Chapter 2: 02 Power Testing

I presented my report to Armsmaster in the morning about being able to use Miss Militia's powers at three in the morning. I also added in switching to Vista's power and using that as well. I was sure it wasn't necessary, considering we were only two rooms away from each other and my power could be copying it subconsciously. I somehow knew it wasn't, because copying was an active power.

I didn't know why I knew that, though. I chuckled at that thought, because my actual existence was an unknown. I shouldn't have lived, I shouldn't have triggered, and I definitely shouldn't have more than a couple of powers. Having two triggers was fairly rare and usually didn't happen at the same time.

After some extensive psychotherapy to help me deal with the trauma of people dying around me, we eventually learned that I had three triggers. Three! It was awesome! Like I told my new teammates yesterday, the first two were easily discernible as a massive healing factor and then invulnerability. We had no clue what the third power could have been until last night.

I formed a small throwing dagger and admired it. It was created from nothing, because my body didn't change or was altered in any way, neither physically nor chemically, which meant it was converting the air or pulling matter from another dimension or something.

“That's so cool.” I said and absorbed the blade.

“Go on to the cafeteria and have breakfast. Your testing time will be at 9am and we'll try to categorize your new power as best as we can.” Armsmaster said. “You'll meet the rest of the Wards after that.”

“What about school?” I asked.

“It's Sunday.” Armsmaster responded.

“Oh. Good to know.” I said and left his office before I could see the surprise on his face.

I hadn't really kept track of what day it was, considering the state I had been in. To say it was the worst day of my life was an understatement. I had even snuck into the Boston Protectorate's head office after I had healed and saw the newspapers that painted my previous self as the son of unknown villains. I couldn't refute the accusations, because I couldn't remember anything.

I saw Vista in the cafeteria and greeted her enthusiastically. “Hi, there!”

“Hi!” Vista greeted me back and looked happy. “Want to sit together?”

“How can we fit on the same chair and still eat?” I asked with a grin and she giggled.

“I meant next to each other.” Vista said and picked up a tray.

“Well, I'm the new guy and you're the expert. The smart thing for me to do is to stick by your side as much as possible.” I said and grabbed a tray as well.

Vista looked quite happy about my decision and we both picked sensible things to eat, like oatmeal, toast, orange juice, and sliced apples.

“Are you on a diet, too?” Vista asked, even though she was only twelve like I was.

“Diet?” I asked and shook my head. “No, I'm just eating healthy. Why are you on a diet?”

Vista blushed a little. “N-no reason.”

I waited until we sat down before I turned to her. “Vista, you are perfect the way you are. If you want to eat a bag of potato chips or drink a can of soda pop occasionally, your body can handle it.”

“That's not...” Vista shook her head. “I need to prove that I can...”

“You don't need to prove anything. Not to me, not to anyone else, and definitely not to yourself.” I interrupted. “You've been on this team the longest and you've done the most, including training sessions.”

Vista gave me me a surprised look.

“I checked last night after testing my powers.”

“Don't you mean my powers?” Vista asked with a smile.

“Nope! It's only half strength, which means I'm limited to manipulating spacial distortions to only half of infinity.” I said with a grin.

Vista giggled. “What's half of infinity again?”

“Infinity.” I said, smugly.

Vista laughed and we started eating. I asked her what power testing was going to be like and she filled me in on the different exercises that were usually tailored for each cape to see their potential.

“Huh, that's going to be weird.” I said.

Vista nodded, because she knew I meant that I had access to two different powers and having a specific one for me wasn't going to work. How do you test a copy ability or invulnerability?

My eyes widened and I stared at her. “Invulnerability.”

Vista's eyes widened like mine. “You can't think... there's no way that...” Her vice trailed off and she fell silent. The implications were too numerous to think about.

“Who can I complain to if I'm a ward of the state?” I asked and she shook her head.

“Do you want me to come with you?” Vista asked. “As moral support?”

I nodded and she smiled and took my hand.

We finished eating and didn't bother waiting until the right time and went to the testing area. Armsmaster, Miss Militia, Assault, Battery, Velocity, and Dauntless were there discussing something. I had done a bit more research last night than looking up Vista's records.

“Good, you're early.” Armsmaster said and pointed to a small gun range. “First up, create the largest calibre handgun you can and try to shoot the target.”

I looked at him and then at the other capes. “That's it? You're not going to explain anything? Introduce yourselves? Tell me what's going on or anything?”

The looks of surprise on all of their faces was worth pointing out their shortcomings.

“You're not here to talk. You're here for power testing.” Armsmaster said.

“When are you going to have Miss Militia shoot me with a rocket launcher? When are you dropping a car on me from two stories up?” I asked and they all looked guilty.

“We planned on doing the offensive aspects before we move on to the defensive aspects.” Armsmaster responded.

“So, you really are going to test my invulnerability, despite all of the reports?” I asked and no one said anything. “You do realize there's no degrees of applicability from that, right? Either you're invulnerable or you're not.”

“Real world applications...”

“Have you ever had a car thrown at you?” I asked and he nodded, as did a few of the other heroes. “Did you stand there AND LET IT HIT YOU, or did you dodge it and run?”

That put the guilty looks back on their faces.

“If you plan on putting me through some of the same trauma that caused me to trigger, namely having large heavy things dropped on me, where can I file a formal complaint about my treatment?” I asked.

Armsmaster closed his mouth and frowned at me.

“Nowhere? Really?” I asked and looked at the camera in the corner of the room. “Director Piggot, is there a better representative than Armsmaster for me to talk to?”

“Miss Militia can act as a liaison.” Emily Piggot's voice said over the intercom.

“Can I utilize her before or after I'm subjected to unfair treatment?” I asked, genuinely curious.

The sigh she released was telling. “We need to record your limits, Myriad.”

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“I doubt Miss Militia can create an infinite weight bullet to shoot me with.” I commented and the capes gasped. “Because that's my limit. I'm invulnerable. Not half invulnerable. Not three quarters invulnerable. Completely invulnerable. My limit is that I. Cannot. Be. Hurt.”

“What about medical procedures? Scalpels and needles?” Assault asked me.

“Useless, as I'm perfectly healthy. Nothing can pierce my skin, as my previous reports from Boston clearly state.” I said and looked at each of them and realized the truth. “You're not power testing me. You're all here to watch me survive anything that you can throw at me, aren't you?”

The guilty look was back on their faces.

“I'm a Ward, both of the state and a member of the junior Protectorate. I am NOT a toy for you to play with!”

The women flinched and the guys kind of shrugged.

“Don't you want to see what you can take?” Dauntless asked and his hand rubbed his custom-made gun handle.

“I already did that and I triggered. Do you enjoy the thought of trying to trigger me again?” I asked and I was sure that I was right, because he didn't deny it.

“We will limit the testing to offensive capabilities.” Piggot's voice said. “Please go to the gun range and follow the previous instructions.”

I nodded and felt Vista's hand on my shoulder. I gave her a smile and walked over to the gun range. I easily noticed all of the recording equipment and took several deep breaths. I had already switched to the copy of Miss Militia's power and I closed my eyes as I brought the image of a normal handgun into my mind.

I knew that wasn't my limit, though. I had ten inches of space to play with, so I increased the scale of the gun and then called upon the power to create it in my hand. I could feel the strain as the gun slowly formed in my hands and the sounds of surprise behind me told me that I was successful.

I opened my eyes and laughed at the sight and feel of a 95 calibre automatic pistol that was 10 inches long and nearly double the size of a 50 calibre handgun. When I popped the undercarriage magazine out to show off that it was an actual functional weapon, despite the massive size, the eight bullets inside were the length of my palm and were as thick as my fingers.

The subtle cursing from Miss Militia was great to hear.

I put the magazine back into the gun and took a proper firing stance, even though I had never fired a gun before, then I aimed and shot at the target.

*CRACK-OOM!*

The target exploded in a spectacular fireball and the recoil almost knocked me off of my feet. A five foot crater was left in the wall behind where the obliterated target used to be.

“What the HELL was that?!?” Piggot's voice shouted over the intercom.

“Explosive ammo and the full limit of my power.” I said and walked over to Miss Militia. Her eyes locked onto mine and she seemed to tremble a little. I turned the gun around in my hand and held it out by the massive barrel. I couldn't let it go, though. My power wasn't strong enough for it to remain stable if I wasn't touching it.

“Alex...” Miss Militia whispered.

“Go ahead. If you examine the pattern, you might be able to copy it or even improve on it.”

Miss Militia nodded and her hand went around the gun's normal handle. She sucked in a sharp breath and she shook as her power seemed to revel from finding a 'new' type of gun. It took her several minutes as her power probed and felt all over the weapon and then it touched my power.

I had been right when I told Vista before that it was my power after I had copied it. It was similar to the original and also different, which was great. Our powers seemed to... lick and taste each other. It was a really odd feeling. By the look on Miss Militia's face, she thought so, too.

“We need to talk about this later.” Miss Militia whispered and looked reluctant as she let the handle go.

“I need to examine the specs on that.” Armsmaster said and grabbed it.

As soon as it lost contact with my skin, it dissolved away into nothingness.

The glare Armsmaster gave me was priceless. “I needed to examine that!”

I gave him a bright and happy smile. “If someone had been smart and actually asked instead of trying to steal it for his own satisfaction, both Miss Militia and I could have told you that it needed to remain in my grasp to stay corporeal.”

“Of course! That's your Manton limit! When you used up all of your ability to manifest the gun, there was nothing left of your power to maintain it when you let it go.” Miss Militia said with a nod. “You will need to practice with it and try to manifest it slightly smaller to allow it to leave your hands for a brief amount of time.”

“I hope I can count on you to help me with that.” I said and she nodded.

Armsmaster was not happy. “Create it again.”

Miss Militia shook her head. “He just taxed himself by completely using his power. He'll need rest if you want him to be able to create an identical weapon.”

“How long?” Armsmaster said.

“When I go all out, it takes me a day or so to fully recover.” Miss Militia said. “Since his power is half of the strength of mine, it should be at least two days for full power.”

Armsmaster definitely wasn't happy. “How are we supposed to keep testing him if we have to wait two days after every creation?”

Miss Militia and I exchanged knowing looks and then laughed.

“What's so funny?” Assault asked from the previously silent capes.

“That's to fully recover.” Miss Militia said and nodded to me and I created a throwing knife. “That doesn't mean we can't still use the power. We just can't go all out again.”

“So, throwing stars and things?” I asked and she nodded.

“I'll put out a new target.” Velocity said and there was suddenly a new target where the crater was.

“Thanks, Speedy.” I said and he laughed.

What followed was entertaining after the first few shots to get a feel for throwing things. The capes started calling out different things for me to make and throw. At one point, Assault being the joker that he was, called out for a kitchen sink.

I only had a ten inch limit to what I could create and I had topped that out, so I took a minute to form an eight inch long rectangular throwing star with two distinct indentations in the middle of it and added a large faucet-like arm on the other side to balance it. When it formed in my hand, the laughing stopped.

I held it up and showed off that it actually looked like a kitchen sink and then threw it. It wasn't aerodynamic at all and wobbled horribly through the air and then bounced off of the target and landed on the floor.

“How did you do that?” Miss Militia asked me as she picked the thing up and brought it over to Armsmaster.

“It's still technically a weapon.” I said and shrugged. “I was trying to make it still functional, while changing it fundamentally, and it kind of worked.”

“A kitchen sink throwing star.” Assault said with a shake of his head and laughed. “Armsmaster, if you can figure out how to reproduce that, I want one.”

Several of the others nodded.

After Armsmaster finished recording the thing, he gave it back to me and it dissolved. “Switch to Vista's power set and we'll run you through her testing parameters.”

I didn't tell him I had already switched with Velocity's speed powers and holy crap, was it a rush. Even at only half speed, my mind worked like a computer. I completely sorted through my scattered memories and everything that had happened to me after my trigger event.

It would be awesome if I could keep this power going all the time, because with my mind and body accelerated, even if for me it still took five minutes to switch powers in my mind, in normal time it was practically instantaneous. My mind slowed down to normal as the copy of Vista's power took effect and replaced Velocity's.

I nodded and the testing continued. Vista looked very happy when I easily handled the same test she had gone through. Having spacial powers was extremely useful. You could crush the space around you to move fast or expand it to make things coming towards you take a long time to reach you. It was amazing!

When that testing was done, both Armsmaster and Dauntless were blatantly stroking their sword hilts. I glared at each of them and Miss Militia and Battery, the only two women there, started berating them when they saw what the two men were doing.

Vista came over to me and took my hand. “We're going to grab something to eat and then we're on monitor duty.”

I nodded and we left the testing area as the shouting match between the capes became heated.

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