I whistled a cheerful tune as eggs and bacon flowed through the air and a waffle in the shape of Stella's face cooked in front of her.
She clapped excitedly. "It's done. You can make shapes!" She snatched the waffle out of the air.
"That's the most impressive thing about his power?" Melody looked at Stella like she was an idiot.
"I mean, it’s pretty cool." Stella happily poured syrup over the waffle and picked it up with her hands, biting into it.
"He can do anything he wants with his power. Sometimes, the small things mean more." Angelina took some of the bacon. "Besides, he makes great bacon."
"Can't. I'll get fat." Melody glared at the bacon. "Stupid, delicious bacon."
"I don't get fat." Angelina took a savory bite and savored it.
Stella grabbed some, too. "So far, it hasn't been a problem for me."
"All of your fat goes to those tits of yours," Melody scowled at Stella.
She just shrugged and took a second piece. "Then I better eat a few more. I'll make up the difference for you." Stella stuck her tongue out at Melody, and I saw Melody’s power spike.
I stepped in. "Calm down. Want me to get some turkey bacon next time I order groceries?"
A timely doorbell rang with my words.
"Is that them? And yes, get me some turkey bacon," Melody said.
"Nope. I'll go check it out." I threw a towel over my shoulder and went to the front door.
No one was in view of the window. I reached out with my power and felt two bodies on the ground in front of the door.
Nonplussed, I opened the door and picked up two bound Obsidians. "Seems our Obsidian quota is going up. We have two today, and they were delivered early."
Tossing one to the side, still bound, I cut the bindings on the other one and sat her at the table. "What do you want for breakfast?"
The Obsidian blinked. "Don't know."
"Sounds like someone needs a plate with a bit of everything." I lifted the pile of ingredients off the counter and started mixing waffle batter and eggs in the air as I pushed the plate of bacon closer to her. "Eat up."
"I don't actually need to eat," she said, staring at the bacon strangely.
Stella grabbed a piece of bacon and shoved it into the Obsidian's mouth. "Try it. Bacon is fantastic!"
The Obsidian struggled, but she was no match for Stella. She ended up chewing the bacon as a smile tugged at her lips. She reached for a second, and as soon as she swallowed, I counted it as a win.
"So, why do we have two of you today?"
The Obsidian stopped midway as she raised her next piece of bacon to her mouth.
The rest of the table was all paying attention.
"I don't know," she replied. "We were told to bring you two." She continued to eat her bacon.
"But don't the clones' memories return once you die?" I tried to confirm my theory.
The Obsidian nodded. "Yes. But there are a few of the clones that have not died in a very long time, nor do they regularly produce clones."
"Have you ever seen those in charge produce clones?" I asked.
She frowned and shook her head. "Not within the memories I have."
It was so odd to think about the different levels of Obsidians. She had an organization of her selves. And this Obsidian was a grunt, made by one who seemed to take orders. And somehow, the memories were kept separate by those in charge not producing clones or dying themselves.
I had to wonder if any of the ones I’d met so far were more than just grunts. My mind flashed to the Obsidian that had led me through Liberator’s compound. She had seemed different, more put together than the others.
"Then what do you want?"
The Obsidian at the table blinked, unsure of her answer. She paused, staring at the bacon plate that only had one more piece. "More bacon?"
"Coming right up. You can bring more clones for breakfast, and I'll feed you bacon or whatever you want. If one of the more important clones were to come visit, I would leave them alive," I spoke up, making sure the other clone heard me as well.
"When I'm done with this bacon, can you kill me?"
"Sure. But only after you finish. I want all your clones to have the memories of my home cooking," I replied. I wanted them to build up happy memories outside of the pain. "What do you want me to do with the other?"
The Obsidian at the table looked at the other over her shoulder. "Break her. They want more of what you did yesterday."
"I'm going to work soon. Can I leave her here without problems?" I wasn’t so much worried about what she would do in the manor, but what the clone in front of me would reply.
"Yes. She'll behave. We don't want to make an enemy out of you. I was told to not attempt to harm you or the ladies with you." She glanced around the table and stopped at Melody. "I apologize for doing what I did before. It was just a job."
Melody snorted, still not happy. But she didn’t seem to want to attack the Obsidian clones, so I considered it progress. She knew that Obsidian, while having captured her, was also responsible for helping me save her.
"You were part of the capture of Melody? When you use ‘I’ or ‘we’ is confusing," Angelina asked.
The clone frowned. "I have the memories of her capture, so it feels like me. Yet when discussing all of us and our clones, there are some I can't quite speak for as myself."
It was about as clear as mud, but it would have to work. I looked over at Angelina, hoping she might help me sort through it later.
"Then I'll count you and your clones as allies. Truthfully, I have no desire to make an enemy out of you. If at all possible, I'd even like to hire you on behalf of the BSH," I pushed just a little more.
She frowned again and hesitated.
I realized that I might not get a straight answer with this clone, so I gave her another plate of assorted breakfast items. "Eat it all. Then tomorrow you can pick what you want."
Taking the other clone, I went into the closet and found some twine we had used from the move. It wasn't strong enough for what I had planned, but it didn't have to be safe. It might actually work better if she fell and died.
I let the twine unravel as I twirled it around the second clone, wrapping her in a more restrictive binding. I made sure that, when she struggled, it would rub a few knots against her sex and her nipples.
It had been a long time since I had experimented with Emma on these knots. But I could at least manage something.
With that done, I walked back to the table, grabbing my tablet and ordering some jute rope and oil that I would need for the future.
"Are you all done?" I asked the other clone, who was waiting patiently at the table.
"Yes." She nodded.
“Wonderful. Remember what I told you.” With that, I blasted my power into her, and she melted into a shadow before disappearing through a crack in the floor.
Angelina blinked and wrote something down. "That was brutal."
"She didn't die. Just that clone. Besides, I'm thinking the ones that have been getting dropped off aren't really Obsidian. The real Obsidian is the one giving them orders. I hope she likes my message."
"Message?" Stella asked.
I waved it away. "We'll see if it works. For now, we need to get to the Bureau, and I need to start in on whatever caused those supers to transform yesterday."
"I don't know. The scientists haven't put in a report. I was about to go get an update," Kim’s voice floated over to me as she exited The Spine.
Angelina was back to work at the prison. Meanwhile, Melody, Stella, and Venus were doing live practice with another team of heroes and their manager. It was good for them to occasionally get another perspective.
I’d decided to use the free time to chase down some information about the previous day’s fight.
"Then I'll come with you. The two that became huge were a problem," I added, joining her.
"Not as much as the two that died in the rubble, I suspect," Kim shot back. "A scientist asked for the ability to extend their work on those two. Both had mutated, but their mutations were far more controlled than those of the two giants that were covered in tumors. If they hadn't been crushed in the building's collapse, we might have had a real problem on our hands."
That was exactly what had me worried. I had felt their ki spike before I had crushed them. Thankfully, my attempt to kill them in a believable way had worked; nothing out of the ordinary was noted in the reports.
"That teleporter was heavily mutated. Do you think he had the same thing happen to him?"
Kim leveled a serious stare at me. "It is likely we have a problem." She badged into an elevator and hit the button for the bottom floor.
The elevator didn't move.
"Uh, isn’t it supposed to move?"
"It is moving. The mad scientists down here modified the elevator with inertial dampeners. One of them apparently has a fear of falling down an elevator shaft. It's a safety measure, but as a result, you can't even feel it descend." Kim let out a heavy sigh.
Mad scientists were known for being a little strange. I was glad that I didn’t have to manage them and their quirks, but I was curious who did.
"Who manages them?" I asked.
"Doctor Wells, a borderline-mad scientist. She’s smart enough to jabber with them and composed enough to give me timely reports and explain it at a level which I can understand. She's a fucking godsend." Kim didn't talk more as the doors slid open to a level of the Bureau I hadn't seen before.
The area was all sterile, white, and steel, with a three-story-high ceiling. The lab was also chilly enough that I could see my breath. The space was wide open, but very clearly, it had been segregated into different areas. A few even had plastic tarps cordoning them off.
Our objective was obvious. The giants, even deflated as they were, stood out in the room. Their bodies were surrounded by scientists in lab coats with mobile workstations next to them. Others sat nearby, studying various samples in microscopes.
Kim walked forward, her dark suit and red hair a stark contrast to the sterile white of everything else.
It must have caught attention, because the scientists jostled, and a woman with long, gray hair separated from the mass of scientists to talk to us.
I took a moment to get a read on her.
She had bright blue eyes that were excited, despite the bags under them. Her hair was messy and had a clip stuck in it, which didn't seem to be serving any purpose at the moment, but which might have held it back from getting in her face at one point.
Her lab coat was open, and I could see the dark sweater underneath that seemed prudent given the lab was chilly. Her badge read clearly, Dr. Wells.
"Kim." Her voice was excited despite her body looking like it had just finished a marathon and a half.
Before she could say anything more, her watch started beeping, and Doctor Wells frowned at it before silencing it.
"What was that?" I asked.
"Reminder to sleep." She waved it away. "But we can't, not with the breakthrough before us."
"Breakthrough?" Kim encouraged her further. "More tech from Libertech?"
"No. I mean, yes, it's the same vein of study. But Libertech was trying to find an undiscovered molecule responsible for powers. That was with a sophisticated mechanized application; this time, they've approached it from a carbon-based biomorphic angle. It's absolutely incredible. If you put the two together, it absolutely proves there is an actual particle responsible for powers. I mean, we sort of knew there was one, but this is actual proof!"
I turned to Kim. "She's the one who speaks in simple language?"
"When she has slept," Kim grumbled and focused on Dr. Wells. "Have you slept at all in the last day?"
"No." Her watch started beeping again, and she frustratingly just took it off, only for it to start beeping in her pocket.
"Need to do something with that?" I asked.
"Stupid watch doesn't understand the significance of today. I designed it to keep me from staying up too much." Unfortunately for her, it didn’t seem to be working as intended.
"Maybe we should force them all home for the day after this?" I asked Kim. "Seems like they might just break down if we let them keep on."
I wasn’t sure if I wanted a lab full of sleep-deprived mad scientists. Who knew what they would cook up after a few nights of no sleep?
Kim just shrugged. "I don't try to manage the mad scientists."
"Let me show you." Dr. Wells grabbed something off a table and swung it up towards us.
I realized what it was instantly and ducked before throwing my power at it and wrapping it with a shell to prevent it from sensing my ki. It was the same device, or one like it, that had sensed my power level in Libertech's labs.
"Don't worry, it isn't a weapon." Dr. Wells looked at me strangely.
"Sorry, looked a little scary." I shrugged, standing back up straight as Kim frowned at me. "We aren't all immortal."
That earned me an eye roll as Kim shifted her attention back to Dr. Wells. "Let's see it."
"Right." Wells snapped to attention, and she swung the device at Kim.
I had to allow the device to work while I shifted my shielding to myself, preventing any ki from coming off me.
It beeped, and Dr. Wells looked at the readout. "Just a little over five thousand power units."
"Is that good?" Kim asked.
"It's okay. You'd be putting more off in theory when you were hurt, as your wrathful immortality powers up. Miles, here." She went to get a reading from me.
I cursed. I needed to show up as enhanced, but I had no idea what sort of reading would be typical for an enhanced person. Taking just an extremely fine mist of ki, I pushed it at the device.
"A little over a thousand. You might actually be closer to an F grade hero." Dr. Wells turned it on herself. "Three thousand. That fits. Though it is hard to get these numbers to match power grades. We've used anecdotal evidence for everything so far."
Breathing a sigh of relief, I wondered just what my real number was.
"This is a fun toy, Doctor, but what does it have to do with this breakthrough of yours?" Kim tried to steer the sleep-deprived scientist back on course.
"Right, the bodies we collected, watch this." She went over to a table where a tumor still pulsed on the lab bench. "It's still technically alive, being sustained by some energy we can't see."
She pointed the gun at the tumor. It beeped and flashed eight thousand.
"See, it's sustaining itself off of the particle for powers."
"This tumor is stronger than me?" Kim asked with a frown.
"No, well, the woman it came off of and her companion might have been stronger than you. The rest of their bodies aren’t giving off any readings now that they are dead. They experienced a mass cancerous growth of cells that appear to have attracted the energy that powers superpowers. We could assume that meant they had access to more of the energy and, therefore, more strength behind their powers," Dr. Wells started chattering.
Kim cupped her chin and looked towards me. "They are boosting their powers somehow."
"I don't like the idea of villains having access to this." Staring at the tumor made me want to destroy it. You could solve anything if you just destroyed all of it. It was sort of my motto.
"Me neither, but the reality is that they seem to be getting access, and now we have to fix it." Kim focused on Wells. "Tell me about the two bodies that were crushed.”
The doctor's eyes lit up. "They were interesting, as well. While the giants were full of tumors, like an unsuccessful transformation, the other two appeared to have been a success."
"A success?" Kim prompted.
Wells was already off, leading us to a tarped-off area. Before she entered, she grabbed a plastic mask that would seal her nose and mouth with a big, chunky filter on the front. She handed us our own, as well.
"Come in; it is just a precaution given what happened to them." Doctor Wells went inside the tent, and two heavily mutated supers lay on trays. Even though they had been pancaked by me, their bodies hadn't been torn up too much.
Kim lifted her tablet so that she could see it around her mask. "Those aren't the two villains we thought they were."
"No, that's the thing. They are." Doctor Wells came around behind her. "That's the woman before you." She pointed at her tablet and then at the table. "Unlike the two giants, she appears to have been a success in their experiment. We are still running a genetic analysis to see if they hit the Holy Grail or not."
"Holy Grail?" I asked.
"Adding additional genetic markers for superpowers. We know what they look like on the X chromosome. But there are people all over the nine cities looking for a way to add those markers to the Y chromosome," Doctor Wells replied distractedly.
"Whatever happened to them appears to be a biological application of rapid mutation,” she continued. “Though it seems to result in large physical mutations. We know the people called 'mutas' tend to have stronger powers. I'm unsure whether whatever this does is unlocking some latent power by mutating them, or they are successfully unlocking a new power."
She was mumbling to herself, but I was reeling from what she was suggesting.
"Kim, is this more research that the government is funding? The 'Holy grail'?"
Kim stared between her tablet and the body on the table. "Yeah, if we can give the Y chromosome powers, then it will even out the birth ratio of the genders. Or at least start to close the gap. It is one of the likeliest solutions to the problem our people face."
"So, this could be another government-funded lab leading to this? My heroes said they saw these people swallow something as we breached."
Wells looked up from her mumbling. "Swallowed? Why didn't you tell me?!" She went and grabbed a cart as metal tools clattered inside. "We have to cut them open."
Doctor Wells already had a scalpel out and was ready to cut into the body.
Kim put a layer of fire in front of her blade to stop her from continuing. "Doctor. Please take the time to discuss this with the other scientists."
Wells looked like it physically hurt to put the scalpel back. "Fine. We hope to have a report for you in a day or so. This is too big for us to rush."
Kim nodded slowly before grabbing Wells and pushing her out of the tent where the doctor hurried over. The mass of scientists and voices rose as discussion built.
I took off my mask after I exited the tent. "This is a problem. I want to get Beatrix and all spare analysts looking for that teleporting lizard man."
"Done. Find him and figure out who the fuck is monsterifying people in my city."
"Monsterifying?" I protested, "Mutas are not—"
"Those aren't mutas." She nodded at the two cancerous giants. "Those are monsters."
I had to admit, those two seemed more monstrous. It was hard to call them human after their transformation.
"It will be my top priority. If we have more pop-up organizations on our radar, send the top two my way, and we'll focus on those this afternoon. Maybe we'll get lucky, and the lizard man will approach another group," I said.
I stepped into the elevator first, and Kim joined me.
There was a palpable relief after I was further away from the device that detected ki.
Kim must have misread my exhalation. "I always hate the labs, too. Feel like I could imagine myself on those tables far too easily."
"Huh? But you are Wrath, the legend,” I teased her.
She glared at me. “Immortality is a prize that too many people would do stupid things for.” She shuddered, and the elevator opened. She strode purposefully out, distracting herself with her tablet.
I paused before exiting. I hadn’t realized she was worried about that sort of thing. But we had it in common.