Perhaps, except for Helen Stark, everyone else considered Peter as a novice and thus, when he faced any trouble, their first instinct was to band together and find a solution for him.
However, Helen Stark, having been born not so long ago and spending most of her time in the Stark Building, shared a strong bond with Peter as he frequently visited for his experiments. Hence, Helen chose to view Peter as a friend and would rather suggest ideas to him and let him carry out the actions when helping him out of a predicament.
In fact, it proved to be quite effective. During his meditation, Peter had a glimpse of the source of this faith power—it was a swarm of bats.
Subsequently, Peter recalled the Bat Totem mentioned by Shiller and his group. After sharing this with Helen, her eyes widened as she exclaimed, "So you have become a god who can gain faith?"
"Well, kind of. More like a symbol..." Peter replied unsurely.
Helen seemed deep in thought but then she smiled—a smile which sent a chill down Peter's spine for it resembled Loki's.
Half an hour later, Peter, Helen, and Pikachu convened. Rubbing his short arms, Pikachu looked at Helen and said, "So, you want to tap into the faith-generating feature of the Bat Totem, to garner more faith power and store it?"
Helen nodded and replied, "Although we do not know who worships this totem, and why Peter became this totem, one thing is certain—this power is useful, and very useful."
"I already have the inherent capability to wield magic and can convert faith power directly into magic energy. If Peter receives this faith power, his soul should be able to use magic now, as for you..."
With that, Helen trotted over to Pikachu. She stood up straight and compared their heights. Locating herself slightly higher than Pikachu, she made a victory gesture triumphantly saying, "nobody hopes goodness' sake, is for a mouse to use magic, but from what I've observed, you seem to be possessed by some sort of mystical strength that is approximately similar to magic and perhaps, is capable of interchanging with faith power..."
Pikachu snorted, emanating a yellow glow around his body before levitating, and declared, "Little girl, one should learn to respect the Fear Source, Pikachu, the Yellow Lantern Beast..."
Who would have guessed that Helen would also snort and fly alongside Pikachu, her back radiating three bright halos, brighter than the sun outside the window.
Seeing the pair ready to brawl, Peter quickly stepped in between them saying, "Hey, we are teammates. We cannot have internal strife. Let's contemplate Helen's plan instead..."
With both parties on the edge and unwilling to step down, they finally agreed to make some small talk before setting their minds to the plan about gaining faith power.
Helen voiced out, "Since you can commune with the Bat Totem through meditation, why not make the Bat Totem appear directly? In such a way, wouldn't there be more believers and correspondingly, more faith power for you?"
"I think you need a pope." Pikachu chimed in, "It's called a pope, right? I believe, this task should be handled by manpower."
"Don't tell me you are considering hiring a mouse for such a crucial job?" Helen glanced at Pikachu and they started pushing each other around.
Peter held his head in frustration and urged both of them, "Alright, both of you are my popes. Happy now? Now, you guys should be united and come up with a plan. Consider this as your task."
"Rest assured, I'll definitely do a better job than her!" Pikachu turned and marched off, muttering, "Don't disturb me, I need to think alone."
Helen smirked and walked over to the other side, saying, "A mouse trying to act profound!"
Pikachu and Helen were at loggerheads. Even when separated across the lab, they never missed a chance to jab at each other.
After a while, both of them laid out a plan each. Pikachu was the first to explain his views, "I believe the crux lies in how to extract this power efficiently. I guess our current growth phase is not the limit. It's crucial for us to ascertain the origin of this power, how it comes about, and whether it can be transmitted more quickly. These are our objectives moving forward."
"No, you're mistaken." Helen retorted, "The key is in acquiring more believers. Only by deceiving... I mean, growing more believers can we essentially garner more power."
Subsequently, they started arguing about this and their dispute escalated into a fierce quarrel. Unable to tolerate it any further, Peter yelled, "Stop it! Listen to me! I feel..."
Helen and Pikachu both turned their gazes toward him. Peter choked momentarily, lessening his momentum and said, "I feel both of you have a point. Why not we proceed with both ideas tandemly, how's that?"
"There's no way I'm partnering with this brat!" Pikachu turned his head away disdainfully. Helen echoed, "I don't want to work with this yellow mouse either!"
"Okay, okay." Peter reasoned with them, "Then, both of you work separately. Each of you takes one side, alright? Whoever does better, I will award them with a certificate, Best Pope award, what say?"
"Just you wait, there's no way I'm losing to a newly-born brat!" Pikachu taunted.
"Losing to a mouse? I've never thought of it like that!" Helen exclaimed.
After exchanging glances, they turned around and strode off in opposite directions, leaving Peter in the middle. He shook his head helplessly and sighed.
The competition indeed provided the much-needed motivation. Pikachu and Helen sparked a fierce battle, vying for the title of 'Best Pope' of the Bat Totem.
Helen began with meditation. She coached Peter to familiarize himself with magic, hoping to improve his soul strength and indirectly control the Bat Totem to recruit more believers.
Pikachu, on the other hand, wanted to transmit more power through the wire and even to directly extract energy without transmission.
Assisted by Peter's astounding wisdom and comprehension, they soon achieved significant results.
Firstly, through meditation, Peter was becoming increasingly aware of the presence of the bats, even slightly influencing their flight.
Secondly, while controlling the bats, Peter heard faint voices of prayers.
Pikachu and Helen both believed that these praying voices were the key to finding the source of faith. The three of them began to try different ways to record these sounds and respond to them.
After many attempts, they eventually made some progress. The people praying seemed to realize that the Bat Totem was answering them. They became more focused on prayer, and their faith power increased exponentially.
Peter discovered that this power seemed to influence the bats. Their flight patterns, initially random, began to trace a certain trajectory under the illumination of a golden light, and their forms began to change.
Sharing his observations, Peter aligned with Helen and Pikachu, who agreed strongly. Helen stated, "No, we cannot let them influence the totem."
"What should I do then?" Peter asked.
Helen thought for a moment, then placed her hand on Peter's shoulder again. Instantly, more than half of the golden light was drawn away, and the bats returned to their original state.
Peter continued his focused meditation, responding strongly to the prayers. In response to Peter, the group of humans kept providing more faith power. Once there was an excess of faith power, it would influence the Bat Totem and Helen and Pikachu would draw this power away.
"Wait! I feel it!" Peter exclaimed suddenly. "They're conveying an emotion... it's as if... confusion? What are they confused about?"
Helen and Pikachu looked at each other and suggested, "Maybe your responses were not genuine enough. If we try a few more times, and they realize you're paying attention to them, it might get better."
Scratching his head, Peter felt there was something wrong but didn't dig deeper. He continued responding to the believers.
While Peter was maintaining his focused meditation, the others faithfully prayed. Helen and Pikachu kept extracting the faith power incessantly. After some time, Pikachu started to burp.
Helen cast a glance at him and disapprovingly said, "Is that all you got? I'm not even one-third full yet...burp!"
Laughing, Pikachu invited Helen to join in. Peter lightly ruffled their hair, saying, "See, this is nice. No bickering and more friendliness..."
Turning away, Helen retorted, "I'm not friends with him! No way I'd be friends with a mouse!"
"I wouldn't squabble with a child like you, especially one just born a few months ago…" Pikachu retorted.
Peter realized they'd only stay quiet while working. So, to divert Pikachu and Helen's attention, he started focusing on work.
About ten minutes later, Pikachu lay sprawled on the lab table, saying, "I really can't take any more. My body still has other energy. I can't digest this unconverted faith power..."
Thus, the main responsibility of absorbing faith power was transitioned to Helen. Approximately ten minutes later, Pikachu looked at Helen, amazed, saying, "You seem to... be glowing?"
Gazing down at her own hands and feet, Helen noticed her skin surface resembled a dazzling crystal with a beautiful luster. Almost transparent like a spirit form, her outlines appeared sharper, but her overall color seemed lighter.
"Oh my, will this have adverse effects on you?" Peter asked anxiously. "We shouldn't do this."
"No, I can feel it; I'm about to evolve." Helen said.
Pikachu's eyes widened in shock. "You can evolve too???"
Helen responded, puzzled, "Why can't I evolve? Humans evolve too, right? It's just a bit slower. Haven't humans evolved gradually to their current form?"
"Ah, that kind of evolution? Okay..."
Helen continued, "I think in about half an hour, I should be good to go... "
Although he was curious about what Helen meant by evolution, Peter saw that apart from a glowing body, Helen displayed no discomfort and reassured him. Consequently, he put his worries aside and started meditating.
About half an hour later, just as Helen said, a significant part of her body turned transparent with little stars of golden light inside.
A starry sky slowly unfolded, the center of it bursting with dazzling light, and Helen's slightly larger figure emerged from the halo.
But soon after, the light and the starry sky vanished, leaving Helen lying on the lab table.
Peter picked her up, scanning her carefully. He found no changes, but Helen's first words left Peter and Pikachu stunned.
Resting on the table, holding her arms and looking up, she declared, "You can call me Helen Stark, or... the God of Destruction."