A Hero's Song (Darkest Secrets Volume 1)

Chapter 37 - Bitter Victories

Striking a self-proclaimed deity went better than expected.

Holmes took the punch - a class four blow backed by around 800 G's - squarely in the nose. He flipped over and reeled back into the time-freeze. The shock of his injuries was enough to make him lose concentration. Holmes' movements slowed down as he pushed a hand against his wound and glared at Gabriel; emerald lightning flashed in his eyes as he righted himself in the air.

The sound of his nose cracking back into place reverberated across the ripple in time.

"I can't hold him long. My Warp is crumbling." Zero stepped behind Gabriel. He wore the exhaustion on his face like a mask - half-lidded eyes glued to Holmes. Shallow, ragged breaths whispered from his lips, and shadows barely clung to his arms.

There were so many things to say to the ex-vigilante, but there was no time - the cavern collapse was speeding up, and Gabriel couldn't feel his arm after that Gravity Punch. If Holmes attacked, he'd be handicapped. "Can you get us out?"

Zero closed his eyes, then started twitching like he was going into a seizure. He stopped, red-faced, and huffed. "I can't make a portal."

"Can you turn me into shadow?"

"Working on it. You're denser than most, incorporeally speaking - if that makes any sense."

By then, Holmes' glowing hand had pulled away from his chest. He growled in frustration at the failed attempt to heal. The time dilation kept him slowed, but his eyes stayed locked on the Sentinels.

Blood flowed freely from the hand-sized black holes in Holmes' resplendent body, sizzling away as it touched pure atomic force. Unfortunately, the man just cracked his head in slow motion, reevaluating the situation.

Gabriel wished he wouldn't have given Holmes so much time. He should've kept up the assault, blowing his antimatter generator on another construct. The situation called for extreme measures, but there was no helping it - he was scared. Holmes wasn't just the loud man in the corner of the lab anymore - he was also the most powerful being ever recorded.

He was Quantum.

Your vitals are spiking, partner.

Anxiety's icy talons raked at Gabriel's chest. Yes. They are.

Zero's voice dripped with panic. "Gabe. I need you to lower your psychic barriers. There's no other way to ghost you - hurry.."

There was time for one quick breath. "No idea what you mean, sir. "

Zero's eyes widened like saucers. "You... haven't been shielding yourself constantly? Be honest here; it's life or death."

Holmes began to pool energy.

"The fear chip-"

"No, not that. The wall around your mind."

"Nope." Gabriel shrugged, chancing a look into Zero's eyes. "They never tested me against psychics."

Was that so Holmes or Lucian could kill him, should Gabriel become a liability?

Holmes calmly raised a hand, which phased and twisted in and out of sight - moving in and out of reality. Gabriel had seen this in vids - Quantum's famous Phase Wave. Zero yanked Gabriel away... or he tried to.

He was barely strong enough to nudge Gabriel's good arm - almost like Zero was....unpowered?

He stared at the hand on Gabriel's armor; lips flattened with an expression of begrudging acceptance. "Well, fuck."

Holmes fired. The Phase Wave was faster than Gabriel - and his sensors - could detect, let alone react to. Zero jumped to block the attack, but a literal child could have moved faster. The energy hit Gabriel in the chest - he didn't even have time to close his eyes.

Then Gabriel blinked. It was over; he was... wait. Clenched eyelids opened. Lo and behold, armor and all, he was still there. Both Zero and Holmes stared, flabbergasted.

"Hah," Zero wheezed. The bruised man raised his voice towards Holmes - a shit-eating grin plastered on his face. "You made two of 'em."

Two... of what?

Surprise flashed to fear in Holmes' eyes before turning into bitter disappointment. He peered back at Calamity - time was moving faster now, the rocks were closing in on his accomplice. Gabriel sent another pulse of terror for good measure, and it seemed to work. After a final look at his chest wound, Holmes thought twice about engaging again. He took off towards his fellow spy - working his arms like whips.

With each movement, Phase Waves smashed through the wall of debris, erasing it from existence. After clearing a path to Calamity, Holmes snatched her up roughly and leaped through a distortion in space, disappearing without a trace and without looking back. Had the time warp not worn off at that very moment, Gabriel would have questioned Zero until the sun rose.

Unfortunately, the hulking rocks imploding toward them had other plans.

The last thing Gabriel saw was Zero phasing back into a thin shadow as the tide of soil rolled in - after that, everything was dark. A small bubble of antigravity shielded him from the avalanche. Curled up into an almost fetal position, the trapped Super scanned reading after reading.

Alfred was surprisingly silent, letting Gabriel focus. Or did the AI simply not expect his human partner to survive?

There was a sliver of a chance that surviving could go smoothly. If he managed it - and that was a big if - he could balance the remaining power of the suit until Zero or someone else arrived.

Distress signal sent - confirmed.

It was only a matter of time now.

Then his power stores lost 30%.

Main battery lost. Main oxygen lost.

Swap to auxiliary battery - success.

Swap to auxiliary oxygen - failed. 12 minutes remaining.

The rocks began to inch closer and closer - a particularly pointy one conspicuously aimed at his heart. Things were looking grim. It would take Dr. Atomic - or anyone he could send - some time to reach the cave-in.

The pure tonnage of earth was overloading the gravity generator's remaining potential. Warning icons flashed, and the rocks squeezed his suit from all sides. At class Four, the Spartan armor should hold for a time. As long as the pressure stayed consiste-

A tremble ravaged the ground, shaking the rocks until they settled into new locations - more solid locations. With a swift crack, Gabriel's shoulder guards crumpled - as did his collar bones. The pressure was so great his lungs were too compressed to cry out.

Blood began to seep around his body. It was hot. The weight, lack of oxygen, and the sheer shock of pain were enough for him to start losing consciousness, but then the pressure warnings leveled off. A trickle of air found its way into Gabriel's lungs.

Zero is molding himself around you. That may be enough to last until help arrives.

Any... suggestions, buddy? Even forming thoughts was getting difficult. Was the darkness getting darker?

The AI stayed silent, confirming Gabriel's suspicions. He would have been disappointed if not for the warm liquid filling his suit and that pesky chill. It started at his very core and intensified - even as the liquid got hotter. Gabriel's brain was too garbled to register whatever it was Alfred eventually said.

What was going on again? Right... he was trapped under a mountain with one of his childhood Heroes. The two of them had managed to stop Quantum's plan to open a portal to... somewhere.

Had Lucian been there? Everything from taste to thought was turning fuzzy. Was he bleeding out - unsimulated? He was, wasn't he? Another peculiar rumble shook the ground. This time, the rock prison didn't shift much.

A thought shot across Gabriel's remaining awareness as a distinct aftershock passed by. He'd heard sounds like that before, but where? Why did it matter now, though? He was drowsy, exhausted, and so cold. He'd done his best; he'd earned a rest. As his eyes drifted shut, he recognized the noise. It was the earth-ripping might of a Mjolnir - a MechaBlitz laser cannon used to soften up cities before ground assaults.

The blitz of Neo Paolo had begun... and Gabriel fell asleep.