章 57: 4.11
Time: Night.
Location: Gotham, near a tower building.
The lightning arced down from the tower, from a strange machine.
"Begone pitiful mortals, Mighty Zeus smites thee!" the perpetrator crowed through a speaker system built into the tower.
It curved and came to rest in my hand, absorbed.
"That could have killed someone!" I growled.
"Yes. Can you hold against more electrical attacks?" Batman asked.
"I can do more than hold. Lightning is my caffeine." I grinned. "Shall we show this maniac his error? I'll keep his attention shielding the city, you can take him and any mooks with him down."
"Agreed. No killing!" He added, growling.
"Of course. It's your show, I'm just backup." I added grinning.
Rising into the sky I crested the building. The man posing as Zeus boggled as I glared down at him.
"Prometheus! Have you no shame? To steal fire from the gods is one thing, to steal the very bolts of Mighty Zeus? Betrayal of the worst sort! Die!!!" He roared.
Arcs of incandescent plasma lanced out incessantly as he tried to burn me from his sight with the machine. I captured each and kept them in the air around me.
"Pretender." I answered calmly. "I have met real gods. You are just a fool with a machine." I launched the 'bolts into the sky as one. "Your power is nothing. You are nothing. Now understand that your actions have consequences. Surrender and be arrested. Avoid the pain that is to come."
"Harpy, Hercules! Shoot him down!" The Zeus wannabe in a toga ordered.
A rather plain looking girl and burly guy emerged from the building, she with a sub-machinegun and Fake Hercules with a missile launcher.
A barrier was enough to stop the spray of bullets, as her gun clicked empty the big guy launched his weapon. The rocket came at me quite accurately. With a gesture it halted in the air, despite the propulsion. Sealed inside a barrier I crushed it a distance away. The explosion, compressed in the tiny space vented from the weak point I had left in the barrier, out towards the bay. It still rattled the building and cracked some windows.
I sighed.
"Harpy, really?" I looked at the girl who seemed a bit ruffled by her name. I turned to look at Fake Hercules. "The real one was a notorious rapist." I pointed out. I looked to Fake! Zeus. "Where's your wife Fake Hera?"
His face contorted into a fury. "Graaahhh!!! Die on Mighty Zeus' thunder, cretin!" He fumbled with the control panel of his machine. I saw red lights flashing. He's overloading it?
And Holy Cow! It's a massive bolt, compared to the others. The entire machine lights up as it channels the power from the city grid and numerous electricity generators into the attack. It dwarfs any electric bolt I've ever received. But I have no fear. I embrace it. I am magnetism. How can this be anything but a boon? The feeling is overwhelming, intoxicating as I'm bathed in plasma.
The machine continues to output this massive burst of power, until something sparks and then the following moment reduces it to a slagged ruin.
But I don't care, as I drink in the power coursing into me. As it fades I remain floating, electric arcs curling around my body like a Super Saiyan.
I feel great. Supercharged. No wonder Magneto liked to fight the X-men for petty reasons early on if he could face Storm regularly and soak up her bolts of electricity.
When I return focus on the tower I find Batman has already dealt with Fake! Zeus and his minions.
"Are you unharmed?" He asked.
"Never better! Really! I feel like a million bucks!" I responded, chipper. "Oh… my clothes are ruined." I add, as I notice my suit is now mostly ash. "Do you think the machine is salvageable?"
"No. This is beyond even advanced repair techniques. It's junk." He commented.
"Good!" I tore some of the copper from it's cables and wove it into a set of soft cloth-like pants and a shirt. "I don't have to worry about preserving it for reverse engineering."
"You said something earlier… that you know real gods?" Batman commented.
"Oh, yeah! Odin and Frigg! He's a bit of a jerk but he means well, Frigg is nice. And Fenris! He really strikes a chord with me!" I'm gesturing, do I gesture as I talk? "Religion in this world is weird! You go where you believe you belong! So Hell is optional! I'm currently bound for Valhalla or Frigg's garden which is cool!"
"Are you sure you are well? You seem… hyperactive." Batman suggested, eyes narrowed.
"Really, I feel great! I haven't felt this good since I could ski on school holidays! That was before my dad tried to trick me into murdering my infant aunt and then locking me in a dungeon for a year!" I blurted. I think he may be right. I'm not in my normal mood. "Maybe too much caffeine? Erm… lightning? But on the positive I feel like I could move a mountain!"
I reached out, eyes closed to the magnetic field of the Earth. I find the strongest thread and pull hard.
Gritting my teeth, I put in maximum effort!
And I feel satisfied at the result.
"I did it!" I pant.
"What did you do?!" Batman asked, concerned.
"The moon is escaping it's orbit by an inch a year! I pulled it into perfect geosynchronous orbit!" I explained proudly.
And then the world shuddered as for a moment gravity shifted into the new normal alignment.
"Whoa. Gravity quake!" I exclaimed.
"Put it back!" Batman yelled.
"Can't. I used up the boost. It'd just cause real quakes and maybe some tsunamis." I explained. Whoa… I'm coming down. That was a rush.
"You're certain you didn't pull it into a collision course?!" He demanded.
"Yeah." I rubbed the back of my head. "I was careful it didn't become a death spiral. There was an element of intuitive power… I think that was my magic."
Batman face palmed. "I'll check on the changed orbital path. If it becomes necessary I will contact you for a correction. Please don't repeat this."
I nodded. This incident is not going to be added to the plus column on Batman's list, that's certain.
"Sorry. I guess massive electrical absorption is closer to cocaine than caffeine to me?" I offered. "Live and learn. I'll avoid it if I can next time, unless I need the boost."
"Just go to your hotel. Our meeting tomorrow, I'll sign. But you will agree to avoid becoming intoxicated like this again." He growled. "It could easily become an addiction."
I agreed, nodding at his words.
"Also… aside from the ending, your behaviour in this incident was adequate." Batman admitted.
I squeed inside at the unexpected approval. For a stoic like him, that was high praise.
章 58: Dear Diary (Side story)
Written by Louise Bisset, Code Name: Archivist.
Dear Diary,
It has been some time since I have written in you and so many things have happened. May hasn't taken the sudden separation from Victor well, she has been very depressed. I admit to some sadness as well, I have become close to them both over this short but strange period of time.
It is somewhat embarrassing looking back that I had a crush on Victor, not realising his age difference. In my defence I would argue he is so collected and sure of himself I was quite confused, even more so because almost no one at that time knew his age. I blame the magazines that glossed over this.
Hearing his past explains quite a lot about his maturity, forced to grow up too fast by abusive and neglectful parents.
May too is similar, only more fragile from her own narrow escape. Remember when we first met, Diary? How she became jealous and wanted to fight? It was only after explaining with the aid of hand gestures that I have given up on Victor after learning our difference. I still admire him, maybe even still like him a little if I'm being honest, but I have decided. It was not healthy.
So instead I have become her accomplice. Helping May gain his heart… and being the responsible adult (in five months!). I have to make sure they don't go too far, after all I was shocked to learn they sleep in the same bed!
May's trauma seems to make sleep without Victor nearby difficult, suffering night terrors. So to compromise, I supervise them and sleep in their bed too. I do not do not think Victor is a wonderful pillow and I will deny this assertion strenuously.
Fleur-de-lis is quite a character, even thanking me for the supervision. She could not do so with her secret identity and yet couldn't think of a way to talk Victor into accepting a foster family. His lone lifestyle had been acceptable but with May involved she was becoming worried this would lead to underage pregnancy and scandal.
But I know Victor is very reserved about his likes and dislikes. I can see he has developed affections for all of us to a degree, perhaps his traumas or perhaps his need for self control is holding him back from showing this affection. Between us, May and I had been attempting hug attacks to bring him out of his shell, or to at least help him reconcile with his emotions but it didn't seem to be working.
Time without him has been spent with May, helping her cheer up. She hangs out with me as I enchant and teach magic.
By the way, the testing phase was an astounding success, of all the agents sent to us two were found to possess talents exceeding my expectations. One from the special forces has natural skill in shadow magic, and that aggressive Major from the Airforce who amazes me at every turn. To think she is a multi-discipline savant. Ironically all of her focuses being something different from my own talents. Evocation, Necromancy, Defense, Fire Magic itself and most unusual: she had a quirk that allows her to shorten the words and gestures these magic spells require to merely a few words. I'm intensely jealous and can clearly see this is the resume of a battlemage more than anything. Some day she will be famous, I can see it. Already her nickname is 'Pyro' as the other fellow has been dubbed 'Skulker'. It seems this was actually his original call sign as a counter-terrorist operative. He's also a fully trained sniper, because he apparently wasn't scary enough for his enemies as 'merely' a rifleman.
I don't know if I can say more here, Diary so I will list no real names for these people in the future and keep things vague for their safety.
May and Victor are different, since they're an open secret.
So after the testing a good deal of the recruits had modest to minimal talent with the two surprise gems being a big thing. After the test I gave them each a few minor spells that match their talents, but for prodigies like the Major… I got carried away. Now she has learned to control flames innately through touch and insulate herself from them. We were both shocked when she gained true powers. I suspect a magic creature in her genealogy.
As far as Skulker goes, he has learned to lengthen and deepen shadows. Soon we will go further. I can already see that I will be beyond my depth in a matter of months. I will need to teach them the basics of research and self training. Perhaps in time they will be teaching me. I can only say when they are fully trained… whoever they fight will regret the encounter for the rest of their very short lives. Yeesh.
Our new home base is coming along nicely, I picked out the shower curtains yesterday. With a lot of the… unpleasant stuff removed it is quite cosy. I'm still quite concerned by why no one has said how the monster ape and its master died, I have some bad suspicions. Victor became really withdrawn afterwards.
My training with my conjured weapons is improving, I have decent grouping with my weapons at the minimum range. The firing range is where I spend an hour before ending the day. I'm slowly getting better. Soon I'll get access to moving targets and other training areas.
In other news, Papa is doing well. He has had a slight improvement, his blood test came back with promising results. So we're hoping for the best! Yeah! Get well Papa, I love you!
…
I apologise Diary, I was cut off writing you. Something big happened!
A being comprising of dirt, an elemental I believe was sighted destroying a warehouse. With Victor away May volunteered to help. And it was a complete massacre. From beginning to end the being was just used as fertiliser for her plants. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal for an elemental but she figured out some magic tricks of her own, watching me teach mine.
She metabolised the magic that was animating the creature with her plants, reducing it to plain soil. I can honestly say… wow. I never knew her ability was magic based. Further research narrows it down to plant elemental magic 'The Green'.
Fascinating. I need to research her ability more thoroughly.
Truly, I don't know what else to say.
Besides goodnight, Diary.
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