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Skel gave Cassidy a piece of monster fruit, and I felt it expand quickly in her throat.

The tendrils of the rapidly growing organism sucked ki from the air at an incredible pace as it expanded throughout her body.

I realized why the tumors were growing in some people. The monster fruit was converting something to physical mass with its ki. It explained why the ki seemed to correspond to the growth.

I watched as the monster fruit expanded throughout Cassidy’s body and began to interact with her existing powers.

I waited a moment longer before it had expanded enough to be contained.

I slid what felt like a framework of Frankie’s power over one of the powers Cassidy was gaining, swelling and shifting the power. I let the growing power fill the framework and locked it into place while the other power swirled, reshaping itself. Because there were two, if the one power turned out to be a dud, there was always the chance of the second.

“How does it feel?” Skel asked. Her scalpel was still in her hand, but I could tell she was memorizing every little detail to scribble into her notebook later.

“Like little bugs are crawling inside of me.” Cassidy shook her head. “Not painful, but I am ready for it to end.”

“One of your powers is currently changing into an unknown. The other I have locked into Frankie’s water creation power.” I replied. “So far, I don’t see any of the cancer popping up.”

“Good.” Cassidy looked down at her body. Her skin looked like it was getting a smidge tanner, but otherwise, there were no extreme reactions. She breathed slowly, trying to calm herself.

I could only imagine what it was like being so vulnerable. Laying on a table being experimented on was one of my greatest fears. Although, in those scenarios I wasn’t doing it willingly.

One branch of the monster fruit seemed to be diverting, so I watched it. When it reached the edge of her skin, it started rapidly trying to pull ki. It was the beginning of a tumor, and I shut it down before it could start.

Shortly after it began, the monster fruit adapted to her body and died off. Her own immune system would clean up what remained.

Cassidy definitely had one of the better monster fruit interactions, and I was glad that Pollen’s first encounter didn’t include watching us cut lump after lump out of Cassidy.

“Congratulations, it’s done.” I told Cassidy. “You are just a little tanner than when you came in, but otherwise you physically appear the same. Want to try your power? Try to fill Skel’s sink.”

Cassidy was giddy, and she didn’t even wait to be unstrapped before she focused on Skel’s sink. It took only a moment before the skink was promptly filled with water and began to overflow.

I used my abilities to capture the water before it fell to the ground. “Good job. Now you need to learn some control.”

Skel undid the straps, and Cassidy spun off the table to her feet. “Wow. I feel good.” She bent at her knees a couple of times. “Like a few years younger.”

“I don’t know about that, but you probably have a lot of adrenaline in your system from the procedure. I’d recommend taking it easy.” Skel held up a clipboard and started scribbling furiously. “Frankie, could you show her around and help her with the power?”

“Can do. Thank you both. I’m glad I don’t have to climb that water tower all the time.” Frankie groused, but she had a smile on her face as she directed the younger woman out of the lab.

Pollen looked at me with wide eyes. “That was incredible.”

“It is indeed.” Skel murmured, still scribbling furiously for a few more moments before seeming satisfied and putting down her pad of paper.

I realized I rarely ever saw Skel sit or lean against anything. With her ability, her body didn’t really feel normal strain.

It all came down to her mind and its ability to control the body. Even if her body fell apart, she could piece it back together.

I wondered if that was related at all to the Fenris Wolf. Maybe the titan’s ability was more mental.

“Do you have a theory on the Fenris Wolf’s power?” I asked Skel.

She paused only a moment before replying. “We know it can animate the dead. It isn’t a stretch to think it animated itself at one point.” Skel suggested. “But then that leaves the question of what comprises its body. Daeva said you harmed it in your battle?”

“I used my power to convert something into water, a mimicry of Frankie’s power.” I replied. “I think the ability pushes ki into the surrounding air, converting atmospheric gas into water.”

Skel nodded along. “Other scientists have studied similar powers. They tested them in vacuum and found that supers had to strain to use their powers, but the subjects were able to still produce whatever it was their power made.”

I grew interested. “What else do they say?”

“Studies have shown that the power will convert the nearest available source of mass before producing it out of thin air. Given what you call ‘ki’, I would extend that theory to say that it must be a conversion of ki as an energy into mass.” She tilted her head, pondering her statement further.

“That would be my guess.” I pulled out a chair to settle in. “That means the Fenris Wolf is made of something.”

Skel glanced at my missing arm and leg. “Yes, something must create its body and allow it to cause damage. But even electricity has mass, that mass is just infinitesimally small. There are all sorts of particles that we’ve discovered, and those we haven’t. We can’t really know what comprises the Fenris Wolf. It could even be some sort of vibrational phase that just doesn’t interact with our world. Ghosts are still sort of science fiction, even in a world with powers.”

I frowned. I’d been hoping for more.

She shrugged those bony shoulders. “I can only tell you what I know. But if the titan is converting what mass it has readily to water when you tried to mimic Frankie’s power, then that means either there was nothing else there for you to convert, or that it converts more readily than what else is there.”

I nodded, following her train of thought. I didn’t need to fully understand what the Fenris Wolf was made out of if I knew how to hurt it. “So, just practice my power.”

“That or get someone who has a power for it to fight the Fenris Wolf. I know you lost something this time, but now we know what can damage it. You’ll give us a fighting chance if it comes.” Skel started cleaning up the previous procedure’s tools, putting them away. “Speaking of, let’s grab those ants and bring them with us. I want to show you how we produce monster fruit.”

Pollen looked at me, her eyes asking if she could come.

I thought it was funny that she wasn’t asking Skel, but she seemed to think I was in charge. And as a God King, maybe I was. “Come on.”

Skel walked to a corner of her lab and pushed aside a bench, revealing a ladder that went into the floor.

“No giant vault door?” I joked.

Skel shrugged. “That wouldn’t stop a super that got this far.” She fell down the hole, a clank of bones sounding at the bottom.

I looked down. “You okay?” I knew she probably was, but seeing her body become a heap of bones was something I wished I could forget.

She put herself back together immediately. “Fine. Ladders take a lot of concentration. More than it’s worth. This is easier.”

Wrapping Pollen in a kinetic bubble, I flew both of us down far more gently. “Not worried about breaking those bones of yours?”

Skel turned to look at me. “I’m half monster bones at this point. No reason that I can’t just animate a bone to fill in one that’s broken.”

“What about your skull?” I asked.

“No clue. And not quite ready to test that one out.” Skel admitted. “I would do many things for science, but attempted suicide is not one of them.”

I grunted in agreement.

Skel moved through a passage that quickly became an advanced lab, one far more sophisticated than the one above.

Most of the space was powered off, except for three large tubes filled with something growing in liquid.

“What’s this?” I frowned around at the lab. It didn’t look anything like her cobbled together one above, but there were hints of Skel in it. Several panels had been torn off, and two generators had been wired into the set up along with other electrical conduits leading back down the passage to her main lab.

“The mad scientist that ran project Cerberus had a second lab hidden away from the military. All I know is that it’s how Daeva escaped, and she took that lab with her. She buried it out here, where you now stand.” Skel patted one of the large tubes and a dim light lit the interior.

Inside was a tree in concept. The shape resembled a tree, but the body of the tree looked like flesh not wood. “I have no idea what it was originally. But I managed to revive some of the cells from the experiment when Daeva uprooted it and it lost power. Most of my solar panels for the lab above are used to power this. After talking with Doctor Wells, I’ve attempted alteration for two new variants.” The other two tubes lit up when she touched them. “We hope one of these will work on men to help them control a second power. Ideally, we’d alter the genetics with it, giving a solution to the Y chromosome and giving it a fighting chance, so to speak.”

She didn’t go into detail on the third vial, and I noticed.

“What’s the last one?” I asked.

Skel’s skeletal mouth snapped shut. “I hesitate to comment too much on it. Wells gave me some fairly radical ideas to generate what we are calling the second generation of monster fruit. Making it was one of the conditions she laid out for her research. I believe it is for you and your harem in particular, but she’s going to test it on someone back in Point City first from what she has said.”

I touched the second tube and looked at the one she was hoping would help men grow stronger and solve the gender imbalance. “How confident are you in this working?”

“Testing will be needed, but with Wells having collected so much data from the transformation and the controlled transformation with you, I believe we have strong leads. Much stronger than the scientists before us.” Skel touched the tubes and a little reverence entered her eyes. “Too bad I’m living out here away from the cities. I’d win a lot of prizes for this work.”

“Still might.” I replied. “The entire government of Point City is throwing money at this problem.”

“Some company would scoop up the patent to get rich if I tried to take this to a city.” Skel sighed. “We’ll produce it, test it, and see if we can’t just flood the market. That’s the best way to get this all solved.”

I stared at the two tubes. “When will you know if it’s effective?”

“We’ll have fruit from both plants in maybe two days. But then we’ll need to do testing. Wells suggests that she has a super that she can test all of this on.” Skel frowned, clearly not entirely comfortable with the idea.

But I had a feeling that I knew who she was referencing.

“Not a male. Dr. Wells has a woman who can clone herself and is letting Wells use the clones for study.” I explained.

“Oh, I suppose that’s better. I’m eager to eventually get to human trials.” Skel stared at the tubes with hope.

Pollen was watching our interaction and waited a moment before she spoke. “What about the ants?”

“Right.” Skel went over to a stand and clicked a few buttons on a panel before spinning a dial that made the floor hum.

The tube containing the first monster fruit tree bubbled as electricity arced between the fleshy branches. Little strawberry shaped fruits grew from the tree before our eyes.

A mechanical arm detached itself from the top of the tube and Skel was focused as she controlled it to come down and pluck one of the fruits. Then she pulled it up to a receptacle at the top. It hissed for a second before popping a panel open on our side.

The panel was ten feet up. I wasn’t sure how Skel was going to reach it, but then she threw her hand up to the top. I tried not to laugh at the ridiculousness of it.

Skel eyed me. “Normally, Daeva gets them.”

“I could have done that.” I dead panned.

She gave me a guilty grin as her hand plucked the fruit out and it jumped back to her wrist. “You could dry this for me. We find it best to get the tank liquid out of it. It settles better in the stomach that way.”

I nodded, trying not to gross myself out as I pushed all the humidity away from the fruit. I applied heat and pressure, squeezing out the liquid.

It stank worse than a high school gym locker.

“No one would take monster fruit if it tasted like it just smelled.” I wrinkled my nose.

Skel smiled and plucked the fruit out of the air. “Ah, but no one really notices once it goes in their mouth. We just have to make it not stink for a moment.”

Pollen looked at the steel jar that Skel was holding. “Are we going to feed them here? It’s a little dark…”

I made the room as bright as mid-day, causing the other two to squint at the sudden change. “Just tell me what you need.” I offered.

Skel held up the jar. “I need one ant removed from here without disturbing the carbon dioxide.”

I focused inside the vial, selected an ant and vibrated it enough that I was able to pull it through the steel. That particular application of my power took a lot of focus, but the ant was small.

Pollen and Skel watched with interest.

“Next?” I asked, the ant hovering in the air.

“Put it on the table, and get it to eat monster fruit.” Skel said, holding her palm open with the monster fruit inside.

I frowned at the large fruit in her hand and then at the ant. “That’s not going to fit.”

“It just needs to eat a small piece.” Skel pinched the air with the bony fingers of her other hand.

Picking off a tiny ant-sized bite, I brought both close enough to my eyes to be able to work. I could see its little mouth and managed to stuff the grain of monster fruit inside of the ant.

I waited. Nothing happened immediately, and I frowned before pushing a little ki into it, hoping to spur it to life.

The ant flexed, and I felt the monster fruit grow rapidly inside the ant. It flexed once more before it just popped. I barely managed to control the spray, keeping it off my face.

“Oh. That wasn’t good.” Skel looked at the popped ant and shook her head. “We can investigate making a bug monster fruit if it is that important.”

“It’s okay, Miles. I don’t need an army of powered bees.” Pollen put a hand against my chest. “Maybe there’s a powered hive out in the world somewhere we can find.”

I let out a sigh. “Fine. Let’s wrap this up. Skel, we still need something to deal with the ant monsters in the forest.”

“I’ll whip up something based on these little guys’ DNA.” She shook the flask. “Enjoy your day.”

As I walked out, I felt the powers in the ants and lifted a piece of pulled away panel, super heating it into a liquid and forming the shape of the ant’s power to save for later.

“What’s that?” Pollen asked.

“A power, or the shape of one.” I replied.

She reached for it, and I rapidly cooled it before her fingers touched it. “So that’s what it looks like.” She held the twisting loop that folded back in on itself several times.

“Pretty much.” We approached the ladder, and I lifted the three of us up, floating us back up to Skel’s lab.

“Why do you make the shape? To learn?” Pollen asked.

I frowned at her question, not understanding where she was going. “To mimic the shape.”

“You don’t do that with the rest of your powers. You’ve even said that once you figured out Frankie’s power, you just needed intention to make it work.” Pollen held the shape of the power in her hand, giving me an odd look.

Dropping Skel off, I hurried out of her lab with Pollen in tow. “Yeah, but it’s not always just for me. Remembering all the shapes is hard when others may want abilities in the future. I figured it couldn’t hurt to save.”

I formed another void carriage. “Want to come practice with me?” I asked, smiling as I held out my hand from the carriage.

Pollen stepped next to me and sat down, smiling. “Okay, what are we practicing?”

“I haven’t needed to work on my abilities in a while, but this new way I create water needs some practice. Especially if it’s what will protect us from the Fenris Wolf.” I replied, moving us far enough from the city that if I created a disaster, it likely wouldn’t affect it.

Setting the carriage down, I focused ahead of me, letting water spring forth from the air. “I’m going to close my eyes. Tell me what’s happening so I can focus on my power.”

Pollen got up and sat in my lap, putting her hands over my eyes. “Don’t even worry about keeping your eyes closed.”

Her touch and the smell of what I knew were her sweet lips had me a little distracted. It took a few moments and breaths before I was able to focus.

First, I made water spring forth outside the carriage.

“Water is pouring out of the air.” Pollen replied.

I had honey on the mind with her so close to me, so deciding to expand it, I tried to focus on the vibrations and think of something heavier. A liquid more complex than water.

It took more energy and force, but I could feel something forming.

“Wait. Is that honey?” Pollen asked.

“Go check. You are the expert in honey.” I smiled, closing my eyes as her hands came away from them.

I felt her leave my lap and peaked one eye open, taking in her rear as she leaned out of the carriage and stuck a finger in the slowly gurgling honey stream.

She licked her finger. “It is honey.” Her voice held amazement.

I focused again and I smiled at the next thought, trying to make something else. Stella would do many things for endless syrup or even pancakes.

“It’s now darker. Wait a minute, did you just make batter?” Pollen’s surprise made me open my eyes.

“Huh, I guess it’s still a liquid. I was trying to make pancakes.” I replied.

Pollen stuck a finger out and brought some of the pancake batter over to me.

I opened my mouth and let her put it in my mouth.

It definitely tasted like pancake batter. “I think we declare that a success.” I smiled, feeling more in control.

Pollen smiled and kissed me briefly, and I found myself wanting to continue the kiss for more of her honeyed lips. “Patient. Geez, you’re so greedy.” She put a hand on my chest. “You said you were supposed to practice. That was just giving you a small reward. The big one comes later.”

I held her hips down on my lap. “Is that a promise?” I raised an eyebrow.

“It’s a solid maybe.” She bit her lip and played coy. “I am coming over for dinner. And I’ll need to take you on a proper date, of course. I’m a classy lady after all.” She smiled at me. “But for now, you need to practice. Make me some more deliciousness.”

She placed her hands over my eyes, making me focus once more on honing my powers.

Comments

Jamie R

Seeing Skel's lab and her work with monster fruit is really intriguing. And the operation with Cassidy looks like they're getting the hang of it, but at least no tumours this time. Still love Skel's abilities and her nonchalant way she just collapses and rebuilds herself, although it is interesting to note she's partially made up of monster bones. As for Miles making pancake batter out of thin air... God help him if Stella finds out!

GhostPhil

I wonder if Skel can take monster fruit herself or if there is a way to give her a living body again.