Third Person P.O.V.
"It seems the way you fly - or glide - is by the creation of a bio-electric field that allows you to 'ride' Earth's own electromagnetic field, killing your momentum… An even more advanced version of the 'stick to walls' schmuck that all spider heroes do, that Eidolon talked to me about." Melati Kusuna, aka Komodo, the lizard scientist, explains after analyzing the exams and tests made on Jessica Drew "It's incredible, really! The Van Der Waals principle is going beyond attracting molecules and creating adhesion; your body can interact and create bonds with air molecules, almost like creating buoyancy!" She exclaims excitedly while looking at one screen and another.
"I am a little out of my depth now." Spider-Woman comments, not understanding half of it.
"You just need to know that your body has an abnormal air resistance. There are cases of spiders that can fly, but they are really just taking advantage of their small weight, webs, and the strong wind…" Komodo explains "It's unnatural, it's like someone got the biological abilities of a spider and adapted in a way to make sense in a human body, with physics!"
"Okay, I'm glad it makes a little sense." Spider-Woman says "And glad I have something to compensate for the lack of natural webs." She adds with a light humor
"Not only that! It seems you can emit pheromonones." Komodo adds
"What?! I thought that was her thing!" Jessica exclaims, pointing at Cindy.
"..." Silk stares at her with deadpan eyes.
"No, no. I understand what happened with Spider-Man, but you are the one who is really emitting pheromones. A little all the time… Did you notice that ahem some people - especially men - have been nicer to you?" Komodo gives her a strange look
"Well… It happened, but … Look, not ot brag, but I'm kinda hot, even more now, so I thought it was only because of that." Jessica says while running a hand through her curves "Oh man, a blow to my confidence…"
"Don't be so hard on yourself, the pheromonones that you are emitting naturally are very mild, just passing some pleasant feeling to the people nearby, triggering the orbitofrontal cortex. Apparently, you can control it. I observed during the tests the changes in certain situations… but if you got attention from men, it was probably because you are hot." Komodo explains
"That is better… wait, I can control it? And it works with everyone? Not just Spider-People?"
"Yes, there are cases of spiders that adopt frogs to take care of their eggs. They do that in a symbiotic mutualistic relationship. The spiders tame the frogs and remind themselves not to eat them by rubbing their scent on them. The frogs are babysitters, coming back every season, protecting the eggs from insects that can harm them while being protected by the spiders." Komodo says
"Oooh, that is cool. Maybe I should watch more National Geographic about spiders." Jessica says
"I did that with lizards." the scientist chuckles. Then she turns to Cindy "Now, silk… You don't seem to have pheromones that can work on everyone, but you are pretty hot, so you don't need that, too." She says without filter.
"..."
"But your own production of webs is pretty incredible, and that thing, that… Spider-Sense is very advanced. Your super spatial awareness appears to be linked with that too." Komodo continues, "About your webs, I will recommend keeping a balanced diet, because they depend on your body…"
She starts explaining the reactions that the bodies of the two spider girls have with different foods, chemical products and etc. After more or less half an hour, the talk shifted to the results of the tests and the biological changes…
"It doesn't look like any of you are developing cancer anytime soon…"
"Thank god."
"But it will be good to keep doing tests every six months."
"I'm okay with that." Silk says calmly
"Me too."
"Good, good. Now, here is the thing Eidolon told me to give to you, Spider-Woman." Komodo moves to a table and grabs a suitcase beneath it before putting it on the table.. The red and yellow suitcase has a spider symbol.
"Go on, open it. I'm not allowed to." The lizard scientist says, nudging the suitcase toward her.
"It must be the web-shooters he told me." Jessica comments, pressing the spider symbol.
She almost jumped when a light was emitted from it and scanned her and everyone in the room, it stopped on her and beeped before the suitcase opened with a "Tss".
The suitcase opened like a laptop, and the bust of her super suit jumped from it. The web-shooters are on each side, and there are buttons and a screen behind them. There is also a small and thin book that Jessica grabs and opens.
"Instructions…" She comments "How to change the password, how to use the web-shooters, how to recharge it…." And then she puts the book aside. "Another costume? Why?"
"It must be a better version.. He gave me this one. Red Hood, at least…" Cindy comments, raising her arm to show her suit. It's visible that it is of a different quality, much superior.
"It's UMF, Unstable Molecule Fabric, the same thing the Fantastic Four uses. It's very good for anyone with powers, very elastic, and adapts very well. And super resistant too." Komodo explains.
"Well, that is nice… "Jessica says with a strange tone "But how does he know my size?"
"..."
"..."
"He has good eyes…" Cindy suggests
"It stretches." Komodo adds, pointing at the suit.
Jessica fumbles with some buttons, removes the web-shooters and tries a little, and even makes a holographic image of her costume to appear.
"What are those things on my armpits?" Jessica says horrified "It's him making fun of me? Do I stink? Is it because of the pheromones?" She is starting to stress out, even sniffing her armpits
"I think… It's a patagium." Komodo says
"A what?"
"That membrane that squirrels use to soften the fall, people who go skydiving use something similar… He… This will work perfectly with your gliding ability! The UMF will act like a second skin, your bio-electric field extending over it, and your air resistance will be much greater because there is a bigger surface! Nice design! Genius work!" Komodo praises excitedly
"...But how did he know?" Jessica asks slowly, her voice strange again. Eidolon is starting to scare her.
"It's those eyes of his! Eidolon is the greatest specialist in the powers of the world, he told me when I met him. He must have identified how your powers work on your first meeting!" Komodo exclaims, pointing at her own eyes
"Then why go through all those tests?" Jesica asks
"Well, better be sure." The scientist shrugs "Maybe he doesn't want to use his X-Ray vision on you and ended up seeing your tarantula." Her sly smile is full of sharp teeth.
"It's not a tarantula!"
"Okay, good to know…" Komodo laughs and starts typing on her computer
"Don't write that down!"
...….
"Okay… I admit… It's much more comfortable." Jessica says, half an hour later, after she changed clothes "So breathable… Wow! My ass is nice on this thing~" She poses in front of a big mirror, looking behind her to check everything. "I will need to get used to those things though…" She flaps her "Wings" under her armpits.
"Well girls, it's nice knowing you, but it's well past midnight, you all should go home to get some sleep, even if it's on a weekend." Komodo says "I'm a little nocturnal now, but I think is because of the naps I'm taking after lunch."
"It's already this late?? Damn!" Jessica exclaims "Nice knowing you, girl."
"Yes." Cindy nods
"Thank you, come back for anything, like repairs of the costume, refill of the web-shooters, or just to talk…" Komodo smiles widely, her sharp teeth showing. "By the way, sorry if I offended you in some way. Since my transformation, I kinda lost my filter. Eidolon theorized that maybe I lost some inhibitions, you know? Different chemicals in the brain, certain things are not so important… like social conventions or boundaries."
"It's good." Cindy says "You didn't offend me."
"Yep, you are good." Jessica says
"Truth be told…" Komodo smiles and whispers conspiratorially at them "I don't think my brain changed, I'm just using this as a convenience excuse. Hahaha. You know, after regaining my legs and becoming this…" She gestures to her body "It was like a rebirth… how many people have a second chance? I don't feel like wasting it tiptoeing around other people's feelings. Hahaha!" She laughs loudly
"You are very upbeat, it's refreshing really." Jessica can't help but smile. Komodo is very positive despite her situation, seeing the best of it instead of focusing on the worst.
"As long as you are happy." Cindy is also happy for her
"Bye, girls! Come back even if just for some chit-chat!" The lizard scientist gives a big hug to the two, her scaly arms encircle them.
"Okay, I will." Cindy says, patting the lizard woman's back
"Not that many people that I can talk about this double life… it will be cool." Jessica also says.
"Don't worry, I will not eat you guys. I can control my lizard instincts." Komodo assures them. Some lizards eat spiders.
"..."
"I was not worried about that…" Jessica deadpans "Should I?"
....
Eidolon P.O.V.
I rest my chin between my thumb and index finger while I observe the Wendigo struggle against his adamantium bindings, hanging from the ceiling by his limbs. The beast doesn't have leverage to do much, but he is not giving up.
"ROOOAAAARRR!!!" He balances and gets very close to my face.
"..." But I don't flinch, letting it breathe wash over me harmlessly. I used a shield just to protect myself from the smell.
I extracted some samples, but I couldn't find a match with anyone in any database. The transformation really changed him. Only with my All Seeing Eyes of God that I'm able to peek in the human form beneath all the wild fur, muscles, and magic curse.
A little search later, after sending an image to Cortana with my Technopathy, she found the guy… Paul Cartier.
There's nothing extraordinary about the average blonde male. No incredible background or any connection with anyone important. His missing case was some weeks old, the worrying thing is that he didn't disappear alone.
Well, that much is obvious… If he became a Wendigo, it means he ate the flesh of another human, so he was hunting with someone, and a crisis happened. The problem is that he hunted with two other friends.
Georges Baptiste and Henri Cluzot are listed together with him on the missing case. The search was paused because of the snowstorms. I will search for their remains later. Paul must have eaten one and killed the other after transforming.
"You three went too deep into the wilderness…" I say, I can see the soul of Paul Cartier moving just a little, the Wendigo gets annoyed at my voice. "What? Does the mention of your friends hurt your feelings? Didn't you eat them?"
"ROOOOOOAAAARRRRR!!!!"
"..." A soul is such a strong and precious thing. Paul Cartier has no control over this, but he is still the base, the root of all… It still influences him. Thinking a little, I think the Wendigo was going back home.
A quick search later, and my suspicion was confirmed… Yep, his home was some cities further along the route he was taking. Paul has a sister; he probably is going back to her, his last family member.
"Worried about Marie?" I ask
"ROOOOAAARR!!!"
Yep, it's just a little, but Paul Cartier's soul is still resonating with the beast.
"Sorry, I'm not so optimistic to believe that you can get control of it with the power of love or some shit like that…" I say before removing the Lasso of Truth from my Inventory. "This may hurt a little."
A snap of my wrist later, and the golden lasso circles the beast. The Lasso of Truth does more than compel people to tell the truth; it can bring forth people's true selves, breaking mind control, possessions, and even curses.
But…
"ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGGGGGHHHHHHGHGH!!!!!!!"
…it's not gentle.
As the lasso shines in a golden light, the Wendigo trashes and roars in pain. It's like when people refuse to tell the truth while imprisoned by the lasso, but a thousandfold.
Changes start happening, the fur disappears in some places, the muscles shrivel, and the sounds he makes start sounding like something that is escaping a human throat, but…
"ROOOooaaaarRRR!"
"..." It's not finishing the process. When one part shrinks, the other grows, fur disappears and reappears in waves, while his body deforms randomly. It's a bizarre and stomach-churning sight.
I remove the lasso with a click of my tongue. I am only making him suffer at this rate.
"This curse is pretty strong to resist this lasso, big guy." I comment, genuinely surprised.
Then I remove the Sword of Actuation from my inventory, but I stop myself.
It's not safe… the Sword of Actuation is not the Devil Blade Yamato, it's not specialized in separating things, it's good in "tearing" things apart, and it is not "clean".
I still remember the damage to Thor after I tore apart the spell Amora put on him. Thor told me he spent some time recovering from that… even the space that I cut remains unstable for a lot of time.
There are other ways that I can try. Removing his soul and making another body, for example… But none is safe. This curse is latched onto his soul, too. He would simply mutate the new body eventually.
"Crazy Diamond Powers don't work on magic curses… Already tried on Limbo." Stand powers in general are not good with Magic.
I can maybe extract the curse with some magic or the Soru Soru no Mi, but it is equally risky.
PAH A palm strike on his chest, and Paul's astral form is forced out of the Wendigo body… Already tried it, and it didn't work before, and it didn't work now. Some white and red strands keep the body connected with the astral form; it's sticky and nasty, like spider webs…
I raise the Sword of Actuation again and start cutting, but I didn't go that far because his soul starts dimming and flickering, like it's gonna disappear.
"..." When I stop, the astral form goes back to the body.
Well, I can only dump him in more capable hands…
......
"Hey, Ancient One… Think fast." BoomCrash I unceremoniously throw the 3-meter-tall furry monster at the guy while he is supervising some disciples.
The guy simply waves his hand to the side dismissively, and the thing is redirected to the side, where it crashes on the ground.
"A wendigo, huh? Nasty creature…" He comments without caring about the fact that I threw it at him. I'm still a little annoyed with him.
"I noticed. Any way to cure him? None of my methods pass the Geneva Convention standards."
"I'm not surprised. Do you know who created the curse?" He asks while looking down on the sleeping beast.
"The Elder Gods, right? Using Tanaraq as a template."
"Yes, but the specific Elder God is a problematic fella. Chthon himself creates the Wendigo, apparently a part of the N'garai."
"Chthon? That explains a lot…" The guy is on a whole other level. If I'm not wrong, he is the Original Demon of Marvel, if we put aside The One Below All. "Do you have a way?" I ask again
"Like in Medicine, when you know the origin of the affliction, things become a little simpler. Some exorcism spells can deal with it, even you can do it." He says that last part like I'm some sort of idiot.
"..."
While I was staring at him with a deadpan face, he made the Wendigo float and called for me.
......…..
After following him and grabbing Raven on the way, we found a very unassuming room. Apparently, a place to train and practice dangerous spells, or to go into isolation training like some sort of cultivator.
"Here." The Ancient One passed a book to me while making the Wendigo float, his limbs stretched in an "X".
Opening the book, I read this one before, and I found the thing he wants me to see easily. A part describing the N'garai and a way to banish them. The Demonspawn of Chthon can be removed from our material plane with the spell at the end of the chapter.
I didn't remember this one because banishment spells exist like grains of sand on a beach. There are obvious the general ones that work in almost anything, powerful and difficult, and equally easy for the enemy to resist.
And there's also the specific ones, each to every specific creature, like to every species of outer-dimensional threat. I read a book about spells to ward off your house of imps, like they are some sort of pests. There are some against fairies, gnomes, and all kinds of creatures from folklore around the Earth.
"Are you sure it's gonna work? The Wendigo is not a N'garai per se, just a guy cursed to be something in the between." I say my worries. That is the reason why I didn't try something like this before.
"That's why we need to combine with this one…" Then he gives me another book.
"..." This fucking guy is acting mysterious… just give me all the books needed already.
The book that he gave me now, another one that I read, talks about the creation of a medium to capture spirits that try to possess someone. It's a piece of work of a warlock that captured those types of creatures to use them as materials. The book describes ways to enchant objects with the spirits, enslaving them and all that.
"..." I give the guy a look… "Give me the other one already." Those two books together make a little sense, but there's something lacking. I can feel it.
"Hehe~" He takes out another book. "Good, your magic senses are sharp. To understand what the equation is lacking even without prior knowledge… Those geniuses. They have it so easy." He shakes his head. Look who is talking…
"..." I ignore him to look at the last book. Okay, now it makes sense…
A book teaching how to "bleed" a curse out of a body and soul. If put in medical terms, it's like removing the impurities - that is the curse - like how a doctor would remove the bad blood of a swelling.
There are many methods described, like using Soul Leeches that will eat the curse or siphoning the curse to another person.
"You should have given me this one first." I roll my eyes. "I guess we are going with the 'acupuncture method', right?" I ask
"Yes, Soul Leeches are rare."
I pass the books to Raven, who says "I'm a little lost here."
I turn to her to explain "Basically, it will be a triple-layered spell. First, we are gonna 'poke' him to create an escape route to the curse, then we are gonna use the exorcism/banishing spell on his body… And because the Wendigo has no plane of origin to return, we are gonna imprison it in some receptacle while it lingers on this plane before it goes back to him."
"That looks difficult and dangerous." Raven understands things pretty easily "Especially the first part of 'poking' on his soul. It can damage him permanently."
"Don't worry, the three of us can do it. Each with a spell." The Ancient One says
"I bet you can do it alone." I comment
"But then it would not be a learning experience." He chuckles
"Eh, there's a guy transformed into a monster here…" Raven points at the wendigo. "Shouldn't we prioritize his safety instead of learning?"
"He is not in danger. With us here, in the worst-case scenario, he would lose some memories and some life expectancy." The Ancient One waves dismissively
"That sounds pretty bad." Raven replies with a raised eyebrow
"That is common with what happened with him. He can't expect to come unscathed after contracting the curse of an Elder God." The Ancient One says "It will be good for you two to learn to prepare for the day when I'm not here."
"Hmpf! You are overstaying already." I scoff, and he laughs.
In the end, we go with his plan, even though Raven is a little uncomfortable.
I think she has an issue with having people's lives in her hands. She still hasn't gone to do anything heroic till now. I will not force her, but it is a little strange. She is a good person, but apparently, she is lacking confidence.
Later, I will try to talk about her past… There's some trauma there.
After 10 minutes for us to study the spells and to synchronize our actions, we are ready.
"I'm starting…" I will be the one doing the first spell.
I go behind the Wendigo, raise my hand, and touch his back with the tip of my five fingers. Where I touch lights up with a reddish light, five dots remaining on his skin, and then they expand, going in different directions before settling. Then lines appear from them to connect the five dots into a pentagram.
The spells end with five big needles appearing on the points of the pentagram, each needle has a head with a hole from where it escapes some sort of transparent steam… The soul.
"Raven." I say, but I didn't need to warn her. She is already casting her spell.
After muttering the incantation, and for some reason her personal mantra, she pushes her right hand forward with her index and little finger sticking out.
A wind is blown from her hand and hits the wendigo, filling his mouth and nostrils; That makes a different type of gas to be pushed out of the needles, a more dense white gas, with some red mixed.
The concentration of smoke is high, accumulating on the ceiling like a big cloud. When the white smoke stops coming out and the transparent mist appears again, I make a handsign to make the needles disappear, and then the Ancient One acts.
Very casual and acting cool as always… A hand behind his back and the other just waves while holding a magic circle… The white smoke concentrates in his palm like it is being sucked by a vortex, very quickly too. It was over in an instant; he just waved his arm and at the end of his movement, the white mist condensed and was trapped into an orb the size of an orange.
Inside, it's possible to see a wendigo made of mist roaring, the red that was mixed with the white smoke before now making two very angry eyes.
"And it's done." He says.
I turn to look at our "patient". He starts shrinking and shrinking till a naked caucasian male appears.
"Cover your eyes, my wife." I put my hand in front of Raven while throwing a blanket to cover Paul and letting him down gently
"I'm not your wife, and is not like I want to see a guy's tiny dick." She rolls her eyes
"Ouch…" I feel for your Paul… But you are called Paul, you deserve nothing in this universe. "By the way, mine is much bigger, just a heads up, so you know where you are getting into." I joke.
"..." And her glare made me remember that she can shoot magic lasers from it when she loses control.
At least the Ancient One laughs, passing me the orb holding the Wendigo's curse while walking away.
"Shouldn't you keep it?" I ask, holding the thing.
"I have no use for it." he said while turning back and leaving the room.
"...me neither." I mutter, but it may be useful in the future, so I put it in my inventory. "Time to bring this guy back and search for his dead friends." I say
But to my surprise, Raven suddenly asks "Hector, I want to ask for a favor…" She says without looking at me… Is she shy? It must be…
"I'm not gonna turn into a horse."
"What?"
"What?"
"..."
"..."
"Go on… ask anything."
"..." She narrows her eyes before sighing and continuing, letting the matter rest. "It's just a favor with something, a little personal…"
"Okay." I accept immediately
"...really? You don't even know what I'm gonna ask." She gives me a side glance
"It doesn't matter, I trust you." I say. Like, how can she hurt me? She looks like the type who finds difficulty asking for favors or bothering people in general. It shouldn't be something bad. Maybe some rare and expensive materials for a spell.
"Fine then… I need to make some preparations… And you can say no when the time comes." She says quickly and equally quickly leaves, like she is running away. Is this embarrassment that I'm feeling from her?
"..." Weird… Acting like that, I will start thinking that it is some sort of tantric ritual where she will sacrifice her virginity for power, and I need to be the one to do the deed.
Unfortunately, my life is not a porn…
......
Sometimes is a horror.
"ROOOOOAAAR!!"
If I were not me would have jumped in surprise, but there's a reason horror games don't give you guns.
"So you can do camouflage too…" I speak calmly with the Wendigo that jumped me all of a sudden after I arrived at the place where Paul Cartier and his friends disappeared. "Sir, a secondo Wendigo hit the Canadian wilderness…" I joke at the same time I pass through the white-furred monstrosity, moving above him before dropping down on his back, and then using gravitational powers to keep him in place.
BOOM
It seems that of the three friends, two partake in the taboo meal that is the third friend. Or maybe the first one infected the second, probably in the beginning stages of the transformation, when the Wendigo didn't have the strength to squeeze a human like a tomato.
"Graah!" It roars at my feet, fighting against gravity, resisting…
Too bad to it, I beat his friend for long enough to discover which attacks work better on him. So I just strike with my palm, my fingers grabbing his forehead and sending an electric discharge to his brain.
It's not a small attack either; a pillar of lightning rises up to the sky.
This is not something I normally do, but he can take it… And he is kind of resistant to "harmless' hax that can make him sleep, so I need to be a little rough to end this quickly. He is no Hulk, and I can see him losing to people weaker than him because of his bestial mind, but he is very tough.
Bzzzzzzzzzzzt
"Raaaaargh!!"
It didn't take long before he fell unconscious. Now I can look at him with more attentiveness; my All Seeing Eyes of God allow me to see the shape of his soul and confirm that it is indeed Georges Baptiste, one of the three friends.
"That means Henri Cluzot is dead…" I sigh, feeling bad for only a moment, because I see tragedies constantly nowadays. People sometimes are just… unlucky.
The world is dangerous and unpredictable already, and they went to hunt at the beginning of winter… probably before the winter really comes, one last time before things get really dangerous, and they get caught in a snowstorm. Can't say that what they did was risk-free, but unlucky…
"I can at least lessen the tragedy here… that's why I have these powers." Getting off him, I make Georges(why is his name plural? Canadians…) float in front of me while I prepare myself.
I just learned how to deal with the curse, and I think I can do it alone, but I duplicate myself just to make sure. Two clones grow out of me, and we link minds.
I, my main body, repeat what I did before, being the one doing the "soul acupuncture", the other two do the rest.
Because of my strong and old soul, I always have a natural talent for magic… Maybe a variant of mine is a sorcerer, if he has a part of my talent. And I also start assimilating magic users, maybe not the strongest ones, but incredibly talented cheating isekai protagonists… So yes, I'm very good at Hocus Pocus things.
It goes without a problem, exactly the way we did before, albeit I did it slowly to assure the safety of Georges.
Seeing another naked man is never pleasant, but it happens more often than I would like, so I just wrap him in a thick blanket and teleport him to a hideout nearby.
"Now, let's hope I can find Henri Cluzot, or what remained of him at least…" For some reason, this forest is strange, dampening my senses - just a little - enough to be annoying but not to be a problem. There must be some ancient magic here.
So I decided not to waste time. A body will not make any sound or leak energy, the cold will also hinder the smell of propagating, so using vision is the way to go.
Using the Giro Giro no Mi, the low-key overpowered Devil Fruit that allows the user to see everything kilometers around them, I can locate the body. Hm, I miss Viola. We have a promise...
Not only is this power super OP, it can also work with other visual powers like X-Ray, so few things can hide from me, and a body is not one of them.
I see everything on a 1kilometer radius… 10 Kilometers… a 100…
A normal person's brain would overheat, but not mine; I can brute force and see everything in the same instant to spare time.
And… found it!
Not in a very good state, but at least it was not completely eaten… I sigh and teleport to the place, creating a respectable box to store the remains.
"Too bad, dude… Sorry that I'm not all-knowing." I say to the box. Did they try to shout for my help? Did the sound of the snowstorm drown his pleas? Or is this dammed little magical forest? Did they beg me to come or curse me for not coming? They probably wondered why they were not saved… I let them down… I'm probably letting many people down right at this moment.
I can't even allow myself to get depressed over it because I know that is how things are… I can't save everyone, it's obvious.
Life sometimes is a tragedy…
......
That's why I don't feel good even while I'm being thanked by Paul Cartier's sister, Marie. From a rational standpoint, I saved two out of three. Two very difficult situations. And I went beyond to save them from a horrible lifetime and maybe from being imprisoned and experimented on by whatever captured them before me. And the one that died is not even remotely my fault.
Unfortunately, reason doesn't prevail in this case; it's just what keeps me stoic to not be affected.
"Thank you… Really, thank you… I don't know how…" Marie hiccups while grabbing my hand.
Despite the tears, she is not a weak woman. She and some acquaintances are already organizing search parties on their own. Kinda badass…
"It's nothing. And I'm really sorry for…" I look at the box. Paul and Georges are already transported to the beds inside her home, hospital is called too. I don't know when they will wake up, so they will need to be under care while in a coma.
"I will talk with Henri's family…" She also looks at the box. "It will not be easy, but… but at least it is an ending to this agonizing wait…" She squeezes the last words between tears.
"..." I can understand that, too bad Henri's family got the short end of the stick. Marie must also be having conflicting feelings… Pity for the family, relief that is not her, overall sadness for Henri and them…
Good to remember that it's not just me who needs to deal with complicated feelings.
.......
Later, I came back to the United States because something rare happened.
Iron Man was jumped by some villains.
Normally, his villains plot a little better, taking away his armor, attacking him when he is defenseless, kidnapping his loved ones, or plotting against him subtly, you know? Like attacking his company, his persona, his character, media attacks, and all that…
Those things that culminate with him getting his armor and kicking ass, erasing whatever happened before, and with the return of the status quo.
But jumping him while he is travelling to Washington in his private jet? That's new… Why didn't they put a bomb on his plane? Well, Stark must check on that. They probably thought that they could get him without his armor, but the genius Playboy is also a prepared man. He had a spare armor on his private jet, and the trap became a fight.
At least they attacked him while he was landing at the airport, fewer people and fewer possible casualties. This is a little funny because I'm sure that they did it this way because of me.
Villains that are not that rabid, or strong, or the ones that are simply smart, are taking care not to pull things like this with civilians around. It's the fastest way to get my attention, after all.
I saw some memes online of people putting clips of villains, or even normal criminals, doing something dumb like hurting an old lady, and then I suddenly appear… Then they perfectly cut the video. The comments of "When you flag for PvP in a high-level area" and "When you didn't know that hurting the normal NPCs can aggro the boss" made me laugh.
It's good that people are aware of that, even though I bet many will one day use it to make a trap for me. It's a trade I'm willing to make.
So now, even though people are still dumbly watching and recording Iron Man fight two villains through the Airport Runway from the windows of the building, they are relatively safe.
I don't think Iron Man would lose, and no one is in immediate danger, so I look at the situation to see if there's nothing more. Like a bomb or some other villain… Oh, Pepper and Happy were there too! Let me see… No one is subtly trying to kidnap them… Okay.
From what I can see, it seems that it's really a personal beef with Tony Stark… What a surprise! Someone has a grudge against him? Unbelievable!
Unfortunately, as a casual Marvel fan, I don't know those two guys, but looking at their high-tech suits that give them their powers, I can guess where the grudge comes from.
They called themselves Blizzard and Firebrand, a duo of ice and fire working together against the modern iron knight.
A X-Ray peek with a search on the government's database later, I have their names… Donald Gill and Gary Gilbert. Hm? No relation? I thought they would be brothers, or lovers… Whatever.
But beyond them being very intelligent men who have ties to the tech industry, I can't find any other relation. Not even a picture or a confirmation that they are in the same place once.
Donald, who is shooting freezing rays at Stark, worked at Hammer Industries, while Gary, who is shooting fireballs, worked at Stark for some time. My detective instincts are telling me that the grudge is more than just theirs…
Someone put them on this… Someone introduced the two… Someone gave them the funding to make those, admittedly, cool power-suits.
And if someone did this… This someone must be watching right now…
I once again check everything, now much more attentively… I check the background of every person present. I go beyond and check their phones, the cameras, and where they are transmitting.
Phones, security cameras, and even satellites… Nothing can escape Cortana and me.
The network of connections appears in my mind as Cortana unravels them and makes it easy to read.
"Some people are really live-streaming or in a call with an acquaintance to show the fight." Cortana says in my mind.
"Check first the channels that have a surprisingly, and maybe unnecessarily, high security." I command. Sometimes you stand out when you try not to stand out…
"There's some." She says.
"Hm, it's expected that more people than the main culprit caught a wind of this fight so quickly, and are interested in this." Is that channel going to Latveria? I don't think that Doom is behind this; it's not his style to secretly send minions this way.
Some governments are watching, too, and spy agencies, S.H.I.E.L.D., obviously, some villains, some places that I will need to look a little more attentively… Oh, did someone just notice that I track them? They cut the communication instantly… This guy is good… I will investigate it later.
Now, Justin Hammer seems to be the biggest suspect here, the one with a reason. Meh, this doesn't interest me, those billionaires…
There's a high chance that Justin Hammer is not alone on that; the guy kinda lacks a spine and some guts, so maybe someone is pulling the strings behind him. I could go direct to the guy and read him like a book - quite literally with Heaven's Door power - but let's allow him to do his thing.
Using Stark as a bait can be a good way of fishing, and I also don't wanna get too much involved in the hero's development. Iron Man, in particular, is famous for learning from his battles and mistakes.
I will only interfere if innocents are in immediate danger… like just now!
While Iron Man is flying around, seeking a good angle to hit the Ice and Fire duo, Blizzard created a lot of ice around the airport, trying to hit him, tall constructs of ice that tower over planes and buildings.
At some point, Firebrand hit one of them, and now half of it is falling on a plane with passengers. They didn't evacuate because it seemed safe to stay put instead of trying to cross the battlefield to escape. Can't blame them. Stark did his best to keep the villain's attention away in the sky, but it was not enough.
Iron Man tries to maneuver in the air to stop the huge block of ice from falling, but the villains see that as an opening and attack him, obstructing his path. Props to the hero, he pushes forward while tanking hits.
That is when I act, faster than the eye can see, I appear between the block of ice, grab it, and let it fall on the ground harmlessly. The whole place goes silent, only the sound of the ice crashing destroys it.
I enter the hero persona, turning to the windows of the plane "Are you guys alright? Don't worry, I'm here." I say, with a corny hero voice of a Saturday cartoon.
Maybe I'm doing too much, but my half-joking tone makes people relax, seeing that the situation is not so bad that I need to get serious.
"EIDOLONN!!"
"UUHHUUUULLL!"
"Thank god…"
"LOOK OVER HERE!"
They also love the extra effort, look at those cheers, they are shouting and clapping like crazy. Sometimes I forget that I'm famous.
Now that I'm here, time to end things… people's flights are getting delayed. As a hero, after their survival, I care about people's lives in general.
"Do you want help, Iron Man?" Ask while Stark floats close to me
Predictably, he refuses my help. "Nah, I got this, just make sure people are safe so that I can get a little serious." He says cockily before his thrusters start working overtime, pushing him back to the battlefield.
"..." The guy has a big ego, but asking if he needed help was done on purpose to make him do it alone. He needs to fight his own battles, after all.
It didn't take long afterwards, the guy had some firepower in that suit of armor. After I put some force-firleds around the place, he goes at full speed to Firebrand.
He maneuvers around the fireballs and fire stream being thrown at him, spinning around like a jet while releasing some small missiles from the back of his armor. They are homing missiles, heat-seeking, probably because they explode in contact with the fireballs and even go straight to Firebrand.
The villain needs to take care of them, but at the same time, Iron Man is also upon him, sending a blast when the villain is occupied with defending himself.
Blizzard intervenes at that moment… Those guys are kinda sluggish now, maybe is my presence. The ice villain sends a wave of ice at the star, but the hero was able to use it to his advantage, making Firebrand the one caught in it.
He then flies to Blizzard, he uses a red laser from his forearm at the villain… not directly at him, but on a huge pillar of ice above him, something that the villain was using to protect himself and to hinder Stark's flighting ability.
But now the pillar is used against him… previously, Firebrand would be able to cover for him, but the guy is -half-incapacitated now. So Blizzard makes a quick shelter to protect himself and stop the huge pillar that would crush his body.
Unfortunately, Iron Man's armor is pretty fast, so he didn't even have the time to feel relieved before he received a fist of gold-titanium alloy on his face.
Thwack
Nice hook…
Now that this is over, this is a good opportunity to talk about that thing with Stark. Harley asked me to bring some heroes to therapy… that will be funny~ Hehe.
......…
In another place, using another body, I arrive at the place of that signal that disappeared quickly. I got here fast, to catch hot clues, but even so…
The place is already destroyed… I looked down on the collapsed ground that was an underground bunker, the smoke still coming out from between the cracks and rocks.
"Someone is really twitchy about getting caught," I comment, landing on the destruction and activating Crazy Diamond's Restoration power with my feet. "Hmm?"
Despite restoring the integrity of the ground, there's not much here… The person really used something to vaporize the place down to the molecules "Or teleported most of it away amidst the explosion…"
Unfortunately, to him(or her), I'm the best detective in the world… And I have cheats!
My stand, Mr. Blue Sky leaves my body and assumes position…
Turuuu
After dialing, sounds echo, and the stand moves erratically around the place before detecting something. Moody Blues is so handy… My stand starts to change form, revealing who was here before.
"Oh my, I haven't seen your face after your disappearance…" I exclaim, a smile appearing on my lips. I have only seen pictures of him before he went full emo. "Hello, Mister Sinister… I was only for you regarding your extended life on this planet."
It's probably a clone, because the guy is too careful and egomaniacal to be hanging around here, and it also doesn't have his exaggerated vampire cape.
But now I have a clue. I also have the data I got from his counterpart in Miles's world. It's not the same, but increases my chances... I let you to your own devices for far too long, Sinister.
Time to go into a gruesome hunt from one of the most annoying villains... It will be fun, I'm sure of it.
....
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