Pain flooded through my body as it felt like every nerve in my body was on fire. The bones in my arms were shattered and were barely piecing themselves together, tearing the muscles in my arms as the bone shards ripped away from them in an attempt to reform. A strong copper taste filled my mouth as I quickly spit out the mouthful of blood. I quickly spat out the blood at the wall beside me as several bloody molars pierced the concrete wall.

I slowly tried to stand up but a sickening CRACK from my right knee said otherwise as the sound reverbarated around the room. With a quick glance with my x-ray vision I saw the bones on my right knee were completely shattered and were barely starting to piece themselves back together. I laid there for a second as I took a long deep breath as my ribs had finally healed so I could breath without coughing up blood. I glance around the area around me but was kinda hard to get details especially when everything was painted red by the blood felling my eyes.

I then looked at the entrance that I created as the wind howled outside and the rain pelted the ground making a noise similar to gunfire. It wouldn't be long until she gets here, probably making sure that multi eyed prick is still breathing. So I had a couple more seconds before I would be forced to get back to fighting for my life.

I’m starting to regret helping those two dumbasses with their problems just a bit. It has really just been one thing after another well what did I expect that’s been my life so far. I have nearly died so many times in this past month, what's a few more? But this time it really does seem like I’ll be buried in this stadium huh wouldn’t that be a interesting place to have a grave in.

There was a large crash sending dust and rain across the room, Welp it’s been fun. I shakingly stood to my feet as my body screamed at me to just stay down and give up but sadly I’m too stubborn for that. She slowly walked through the dust dragging her hammer behind her causing sparks across the ground as her copper colored gauntlets gripped the hammer with enough force to break anything else.

Her eyes were glossed over like empty mirrors and they had no pupils, just bright blue irises kinda reminded me of the commander. She was covered in blood, some mine, some hers but unlike me her healing had a higher limit.

She slowly lifted up her hammer holding over her shoulder as The lighting struck behind her lighting her up. I slowly lifted up my arms caked in blood as I felt my body become more dense as my boat stop constantly shaking. I felt my arms turn to steel as I clench my fists once again, that’s more like it. Lighting started to spark off her hammer as with a burst of air she rushed towards me again. ok Mary Let’s try this one last time, we are so fucking dead.

SEVERAL DAYS AGO

I leaned in my seat as I watched in curiosity and in slight horror at the scene that unfolded in front of me. Leo and Mia aka Spandex and Hazmat sat in front of me, they quickly told me their names after I agreed to help them. After a bit I decided to take them to a diner I went to whenever I needed a quiet place to think and get some good food.

While Mia only ordered a soda since it's the only thing she could get through her mask while Leo was a whole nother story. I swear he got one of everything and was already on his eighth plate as he shelved more food down his gullet. For someone so skinny he eats enough to feed three people, maybe he’s like one of those coal powered trains and needs constant fuel. “You gonna finish that?” Leo said as she stared at my burger as I shook my head suddenly no longer hungry as he grabbed it and ate it in two bites, both me and Mia were truly disturbed. “What?” Leo asked us as me and Mia said nothing as I simply just passed him some napkins to clean the mess he made.

“Ok now that I have had my appetite ruined, what exactly is the plan here?” Mia questioned.

“Yeah, got any ideas on how to help Us” Leo said as he finally wiped his face clean.

“Well for one I need all the information you got on this group” Leo stared at Mia as she sighed.

“Well I already knew some stuff about them”.

“Why?” Leo asked with a bit of worry in his voice.

“I like researching the history of different evolved heroes and villains included” She crossed her arms.

“Now the group is called the underground and they are mostly made up of evolved specificity mutants or ones with more lethal powers”

“Like you” Leo said as Mia just froze.

“Sorry”

“Anyways, as I was saying, the underground mostly take in evolved and the reason is pretty simple. Their leader thinks that evolved are superior to humans” Oh that's an original concept.

“Oh that's an original concept” Leo repeated what I was thinking.

“Well yeah they probably take in evolved that have been wrong by human society for either their appearance or power so they don’t question any orders there given, you know?” Me and Leo nodded.

“But when I was digging into their history I found they originally came from Lazarus city the same city that Forge, the daughters of Salam and the Carnival” Me and Leo nodded as I didn’t know any of those people and most likely Leo didn’t know either.

“Ok what does this have to do with stopping these guys from killing our loved ones if we don’t do what they say?” He has a point.

“ok for one I’m getting to that and for two I haven’t been able to talk to anyone about this stuff”.

“Oh so you're a lonely nerd gotcha” I stared at Leo, He’s probably not wrong.

“Ok fuck you but as I was saying the underground was one of the four big gangs in Lazarus actually it was one of the only gangs in Lazarus. Each one had there own gimmick, Forge with their tech, The daughters of Salam with their quote on quote magic, the carnival with all the evolved with strong powers they had and that weird pocket dimension tent thing but you wanna know what the underground had?” She went silent for nearly a minute.

“Just say it”

“Fine, they were pretty much everywhere. There was at least a couple members in every city so if you pissed them off you couldn’t really escape them and their leader at the time had contacts with so many people that the group didn’t need to worry about resources”

“So were fuck”

“Don’t interrupt me, So there they pretty stacked but eventually when the gangs finally decided they were done sharing the city there was one last fight between all the gangs there was loses on all sides but from what I was able to dig up the underground took it the hardest loosest there leader and most of their members and were forced out of Lazarus by the vanguard who stationed there for a couple years” Huh I did here mom mentioned that one dinner night.

“So along with all the other gangs The underground left Lazarus and went one to the other nearby cities and they chose Steel Drake and hid there until eventually they got a new leader and started making Moves again”

Leo raised a hand “ok what does that do for us?”

“Simple we just need get our families and us out of the city and were scott free since they don’t have the resources or contacts to follow us out of the city and with our friend here” she points at me “will have all the protection we need until we get out of this place”

“Well it’s better than anything I can think so let’s do it” Leo said as I could see some hope bloom in his eyes.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

“If it works it works” I give a thumbs up.

“Then let’s go already” Leo said as he hopped out of his seat and started walking to the exit.

“My family lives pretty close to this diner so let's get them first and if we need to we can split up” Mia said as she quickly followed after Leo.

Before I got up I realized something, neither of them left money for the bill. Of course what did I expect from these guys? Well I got a ton of money so I guess I can’t complain. I quickly throw some money on the table and follow the two idiots outside.

I didn't think I would be playing bodyguard today but like always I just gotta go with the punches, Or they will knock you out. As I got outside I already saw Mia trying to unlock her car. It was a black Volkswagen and she was messing around with a ring of keys while Leo was tapping his foot in impatience.

I walked over as a couple people bumped into me in the crowd as more and more people started coming down the sidewalk. The two seemed like they were about to argue again but I noticed something in the corner of my eye. There was someone in a heavy buttoned up trench coat and a full face black Balaclava and a pair of sunglasses. They were pulling their arm back as they wore a pair of fingerless gloves as four out of their five fingers were glowing a pitch black as I realized they were going for a punch.

I instantly ran towards Mia and Leo knocking several people away as I rushed through the crowd as I grabbed them both and I tried to run out of the area well, I definitely tried. BOOM!, I felt and heard the sound barrier break as I felt everything slow as I felt myself slowly leave the ground. The Volkswagen was hit by most of the shockwave ripping it to shreds but it still didn’t stop us from getting launched into the diner. I rushed through the air as I saw Leo screaming in slow motion as Mia slammed into him knocking them further back. The rest of the crowd was knocked into different directions as I quickly slammed into one of the diners windows shattering it.

My back was littered in cuts as the glass shredded my back and I quickly slammed into the ground pushing the shard deeper into my back as I slid against the ground. Of course someone was watching them . . . welp time to get work.

I sat up as I saw the once lively diner was now destroyed, tables destroyed or knocked over the entrance was a lot larger as glass and debris littered the ground. I sat up as I felt blood ooze from my pack painting the ground red. I felt the glass slowly dislodged from my back as I felt the cuts slowly knitting themselves together, more scars I’m gonna have to explain to mom and dad, hey ladies love the scars.

When I fully stood up I could hear groaning behind me as I could see Leo and Mia were laying on top of each other in the kitchen still dazed. I heard glass shatter as the man from the trench coat was walking through the exit whistling. I sighed as I summoned my hoodie, plated mask and kinetic gauntlets onto myself as I pulled up my hood covering my face, better to keep my secret identity well secret.

The figure stared at me as they slowly took off their tech coat and threw it to the side. Underneath they were wearing a short sleeved camo shirt and a pair of baggy camo pants and a pair of climbing boots with spikes on the souls and elbow and knee pads along with a bullet proof vest. They had a belt that had a knife, a pistol and a tomahawk holstered in it, tomahawk huh that's a first. They quickly took off their black Balaclava and sun glasses as they had black eyes with orange irises, no pupils. They also had brown hair with orange streaks and their most distinctive feature was they had no lips showing their pearly whites to the rest of the world. They stood only three inches shorter than me and were very muscular, a sign of years of physical training.

“Well well well ain’t today's my lucky day?”

“Well that's a matter of perspective since I think it's definitely the opposite” I started walking forward as I turned on the kinetic gauntlets painting me in a purple hue.

“Heh I like you hope you put up a good fight if you do good enough I’ll just knock you out and drag you to the boss with the other two”

“So before we start this, why exactly did you attack us?”

“Oh that's a pretty simple answer and I got a pretty simple reply” he pulled out his tomahawk.

“And that is?” I gripped my fists.

“I just don’t like you guys” he pulled his arm back as one of his fingers glowed black and he launched the tomahawk at me, well he’s definitely honest but definitely has a very basic personality I swear I fought this type of person before.

I quickly turned my head to the right dodging the weapon as well, what am I gonna call him? Hmm I guess dead hands seem to fit whatever his power is and he has no lips. As I finished my thought he was in front of me trying to land a haymaker the attack was very sluggish as I simply sidestepped him and kicked him to the ground. When he hit the ground he immediately rolled back on to his feet as his pointer fingers were both glowing black.

When he got in close again he went for several jabs each one moving just a bit quicker but still pretty slow as I weaved through each strike. As I was about to dodge another jab at the last second he changed the direction of the punch as he tried to hit me with a hook right for the jaw. Once again he was just too slow as I turned, lifted up my leg and went for a kick.

He immediately put his guard up but my instincts kicked in and I quickly turned my body to where my leg was higher in the air and slammed my ankle into the side of his neck, a Brazilian kick a classic. I held back a large chunk of my strength, I wanted to interrogate this guy after I beat his ass as the kick knocked him several feet to the right.

On instinct he held his neck as I ran forward and hit him three precise jabs hitting him in the solar plexus, jugular and his stomach at explosive speeds. As each strike landed he was knocked further back as I finished the barrage of strikes by grabbing the cuff of his shirt pulled him in close as I switched my grip as my grip just under his right arm near the armpit and used my arm to grab by the neck. I lifted him up while simultaneously turning as I spun around and used the momentum to slam him into the ground in one fluid motion. I learned that trick by watching what Sam did to those clones last night, it's a lot more sloppier than hers.

Death hand launched into the air and quickly landed on his feet as three out of his fingers on each hand were glowing pitch black now. “Your good but you're definitely lacking a lot of strength so ether your holding back or your not at your full capabilities my best guess it’s both” hammer on the fucking nail. He grinned as I took a deep breath and fired a blast of compressed air but instead of dodging he pulled back his arm and punched the air?

When his fist met the blast of air a black shockwave shot out and dispersed it as he was already going for another punch. I activated my kinetic shields and bashed away the blast as I ran forward turning my feet to steel as I leap towards him cracking the wood below me. He went for another punch but sadly for him I didn’t let that happen as I shot out a blast of frozen air at his arm stopping his momentum as I slammed my knee into his face painting my knee red as I felt his nose flattened.

When I dropped to the ground he was already throwing a punch with his other hand. I dodged once again but his punch was a lot quicker as I hit him in the jaw with a quick jab. I saw several teeth leave his mouth as I grabbed him by the head and pulled him into a headbutt breaking his nose even more. He slowly fell back as I sighed and I went to go get the two idiots but I heard a step and a crack.

I immediately turned around and saw death hands throwing another punch, this one much faster than before. He was going for my liver so I used my right arm to block but before I could turn on the kinetic shield four his fingers on his right hand turned black and his punch quadrupled in speed.

His fist slammed into my right arm as I felt a crack and I was launched several feet away. I rolled across the ground as I felt the bones in my right arm were definitely cracked. Great it wasn't like that arm was already damaged enough but at least I could tell it was healing. I tried to get up but death hands was already rushing to hit me again but was forced to jump to the side as a blast of energy and blast acid nearly hit him.

“You ok!?” I heard Leo say.

“I think it was a dumb idea to fight the guy who destroyed a car and launch all of us with a single punch by yourself” And there's Mia.

“Thanks for the save” I quickly stood up with the help of the two.

“No problem,” Leo said with a smile.

“We need you alive,” Mia said with a very tired voice.

“Well I need you two to stay back your both strong no doubt but your powers are kinda lethal and I need this guy alive”

“Aw but I wanna hel” Before Leo could finish Mia grabbed him by the mouth and dragged him back into the kitchen.

I took a deep breath as I quickly turned and slammed my first into the charging Death hands. I hit him right in the liver as I then hit him with a calf kick causing him to yell in pain. I then a roundhouse kick him into a wall near the exit as I ran forward and slammed fist over and over again into his gut. He tried to attack me but I quickly sprayed water into his eyes as I hit him with a heavy uppercut right in the chin knocking him out cold. I stood there as he slowly slid against the wall as I took a deep breath.

Lord he was annoying but it was finally over you jinxed it. I turned to see a cheering Leo and Mia cross her arms as I walked towards them holding my right arm. As I got closer to them I saw Leo's expression quickly change as expression went from joy to fear. I turned around and saw Death hands already going for a punch this time with his frozen arm as I could see all five of fingers were glowing Vanta black. Wait a minute I get it now, five finger death punch neat.

I quickly put my arms up activating the kinetic shields as his fist impacted slammed against me. It felt like my arms were about to snap as I felt the wind pressure shoot around the room punch through everything it hit as it tried to make a hole right through my arms. I turned my forearms to steel as I felt the kinetic gauntlets start to spark and then glow brighter than they ever did before as the cores exploded knocking both me and death hands back.

I slid across the ground as I could see the gauntlets were no longer shining and heavily damaged. I quickly sent them to my inventory as I saw Death hands reaching for his belt. I grit my teeth as I felt my feet turn to steel as I blurred towards him in the blink of an eye. I grabbed his belt and sent it to my inventory as he grabbed nothing but air. I felt the strain on my legs as death hands went for a punch but I stepped forward making him miss as I grabbed him by his arm and yanked with all my might. I heard a pop as I felt his arm dislocate but I heard a tear next as blood sprayed across the ground now reamed to death hand, huh forgot my kinetic gauntlets were destroyed my bad.

“What the fuck!” Leo said as he ran next to me.

“He’s not dead”

“You still ripped his fucking arm off!” Mia replied as I quickly took a deep breath and froze both the stump where his arm used to be and the end of that said arm.

“See now he won’t bleed out and at a hospital they can reattach his arm, happy?”

“no/yes” Leo and Mia said as they both stared at each other.

“Now lets get the fuck out of here before the police arrive” and as soon as I said that I heard sirens

“Fuck” we all said in unison, speak of the devil and he shall come.

I saw several police cars park in front of the place as Leo in a panic grabbed Death Hands balaclava and put it on even though he was the only one in full civilian clothing, guess his mother dropped him when she first saw him. Police officers quickly filled the room, each one wearing plated armor with the police symbol on front and what looked like a modified swat helmet. Each one held what looked like a rifle but instead of a barrel it kinda looked like a tesla coil. Yeah ever since powers became a thing the police kinda got an upgrade forgot about that.

“Put your hands behind your back and get on the ground!” the one in front yelled, guess they think we caused it.

“Hey sure this all a big misunderstanding I’m actually a her”

“Wait minute I think recognize the big guy” what

“Yeah he was the one that froze the road when he and his friends stole from a museum and beat a hero to a pulp” Leo and Mia slowly turned to me as all the police officers pointed their weapons at me. I sighed as I realized something, I think I just have really really bad luck, you're just now releasing that?.