A Most Unlikely Hero Vol 5 Read online

  VOLUME 5

  BRANDON VARNELL

  Illustrations by XuaHanNin

  Contents

  Title Page

  Publishing Info

  Prologue: They Cometh

  Chapter 1: Ariel and Michelle

  Chapter 2: A Lesson in Observation

  Chapter 3: Ditching School

  Chapter 4: When The World Turns Against You

  Interlude: The Message

  Chapter 5: The Operation Begins!

  Chapter 6: Princess Rescue

  Epilogue: After The Storm Has Passed

  Afterword

  But Wait, There's More

  American Kitsune

  A Most Unlikely Hero

  The Executioner Series

  Arcadia's Ignoble Knight

  Social Media

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  A Most Unlikely Hero Volume 5

  Copyright (c) 2019 Brandon Varnell

  Illustrations by XuaHanNin

  Kindle formatting: Lia at Free Your Words

  All rights reserved

  Brandon Varnell and Kitsune Incorporated supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce creative works that enrich our culture.

  The uploading and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use the material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact the publisher. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

  To see Brandon Varnell’s other works, or to ask for permission to use his works, visit him at www.varnell-brandon.com, facebook at www.facebook.com/AmericanKitsune, twitter at www.twitter.com/BrandonbVarnell, and instagram at www.instagram.com/brandonbvarnell.

  PROLOGUE

  THEY COMETH

  Azazel was minding his own business, lounging on his command chair and reading a holonet book series called the Chronicles of Kane. The series followed the exploits of Kane, an immortal space explorer on a quest for revenge against the person who made him immortal. Along the way, Kane discovered several exotic space women, whom he bedded and added to his ever-increasing harem.

  Naturally, Azazel only read this story for the plot. He didn’t read it because it was filled with erotic alien sex. Of course not. As a commander in the Angelisian Army and one of Angelisia’s top five warriors, he would not debase himself by reading something purely because it was fetishy porn. He was all about the plot.

  “Eh-he… hehehe…”

  Giggles escaped him as he continued to read, scrolling through the pages. Not only did this series contain amazing amounts of graphic descriptions, it also had incredible illustrations. Whoever had made these knew their anatomy. They were able to depict humanoid creatures of varying species quite well. Not only that, but they also had a diverse range of proportions. Some even had extra limbs like tentacles with suction cups at the ends. The author and artist understood the benefits of diversifying the sex scenes by having straight sex to lesbians to orgies to tentacles and everything in between.

  Of course, Azazel was purely reading this for the plot. He was interested in seeing whether or not Kane would finally have his revenge, or if he would fail at the very end. The titillating sex scenes were just a bonus.

  I should see if my wives would be interested in reenacting some of these…

  His wives were fairly kinky and would often come up with unique and unusual sexual activities. One time, Diana had convinced Michael to try bondage play, and of course, he had been the one they had tied up. He remembered how they drugged his drink, and then he’d woken up tied to the bed. Diana had been so sexy as she rode him to several orgasms…

  On the other hand, Michael had been a cur, taking Diana from behind like that. Damn that peon.

  “Commander!” Abel called. “Incoming transmission from Angelisia!”

  Startled by the loud shouting, Azazel nearly dropped his porn. The tablet leapt from his hands, and he fumbled around, trying to keep it from shattering on the ground. These human devices were quite fragile. A single fall would be enough to break this tablet into dozens of tiny pieces.

  Sighing as he caught the device, Azazel hid the tablet behind his back and coughed into his hand. “Very well. Put the transmission on screen.”

  A large holographic display appeared before him. The person on the other end was easily recognizable, if not by his crown of messy silver hair, then certainly because of his vivid green eyes. Azazel stood up and saluted.

  “Your Majesty, to what do I owe the honor?”

  “Yo, Azazel,” King Lucifer said in his deep, charismatic voice. “I trust things have been well on Mars?”

  “Yes, everything has been going fine,” Azazel said. “The groom-to-be was attacked by an assassin last week, but he has since recovered and even won the assassin over to his side.”

  “Oh? Is that so?”

  King Lucifer leaned to the side, placing his cheek on the palm of his left hand. His glowing green eyes seemed even more vivid than usual.

  “Indeed. I must admit I was surprised by this latest development. At first, I was worried about the dangers of letting an assassin like Nyx live with Princess Gabrielle. However, it appears as if my initial worries were unwarranted. Nyx has not made a single move on either the groom-to-be or Princess Gabrielle since she started living there.”

  “Sounds like some interesting stuff is going on over there.”

  There was something odd about King Lucifer’s tone, though Azazel couldn’t figure out what. Perhaps it was merely because he sounded so nonchalant. It was like he was already aware of what Alex had gone through and was just humoring Azazel.

  “And how is Alexander S. Ryker? Is he proving to be a good marriage candidate for Gabrielle?”

  “He is proving to be an exceptional candidate,” Azazel informed his king. “They get along well. He and Princess Gabrielle share many similar interests. He is also very protective of her and always seems to have her best interests at heart. Although…”

  King Lucifer raised an eyebrow when Azazel trailed off. “Although?”

  There were some problems happening inside of the Ryker residence. Alex and Princess Gabrielle weren’t estranged, not by any means, but a gap seemed to have grown between them.

  Azazel had heard that Princess Gabrielle no longer slept in Alex’s room. That by itself wasn’t completely odd, though considering how, before now, the princess had made a habit of breaking into Alex’s bedroom and sneaking into his bed—or so Azazel had been told—it did seem a bit unusual. Alice had been keeping him up to date on everything that had been happening between the two.

  That said, Azazel wasn’t sure if telling King Lucifer was the best idea, or rather, he didn’t know what the king would do if he found out. In which case, it was probably best not to tell him. That said, he didn’t like the idea of lying to his king. What should he do?

  “Azazel,” the king’s voice intruded on his thoughts.

  “It is nothing,” Azazel said, shaking his head as if to dispel his current thoughts.

  “Hmm… very well. I won’t inquire about that any further. I called you for another reason.”

  “Did you have a task for me, Your Majesty?”

  “No. Nothing like that. I was merely calling to tell you that Ariel and Michelle have escaped from the palace.”

  Azazel could actually feel the blood drain from his face. That was not good. Ariel and Michelle were not a
s bad about running away or causing mayhem as Princess Gabrielle, but they were a handful to deal with regardless. Still, it did not surprise him that those two had used this time to run away. With him and many of the other guards gone, now was the perfect time for them to make their escape.

  “Shall I track them down?” Azazel asked.

  A large grin spread across King Lucifer’s face, revealing sharp canines. “That will not be necessary. I already know where they are heading. It seems they are journeying to Mars to visit Gabrielle and her groom. I do not know when they will arrive but be sure to apprehend them when they do. You know how much trouble those two can cause when the mood strikes them.”

  “I do…”

  A shiver ran down Azazel’s spine at the thought of what those two could do. While Princess Gabrielle caused more trouble than the both of them combined, Ariel and Michelle were still forces to be reckoned with. What’s more, unlike Princess Gabrielle, who was naive to a fault, those two were a lot more devious—Michelle especially.

  “Like I said, be sure to apprehend them when they arrive on Mars. I’d like them returned to the palace quickly.”

  There was another note lacing King Lucifer’s voice. Azazel didn’t know why, but he suddenly felt like his majesty was planning something. He couldn’t quite contain the shiver that ran down his wings.

  Still, it was his king’s wish, and so he wouldn’t fail.

  “It will be done, your majesty.” Azazel saluted.

  “See that it is.”

  With those parting words, the hologram disappeared, leaving the bridge in blessed silence. Azazel sighed in relief. Dealing with King Lucifer was always a trying experience. It was a lot like walking between eggs in the nest of an Angelisian draconite. One wrong move and he could step on those eggs, unleashing the fury of a creature whose powers were unimaginable.

  Feeling quite boneless, Azazel dropped into his seat.

  CRUNCH!

  A loud noise like something being crushed echoed around the room.

  Azazel froze.

  “Oh, no…”

  He stood up and turned around. There, lying in a broken heap on his chair, was his holonet tablet. Azazel felt despair claw at him as he dropped to his knees.

  “No, no, no, no!” He grabbed his head. “I can’t believe I just broke my only tablet! Now how am I going to find out who Kane has sex with next?!”

  There were some days, like today, that made Azazel wonder if the universe hated him.

  The answer was: Probably.

  CHAPTER 1

  ARIEL AND MICHELLE

  Gabrielle was not in bed with Alex when he woke up that morning. It had been the same for the past week. He didn’t know what was going on, but ever since the previous week, she’d not slipped into his bed even once—a far cry from how she used to sneak into his room every single night.

  Alex didn’t know what to think. He should have been happy that Gabrielle had stopped trying to sleep with him, but he wasn’t. Perhaps he missed her warmth, maybe he missed how comforting it was to wake up with her in his arms, or he could’ve even missed seeing her naked body first thing in the morning. For all he knew, Alex could have simply missed how panicked he became when he woke up and found her sleeping next to him. Either way, he wasn’t happy with the current situation.

  It was Sunday, which meant that Alex was going to spend the day taking it easy. Sundays were his rest days. He didn’t exercise first thing in the morning, though he did spend a lot of time in the lab, which could have been considered a workout all its own since he worked the muscle in his head, but it was an altogether different kind of exercise.

  Alex took a quick rinse in the shower. Then he donned his Angelisian crisis suit, a pair of black pants, and a long-sleeved shirt of the same color. His clothing did an admirable job of hiding his suit.

  It still hurt like hell to put the crisis suit on; Gabrielle had told him that the reason it hurt was because parts of his genetic code had been sealed away. She believed that he was part Angelisian. Considering he could wield the powers of creation, an Angelisian power, he had no choice but to believe her.

  Angelisians had a power known as the Aura of Creation, an ability that created a blue aura that covered their entire body. They could use this aura to create objects composed of energy, and even enhance their bodies to some degree, though body enhancement was limited to precisely timed bursts of power—at least for him. Gabrielle sadly didn’t know much about this power herself despite being an Angelisian. She told him that her focus had always been on mechanics and engineering because her father had forbidden her from using her powers.

  Consequently, he had learned that this power was called Aura of Creation from Ēostre, the oddball alien doctor who worked as a black-market nurse for the aliens living on Mars.

  That did make him wonder about his origins. Who was he? Who was his father? Had his old man been an Angelisian, or was he a human and his mother the Angelisian?

  Alex didn’t know anything about his birth mother. He couldn’t remember if his father had ever talked about her, or even if he’d ever asked about her. Perhaps the secret to his origins would be revealed when he uncovered the mystery of his mother. Then again, maybe not.

  As he walked downstairs, loud noises reached his ears. It was a familiar sound—the thrum of machinery. Gabrielle was up and already working, it seemed.

  The lab was a massive room many times larger than the house situated above it. It had originally been much smaller, but thanks to Gabrielle’s liberal use of Mr. Dimension—an invention of hers that could distort the fabrics of reality—the space had been separated into its own dimension and expanded to nearly four times its original size.

  Alex was always impressed when he walked into the lab.

  Much like any other workshop, advanced machines sat around the room, some lined in rows and others sitting by themselves. All of the technology were upgraded variations of human technology. They didn’t look much like their originals, though, and instead of the hard angles found in human tech, these possessed the organic curves of Angelisian models.

  Their appearance weren’t the only things that had changed. Everything had been upgraded. The precision laser, now dubbed Mr. Flash, was a lot more precise and the power settings could be adjusted more readily. All of the operating systems had also been upgraded. Now each machine worked far better than they had when they were standard human tech.

  Angelisians really are impressive… no, perhaps it’s just that Gabrielle is an impressive Angelisian.

  Gabrielle was sitting on a bench, a holographic screen floating in front of her. Her long silver hair trailed down her back in scintillating silver strands. Like him, she had donned an Angelisian crisis suit, though hers was pink and purple. It did very little to hide the epic body proportions she was sporting. Even from this angle, Alex could see hints of her large chest. Like all Angelisians, she had long, pointy ears, and small wings protruding from her lower back.

  She was using a stylus to draw something. From this angle, he couldn’t see what that something was, but if he had to guess, Alex would have said that she was creating blueprints for a new invention.

  “Morning, Gabby,” Alex greeted.

  Gabrielle turned around, emerald eyes sparkling as she beamed at him. “Good morning, Alex! Did you sleep well?”

  At least her personality is as cheerful as ever…

  It was good to see that, even if some things had changed, Gabrielle’s cheerful mien remained intact. Whatever problem she was having with him, it wasn’t enough to make her distance herself.

  “I slept well enough. Are those the wings that we were planning to build?” Alex asked as he sat down next to her and studied the holographic display. It was a 3D blueprint. This was another of Gabrielle’s inventions. Mr. Creator.

  “Yes. I’m currently trying to figure out what design I should use.”

  The holographic display showed two different wing variations, one that looked like Gabrielle’
s and another that was larger and more reminiscent of Azazel’s wings.

  “I’m thinking we should go with the larger ones,” Gabrielle continued, tapping on the wings that looked like Azazel’s. The wings moved to the center and expanded. Meanwhile, the smaller set disappeared. “Male Angelisians have wings like this. They’re easier to control and can give you more lift, but since we’re creating a technology version of these, I can grant you the same flight capabilities with the smaller version.”

  “Is there a reason males have different wings than females?”

  Gabrielle stopped working. She looked up and hummed while thoughtfully tapping her finger against her chin. “I don’t know. I think my teachers tried to tell me once, but I’ve never been interested in biology, so…”

  Alex grinned as she trailed off. “Yeah, me neither. I always preferred building stuff. It’s much more fun than learning about anatomy and whatnot.”

  “Exactly!”

  “Anyway, I think we should use the male version. I kinda like the bigger wings better anyway.”

  “They do look pretty cool,” Gabrielle admitted. “I kinda wish I had wings like that.”

  “If you had wings like that, you’d push me off the bed with them,” Alex joked.

  “Oh, um, y-yeah,” Gabrielle said, and it was only then, in that moment, that Alex realized he’d just said something stupid.

  An awkward silence ensued. Alex didn’t know how to break it. He sat there, glancing around. Gabrielle, meanwhile, was also refusing to meet his eyes.

  “Great job, boy. You’re a real lady killer.”

  Alex twitched as the female voice, which he had dubbed Voice Number One, made its appearance inside of his mind. This voice was laced with sexual overtones, as if filled with an insatiable lust. It was one of two voices that had started speaking to him since he began consciously using his powers.

  Both voices had been speaking a lot more prevalently since he saved Nyx. Though nothing serious had come of it, Alex couldn’t help but feel wary of the two voices—which made sense, considering they were voices inside of his head.