Chapter 4: Powers? (2)
—
From the morning to the night, Enrique had stopped 6 more small-time crimes. Though he hadn’t managed to convert any more of the victims he saved.
His plans, for now, was to play hero, or anti-hero. Saving people was the best way to earn something back from them. Their faith, for example. Although that didn't work so well today, as he only earned a single believer, both he and Mut were fine with this development. This was, after all, his first day at the job.
Enrique decided to call it a day and changed to his business suit. One thing he noticed was that he wasn't tired at all even after running around all day, he didn't even sweat.
With that information, he noted all the powers he had in total. Or at least the ones that he has figured out until now.
-Peak Human Condition. Which applied to Strength, Agility, Stamina, Durability, and Senses. ️
-Super-Durable Super-Suit ️
-Lightning Manipulation ️
-Flight ️
There was also his magic mask, but he didn't count it. Flight was the hardest to do, he could barely manoeuvre in the air, but he knew it would be very useful when he got used to it.
Enrique walked out of an alley and moved between the crowds. As he came out under the moonlit sky, he realised his suit was dirt resistant. It looked as new as before.
Enrique walked for twenty minutes, since he was quite far from his apartment, and realised something.
He was being followed.
'Is it SHIELD? Already?'
He decided to lead the spy to a corner.
——
Anna Marie had run away from her home this morning, after she made sure her ex-boyfriend had woken up from his coma.
The weird mutant power she unlocked three weeks ago was horrifying, as anybody that her skin came into contact with was instantly sent into some sort of seizure. She was planning to flee to Canada, leaving America, away from her family who saw her as some sort of freak. But before she could illegally travel out of the country, she had encountered someone… special.
This man, running around in a suit with a strange lightning symbol on his chest, was a mutant as well, presumably. She wasn't sure about the differences between Mutants and other superhumans. Heck, she didn't even know much about these "Supers" until she did some research after gaining her curse of a power.
In any case, as a person who's fighting crime and saving people, this man should be trustable. He might have some advice for her, maybe even a way to deactivate her power? To know if her guesses were right or wrong, she decided on following him.
She sneakily trailed behind him until his last alleyway, from where he came out wearing a normal white businessman suit.
'This is…?'
Anna soon realised why his costume had changed. This must be his hidden "civilian identity". Kind of like some of the recent superheroes, like Fantastic Four, whose identity was known, and Spiderman whose identity was unknown. Was this person playing Spiderman's game? If so, would it be a good idea to talk to him in his civilian persona?
…Anna shook her head. No, she must talk to him. Who knew if she would ever meet him again or not?
Carefully, she again started to follow him, following him to the outskirts of the city, where he stood outside a Walmart shop, in front of a vending machine as he purchased two drinks.
Huh, two?
The man grabbed the drinks and walked out of her sight, and as she followed behind him, standing on the edge of a wall, she found nobody on the other side once she peeked.
Huh-
"Hey there," an arm went around her shoulder, a cold can pressing against her cheeks along with cold fingers. "Wanna grab a drink?"
Anna screamed, "Kya!" and pushed the man before jumping back. "D-don't touch me!"
The man's expression didn't change at her reaction, his silver eyes looking at her as he uncapped one of the drinks. "Quite rude, but I guess teenagers."
Anna was huffing, touching her cold cheek as she blinked. His fingers… they clearly brushed her cheeks. Also his arm that he had around her shoulder. But he is fine…?
He tossed over one of the drinks, a coke, while he drank some alcoholic beverage she didn't recognise.
He wiped his lips and locked his eyes with her again. "Identify yourself. State your reason for following me, before I decide to change suits."
The girl, gulping, uncapped her drink and took a mouthful of cool soda before releasing a breath.
Now calmer than before, she looked at him. "I am… Rogue." She said her made-up name. "Can you touch me again?"
"..."
—-
'Can you touch me again?' A little girl just asked him that.
Were the teenagers in this world so desperate? She didn't even look ugly, why was she that desperate?
Also, didn't she just yell at him to not touch her? What was this bipolar bullshit? Did seeing his face up-close turn her on or something?
"I-I didn't mean it that way!" The girl quickly protested, waving her hands in front of her with a flustered face. "It's just… I am sorry, but I happened to see you using your superpowers. I also happen to have… some sort of a superpower myself, though it's more like a curse. My power impales anybody whose skin comes into contact with mine. So… naturally, you should have fallen into a state of Seizure, but here you are, standing upright."
"...Rogue?" Enrique muttered as his eyes slowly widened. "You said your name is Rogue?"
He recognised her now. Her hair was entirely brown, no white present, but those emerald eyes. He was sure this was who he thought she was.
'Great.'
It was a great find. Also dangerous. It seemed he somehow managed to avoid falling into a seizure, but this was a prime example that he shouldn't touch any random person, even if they look like a harmless chick.
["You know her?"] The goddess' voice boomed in his mind as he did a soft nod. ["Hmm, interesting. Go on, I will not waste your time."]
"...Yes?" The teenage girl answered uncomfortably. "My… real name is Anna though. I am not telling you my last name, you might give me to the police."
"That's fine, Anna." Enrique pointed at a bench in the far. "Wanna take a seat?"
She nodded.
—-
Rogue took a seat, but Enrique simply leaned against the light pole in front of the bench. "A runaway?" He said, pointing at her bag before shaking his head. "Teenagers."
"Hey, stop acting as if you are so old yourself!" The girl protested, frowning softly. "I just… didn't want to see the fearful expression of my parents. I had no choice but to run."
Rogue then started to explain her story to him.
Enrique took a sip of his Fling as he listened to her. She was… pitiful. Having unlocked an unknown power that harmed anybody and everybody, without exception, and nearly killing her own boyfriend while sharing their first kiss. Pitiful indeed. If she never encountered Enrique, and if the plot went as usual, Bald-X would have taken care of her pretty well, until she gained enough control of her powers to not hurt people around her.
However, it seemed fate had tied her destiny with his.
'A power-stealing, all-powerful mutant teammate?' He was down for it any day.
Once she was done talking, he decided to play his cards.
"Sooo," he looked down at her. "What did you want from me? I am sorry to hear your story, but I don't think I have an answer to your problem."
Anna looked down on the ground before looking up. "Can you… touch me? Just my cheeks are fine. I-I am sorry, I might just be misunderstanding, and you might get hurt. But… I think when your fingers brushed my cheeks, my powers didn't activate."
Enrique would usually not try this. Never. It was too dangerous. Even if his powers came from the Goddess, and were magical in nature, Rogue drew on life force so his life might fall in danger by touching her. But, as she said, and knowing about his special state because of the Void merging with him, he believed she might be onto something.
Pouring down the rest of his drink down his throat, Enrique threw the can to the side and walked over to her, watching her nervous yet expectant eyes lock on him.
He leaned forward a bit, coming closer to her face as he reached out his hand and placed it on top of her cheek.
Nothing happened.
A second grew ten, and ten seconds grew into a minute. But nothing changed, the touch was as normal as it could get.
"It's…" Anna trailed off, quickly starting to take off her hand gloves as she hesitantly touched his cheeks. Still, nothing happened. "My powers… it's not as if they're not activating, but they simply don't work on you. You feel… empty to my powers, as if I am touching a wall. Uh, sugah, are you a robot?"
So that's how it worked. The void that had merged with him to give him a sort of [Blank] state, as if he was a doll, so things like Mind reading and Rogue's power didn't work on him. That was a very interesting discovery.
'Useful.' Enrique made a mental note.
In any case, he focused on the situation at hand.
"A robot?" He laughed. "Most likely not. Actually, I think your power only activates when you kiss someone. Maybe we should try that out?"
He chuckled at his own joke and drew back his hands, but it seemed the girl took his joke seriously.
As he had planned.
"Let's… let's test it out then." She said, pulling his hand back to her cheeks. "Let's see if it activates when we kiss."
"It was a joke." Enrique deadpanned at her before sighing. "Teenagers…"
"I will be 18 in a few more months, sugah!" She protested. "Now, let's try k-kissing! It's not like I am ugly, am I? Just one time? Hey, sugah, please!" The girl persisted, watching him sigh and shake his head before he leaned over and abruptly stole her lips.
She seemed like a girl who would jolt back at sudden approaches, but because of the situation, she kissed back, trying out her power on him as the kiss deepened, their tongues wrestling with each other. By the time the kiss ended, Anna realised that her powers really didn't work on him.
Enrique pulled his mouth away, wiping his lips as he stood up. "See? Now you are just embarrassed for no actual reason." Not that he hated it. "You are lucky I am not some creepy old man, or I would have suggested we try out some more things."
Anna looked flustered and was about to say something back, however, she was interrupted by a bestial growl from the side.
"Grrrr…"
Enrique frowned and snapped his head to the side, only to blink as he found a blonde-haired Liev Schreiber grinning at him.
"Was that a good kiss?" The man bear, Sabertooth, asked with a chuckle. "Hah, kids and their hormones."
Ah, yes. He remembered. Both the X-men and the Brotherhood were after Rogue by the time she left her home. This was going to get annoying.
"Look at this savage-looking bastard," Enrique rolled his shoulders as his suit changed to his Super Suit. "Fuck off, or I will fry you dirty."
"I am just here for the girl. But sure, try me." The beast chuckled with a growl and jumped toward Enrique in all his fours, looking like a huge wolf as he swiped his claws at Enrique.
"Kyaa!" Anna yelled from the side, closing her eyes as Sabretooth's claws closed the distance with Enrique's neck.
-Snap!
Her eyes only opened when she heard a thin crack sound, watching as Sabretooth's claws shattered upon it came into contact with the invisible helmet around Enrique's head.
The blonde man looked down at his claws in shock before letting out a painful cry. Enrique took the opportunity to swing his fist at his chin, watching the man skip a few feet into the air, before he grabbed the beast's huge body and slammed his back down on his knee.
Another *crack* resounded in the area as Sabretooth's spine shattered, faced against Enrique's super durable knee, letting out a gasp before Enrique channelled high voltage electricity through his hands, causing the beast-man to groan as he slumped down on his face, unconscious.
The man was still alive of course, he was basically immortal, but it would take him a while to get healed, and Enrique doubted he would just come running back to him even after getting healed. This defeat would at least make him realise Enrique was well over his league (which truthfully surprised him a bit too).
He walked over to Anna and grabbed her by the arm. "Let's go," before yanking her in his embrace and flying off.
The rush of nervousness that the person on his chest would die if he failed to control his flight made his flying more stable, and minutes later he dropped into an alleyway close to his house before walking to his apartment in his businessman suit with a frightened Anna beside him.
**
**
**
If you want to read the next 15+ chapters ahead or support me, go to: patreon.com/Master4thWall
Chapter 4: Powers? (2)
—
From the morning to the night, Enrique had stopped 6 more small-time crimes. Though he hadn’t managed to convert any more of the victims he saved.
His plans, for now, was to play hero, or anti-hero. Saving people was the best way to earn something back from them. Their faith, for example. Although that didn't work so well today, as he only earned a single believer, both he and Mut were fine with this development. This was, after all, his first day at the job.
Enrique decided to call it a day and changed to his business suit. One thing he noticed was that he wasn't tired at all even after running around all day, he didn't even sweat.
With that information, he noted all the powers he had in total. Or at least the ones that he has figured out until now.
-Peak Human Condition. Which applied to Strength, Agility, Stamina, Durability, and Senses. ️
-Super-Durable Super-Suit ️
-Lightning Manipulation ️
-Flight ️
There was also his magic mask, but he didn't count it. Flight was the hardest to do, he could barely manoeuvre in the air, but he knew it would be very useful when he got used to it.
Enrique walked out of an alley and moved between the crowds. As he came out under the moonlit sky, he realised his suit was dirt resistant. It looked as new as before.
Enrique walked for twenty minutes, since he was quite far from his apartment, and realised something.
He was being followed.
'Is it SHIELD? Already?'
He decided to lead the spy to a corner.
——
Anna Marie had run away from her home this morning, after she made sure her ex-boyfriend had woken up from his coma.
The weird mutant power she unlocked three weeks ago was horrifying, as anybody that her skin came into contact with was instantly sent into some sort of seizure. She was planning to flee to Canada, leaving America, away from her family who saw her as some sort of freak. But before she could illegally travel out of the country, she had encountered someone… special.
This man, running around in a suit with a strange lightning symbol on his chest, was a mutant as well, presumably. She wasn't sure about the differences between Mutants and other superhumans. Heck, she didn't even know much about these "Supers" until she did some research after gaining her curse of a power.
In any case, as a person who's fighting crime and saving people, this man should be trustable. He might have some advice for her, maybe even a way to deactivate her power? To know if her guesses were right or wrong, she decided on following him.
She sneakily trailed behind him until his last alleyway, from where he came out wearing a normal white businessman suit.
'This is…?'
Anna soon realised why his costume had changed. This must be his hidden "civilian identity". Kind of like some of the recent superheroes, like Fantastic Four, whose identity was known, and Spiderman whose identity was unknown. Was this person playing Spiderman's game? If so, would it be a good idea to talk to him in his civilian persona?
…Anna shook her head. No, she must talk to him. Who knew if she would ever meet him again or not?
Carefully, she again started to follow him, following him to the outskirts of the city, where he stood outside a Walmart shop, in front of a vending machine as he purchased two drinks.
Huh, two?
The man grabbed the drinks and walked out of her sight, and as she followed behind him, standing on the edge of a wall, she found nobody on the other side once she peeked.
Huh-
"Hey there," an arm went around her shoulder, a cold can pressing against her cheeks along with cold fingers. "Wanna grab a drink?"
Anna screamed, "Kya!" and pushed the man before jumping back. "D-don't touch me!"
The man's expression didn't change at her reaction, his silver eyes looking at her as he uncapped one of the drinks. "Quite rude, but I guess teenagers."
Anna was huffing, touching her cold cheek as she blinked. His fingers… they clearly brushed her cheeks. Also his arm that he had around her shoulder. But he is fine…?
He tossed over one of the drinks, a coke, while he drank some alcoholic beverage she didn't recognise.
He wiped his lips and locked his eyes with her again. "Identify yourself. State your reason for following me, before I decide to change suits."
The girl, gulping, uncapped her drink and took a mouthful of cool soda before releasing a breath.
Now calmer than before, she looked at him. "I am… Rogue." She said her made-up name. "Can you touch me again?"
"..."
—-
'Can you touch me again?' A little girl just asked him that.
Were the teenagers in this world so desperate? She didn't even look ugly, why was she that desperate?
Also, didn't she just yell at him to not touch her? What was this bipolar bullshit? Did seeing his face up-close turn her on or something?
"I-I didn't mean it that way!" The girl quickly protested, waving her hands in front of her with a flustered face. "It's just… I am sorry, but I happened to see you using your superpowers. I also happen to have… some sort of a superpower myself, though it's more like a curse. My power impales anybody whose skin comes into contact with mine. So… naturally, you should have fallen into a state of Seizure, but here you are, standing upright."
"...Rogue?" Enrique muttered as his eyes slowly widened. "You said your name is Rogue?"
He recognised her now. Her hair was entirely brown, no white present, but those emerald eyes. He was sure this was who he thought she was.
'Great.'
It was a great find. Also dangerous. It seemed he somehow managed to avoid falling into a seizure, but this was a prime example that he shouldn't touch any random person, even if they look like a harmless chick.
["You know her?"] The goddess' voice boomed in his mind as he did a soft nod. ["Hmm, interesting. Go on, I will not waste your time."]
"...Yes?" The teenage girl answered uncomfortably. "My… real name is Anna though. I am not telling you my last name, you might give me to the police."
"That's fine, Anna." Enrique pointed at a bench in the far. "Wanna take a seat?"
She nodded.
—-
Rogue took a seat, but Enrique simply leaned against the light pole in front of the bench. "A runaway?" He said, pointing at her bag before shaking his head. "Teenagers."
"Hey, stop acting as if you are so old yourself!" The girl protested, frowning softly. "I just… didn't want to see the fearful expression of my parents. I had no choice but to run."
Rogue then started to explain her story to him.
Enrique took a sip of his Fling as he listened to her. She was… pitiful. Having unlocked an unknown power that harmed anybody and everybody, without exception, and nearly killing her own boyfriend while sharing their first kiss. Pitiful indeed. If she never encountered Enrique, and if the plot went as usual, Bald-X would have taken care of her pretty well, until she gained enough control of her powers to not hurt people around her.
However, it seemed fate had tied her destiny with his.
'A power-stealing, all-powerful mutant teammate?' He was down for it any day.
Once she was done talking, he decided to play his cards.
"Sooo," he looked down at her. "What did you want from me? I am sorry to hear your story, but I don't think I have an answer to your problem."
Anna looked down on the ground before looking up. "Can you… touch me? Just my cheeks are fine. I-I am sorry, I might just be misunderstanding, and you might get hurt. But… I think when your fingers brushed my cheeks, my powers didn't activate."
Enrique would usually not try this. Never. It was too dangerous. Even if his powers came from the Goddess, and were magical in nature, Rogue drew on life force so his life might fall in danger by touching her. But, as she said, and knowing about his special state because of the Void merging with him, he believed she might be onto something.
Pouring down the rest of his drink down his throat, Enrique threw the can to the side and walked over to her, watching her nervous yet expectant eyes lock on him.
He leaned forward a bit, coming closer to her face as he reached out his hand and placed it on top of her cheek.
Nothing happened.
A second grew ten, and ten seconds grew into a minute. But nothing changed, the touch was as normal as it could get.
"It's…" Anna trailed off, quickly starting to take off her hand gloves as she hesitantly touched his cheeks. Still, nothing happened. "My powers… it's not as if they're not activating, but they simply don't work on you. You feel… empty to my powers, as if I am touching a wall. Uh, sugah, are you a robot?"
So that's how it worked. The void that had merged with him to give him a sort of [Blank] state, as if he was a doll, so things like Mind reading and Rogue's power didn't work on him. That was a very interesting discovery.
'Useful.' Enrique made a mental note.
In any case, he focused on the situation at hand.
"A robot?" He laughed. "Most likely not. Actually, I think your power only activates when you kiss someone. Maybe we should try that out?"
He chuckled at his own joke and drew back his hands, but it seemed the girl took his joke seriously.
As he had planned.
"Let's… let's test it out then." She said, pulling his hand back to her cheeks. "Let's see if it activates when we kiss."
"It was a joke." Enrique deadpanned at her before sighing. "Teenagers…"
"I will be 18 in a few more months, sugah!" She protested. "Now, let's try k-kissing! It's not like I am ugly, am I? Just one time? Hey, sugah, please!" The girl persisted, watching him sigh and shake his head before he leaned over and abruptly stole her lips.
She seemed like a girl who would jolt back at sudden approaches, but because of the situation, she kissed back, trying out her power on him as the kiss deepened, their tongues wrestling with each other. By the time the kiss ended, Anna realised that her powers really didn't work on him.
Enrique pulled his mouth away, wiping his lips as he stood up. "See? Now you are just embarrassed for no actual reason." Not that he hated it. "You are lucky I am not some creepy old man, or I would have suggested we try out some more things."
Anna looked flustered and was about to say something back, however, she was interrupted by a bestial growl from the side.
"Grrrr…"
Enrique frowned and snapped his head to the side, only to blink as he found a blonde-haired Liev Schreiber grinning at him.
"Was that a good kiss?" The man bear, Sabertooth, asked with a chuckle. "Hah, kids and their hormones."
Ah, yes. He remembered. Both the X-men and the Brotherhood were after Rogue by the time she left her home. This was going to get annoying.
"Look at this savage-looking bastard," Enrique rolled his shoulders as his suit changed to his Super Suit. "Fuck off, or I will fry you dirty."
"I am just here for the girl. But sure, try me." The beast chuckled with a growl and jumped toward Enrique in all his fours, looking like a huge wolf as he swiped his claws at Enrique.
"Kyaa!" Anna yelled from the side, closing her eyes as Sabretooth's claws closed the distance with Enrique's neck.
-Snap!
Her eyes only opened when she heard a thin crack sound, watching as Sabretooth's claws shattered upon it came into contact with the invisible helmet around Enrique's head.
The blonde man looked down at his claws in shock before letting out a painful cry. Enrique took the opportunity to swing his fist at his chin, watching the man skip a few feet into the air, before he grabbed the beast's huge body and slammed his back down on his knee.
Another *crack* resounded in the area as Sabretooth's spine shattered, faced against Enrique's super durable knee, letting out a gasp before Enrique channelled high voltage electricity through his hands, causing the beast-man to groan as he slumped down on his face, unconscious.
The man was still alive of course, he was basically immortal, but it would take him a while to get healed, and Enrique doubted he would just come running back to him even after getting healed. This defeat would at least make him realise Enrique was well over his league (which truthfully surprised him a bit too).
He walked over to Anna and grabbed her by the arm. "Let's go," before yanking her in his embrace and flying off.
The rush of nervousness that the person on his chest would die if he failed to control his flight made his flying more stable, and minutes later he dropped into an alleyway close to his house before walking to his apartment in his businessman suit with a frightened Anna beside him.
**
**
**
If you want to read the next 15+ chapters ahead or support me, go to: patreon.com/Master4thWall
