A Most Unlikely Hero, Vol 4 Read online

  VOLUME 4

  BRANDON VARNELL

  Illustrations by XuaHanNin

  Contents

  Title Page

  Publishing Info

  Prologue: Nyx

  Chapter 1: The Girl With Red Eyes

  Chapter 2: A Day Just Like Any Other

  Chapter 3: The Beautiful Assassin

  Chapter 4: Operation Rescue Nyx

  Interlude: Sisters

  Chapter 5: Pain of a Guilty Heart

  Epilogue: Gabrielle Angelise

  Afterword

  But Wait, There’s More

  American Kitsune

  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 3

  Copyright (c) 2018 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

  NYX

  “Attention, all passengers, we will soon be entering Mars’ atmosphere. Please remain seated and keep your seat-belts fastened until such a time as we are safely docked and ready to disembark.”

  She looked up as the announcement came from several overhead speakers. Having never taken passenger transport before, she was not used to this kind of announcement. Then again, her AI was even more annoying than whoever was talking through this communication system, so she couldn’t complain.

  Once it became clear that nothing else would be said, she returned to staring out of the window.

  The darkness of space filled most of her vision, a black velvet spread across a canvas with only a few specks of light. With her enhanced eyesight she could make out the flotilla of warships stationed around a large space barge several dozen kilometers away, the many vessels looking primitive compared to the ships that she had seen from other races, or even other humans from different solar systems.

  Then again, this did not surprise her. The humans of this solar system had only recently begun traveling the stars and colonizing planets. The other humanoid races outside of this solar system were more advanced than the ones that lived here.

  The planet Mars soon entered her viewport, swelling from the lower right side like a rising wave. It didn’t look like much—just a brown ball of dirt and pockmarks with a few bubble-like domes rising from its surface. The iridescent, silvery sheen of the many domes’ lightwave barriers presented a startling contrast to the planet’s muddy appearance.

  “We are now entering Mars’ atmosphere. For those of you who are undergoing spaceflight for the first time, we are about to experience a little turbulence. Please do not be alarmed.”

  Not long after the warning was given, the shuttle began mildly shaking. A few of the younger passengers looked concerned, but most of them appeared unbothered. This was similar to when they had broken through Pluto’s atmosphere, though a tad rougher, since the smallest planet of this solar system had even less atmosphere to break through. From the lower edge of her window, she could see the rising heat wave as they broke through Mars’ thin atmosphere and began descending.

  She had arrived at the edge of this solar system two weeks ago at the behest of her client. After finding herself on Pluto, she had booked passage to Mars. It had taken two weeks to arrive. So slow. Had she been using a Grecian or Nordian shuttle, it would have only taken a day.

  It didn’t take long for her to spot their destination. From the outside, Mars City looked just like all the other domes, a giant bubble of silvery light surrounded by murk. Appearances could be deceiving, though. The dome may have looked innocuous, just like any other planet colonized by humans, but her target resided inside of that dome, unaware that she was coming for him.

  “Mommy, mommy! Look! It’s glowing!”

  A child sitting on the seat in front of her pointed at the dome, giggling and smiling with the naiveté one who hadn’t seen the horrors this galaxy had to offer. She frowned at the child. What a carefree boy. Was every human in this solar system so free of worry?

  The boy’s mother smiled. “Yes, it is. Do you know why?”

  “Cuz of da barrier!”

  “That’s right. It’s because of the lightwave barrier. Pluto still uses standard energy shields, so ours don’t glow.”

  The child pouted, crossing his arms over his chest and huffing. “That’s not fair.”

  “No, I suppose not, but don’t worry. Pluto will eventually get their own lightwave barriers. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time.”

  “Yay!”

  She turned from the sight of the child cheering. Looking back out the window, ignoring her own reflection, she stared as a small section of the lightwave barrier—humanity’s most inspired invention to date—disappeared. Then a section of the dome just a few meters larger than the ship she was on opened, revealing a small, well-lit interior. It was a docking bay.

  “Coming about.”

  The announcement over the PA preluded the ship slowly turning around to back in, the shuddering letting her know that they were utilizing altitude thrusters to spin the ship about. What a primitive method for docking a ship. These humans clearly hadn’t mastered shipbuilding if they still relied on ships that lacked the technology to turn without the use of standard thrusters.

  “Firing breaking jets.”

  Their turning velocity was eliminated with a slight jolt. She knew that this meant they’d used their aft and fore thrusters to equalize their turn speed.

  “Now firing forward thrusters for two second burn.”

  The ship rumbled as thrusters on the fore fired off, easing the shuttle into the docking bay, the bay doors sealing shut behind them once the shuttle was fully inside. She did not pay much attention to the ship’s shuddering.

  “Docking clamps engaged. Atmosphere cycling into docking bay. Equalizing pressure… Pressure equalized. Secondary checks confirmed all green across the board; the docking bay is safe. Inner bay airlock doors are opening for reception parties. Standing by to receive boarding plank.”

  The boarding plank, a rectangle tube gleaming in the overhead lights, slowly moved toward the vessel. A large bay window on her side also showed several people standing around. They were probably waiting for people on this shuttle, she reasoned, or maybe they were waiting to board the shuttle when it departed again after refueling. The boarding plank attached to the ship’s entrance, and she unbuckled her seatbelt.

  “Boarding plank received. We will now begin disembarking the vessel. I would like to thank everyone who has chosen to fly via United Planetary Space Lines, and I hope that you all have an excellent day.”

  It was not long after the announcement that everyone stood up and disembarked. After exitin
g the shuttle, she found herself in a large terminal filled with people. They were all humans, or aliens disguised as humans. She couldn’t tell. This solar system was so far removed from the rest of the galaxy that she doubted there would be many aliens living among them. Those few races who did live here probably looked human enough to pass off as one anyway.

  She followed the signs pointing toward the exit, seamlessly flowing through the crowds of people.

  It didn’t take long to reach the first checkpoint. People passed through a scanning machine that checked to see if they were hiding any weapons. She wasn’t worried. After taking off her shoes and the sleeves of her outfit and placing them in a transparent container that went through a scanner, she walked through the larger scanner made to check people.

  She came up clean, just as she had expected. This technology was too primitive to recognize what her weapon was.

  After the first checkpoint was another one. While the weapon scanner consisted of a sheet of red energy emitted from several sensors on the wall, floor, and ceiling, the decontamination checkpoint was a large chamber with a turnbelt. She, along with several others, stood on the belt as it moved. The air was saturated with non-lethal rays that killed off any harmful bacteria that could adversely affect Mars’s population.

  Then she was through, and all that remained was registering her identification at the terminal aid station.

  A plain-looking woman with brown hair tied into a bun sat behind the aid station, studying her documents with a concerned frown. For a moment, she wondered if something was wrong.

  “Nothing seems to be out of place, Ms. Nyx. However, it states here that you are only sixteen years of age and not traveling with a guardian.”

  Sixteen was the age she had given herself. She would have gone with her actual age, but when she had gotten her fake ID, this was the age written on her identification. According to Rhea, people wouldn’t believe her when she gave them her true age because of her appearance.

  “That’s because I have no guardian.”

  “I-I see.” The woman shuddered. She wondered if it was because of the air blowing in through the vents or her voice. Rhea had once said that her cold voice could freeze over Hades. “T-that, yes, well, that makes sense. So, then, do you have any, um, family or friends that I can call to come and pick you up?”

  “No, I have no family and I have no need for friends.”

  She snatched up her identification from the stupefied aid, stuffing it inside of her outfit. Without waiting for the woman to recover, she turned about and moved toward the exit, entering a long tunnel that took her to a small shuttle stop.

  She boarded a shuttle and sat between two men. One smelled rank, like he hadn’t bathed in several days. He was wearing a stained shirt, and his large gut strained the shirt. While he bothered her, she could ignore him easily enough, as she was used to worse when it came to scent and slovenliness. It was the other person that she had to resist gutting.

  He was staring at her. His expression was disturbing.

  “Hey there, cutie. Are you new to Mars City?” he asked. She turned to look at him, coldly observing his strangely large haircut and the piercings in his nose. He wore a black jacket with glowing blue lines and lightning bolts decorating it. Judging from his general demeanor and the way he leered at her, she could only conclude that this man was a thug and a pervert.

  She turned away and tried to ignore him.

  “Hey, come on now.” The man leaned further into her. She twitched. She twitched more when he placed a hand on her left thigh. The twitching grew in prominence when he began rubbing her thigh, his hand getting dangerously close to her crotch. “There’s no need to give me the cold shoulder like that. I’m a nice guy, ya know? I’d even be willing to show you around. Just—aaahhh! My thumb!!!!”

  Before the man could speak another word, she transmuted his thumb, removing the bones located inside of the opposable appendage. Not only was missing bones immensely painful, but she had not been kind during the process. Deconstructing living creatures was always painful...

  For the creature she was deconstructing.

  As the man screamed his head off, she ignored the frightened looks that the many people gave her and sat there, wishing she had a window seat so that she could at least look at the city from an aerial view. It was always good to have the lay of the land, especially when she was preparing to assassinate someone.

  Because she didn’t feel up for staying on the shuttle any longer than necessary (the guy’s screaming was annoying her), she got off at the first stop. The walkway she now strolled on was quaint, filled with flowers and trees and hanging moss. It didn’t look like a futuristic city—if she discounted the giant skyscrapers that ascended toward the dome and artificial sun.

  She walked up to the metal railing, gripping the top rail and peering into the distance. A breeze blew by, causing her hair to sway as she looked up and then down. A series of walkways sat elevated at varying heights, most traveling linearly while some proceeded to branch out at ninety-degree angles. A little way up, there was a large plate with dozens of small buildings sitting on top of it, a plaza maybe.

  She began walking again, content to study and map out more of her surroundings. Somewhere in this city brimming with humanity was her target, and she wanted to learn everything she could before hunting him down.

  As she walked into a tube-like elevator, the door closing and the elevator moving, she brought out a small circular device. Upon turning it on, the screen flashed. It then revealed the image of her current target: a young man with messy black hair, silver bangs, and blue eyes.

  She narrowed her eyes at the image. Alexander S. Ryker, your evil can no longer be permitted to exist. By the end of this week, you will perish at my hands.

  CHAPTER 1

  THE GIRL WITH RED EYES

  “Achoo!”

  Alex sniffled, wiping his nose and shivering. He didn’t know why, but he felt kind of cold, even though the temperature was at exactly seventy-six degrees.

  Maybe I’m coming down with something.

  “Are you all right, Alex?” Darrick asked, looking concerned.

  Rubbing his nose, Alex said, “I’m fine. I must be catching a cold or something.”

  “Maybe someone is talking about you.”

  “That’s just an old-wives’ tale made up sometime in the late nineteenth century… or was it the twenty-first century? Anyway, I doubt anyone would be talking about me.”

  “Maybe Gabrielle is talking about you.”

  Alex paused. The idea of Gabrielle talking about him was pleasant, but he still wasn’t sure how he felt about her. He would have been overjoyed if they could become an actual couple, but he didn’t think they could when Gabrielle was still so naive, and he was uncomfortable with the idea of teaching her about matters of intimacy and sex.

  There’s also the fact that Gabrielle is using me as a shield, so she doesn’t have to marry her father’s marriage candidates. I don’t even know how she really feels about me.

  “Please don’t joke like that,” Alex muttered.

  “Sorry.” Darrick’s apologetic smile didn’t make Alex feel much better.

  Darrick was a dark-skinned man who was three years his senior. He was a cadet within the Mars Police Academy. His black and white suit conformed to his broad shoulders. Shoulder pads and a chestplate protected him from physical damage. The outfit didn’t hold a candle to Alex’s crisis suit, which still hurt to put on, but he felt nostalgic looking at it.

  They were walking through the police station. Gabrielle was getting a physical exam, which was being done here and not the hospital because she wasn’t human. Karen had been adamant on not letting anyone who didn’t already know become aware of Gabrielle’s identity as an alien princess.

  “Are you worried?” Darrick asked.

  “What?”

  “You look nervous.”

  Alex ran a hand through his hair. “Why would I be nervous?”
/>   “Because there’s currently some guy pawing at your girl,” Darrick pointed out.

  Darrick didn’t know that Gabrielle was an alien, or that she was Alex’s pretend-fiancé. Even so, he still knew that she was living with him. That was enough to make his imagination run wild.

  The sound of their footsteps echoed through the mostly empty hall. Alex tried to keep his face calm. It wouldn’t do for him to overreact to something like a doctor checking on a patient.

  “I’m not worried. There’s no need to be worried.”

  “The doctor who’s overseeing her examination is Gideon Fletcher.”

  If he touches Gabrielle, I’m going to kill him, Alex thought.

  As they entered another hallway, Alex and Darrick ran into Kazekiri. Flaxen hair flowed down to her back, contrasting with her dark eyes and complimenting her pale skin. Her suit was a lot like Darrick’s, except it was blue instead of black and didn’t have armor. Like Darrick’s suit, hers conformed to her body as though it had been painted on. Her large breasts bounced as she walked, though she seemed unaware. The suit followed the contours of her thin waist and lovely hips. Alex admitted that she would have been incredibly pretty if she wasn’t scowling all the time.

  “Alex?!” the girl squawked. Her eyes widened as though surprised.

  “Hey, Kiri-Kiri!” Alex greeted. He grew concerned when noticed how red Kazekiri’s face was. “O-oi! Are you okay?”

  “I… I… I’m fine.”

  “B-but your face is all red!”

  “I said I’m fine!” Kazekiri shouted, which caused Alex to stumble back a step. The young woman seemed to realize what she’d done because a second later she shrank into herself. “S-sorry, I’m… I didn’t mean to yell at you. It’s just that I didn’t expect to see you…”

  Alex raised an eyebrow. “Why would you not expect to see me? You’ve seen me here a few times since I was expelled.”

  While he didn’t come here often, he’d had to on occasion—like when he and Gabrielle got into trouble because one of their inventions had destroyed something. It happened quite often. When it did, Karen would have the police “escort” them to her office so she could scold them.