Chapter 24: Explaining...
~Omniscient Pov, an hour later...~
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"Amber called me 22 times?... Ahh... I already feel like crap." My phone had missed calls from my boss too.
Ezra sighed as he stared at the phone screen, the missed calls and unread messages weighing on his mind. He knew he couldn't ignore them any longer, but the thought of facing Amber and his boss after everything that had happened was surprisingly hard to do.
He ran a hand through his now-red hair, feeling the changes in his body still settling in. His reflection in the mirror earlier had been slightly startling, but it was the internal changes that concerned him more. At this point, he knew he needed to get a grip on his new abilities before even thinking about going back to what he was doing before.
But first, he had to deal with the immediate problem. Ezra reluctantly picked up his phone and dialed Amber's number. The phone rang twice before she picked up.
"E-Ezra! Where have you been? I've been worried sick!" He could tell Amber's voice was both of relief and somewhat justified anger.
"I'm sorry, Amber," Ezra replied, trying to sound as calm as possible. "I've been dealing with some... Things, I was sick and had some personal stuff I needed to deal with... Essentially, I needed some time to adjust."
It was both the truth and a lie.
"Things? What do you mean? You know what, that doesn't even matter, are you okay?" Amber's tone softened slightly, concern far more evident in her voice now. He felt even worse now. He really should have said something to her at least.
"Hehe... I'm okay, Amber. It's hard to explain over the phone. Can we meet later? I'll explain everything."
There was a pause on the other end, "Wait, Ezra... I live across the border. It takes time to get across the bridge. So just tell me over the phone." He thought about it for a bit.
"No, it's fine... I wanted to come to see you anyway, so don't worry about the border, I have my ways..." He said.
"Hmmm... Alright, but you better have a good explanation. And you need to call your boss. He's been looking for you for a while now, and he seems pretty worried too, while you get that done, I'll send you my address."
"Alright, I will. Thanks, Amber. I'll see you later."
Ezra took a deep breath and dialed his boss's number. After a couple of rings, his boss answered, his voice filled with concern rather than anger. "Ezra, finally! Where have you been? We've been worried about you."
"I'm really sorry for my absence, sir," Ezra began, his voice steady but regretful. "I had some personal issues to deal with, and I needed some time to adjust. I know it's been a month, and I should have contacted you sooner."
There was a pause on the other end, the silence heavy with concern. "A month? Ezra, we've been in chaos here without you. What's going on? Are you alright?"
Ezra took another deep breath. "I understand, and I apologize for the inconvenience. But I've come to a decision. I need to quit. My circumstances have changed significantly, and I can't continue in my role."
"Quit? Are you sure, Ezra?" His boss's voice was filled with genuine worry and empathy. "If there's anything we can do to help, you know we will. You've been an invaluable part of the team."
"Yes, I'm sure," Ezra replied, trying to keep his tone calm. "I appreciate everything the company has done for me, but this is something I need to do for myself. I'm sorry for the abruptness and for any difficulties my absence has caused."
There was a long pause... "I understand, Ezra. Your well-being comes first. If you ever need anything or if your situation changes, our doors are always open for you."
Ezra smiled, "Thank you, sir. That means a lot to me... I'll make sure to help with the transition in any way I can from here," Ezra said, feeling a mix of relief and gratitude.
"Take care of yourself kiddo. And remember that you have friends here who care about you. Don't hesitate to reach out if you need support." his boss said warmly.
"Thank you. And thank you for understanding," Ezra replied before ending the call...
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Ezra looked around his apartment for a bit and looked towards the entrance of his bunker. He thought about his current situation for a second, quickly realizing he wasn't in a particularly good position at all...
"Should... Should I just move?' He asked himself.
'It might be best I cut ties with this city. Even if the heroes stopped looking for me themselves. They're definitely still on high alert either way..." He weighed his current options and decided it was probably for the best.
He knew it would be a good time to both move on with his life and move out since no one suspected him now. It was easy to forge a new identity, the only thing he had to do was to dye his hair back to black and buy new contact lenses.
'I should be out in half an hour, an hour at most.' He checked his watch, seeing 10 am...
"Good... My only real problem is my passive radiation absorption. But if I go out fully in the day, the curvature of the rays should be unnoticeable, at least theoretically speaking." He sighed and walked towards his front door. He opened it. And just like earlier, he felt the sun empowering him nearly instantly.
However, that isn't what he was trying to test. It was the fact that the absorption was no longer noticeable, at least for a regular human, but the longer he stood in the sun, the greater his overall senses became. His physique and mental faculties were already improving the longer he stood out in the open...
Earlier, he just stuck out his hand to get a taste of it, now? It was his entire body, and the difference was massive.
Yet, strangely enough, the changes weren't overwhelming him. It feels as if he has total control of everything so far instinctually. His mind could follow each change and respond accordingly...
Taking this chance; he placed back the imaginary restrictions he had his body under, but now? He could reap much more benefits out of it compared to before. Last time, he could only place weights on five main sections of his body; His torso, both his arms as well as his legs, but now, the force was equally being distributed around himself on all parts, including the smallest of crevices, to his very fingertips.
He continued to increase the pressure on his physique, causing him to return to a normal human level of strength. However, his mind would also compensate for the constant growth under the sun. So it was essentially auto-adjusting, and the strain and fatigue wasn't even there anymore...
After a minute, when he finished, he let out a huff of breath, "It looks like I'll be fi-" However, just as he was about to say the last word, he saw a bit of his hair, rather a strand of it was enough.
"It's... Is it glowing even redder? Shit!" He saw his hair becoming more bio-luminescent as he spoke.
"Instantly he headed back inside, 'Damn...' He sighed, 'This is probably caused by the solar radiation I was absorbing... No coincidence that the moment I step out in the sun my hair starts glowing, with an unrealistic shade of red.' He scoffed at the thought for a bit.
"This might be genuine a problem..." His plans would definitely have to be sped up now, and he definitely needed to leave here. He could likely handle the power bit. For some reason, he was nothing short of supernaturally gifted with control over his fast-growing powers; which, he was sure was because of his new blood. It gave him freakish control.
Ad what terrified him was the fact that the energies in his body, both his electricity, as well as his solar radiation were growing in tandem. As bad as the situation was, he really wanted to test out his powers...
"Alright man, wake the hell up, no time to be drunk on it." He calmed himself down. The only way out of his situation was to go past the border at night. At least, he'll have time to set up a new identity by then.
'ECHO, I feel like I'm gonna have a long road ahead of me...' He thought tiredly.
[I feel so too as well master... I feel so as well; on the bright side we can train you up even further than before, so this is good.]
He sighed, 'I'm glad you seem happy...' He just walked towards his bunker again to get this over with.
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~Omniscient Pov, a few hours later...~
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"Wait—So let me get this all straight... We're supposed to keep looking for a guy, that we don't know even fully exists, other than a few rumors, sightings, and Flash of all people saying he met him? No offense Flash." A man in a green suit with a ring symbol embedded in his chest stated.
He looked around the room, his skepticism mirrored in the faces of his fellow heroes sitting there as well. The atmosphere was filled with a mix of either curiosity or doubt. Likely the latter taking hold...
Sensing this, the dark knight responded, "That's right..." Batman responded, his voice calm and measured. "Flash's encounter is the most concrete lead we have. We can't afford to ignore it."
John Stewart, the Green Lantern, crossed his arms and sighed. "Alright, but what exactly did Flash see? And why are we taking this so seriously?"
Flash stepped forward, his expression earnest, "Look, I know it sounds crazy so I won't take what you said earlier to heart... but I saw him. He moved faster than anything I've ever encountered, and there was something... different about him. He wasn't like any of the guys we've seen before. I could just, tell."
"You can just tell... Right... How long has everyone been searching for this guy again?" He asked.
"Around 2 months, now, give or take..." Superman sighed and answered. Causing John to widen his eyes.
"2 whole months and nothing? This guy must be damn good then if you all can't track him down, though... What makes you guys sure, or even think he exists anyway?"
"I agree, what's your answer?" Hawkgirl asked as well.
Batman's glare just sharpened for a moment, " It's because of the signs, or the lack thereof. He's gone cold ever since we started searching for him. Factoring that Flash spotted him, and told him things he didn't need to hear." He glanced towards the speedster, causing the latter to sulk a bit.
He then continued, "This likely made him highly suspicious of us. However, that was his grace mistake... It's because of his lack of activity that made him so obvious. He hasn't just gone cold. He's been off the map without even being mentioned anymore, which is the longest time he's ever been off-duty, at least; according to the dates and files we matched back for the past year and few months..."
"Hence, we believe he's real, he's just very good at being himself." Wonderwoman finished it for him.
"Yeah, a real Enigma." Aquaman also added.
The lantern just rubbed his head for a moment, trying to take this all in. He initially took a few months off to rest for a while and sort himself out with some recent drama in his life.
But being called back because of a guy they think, or likely exists, or whatever other term they found suitable, was just plain annoying; but they were his teammates, and with Batman vouching, they were all right.
"How many other heroes know about this?" John asked, rubbing his temples while also sighing.
"Just as you see in the room... Regardless, the search is technically over. We just wanted to tell you to keep yourself alert for any unusual signs, especially ones that concerned him." Batman stated.
"Alright, that shouldn't be too bad... Will do I suppose." John agreed.
"I will do my best as well. If that is all, I'll take my leave..." Hawkgirl said, leaving right after.
On the other hand, John looked at her fleeting figure, and simply shook his head, with his hands clenched...
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END
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