CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-TWO

The Hand of Mercy, Part 1

ALERT! Herculean (Δ)] is active once more. Based on the level of difficulty of this current challenge, your Strength is temporarily quadrupled [424].

“Tag me in, Jackboot!” Sam yelled.

“You’re welcome”—Jackboot had just flipped over the Nemean Lion’s head to avoid its jaws chomping down on his torso—“to it!”

He gave the great beast a final, belligerent heel kick on the spot between its eyes before he jumped out of the way for Sam.

“All yours, Herculean!” Jackboot yelled back.

With a hard, asphalt-cracking stomp on the ground, Sam was propelled forward like a speeding bullet. In the milliseconds before he bridged the distance between himself and the Nemean Lion, he recalled one of the wisest things Chiron had ever told him.

When challenging an opponent far more powerful than you, a single chance or two may be all you’ll get… but these kinds of odds are what will make your actions truly shine.

It made Sam almost cringe to think that he’d probably already used up more than a few chances against this particular opponent, but he still hadn’t defeated Apex. He realized that this next clash might be his last chance to do so.

Grit your teeth and unleash all the resolve hiding in your heart…

Sam grasped Onus with both hands.

ALERT! Wielding [Onus, the Load Bearer] provides you with the following temporary bonuses based on your current burden’s value: Strength +12 and Will +4.

…go beyond even the extraordinary…

The Nemean Lion had been so annoyed with Jackboot that it was already mid-leap with its paws stretching out toward Jackboot’s retreating figure. It failed to notice Sam rushing toward it. At least not until it was too late.

…and become… Sam swung his hammer forward just as the Nemean Lion’s head snapped in his direction. “Super~~r!”

There was a sound akin to a thunderclap as the hammer collided with the monster’s face and caused a crack in the magic that brought the beast to life. This forced Apex’s pained face to appear briefly within the folds of the failing enchantment. In that brief moment, Sam thought he saw more than just pain in Apex’s visage. There seemed to be a bit of fear mixed in his expression. Almost as if Apex, the dastardly villain who’d committed such unpardonable atrocities, had looked to Sam for…

For what? Sam second-guessed himself while he was flung back by the shockwave of his own attack. Apex couldn’t have been asking me for… help, could he?

Sam landed on his feet only a short distance away, allowing him to quickly go back on the offensive.

No freaking way… He leaped back into the fray with his hammer cocked and ready to swing. …Apex would never ask for help… but…

This time, the Nemean Lion was prepared for Sam’s approach. It took a swipe in his direction, but he conjured a floating teal-tinged wall underneath his feet that helped him vault over the monster’s claws. And, despite his conflicted thoughts, Sam still sent Onus smashing down on the Nemean Lion’s head.

Once again, a vision of Apex appeared underneath the Nemean Lion’s shaky form—and that’s when Sam’s doubts evaporated. The fear plastered on the villain’s face was undeniable. Although Sam still couldn’t understand why.

After everything he’s done and everyone he’s hurt—while the monster was preoccupied with keeping its form from breaking, Sam slid underneath it and rolled to the other side of the Nemean Lion—he doesn’t get to ask for help now!

However, as Sam smashed his hammer against the Nemean Lion’s left flank—with the monster’s form flickering so much that Sam could see Apex was in pain inside of it—he realized that he was wrong not to help.

“Lesson number fifteen… We don’t get to choose who we save. If someone needs help, whether they’re good or bad, it’s a hero’s job to provide them aid,” Sam whispered. “Even if they’re murderous bastards who’ve been hunting me for days.”

The only thing Sam could think of that might help the villain was to pull Apex out of the enchantment he’d placed on himself. Luckily for Sam, he didn’t need to do this alone.

“What’s with that worried look on your face?” Thunder asked as she appeared on Sam’s left side. Dr. Hearthstone popped up on Sam’s right side and added, “Looks like we’ve arrived just in time for the final round.”

Sam glanced left and then right—noticing the determined expressions on their sweat-covered faces—and his spirits were immediately lifted.

“What took you so long?” he asked. “Did you stop for drive-thru or something?”

Thunder raised an eyebrow at him. “Did you just steal my line?”

Sam grinned at her.

A mighty roar snapped his focus back on the Nemean Lion. With its enchantment back in place, the great beast launched itself at Sam and his friends but it was soundly driven back by the well-timed barrage of flares that struck it in its side.

“This feels nostalgic, doesn’t it?” Dr. Hearthstone flexed his arms, causing the bulging veins on his muscles to light up like rivers of magma across his flesh. “The three of us fighting another alpha-level threat.”

There was a sound of steel clanging on steel, and they all looked up to discover that Jackboot was crouching over the railing directly above them.

“Four, you mean,” Jackboot cut in. “Well, are we going to stand here posing all day… or do you lot want to get this villain done and over with.”

“I am getting tired of running away from him,” Thunder admitted.

Dr. Hearthstone cracked his knuckles. “This is as good a place as any for a proper showdown.”

“Guys…” Sam sighed. “I think there’s more to this than just beating Apex up. I think we need to save him too.”

Sam could feel their gazes on him, but it’s not like he could explain what he’d seen or how he felt when he glimpsed his enemy’s expression. None of it would have made sense. All Sam could do was repeat the words of lesson number fifteen to his friends. Luckily, Thunder, who was a former Argonaut trainee herself, understood. No, it wasn’t just her. They all did. Even the teenage seer speaking over the walkie-talkie in Jackboot’s hand.

“So, what’s the new plan, Herculean?” Farsight’s voice was clear enough despite the static of the transmission. “Styx, hold on.”

The Argo VII unleashed another barrage of flares that kept the Nemean Lion sufficiently distracted for Sam to explain his idea to his friends.

“Have you guys noticed how his form flickers when he’s hit?” Sam asked.

Thunder and Dr. Hearthstone had been too busy evacuating civilians to notice, but both Jackboot and Farsight told Sam they’d witnessed this strange phenomenon for themselves.

“You don’t think he can get out of it on his own?” Farsight asked through the radio.

“No…” Sam’s mind drifted back to a recent memory where another villain—the Trickster—had been trapped by a prison of his own making which Sam had also pulled him out of. “We’ll have to yank him out of that enchantment.”

“Then we’ll need to disrupt the form long enough for one of us to do it,” Thunder deduced.

Sam sighed. “It’s gotta be me.”

“Why?” Dr. Hearthstone asked. “We’re all perfectly capable of—”

Another explosion rocked the Golden Gate Bridge, forcing the Nemean Lion back from launching a preemptive attack on the gathered heroes.

“Okay, I’m out of ammo,” Farsight warned. “You guys better be ready.”

“He and I are connected… I can get through to him,” Sam explained, although he didn’t tell them exactly what this connection was about.

“Alright.” Thunder cocked her right arm, and a jagged bolt of crackling energy came to life in her hand. “We’ll open the way for you.”

Jackboot let out a loud sigh. “Things are never simple with you lot.”

“Here it comes!” Dr. Hearthstone warned.

Sam stepped forward. “Let's do this!”