Chapter 7

"Do we know who the victims were?" Titan asked.

"Members of the Rico gang. Small-time thugs who were operating out of an abandoned warehouse," Radiant Jack replied.

"They had a cop on their payroll who reported the scene when he went to check in with them. We know this because this cop was on GIU's radar for quite some time. The cop claimed to be doing rounds when he thought he saw blood and investigated, but all evidence shows that was impossible. Unfortunately, there is no surveillance in the area. However, blood spatter and early examination of the bodies show massive blood loss and even some hearts ripped out. There are fang marks."

"This is our vampire?" Nebula asked.

"Seems so," Titan answered.

"Still can't believe vampires are real. Could it be a strange Meta mutation?" Dark Matter asked.

"No way to know until we capture him," Titan responded.

Comet Rush shook his head. "Something doesn't add up. First, we know this guy is faster than me. He could easily snatch someone, drain them, and be gone before our cameras could see him. Why attack known criminals? If he clearly needs to drink blood, why is he choosing bad people? He also came to our aid recently and even risked his life to fight that woman. I know he also caused a lot of damage, and I understand why we need to bring him in, but what is his motive?"

"If we can answer that, we might be able to narrow down who he is quicker. Do we still think the club owner is our mystery vampire or merely related to him somehow?" Nebula asked.

"We have no proof either way, only a few circumstances where he was near certain events at the time. The Huntsman is still trailing him. If anyone can find evidence, it is him," Titan responded. "Captain Cosmo, can you lead the investigation at the warehouse?"

"I can do that. My powers might help reveal what exactly went down there."

Hours later, the team reconvened. Captain Cosmo held up his hand and projected a play-by-play of what had happened that night at the warehouse. It showed images of fog, fangs, and ferocity unmatched by any villain they had ever met. However, it was the fact that two of them were committing these acts of brutality that truly bothered them. There was no showmanship, no goals of gaining riches, just a simple, primal need to feed, and it was efficient. They wasted no time, got in, ate, and got out with hardly a trace. If it wasn't for cosmic powers being able to replay what went down, all they'd have was speculation.

"Right, so there are two of them now. Unfortunately, we can't make out genders, but we know one uses whips. Let's update our dossier on this case and continue our nightly surveillance of the city. Eventually, we'll catch wind of them, and when we do, we'll bring down the full powers of this entire team," Titan commanded.

~~~

Although the investigation to determine whether the Huntsman was guilty or not was still ongoing, we had another body to investigate. The murder, thankfully, occurred after my powers testing, which I'll get into in a moment. For now, I had a new murder to examine.

I arrived at an apartment complex, flashed my consultant's badge, and joined Olivia at the scene. Lucy was there as well and bent over, examining the body. "We got a male, early twenties, non-Meta with multiple stab wounds to the chest, arm, and torso," she concluded.

The body was found in the garbage container outside the apartments. "No obvious blood trail and no spatter, which suggests they were transported from the location of death to the bin wrapped in something to contain the blood. That something is not with the body, which means they took it elsewhere," Olivia added.

I recently ate, but the blood was still tantalizing, even though it was hours old. It took a short moment to collect myself and move past the craving. Once I did, I noticed that while there wasn't a blood trail to follow, there was a scent trail. Without a word, I walked off and was already at the front entrance to the apartment complex before Olivia and Lucy noticed I was gone. They shouted to wait for them but ultimately decided to run to catch up.

I followed the trail up to the fifth floor with bewildered looks behind me as to what I was tracking. Then we arrived at room 536, and I knew this was it. "There, a smidge of blood on the door frame. This is the place."

Olivia banged on the door twice, shouted, "Police!" and then started to kick it in. After five attempts, I held a hand up and took her place. With one kick, the entire door flew off its hinges and shot forward, bouncing off the bed and taking out the TV.

"Oops. You must've loosened it," I stated flatly.

She gave me a shocked stare but then moved in with her gun drawn. After clearing the room, we stopped in the kitchen, where a bloody knife was left in the sink, and a few stains were on the floor where an obvious rug used to be.

"Why did they take the rug after dumping the body?"

"Maybe someone might've recognized the rug and then knew which apartment it came from?" I shared my thoughts. "I mean, the location would've been discovered eventually, but the murderer is likely hoping to buy time for an escape."

"Well, let's find out who owns this apartment and what vehicle they might be driving. Then we'll get a search grid set up," Olivia stated. She then let the Uni's in to secure the scene while she headed to the apartment's office. As I walked with her down, I told her to give me a call if she needed me and that I had errands to run. She rolled her eyes but nodded. I don't know why she gets upset with me leaving when it comes down to time-consuming grunt work. It's not like I'm expected to know how to canvas the city…

~~~

During the powers testing, Jessica and Oden unanimously voted for me to go first. Thanks, jerks. The first test was target practice and measuring of power. Three targets were set up, and I was to aim for the middle target. As befitting of my rank but also of my status as a noob, I opted for a lot of power but with a wide spread that damaged all three targets and everything in between. My damage was very good but not great, but that was the intent. Then I followed the simple directions on how to focus by Meta's with similar powers to achieve a more pinpoint accuracy, and not so surprisingly, I blew away the middle target with ease. Following their guidance, I also quote-unquote learned how to redirect my lightning around targets as well as empower my body to move faster. To be honest, some of these lessons were actually teaching me because despite all my capable speed, I never once infused my cells with lightning.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

I had to practice outside the Meta Association, and with Jessica's help, we got a good measurement at over Mach 9, which put me far higher than any known Speedster, including my former self as a vampire and not a hero. This was game-changing for me. But, within the Meta Association testing, I downplayed that speed significantly. I didn't want to be known as being on the same par as speedsters. The best I strived for was initial burst speed and crappy top-end speed.

During the testing, I brought up the idea of riding the lightning. As in, was it possible and if so, how can I do it? I got a lot of "We don't know, but if it were possible, it would have to be a visualization thing. They already knew that I could infuse my body with electricity, so it wasn't inconceivable that I couldn't affix myself to a bolt and ride it. If it were possible, it would require practice. And I'm glad, for once, that this endeavor was genuine. I had to actually practice something I'd never done before. Granted, a brute force spell could achieve the desired outcome, but then it would mean using brute force spells every time. That was simply too costly.

Learning how to do the spell the hard way meant I could achieve it with far less mana output, which, in turn, made it worthwhile to do over simply running like a speedster that I wasn't supposed to be able to do. So, I threw myself into the studies each day and actually gained much from the instructors, so much in fact that they properly labeled me as an SS-Rank Meta.

Jessica's training with Oden was a bit different. It wasn't simply learning how to spread waves of healing or curing power, but focusing on deep wounds and applying specific targeted heals or cures. Over her time practicing healing, she got the sense that she had a unique power simply based on the people they brought to her who were at death's door and, due to status, shouldn't have been guinea pigs for her lessons.

Jessica furrowed her brows. "You mean to tell me this A-Ranker will die tonight if I don't heal him?" She skeptically asked her trainer.

"Of course not. We obviously have other healers who can take care of this, but what better practice for you than someone so close to death? It should propel your confidence and healing ability if you can manage this amount of damage," her trainer stated.

"Well, if that is the reasoning, then I can always learn that reasoning later. For now, I'm exhausted and need a break. Please bring in your other healer because I am done for the night."

"This is a lesson with a grade score. You don't want to fail, do you?"

"Please, I've healed this and worse over the past few weeks. If you wanted to fail me on this one now, then it would be you who was dishonest. So, I'm good. Have a good night," Jessica started to walk off when they desperately called out to her.

"Jessica, wait. We don't have anyone currently that can heal this graveness of a wound tonight, and possibly the rest of the month. Please heal him, and we'll give appropriate compensation for your grade and recommendations to any team or organization of your choosing."

Interesting, I thought to myself. Why did she try to lie? Was it to calm her nerves so as to give her confidence in healing someone at death's door? Whatever the reason, it was unnecessary. Jessica has fought true monsters without fear. Jessica scoffed but began to heal the man. She took her time and examined the wounds, making a complete map of the man's body using a scanning spell that was invisible to everyone but her. Then she got to work on curing, then mending bones, organs, tendons, and eventually muscles before finally erasing all traces of scaring on the skin. It was a flawless healing process, and in such a short time, she fully impressed her trainer.

I for one, wasn't impressing my trainer as I fell on my face over and over again. Riding a lightning bolt was way harder than Barry Allen made it seem in the final season of The Flash. Granted, he was throwing it out like foot pads to run on where I was trying to stay on it and simply ride it, but I call bullshit. This might be impossible.

"Maybe the solution is to alternate the polarity of your lightning to toss out versus the lightning you maintain within your body. Kind of like magnets. Try and make it so you stick to the bolt-through magnetism," Knox stated with a rather insightful understanding of how electricity works.

I had to dig through memories from thousands of years ago when I was a grad student attending a science course. Thanks to my becoming a Sunstrider, my genes healed, and I became a more perfect version of a human but with supernatural gifts. This caused my memory to expand to everything I've ever seen and passively heard, including every lesson I had partially snored through. But the definition finally came to me.

"Electromagnetism is the process of creating magnetic fields by moving electric charges, or creating moving electric charges by changing magnetic fields around charges." – Electricity, Lightning, and the World of Magnetism, written by Mrs. Codwell, PhD.

Of course. When solving complex magical theories, my greatest advantage with magic was always my knowledge and perfect recall of science and mathematics. Why was I trying to solve this problem without resourcing my vast knowledge trapped within my memories? I've become so relaxed about my overwhelming power and strength that I've become complacent with my thinking.

Perhaps I've become too complacent with everything. I have interests and a few small goals, but in the grand scheme of things, for an immortal, I think I've merely been seeking distractions for entertainment purposes only. I have Jessica and, to some extent, Olivia, as well as friends, but I haven't tried to pursue a deeper connection with any of them. Why?

Even Smog, who's been with me the longest at this point, I barely bring out and converse with. Why? Why, why, why… Why am I asking why? Is it because something has gone missing within me? What is this feeling that is suddenly rising within me? Am I crying? I feel wetness falling from my face.

"Ryan, are you okay?" Knox asked. "I know this is difficult…" and he droned on for a bit as if talking to a child, which was the appearance I gave off for this persona, so I don't fault him for that, but I stopped hearing his words. I was too lost in my own turmoil.

Aria. I believe that was when I last felt truly happy, even fulfilled. I miss my wife. I know she's on a path to rebirth, but there is a strong chance I'll never see her again. Is this the reason why I've been pushing myself to do many stupid things for the sake of doing them? Just so that I can distract myself from the emptiness within my heart? Probably. I started to sink into despair.

Then, something happened that I never could've imagined in all of eternity. I felt a faint and faraway voice whisper to me, "Husband, do not fret. I will find you again. Live free and wonderous. Be the man I once fell in love with. Take all that is yours, including women, friends, powers, and domain. Remember who you are… I love you," and then her voice was gone. I felt the Phoenix's power within that message and wondered just how long have they been keeping tabs on me. Or even how without my knowledge. But none of that mattered now as I openly balled my eyes out at hearing Aria's words. Knox was so confused.

That night, I summoned Smog and left him out. We chatted, he played with Oden, and I sent them on a discrete hunting mission. Then, I made love to Jessica in a way that I knew Aria was okay with. I have no desire to start a harem. But Aria had found a way to convey to me how to solve an age-old question. If your wife vanished and was presumed dead for years, and you moved on to another woman, then she suddenly came back, what would you do?

For a man, there is no good answer. For the two women, they have to solve that problem for you. I already know Jessica's answer. She told me in the beginning. But now that I had Aria's confirmation, I felt a weight fall off that I didn't even know I was carrying. At least the one positive change would be no more one-night stands at the club. Even I can admit that it was a dark time for me.

The next day, I rode the bolt. Or, I guess we're calling it Embark the Arc, which now I'm second-guessing, but whatever. I managed to keep myself attached to the bolt, which required projecting a positive charge in front of the bolt while maintaining a negative charge within myself. This would result in synchronization with the bolt and its attraction to the positive charge, which essentially pulled me along the bolt.

Honestly, I had to employ a few subtle magics to really make it work since that amount of electricity would otherwise seize up my muscles. After all, I'm not actually an Electric affinity Meta with such immunities. I'm a fraud with cheat-like powers pretending to be something I'm not. Any burning effect I felt during the process was almost completely healed instantly by my own supernatural healing, plus if it was at night, my skin became un-burnable. But even during the day, the small amount of damage my natural healing couldn't take care of instantly, I simply enchanted one of my rings to siphon mana to instantly regenerate my body. This gave the effect that I was, in fact, immune to the lightning while taking a joy ride around the skies. And believe you me, flying like this was vastly different than with wings. This was closer to soaring on wind currents than flapping my way through them.