Lair by Carl Stubblefield (recommended reading TXT) 📕

mop water in front of him which then hovered and began to coalesce into a ball. Gus watched in horror as it was stretched and contorted by the forces playing upon them all, and the mass nearly hit Graviton. Luckily, it did not. Unluckily, it hit Aurora full in the face like a vengeful slime creature from one of the RPGs Gus and his buddies loved to play.

Gus’ jaw dropped and he redoubled his efforts to lift his boots. Gravity slowly began to reassert itself to its normal direction and things started to settle. His boots were still stuck to the ground and he was effectively trapped. This was not good, as his punishment for losing his lunch and probable death were only delayed by the confusion and urgency of stabilizing the station.

Why did it have to be Aurora? The blonde beauty was one of the few people who ever noticed Gus and was even nice to him. She was way out of his league, of course, but there was a tiny part of him that fantasized that she actually liked him back. Reading volumes into a smile and glance where in reality there was probably only kindness, or pity.

Gus stopped trying to lift the boots and began to start removing them when he realized he was getting nowhere. He managed to loosen two of the ski-boot type latches on the back of his left foot. It had taken a while to get used to walking in the clunky boots, a mandatory part of the station uniform. He hadn’t given it too much thought until they activated and secured to the floor. The station stopped with a lurch, and the display showed that they had anchored to the moon’s gravitational field.

At the same time, a pinpoint of light appeared near the center of the floor. Hooray! More distractions! The light brightened and the metal began to bubble and sink in an ever-widening pit.

Gus kept working, feeling like he was in cement shoes as he worked to finish unlatching the left boot and began on the right. Three supers flew in through the breach and executed perfect three-point landings in a row, somehow managing to position themselves opposite Graviton and Aurora. They wore black uniforms, contrasting with the garish purple and white of those whom were on the station. Graviton was Purple Faction, one of the three governing factions of supers on the planet. The fact that the invaders wore black spoke to their factionless nature.

The center figure pointed at Graviton, twisted his hand and made the ‘come and get it’ gesture Morpheus made famous all those years ago.

Was there a class supers attended called ‘Dramatic Entry?’ If so, they needed to expand the course curriculum. Maybe it was only a weekend continuing education class. Gus recognized the woman on the right to be Slipstream, a super who could wield solid light. She could also use existing forms of light as tethers to pull against and move around, both artificial and natural. Gus didn’t know the other two, but thought the one on the left was a shapeshifter—Mercurio, maybe?

Graviton whipped his hands out of the interface, pushing it to the wall as he prepared for battle. His eyes stopped on Gus struggling by the escape pod.

“Don’t even think about it, boy—that pod is for me alone,” he said through gritted teeth. Gus froze, feeling a bead of sweat roll down the center of his back. Graviton turned back to the invaders, and Gus finally gasped, not realizing he had been holding his breath as his boss’ gaze fell upon him.

Aurora had cleaned herself somehow and flung out her hands, shooting a blinding spray of ionized light and particles toward the invaders. Slipstream slid forward in front of her companions to meet the spray. She raised the back of her forearm to the attack, absorbing the light and energy into an invisible shield. Her feet appeared to be skating on mini Tron-like light cycles and she spun and flung the blinding blast back toward Aurora.

Mercurio took his cue, stretching and sliding, serpent-like, attacking from the other side. As he leaped, Graviton flung out a hand and Mercurio slammed to the floor. He vibrated there, losing cohesion slightly as the G-forces held him to the ground. While Mercurio was held, Graviton had to split his focus and keep his arm outstretched to maintain the localized gravity well. With his other hand, he aimed at Slipstream, but she was too fast for him to target as she rocketed side to side at jerky angles to avoid being hit.

Slipstream pulled slivers of light from the LED panels above and began to fling them at all of the bridge crew, skewering one through the neck and another in the eye.

Many were so intent on stabilizing the station that they were not paying attention to the battle going on and were mortally wounded. As they saw their comrades fall, others rushed to maintain the station’s functions, but ducking and staying behind cover as much as possible.

Slipstream targeted the bridge crew with dogged determination. Gus had assumed they were supers, but they made no attempts to retaliate or join Aurora and Graviton as they ducked out of the way. When they attempted to check a screen or panel, Slipstream would pick them off, one by one.

The invading leader, wearing a black suit with a red lion or scorpion—it was hard to tell the logo—stepped forward, exuding equal parts confidence and contempt.

“Factionless!” Gus said in shock. Those who were unable or unwilling to join a Faction were looked down upon almost universally. Often they were mercenaries, willing to do anything for the right price. While the main Factions were Purple, Green, and Orange, most factionless chose to wear gray or black. The Factions were merciless with imposters, and few dared incite their wrath. Gus stared at the spectacle, unable to control the covetous looks he gave even the Factionless. Am I the only reg on this station?

Graviton intensified his