CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED FORTY-ONE

Prison Break, Part 2

Sam glanced briefly back at the doors behind them and belatedly noticed its state-of-the-art security system; kinetic barriers, DNA scanners, gift suppression glyphs, magical shielding, and voice verification software.

“Can’t they just climb the walls?” he asked worriedly. “The lava might get some of them but I bet more than a few of these guys can fly… Styx.”

It wasn’t like he wanted to fight a hundred powered prisoners, but letting even one of these hardened criminals escape the prison would be the worst-case scenario. Sam’s conscience couldn’t allow that.

Thunder shook her head. “The power might be out but the magical enchantment around the prison still seems to be working… and it’ll take a lot to break an Aegis Barrier.”

Sam hadn’t noticed it before Thunder pointed them out, but now he could see the tell-tale signs of a magical barrier—these ghostly lines of golden sparks spreading around the platform like a dome—that were already beginning to stitch itself back together from a hole that Sam assumed had been created by the red pillar they’d witnessed while on the aircraft.

“That’s how we slipped into the prison?” Sam guessed.

“Yes. I used the hole that red pillar made to break us into the Crucible,” Thunder admitted.

“If the only way out of an ‘Aegis Barrier’ is through the entrance”—Sam’s brow creased—“then what in Hades was powerful enough to break out of one…?”

“That’s tomorrow’s problem.” Thunder cocked her arm and summoned a jagged bolt of lightning to appear in her right hand. “We’ve got enough on our plate to worry about right now.”

The second wave of villains charged at Sam and Thunder while the two heroes did their best not to get overwhelmed by the alarming number of energy blasts, sharp objects, and mental attacks that were thrown at them. It was a war of attrition; one Sam and Thunder would eventually lose despite the number of unconscious prisoners they dropped over and over. Infamous names like Gorgon’s Son, Madam Pain, and Bad Apple fell to the combined might of a level forty Herculean and a revitalized Thunder, who, now that she was completely healed from the Blight, was showing off just how much of a badass she was.

To Sam, it looked like Thunder was even enjoying herself. The excited expression that flashed on her sweat-streaked face kind of gave that away. And, despite them getting surrounded over and over again like characters in a tower defense game, Thunder was fearless in her defiance and imaginative in her use of her gifts. She hurled lightning bolts at foes out of the reach of her Lash while deftly keeping the melee fighters at bay with a combination of her Lightning Raiment and timely dodges. She waded around villains like a ballerina on a stage, keeping their aggro glued to her so effectively that many of those who faced Thunder had forgotten about the titanium double doors that Sam was forced to defend alone.

If she’d accepted Odin’s offer to relocate to California and join the Asgardian pantheon, Thunder would have made an excellent Valkyrie… She certainly looks the part, Chiron chuckled. Instead, she chose to stick to Olympus and believe in your promise… And yeah, sure, you healed her, but godsdamn, kid, this sorry display you’re showing right now tells me I’m going to have to up your training regimen… Sheesh.

Sam had heard from Thunder that she’d gotten a lot of sponsorship offers after she’d been inflicted with the Blight. Even ones from other pantheons. Promises of healing her came with a lot of strings attached to them though. It’s why she eventually decided to decline the offers, choosing instead to believe in the failed healer who promised he’d become strong enough to cure her of the same ancient disease that had consumed the life of the world’s first hero. Sam didn’t know until Chiron’s slip of the tongue that she’d seriously considered a move to California though. It upset him slightly, something he guessed was Chiron’s intention.

“It’s seriously—”

Sam ducked away from the swipe of a ‘Spiritual Weapon’ shaped to look like a giant baseball bat. The villain who’d swung it at him was a pretty famous one too. He was called Slugger, a former SMLB star who’d gotten violent after he’d struck out one too many times. It was later revealed that overusing Gifted Growth Hormone—a designer drug that temporarily boosted one’s gift—had permanently unhinged Slugger’s mind, turning him into the murderous villain he was now.

“—not the time—”

Sam parried Slugger’s ghostly baseball bat with Onus’ cylindrical head.

“—to distract me!”

Sam then drove his hammer down on Slugger’s chest, knocking the villain into the ground so hard that the obsidian floor cracked against his back.

Lesson number fifty-two, kid; Distraction comes in any form and in every direction. The task isn’t to ignore them, but to ensure they affect you as little as possible. Or, if you’re capable enough, somehow use these little annoyances to fuel your growth, Chiron instructed.

Sam’s only response was to pummel another villain who’d tried to run past him to get to the doors.

“Do you really think now is the right time for a new lesson?” Sam reasoned.

Are you kidding me? Chiron scoffed. Now is the perfect time for training. When else will you get the chance to be surrounded by dozens of villains who are all trying to kill you?

Sam sighed. “You’re enjoying this… aren’t you?”

Honestly, kid, watching you triumph over insurmountable odds over and over again has become my guilty pleasure, Chiron admitted in his usual teasing fashion. You’re Asclepius’ Anatomy, Game of Gods, and The Walking Undead all rolled into one mortal package.

“Glad—”

Sam dodged the Constrictor’s right limb as it whipped toward him. Yes, the villains they’d put down earlier were already beginning to get back up for round two.

“—you’re so—”

He ducked underneath the Constrictor’s left limb with a forward roll that sent him rising back to his feet at exactly the point where he could clock the annoying villain in the jaw with his hammer.

“—entertained!” Sam grumbled.

Don’t get mad, lame-brain. I’m complimenting you here, Chiron teased some more. Oi, you missed one!

While Sam was dealing with the Constrictor, Barbelle had slipped past him and was now face to face with the exit’s titanium double doors.

Didn’t I just tell you not to get distracted? Chiron chided.

“Says the guy”—Sam ran back toward the exit—“who keeps trying to distract me!”

Barbelle swung her fist against the doors, but the enchantment placed on them repelled and then dispersed the kinetic energy created by the impact of her attack. This gave Sam enough time to reach her, which was when he realized he’d made a terrible mistake.

The bronze of Barbelle’s cheeks was marred with black spots. They helped to amplify the look of absolute horror on her face. “Help… me…” she begged.

Sam noticed that these strange bruises had also cropped up around her neck as well as the exposed flesh of her arms.

“Help… me…” she repeated.

Barbelle’s fists jerked backward like a doll whose strings had just been pulled. The rest of her body twitched like she wasn’t in full control of them too. She slammed her fists against the doors again like she didn’t care that her attacks were instantly repelled. Barbelle repeated this move twice more despite Sam’s attempts to stop her. As if the act of attacking mattered more than actually breaking down those sturdy titanium doors.

“Oh, gods,” Sam gasped. “I know what’s happening…”

A few years ago, there had been a slew of serial killings in lower Manhattan that had confounded the NYPD, FBI, and Wardens because none of the murders seemed to share any relation apart from their shared brutality. Particularly because there wasn’t much left of the victims to explain how they’d died. The well-known billionaire philanthropist responsible for the murders might have gotten away with his wickedness too if Crow-Man and his sidekick hadn’t caught him in the act. That villain gave himself the name Mr. Crimson because of his gift; the parasites in the villain’s saliva traveled through his victims’ bloodstreams and turned them into his temporary puppets who he would later force into violent deaths by exploding the parasites stored inside of them using the very energy they’d leeched off these victims.

It would be later known that these infected victims were marked by the same dark bruises Sam now saw on Barbelle’s skin. And, now that he knew what to look for, Sam caught the bite mark on Barbelle’s neck. Blood was leaking out of it, leading him to believe he’d guessed right. Chiron would confirm his suspicions a second later when he screamed for Sam to back away.

It’s too late, kid. Barbelle’s reached her limit! Chiron warned. Get out of there!

Chiron’s warning was spot on. Cracks had already begun to form around the bruises on Barbelle’s bronze skin. A strange reddish glow leaked out of these cracks which Sam assumed were the telltale signs of an imminent kinetic explosion.

“Not like this!” Barbelle shook her head over and over. “Not like this…”

Sam wasn’t sure if Barbelle exploding would be enough to destroy the titanium doors, but he couldn’t just run away and hope for the best.

“Gods, please let this work,” he pleaded.

With a warning for Thunder to get away from the blast radius, and with a second cry of, “Herculean!” Sam raised his foot high and then stomped at the ground with quintuple strength. The already weakened platform broke beneath his feet, plunging Sam, Thunder, and the other villains down to the next sub-level just in time for Barbelle’s body to explode.