Royal Flush Read online

  Royal Flush

  An Ultrahumans Novel

  By Niall Teasdale

  Copyright 2019 Niall Teasdale

  Amazon Kindle Edition

  Contents

  Part One: Kage

  Part Two: Naked Mink

  Interlude: Slice of Life

  Part Three: Hell’s Angels

  Epilogue

  Part One: Kage

  Tokyo, Japan, 4th June 2017.

  Despite the effects of a magnitude 6.3 earthquake the day before, Tokyo was a sea of lights, a glowing backdrop to the chaos unfolding on Academy Island. Academy Island – or Akademīairando – had not been there until relatively recently. It had been built in Tokyo Bay for a specific purpose, but it was now being used as a base by the Union of Ultrahumans because, among other things, every building on the island was newly constructed to a very high standard and the worst damage the place had suffered was the destruction of someone’s Brightstar chibi when it had fallen from a high shelf.

  Brightstar was unaware of this terrible event, or that there were chibi dolls of her, which was likely for the best. Right now, she would not have thrown a hissy fit even if she had known: she was far too busy being frustrated and not a little angry. ‘I hit the damn thing with everything I’ve got and it didn’t flinch.’ Brightstar was tall, beautiful, blonde, and blue-eyed. She was dressed in a white leotard with a blue star emblazoned on the front. She looked every bit the internationally famous hero she was, but despite the obvious exhaustion in her posture, her eyes were flashing, and brave men were steering clear.

  ‘It seems to be able to absorb energy attacks,’ Adamantium said. He was Brightstar’s boyfriend and more immune than most to her nasty side. That he was composed of living metal and so relatively impervious to her energy blasts probably helped. ‘Hugh thinks you were just powering up that gamma beam attack it’s got.’

  ‘You’re lucky you look cute in those trunks, Adam,’ Brightstar replied. ‘I clocked the thing at around a hundred knots. If, as we suspect, it’s coming here, we’ve got less than twenty minutes.’

  ‘To do what?’ The voice had an accent and was distorted, but the English spoken was near perfect. The speaker was Shizukana Sasayaki, Silent Whisper, and he was one of the local heroes working with the Union to handle the aftermath of the earthquake. He was fairly tall and quite muscular, but you could not tell much more about his looks since he wore a full-face helmet which also disguised his voice. He was something of a contradiction: his costume suggested some sort of dystopian future ninja, but he was known for certain magical tricks which he had apparently learned from an ancient master of ninjutsu. Whatever, he had proven to be an excellent liaison. ‘If you cannot stop the creature,’ he went on, ‘who can?’

  ‘Thank you for your vote of confidence, Whisper, but I’m not the biggest gun we have now. I put in a call on the way back here and said she should put a rush on things. It’s, uh, six a.m. in New Millennium City. I had to wake her up.’

  ‘But if your energy beams cannot harm it…’ More excellent English, and this came from what appeared to be a schoolgirl. She was dressed like a schoolgirl and looked no more than sixteen or seventeen, even if her uniform had something of a slovenly look about it with her shirt unbuttoned, tie hanging loose, and skirt just about long enough to be decent. She was, however, present for a specific reason, so no one was complaining about a child being on what might soon be the front line.

  ‘The thing about her is that she’s more adaptable than I am. Actually, she’s more adaptable than just about everyone. Viviane, I guess… But Viviane doesn’t have the raw power.’

  The girl widened eyes that were a shimmering sort of purple colour. About the same shade of purple as her hair, in fact. ‘You mean–’

  She stopped as the gathering gloom of a Tokyo sunset suddenly darkened around them all, thickening until, briefly, no one could see anything. Then the darkness fell away and there were two extra people on the concrete platform which formed most of the seaward side of the island. They were light and darkness: the half-alien guardian goddess of the human race, and the embodiment of everything man feared when he looked into the shadows. They were Cygnus and Twilight.

  ‘I wasn’t expecting you, Twilight,’ Brightstar said.

  ‘You said it was a rush job,’ Cygnus replied. She was, as usual, a stunning woman to look at. She was a supermodel in a semi-translucent white swimsuit which had seven blue stars on it, forming the constellation she had taken her name from. Her hair was long and straight, falling to the middle of her back. It started out white and transitioned to the same blue as the stars on her costume as it went down. There was something about her which transcended mere physical beauty; Cygnus was a goddess made flesh, but she rarely acted as though she was anything more than an ordinary woman. ‘I’m fast, but Twilight’s pretty much instant.’

  ‘As long as it’s not too bright,’ Andrea said. ‘Sun’s going down, so it wasn’t too hard to find you. ACPN’s been reporting on the rescue efforts out here. I knew roughly where you were before I went looking, and the sun really glints off Adam’s skin.’ She flashed a grin at the big, platinum man and got a slightly embarrassed look back. Andrea was not in her Twilight costume, but she was still very obviously an Ultrahuman. She did not have Cygnus’s looks – few people did – but she was an attractive woman with dusky skin, black hair which she now wore long and generally in pigtails, a figure moulded by years of martial arts training and exercise, and eyes which were jet black across their entire surface. Tonight she was dressed in knee-high, high-heeled boots, a purple-and-green plaid skirt, and a racerback T-shirt in black with ‘You’re not AFRAID of the DARK, are you?’ printed on it in white. ‘Besides,’ the Avatar of Shadows added, ‘I’ve never been to Japan.’

  ‘What’s the problem?’ Cygnus asked. ‘You said it was designated Kaiju seven, right? So, giant monster. I thought Japan was pretty much used to handling big lizards. I mean, there must have been another six.’

  ‘This one is bigger than anything we’ve ever seen before,’ Adamantium explained. ‘Alison’s beams appear to just strengthen it. We’ve had people fainting from seeing it and that’s before it opens its mouth and roars or lets loose some sort of gamma-ray beam.’

  Andrea waved a hand dismissively. ‘Guàiwù.’

  ‘It would appear to be significantly bigger than that creature. I believe Guàiwù was around sixty feet in height. Kaiju seven is two hundred and fifty feet standing on its hind legs.’

  ‘And basically immune to energy attacks,’ Brightstar added.

  ‘Okay,’ Cygnus said, ‘when does it get here? Anyone got a coin? I’ve got something I think might work.’

  ‘You’re going to try the–’ Andrea began.

  ‘Oh yeah,’ Cygnus said, grinning. ‘What better place to try it out than here?’

  ~~~

  ‘You figured this out from watching a Japanese animated movie?’ Brightstar sounded just a little incredulous.

  ‘It’s a TV series,’ Andrea replied. ‘Anime. It’s known as anime.’

  ‘From the Japanese rendering on animation,’ Whisper said. ‘Animēshon. Though there are forms of the “art” made in other countries than Japan.’

  ‘You say “art” like you don’t think it is. Kind of difficult to tell what your expression is through that mask.’

  ‘It is not an artform I enjoy.’

  Andrea shrugged. ‘Well, anyway, this one features a girl with electrical powers. She can control electrical and magnetic fields, and her party trick is firing coins or something at supersonic velocities.’

  ‘Basically,’ Cygnus said, tossing the coin Whisper had given her, ‘she’s able to use her powers to make a railgun, an electromagnetic accelerator weapon that fires h
ypervelocity projectiles. It’s got far better range than the power I used to take out Guàiwù, and I somehow think that could be really important this time.’

  ‘Well,’ Brightstar said, ‘you might be right. This thing–’

  The thing in question chose that moment to rise out of the waves between Academy Island and Chūōbōhatei. The water was around a hundred feet deep, and the monster’s head was at least a hundred feet above the suddenly disturbed water. In some ways, Kaiju-07 was similar to Guàiwù: it was a truly massive lizard. There the similarities seemed to end, however, because this was far closer to the classic Tyrannosaurus Rex-like form Godzilla traditionally took in monster movies. Its forelimbs were shortened, probably making the limbs quite useless, but it had massive jaws with long, vicious teeth and there was a double row of fin-like plates down its back which sparked with energy. Its eyes glowed with the same kind of light. It was a horrific abasement of nature, a walking monstrosity.

  Cygnus saw it through the darkness and had to shake off the pang of fear the sight caused before she could take aim. ‘Range is… eighteen hundred metres,’ she said. ‘I have a target lock.’

  ‘Target lock?’ the schoolgirl asked.

  ‘She’s using radar to rangefind,’ Andrea explained.

  ‘She can do that?’

  ‘She can do whatever she wants.’

  In the distance, the beast raised its head, opening its jaws to roar. Arcs of electricity flared around Cygnus as she stretched out her arm and lined it up with the distant monster. ‘I don’t think we want it to roar,’ she said, and the electrical arcing flared into brilliant light. A streak of orange light lanced out from her hand as the coin was launched at over three times the speed of sound. Even at that speed, it took over a second to reach Kaiju-07, but when it arrived it burst right through the side of the creature’s skull and just kept on going. Blood, bone, and brain matter exploded outward as the projectile, a hundred-yen coin, ripped apart whatever it met. There was a ripple of energy down the creature’s back, the water around it began to boil, and then it was falling back beneath the waves.

  Grinning, Cygnus turned to her audience. ‘Okay, so, who wants lizard burgers? It’s going to take some work to chop it up, but the news did say there were some supply problems after the earthquake.’

  ‘Somehow,’ Andrea said, shaking her head, ‘even in Japan, I can’t see that being a popular option. Fugu fish is one thing. Giant, radioactive lizard is another.’

  ~~~

  ‘So, who’s the kid?’ Andrea asked. They were walking to where Brightstar assured them they could get coffee. Coffee was, at this point, a must.

  ‘Multiplier?’ Brightstar replied. ‘She’s… Multiplier. Or one of the Multipliers.’

  ‘You do remember I haven’t had coffee yet, right?’

  ‘I am San,’ the schoolgirl said.

  ‘That’s three in Japanese.’

  ‘You speak Japanese?’

  Andrea shook her head. ‘English, obviously, Italian, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Tibetan. I’m fairly bad at most of them, but I get by. However, I did take martial arts lessons, so I know the first few numbers.’

  ‘Ah, yes. I take jujutsu classes. There is much counting. I am the third clone of Tsukuda Momoka, Multiplier. We like to use the English form of our nickname. It is cooler.’

  ‘You’re a clone?’

  ‘A, uh, construct. Yes, construct. I am the third of twelve copies of Onēsan.’

  ‘I know that word too. Older sister, right?’

  San smiled. ‘That is correct.’

  ‘I’ve been known to read manga.’

  ‘Multiplier is able to share sensory data with her clones,’ Brightstar said. ‘That’s why she was out there with us. The original was inside keeping the people here up to date with what was happening.’

  ‘And “here” is?’ Cygnus asked. They were inside one of the buildings and it seemed to be some sort of dormitory. Girls in a similar uniform to San – except that all the buttons were done up on their blouses – were stepping aside as the group made their way down the corridor. ‘I mean, it seems to be a school…’

  ‘It’s Ultra Academy. San, would you give them the Japanese? I’ll just slaughter it.’

  ‘Urutoraakademī,’ San supplied. ‘It is new. Construction began after the cosmic burst over this part of the world when it became apparent that more Ultras were appearing because of it. This is the first full year of operation, though I started in the autumn term last year.’

  ‘It’s a school for Ultras?’ Cygnus asked. ‘Japan is bringing all its Ultras together to train them?’ And putting them all on an island away from the general population. Cygnus was not entirely sure that sounded like a positive thing.

  ‘It is more than that. Urutoraakademī is a place where Ultras can be themselves, and where potential Ultras can realise their true power.’

  ‘The Union is monitoring,’ Brightstar said, ‘and we’re even involved in some of the courses. The Ministry of Education came to Hugh to help design some of the courses. We were actually considering moving our own junior training course here, but… Let’s get some coffee and then we’ll discuss it further.’ She pushed open a door which opened into some sort of refectory, except that it looked more like a restaurant. No waitresses, but there was a definite feel about the place which suggested upmarket restaurant.

  ‘This is one of the senior dorms,’ San explained as the group trooped over to where a couple of tables were free. Adamantium and Whisper were skipping the coffee: it did nothing much for the metal man, and the ninja was not going to take his helmet off. They both remained standing when the women sat down. ‘There is a range of housing on the island. Some of the better dorms are only available to students with parents who can afford to subsidise their children’s education, but everything is new and of good quality.’

  ‘Right,’ Cygnus said. ‘So, we aren’t sending the Union’s students here because?’

  ‘There’s the language barrier,’ Brightstar said. ‘That’s not insurmountable, obviously. However, the Japanese education system is…’

  ‘Stressful,’ Andrea said. ‘I read manga, remember? If I remember right, even Japanese kids who’ve spent time in foreign education tend to have trouble re-assimilating. It’s a long school year of long days. There’s quite a lot of pressure to succeed.’

  ‘And, in some ways, there is more pressure here,’ San said. ‘Everyone here is either an Ultra or has genes which could make them an Ultra. Not everyone who could develop powers does, but the environment of Urutoraakademī is designed to help as many as possible express whatever ability they might have.’

  ‘They do not perform experiments to create Ultras,’ Whisper put in a little quickly. ‘Well, unless you consider the whole academy as an experiment. The idea is to create a place where there is no social pressure to not express your powers.’

  ‘I get the idea,’ Andrea said, nodding. ‘Someone who can make twelve copies of herself doesn’t get called a freak.’

  ‘Yes,’ San said. ‘Here, Onēsan is a valued student. She can learn to defend herself without censure. There are judo clubs in many schools, but jujutsu is another matter.’

  Whisper’s helmet nodded. Presumably his head did likewise. ‘Urutoraakademī has a kenjutsu club rather than a kendo club.’ His hand wrapped around the hilt of the katana he had slung at his waist via a couple of cords. While he seemed to be some sort of ninja, he was not a typical one. He wore a tunic of sorts which appeared to be made of some form of ballistic cloth and was quite loosely fitted. It even had a cowled neck. Similarly, the trousers he wore were quite baggy and came with carbon fibre knee pads. On his feet were some combination of sneakers and more traditional, split-toed slippers. There was a backpack attached to his tunic by plastic clips rather than just straps, and there was the katana which Andrea had been eyeing since she had arrived. His muscular arms were bare, though he wore flexible gloves with some padding over the knuckles. The helmet was smooth and
black and very modern-looking. In all, he looked like a very modern ninja, if that was what he was.

  ‘So, basically,’ Cygnus said, ‘this place wouldn’t go down well with Western-educated children?’

  ‘That was our thought,’ Brightstar replied.

  ‘I guess it’ll be interesting to see how things work out here. How’s the clean-up going? You still don’t need me or Andrea?’

  ‘Actually,’ Adamantium said, ‘there might be something Andrea could help with…’

  ~~~

  Tokyo’s subway. Clean, bright, modern, and notoriously overcrowded. Right now, the Toei Ōedo line was not crowded with passengers, at least not where Adamantium had brought Cygnus and Andrea to. There was something of a crowd, but they were all rescue workers trying to clear fallen rock and concrete.

  ‘It’s made more difficult by the need to shore up the roof as they go,’ Adamantium said. ‘It’s going to be some time before this section of the line is useable again, unfortunately. They are still maintaining service on either side of the blockage, but we think there are people trapped in there.’

  ‘If the earthquake had come an hour earlier, even thirty minutes, the line would have been shut down and there would be no problem.’ San had been replaced by Go, the fifth copy, who was monitoring the rescue efforts in case the rescuers needed rescuing. It was impossible to tell the difference, aside from the layer of dust Go was wearing along with a hardhat. ‘As it is, the company is sure that one of their trains was in the affected area when the roof came down.’

  ‘No idea of the number of passengers?’ Cygnus asked.

  ‘Only a general figure. It was early and the train would not have been full.’

  ‘And, practically,’ Adamantium went on, ‘we don’t know if there are any survivors. We don’t know the extent of the cave-in.’

  ‘But it’s probably dark in there,’ Andrea said, ‘so I can go in and look. You should’ve called me sooner, Adam. I could’ve been here in a minute.’