Shards of Invincibility (Worm/Invincible, Commission) 1 (Patreon)

<<Mojave Desert, 1987>>

A beam of energy cut across the desert, turning whatever it hit into perfectly clear glass. I smiled, letting the beam stop and feeling the slot the power was using slide empty. I think I wanted to test for something more elemental this time, in the mood for crystalline… a new power slotted into place.

I closed my eyes, feeling out what the power could and couldn’t do. It didn’t feel particularly rocky, instead it felt… warm? Like it was pulling any and all heat it could get in on itself. Even without actively using the power, the air around me felt cooler, the temperature surrounding me plummeting. Lifting a hand, I narrowed my eyes, looking for any sign I was using it outside of the temperature drop. Nothing.

So it had a passive effect, but I wasn’t getting how the crystalline part factored in. Giving the power a few more mental pokes, I finally figured out how to use the active version of it. Walking over to a still intact cacti, I placed a finger on it and triggered the power.

Instantly, there was the sound of crystalizing ice and frost started drifting off it, the skin of the cactus turning pale and small crystals bursting out of it. At the same time, I felt like I’d just downed an entire pot of coffee, black. Shaking my head, I snapped off a piece of the crystal that had burst out of the cactus and held it up to my face.

I didn’t want that power anymore, so it drifted away, into wherever my powers were coming from. When it did, the tiny crystal almost immediately started melting in my hand. Huh, I suppose that it did technically provide crystals, but I wasn’t expecting ice crystals.

Humming, I let the melting ice drop to the ground as I considered what to get next. Some sort of eyebeam, I think. I felt a power slide into place, feeling heavy, sturdy, and solid behind my eyes. Turning to the cactus I’d frozen, I stared at it. Nothing happened. Frowning, I lightly bopped the side of my head while keeping my gaze focused on my target. Roughly five to ten seconds after the power had first slotted in, something clicked and twin beams shot from my eyes.

The beams hit the cactus, and I shifted my gaze from left to right, but the beam didn’t change direction. Letting the power fade, I considered what I’d learned as I knelt in front of my target. The beams were limited by the way my head was facing, not my eyes themselves, and from the looks of it, the cactus resembled something that had gotten on the bad side of a certain Greek mythical monster with snakes for hair.

“When I asked for eye beams I wasn’t expecting a Medusa Blast,” I muttered under my breath. I paused, feeling… a second power slot into place? I could do that?

The new power… enhanced my senses. I heard… engines, coming from the north. A breeze brushed against me from that direction, and I smelled oil, lead, and at least a dozen people. Narrowing my eyes, I felt (and saw) my vision zoom in on three hummers moving at ninety six point seven four five miles an hour. At their current speed, they’d arrive in thirty one point two one minutes.

“Agent, come in,” I heard a voice say over a radio, but crisper and cleaner than any radio I’d ever heard. One of the people in the front hummer moved, picking up… holy shit, I’d heard the radio from all the way over there!

“Agent Stedman, no sign of the suspected extra dimensional force,” the man in the hummer said into the radio.

“GDA satellite imaging has come through, the disturbances were caused by a single individual, they have turned to face your approach,” the first voice said, making me blink. Satellites? I looked up, but didn’t see anything. “The individual is now looking up, the possibility exists that they are aware of this conversation.”

“Understood, Agent Stedman out,” the second voice said before there was a click, and I turned back to look towards them. “I don’t know if you can hear me, but if you can, how about meeting us part way?”

Letting the Medusa Blast power go, I felt another power slide in. After a few seconds, I grinned, reaching out with the new power… let’s see, pinch, twist, and hup… anyone who said I screamed like a little girl upon finding myself over fifty feet in the air is a liar.

Definitely not a hup, let’s try hua…

Both feet firmly back on the ground, I very nearly fell to my knees to start kissing Mother Earth as the middle vehicle came to a halt, not five feet from where I’d teleported to on my second attempt. Both of the other hummers stopped a short ways past me, all three vehicles emptying out. A man with the right side of his face scarred approached me as I stood up.

“I’m assuming that you’re the reason we’re out here,” he mused, his eyes looking me up and down. “Mind if I ask what you’re doing out here?”

“Uh,” my eyes glanced over to the several heavily armed men around me, “I was trying out my powers, didn’t want to risk messing up and hurting people or public property.”

The man with the scarred face gave a slight nod, a small smirk forming, “I think there’s some people we can introduce you to…”

<<30 years later>>

The Immortal lifted an arm to block a punch, deflecting and pushing the arm aside to launch his own blow in return. The Mauler Twin he was fighting grunted, pulling his arm back and shifting his stance. Before either could make the next move, bright, crimson bands wrapped around the Mauler Twin, binding and encasing him in a cocoon of energy.

“Sorry for the delay,” I said as I floated down, the red bands of energy held in my hands. “I’ve got these two from here.”

The Mauler Twin did his best to break free, but I twisted, the streams of energy and their captive turning into an impromptu flail. I brought the captured Twin into his counterpart, knocking him away from War Woman.

“Eidolon, keep them contained, we’ll focus on Civilian Evac,” Immortal called out as he flew towards a group of soldiers.

“I can do that,” I said in response, letting the bands dissipate and instead slotting in an older force field power.

I hadn’t used this one in a while, pointing both hands at the Mauler Twins, I narrowed my eyes behind my mask. A colorless, translucent bubble formed around the two, dozens of tiny holes allowing for airflow, but otherwise keeping the two trapped. Four fists slammed into the bubble at different intervals, the two cloned geneticists doing their best to break free.

I was glad I was wearing my mask, because under it I was sweating badly. It didn’t show in my posture, but the two were much closer to escaping than I would like them to believe. Fortunately, as the power continued charging, the strain of their punches was getting easier and easier to handle. A sound to my right had me turning my head, seeing Nolan float down to hover next to me.

“Omni-Man,” I greeted him.

“Eidolon,” he returned, turning his gaze to the two villains. Both had noticed Nolan, and as the Guardians of the Globe approached behind us, the two grunted in annoyance, holding up their arms as much as they were able.

I let the bubble fade, and the Mauler Twins were soon cuffed and in a specially designed police van for individuals of their size and general build. I let out a huff of air, as I ascended into the Washington DC airspace.

“You’re getting slow in your old age, John,” Nolan teased as he floated up next to me. “Back when we met you’d have been there before Immortal got his knuckles dirty.”

“When we met I was an arrogant shit with more ego than sense,” I shot back, grinning under my mask. “I’m assuming we’re still on for next week?”

“The usual time and place,” he agreed, about to leave before pausing, “by the way, Debbie asked that I pass on an invitation to dinner next Friday.”

“So in a week?” I asked for clarification, to which he nodded. “I’ll be there. Say hi to Marcella for me.”

Nolan chuckled, “I’ll be sure to do that. She’ll be glad to hear that her favorite Uncle will be visiting soon.”

I rolled my eyes, shaking my head in amusement as he flew off. I wasn’t his daughter’s uncle by blood, but given how Nolan and I were best friends, it was an honorary title I was more than happy to accept. Sighing, I felt my amusement begin to drop as I turned and flew away from DC. I don’t think Nolan had noticed, but his initial joke was spot on. I was getting slower, my powers were taking longer to reach full charge, and they were taking longer to swap in and out.

It was impossible to deny: I wasn’t as powerful as I used to be. I was getting weaker. Some would say that I’d been one of the greatest heroes the Earth had ever seen for thirty years, I should retire and enjoy the rest of my life. But that was just it: I didn’t have anything else. I’d been a superhero for the entirety of my adult life, I’d thrown myself headlong into it before I was old enough to drink. Take that away from me… and the thought made me feel lost.

Coming up to my house, I smiled lightly upon seeing it. It was a house out in the middle of nowhere in the Rockies, paid for with the interest on the gold I had mined from asteroids. I didn’t have a day job, the interest I’d gained from my asteroid mining was more than enough for me to live off of, even if I were to do nothing but stay home and order everything delivered to my front door.

Which was another aspect in my power issue: I didn’t have a day job to fall back on, really I didn’t have anything except for being a superhero. With a sigh, I pulled my mask off my head as I entered. A cleaning service came out a few times a month, but by and large it was just me here.

“I was initially worried when I arrived and the door was open, but then I saw the news,” the voice of the first guest I’d had over in about eighteen months said, putting a beer in front of me. “Was initially afraid you’d gone to get some friends.”

I gave Black Samson an unimpressed look as I twisted the top off the bottle. Taking a swig, I asked, “So Omni-Man never did tell me what this was about, even if he did practically twist my arm about it.”

Black Samson lifted both hands, “Way he talked to me about it was you were looking for a hobby outside this business and having no idea how to start. Not a hundred percent sure why he thought I’d be the right person to ask.”

I let out a tiny grunt as I made my way to the kitchen. Opening the fridge, I hollered over my shoulder, “If you’re going to be here a while, mind starting up the grill on the deck?”

“Don’t mind if I do,” he said, a pep in his step as he made his way to the sliding glass door to the deck overlooking the lake and the mountains.

I took the marinating lamb out of my fridge, along with a container filled with breaded mini cheese rolls to fry, and got to work preparing the meal. Internally, I was feeling a mix of appreciation, annoyance, and a hint of suspicion towards Nolan. I was beginning to wonder if he’d noticed my issues with my powers getting weaker, given just who it was that he’d sent here.

After our last spar, he’d said, “Something’s clearly been bothering you lately John, and I know you well enough you'd never willingly get help.”

At the time, I’d brushed it off, now I wasn’t so sure anymore. Putting that thought aside, I instead refocused on the meal. I took the lamb out to the grill and set the chops over the hot coals. Turning to Samson, I told him, “Flip these after a few minutes, then a few minutes more move them to the opposite side of the grill.”

“Can do, been years since I’ve had lamb,” he said with a nod.

I headed back inside and got my wok heating, putting in a high smoke oil into the pan and getting it up to temperature. Once it was heated, I dropped the breaded cheese into the oil. I used to just bread the cheese and drop it straight into the oil, but I had so much trouble keeping the cheese from leaking out of the breading that I started keeping the cheese in the fridge for a few hours before frying.

About ten minutes later, Samson and I were sitting on the deck, plates with a lamb chop and breaded gouda cheese rolls on our laps overlooking the lake as the sun began to set. We ate in silence, before I sighed and ran a hand through my hair.

“Can I ask you something?” I asked. Black Samson was probably the only person who’d really get the issue I was facing. “And if so, I’m going to ask that you not tell anyone.”

“Of course,” he answered without hesitation. “You know how it is in this business, people who can’t keep quiet don’t last long.”

I took a deep breath, “When you lost your powers… how’d you cope?”

I heard him take a deep breath, leaning back in the chair. I spared a glance as I reached over and grabbed my beer bottle, a look of remembrance was on his face, his eyes gazing into the past. I had no idea if I’d figure out a way to get my powers back, or how this conversation would go, all I could do was hope for the best.