Cryptomining Supervillain

176 MEAT HEAP

Damen pushed through the panicked crowd, dodging fleeing students and crashing tables until he spotted her.

Eryn stood her ground in the middle of the chaos, wind spiraling around her as she unleashed a tornado skill that sent several Corrosivers hurtling across the hall.

"Damen! What's happening?" she shouted over the noise.

"No time to explain," he barked. "We need to get out of here…now!"

He grabbed her hand and charged for the main doors.

A surge of energy burst from his body as he slammed into the locked entrance. The reinforced panels shattered under the impact, blowing open in a wave of dust and broken glass.

Students poured out, screaming, chased by the slimy horrors.

Outside, a group of Metahuman security guards rushed toward them, with their weapons drawn.

"Miss Eryn! Are you alright? What happened in there?" one of them shouted.

Eryn, breathless and shaken, started to speak, but Damen cut in. "Take her back. She'll be safer with you."

The guard nodded and moved to escort her.

"What about you?" Eryn protested, turning back toward him.

"You don't have to worry about me," Damen said, his voice steady, his eyes already fixed on the hall. "Mere Corrosivers can't hurt me."

Before she could answer, he was already walking back through the shattered doorway, into chaos.

The security forced their way through the crowd, ushering Eryn toward the armored vehicle as the screams inside the school grew louder.

----

Most of the Corrosivers had rushed out with the escaping crowd. The ones left behind were either monsters or those they had already turned.

No survivors remained.

"Die, you creeps!" Damen roared, dashing forward.

His fists struck only air …. but from those empty swings, bolts of lightning exploded outward, chaining through the hall in a brilliant surge.

"Lightning Chain Strikes — Echo Out!"

Thunder cracked through the hall.

In a single strike, half the Corrosivers burned alive, their bodies collapsing into sizzling sludge. Another strike followed, and the rest were erased in a flash of white-blue light.

Silence followed. Only the smell of ozone and scorched decay lingered.

Damen walked toward the stage. Principal Misk's body lay there, lifeless, his once-proud form reduced to a husk.

"Sorry, Principal," Damen murmured quietly.

He turned to leave … then he froze. A faint sound reached his ears. Crying.

He followed it behind the stage and found a girl crouched in the shadows. It was Cyara Atheris — the proud, arrogant heiress — was now trembling and tear-streaked, her confidence stripped away.

"It's okay now," Damen said, stepping closer. "They're dead."

She looked up, saw him, and immediately threw herself at him, clutching him tightly.

"What the…hey! Get off me!" he protested.

"No! I'm scared! Carry me!" she sobbed.

Damen sighed, half annoyed, half sympathetic. He didn't care about the Corrosivers that had escaped or how they might spread.

That wasn't his job tonight.

Carrying Cyara in his arms, he moved through the back corridor, then leapt over the fence behind the school.

Lander and Dorin were already waiting in the van. Damen placed Cyara gently inside as Dorin began treating her minor wounds.

"What the hell happened in there and who is the girl?" Dorin asked, eyes wide.

"She's a survivor", Damen replied and sat Cyara into the van,

Lander's expression was grim. "I think I've figured out part of the missing persons case," he said. "Someone's been kidnapping ordinary people and turning them into those things."

He switched on the holo-screen.

News feeds flooded the air with chaos as holographic images of similar outbreaks across the city flared across them.

Shopping districts, subways, plazas were all overrun by Corrosivers. The creatures spread faster than security forces could respond.

By the time the police and SIA understood what was happening, a large part of the city was already lost to the Corrosivers.

"Breaking news," the anchor's voice echoed through the van. "Residents are urged to stay calm and remain indoors. A full curfew has been declared across Melrose City."

-----

"Where are your bodyguards? We'll drop you off with them…let them take you home," Damen said to Cyara.

"I didn't come with my bodyguards," Cyara replied.

"What do you mean?"

She hesitated before answering. "I'm not supposed to come back to Melrose City. I snuck in… for the Prom."

"Damnit, it's just another stupid party," Damen muttered.

"I came back for you," she said softly.

Damen froze. He wanted to argue, to scold her, but the words died in his throat. She was as stubborn as Eryn. Once Cyara made up her mind, there was no changing it.

Dorin glanced at her and smiled faintly. "Young lovers," she murmured.

"Wait," Lander said suddenly, slowing the van. "There is movement ahead. A huge swarm." He killed the engine immediately.

The narrow alley was shrouded in darkness, silent except for the faint hum of the radar. Red dots flickered across the display, dozens at first…then hundreds.

"At that speed and density…" Damen leaned forward, narrowing his eyes. "It's a march of corrosivers."

"Everyone stay quiet until they pass," Dorin ordered.

They sat in tense silence. The van's armor and sound shielding might hide them…if they were lucky. Outside, a low rumble grew. Then came the sound of dragging feet, the hiss of corrosion, and the foul stench of rot.

The march arrived.

Hundreds, maybe thousands of twisted, infected shapes shuffled past. The van rocked as the corrosivers brushed against it.

For a moment, it seemed they would pass by.

Then something slammed against the side. Another joined it. Soon the van was shaking violently, surrounded on all sides.

"What do we do now?" Cyara gasped.

"What else?" Damen opened the back door. "Fight."

He leapt out, the van door slamming shut behind him.

The corrosivers surged toward him—but his fists were faster. Each punch cracked the air, releasing arcs of lightning that leapt from one monster to the next. The bolts multiplied, splitting, echoing, and chaining until the alley blazed with electric fury.

When the last spark faded, more than half the horde lay smoking on the ground.

"Chain Lightning Strikes!"

Cyara stared, her eyes wide. "Where did he learn power like that?"

"In Fortress Myrone," Dorin said quietly, "they call him the God of War."

The remaining corrosivers rushed in.

Damen welcomed them. His fists lit the alley once more, and the air trembled with thunder. When it was over, the street was littered with corpses.

He turned back toward the van, but a prickle of danger ran down his spine.

"Drive back to GenSyn now," he called. "I'll cover the retreat."

Lander hesitated, then nodded. "Got it."

"Wait…what? We can't just leave him!" Cyara protested.

"If we stay, we'll only slow him down," Dorin said firmly.

The van roared to life and sped away.

Behind them, the silence broke.

The dead began to move.

Corpses twitched and slid across the ground, drawn together by a dark, unseen force. Flesh fused to flesh. Bone merged with bone. Within seconds, a grotesque heap towered above the street.

From it, a hulking form rose—dripping, steaming, shrieking.

The air reeked of acid and decay.

The monster roared, its voice a chorus of the dead.

Damen squared his stance.

"It was a Meat Heap."

"Finally," he muttered. "A real fucking fight."