Chapter 15

KROOM! Crackle!

Artificial clouds in the Skyworld crackled with lightning simulations. The fake rain poured down. It turned into a gentle drizzle by the time it reached the underworld. The purpose of this rain was not to give the people a sense of normalcy regarding weather, but to damage the electronics & infrastructure of the lower Middleworld and Underworld in order to harm the non-tax-paying wretches of the society and force them to work harder for insurance cover, funding pool of welfare schemes, and well, basically to work more for the King to sustain their lives.

The drizzle itself did nothing immediately, but it would react with the ever-present toxic smog, further boosting it, and turning to mild acid which corrode metal and plastic alike. It was a gift from the great King to the poor people.

Chss…

The debris sizzled and a few sparks burst here and there. The darkness of the night accentuated the bluish glow of laser guns, and red glow of a plasma sword.

Swoosh! Flap-flap-crunch!

Debric crunched under boots as Blade lashed out with his plasma sword.

Chyoom! Fzoom!

Lasers were fired at Blade who couldn't possibly dodge them, but he rotated his wrist deftly, swinging the plasma blade which blocked the lasers.

Solid plasma was an early experiment of weaponizing light. Light was frozen into a semi liquid state. It still moved, but more like a liquid, instead as photons. The heat it emitted was greater than any fire. Plated metals that attracted light were used to finally form the plasma swords that could cut metal like butter, and absorb all kinds of lasers, increasing their own power in turn.

Wielding the rare plasma sword, Blade proved to be a nemesis of these men. He hacked at the leader who was too startled at the failure of his superior weapon. In a combat, weapons played a crucial role, but it was the user's prowess that determined victory.

Shwak! Sprooft!

"GYAAHHHH!!" The leader screamed as Blade cut him down from shoulder to waist. His upper body split apart and fell to the ground. Blade went past him, spinning the red sword deftly.

"Kill him!" "Fire! Fire!" "AAHH!" Screams and firing resounded in the area. Blade killed off 5 more men by the time the survivors realized they should keep distance from him, and fire lasers from all sides. Switching to this tactic, they were able to reduce their losses and injure the troublesome teenager soon.

"Urgh…" Blade limped as blood spurted out from his right calf where a hole had been caused by a laser. He was panting and unable to chase the foes any longer.

"A laser gun can shoot 10 minutes straight in continuous mode, and fire 400 rounds otherwise." One of the men said to Blade. "How long can you swing that sword of yours to avoid death?"

"…" Blade took steps towards that man, who faltered at his determination.

"Hmph, your wish!" The man took aim and fired.

Fzooom….!

A continuous burst of blue laser assaulted Blade who parried it on his plasma sword.

Pew! Pew! Fzoom!

The man switched to normal mode, changing angle of the shots; consequently, prompting Blade to swing his wrist to parry them all. Then another burst.

Pew!

Another laser from the back blew a hole in Blade's knee, making him kneel gown and scream. The men paused, gloating the teenager's misery. They came out of their hiding as well, confident of their victory.

"Hehehe! It's over now, kid."

"We'll take the hex chips from your corpse."

"Shall we take him to our base instead? Torture him for fun."

Pew! BOOM!

One of the men's heads burst like a watermelon. The next moment, several more lasers were shot at the bewildered men; killing them all before they could spot the expert marksman.

Blade turned to look at the hazy silhouette of a man he recognized from his attire. His vision had gotten bleary due to the blood-loss, but he could tell who this person was.

The Detective.

"Sorry for your loss, kid. I'm unhappy to be correct. But I hope you'll take my offer now." Detective said, offering him his hand. Blade wanted to cut this hand off in anger, but he realized that the superhero had been right all along. He could not escape Saffronshire. The Underworld had already devoured his loved ones for its greed. Now all he had left was revenge, that he couldn't take all by himself.

Blade clasped Detective's hand before losing consciousness.

***

Divya assembled a gadget from parts of the machines available around her. It was an abstract amalgamation of wires, chips, tubes, hydraulics, and electric circuitry.

BAM! The door swung open and a team of armed men barged in.

"Stop what you're doing girl!" They shouted. Divya flicked on a small lever and held up her hands in surrender. The men surrounded her, aiming their laser guns.

"How dare you mess up our equipment! Even the skin off your breasts cannot make up for its cost!"

Divya licked her parched lips and waited impatiently. Before the men reached her, the machine she had made began to vibrate. The vibration spread out to the whole floor, the walls, the roof, and everything began to shake.

"What the-"

***

WHEEP! WHEEP! WHEEEP!

A siren rang repeatedly in the base. Divya ran through corridors, feeling her heart leaping to her mouth. The vibrations had spread across the entire building by now, and were only going to get stronger. Divya had invented a 'quake machine', taking inspiration from anti-earthquake flooring designs of bygone era she had chanced upon in one of the scrap markets of the Underworld. Incomplete designs that fascinated her once; she had studied them enough over time to grasp the science behind it.

"There she is!" "Get her!"

A few armed men spotted her and rushed forward. Divya turned at her heel and ran, entering a room on the side. At this point she knew that she was likely to get caught and buried in the rubble because she knew no way out, and there were too many people in this organization.

BAM!

The door was kicked open before Divya could figure out an escape. Several armed men barged in and rushed at her. She screamed and resisted as they grabbed her like an animal.

***

"Pink Slag is made by a process of fermentation when 1 ounce of Eronium is placed in water for 85 hours and exposed to UV rays intermittently. Pink Slag absorbs a certain amount of Eronium & hence exhibits similar property, although weaker."

Eronium's power is used in a very controlled manner when soldered onto the chips that emit UV light onto it. The program controls the UV's wavelength in order to have the desired effect on the target host. Such is the basis of hex chips."

"Now as for the Pink Slag; a crude liquid form with similar properties as that of hex chips, is still in quite a demand in the Underworld. It is bought off from the government agencies by unorthodox organizations such as ourselves, though very secretly." Nubia explained calmly while seated on a chair. In front of her was Divya, stripped naked and tied with ropes to a pillar. About a dozen men were standing by.

Splash!

A bucket full of Pink Slag was splashed on Divya's body. The men chuckled as the girl trembled and writhed uncontrollably, moaning and groaning. Her skin turned red and her breathing escalated. Pink Slag caused itching in the beginning; and then as it seeped inside the pores, it turned her on.

"Ahnn…ahnnn!" Divya moaned, unable to resist the rising lust. She rubbed her thighs together while her vagina secreted fluids. The men laughed while dropping their pants or unzipping them and pulling out their cocks. Divya eyed them hungrily and hatefully. She felt a strong desire to have sex, and she understood that it was unfair. She was going to be raped.

"Wait!" Harry shouted as he barged into the room. Divya looked at him in surprise. The usually carelessly-clothed orphan punk was now wearing tights, boots, wrist cuff and a visor. A pistol hung by his waist and a laser rifle slung on his back. His blue hairs had been trimmed short. He looked at his sister rather guiltily before facing Nubia. "Hasn't Divya proven her potential with that quake machine? She will be a useful member of our organization. You should foster her and train her like me."

"She almost killed us all…" Nubia growled. "I'm certain her loyalty cannot be won, unlike yours."

"…."

"Fuck her." Nubia gave the command. The men lunged at the naked girl who kept her gaze locked with her brother's who watched on silently as she was raped.

***

Blade awoke in an unfamiliar clean room. Cleaner than any he had ever seen. Maple colored walls were decorated with paintings and framed photographs. The white curtains, dark brown antique wood furniture, patterned fibrous carpets and smell of sandalwood essence made Blade feel like he was in another world of some bygone era.

"The King had the last tree on the planet chopped off to have a large shoe rack made for himself." A woman spoke from somewhere. "He had zero regards for nature. The scientists could have reverse-engineered the wood, to create more tree. But no. The shoe-rack was more important than the last hope of nature's revival, and was off-limit for the scientists."

A woman in her late 30s emerged from behind the curtains separating the room from a lobby. She was carrying a tray with a glass of milk and some medicine. Blade eyed her curiously. She had thick orange hair tied in a top knot. Her body was lithe with decently big breasts and big plump hips. She wore a striped tank top that revealed an indecent amount of cleavage, including a large portion of her brown areolas. Her shorts clung to her hips, fully revealing their shape. She smirked as she noticed Blade staring at her, and shook her breasts tantalizingly as she put down the tray near the bed. This was a shameless sultry woman.

"Young boys are the most honest with their feelings. How adorable." She grinned, sitting right next to him. Blade stared directly at her brown areolas which were peeking out. The woman pulled at her tank top, revealing her left nipple fully and snickered. "Like it?" Blade's jaw dropped at her boldness. The woman laughed, and kissed his cheek.

"You're so cute. Drink up this milk and the medicine. It has a detoxifying effect. All that smog in the Underworld has lightly poisoned you and everyone else without masks." The woman said, getting off the bed. She looked back, finding Blade staring at her big fat buttocks, and ruffled his hair. "I'm Fox. Detective's wife. You can stay here as long as you want. My husband will come around in a few hours to have a talk with you."

"…" Blade felt himself leaning towards the big plump ass. Fox giggled and bumped his cheek with her butt before walking away. She didn't forget to swing her ass left to right with each step. Blade felt his dick throb in his pants, and breathed deeply to calm himself.

He consumed the milk & medicine & immediately felt better. He observed the room with a clear mind. Everything in it was classic or retro. Only someone with a great enthusiasm for the bygone era would bother to make such a collection of antiques. The modern replacement of all these things was ultra cheaper and more convenient; not that Blade had gotten to enjoy any of those things. He basically lived in a gutter and made-do with scrap gadgets. For him, this retro room was like paradise.

He walked around, observing everything curiously. His fingers traced the engravings on the wooden chairs; rubbed the textured fabric of the curtains. He found a book & opened it. The scent of old paper reached his nose and he inhaled it deeply. He glanced at the written matter but could not read it. It was in a language he hadn't known. He flicked the pages, feeling them brush against his fingertips & the rustling sound of the paper was almost musical. There hadn't been any real books since the past century. Everything was digital now.

"The King burned down the last library himself." Fox said, returning to the room with some food. "He said there was no need for old relics that served no purpose. Centuries of archived documents and books were turned to ash."

"Why are you telling me all this?" Blade asked curiously.

"You seem like the type who'd be interested. I see that you liked the book." Fox smiled.

"I can't read it."

"I can teach you. I know 2 old languages."

"…What is this book about?"

"It's a story titled 'Milf Princess', written by a wretched author. It's an interesting tale." Fox grinned.

"The title makes me doubt that." Blade smirked. Fox chuckled. They were hitting it off well and could feel their vibe matching.

"You should take a bath after eating. Raymond's clothes will fit you just fine." Fox said.

"That's Detective's real name?" Blade caught on.

"Yeah. And mine's Amanda, but I prefer Fox."

"Superheroine Fox…" Blade remembered. "You were quite popular up until 5 years ago when you retired."

"Yes, you know, eh? I couldn't go on fighting Saffronshire. It's one thing to fight some criminals, it's another to fight the entire nation full of misguided wretches." Fox said, gazing into the distance. "But Raymond hasn't given up yet. He keeps fighting in my stead. I respect him for his determination."

"…I do not understand you superheroes. For me; fighting has always been for survival. Nothing beyond that. Now however…"

"Now?"

"Now I'll fight for revenge." Blade locked his gaze with Fox's.

"This is a conversation for Raymond." Fox said; sighing. "But tell you what… Revenge is an unending pit of flames. You'll burn up in it for nothing."

"You don't know what I've lost…"

"I know. I've lost people too."

Bzzt!

Blade's wrist cuff buzzed.

'Multiple thermal signatures detected.'

As if realizing the same, Fox looked alarmed. She rushed towards a table and pulled open a drawer while Blade growled- "where is my sword?"

"Here!" Fox tossed the plasma sword grip towards him and resumed fishing in the drawers. Blade click-started the plasma sword while Fox pulled out a laser handgun. At once, Blade glanced at it.

"Were you expecting us to keep classic gunpowder weapons too? We don't take our obsession too far." Fox smirked.

"Irregular radiations detected. Unable to process." The notification distracted Blade.

"Get down!" Fox jumped on him, and they both collapsed on the floor before a thick laser beam went through the room, cutting it from the middle, melting everything in its path. Fox rolled under the bed with Blade.

"What was that?!" Blade exclaimed.

"A-grade laser canon. Only SSS possesses it." Fox whispered. "We are in grave danger!"