A bone-rattling chill cut through me, reaching deep into my gut, where my Cursed Energy came from. One of the many metaphysical chains I had created when I entered binding vows rattled like someone had given it a hard tug. Then it stretched, creaking and groaning before finally snapping with a brutal crash that sent me stumbling back, shocked and more than a little worried.
Shazam felt it too. Despite what he had said, I had not been entirely sure he would survive the repercussions of breaking his vows, whatever they were, but now everything had changed.
I would not be walking away from this with information about Alex Whitmer or Ade.
In all likelihood, I would end up in some kind of cell by the time the chaos in the city was handled, and I had schemed too hard and worked even harder to let that happen. Not after everything. Not again.
My eyes darted around the clearing, bouncing from Ade's prone body to Shazam, then to my barrier.
I needed to set the pace and make a move before Shazam realized he could break my barrier if he simply tried hard enough.
My barriers could separate space, but they were not unbreakable, especially against someone who could summon divine lightning.
Shazam blurred, and suddenly, he was standing in front of me.
Shit.
I caught a fraction of the movement, which surprised me. My Cursed Energy reinforcement really was that much better.
The jump from a five-hundred-percent boost to eight hundred percent was a game-changer physically, but I was still adjusting to what it meant for my kinetic vision and Seventh Sense.
I could feel my mind and senses recalibrating in real time, processing more information.
My red, glowing eyes swept over every inch of him: the slow rise and fall of his chest, the coarse, almost leather-textured red, white, and gold uniform, and the near-endless fount of mystical energy racing up and down his body in tight arcs like a living circuit.
Shazam folded his massive hands beneath his barrel chest and looked down at me like a disappointed father.
"You're out of moves, douche bag. Surrender while I'm still asking nicely."
I frowned. I could not believe I had not noticed it earlier. The timber of his voice. His word choices. His body language. It was almost as if he were overcompensating for something despite his obvious power.
He was trying not to get found out by the Justice League. Batman must have puzzled him out a while ago and kept that information in his back pocket until he needed it.
I would be lying if I said I was not impressed.
Still, I was being stared down by a damn kid.
"What kind of food did they feed you on whatever mystical mountaintop you call home?" I asked, barely able to stop myself. I had to go through a whole evolution to reach six feet, and he was probably barely a teenager and already looked better than an Olympian bodybuilder in their prime.
Shazam's gaze hardened. "Grew up in a group home, you jackass."
"Still doesn't answer the question."
A vein pulsed on his forehead. "Why are you making this harder than it needs to be?"
"Because I can, you big baby."
I sped over to Ade, almost overshooting him. The new enhancement took some getting used to.
I shoved my hand into his chest, breaking his breastbone like glass. My fingers stopped just short of piercing his fist-sized heart, and he rasped and spat blood. Shazam punched my barrier automatically, causing it to shudder.
He looked surprised that the punch had even worked.
"Don't you dare," he warned while Ade gargled blood and spasmed around my hand.
I almost pitied him.
I pulled my hand out, ripping chunks of rib bone and muscle and giving myself a clear view of his heart. Then I produced an injection filled with a cocktail of poisons and paralytics.
"No!"
Shazam swung again, this time with lightning wreathing his fist. My barrier cracked, and a piece fell away. The opening was large enough for the gigantic man to grab the structure and begin pulling it apart.
Ade reached out and grabbed my wrist, but he was too weak. I snapped his hand aside, stabbed down, and squeezed, emptying the contents directly into his heart. He choked on the pain, the sounds coming from him completely incomprehensible.
The barrier finally shattered, and Shazam closed the distance faster than I expected and swung.
There was no cataclysmic explosion of air, dust, or earth. It felt like a love tap, yet my technique still trembled under the force. By all rights, Inverse should have collapsed, but the binding vow I had used earlier ensured I still had enough output to keep it active.
I swiped my hand and channeled Ice Formation, flaring it and pumping a massive amount of Cursed Energy into the technique. Wild ice spikes erupted outward in Shazam's direction, striking haphazardly while still managing to encase Ade.
The ice did not touch Shazam, but it bought me a layer of manufactured protection. I put Ade between us, though that hardly mattered. Shazam had his hand around me in seconds, fist cocked and ready to unleash hell, but he stopped when he saw me grinning.
"You know, nobody would blame you if you did it," I said. "Let Ade die. I already poisoned him. Catching me is obviously the priority."
He dropped his fist but did not let go of my bone armor.
"Superboy defended you," he said harshly, his body quivering. "You're just as bad as the rest of the League says you are."
"Oh, I wish I were," I said. "It would have made today a whole lot easier."
"We know about the poison," he said, his voice dripping with disgust. "The fact that you even considered it makes it clear that—"
"I am happy to keep standing here and arguing, but he is running out of time," I said, glancing at Ade. "So what is it going to be, hero? Save the terrorist or take me in?"
His grip tightened around my armor. "Seems like I can do both."
I laughed. "Can you now?"
The ice surrounding Ade began to shiver, and the dying Crucible operative started to scream.
"Okay, okay," Shazam said, shoving me back and gritting his teeth. "Just get out of here."
I obliged with a bow and a wink, then shot off with an explosion of movement. I shattered the sound barrier immediately, each reinforced step pushing me faster and faster toward New York City. Muscle and bone control ensured every stride was perfect. My bone armor heated from the growing friction, but I ignored the pain and maintained a circle of clinical perception. Every blade of grass, every tree, every inch of wilderness was catalogued.
I refused to let my mind wander, even as bitterness and panic clawed at the edges.
This was a disaster. A complete travesty. I had been so close, and I lost it all in an instant.
Air displaced around me as I entered the city and deliberately dropped below sonic speeds. The city looked like a war zone. People stared toward the fiery distance, talking, praying, some even fleeing. My stomach tightened at the chaos.
I drew stares before turning invisible and flickering away.
I needed to get to Alex and get out of the city.
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