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Chapter 93: Her Wings? Your Wings? No, My Wings! IV
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It took seven whole days for the Flash to come to his door though much to Ian's surprise, he also brought the device with him, the thing he was waiting for.
Those seven days weren't spent doing nothing though. He met up with Multiplex, or what he assumed to be his clone. Of course he wouldn't be trusted so easily.
They spent a while negotiating the slave contract... Well, kinda. It appears that Multiplex's real name was Danton Black, and his wife died indirectly due to his former boss.
The boss of Stagg Industries took Danton's credit for the work he was responsible for, namely cellular regeneration, something he hoped would cure his wife. Unfortunately...
Thus Ian had a new employee, and he made sure to exploit him fully by experimenting on his clones, specifically working on his Anti-Kryptonite project.
Luckily, pain doesn't transfer from the clones to the main body, letting Danton let a sigh of relief after seeing what Ian's experimentation was like.
The experiments were quite simple, consisting of using the Red Kryptonite energy on a clone and then trying to reverse the process.
The majority of the time, the effect of the Red Kryptonite will be negative, something no one wants, but there are those rare times when the effect is positive, wonderful even. It's extremely unlikely however.
Ian wants to see if he can control the positive and negative effects of the Red Kryptonite and if tweaking with the energy can produce an intended effect.
Unfortunately, he has come to discover that that's just not possible, yet at least. Maybe he was missing something, but no matter what he did, the effect was still random, and that says a lot considering his continuously improving control over the staff of all things.
So his focus changed to the next best thing, using the Red Kryptonite and then reversing the process with the Green Kryptonite if the effect is not desirable.
It was a project he started after Selina's infection, and only now did he have success though there are still some dangers he has to eliminate as some of the Red Kryptonite's effects can lead to instant death.
"This is good enough for now. I guess I should cure Selina first, but if I fully complete the project..."
Thus the days of experimentation were done, and before him stood the Flash himself, holding a small box in his hands, "Is that it?"
"Yup, I don't exactly what you want to do with something like this, but it's not dangerous... It's actually kinda useless, but whatever."
Ian didn't pay attention to Barry's babbles. He took the box and opened it, showing the holy grail of the world! Two pieces of dark metal, appearing quite complicated with a bunch of what looks like spider-like limbs?
It looked useless, yet Ian touched it like it was the most precious treasure in the world. He then closed the box before sending it to his dimension.
"About our deal... Just contact me when you need my help. As long as I can, I will help." Barry further added, seemingly about to leave.
"Wait... What I want you to help with is actually pretty simple," Ian's staff appeared in his hand again. He extended it to the far right, away from him before making his wish clear, "I just want you to run, run so fast and accumulate energy, then release it at the staff."
"Huh? Why?" Barry was confused and hesitant, "I... I'm not sure if I can do that?"
"Hmm? You're not sure? Well, just try it. I just want to test a theory of mine." Ian noted that Barry still seems a bit inexperienced which makes sense considering his nemesis is still alive and well.
"I'll try." Barry wasn't sure exactly what Ian's goal was, so he was hesitant. The two walked out of the villa, the area around it was large enough to give him the chance to run around Ian and reach the required speed.
However, Barry was smart enough to run far away before as if he wants to create distance, but in reality, he contacted S.T.A.R labs and informed them about the situation. Surprisingly, it was Dr. Harrison who gave him the green light.
He started running and running, reaching Ian in the blink of an eye, passed by him, and performed a full circle around the villa.
He continued until he felt like his speed was enough as going on any further may bring about some kind of disaster. In fact, signs of a hurricane were already starting to appear, faint but still there.
He came to a quick halt very close to Ian and released all of the accumulated energy directly at the staff. A burst of golden brilliance traveled through time and space to reach the staff, colliding against it before scattering around as if nothing really happened.
However, Barry being a speeder wasn't just for show, he could see. He saw a small portion of that force being absorbed into the staff, into one of its vessels though he could see nothing within it in contrast to the first vessel where he could clearly glimpse a cluster of green and red energies.
"Hmm, that's disappointing, but thank you nonetheless." Ian still had his eyes closed for a few more seconds. To him, everything happened in a matter of seconds, and couldn't even react to the burst of golden light.
He did however prepare beforehand as he had released all of his life force into the staff, initiating its devouring ability, making it in constant activation, so even though he saw nothing, the staff still did its job.
The Flash was also confused, he observed the staff for a little bit more before leaving, and the first thing he did is informing Batman.
'The staff was able to devour a bit of that force, a speck so small even he couldn't see it,' But Ian can feel it. His control over staff was so strong by this point that it felt like an extra limb to him.
'I still don't get it though. Why was this particular force assimilated so easily? And why was I able to assimilate it despite how little there was?'
He tried assimilating magic and holy power into the vessels to no avail. The staff needed a constant transfer of the two powers for a long time to assimilate them, and without a stop at that.
However, he didn't, and he still doesn't have the necessary amount of energy required to sustain the assimilation.
Yet here he was with a power that was assimilated in an instant. Moreover, most of the force released by Barry was lost, scattered around as the staff was only able to devour a tiny bit of it, both due to constraints of the staff and how much life force Ian can discharge at a time.
Despite all of that, he was still able to assimilate it, 'Unless this isn't the speed force? It's possible, after all, that burst of energy was mostly composed of lightning, but it was lightning built by the speed force.'
Ian took a bet on that possibility, whether his staff will absorb the lightning or the speed force, and he still doesn't have his answer.
He went back inside the villa, closed himself in the basement, and unleashed his life force through the place, trying to sense if anything is inside with him.
That was a way he figured out to expand his senses though it's a very slow process, but he knows for a fact that he can sense almost anything due to his life force interacting with it.
Thus started a cycle of tests and errors, trying different methods to activate that tiny force, 'Huh? It does grow just like magic and holy energy, but it's so much slower... The good news though is that it's speed force.'
Ian let out a sigh. The limits of his life force were nowhere to be seen, it's so much more than he thought it'd be, and it's still growing stronger.
It's still in a constant state of transformation, a proof of which is the growing black dots on his back, slowly forming into some kind of symbol.
'But this is even better. Only with enough power can I acquire the answers I desire...'
The following week was spent in research, not just on his projects but also on magic. The latter may just be the key ingredient to a whole new world on how to control his life force.
He just has to understand the core mechanisms of magic... Something even the most renowned of magic users doesn't understand, but he at least hopes Constantine's books give him a clue.
Still, Ian didn't ignore his training, not for one day. Richard though him the value of commitment, and he plans to go all out, especially in enhancing his 'I wanna die!' fighting style.
It was harmless, peaceful training, so imagine Ian's surprise when just outside the villa, in the grassy garden, he felt something strike him in the chin with such a force it sent him up in the air, almost knocking him out.
'Unleash...' It was an instinctive reaction. Ian released the incomplete result of one of his projects, uncaring about the consequences. Not knocking him out in one hit may have been a mistake.