Guinevere sagged against me, the sheets soaked with our sweat. We lay there for a time just catching our breath; even superhumans could get exhausted after doing all the things we just did.

“Do you like this world?” I asked.

Guinevere lifted her head, putting her chin in her hands as she propped her elbows on my chest and looked me in the eyes.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“If you could choose to live here, or go back…home…your world,” I said, not sure how to phrase it. “Which would you pick?”

“We don’t have a choice,” Guinevere said. “Without mana…”

“What if I could give you a choice,” I said, cutting her off. “Which world would you prefer to live in?”

Guinevere was silent, her eyes searching mine. “You, me, we don’t fit in this world,” she finally said. “I love your parents but all these other people… they’re inferior to us. I hate how that makes me sound, but it’s true. I can think faster than their computers and see more colors then they know exist. I can run faster than their fastest cars and their weapons can’t even scratch my skin.”

“We would be safe here,” I said. “Our daughter would be safe here too.”

“Why are you asking this?” Guinevere asked.

“I could…I don’t know how to explain this very well, I can create mana and let it bleed off me. After enough mana enters the atmosphere, plants and animals will start absorbing it and evolve and produce more naturally. I could make it so we could live here without mana starvation.”

“But we would still be the only ones with abilities,” Guinevere said. “Our daughter would be superior to everyone else in the world. She couldn’t play with other children since if she got angry, she might accidentally kill them. When she grew up, there would be no man for her to find who matches or exceeds her strength to fall in love with.”

“It’s just too small a world,” I said with a sigh as I agreed with her.

“We don’t fit into this world either,” Guinevere said. “It might be something we don’t like admitting about ourselves, but we love the thrill of the fight. There is no challenge for use here, no mountains we would struggle to climb.”

“I don’t even know if I should change Earth like that,” I said. “This world isn’t perfect. In many ways it’s the same as yours, but everyone is equal here, at least in terms of birth. There isn’t a class of superhumans ruling over them. They don’t have monsters snatching them up from the sky or killer trees.”

“The world would balance out in time,” Guinevere said.

“But do I have the moral authority to dictate the fate of an entire world and condemn thousands, if not millions to death just because they don’t adapt quickly enough to the change some outsider inflicted on them?” I asked.

“People change the world without other people’s permission all the time,” Guinevere said. “The real question is: would this world be better if it had magic?”

“No,” I said. “I don’t know if it would be worse, but I don’t think it would be better either.”

“So that’s not an option,” Guinevere said.

“No,” I agreed. “That leaves opening a portal to return home.”

“What’s your plan for that?” Guinevere asked.

“I’ve got a lot of mana potions,” I said. “I’m going to wait for the berry I took to wear off, then I’m going to drink them and find a storm and absorb its lightning. Hopefully it still works even though we aren’t on your world anymore.”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“Be safe,” Guinevere said. “Don’t push yourself too hard; you’re still suffering from what that bitch did to you.”

“It’s fine,” I assured her. “The payback for her will be when we get back home.”

---

I drove a black corvette down the interstate. I’d gotten some storm chaser equipment and was moving straight towards it. It wasn’t a particularly large storm but this was just a test. I looked down at the stopwatch on my wrist; three-minutes, that’s how long I had left until the twenty-four hour protection from the berry wore off. I could see the storm in the distance but it was still a long ways out.

My foot pressed down on the gas pedal as I uncorked one my mana potions in the cupholder. I waited, ten seconds, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one… I felt my mana open back up and my abilities start draining the little mana in my system.

Shutting them off now, Voidra said deactivating any passive ability that used mana.

I downed the potion, then another and another until I had about three thousand mana in my system.

“Turn on Storm Soul,” I said.

That single passive ability turned on.

I looked down at the weather radar and watched as the storm which was heading from east to west took a hard left and went straight for me as my ability dragged it my way, altering the very winds to accommodate me. I gunned the gas and drove towards the sky that began flashing more and more with blinding light.

Rain and hail pelted the roof of the car and I stepped out before it got fried. The rain pelted me, drenching me in seconds. The roar of thunder filled the sky and I held out my hands, lifting my face to the clouds.

Cars started honking as they moved around my car. That honking stopped as they watched a bolt of lightning hit me. There was no System message here to tell me of the increase to my mana, but I could just feel it. I also felt my dipping reserves jump up.

Another bolt hit me and another as I strode into the storm. More and more bolts of lightning hit me and my mana pool, which had been nearly empty when I got to Earth, was slowly refilling. I was only around half when the rain just cut out as the storm was exhausted. The clouds dispersed and the storm ended.

I looked down at my hands which only tingled from the sensation, but my clothes were nearly burned away entirely. I looked back at the interstate to see cars backed up for a mile as people stared at me, their jaws slack with awe. I ignored them for now, closing my eyes as I chanted the words I had devised with Mab and drew a series of runes in the dirt. Mana drained out of me rapidly, but I cut the spell off; I could already tell I didn’t have enough. I needed almost double my maximum to cast this spell.

I would need to be in the middle of a massive storm to cast this so my mana would recharge as I did it. A group of helicopters rapidly approached me and began circling overhead.

“Voidra,” I said. “What are you reading from them?”

Fear, and aggression, she said. They will attack you any second.

I sighed but I’d always expected something like this. Countries liked having monopolies on power, and having a literal superman walking around was bound to make certain people very nervous.

They dare to try and strike you, the Shadow growled. You should strike them down immediately to show them their place.

“There is no need,” I said. “They are literally no threat to me. But I think I’m going to have to leave the car behind. I don’t want to lead them back to my folk’s place.”

I started running as some asshat in a megaphone ordered me stand down. I heard the loud chorus of gunfire and the bullets hitting my skin, but it was like getting a handful of sand thrown at you. I was a blur as I moved across the ground. I kept running, the helicopters fading into the distance. I’d stolen the car and bought the equipment inside with cash in another town so there was nothing to tie me to it. I made sure to move through various woods and forests cross country to lose any pursuers.

Once I arrived back home, slipping in through the back, I put on another pair of clothes. I stepped out of my and Guinevere’s room into the kitchen where my parents were watching the TV. A news broadcaster was going over footage and I watched myself from a third person perspective as I absorbed the storm.

They heard me enter the kitchen and my father muted the TV. There was an awkward moment before my mom finally spoke.

“Mark, wha… who are you?” she asked.

I sighed. I’d been putting this off but this conversation had been a long time coming.

“You call me Mark but… Mark is gone, I was changed when I left, my memories altered. When you say that name, I don’t even recognize it as having been mine; I don’t remember even being called it. To me it’s not who I am or even who I was.”

“Then who are you?” Peter asked.

I met his eyes, letting him get a good look at the multiple pupils and irises and the dark brown and yellow coloration that made them. “I am Mordred. I was the champion of the Goddess of War & Conquest. I was the Warlord, thousands died by my hand or because I gave the order. I gained and have power you can’t even understand.”

“Then why are you here?” Amanda asked. “Why did you come back?”

My shoulders sagged. “Because I’m not the Warlord anymore. I’m not Mark the broken boy either. I’m just Mordred and I don’t know who I am nor what my purpose is. But I know I can’t stay here, in this world. I can’t live here without destroying it, and that’s not my choice to make.”

I left them to think over my words as I sat on the back porch, watching the sun set while running my hands through Jirah’s fur.