by the billowing wind.

Clara doubled over in the air. Power surged through her in waves, making her gasp until it felt like she was breathing fire. Her armor had been channeling her power, and without it she began to fall. She tumbled downward. Wind swirled, turning into a cyclone around her that tore shingles off roofs and blew out windows. Out of the corner of Clara's vision, she could just make out the frantic movement of drones and supers. Hopefully, they were safe—

Because there was no way Clara could stop.

She was too far gone for containment foam, and she was miles from the magnetic field generator in the lab or the cooling waters of the bay. But Clara had never pushed herself this far. Even a plunge in the bay might not stop her.

Clara held out her hands to catch herself. The blast tilted her upright, then she pushed energy down through her body. If she were wearing an exosuit, the power would've come out of thrusters on her feet, her legs, and her back. But now her power felt nebulous. Instead of coming out of her body, it felt like she'd been engulfed by it.

And so stopping herself from falling felt less like engaging thrusters and more like aiming a firestorm.

Clara squinted and saw the ground still a healthy distance beneath her. The important thing was that she'd stopped falling. She was hovering in mid-air. And thankfully nothing below her had caught fire... yet.

Hovering under her own power should've been something to celebrate. But as victories went, it was the smallest one possible—just above not killing anyone.