I took a second to slip invisibly from the meeting room. The odds no one sees me are a lot better than the odds of me suddenly being somewhere else, thus the more economic solution as far as my powers are concerned. Cost goes up if I want something fast, improbable, or overly controlled in how it happens.
Electrons and photons are probabilistic by nature, Biochemical reactions can be skewed one way or the other, and the butterfly effect can be leaned on hard. There’s a reason probability manipulation is one of the most feared and sought after powers in the world. It’s why I hid. I use my powers to play with electrons to fake electrokinesis. In my masked persona as Oddball I play out my little gimmick. As I flew off back to the office I took in the sights of the city and tried to keep my eyes open.
The odds of Gary, Dark Knight’s henchie, making a full recovery were slim to nil before I put my hands on the scale. I was as vague as I could be, didn’t specify a time other than within the next five years, and certainly didn’t try to dictate the how; but it still wiped me out. Yhat was how low his odds were.
I still considered it worth it. I liked Gary and he was one of the few henchies Dark had that was a true believer in Dark’s cause.
That lead me to muse over the League in general. If there was an organization that could claim to be purely interested in conflict resolution, it was the League of Mutual Interests. The fact that it was the interests of the worlds premier villains was understood. I rarely put on my mask these days, the shady objectives I originally pursued largely accomplished. The benefits of knowing the wheelings and dealings of other villains was worth maintaining the persona. The only real complication was that my seat was technically open to anyone willing to take it, if they thought they could withstand the repercussions.
That happened a few times in the aftermath of a very public tiff with my brother some years back. They thought my unwillingness to end the BBB for good proved I was soft.
As I landed I guessed at the state of the building and its occupants.
What most fail to realize is that probability manipulation is two distinct parts of a whole. The first was an incredibly far reaching precognition that turned the world into a series of rube goldberg machines. The second is a hyper precise telekinesis. Electrons are easy because so long as they are observed where you need them, they are there. I spent the better part of ten years getting an education required to turn that little trick into a full power of its own. I can speak languages by guessing what the meaning of the words are and replying with random sounds, trusting my power to make them the right sounds to reply back. I tried to stick to those more subtle uses of my powers, least I out myself.
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It was in this manner I discovered my brother on the couch with a bottle of wine on the table and his head in his hands.
I walked through the front door and took a seat in the leather upholstered seat across from him.
He gave me a look with bags under his eyes. “ I slept with my arch rival. I literally got in bed with the enemy.”
I looked back schooling my expression to be neutral.
“ I think you found someone who understands both sides of your life and took the chance to enjoy that.”
“ Sure” he replied, “ If only that person wasn’t also someone i’m obligated to stop when she tries to destroy the city. I call that a conflict of interest.”
I walked to the cabinet and poured myself a glass of whiskey.
“ If it makes you feel better the octobot was a distraction for a data collection operation in the Spencer building by a third party. She was never going to do more than take down that tower, while it was empty, to eliminate the evidence.”
He gave me a deadpan stare.
“ You know, knowledge that I got completely outplayed doesn't make me feel fantastic.”
“ Oh you didn’t though, when you destroyed the octobot you basically increased the overhead to the point the whole job was a wash. So you did still deter that tactic from seeing future use.”
“ Okay that does make me feel better. But still, the conflict remains. This wouldn’t be an issue but I want to see her again! Do you know what it’s like not having to worry that an errant twitch will destroy the woman you are with? Who you trust won’t die of radiation poisoning because you didn’t pull out? That’s the first time i’ve gotten laid in years. I want to keep this going but i’ll be compromising everything I stand for.”
“ She’s like me Barry. She’s got a goal and is acting in service of that goal. It wouldn’t be the first time you’ve been in that particular situation.” Left unsaid was that she, unlike I, had lines she simply wouldn’t cross.
He heaved a sigh and rolled his massive shoulders.
“ I suppose you’re right, I’m overthinking this. It’s not like I have a way to contact her anyway. I grabbed a pen and a notepad off the side table draw next to me and wrote down a phone number. I slid it to him.
“ You have her personal number?”
“No, I guessed it.”
“ You and your magical bullshit”
“ Hey, if it wasn’t for my bullshit we would both be dead from your little reactor.”
“ Yeah I guess so, I guess so. I have a call to make. Goodnight Odd.”
“Night Barry”