Notes: Just checked my drafts and I discovered this chapter was missing a POV. That's why the fight seemed a bit disconnected. It's fixed now.
Julius's POV
"Not if I have something to say about it," a sharp voice said as a figure descended from the sky. It was Zatara, and he was dressed in a three-piece suit. His hands were covered in immaculately white gloves, and one of them gripped a magician's cane.
Zatara spared me a look, then surveyed the carnage before raising his cane and gathering magical energy.
"Artisan made you out to be quite the practitioner," Ade said, taking slow steps forward. The screams were fainter now—people had fled the carnage. Ade drew his bow and nocked an arrow. "Don't disappoint."
Three things happened at once.
"Dinb," Zatara barked. Thick, ethereal chains burst from his cane, converging on Ade—who fired his arrow. It split the air and rocketed toward the magician's head.
A Simple Domain bubbled up beneath my feet, and I slotted in a familiar condition: I cannot move my legs in exchange for massively boosted senses. It let me line up a shot of Expanse and snipe the arrow out of the air before it could reach Zatara.
Ade looked momentarily shocked before adapting, leaping and spinning out of the way of the magical binds as he lined up two more shots—one aimed at me, the other at Zatara. He let them rip just as the chains touched him. I twisted my upper body like a contortionist, going nearly parallel while I fired again.
A super-condensed bolt of positive energy slammed into Ade's bow just as the magical bindings snagged him, shattering it. The bindings snaked around his limbs like boa constrictors, stretching him out and holding him still so he couldn't get leverage—but he didn't struggle.
A small smile played across Ade's lips as he sucked in a massive gulp of air.
Shit.
Dropping my blades, I thrust my arms out behind me and split a clump of positive energy into two equal halves. They flowed down my forearms and were given release through my innate technique.
I exploded forward with a flick of my fingers, moving so fast the air split several times. A wave of pressure washed over me, tearing off a layer of skin before I slammed shoulder-first into Ade's chest and punted him backward. He went through a skyscraper—and then a second.
I flailed midair for a moment before righting myself. I left my skin raw, opting not to waste Curse Energy, and used Muscle Control and Bone Manipulation to reset dislocated joints and heal fractured bones and torn muscles
A surprised laugh ripped from my throat. I couldn't believe Expanse worked like that. Then again, it made sense—directed force. No reason it couldn't function as propulsion.
Angling my hands slightly downward and outward, I flicked again and shot into the air, easily clearing the first skyscraper and falling toward the second.
The side of the building exploded as a massive, three-meter-tall monster emerged.
Ade was partially transformed. He'd grown nearly a foot taller, muscles swollen to bursting. Razor-sharp claws extended from each finger. His slitted eyes locked onto me, and a feral snarl escaped his lips. In an instant, he was airborne, charging straight at me like he'd been fired from a cannon.
I flicked a finger and shunted myself sideways, barely dodging his charge.
Wind tore through the ragged remains of my clothes, shifting me as I realigned and unleashed another pair of Expanse, slingshotting myself straight at him. Ade twisted, swiping at me.
I contorted at the last possible moment with Muscle Control and Bone Manipulation. His claws raked across my ribs instead of splitting me in half, leaving him open.
Expanse detonated centimeters beneath his jaw, launching him into the atmosphere and drawing a smirk from my lips.
Flight really was unfair.
M'gann's POV
The cold ripped through me, even though I wasn't physically present, and put a stop to all of it—the three metas assaulting Julius and Superboy's attackers. The mist girl coalesced, naked and frostbitten, and the sorcerer somehow managed to escape, but I felt the flash of panic in her.
She was opting to stay back for now and watch.
Meanwhile, Superboy got it worse. He was encased head to toe in energy-infused ice. He might be in actual danger if I did nothing—and so I didn't. Marshalling my mental energies against the ice, I pounded at it from a distance with my telekinesis, and it worked.
Once.
Twice.
Thrice.
A crack split it down the middle, and Connor's eyes snapped open. He ripped through with a rough gasp, breaking free and doubling over.
"What happened?" he wheezed.
"Julius did," I answered. "The fight wasn't going well for him. Now it is."
His teeth chattered as he slowly pulled himself upright. I hurt to see him in pain. I needed to be here in person. Help him. Connor looked so weak. It was the most hurt I've ever—
Someone stumbled out of the iced-over room. It was the pathosmancer—body shivering, skin blue.
"Please," she begged. "Help us."
My stomach dropped.
For a moment, I froze, then remembered my training and reached out to the League—and tried to do the same with Julius. But his mind was strange. Different. Learning. Evolving right in front of me.
His mind felt like a…telepath's.
I didn't even think that was possible.
Julius's POV
The air cracked again as I accelerated, drawing closer to Ade's descending form. I spiked myself lower, appearing beneath him and flicking again, sending him screaming toward the horizon with a chuckle. The boost flung him far out into the wilderness of New York.
He carved a deep groove in the earth on touchdown and exploded forward, claws outstretched, poised to take my head off just before I reached the ground.
I flicked left, shooting out at an angle—and caught a spiked tail to the chin for my trouble. I went flying, smashed through a tree, and then five others, coughing up blood in surprise.
Damn. He adjusted quick.
Then again, what had I been expecting?
I halted mid-tumble, running positive energy through my body. Movement blurred at the edge of my vision, and I barely reversed the flow of my technique in time. The blow swatted me from the air. It carried no real weight, but it sent me drifting and struggling to reassert control over my flight.
Then something slow slammed into my spine from behind. I folded in half, paralyzed from the waist down. Massive hands grabbed me and cracked me into the ground with a suplex that mulched what was left of my spine, ribcage, collar bones, and organs.
Ade circled my writhing body with a bloody smirk, and my red eyes went wide as I took in the sheer majesty of his new form.
He'd grown another meter. Thick bony plates covered his vitals and joints, and a massive spiked tail swayed behind him—less like a man now, more like some prehistoric predator than a modern jackass.
Jesus. What did they stuff into those injections?
"You impress me yet again," Ade said, his voice like nails dragged across a chalkboard. "Lesser men would've crumbled under that much pain. You should've kept the battle in the air, where you had the advantage."
I probably should have. But I wanted this fight out here, in the middle of nowhere—where nobody could stop us from tearing into each other, where I could push myself as far as my body would let me.
Pain was no longer a concern. Not with Pain Tolerance.
No, this was a warm-up fight. An appetizer before the main course—Artisan. And I knew I wouldn't get many chances to sharpen myself against someone on his level.
The pain I was about to inflict was just a bonus.
I called on my Body and Bone Control and began putting myself back together—at least the parts that could be—aligning and repairing shattered bones, repairing muscle tears, stitching what I could before finishing with an influx of positive energy.
You've learned Muscle Control Lv. 2
20% increase in the power, flexibility, sturdiness, and growth rate of all muscles.
"I don't need the handicap to kick your teeth in, you wannabe Miyagi," I said, settling into a deep stance and calling on Muscle Control and Bone Manipulation. Bone burst from my forearm, back, and shin, wrapping me in medieval fantasy armor. It was tighter than my first set—more controlled, stronger. I was on the cusp of another level-up.
I grew a spear this time.
"You're as hungry as I am," Ade barked a laugh, "but you can't kill me, can you? Your minders won't allow it. Too much pride to call for help, too. You must chafe under their control."
"Oh, shut up."
Recruiting every muscle in my leg, torso, and arm, I stepped forward and hurled the spear. The form would've made an Olympian proud, and I had no doubt it would shatter the found barrier—that's why I helped it along with a dose of Expanse on release.
It ripped through the landscape. The blowback forced me off my feet. Ade moved, his massive, sinuous body flowing like water—dashing, stepping, twisting with the grace of a master.
He'd been so focused on my obvious—and admittedly loud—feint that he didn't see the massive Dismantle until it hit him in the chest, ripping from stomach to groin.
I laughed as another level chimed in.
Shrine has reached Lv. 3
He stumbled back and took a second slash to the throat. He pitched over like a massive tree about to fall before he suddenly recovered.
He vanished in a burst of movement, dodging the third strike and appearing in front of me. His leg rose and slammed down in a vicious axe kick. I pulled back just in time, combining Muscle Control with raw physicality.
The shockwave blew past me thanks to Inverse, but it left me open. A monstrous straight smashed into my upper body, sending me flying.
Ade repeated his earlier trick, wrapping his tail around me—but this time I was ready. I fired slashes in every direction, carving him up until he let go, but not without claiming one of my arms with his claws. I stared down at the bleeding wound, more fascinated than hurt, and let a loud laugh bubble out of me.
Alex's POV
"Keep going and stop for absolutely no reason," I snapped at Sanjay, who was staring out the window, carefully picking out our first jump point. Saying goodbye to my wife and daughter had been harder than I expected.
I'd avoided the field for this exact reason, yet the Justice League and the boy had brought it to my doorstep. I won't forget this.
"They're going to try to stop us. Understand that I'll kill you before I'll let them take you."
Sanjay swallowed and glanced behind him. Ade was coming down the stairs. Fucking Barbarian.
"What are you waiting for?" I barked. "Get on with it!"
He squirmed and fidgeted, then finally found his spine. His dark eyes glowed blue, and we vanished—reappearing on the roof of a nearby building. I stumbled from the compression. It was the worst I'd ever felt in my life--and yet it was over before it truly began.
Sanjay pulled out his phone, searching for a signal. "W-we're still in their Jammer range. We need to move—"
He trailed off, staring back the way we'd come. Something fast exploded through a window of my building and streaked toward us. We'd traveled dozens of blocks, and I knew we had seconds, at best.
"Shit. Shit," I muttered, flooding my hands with Cursed Energy. It flared into a floating orb of fire, the heat forcing Sanjay back.
I wasn't going down without a fight.
"Don't," he said.
"It's not for you, dumbass."
"I know. I mean—don't aim at her. Target buildings. Civilians. She can't track us and save people at the same time."
Sanjay visibly recoiled, but I was glad his instincts were sharp.
"Maybe you're not so useless after all."
I fed more energy into the fireball until it swelled to the size of a small boulder. I turned toward a parking structure across the street. I could see dozens of people—families.
It was theirs or mine. Sanjay's little idea gave me one of my very own. The Justice League could probably track and block our calls until we reached the very edge of this city, but they couldn't shut down every phone, every social media post, every news station.
"Wait!" Sanjay grabbed me.
Too late.
I released it.
"Get us out of here. Now!"
The explosion tore through nearly two full floors. The blowback shattered glass and splashed against my back and face.
"Why?" Sanjay screamed.
I grabbed him by the throat.
"GET. US. OUT. NOW."
That snapped him out of it.
He obliged.
Read up to Chapter 130 on Patreon.com/artandcreativewriting
Update on the Invincible Fic--Started writing. Nearly five chapters done. Will be launching by the end of January or Early Febuary.