10 advanced chapters on P@treon.com/Saintbarbido.
Arc 3: Agent Of Chaos.
::-----------------------------::
(3 years later)
(Angel's P.O.V.)
"Grab hold of the Angelic Mana resting in the soul, which after its evolution is now neutral mana- meaning its not attuned to any particular element.
Speaking of elements, spark half of it with heat, focusing on the sensation of fire.
Infuse the other half with cold, focusing on the sensation of ice.
Let the Fire Mana and Ice Mana meet in the middle of the chest, in the heart, mixing with and enriching the blood and attaining equilibrium.
A duality in perfect balance.
The heart takes over, pumping the Fire-Ice blood and spreading it across the body, moving through the billions of channels created by tracing the path of the Speedforce.
The duo-element blood enters the cells, energizing them, bolstering them, evolving the DNA at the core.
The Metahuman side of my body is further suppressed until only the Homo Magi remains.
This is the activation of the Red Angel. A total surrender into the mystic side of Fire and Ice. The Duo-element magick."
The whole process ran through my mind with practiced ease. After 3 years, I had perfected the handling of Angelic Mana and gotten somewhat used to Red Angel- my first Original Spell.
The process was put simply: Angelic Mana changed and split into Fire and Ice Mana, then channeled into every single cell in my body through the Speed Force pathways.
The Speed Force was the catalyst, making the whole thing much easier.
It was essentially a shortcut. For starters, the Mana now moved through me faster, secondly, it did so efficiently with no wasted energy, and lastly, it reached every corner or my body. Even a single strand of hair.
Unlike before when I could only shoot fire and ice attacks externally, I now had a technique/spell to use them internally.
Without the Speed Force, it would have taken at least 5 years or more to master the trick of safely infusing my physical body with Angelic Mana.
Maybe 10 years to 20 to actualize the Technique of Red Angel.
The speed force was the only reason I was able to quickly surpass Goku in Power Level.
Angelic Mana was the answer to his Ki. Red Angel an Answer to his Saiyan heritage.
Speed Force was my equalizer, a cheat, basically.
The problem with cheats, on the other hand, is that they carry their own disadvantages.
-0-
"[Gene S-Kr Infusion treatment Complete]"
An automated voice stated from Ivo's Lab Systems.
I opened my eyes inside the incubator, my body surrounded by a pale green liquid with swirling yellow particles.
The liquid was drained through a mechanism on the floor, and the glass incubator opened up with a hiss.
I stepped out, a couple of M.O.N.Q.I.s flying around me and draping a robe across my shoulders.
Below the steps, Ivo awaited me with excitement.
"Marvelous, young Savage! Simply marvelous. The procedure was a success!"
The Professor cackled by my side as we walked toward another section of the Lab.
"Your muscle density has increased by 1000% and muscle mass by 250%! You also show elevated levels of HGH and Oxytocin. Hormones responsible for growth in the former and muscle maintenance and regeneration in the latter. You can blame that for your increased height and appetite."
The professor rattled on.
And true enough, these five months had witnessed me shoot up to 6'1 from 5.4.
I was even taller after activating Red Angel.
My appetite had increased as well. Now I could eat food portions meant for five people in one sitting.
And all this could be attributed to the [Gene S-Kr]. Short for Saiyan-Kryptonian. A gene that was supposed to take care of Red Angel's weakness- Vitality Drain.
"Focus, Professor."
I snapped my fingers at him.
"That's not the point of the whole process. I need to know... has the accelerated cell aging stopped?"
A consequence of using Red Angel was that it rapidly stole years from me.
The first time activating it was 3 years ago. I'd won the duel, but just 2 minutes in Red Angel had cut down my lifespan by 10 years.
It meant 20 minutes in it would have stolen 100 years and turned me into a corpse.
The issue was that Angelic Mana and the Speed Force drained cell vitality when used in conjunction. For the incredible power boost, the drawback was no less incredible.
To address this problem, I had turned to the only person I knew who could help me: Ivo.
"Well... you see, gene therapy treatment is not really my area of expertise..."
Ivo began to fidget.
"Tch."
I tsked at him, and he hurriedly raised his hands.
"Not to say I'm a complete novice..."
Hurriedly, he added.
I laid back on the bench and gripped the barbell with Ivo's voice droning on in the background. Time for the Physical Test.
A few easy lifts and I got up.
Strength test: 10 tons without Red Angel or the BlackNite Suit. My Physical Value had far surpassed Peak Human.
We moved on to the modified treadmill.
The Professor proceeded to answer my question by launching into an explanation I only half listened to. My focus was on the speed test.
"...the Kryptonian and Saiyan dna samples you collected showed very similar traits with a few differences. They might have had a common ancestor back in the day..."
I nodded at him, starting up the treadmill and beginning to run, quickly picking up speed.
He was right, I could feel the imbalance caused by my increased height, but within seconds I got the hang of it and the clumsiness disappeared.
"...cracking the Kryptonian DNA was harder than expected, but with the results gained from studying the Saiyan DNA, I was able to make progress, which is how the gene therapy became possible. The inherent long-lived CISD2 gene found in both DNA is what we wanted to target..."
Speed test: 100 mph without the Speed Force, Red Angel, or the BlackNite Ensemble.
Not too impressive but not too bad either. Both base strength and speed were in Spiderman's range.
Next was the shooting gallery where I was the target. This was a perfect opportunity to find out my durability.
M.O.N.Q.I.s with automated guns lined up in formation and began pelting me with lead.
I could easily trace the paths of the bullets even without the Speed Force. But my body was slower to react to all of them.
While I dodged most, some bullets landed on my body, leaving behind light bruises.
The firing stopped, and a large M.O.N.Q.I. stepped forward with an RPG. The room was damage-proof, covered by a kinetic-absorbing energy field.
The RPG monkey screeched what I assumed were insults my way before firing the explosive round.
I grunted, crossing my hands above my chest and received the RPG dead-on.
Durability: Can survive low yield bombs with few burns and scratches.
-0-
Walking out of the chamber, Ivo threw an uncertain gaze at my soot-covered body which was already healing, before continuing,
"...as I was saying, that particular gene helps both species live longer than humans. Under the light of a yellow sun, a Kryptonian can stay alive for hundreds of thousands of years. And while a Saiyan can only live to 500, the increase of S-cells in their bodies heavily contributes to their overall adaptability and lifespan. They're truly wondrous specimens. I can't help but..."
"What's the next test?"
I interrupted him, stretching my tight muscles out after tensing them to tank that explosion.
"And you still haven't answered my first question."
"May I remind you, Mr. Savage, you put me up to this? The least you can do is respect my genius. Mph!"
Ivo snapped back, his irritation evident.
"And how would I do that?"
I questioned, spotting something interesting on his work desk and walking over.
He caught up to me.
"By listening to the science!"
The small rectangular box that I grabbed was colored black, sleek, and fit within my palm.
It also had a button like pad on the top surface.
Curious, I pressed down on it and the top opened, revealing two eye lenses inside a solution of silver and flecks of ebony dust, within the box.
The solution was Element X.
The eye lenses each had two emerald circles pulsing around the edgex the pupil met the iris. A very familiar emerald.
"Hey, Prof, is this...?"
I trailed off, showing him the box that even had my initials at the bottom.
Ivo smirked in pride, stroking a non existent beard.
"Your old watch customized into a more ocular-focused form for better effectiveness?"
I rolled my eyes at the showy attitude.
"Well?"
"It is."
he clarified, stepping in and taking the box from my hands.
Clearing his throat, he continued,
"Mr. Angel, meet the results— well, one of- the results of three years of my life, the Angel's Halo. You could call it a Personalized Assistant Module. Or P.A.M for short."
He ushered me to put them on and I did so, blinking to adjust for the change in vision, only to balk at the fact I couldn't even feel them on my eyes. They simply melted into my cornea.
"Not only does P.A.M contain the BlackNite Power Scanner, but when the Halos around the pupils light up, you activate an inexhaustible amount of nanites that are created from the user's own WILL. They are essentially Green Lantern rings without the need for a ring."
he explained.
Finding it hard to believe, I tried to activate the function, and lo and behold, following a flash of green light, a perfectly round ball of the same color appeared
The ball shifted to a silky blanket, followed by a gun, and finally, a construct model of my little sister, only in green.
Ruffling it's head, sent the sensation of hair to my brain. The construct was no illusion. It was tangible. The model even leaned into my hand like Candie usually did.
I closed my eyes, trying to contain my shock. I only wanted him to update the Watch to store more Nanites while also shielding them against magic but he went too far.
Instead, he gave me Hard Light projectors that could be molded by the user's Will. This was a game changer. If we could commercialize it...that would be a lot of money. Especially from the gaming industry.
"You used the Green Lantern energy sample I brought you, right?"
I turned and inquired.
Ivo merely sniffed, puffing his chest up like a peacock.
"It took all of it to make the Halos, but I figured every Angel needs one. Or two in your case. Now you won't have to worry about environmental hazards. Using the Halo's Constructs, you can stay underwater, float in space, or a freaking volcano indefinitely. Just as long as you Will it."
Indeed, this was something I badly needed to shore up my other weakness.
During the preliminaries for the Lazarus Tournament, I'd almost drowned. But with the unbreakable Environmental Shield Lanterns used to traverse space, such problems were a thing of the past. And it was all because of Ivo.
"Gotta hand it to you, Prof, this is easily your best work."
I reluctantly praised.
"Mmph! Do you respect my genius now? Hahaha. You know, the method I used to create them was complete madness, even for me..."
He launched off into another explanation that I ignored in favor of studying the Halos.
As stated, they seemed to completely meld into my consciousness with no lag. I could easily flip through the settings with a few eye flickers.
And boy oh boy, it was like ruffling through a treasure box full of valuables.
On top of the WILL-Nite constructs (constructs created by nanites made from my WILL), the BlackNite power scanner acted like a scouter, allowng me to read Ivo's power level (the professor was a 25, showing he was packing heat).
They also carried every function of my Nanite Watch. All this info was neatly arranged in a blue interface that looked eerily similar to...
"Huh? What's this?"
I thought, just as a strange blue panel from the Halos took center stage in my vision.
*[Existing Halo matrix detected inside the user. Update current version?]*
Existing Halo Matrix? What could that be about?
Wait... I just realized, the Halo's display had a very similar layout to the strange Interface I was born with in this world.
Could it be...there was a connection between the two?
As improbable as the thought was, I kept coming back to that possibility.
"...and be ready for some unexpected surprises. The bit of Element X used to stabilize the WILL energy inside the Halos is unpredictable..."
That tidbit from Ivo caught my attention, so I paid more attention.
"It's notorious for causing space-time anomalies and even turned a part of my lab into a warped 2-D space."
Wait, if Element X caused Space-Time anomalies, then my theory was credible.
P.A.M and the strange Interface within me had to be related somehow. Maybe they really were the same thing.
Only one way to find out.
[Update confirmed]
The panel flashed across my eyes before disappearing. A new screen appeared, detailing my abilities in a box-like format.
{~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~}
[Name: Angel Savage]
[Age: 13/10000*]
[Metagene: Locked]
[Race: Metahuman/Homo Magi]
[Magic Techniques]
External Magicks:~
:- Pyrokinesis.
:- Cryokinesis.
Internal Magicks:~
:-Red Angel* :- An Internal Duo-Element spell that drains 10 years every 2 minutes of activation. In return it grants it's creator incredible power. Base Power × 1000.
Base Power Level(BPL) :- 110.
Peak Power Level(PPL) :- 110,000.
[Equipment: N/A]
{~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~}
After the update, I felt the Old Version Interface merge into the P. A.M eye lenses. Fixed a continuity error there. Whew.
Satisfied with studying the Halo's systems, I decided to do a practical test.
I turned to the doctor with an hungry shark like smirk,
"Launch the Amazo Android."
-0-
Within an energy field inside Ivo's Lab, I stood in my Red Angel form, facing Amazo 2.0.
It was like I was a different person. Both inside and out. My face remained blank and my mind entirely focused on the foe at hand.
The Android looked sleeker than its previous versions, with a tall human-like physique and yellow eyes that I could see scanning my body.
From the outside of the field, Ivo cackled
"I used the last of the WILL energy to increase Amazo's Adaptive Simulator, Angel Boy. It won't be tricked even by the illogicalness of human emotions! It is truly the perfect Android, able to analyze everything and digest it as data. By my estimation, Amazo 2.0 wouldn't lose to Superman. There's no one in the world it can't discern!! Hehehehehe."
Oh really?
I flexed my Angelic Mana Aura.
The Android started blinking rapidly.
Only 2 seconds after Ivo's boastful words, Amazo 2.0 echoed in a male voice,
"Scanning failed. Error. Error. Destroy and operate on specimen."
It immediately moved to attack me, but I took a single step forward, appeared in its face, and with a downward slap, immediately flattened Amazo.
Ivo was rendered speechless.
Guess I'm stronger than Superman then.
::---------------------------------::
It's been 3 years. Just the first Time Skip.
If you have questions on what went down on this chapter, ask away.
But for context:-
Gene S-Kr is Angel's efforts at trying to copy a Kryptonian/Saiyan's longer lifespans to offset Red Angel's drawback.
Red Angel is a crazy power up, the drawback is there for a reason. The Spell is incomplete. Some of you can already guess why.
~Also, fixed the origin of the first version of the Interface.
Next chapter:- The Suicide Squad attacks Angel's Mansion.
Thus we officially begin our next arc:- Agent of Chaos.