บท 82: Chapter 81: Always Trust in the New God

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"Funny. I guess destiny isn't the path chosen for us, but the path we chose for ourselves."

- Megamind, (Megamind)

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"Magic? You can't be serious," Reed finally said, his voice heavy with skepticism.

"I am dead serious, Reed. Magic is just another form of energy, another set of rules and laws. It's not as chaotic as you might think. It is similar to science in some ways. In fact, it can be incredibly precise and reliable when wielded correctly. It's actually very useful when it comes to healing and illusions." I responded with a confident smile.

Hearing my words, Ben finally stepped forward with a determined expression, his bald rocky face etched with a tinge of hope. "If there's a chance—any chance—this can work, I want to try it. I've had enough of looking like a monster. Even if your magic would kill me, it would be better than living like a piece of rock for the rest of my life... Just tell me, what do I have to do?"

"Nothing much, all you have to do is just stand still. I've studied and practiced magic for..., months. But I wouldn't have suggested this if I didn't have absolute confidence in its safety. Plus, I am not exactly going to do anything to your body directly, I am simply going to cast an illusion spell on you that will make your body seem and feel like a normal human body made of flesh and skin. It should be a good temporary solution while Reed here can tweak the MX-1 serum to suit your unique condition.

I am sure with the help of the formula and some of the experts I know in the field of mutation, he can easily come up with something that will not just enable you to go back to your past looks but also let you keep your powers as well. After all, if the serum works perfectly on metahumans, there is no reason, it won't work on mutates or parahumans." I suggested while mentally casting the Lumos spell to materialize a small ball of light inside my palms to give him some confidence about my magic.

"Do it. I trust you." Ben agreed with a determined nod after thoughtfully staring at the blue light in my hands for a few seconds.

"As you wish. By the way, this might tickle a little." I said before pointing my right hand's index finger at Ben. "Humano Transfiguratus!" I cast with a smooth, circular motion of my finger followed by a sharp flick downwards.

Immediately, some of the magic stored inside me was consumed and a blue light left through my finger, entering Ben's body. As soon as the light came in contact with his body, a golden glow began to cover every inch of his rocky physique without delay, enveloping him in the spell's magic. A few seconds was all it took for the glow to reach its peak, glowing brighter than even the brightest lamps, before gradually dimming again. Once the light faded, the figure of the Thing was no longer visible. Instead, it was Benjamin Grimm who stood in its place, no longer looking like a monster but a man—a normal human man... albeit with a chin that was slightly more square and solid than it originally was before his mutation.

Seeing Ben recover from the magical light, Susan was the first one to rush forward, pulling him into a tight embrace. "It worked! You look... exactly the same, Ben, just as you looked before the incident, a normal human. I am so happy for you. Welcome back!" she exclaimed in joy, feeling happy for the guy whom she considered her elder brother.

"I... I can't believe it," Ben whispered while still being hugged by Susan, his voice choking with various emotions. He quickly started running his hands all over his body, happily feeling his smooth skin and the absence of the rocky exterior that had plagued him for the last few days. Tears of joy welled up in his eyes as he slowly looked up at me after he was done checking himself. "Thank you. I don't know how to ever repay you." He acknowledged with a small bow of his head.

"No need for repayment, man. After all, it was partly my fault as well that the storm affected you to such a degree. If I hadn't left you guys alone, then maybe I could have better protected you all against the cosmic energy radiation of the space storm... Anyway, what's happened has happened, no need to fret about it now. However, always remember Ben, beauty doesn't just come from appearance but from your heart as well. Looking handsome is good for self-confidence and all but if someone doesn't accept you just because you don't look good, then they don't deserve you in the first place. Friendship and love should be about the heart, not the face." I advised, hoping that he wouldn't go crawling back to the people who rejected him because of his inhuman appearance, now that he has gotten his original looks back as that would be truly pathetic.

"Yeah, I understand. This is a new beginning," he said, his voice filled with emotion. "I won't waste it. And I won't forget what you've done for me, Atem. It is because of your magic that I feel the same as before. Your magic succeeded where even science failed." Ben responded while looking at me with a newfound sense of gratitude before looking at Red and Susan. "And I want to apologize for my previous behavior as well... I shouldn't have yelled at you when you guys were obviously doing your best while also dealing with your own problems... Oh, and trying to kill myself was an even worse decision. I am sorry for making you guys worry."

After observing Ben's change for some time and hearing his words, Reed finally gave in and slowly approached us, his expression a weird mix of defeat and... relief. "Ben, this is incredible, I am really happy for you, Congratulations... And, Atem, I don't know how you did it but thank you for your help, we... I appreciate it." He said with genuine gratitude in his voice.

In reply to his gratitude, however, I just gave a modest nod. "As I said, magic is just another form of energy and I'm glad I could help you with it. However, I would recommend that you start working on that serum for all of you as soon as possible. The spell that I cast on Ben is only supposed to act as an illusion. He might look and feel like a normal human being but in reality, his body is still made of rocks.

Certain spells or objects that affect magic can always cancel the spell. There might also be a lot of "special" people who can see through magic as well. In that case, Ben won't be able to hide his true appearance from them with just magic alone. The serum, however, should let him keep both his powers and his original human appearance if not transform from his human form to his... 'Thing' form directly if it succeeds."

The truth was that the polyjuice potion could probably do the job of changing his mutated body into that of a normal human one just as well too but compared to the serum, it was only a temporary solution. Even if I were to tweak the formula of the polyjuice potions to extend its effects, he would still have to take it every few days if not hours to keep its effects which could potentially turn him into a junkie. So, it was much better for him to have a one-shot serum that would get rid of all of his problems altogether. Until then, this illusion spell I cast on him was good enough. I used enough mana to make the spell last a year at least, so I didn't have to worry about the charm losing its effect before the serum was ready.

"I understand. I will start working on the serum as soon as you send me the formula. I won't screw up this time... not again" Reed muttered the last part more to himself than us as he stared at his best friend's happy face.

Suddenly the pod where Johnny was training his powers opened with a *Swoosh* sound. "Man, did you guys see that? I think I just went supernova in there. I think I am officially the hottest person on this planet." Johnny Storm in all his naked glory walked out of the pod with a massive grin.

"... Oh, hey Atem. Good to see you again, dude. I was thinking of texting you. That documentary video we shot in space, broke the internet. Because of that and my powers, I have never been more famous in my life; can you believe it? However, people are even more curious about you after they see you blow up that huge green giant with a single punch that day. Do you think you can do a talk show with me? I am pretty sure that we can even garner hundreds of millions of views with it." Johnny seemed more excited than I had ever seen him before as he talked. However, all that excitement suddenly vanished all of a sudden as his eyes fell on the human form of Benjamin Grimm standing quietly in the corner while staring at him.

"... Am I dreaming, or did Ben suddenly go from being an ugly bag of rocks to being an ugly bag of flesh? How the hell did this happen and how long was I in there for?" Johnny asked, looking at his sister for some explanation.

"Atem used some sort of magic spell." Susan simply stated without going into the details.

"... Oh..., that actually explains it perfectly." Johnny nodded wisely without trying to question his sister's words. After somewhat understanding the situation, he suddenly clapped Ben on the back while grinning from ear to ear. "Welcome back to the land of the barely handsome, buddy!" He joked.

"I don't know if I should be flattered or not by that, but still thanks. Feeling human skin on me does feel good... although for some reason, my jaw feels a little weird," Ben exclaimed while trying to adjust his jaw. "Do any of you think there is something wrong with it?"

"... What are you talking about, man? You look perfectly fine, just like how you looked before the accident." I quickly answered with a straight face, not bothering to mention the fact that I might have mistakenly "taken some inspiration" from the face of the internet's most well-known Giga Chad while casting the disguise illusion spell on Ben.

Well, not like he will be suffering any disadvantages for it. In fact, he might just get a bit luckier with the ladies because of that.

"Well, now that Ben finally has his ugly face made of flesh and bones back, let's celebrate this moment. It's not every day someone gets a second chance directly from a god." Johnny declared while trying to pull Ben into a side hug although he failed to even budge him since Ben still had access to his complete strength despite the active illusion.

"Well for once, I agree. A party is long due, especially since our mission in space was technically a success as we not only got all the data, we wanted but much more." Susan agreed with her brother which was honestly quite a rare sight to see. "What about you, Atem? You are going to join us, right? Come on, we will have a lot of fun." She tried to convince me with a seductive look on her face before holding one of my arms to coax me into staying.

"... Well, since you all are insisting so much, I guess I can stay with you guys for a few hours to celebrate our success. As your boss, it is supposed to be my duty to encourage you guys after all... Also, I should let loose a little before I have to go to war tomorrow and annihilate an entire alien race." I stretched my body while casually dropping the so-called bomb on them.

"... That's a joke, right?" Reed was the first one to ask with an awkward chuckle as he looked at everyone else, hoping to see them laughing before looking at my own stoic face, expecting me to agree with his words.

"Who knows? Let's just have some fun for now. We can always worry about tomorrow later"

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