4.11

Time: Night.

Location: Gotham, near a tower building.

The lightning arced down from the tower, from a strange machine.

"Begone pitiful mortals, Mighty Zeus smites thee!" the perpetrator crowed through a speaker system built into the tower.

It curved and came to rest in my hand, absorbed.

"That could have killed someone!" I growled.

"Yes. Can you hold against more electrical attacks?" Batman asked.

"I can do more than hold. Lightning is my caffeine." I grinned. "Shall we show this maniac his error? I'll keep his attention shielding the city, you can take him and any mooks with him down."

"Agreed. No killing!" He added, growling.

"Of course. It's your show, I'm just backup." I added grinning.

Rising into the sky I crested the building. The man posing as Zeus boggled as I glared down at him.

"Prometheus! Have you no shame? To steal fire from the gods is one thing, to steal the very bolts of Mighty Zeus? Betrayal of the worst sort! Die!!!" He roared.

Arcs of incandescent plasma lanced out incessantly as he tried to burn me from his sight with the machine. I captured each and kept them in the air around me.

"Pretender." I answered calmly. "I have met real gods. You are just a fool with a machine." I launched the 'bolts into the sky as one. "Your power is nothing. You are nothing. Now understand that your actions have consequences. Surrender and be arrested. Avoid the pain that is to come."

"Harpy, Hercules! Shoot him down!" The Zeus wannabe in a toga ordered.

A rather plain looking girl and burly guy emerged from the building, she with a sub-machinegun and Fake Hercules with a missile launcher.

A barrier was enough to stop the spray of bullets, as her gun clicked empty the big guy launched his weapon. The rocket came at me quite accurately. With a gesture it halted in the air, despite the propulsion. Sealed inside a barrier I crushed it a distance away. The explosion, compressed in the tiny space vented from the weak point I had left in the barrier, out towards the bay. It still rattled the building and cracked some windows.

I sighed.

"Harpy, really?" I looked at the girl who seemed a bit ruffled by her name. I turned to look at Fake Hercules. "The real one was a notorious rapist." I pointed out. I looked to Fake! Zeus. "Where's your wife Fake Hera?"

His face contorted into a fury. "Graaahhh!!! Die on Mighty Zeus' thunder, cretin!" He fumbled with the control panel of his machine. I saw red lights flashing. He's overloading it?

And Holy Cow! It's a massive bolt, compared to the others. The entire machine lights up as it channels the power from the city grid and numerous electricity generators into the attack. It dwarfs any electric bolt I've ever received. But I have no fear. I embrace it. I am magnetism. How can this be anything but a boon? The feeling is overwhelming, intoxicating as I'm bathed in plasma.

The machine continues to output this massive burst of power, until something sparks and then the following moment reduces it to a slagged ruin.

But I don't care, as I drink in the power coursing into me. As it fades I remain floating, electric arcs curling around my body like a Super Saiyan.

I feel great. Supercharged. No wonder Magneto liked to fight the X-men for petty reasons early on if he could face Storm regularly and soak up her bolts of electricity.

When I return focus on the tower I find Batman has already dealt with Fake! Zeus and his minions.

"Are you unharmed?" He asked.

"Never better! Really! I feel like a million bucks!" I responded, chipper. "Oh… my clothes are ruined." I add, as I notice my suit is now mostly ash. "Do you think the machine is salvageable?"

"No. This is beyond even advanced repair techniques. It's junk." He commented.

"Good!" I tore some of the copper from it's cables and wove it into a set of soft cloth-like pants and a shirt. "I don't have to worry about preserving it for reverse engineering."

"You said something earlier… that you know real gods?" Batman commented.

"Oh, yeah! Odin and Frigg! He's a bit of a jerk but he means well, Frigg is nice. And Fenris! He really strikes a chord with me!" I'm gesturing, do I gesture as I talk? "Religion in this world is weird! You go where you believe you belong! So Hell is optional! I'm currently bound for Valhalla or Frigg's garden which is cool!"

"Are you sure you are well? You seem… hyperactive." Batman suggested, eyes narrowed.

"Really, I feel great! I haven't felt this good since I could ski on school holidays! That was before my dad tried to trick me into murdering my infant aunt and then locking me in a dungeon for a year!" I blurted. I think he may be right. I'm not in my normal mood. "Maybe too much caffeine? Erm… lightning? But on the positive I feel like I could move a mountain!"

I reached out, eyes closed to the magnetic field of the Earth. I find the strongest thread and pull hard.

Gritting my teeth, I put in maximum effort!

And I feel satisfied at the result.

"I did it!" I pant.

"What did you do?!" Batman asked, concerned.

"The moon is escaping it's orbit by an inch a year! I pulled it into perfect geosynchronous orbit!" I explained proudly.

And then the world shuddered as for a moment gravity shifted into the new normal alignment.

"Whoa. Gravity quake!" I exclaimed.

"Put it back!" Batman yelled.

"Can't. I used up the boost. It'd just cause real quakes and maybe some tsunamis." I explained. Whoa… I'm coming down. That was a rush.

"You're certain you didn't pull it into a collision course?!" He demanded.

"Yeah." I rubbed the back of my head. "I was careful it didn't become a death spiral. There was an element of intuitive power… I think that was my magic."

Batman face palmed. "I'll check on the changed orbital path. If it becomes necessary I will contact you for a correction. Please don't repeat this."

I nodded. This incident is not going to be added to the plus column on Batman's list, that's certain.

"Sorry. I guess massive electrical absorption is closer to cocaine than caffeine to me?" I offered. "Live and learn. I'll avoid it if I can next time, unless I need the boost."

"Just go to your hotel. Our meeting tomorrow, I'll sign. But you will agree to avoid becoming intoxicated like this again." He growled. "It could easily become an addiction."

I agreed, nodding at his words.

"Also… aside from the ending, your behaviour in this incident was adequate." Batman admitted.

I squeed inside at the unexpected approval. For a stoic like him, that was high praise.