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Siberia, Oymyakon region
Brian sat in a café, sipping hot coffee as he casually monitored the sounds of the town.
Ripples emanated from his ears, gathering countless audio signals. With his super-hearing, no one could escape his surveillance.
As the cacophony of noises reached him, Brian filtered and categorized the sounds.
"Mom, let me sleep for 5 more minutes!"
"Fuck! The heater isn't working!"
"Give it to me baby~ fuck me to Oblivian!!"
Tsk!
Blocking out irrelevant noise, he focused his search, narrowing his parameters to the word "Mutant."
In an instant, the overwhelming deluge of sound projections vanished, leaving behind a single voice.
"What the fuck is going on! Those damn KGB agents are chasing me so closely. I was almost caught. How did they figure out I'm a mutant?"
Brian smirked. His target had practically revealed themselves.
Using his super-hearing, he swiftly pinpointed the exact source of the voice. With minimal effort, he had located the mutant he sought.
Standing from his seat, Brian flew out of the café, heading directly toward the source of the voice.
At this moment, in front of a modest two-story building, a naked man slipped through the door, shivering from the freezing cold outside.
"Good thing I awakened the ability to turn invisible. Otherwise, I'd probably be stuck as a guinea pig in some Soviet military lab," he muttered, stepping into his room and lighting the fireplace. He huddled close to the fire, warming himself as he spoke to no one in particular.
The man's name was Darick Gallhager.
He was a mutant—not a Soviet, but an American. Darick had awakened the ability of invisibility, allowing his body to become completely transparent and thus rendering him physically invisible.
It had to be said, Darick possessed remarkable control over his ability. From the moment he discovered it, he had quickly mastered it, learning to activate and deactivate his invisibility at will.
Incredibly, it only took him three days after awakening his power to reach the level of a Category 4 mutant. He could now maintain his invisibility indefinitely, even until death, without interruption.
However, this unique gift came with an ironic drawback: when he was invisible, even he couldn't see his own body.
This limitation forced Darick Gallhager to occasionally deactivate his invisibility in order to maintain a semblance of a normal human life.
His ability to become invisible filled Darick with confidence. He believed that no one in the world could detect him.
This arrogance led him to target Morgan Bank, intending to "shop for free" using his power. While his invisibility allowed him to sneak into the secure vaults of ten Morgan Bank branches without setting off alarms, he overlooked one critical detail: the items he carried.
Security personnel on duty couldn't see Darick himself, but they noticed two large sacks floating in the air, seemingly on their own.
Unsurprisingly, Darick's actions placed him on the CIA's wanted list.
To escape the relentless pursuit of the CIA, Darick fled to a remote border town in the Soviet Union. However, his reckless behavior persisted even after his escape.
In the Soviet Union, Darick's arrogance turned into recklessness.
His new pastime involved sneaking invisibly into women's bathrooms.
During one such escapade, a towel was accidentally draped over his invisible outline, exposing him once again.
This incident led to him being targeted by the KGB.
"My life as a mutant is like walking on thin ice," Darick muttered to himself. Sitting by the fireplace, he sighed deeply, warming himself.
After a moment, he stood up and made his way to the bedroom, and Opened a drawer.
Inside the drawer was a collection of expensive watches.
Darick Gallhager picked up a Rolex and glanced at the time.
He then approached the French window.
Through the glass, he spotted a beautiful figure in the room opposite his. A young woman was drying her freshly washed hair with a hair dryer.
"Entertainment time," Darick muttered to himself with a sly grin.
His body quickly became transparent as he activated his invisibility ability.
Opening the door, Darick stepped outside, only to find a very handsome Asian man standing less than five meters away from his door.
Eh?
Startled for a moment, Darick quickly dismissed the man's presence. Confident in his invisible state, he was certain that no one could see him.
Walking lightly, Darick left a trail of footprints on the ground.
Brian, observing the footprints that appeared out of thin air, raised an eyebrow. His expression turned amused as he finally spoke.
"Planning to sneak into the room of the lady across the way invisibly?" he asked casually.
Darick froze, startled by the voice suddenly echoing in his ears. Looking around in shock, his gaze eventually settled on Brian.
When Darick Gallhager noticed Brian looking in his direction, he was momentarily stunned.
He raised his hands instinctively, only to realize he couldn't see them. His body was completely invisible.
This realization brought Darick a sense of relief. I'm invisible. There's no way he's looking at me, he thought.
Confident that Brian wasn't actually addressing him, Darick decided to ignore the man. He turned his focus back to the girl's room across the way and began walking toward it.
Just then, a voice echoed directly in his ears.
"Mr. Gallhager, are you going to stop and talk to me?"
Darick's pupils contracted in shock. If he had been uncertain before, this time he was certain: the man was speaking to him.
"Mutant?" Darick muttered under his breath.
The first thought that crossed his mind was that the man in front of him must also be a mutant.
Looking at Brian suspiciously, Darick tried to gauge his intentions.
Darick Gallhager began to move carefully, intending to leave the area unnoticed.
This time, he was more deliberate. Controlling his steps with precision, Darick ensured there were no more footprints left behind on the snowy ground.
He suspected that the Asian man had noticed him earlier because of the footprints he had unintentionally left behind. With the footprints now eliminated, Darick felt confident that the man wouldn't detect him again.
Sure enough, as Darick walked lightly, Brian didn't appear to notice him. This boosted Darick's confidence even further, and a smug smile spread across his invisible face.
The power of invisibility had filled Darick with an almost unshakable self-assurance.
Quietly, he began walking toward the door of the room across from his.
"Let him keep guessing," Darick muttered silently to himself, feeling pleased with his cleverness.
This habit of silently talking to himself while invisible was something Darick often indulged in.
But Darick could never have imagined one critical detail: Brian had super-hearing.
For Brian, the invisible man's presence was as clear as day.
Every sound Darick made—his breathing, the subtle vibration of his footsteps on the ground, the rhythmic beating of his heart, the sound of blood flowing, etc.
Brian didn't need to see Darick Gallhager at all.
By listening alone, he could create a detailed three-dimensional projection of the invisible man in his mind.
In Brian's ears, Darick's human figure was as clear as if he were fully visible. He could discern even the smallest details: the direction of Darick's swinging arms, the rhythm of his steps, and his exact destination.
Every movement was unmistakably clear.
Against Brian's super-hearing, Darick's invisibility was completely ineffective.
Watching—or rather, "listening to"—Darick approach the opposite room, Brian raised his right index finger casually.
A crimson energy ray shot from his finger, aimed squarely at Darick's back.
Boom!
"What the!!"
A massive explosion rang out, shaking the ground and stirring up a thick cloud of smoke.
In the smoke, a human figure was clearly visible.
The girl in the opposite room heard the sound and stared at the door in amazement.
She had no idea what happened.
"Huh? Still alive?" Brian muttered in surprise after unleashing the energy shockwave.
Through his super-hearing, he could still detect Darick Gallhager's strong, steady heartbeat. It was clear that Darick was not only alive but seemingly unharmed.
For someone with Brian's precision, missing the mark was impossible. This left only one explanation.
Darick must be a dual-ability mutant.
In addition to his invisibility, Darick possessed another ability.
"Darick, I'm getting more and more interested in you," Brian said with a sly grin.
From within the flames and smoke of the explosion, Darick emerged unscathed, his face radiating arrogance.
"Don't mess with me! This king has Superman's steel body," Darick sneered at Brian with a cocky expression.
Just as Brian had suspected, Darick was not only invisible but also had incredibly durable skin. His skin was as strong as carbon, making him virtually indestructible.
This exceptional defense gave Darick immense confidence.
It was this highly durable skin that had allowed him to evade capture by KGB agents time and time again. Even in the face of gunfire, Darick remained unfazed.
His impervious skin was the source of his bravado, and it explained why he carried himself with such unshakable arrogance.
Brian observed Darick Gallhager, the invisible mutant, with growing interest. Raising his right hand casually, he used his psychokinesis to pull Darick's body back toward him.
Darick, unable to resist, was slammed to the ground as Brian pinned him down with a firm kick.
"Darick, I think it's time you drop your invisibility~" Brian said, activating his persuasion ability.
The moment Darick heard Brian's words, he was compelled to obey. Without hesitation, he deactivated his invisibility.
As Darick's fully exposed, naked form appeared, Brian's face twitched slightly in distaste. Without missing a beat, Brian raised his hand, directing his psychokinesis toward Darick's forehead.
A sharp screech of metal-on-metal rang out as Brian's attack met Darick's skin.
Darick's skin defense was indeed formidable—so strong that Brian's psychokinesis couldn't cut through his skull.
"Let me go! Let me go now!" Darick shouted, thrashing wildly in a desperate attempt to free himself.
But no matter how much he struggled, Brian's psychokinesis held him firmly in place.
Despite his abilities—his invisibility and indestructible skin—Darick was, in all other ways, just an ordinary man. He had no way to overcome Brian's overwhelming power.
With a motion of his hand, Brian summoned a red energy column, as thick as a bucket, and directed it at Darick's head.
The intense energy struck with precision, causing Darick's skin to turn a glowing red in an instant.
Panic washed over Darick's face as he stared at his burning skin. His terror only deepened as Brian steadily increased the intensity of the energy beam.
Darick could feel it now—his once-indestructible skin beginning to melt away.
"Man of Steel? A Level 4 mutant dares to compare himself to Superman's Steel body?"
Brian sneered at the melting skin.
Although Darick Gallhager, the invisible man, boasted that his skin was indestructible like "Man of Steel," the reality was far less impressive. As a Level 4 mutant, his abilities had limitations.
Darick's carbon-based skin, while remarkably durable, was far inferior to Superman's. At best, it could withstand two missile blasts. Once its endurance threshold was exceeded, the carbon element structure would begin to melt.
As his skin started to melt under the relentless energy beam, Darick screamed in agony.
Brian remained unfazed. With precise control, he used his psychokinesis to cut through the now-red, gradually melting skin.
In one swift motion, Brian split Darick's forehead open, exposing the circuits of his mutant abilities.
Unlike ordinary mutants, Darick's brain center contained two distinct ability circuits: one for invisibility and another for his skin.
Brian examined the circuits briefly, and with a casual mental grasp, he mastered them.
In that instant, Brian acquired both invisibility and skin abilities.
The invisibility ability, which Darick had developed to its full potential, transferred seamlessly to Brian. The power he gained was nearly identical to Darick's.
The second ability, carbon skin, underwent significant improvement under Brian's optimization process using the Sylar template. The upgrade took the carbon-skin ability from Level 4 to Level 5 in a single step.
Though a Level 5 carbon skin still fell short of Superman's steel body, its hardness was exceptional—surpassing even diamond.
This transformation made Brian's skin practically indestructible.
Brian's newly acquired carbon-skin ability was immune to virtually all physical attacks, save for nuclear bombs or sustained missile bombardment.
Unlike passive defensive abilities, carbon skin was an active ability, much like Colossus's metallic form. Brian could choose to harden his skin into carbon at will or revert it to normal human skin. The opening and closing of this ability were entirely under his control.
Standing up, Brian casually raised his right index finger and used his psychokinesis to attempt a cut on his arm.
The razor-sharp psychokinetic blade failed to leave even the slightest mark on Brian's skin.
Examining the smooth surface of his carbon skin, indistinguishable from normal human skin, Brian smiled with satisfaction.
As for the invisibility ability?
To Brian, it was a useful but nonessential addition to his arsenal.
After acquiring Darick Gallhager's abilities, Brian didn't leave the border town immediately. Instead, he returned to Darick's home.
Darick, relying on his invisibility, had amassed a significant collection of luxury goods through less-than-honest means.
"Leaving all this behind would be such a waste," Brian mused.
With a smirk, he began collecting the items, deciding that they might as well serve a better purpose~ Heh~
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