It was unfortunate, but expected, to discover the wound on my face hadn’t gotten better overnight. The swelling made my eye difficult to open and seemed to come bundled with a throbbing headache. Not the best way to start the day.
“It’s not looking so good is it?”
Mom cringed, handing me some eggs and bacon as I flipped the knobs on the stovetop. “You aren’t winning any beauty contests, I’m afraid.”
“That’s fine with me. You had your chance with Alex.”
“She was never interested,” Mom complained. “If I can’t live vicariously through my kids, what’s even the point in having them?!”
“So we can be complete and utter burdens on you, both financially, and emotionally,” I replied, cracking a few eggs into a pan. “Besides, at least I cook for you. What does Alex do except forget how timezones work and start messaging us in the middle of the night?”
“Excuuuuuse me,” A voice came through the speakers on Mom’s laptop. “You were the one still online at 2 A.M.”
I rolled my eyes. Of course Mom had already started her morning call with Alex.
“She sends me wonderful paintings,” Mom said. She turned her laptop to face my direction. Alex was on a webcam of her in her studio apartment with the Eiffel Tower in perfect view. She wasn’t looking at us, instead, she was touching up her latest painting, some mind-bending abstract thing that looked like a meaningless mess to me. “See, look at this. Another gorgeous piece, sweetie.”
“Thaaaanks, Mom. I’m sure I’ll get a good grade on this one,” Alex chuckled, turning back to the webcam. She gasped when she saw my black eye. “Max, what happened!?”
Mom gave me an expectant look.
I turned away and sighed. “Walked into the bathroom door at night. Couldn’t see.”
“Buuuullshit,” She waved off dismissively. “Come on, spill it. What happened? If you don’t tell me I’m going to get Mum to pull your ear.”
“Honey, he’s too tall for me to do that.”
“Fine, she’ll wake you up with a bucket of water.”
“My bedroom is upstairs.”
“Hit him with a broom!”
Mom cleared her throat. “Kids, that’s enough! Max, tell her. She deserves to know. ”
I didn’t want Alex stressing about something she had no control over. While I’d like to finally meet her, the last thing I wanted was for her to delay her study just to come home for something so minor. She raved about art and how it allowed her to express herself; how true artists were a dying breed with all the Evohumans running around and ‘cheating with their unfair, bullshit powers’.
I shook my head and sighed. “I got jumped by a bunch of thugs. They robbed me and messed me up a bit.”
“WHAT!?”
Cold fury overtook Alex and her usual playful demeanor vanished in the blink of an eye.
“Tell me everything.”
I narrowed my eyes – or my only currently functioning one. “What’s there to tell?”
“What gang?”
“Does it matter?”
Mom crossed her arms. “Max, stop being difficult.”
“What’re we going to do about it, call the police? The ECU? They’ll take our case and file it away for later. Maybe twenty years down the line they’ll get around to it and then find that the assholes that did it are dead anyway,” I countered, dishing up breakfast.
I slid Mom’s breakfast across the table to her while I sullenly sat down with my own. She caught the plate before it could fall off the table and into her lap.
“There are other options. We could hire a private investigator,” Mom offered. “There are a number of independents that would be up to the task.”
“You want to hire a super to track down the guys that beat the crap out of me?” I wasn’t exactly sure how to feel about that. The last thing I wanted was for the Cains to go after Mom. “Come on, you know what they charge. It’s only a black eye.”
Mom replied without missing a beat. “It’s worth it if you’re safe.”
What a ridiculous thing to waste money on.
“No.”
Mom stopped eating her breakfast and looked up at me.
Alex made an amused noise. “Oooh, you’re in trouble.”
“No?” Mom repeated in disbelief. “You’d rather wait twenty years for the police to get around to the case?”
“It’s a waste,” I intoned. “Besides, even if we find out who did it, law enforcement isn’t going to do anything. They’re swamped with Evohuman serial killers, gang skirmishes, and potential city-ending threats like Grim. They don’t have time to spend on a teenager getting his ass kicked. You hire the investigator, and maybe they find the guys that did it. Then what? Nothing is gonna happen, it’s completely pointless.”
Mom looked pained.
She knew I was right. Justice was a hard thing to come by nowadays.
“I’m sorry bro,” Alex said. “Look, mid-term break is coming up soon so I’ll see what I can—”
“Don’t. It’s cool,” I blew her off. “You don’t need to sacrifice anything. I’ll just keep trucking along as I have been,” I stood up and cleaned my plate in the sink. “I’ve gotta head out now, otherwise I’ll be late for school.”
“No need,” Mom said, stopping me in my tracks. ”I’ve already signed you out for the rest of the week. I want you home and resting.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty bad. It’s like you took a hockey puck to the face.”
I ignored Alex.
“The whole week? It’s not that bad. I don’t need to be off for that long,” I said. I’d go stir-crazy if I was home for that long. “At least let me go back on Wednesday.”
“No.”
“Thursday.”
Mom pursed her lips and sighed.
“Friday.”
“Thursday,” I insisted. “I’m not made of glass.”
“Fine, but only if you rest properly and call in sick to work. I’ll be calling a doctor to come and have a look at you. I want to make sure there isn’t any permanent damage,” Mom relented. “Do not fight me on this. If you want to keep working late, you’ll do this without complaint.”
“I’m not concussed.”
Mom glared at me. “Maxis…”
“Come on, just listen to Mom for once,” Alex chimed in. “I'm worried about you too. We need to make sure you didn't lose too many brain cells, you're barely functional as is.”
“That’s rich coming from the girl who failed French.”
“Foreign languages are hard!”
“You live in France!”
We continued to trade playful jabs as I cleaned up the kitchen, all while Mom sat in the middle of our squabble, her patience wearing thin. She earned her reprieve when I finished up and disappeared upstairs to my room, leaving Alex to speak to the wall.
Collapsing on my bed, I rolled over onto my back and stared at my ceiling.
Last night’s events looped in my head, I couldn’t stop thinking about what to do next. Things had gone wrong, that much was clear. The only question now was how to correct it. I had already replaced my phone which had been easy enough. What I really needed was some form of protection.
But where to start?
Well, more than anything I didn’t want to die and there was one thing that could prevent that.
Armor.
I was on The Cain's radar now and if I came across them again, I’d need to be protected. I needed something that could negate mundane firearms at the very least and if I was going to wear armor, I might as well go all in and just create a costume.
I had put it off before, thinking I wouldn’t really need it if I slid by under the radar. I only intended to sell some small things here and there to try and make extra money. In my head, it would eventually all pile up and I’d be able to afford what I needed without getting involved in the Evohuman world.
Evidently, that was no longer the case.
I swung my legs off my bed and made for my wardrobe. I began sifting through various items of clothes, many of which I hadn’t touched in years. The more I searched, the more I realized I was in dire need of some spring cleaning. There were things in here dating back to my primary school years that I had never bothered to throw out.
I need something that will cover my whole body, preferably everything down from my neck.
My hand caught a rubbery material, an old wetsuit, one I had long since grown out of. I couldn’t remember the last time I had gone swimming or surfing.
Had to have been before Mom’s accident.
I removed it from the rack and observed it with my power. With my charges resetting every day at 4:43 AM — my time of birth — I’d be able to make a start now.
[Charges: 25/25]
[Type]
* Children’s Wetsuit
[Durability 87/100 - Repair Available. Cost: 1]
I might as well repair it. If this was going to be the base for my armor, I’d need it in the best condition possible.
With twenty-four charges left, I moved onto size. I had obviously grown since the last time I had worn this so I filtered the nearly limitless options that [Size] provided and quickly found my height and build.
[Charges: 23/25]
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
[Materials]
* Neoprene
* * Durability MK I (Cost: 1)
* * * Durability MK II (Cost: 2)
* * Insulation MK I (Cost: 1)
* * * Insulation MK II (Cost: 2)
* * Sturdiness MK I (Cost 1)
* * * Sturdiness MK II (Cost: 2)
Useful for watersports but not exactly what I wanted. Looking further down the tree I could dump charges into Sturdiness and the fabric would eventually be able to block bullets but that along with the required upgrades to the base would cost about half a week's worth of charges. It made sense, this wasn’t designed as armor after all. I’d need to try something different.
What if I try what I did with the drone?
After tossing the wetsuit onto my bed, I moved back over to my closet of endless wonders and began digging through the bottom. There were some boxes with old junk in them. I didn’t have nearly as much stuff compared to all the crap Mom kept in the basement but I was almost certain I could find something to use.
It wasn’t long until I found an old metalworking project I had done for school a few years ago. It was just a simple metal plaque with my name bolted on it. The corners were jagged and there were parts that were a bit wonky which explained the C I got, but this should do the trick.
I pried off each letter and placed them on the limbs of the wetsuit. I put the plaque on the chest, covering a solid portion of it. It took some rearranging of the material so that it covered more of my vital areas before my power clicked.
[Integration Status - Available. Cost: 4]
A little more expensive than I had expected, but not outrageously so. I suppose taking only a little bit of metal and turning it into armor is a bit of an ask. At least I didn’t have to spend twelve charges this time like with the drone legs.
I let my power take over and the item rippled before folding like paper into the familiar blobby mess of colors. I counted the seconds as they ticked by. Just like my phone, the liquid slowly unfolded, revealing the new and improved wetsuit.
[Charges: 19/25]
[Materials]
* Neoprene-Steel ★
* * Durability MK I (Cost: 1)
* * * Durability MK II (Cost: 2)
* * Insulation MK I (Cost: 1)
* * * Insulation MK II (Cost: 2)
* * Sturdiness MK I (Cost 1)
* * * Sturdiness MK II (Cost: 2)
* * Flexibility MK I (Cost 1)
* * * Flexibility MK II (Cost: 2)
Picking up the wetsuit, I found my power interpreted the [Type] as [Armored Wetsuit] now, which was much more in line with what I wanted. I wasn’t sure what the star next to the new material meant but I was sure I could figure that out later. Just as long as my costume functioned the way I wanted it to, then I had no issues.
I retreated to my closet again to search for new items to mess with. I’d need more than body armor if I was going to keep myself safe. Head armor as well as something to protect my hands and feet would need to go with my costume.
I found an old bicycle helmet, a pair of worn-out running shoes, and a pair of winter gloves.
As I retrieved them, I placed them next to my newly acquired armored suit.
It was time to get to work.
I focused on the shoes and the gloves first. I wanted the costume to be a full one-piece and right now it was cut off at the wrists and ankles. Integrating them with the armored wetsuit cost two charges each, for eight in total. Fairly expensive all things considered but it needed to be done, so I bit the bullet. A small perversion of physics later and I had a full bodysuit made entirely of Neoprene-Steel.
In my excitement, I undressed and slipped into it. The first thing I noticed was how difficult it was to move. My limbs felt constrained and there was an incredible amount of resistance, so much that I couldn’t even zip up the back of the suit. It would be great for a workout, but that’s about it.
I removed it and spent six charges pushing the suit’s flexibility to MK III. With how stiff it was, I suspected MK I and II wouldn’t be sufficient enough.
I slipped back into it again and found that moving around was much easier. Granted, there was still some resistance but I could improve on it. I could walk and run as it was now. I could probably even swim. Crouching proved to be a bit of a task, so it seemed that the suit wasn’t too far off being as flexible as a normal wetsuit is.
I’ll get the flexibility to at least MK V then, maybe VI.
I got out of the suit and redressed myself, turning my attention to the helmet. With only five charges to spare, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with it quite yet. Without question, it couldn’t stay as it was. A child’s bicycle helmet like that wasn’t going to protect me from much and with my armored suit covering everything sans my head, it would pay to go full-body.
A motorcycle helmet would work.
I picked it up, and spent one charge to repair it, and another to change the type.
[Charges: 3/25]
[Type]
* Motorcycle Helmet
[Durability 100/100 - Repair Unavailable.]
What to do? three charges didn’t leave me with many options but there was no point hanging on to them. They’d just go to waste otherwise.
Motorcycle helmets don’t have the best visibility. The visor stunts my vision a little. I’ll need to be completely unimpaired if this is going to work.
Maybe an astronaut's helmet would have worked better. The visor was bigger but the whole piece itself was clunkier than a motorcycle helmet. Maybe I could modify its size?
I found the visor under [Features] and expanded the width and height of it. After spending a charge adjusting that, I placed it on my head to test it out.
Not wide enough.
I adjusted again and spent another charge. Down to my last charge.
There we go.
Now to enhance it so the most important part of my body doesn’t get splattered on the side of the road.
[Charges: 1/25]
[Materials]
* Exterior
* * Polycarbonate Plastic
* * * Durability MK I (Cost: 1)
* * * * Durability MK II (Cost: 2)
* * * Sturdiness MK I (Cost: 1)
* * * * Sturdiness MK II (Cost: 2)
* Protective Layers
* * Carbon Fiber
* * * Durability MK I (Cost: 1)
* * * * Durability MK II (Cost: 2)
* * * Density MK I (Cost: 1)
* * * * Density MK II (Cost: 2)
* Interior
* * Nylon Foam
* * * Durability MK I (Cost: 1)
* * * * Durability MK II (Cost: 2)
* * * Insulation MK I (Cost: 1)
* * * * Insulation MK II (Cost: 2)
I didn't mind ignoring the interior for now so I decided to dump my last charge into exterior durability. The rest of it I could work on tomorrow. With no charges remaining, I admired what I had accomplished. Normally, I had heard that it would take weeks, sometimes even months for supers to create their costumes.
I managed it before lunch.
But now, I would be forced to wait till tomorrow to improve upon anything else.
With the rest of the day ahead of me, I moved over to my laptop and opened it.
Alright, let’s see what I’m getting myself into.