Page 63 of Villainous Rise

“Where do you think you’re going?” they called out.

The villain’s hands glowed orange, energy building for an attack aimed directly at her.

Something dark and terrifying roared to life inside me. I moved faster than I should have, faster than my suit could explain, slamming into the villain and sending them crashing through three tables.

“Stay down!” I shouted to Annie, my voice tight with barely controlled rage.

She dropped to the floor just as Technomancer unleashed those energy whips in her direction. I watched her throw her arms up and something inside me fucking snapped.

I launched myself into the air, flying directly into the path of those crackling blue whips. They wrapped around my torso, electricity arcing across my suit. The pain barely registered, a distant sensation overwhelmed by the cold fury crystallizing in my chest.

Technomancer’s helmet tilted in confusion. I shouldn’t still be conscious, let alone hovering there like their attack was nothing more than a mild inconvenience.

I grabbed the energy whips with my bare hands and yanked hard.

Technomancer stumbled forward, clearly shocked by my strength, and dismissed the whips to get them out of my grip.

I felt a deadly calm settle over me. The same feeling I’d had the night I hunted down every last one of Baron Ash’s associates.

“You made a mistake,” I said, stalking toward them. “A very serious mistake.”

Technomancer laughed, energy whips crackling as they reappeared. “What, touching your little date? Didn’t realize you were so⁠—“

I moved at full speed, no longer caring about maintaining my cover. One moment I was standing ten feet away, the next I had them by the throat, lifting them off the ground with one hand. Their energy whips dissipated as they clawed desperately at my grip.

“Cipher, don’t,” Overload shouted.

I silenced them with a pulse of energy from my palm, sending them crashing through a support column. They tried to rise from the rubble but collapsed back down with a groan.

I gripped Technomancer’s neck harder, fingers closing around their throat. A quick twist and the sound of vertebrae separating echoed in my ears. Their body went limp, dead before they could process what happened.

As I stalked toward Overload, they struggled to stand, orange energy flickering weakly around their hands.

My fist punched through their chest plate, enhanced strength making the reinforced material yield like paper. I felt the resistance of flesh, then bone, then the soft give of a vital organ. Their energy signature flickered, then died.

Thirty-two seconds. That’s all it took to eliminate two threats to Annie.

I let Overload’s body drop to the floor with a dull thud. The sound echoed through the now-silent restaurant, punctuated only by the occasional crackle of broken electronics and the soft whimpers of terrified patrons.

Movement caught my eye. A man in the far corner, still seated but tensed. Blackout. Ranked twelfth in the League standings.

A woman behind him pressed against his back, her eyes wide with fear. His wife. Civilian. No powers.

Blackout slowly raised his hands, palms forward. A clear signal. He wasn’t looking for trouble.

I gave him a single, curt nod. Message received. He wasn’t on my kill list tonight.

I turned away and found Annie standing in the center of the destruction, eerily calm amidst the chaos. Tables splintered around her, glass glittering across the floor.

She didn’t move, just watched me with those beautiful eyes.

I stepped toward her, glass crunching beneath my boots. The restaurant’s emergency lighting backlit her, highlighting the curve of her cheek, the soft line of her throat. She was so goddamn beautiful it hurt to look at her.

“Are you hurt?” I asked.

“No.”

Relief washed through me, but I wasn’t taking chances. Not with her. Not again.