Super Babes 2: A Superhero LitRPG Adventure Page 11

  Heavenly Hawk stood up next to her, fists clenched. "I'd say so. I'm quite certain that also means this is the home of the Night Watchman. I wouldn't say too many other billionaires would have bloody machine guns in their bedrooms."

  Paragon began to creep down the hallway again. When he came to the next pair of doors, he moved slower, tensing himself.

  He was right.

  The bedroom doors slid upwards, and two more metal barrels slid out. They were thinner, and this time they turned towards Paragon and spurted jets of flame.

  NEW MISSION: DESTROY FLAMETHROWERS

  REWARD: 500 XP

  Once again, Paragon wished he was immune to pain as well as invulnerable, because his Damage Resistance meant his skin didn't even blister, but he felt every degree of the fire gushing over him. He screamed as the twin infernos poured over him.

  Behind him, he heard the thump of Heavenly Hawk's wings, and a powerful wind blew down the hall. The hurricane winds that her wings threw forced the fire to curve back on itself. That gave him time to lunge out and grab the ends of the flamethrowers and rip them loose, causing fuel to spurt out of the feeding tubes and stop the flames.

  +500 XP

  +500 XP

  MISSION COMPLETE

  +500 XP

  As he dropped the shattered metal, Hawk lowered her wings, and they all took deep breaths. He looked down the hall to the door at the end of the hallway, and it seemed like they had barely gotten any closer.

  As smoke curled from the scorched floor and walls, Alley Cat snarled. "This is bullshit. We should try to go around it."

  Paragon shook his head and looked up at the door at the far end. He could see a small camera lens mounted above the door frame, watching them. "No. This means we're getting close. The Night Watchman has to be at the end of this hall."

  Heavenly Hawk smiled. "Quite so. I'd be disappointed if the Watchman didn't put up some sort of fight in his own home."

  Alley Cat growled. "But it's not like we're the League of Darkness, for fuck's sake. We're the good guys."

  "The last time he saw you, Cat, you were trying to kill him."

  "Good point. But he knows you, Hawk."

  "Well, I wouldn't presume to understand him."

  "If we get through this, superhero or not, I'm gonna have some words with this shithead."

  "We'll get through it." Paragon took a deep breath and glared at the last two sets of doors. "No matter what."

  He walked towards the doors and he wasn't surprised when they slid open. Instead of gun turrets this time, two rows of steel blades slid down and locked into place. The swords began to swipe through the hallway on metal arms, heading right for them.

  NEW MISSION: DESTROY SWORDS

  REWARD: 500 XP

  Paragon held out his arms and the blades just snapped against it, but Alley Cat flipped over onto the ceiling. She hung on by her claws as the swords whipped past her, then dropped down onto the arms holding them. With a shriek, her razor-sharp claws sliced the arms off and sent them clattering to the ground.

  Paragon charged to smash the rest of the blades with his fists, and left nothing but smoking metal.

  +500 XP

  +500 XP

  +500 XP

  +500 XP

  Alley Cat landed on her feet and flexed her fingers. "Well, that was fun. That was the last set o' doors, so we can--"

  "Nooo!"

  A scream came down the hall, and they all looked at the other end to see the maid from the front door rushing at them. At first, he thought she ran to stop them from opening the door. Then she leaped up to kick Heavenly Hawk in the back.

  NEW MISSION: DEFEAT THE MAID

  REWARD: 1000 XP

  As Hawk fell, the maid flipped over her to punch Paragon in the jaw. The punch didn't knock him back much or hurt, but surprised him so much that it gave the maid a chance to land, spin, and kick his feet out from under him.

  As he fell, he caught a glimpse of the maid flipping through the hallway, sending all of them flying. He hit the ground and pushed himself back up, but the maid grabbed his wrist and flipped him into the wall.

  The maid was like a pinball, bouncing from one to the other, punching, kicking, and flipping Hawk, Cat, and Paragon at once. He tried to swing a punch at her, and hit nothing but air while she hit him in the stomach with a well-placed kick. It was like trying to fight a tornado.

  The only one the maid couldn't hit was Electronica, and that's because she passed right through like a ghost. Electronica just stood staring at her for a moment, then reached out. A single bolt of lightning shot from her and hit the maid.

  The maid convulsed, gasped, and collapsed.

  +2000 XP

  MISSION COMPLETE

  +1000 XP

  As she lay on the floor, Alley Cat managed to ease herself to her feet. "Well, we just got our asses handed to us by a maid. Not too fucking embarrassing, right?"

  Heavenly Hawk rubbed her left arm with her right hand. "Well, in our defense, she's bloody good."

  Paragon headed for the door at the end of the hall. "Now I really need to know what's behind this door."

  He looked up at the camera mounted on the ceiling above the door. "Come on, Langley. Open the door. Or we're coming in after you."

  Silence met him.

  "Fine." Paragon took hold of the doorknob. He wasn't surprised that the knob didn't turn, so he just pushed.

  With his Strength level, he expected the door to just snap open. He was surprised to find himself pushing harder and harder until he had to use all his strength to even get it to budge. He grunted as the door began to move, but it just slid back an inch. He heard the groan of metal bending.

  As the door crept back, he could see that the inside of the frame was made of solid titanium instead of wood. The wooden door seemed to be reinforced with metal, too. As he pushed the door, it kept sinking back until he realized it was embedded in a foot of titanium, more like the door of a bank vault than an office. The metal hinges finally snapped, and he was able to move the door back all the way, confirming it was made of two-foot thick metal.

  The door tumbled to the ground, revealing a small room on the other side. The walls were all made of polished metal, also reminding him of a bank vault but instead of money or safe deposit boxes, the vault held only one thing.

  Paragon stared up at the black armor of the Night Watchman. Stands held up the arms, and a circular ring held the helmet while the body stood on its own. He had seen the abandoned suit at the park, and Watchman's alternate suits at the Watchtower, but he felt an energy from this one like it would just jump up on its own. It felt alive.

  Alley Cat looked around the room. "That's it? Where the fuck is Langley?"

  "Langley." The maid sat up behind them. "That's really what you're here for?"

  "Yes." Hawk reached down to take the maid's hand and help her to her feet. "We don't want to hurt anyone, but we need to speak to him desperately."

  The maid rubbed her neck and limped into the room. "I suppose if you've come this far, you deserve to know the truth."

  She took the helmet down and tucked it under her arm. "If you want to know where Lance Langley is, follow me."

  She led them out of the room, down the hallway, and through the mansion. They passed room after room, all abandoned and covered in drop cloths. They finally reached a back door that opened onto a view of the back of the property.

  She stepped out into a wide lawn that was kept up better than anywhere else Paragon had seen at Lane Park. Green grass and bright flowers bloomed everywhere. It had been trimmed and grown to form a path that led to a guest house bigger than Ryan's whole apartment building.

  The maid walked across the grass but stopped before she came to the guest house.

  "He's right here." She pointed to a block of marble underneath some bushes, almost hidden in the grass.

  The marble block only had two dates carved on it.

  "Is that a gravestone?" Alley Cat blurted.


  The maid nodded.

  Heavenly Hawk took deep breaths. "Are-are you saying Lance Langley is dead?"

  The maid nodded again. "He's been dead for over twenty years."

  Hawk shook her head as she took a step back. "Tha-That's not possible. I know someone went to the Watchtower and accessed the computers after the attack on Kirby Park. The Night Watchman is still alive."

  "He is." She looked straight into Paragon's eyes. "I'm the Night Watchman."

  Chapter 13

  PARAGON STARED at the small woman standing before him, and slowly shook his head. "But - I mean, I thought - the Night Watchman is a guy."

  "Yeah," Alley Cat snapped, "I mean it's even in his name. Watchman. Man."

  The maid rolled the Night Watchman's helmet in her hands. "Well, the armor covers up a lot so you can't really tell."

  "But he's got a man's voice."

  The maid picked up the helmet and put it over her head. Her lips and chin showed just like he had always seen in pictures and video of the Watchman, and when she spoke, her voice had his deep and resonant tones. "It's a voice modifier. Even Lance used it."

  "So Lance was the Night Watchman?

  She pulled off the helmet and combed her fingers through her hair. "Yes, a long time ago."

  Alley Cat pointed a clawed finger. "If you're the Night Watchman, what happened between me and him on the roof of Eisner General?"

  The maid flashed a quiet smile. "We kissed, Alley Cat."

  Alley Cat gasped. "Holy shit, it is you. I thought you had soft lips."

  The maid headed back to the mansion. "Come inside. This will take some explaining."

  She led them to a drawing room with a view of the grounds. The sun was almost down, casting the room in shades of red as she pulled the drop cloths off chairs set in a circle and sat down.

  When the others sat down across from her, she set the helmet in her lap. "I'm Nora Langley, Lance Langley's daughter. To understand what happened, you have to go back to the beginning. From what my mother told me, Lance was born into a wealthy family in the 1920s but he wanted adventure and excitement. When the ATLAS implant was invented and Captain Alpha was announced in the 1940s, Lance loved it. He wanted to become a hero too, and spent a fortune on the first private ATLAS implant, but he didn't have the genes to activate it. My mother did."

  She pointed up at a painting on the wall of a handsome man and beautiful woman. "She was his maid. He implanted her, and she developed incredible mental ability. She could design and build whatever device he wanted. He used her genius to build a battlesuit and become the first Night Watchman. Lance and my mother grew closer and had a daughter, me. They discovered I had an aptitude for science and engineering, just like my mother. My father thought it might be a residual effect from her implants."

  "That's extraordinary," Heavenly Hawk whispered. "There's no precedent of ATLAS abilities being passed down to children."

  Nora shrugged. "Maybe it's the experimental nature of the implant. Or maybe it unlocked some natural ability. I don't know. But I seem to have a gift like my Mom had. Anyway, my father was so dedicated to the Night Watchman that he gave up the fiction of his playboy life to retire and focus on his mission. But he was getting older, slowing down, and made mistakes. When he was in his seventies, he was critically injured during a fight with the War Widow. He managed to come back here, and he died in my mother's arms. But she didn't want his legacy to die with him so she became the second Night Watchman. She saw the end coming for herself so she trained me, but she died ten years ago in the fight against the Iron Cross. That's when I took over as the third Night Watchman and heir to the Langley fortune."

  Alley Cat winced. "And you dress like a maid?"

  Nora sighed and put the helmet on a coffee table in front of her. "I still like to put on the maid outfit and go through the old routines. Reminds me of better times when the wax build up on the furniture was the worst of our problems. Plus, it helps if visitors come by."

  Heavenly Hawk smiled. "That's why you never let us see you without your armor. I thought you just didn't trust me."

  "No, I trust you with my life, Hawk. But I've been carrying this secret for my entire life. Old habits die hard. I was afraid you wouldn't accept me if you knew the truth."

  Paragon leaned forward. "And the big question is, why did you run away in Kirby Park? And why didn't you come back?"

  Nora took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before she spoke again. "I dreaded this moment. I really did. Um, you have to understand, I didn't go out much, even when my father was alive. My life was about training, especially when he died and my mother took over. She knew she would be dying one day and wanted me to be ready. When my mother died, it left me here by myself. That's okay, though. I'm kind of a loner."

  Alley Cat shrugged. "Nothing wrong with that."

  "But when the Fateful Five attacked, they hit me with an EMP that shut down my armor. I know what I should have done, which is get out and keep fighting, but I was scared. I've practiced for hours but never really fought anyone outside of the armor until today."

  Paragon rubbed his sore jaw. "Well, you did a great job."

  "Thank you." She winced. "Sorry about that. But I didn't know how well I would do against the Five. What if I failed? Not only would people discover I was a fraud, but I would tarnish my father's legacy. I also didn't know how everyone would react if they found out that I was a woman. I didn't know how Heavenly Hawk and Captain Alpha would react. I didn't know how the public would react. I was surrounded by people and I made the worst decision of my life. I ran away."

  Her eyes began to shimmer with tears. "I, um, took back alleys until I managed to find some clothes to change out of the undersuit. I made my way back to the Watchtower, tried to put on the backup suit, find a way to rescue Hawk and cure Captain Alpha, but the guilt and the shame just became too much. And the longer I waited, the worse it got. Finally, I just made my way back here. And I haven't left since."

  She focused on Heavenly Hawk as tears streamed down her face. "Before you say anything, I want you to know how truly sorry I am. I've been up most nights since then crying and thinking about what I did to you. I know that I failed you when you needed me most. And I know that I failed the team."

  She tumbled out of her chair onto her knees in front of Hawk. She broke down in sobs. "I don't expect you to forgive me for what I did. All I ask is that you try to understand."

  Heavenly Hawk reached out to take Nora into her arms. "Sweetheart, I don't care about all that. I got out and we bested the Five. That's water under the bridge, love. I'm just glad you're all right. I was so worried about you."

  Nora wiped her face. "Y-you mean you're not mad at me? You don't h-hate me for abandoning you?"

  "Of course not. Nora, I was scared too. But you didn't give up or abandon us. You still helped. Your computer program helped us find out what Professor Puma was up to and stop him before it was too late. Now we need your help again. You can help us stop Aphrodisia."

  Nora sniffled while nodding. "Yes, I-I've been following that. I can't believe they were stupid enough to let her go. Someone on the inside entered the code to open Aphrodisia's cell. Only the attending physician was supposed to have that code, and he was killed the night before. Tortured to death. The method was a lot like a case two years ago when the Monolith tortured the police chief. That's why I think it was the Monolith behind the escape."

  "The Monolith?" Paragon looked at Heavenly Hawk. "Who's the Monolith?"

  Hawk shrugged. "I thought he was a myth."

  Nora wiped her face with the back of her hands. "The Monolith is a crime lord I've been tracking for months. I haven't found anyone who's ever seen him except on screens, but he seems to be very powerful, and has been behind most of the recent crime wave in Eros City. There hasn't been much press in the mainstream media because most people think he's just a legend. And that's the way the Monolith likes it."

  Aphrodisia shook her head. "Why would the
Monolith want Aphrodisia to escape?"

  "I don't know. But I don't know why he wanted the Fateful Five to attack Eros City, either."

  Paragon leaned closer. "The Monolith was behind the Five?"

  "Yes, at least that's what the members of the Five have been telling their cellmates. The Monolith is behind a lot of the crime in Eros City, but I don't know why or what his endgame is. It's like the Monolith just wants chaos. Anyway, I know you want to know how I was able to resist Aphrodisia. I'll show you." Nora got up and headed out of the drawing room.

  The others got up and followed her through the huge mansion, heading down winding halls and up to a staircase.

  As they walked, Alley Cat called out, "Nora, I gotta ask. Why'd you kiss me, anyway?"

  Nora looked over her shoulder. "Um, because I wanted to kiss you."

  Alley Cat smiled. "Hey, does that mean you're a lesbian?"

  "No, I'm bisexual."

  "Hey, me too!" Alley Cat wrapped her arms around Nora's neck. "Yay, we can all be bi together!"

  Paragon couldn't help smiling. He liked the sound of three bisexual women around him.

  Heavenly Hawk put a hand on her shoulder. "Why did you attack us when we came here, Nora?"

  Nora looked down. "I wasn't sure if you were here to welcome me or get revenge on me for abandoning you. Bad judgment call."

  They reached the top of the staircase where the hallway from earlier waited for them. They walked into the room with the Night Watchman's armor and Nora pressed her hand against a square on the wall. Another door slid open, revealing a room with all sorts of scientific equipment.

  Nora went straight to a safe on the wall where she punched in a keycode. "This is my, uh, other Watchtower. The other one is too well-known, so this is where I do research and keep things too dangerous to store in the original Watchtower."

  When she finished the code, the door of the safe clicked and swung open. She pulled a vial out of it. "This is it. When I last fought Aphrodisia, I discovered a unique energy signature coming from her, and realized that was the source of her power. I created a formula that made me permanently immune to it."