Chapter 9 : The longest day of my life (Helping the inner child)

 

The Thompson’s home, Forest Hill, Queens, 25th of January, 04:07

 

Turns about that finding the proper lightwaves to trick/refract/block into making me look like a proper member of the homo sapiens species was fucking hard. But I finally managed to accomplish that very important goal in less than half an hour.

 

Blessed be my smarter brain, because the variations that I needed to do were stupidly precises.

 

I am now looking at my figure, now sporting a lightly tanned caucasian white skin tone and very normal blond hair and eyebrows, under the quiet mental cheers of my sister.

 

“[Pride, happiness] : You actually did it !”

I nod, thinking.

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“Yeah, but it took way too long.” I answer, “I do not have the time to try on my ‘clothes’. Besides, I really want to show your colors around, so there’s that.”

 

“[Curiosity, excitation] : Are we going outside ?” She asks, getting hyper at the idea of a hunt.

 

“First, we do what we need to do with ‘daddy dearest’s’ issues, then we will go outside.” I explain, “Flashy’s stable now, it’s been months of subjective time in the Astral plane since ‘I’ have started talking with him, so we will have to find him a body.”

 

She ponders about my explanations as I finally make my way out of the bathroom while levitating both due to my laziness and me not wanting to wake up the sleepers.

 

“[Curiosity, confusion] : Why ?” She quietly asks.

 

I stop, hovering in the corridor, acknowledging both her question and the fact that using at least that much telekinetic power makes me glow white a little.

 

I mull my answer for a moment.

 

“Harrison was a victim who just ended up reproducing the only behavior he knew. You don’t hear him mentally screaming in his sleep right now, but I can. Objectively, no one deserves to carry this weight for their whole life.” I pause, structuring my thoughts, then shrug lightly, “The guy may be an asshole, but personally, he didn’t ‘hurt’ me per say, so I have nothing against giving him a little push to be a better person and stop hurting himself and those close to him.”

 

I start once again to fly my way towards Rosie and Harrison’s bedroom.

 

“[Confusion] : He did hurt you, though.” Iris counters.

 

“Meh, call me delusional if you like, but to me, he tried to hurt Flashy and got himself decked for it.” I answer lightly, “If Harrison getting better can make the munchkin happy, I don’t mind. He is still her father after all, and Flashy got the short end of the stick instead of his sister since she was born. That will be on him to forgive his Father, not on the stranger who got clothed and fed for gratis during the last months.”

 

She hmm at that, tentative understanding in her side of the mind-link.

 

“As for Flashy, don’t you honestly think it would be kind of an asshole move to just get rid of him after stealing his life ?” I carry on, “Granted, he was a bit of a prick, but he was just a hurting teenager acting dumb. You saw what he could become right ?”

 

Iris just sends a feeling of general [Agreement] at that.

 

“In my opinion, someone who would go so far as to sacrifice their own life to save the world deserves a second chance.” I continue, “But he’ll have to tread another path because I’m not parting ways with you anytime soon.”

 

“[Pride, happiness, joy, outrage] : You wouldn’t dare anyway.” She mock-grumbles.

 

“True enough,” I sagely nod, “Where would I find another wardrobe as handy as you ?”

 

I chuckle at her as she sends me the equivalent of a mental swat and starts [Pouting].

 

Who knew it was even an emotion ?

 

The door to their bedroom silently slides open as I use my TK on it.

 

I see Harrison’s form vaguely stir under Rosie and his covers.

 

I narrow my eyes for a bit, focusing on my telepathy.

 

It takes me a few seconds, but the trick to release a calming aura around me comes soon enough, and he visibly relaxes.

 

I switch to a more horizontal style of flight, and rapidly find myself in kind of a pickle.

 

The problem being my voluminous, bouncy, gorgeous, hair. I absolutely can’t see shit because of them falling in my face and I don’t have the finer control needed over my pseudo touch-TK disguise and my flying skill for now to also make the mass of keratin stick in place in addition.

 

I sigh, the other side of the mind-link radiating mirth.

 

“Iris, please, could you tie up my hair ?” I try to coax her.

 

It doesn’t really work, as she keeps [Pouting] amid flash of [Mirth/Joy/Schadenfreude].

 

This girl will be the death of me, I swear.

 

“Oh, magnificent blood-sister of mine, greatest huntress of the Klyntar, most marvelous fashion designer and body-morpher extraordinaire, can I count on you to tie up the gorgeous and silky mane you granted me ?” I say grandly, trying to make amends.

 

Iris’ side of the mind-link sort of stammers at that, and after a bashful [Agreement], I feel multiple little tentacles thingies band together to gather, lightly brush, then fix in place my voluminous mass of gorgeousness in a high and softly tied ponytail.

 

Smirking internally, I finally orient myself over Harrison’s sleeping form and gently put my hands on each side of his skull.

 

The process is easy enough because he is totally unshielded, and it’s a matter of seconds to create a roughly positive version of his mind that will disappear after a while, link it with his own and yeet them together in the Astral plane.

 

It is almost scary how easy and instinctive the process had been. I already feared telepaths because of what they can do, but being one myself is an abrupt eye-opener about their potential and the insidiousness their power has on their morality.

 

It is too natural, too easy.

 

No wonder Jean got scared shitless and Xavier has so many levels of schemes under his belt.

 

Two sides of the same coin, really.

 

Softly shaking my head, I make my way back outside the room.

 

“Alright, that’s one thing done.” I mutter under my breath as I travel the corridor toward my own bedroom.

 

“[Worry] : Are you sure it’ll be alright ? Once they have their son back and learn that a stranger had been masquerading as him for a little over three months, they may not be very grateful.” Iris finally blurts, exposing her truest fears.

 

“No skin off my nose, really.” I answer, “Having a cover as a smart-ish and hard-working teenager would be useful, but I can do without.”

 

“[Worry, confusion] : But what about Jessie ?” She pushes anxiously.

 

My door opens and I start making my way toward my windows.

 

“We will see, blood-sister, Flashy apparently has a plan.” I tell her, “It’s a bit confusing, gathering the information of the ‘other me’ in the Astral isn’t easy, but she apparently made a deal with him.”

 

“[Worry] : Alright.” She concedes.

 

My window unlocks and lifts by itself as I near it under my coaxing.

 

“Could you swap for the battleform, Iris ?” I politely ask, not wanting a repeat of the pouting incident so soon.

 

“[Happiness, joy, frustration] : How come ? You are so cute dressed like that !” She mock-whines.

 

A bit of heat rises on my cheeks at the heartfelt exclamation.

 

I know she is as truthful as someone can be, and the hidden acknowledgement of my beauty is extremely satisfying.

 

“Pretty please ? I don’t really want to be seen flying in the sky in civies.” I gently coax her, “You can totally dress me back like that once we’re done with the risky stuff for the day.”

 

She silently grumbles as she melts and flows over me, and soon, we are one as our mind aligns.

 

We both release a shuddering breath and she tightens herself around me in contentment for a beat as we reach the state we are meant to be in.

 

Feeling her suddenly squishing and wrapping herself around absolutely everything on my less-than-an-hour-long feminine body is also something like a rush.

 

It almost makes me consider taking some ‘me’ time, but I instantly reject the very interesting idea because we do not have any time to waste.

 

I instead busy myself admiring how I look now, clad in snow white, purples accentuations and claws, with little feathers blooming and flowing around and everywhere, my curly mass of gorgeousness safely hidden inside my sister's makeshift tentacle-hair.

 

“How much can you control the feathers exactly ?” I wonder.

 

“[Happiness, excitement, confidence] : As much as I wish, really, this is just the standard state. The touch aerokinesis the life-code segment gave me doesn't even need them to be effective.” She answer rapidly.

 

That actually makes me pause.

 

“Could you stack them over each other, create wings and stuff ?” I ask.

 

In the guise of an answer, a wing sprouts over my midriff, tickles my nose, then disappears promptly back where it came from.

 

I start grinning like a loon under my blood-sister’s skin.

 

“Alright, that is going to make things so much easier.” I start, “When we are in battleform, you’re going to always hide those.”

 

“[Happiness, excitement, agreement, confusion] : Alright, but why ?” Iris asks as the feathers melt back in her.

 

“Because for regular crooks and villains who just exist, we’ll downplay our kit. Aerokinesis empowered flying, double touch-TK, our bonded state, your immunity to bullets and healing will be plenty enough. It’s already better than a Kryptonian after all.”

 

As my pseudo touch-TK and her own real deal merges in a combination of purple and white light around us, I keep talking.

 

“And for the rest, the big events, the guys that need to be taken down no matter what, we’re going to create a myth.”

 

I start to fly away from my window, still grinning madly.

 

“Training for those will make the rest easier anyway,” I carry on, “And that myth will give us leniency, at least until the gig is up.”

 

“[Happiness, excitement, confusion] : You anticipate us getting caught ?” Iris asks, our empathic state making her privy to my own giddiness at pulling that move.

 

“More like getting inevitably exposed after a while, I’d say, but if we have raised the low, broad power of humanity against external threats in time, it won’t really matter, the authorities won’t be able to piss us off and the shitstains of this world will be scared senseless anyway.” I answer back, my grin intensifying.

 

“This planet isn’t ready, and it’ll either be dragged kicking and screaming toward the adequate state, or we’ll leave it, it’s as simple as that.” I solemnly add under my breath.

 

As we make our ways toward the docks, I cannot help but think about the look of absolute terror Kilgrave gave me when he died and have to suppress a shudder despite the predatory glee filling me.

 

I sure hope what I’m about to do will be worth it.

 

***

 

Atop a disembarkment crane, New York Docks, Manhattan, New York, the same day, 04:32

 

I can pretend that I knew what I was doing here, adhering to one of the tropes of Marveldom that if you’re looking to find some trouble and shady deals made under flickering light-bulbs you better aim for the docks, but that would have been lying.

 

I am totally fishing in the dark there, hoping to find a random warehouse filled with some ne’er-do-wells working for one criminal syndicate or the other, preferably a well armed and technologically advanced one.

 

Iris’ patience finally runs short as I busy myself reading the surface thoughts of the dockers still working this late (early ?).

 

So, like the extremely mature girl she is, she tightens her hold around me until I am self-conscious enough to pay her attention.

 

With a low exhale, I rip myself away from my telepathic fugue and try my hardest not to acknowledge the fact that she is currently squishing and caressing my body absolutely everywhere.

 

“Yes, Iris ?” I say, eyes closed.

 

I have absolutely no illusions as to the fact that she knows what she’s doing.

 

She’s going to turn me into a ball of horniness just to mess with me if I don’t give her enough attention.

 

And I don’t have anyone to relieve the accumulated pressure.

 

Marie…

 

“[Happiness, excitement, amusement, confusion] : Will you finally tell me what we are doing here, sister of mine ?” She cajoles me, totally knowing what she did and being unapologetic.

 

Little vixen.

 

“We’re looking for a body for Flashy, of course.”

 

Feeling her incomprehension radiating in our shared-mind, I carry on.

 

“First thing first, do you remember his original life-code ?” I ask.

 

“[Happiness, concentration, agreement] : I do.” She answers readily.

 

“Now, what would happen if we just rewrote one cell of mine with his own life-code and a healing factor, put his trapped mind in it and just let it do its job ?” I challenge her.

 

She stays silent for a bit, calculating the odds.

 

“[Happiness, concentration, confidence] : It would work, but he would have the body of a spawn. The healing factor alone wouldn’t suffice.”

 

I nod.

 

“That is what I guessed, but, luckily, we have just the thing to jump-start the process.” I smile.

 

Confusion radiates over the mind-link for a second.

 

“[Happiness, realization, confidence] : the ciberoid X-gene !” Iris blurts.

 

“Correct, sister of mine,” I answer, “My theory is that if you take Nur’s powers, dovetail an healing factor on it and adds the innate exoskeleton mastery that Evan’s has, you just need to ‘graft’ that cell in the middle of a bunch of machines, and his mind will do the rest, using self-crafted mechanical body parts to guide his own growth in the right direction.”

 

I rise up, stretching like a languid and lazy cat.

 

“He’ll be able to discard those when they have accomplished their goal of assisting in his rebirth, and mold and merge with more useful ones later on. The ultimate power armor wielder and crafter, talking to his creations, even beyond Stark’s reach.” I finish, sporting a manic grin.

 

She stays silent for a bit.

 

“[Happiness, worry, confusion] : Will that not be dangerous ? He would become extremely powerful. What if he turns against us ?” Iris finally asks.

 

“There’s not much of a risk,” I answer easily, “Firstly, because I am also a technopath and a telepath that can shut him down, and secondly because from what I gathered from the other ‘me’ so far, Flashy feels like he owe me a solid for getting him out of that trap and horrible fate.”

 

I furrow my brows.

 

“The guy was successful as a soldier and later on as a hero because, deep down, he knows that sometimes things need to get done, and he is largely on board with my goals.”

 

I shrug.

 

“He just has two wishes and I’m not petty enough to deny those.”

 

“[Happiness, worry, agreement] : Alright.” My sister testily agrees.

 

“So, the only question left is, will you be able to craft and isolate that first cell ?” I ask her.

 

“[Happiness, confidence] : As long as it is only the one, I’ll be able to do it while keeping the ‘healthy’ ones from eliminating it.” She answers decisively.

 

“Perfect,” I answer with a smile, “Because before you interrupted me, I had just found the ideal place to stretch our claws, so let’s get on the move.”

 

A beat passes.

 

“[Awkwardness, shyness] : So, it means…” She shyly asks.

 

“That if you had waited one more minute we would be already taking over one the Kingpin warehouse ? Absolutely.” I tease her back.

 

“[Happiness, excitement, shyness, awkwardness] : I’m so sorry sister, it’s just that I was so bored…” She admits.

 

“That’s alright, as long as you remember it next time.” I mercilessly add.

 

Our bonded state starts flying toward somewhere on the north-western quadrant of the docks.

 

“[Happiness, excitement, determination] : I will !”

 

Let’s just hope she’ll be a more patient huntress next time, instead of acting like a tease from sheer boredom.

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