I quietly walked out of my house in the middle of the night. Kara and Raven should be deep in sleep, at least I had been training in the gravity chamber for a bit longer before I got a call from Westmob. Some issues with thieves robbing them of some wares in Jump City again.
The city probably made more problems than it was worth it, but since it was rather close to San Francisco Westmob continued to deal with the local gangs there. Maybe I should control someone there to ease Westmob's dealings and future operations.
After I carefully closed the door I gently jumped from the ground before flying through the air. It was barely a second after I took off that I heard a whoosh sound sounding out from behind me and since I was sensing her life force I knew that Kara had just jumped out of the window to intercept me.
I slowed down and stopped to wait for her. It took her just a moment before she reached me. It seemed that she hadn't even intended to remain hidden, not that she could anyway. Since she knew that I could sense her life force like a lighthouse in the dark, she knew it would have been pointless to try regardless.
She flew in front of me with a solemn expression and crossed arms, coming off as standoffish. Cute. She just hovered for a moment before she began to speak, "I want to know more about you, I want to know whatever you are involving yourself with."
"Alright."
"Wha- Wait. Just like that?" I smiled as her solemn expression crumbled at my acceptance. I hadn't been saying that stuff to her if I hadn't meant it. Even before my talk with her, I had intended to introduce her to what I was doing. I waved my hand and a backpack flew out of a hidden compartment inside a rock at the lake.
"Here is your costume. The moment you put it on, you are no longer Supergirl, a hero, or even Kara. You will be a villain." She grabbed the floating backpack with a frown.
"A villain? I thought you-" Her mouth shut close again. She shook her head after thinking about something before nodding to me. She carried the bag as she followed me to San Francisco. At one point on the way, we entered an abandoned warehouse to change before continuing our journey.
When we arrived in San Francisco right before a familiar building we quietly entered it through the open window. We barged right into the meeting of the higher-ups of Westmob. This time only one guy from the higher-ups was replaced. I think there was an Asian guy previously. They certainly changed their leaders like they were clothes.
I ignored their curious gazes at the new costumes I made. I had replicated the nightingale armor from Skyrim with the material Maxima had recreated from my Saiyan armor.
So this armor wasn't just regular clothes that could prevent someone to scan me anymore but had some degree of durability as well.
They were rather nervous after they saw both of us enter the room, but they quickly calmed down again. The only reason why they hadn't jumped out of their seats and attacked us was because of my mask, which was still the same. With it, they were still able to recognize me.
I just held up my hand and received the report from Titan, who had immediately approached me. I didn't intend to converse with them too much, so after getting the information and some clarification we disappeared right afterward.
That they assembled was just a sign of respect for their 'problem solver', otherwise only Titan had to be there to give me the report. I hadn't told them to do this but they insisted on doing so.
"You are dealing with Westmob? Really?" Kara asked with an incredulous tone. Her voice was heavily modified and if I didn't know that Kara was speaking, I wouldn't even have known that a woman was speaking to me right now.
"Why do you think they are this successful?" I didn't get a response from her. We just headed towards Dr. Wakati. My lead scientist regarding anything about quantum temporal theory.
We easily entered the facility. I had informed the laboratory of my visit beforehand, so the guards didn't make any trouble when we arrived.
We entered the sterile environment and instantly heard his mumbling about some advanced mathematics that I was too inexperienced to get anything out of, though I was getting better after forcing myself to consume some of Dr. Wakati's works to prevent myself from getting screwed over.
There were other scientists running around as well, but they just completely ignored our strange attire as they continued to work on whatever they were supposed to.
Even Dr. Wakati didn't acknowledge my presence after I greeted him and just pointed at a construct made out of four metal arms inside a see-through container. I opened it and placed the plutonium that I had 'acquired' inside.
"Do I have to worry about the origins of the element?" The scientist asked without looking up from his notes.
"Just don't mention it to anyone." I plainly commented before I continued to inquire on the process he made on his project before he handed me a little device that resembled a controller in the shape of an infinity symbol. Quite fitting since the symbol on my mask was the same.
Although he handed it to me nonchalant, he was still grumbling the entire time about how troublesome it was to recreate his own device with the 'meager' material the gang was providing him.
Quite ridiculous, but not unfounded. I didn't have to mention that the gang was already in almost complete control of the entire city with ties in politics and the police as well.
Not to mention that they were still expanding rapidly and into increasingly important positions and all that with mostly legal tools. The only thing that it still couldn't compare to was the military.
The military was still reluctant to give the 'company' too much power, but there were military contracts already in contemplation, which would accelerate a lot of projects I had handed to the Westmob's boss... I should really remember his name by now, eh whatever.
After getting the tool that could influence time in a small space of 10x10x10 meters I made my way out of the building satisfied. The tool could only accelerate the time by twice the speed or slow it down by half, but it was an important first prototype.
Dr. Wakati had already developed a device that could accelerate it by a much higher degree, but there were still tests to be done on how it would influence the body to be safely used.
I put it inside my armor and raised my ki to cover it protectively. I turned towards Kara who had been in thoughts after watching the laboratory of scientists hurrying about.
Usually, they wouldn't work this late, but when inspiration hit Dr. Wakati everybody had to move. I made sure that their work was as humane as possible and the pay was good, so there hadn't been any complaints. However, somehow I was still nervous when I looked at Kara, who hadn't said anything since she got to know that I worked with Westmob.
I had already given her the documents that Titan presented to me, so she was already aware that we made this trip to Jump City in order to apprehend a team consisting of thieves that were apparently from some kind of organization since they all dressed in a dark red uniform/costume.
We quickly entered the city and I scanned the city for comparable strength level and numbers. I thought I would have to inspect several gangs step by step, but the moment my senses scanned the city I knew who the culprit could be.
Without hesitation, I started running towards the direction where I felt several people with the same life force. Just like the clones I had slaughtered of that creature in the deep ocean, the life force was the same. Maybe we would have to deal with clones again.
I wasn't too surprised by that since this earth was filled with people that wanted to clone anyone and everything. Kara silently flew by my side as I ran over the rooftops.
'An abandoned warehouse, how original', I thought as we reached our destination. It was like someone spawned these warehouses, so villains could occupy them.
With a knock of my feet, the door flew out of its hinges before crashing into several wooden boxes. I looked around and noticed that it actually wasn't abandoned. It looked like it was still in use, huh. Was it because I jinked it or were the previous cases I could think of a form of confirmation bias?
I didn't have to wait long before one of the clones approached us from the shadows. He didn't have time to turn around when I was already behind him and knocked him out with a chop to the neck.
With a groan, he fell forward and I expected him to collapse to the cold floor but he just disappeared like a ghost. His life force, however, didn't disappear quite the same. I followed it as it shot towards the group almost instantly.
In fact, it felt like the life force was teleported rather than actually flying towards the group. It was only because it took a second before it was absorbed by another life force that I had noticed that it hadn't disappeared.
I walked towards the group which was now frantically spreading in the warehouse. My telekinesis was already seeping through every nook and cranny of this place, barricading the exits with the warehouse's inventory.
After realizing that their escape routes were cut off and that they couldn't move them away with my telekinesis holding it in place they all turned towards us. They appeared to be closer to a hive-mind than clones, but strangely their life force was the same which should indicate clones.
They started charging at us from all sides. No doubt, they were trying to overwhelm us with their numbers, but despite their relative powerful strength, it was futile in the face of our power.
I had already speculated it from the high life force, but each of them showed themselves capable of carrying several tons worth of weight.
Their attacks were equally as strong. Nimbly were they as well. All in all, they could be described as being firmly in the Superhuman realm, but that was, unfortunately, all they had to offer.
They were barely building level. Not something that could contend against a Kryptonian or a Saiyan that had reached the minimum requirements of Super Saiyan. Even with their numbers, it would do them no good. To a certain point, quantity didn't mean anything to quality.
I had already told Kara to restrain herself, but even with a self-imposed handicap, they didn't stand a chance. The situation could be described as the strongest man alive fighting some angry toddlers.
I held up my leg as someone jumped at me, stopping him mid-air before I carried him with my leg in a half-arc around and into someone else.
When they fell on the ground with a groan I kicked their head, making them disappear like the previous one. Their life force was disappearing to the same person that had absorbed the first one. Though he didn't actually absorb him since he didn't get stronger, he did something to his clones.
It wasn't until I watched them more closely that I realized that they looked the same as well and when one was absorbed by that one person, he grimaced slightly before continuing to hide in the crowd.
Suddenly another clone appeared beside the young masked man, who then joined the battle. 'He was creating them?' I thought as I witnessed the instantaneous cloning. A meta?
Another thought appeared when I sensed the fluctuation in his life force as he created another duplicate of himself.
He duplicated himself from his clothes down to his life force. It was quite marvelous to see. I observed the life force carefully as I went and beat them up, trying to decipher how this meta was doing it.
He created life force out of thin air as he duplicated himself. It was actually quite fortunate that he didn't absorb the life force and add it to its own when the duplicate's 'died'. He would probably be unstoppable in no time.
I glanced over to Kara who seemed to be in her element as she beat the thieves nonchalantly. It wasn't anything new for her, even as a hero she would beat up thieves, so I could let her do her thing as I concentrated on this Billy Numerous' ability.
He had been talking and trying to placate us, but I obviously wouldn't listen to him. The only reason I had heard his name was because of how stupid it was. He asked us to calm down to talk but since I wanted to study his ability he wouldn't get any rest anytime soon.
At some point, he stopped talking when he realized that we weren't here to have a conversation. He even tried to give up but after I struck down the kneeling clone, he seemed to be genuinely terrified and continued to fight with more vigor.
He wasn't a genius at fighting only realizing some patterns after I used them to exhaustion. It seemed like the only thing he had going for himself was the Superhuman physique and the ability to duplicate himself.
With each fallen and newly created duplicate, my understanding of his technique increased and I could already form ideas on how to create a similar technique of my own.
I grew more excited as I thought about it, but alas everything good had to end after all the duplicates were defeated multiple times, he discontinued creating new ones. He just slumped to the ground exhausted. His stamina was rather bad.
I picked him up by the neck and was about to head out the warehouse when Kara spoke up in confusion, "Didn't you want to do it here?"
She asked and I couldn't help but wonder if it was truly the time to have sex now, "We are on the mission right now." I reminded her before walking outside.
She seemed to be buffering before she followed me quickly, "I mean, didn't you want to-" She stroked with her finger across her neck before she continued, "-him here?"
I stared at her for a second ignoring the crying plea of the young thief, "Geez. No, we are turning him in."
"Thank God!" "Thank Rao!" They both exclaimed. I quickly read the thief's mind before I knocked him out.
"Don't mention any names." I glared at her and it seemed to have been conveyed through the mask as she nodded after thinking over it for a second. Didn't want anyone to make the connection that she was a Kryptonian because she mentioned their god.
We then got our stolen wares back that were hidden in a secret hideout. It wasn't far away from the warehouse since he had intended to get it during the deal. He was waiting in the warehouse for his client that wanted to buy Westmob's materials, but unfortunately, we were there earlier.
I waited for ten minutes before two cars arrived. They were carrying strange red-glowing weapons slung over their neck or holstered to their hip like normal guns. With a tug of my psychic powers, I snatched their weapons out of their possession.
They weren't even remotely prepared and considering that they were humans, they weren't even prepared for my follow-up attack as I let them all magnetically crash into each other.
A rope shot out of the warehouse and tied them up tight before I started to sift through their minds, but I couldn't find anything of significance. The only thing noteworthy was that they were hired by Intergang to cause some trouble for Westmob and were even geared up by them.
I made an anonymous call to the police and left the place with the wares, weapons, and our unconscious thief. We headed back to San Francisco and delivered the wares and Billy Numerous to Westmob.
I indicated that I would want to see Billy again on another date, so they would arrange a special facility, especially for him. With him being a meta the special circumstances of his holdings were easily explained for anyone that cared to ask.
I would try out my ideas of my own cloning technique and if I needed a reference I could use Billy to do it for me.
Cloning techniques weren't that high on my priority list of 'Techniques to be recreated' initially, but now it was a different story.
It wasn't something I had thought about creating on my own since it would take a lot of time to perfect something like that, but now with a test subject, creating my own version of Tien Shinhan's multiform was quickly achievable.
Even if my cloning technique had the same drawback of halving my ki, with my current strength it would be more than enough to deal with almost anything. Not to mention the possibilities of doing some Naruto shadow clone training.
How many techniques I would be able to master or even transformation as well. It almost made me salivate. There were so many techniques that I realized were rather difficult to replicate like the Kaio-ken, so I had put them on the back burner, but now it looked like they were back on the menu, boys!
Until I managed my multiform I would discontinue mastering the techniques that I had selected to focus on. The potential for improvement was gigantic. Not even considering the time I would be able to save when learning advanced techniques like the Spirit Fission or Ultra Instinct, the future transformations had to be mastered as well.
Once I was easily able to enter Super Saiyan there was a plethora of transformation to master. The different grades of Super Saiyan or Super Saiyan used in tandem with Ikari were all items on my to-learn list.
As I was imagining the possibilities we returned to San Francisco. Just like usual I hid away my villain garb at a secret place as well as the materials before I stealthy headed back home. I would pick it up in the future with my telekinesis.
As we flew towards my house, I had to ask her, "Did you really think I would kill him for stealing from Westmob?"
"No. The entire situation was just too tense and I needed to release some tension..." I couldn't see her expression as she answered me since she was following me from behind, "He was our age. I didn't believe you would, but if you had tried I would have fought you..."
I didn't respond as we quietly entered the dark house.
Kara went and made herself and me a tea. It was clear that she wanted to talk about what she had witnessed tonight. Now that her mask didn't cover her face I could see the frown as she remained deep in thoughts.
I suspected that her expression hadn't changed for a while. She should already know that I dealt with the underworld and acquired some illegal materials, but how far she had imagined my involvement was anyone's guess.
After she made us tea I dragged her to the gravity chamber, so we could speak more freely without the fear of getting overheard by someone.
"The plutonium was from the submarine." I decided to throw out. Her eyes flashed towards me before she gave me a smirk.
"Yeah, I figured. How did you snatch it away right under the nose of Green Lantern?" Her slightly teasing tone made me feel at ease.
"I wasn't the one that stole it initially. Some undersea water creature stole it first and I found it with it."
"Oh, I see..." Her grin faded slowly as she fell in thoughts again, sipping her tea.
Her furrowed eyebrows came back at full force before she looked at me, "Nathan why are you working for them? I mean, I get why it is convenient since you got access to a lot of their resources and all that, but you could as well just pay them and don't associate with them besides that. Even better you could ask the Justice League for help. I think they would be willing to help you. I don't really see what you gain from working for them so deeply."
I sighed slightly, having already figured that she wanted to know more about what I did and why I did it, "I don't work for them. I am mind-controlling their boss."
It was probably one of the worst things I had decided to do when I came to earth. At that time I was still resentful of my past life and my following imprisonment.
I had acted out for several months, using criminals as test subjects which made me quickly realize that it was a tool I won't be able to do without. It was probably only because of the influence of Kara that I wasn't as brazen about it now as I would be otherwise.
Her lips thinned at my admittance of mind control, but she didn't say anything. Contend with listening to me for now, so I just continued, "On a practical side it gave me the opportunity to steer the underworld into a direction I wanted. Materials that were too high profile to go after would be options they would have to consider.
Scientists would be more willing to join an organization than a single person... There are many material benefits to running a huge organization, but the most important for me was the influence I would get..."
I pondered if I truly wanted to dig out my past life, but I knew it would help her understand why I did some of the things I had decided in the past. Since I had already opened up some things I didn't think I would have ever mentioned otherwise it was only fitting to reveal why I used Westmob.
Maybe it wasn't justifiable, but perhaps understandable, "...In my past life as a human I was put in the prison for defending myself... There was a group of young men bashing random strangers until they were either a bloody mess or worse. I had heard about it, but it seemed so far away from my normal life that I didn't think it would actually happen."
I exhaled as I thought about the night that had changed my life, "I was out jogging rather late in the night and for some reason, they had chosen me as a target. Maybe it was because I looked at them wrong when I passed them or I was just a convenient target with no one around, I don't know. Unfortunately for them and me, I wasn't anyone to mess with even back then. It escalated and one pulled out a knife and another a pistol. Somehow I was able to wrestle the gun out of the guy's hand and I killed two and heavily injured another two before I managed to run away..."
The hand rubbing on my shoulder woke me up from the memory and I smiled disarmingly at her, "Even with their dashcam recording part of it and after it was confirmed that it was their gun. It should have been clear that I acted in self-defense, still, I was judged guilty. Maybe it would have been better if I had turned over and let myself be beaten... It turned out one guy I killed had some influential parents.
After I went to prison they hired several thugs and prison guards to arrange for my death as their revenge, but with some dumb luck, I managed to survive and even thrive in the prison for years. Since they couldn't kill me, they targeted my family... It was only a few weeks away from my release when they grew anxious and decided to use more drastic measures. They gave me a phone...There was a live feed of my parents tied up and my brother in the hospital and a message... Since they couldn't kill me, I either committed suicide before I was released or they would die."
We sat in silence as I digested everything again. I had tried not to think about it, bringing it to the surface wasn't enjoyable. It was the first time I had said it out loud, but instead of helping, it made me angry again.
"I was so resentful. I was an upstanding civilian, but because I didn't have any connection to some judges, ties with other criminals, or money to bribe them I ended up that way. Even after years of spending in prison and thinking I knew some of them, it paled in front of someone with connections. Even though I was stronger than most people it did jack shit once someone came that had some friends in the right places...
Westmob is my safety net. If the government, police, or even heroes try to do me in I would be able to survive in whatever they want to lock me up in. I now know that at least the ones that I controlled would be able to get me out of it or would at least try with all their might. So this is why I controlled Westmob and several important members of other gangs. Material that I could gather with them is all good, but... I-I probably don't even need it as a Saiyan... the Justice League, they are good people but they are also potentially very dangerous. I can't- Controlling these criminals that would do anything for me is reassuring. And I won't- I can't stop now, not until I got back there, just to make sure they are okay. That it wasn't in vain."
I stumbled over my words as I tried to rationalize how far I went to feel a resemblance of security. Something that was escaping me even with all the strength at my fingertips. I knew I wasn't the biggest fish and there were even fragile geniuses that could render all my strength useless because of some bullshit, but even if they could lock me up, my mind-control wasn't easy to remove especially if they didn't know how many and who I controlled. It was because of this that I was still using this to influence several criminal bosses even though I detested using something mind-control. In fact, I thought it was worse than killing someone, but I did it anyway.
Kara's arm wrapped around my back as she hugged me from behind. Her head rested on my shoulder and we just sat there for several moments, "Just- Just don't lose yourself." I leaned back into her hug. It was quite comforting. I listened to her words but maybe I was already too far gone.
I had done some things in prison that I wasn't proud of, but it had always benefitted me in the end. This wasn't anything different. Only if I stopped halfway would all my detestable actions be for nothing.
Although Kara didn't say it outright, I was glad for her acceptance even if I didn't believe in my plan myself. I hoped that I could jump back in time and enter my original universe, but I realized that it was unlikely to work.
Not to mention another multiverse but even another universe wasn't necessarily affected by the time of this universe. I got that, but that was the only thing I could think of and I was grasping for straws.
Even if the times resumed in the other universes, as usual, I would at least know what had happened to them. If my suicide had been worth anything or if I had just wasted my life and they killed them anyway.
Back then I knew that it might not change what they would do to my family, but I had no other option to escape. If I could have I would have ripped out the door, knocked out the prison guards that were confining me, and escaped from prison.
I would figure out where they held them to rescue them and all that before they killed them. But would I be able to do that? Should I have at least tried to achieve something impossible or accept their offer? Or should I have gone for revenge instead?
I would be too naive to think that they would let my parents go after they had kidnapped them, but I didn't know any other way out of this, so I decided to give my life for the slim chance that they would be able to survive.
When I sat there watching the live feed on the small phone while being locked up in a cell and watched by prisoners and guards, I only knew that revenge wasn't something I sought. I felt disgusted thinking about surviving when my death might be able to prevent their death.
My family was everything I had left in the world and I would give anything for a just sliver of a chance to let them survive. My life would be a small price.
Back then it could only be described as foolish and naive just like my plan to travel back in time was right now, but it was currently the only thing I could hope for. At the very least, I had to try.
I quietly walked out of my house in the middle of the night. Kara and Raven should be deep in sleep, at least I had been training in the gravity chamber for a bit longer before I got a call from Westmob. Some issues with thieves robbing them of some wares in Jump City again.
The city probably made more problems than it was worth it, but since it was rather close to San Francisco Westmob continued to deal with the local gangs there. Maybe I should control someone there to ease Westmob's dealings and future operations.
After I carefully closed the door I gently jumped from the ground before flying through the air. It was barely a second after I took off that I heard a whoosh sound sounding out from behind me and since I was sensing her life force I knew that Kara had just jumped out of the window to intercept me.
I slowed down and stopped to wait for her. It took her just a moment before she reached me. It seemed that she hadn't even intended to remain hidden, not that she could anyway. Since she knew that I could sense her life force like a lighthouse in the dark, she knew it would have been pointless to try regardless.
She flew in front of me with a solemn expression and crossed arms, coming off as standoffish. Cute. She just hovered for a moment before she began to speak, "I want to know more about you, I want to know whatever you are involving yourself with."
"Alright."
"Wha- Wait. Just like that?" I smiled as her solemn expression crumbled at my acceptance. I hadn't been saying that stuff to her if I hadn't meant it. Even before my talk with her, I had intended to introduce her to what I was doing. I waved my hand and a backpack flew out of a hidden compartment inside a rock at the lake.
"Here is your costume. The moment you put it on, you are no longer Supergirl, a hero, or even Kara. You will be a villain." She grabbed the floating backpack with a frown.
"A villain? I thought you-" Her mouth shut close again. She shook her head after thinking about something before nodding to me. She carried the bag as she followed me to San Francisco. At one point on the way, we entered an abandoned warehouse to change before continuing our journey.
When we arrived in San Francisco right before a familiar building we quietly entered it through the open window. We barged right into the meeting of the higher-ups of Westmob. This time only one guy from the higher-ups was replaced. I think there was an Asian guy previously. They certainly changed their leaders like they were clothes.
I ignored their curious gazes at the new costumes I made. I had replicated the nightingale armor from Skyrim with the material Maxima had recreated from my Saiyan armor.
So this armor wasn't just regular clothes that could prevent someone to scan me anymore but had some degree of durability as well.
They were rather nervous after they saw both of us enter the room, but they quickly calmed down again. The only reason why they hadn't jumped out of their seats and attacked us was because of my mask, which was still the same. With it, they were still able to recognize me.
I just held up my hand and received the report from Titan, who had immediately approached me. I didn't intend to converse with them too much, so after getting the information and some clarification we disappeared right afterward.
That they assembled was just a sign of respect for their 'problem solver', otherwise only Titan had to be there to give me the report. I hadn't told them to do this but they insisted on doing so.
"You are dealing with Westmob? Really?" Kara asked with an incredulous tone. Her voice was heavily modified and if I didn't know that Kara was speaking, I wouldn't even have known that a woman was speaking to me right now.
"Why do you think they are this successful?" I didn't get a response from her. We just headed towards Dr. Wakati. My lead scientist regarding anything about quantum temporal theory.
We easily entered the facility. I had informed the laboratory of my visit beforehand, so the guards didn't make any trouble when we arrived.
We entered the sterile environment and instantly heard his mumbling about some advanced mathematics that I was too inexperienced to get anything out of, though I was getting better after forcing myself to consume some of Dr. Wakati's works to prevent myself from getting screwed over.
There were other scientists running around as well, but they just completely ignored our strange attire as they continued to work on whatever they were supposed to.
Even Dr. Wakati didn't acknowledge my presence after I greeted him and just pointed at a construct made out of four metal arms inside a see-through container. I opened it and placed the plutonium that I had 'acquired' inside.
"Do I have to worry about the origins of the element?" The scientist asked without looking up from his notes.
"Just don't mention it to anyone." I plainly commented before I continued to inquire on the process he made on his project before he handed me a little device that resembled a controller in the shape of an infinity symbol. Quite fitting since the symbol on my mask was the same.
Although he handed it to me nonchalant, he was still grumbling the entire time about how troublesome it was to recreate his own device with the 'meager' material the gang was providing him.
Quite ridiculous, but not unfounded. I didn't have to mention that the gang was already in almost complete control of the entire city with ties in politics and the police as well.
Not to mention that they were still expanding rapidly and into increasingly important positions and all that with mostly legal tools. The only thing that it still couldn't compare to was the military.
The military was still reluctant to give the 'company' too much power, but there were military contracts already in contemplation, which would accelerate a lot of projects I had handed to the Westmob's boss... I should really remember his name by now, eh whatever.
After getting the tool that could influence time in a small space of 10x10x10 meters I made my way out of the building satisfied. The tool could only accelerate the time by twice the speed or slow it down by half, but it was an important first prototype.
Dr. Wakati had already developed a device that could accelerate it by a much higher degree, but there were still tests to be done on how it would influence the body to be safely used.
I put it inside my armor and raised my ki to cover it protectively. I turned towards Kara who had been in thoughts after watching the laboratory of scientists hurrying about.
Usually, they wouldn't work this late, but when inspiration hit Dr. Wakati everybody had to move. I made sure that their work was as humane as possible and the pay was good, so there hadn't been any complaints. However, somehow I was still nervous when I looked at Kara, who hadn't said anything since she got to know that I worked with Westmob.
I had already given her the documents that Titan presented to me, so she was already aware that we made this trip to Jump City in order to apprehend a team consisting of thieves that were apparently from some kind of organization since they all dressed in a dark red uniform/costume.
We quickly entered the city and I scanned the city for comparable strength level and numbers. I thought I would have to inspect several gangs step by step, but the moment my senses scanned the city I knew who the culprit could be.
Without hesitation, I started running towards the direction where I felt several people with the same life force. Just like the clones I had slaughtered of that creature in the deep ocean, the life force was the same. Maybe we would have to deal with clones again.
I wasn't too surprised by that since this earth was filled with people that wanted to clone anyone and everything. Kara silently flew by my side as I ran over the rooftops.
'An abandoned warehouse, how original', I thought as we reached our destination. It was like someone spawned these warehouses, so villains could occupy them.
With a knock of my feet, the door flew out of its hinges before crashing into several wooden boxes. I looked around and noticed that it actually wasn't abandoned. It looked like it was still in use, huh. Was it because I jinked it or were the previous cases I could think of a form of confirmation bias?
I didn't have to wait long before one of the clones approached us from the shadows. He didn't have time to turn around when I was already behind him and knocked him out with a chop to the neck.
With a groan, he fell forward and I expected him to collapse to the cold floor but he just disappeared like a ghost. His life force, however, didn't disappear quite the same. I followed it as it shot towards the group almost instantly.
In fact, it felt like the life force was teleported rather than actually flying towards the group. It was only because it took a second before it was absorbed by another life force that I had noticed that it hadn't disappeared.
I walked towards the group which was now frantically spreading in the warehouse. My telekinesis was already seeping through every nook and cranny of this place, barricading the exits with the warehouse's inventory.
After realizing that their escape routes were cut off and that they couldn't move them away with my telekinesis holding it in place they all turned towards us. They appeared to be closer to a hive-mind than clones, but strangely their life force was the same which should indicate clones.
They started charging at us from all sides. No doubt, they were trying to overwhelm us with their numbers, but despite their relative powerful strength, it was futile in the face of our power.
I had already speculated it from the high life force, but each of them showed themselves capable of carrying several tons worth of weight.
Their attacks were equally as strong. Nimbly were they as well. All in all, they could be described as being firmly in the Superhuman realm, but that was, unfortunately, all they had to offer.
They were barely building level. Not something that could contend against a Kryptonian or a Saiyan that had reached the minimum requirements of Super Saiyan. Even with their numbers, it would do them no good. To a certain point, quantity didn't mean anything to quality.
I had already told Kara to restrain herself, but even with a self-imposed handicap, they didn't stand a chance. The situation could be described as the strongest man alive fighting some angry toddlers.
I held up my leg as someone jumped at me, stopping him mid-air before I carried him with my leg in a half-arc around and into someone else.
When they fell on the ground with a groan I kicked their head, making them disappear like the previous one. Their life force was disappearing to the same person that had absorbed the first one. Though he didn't actually absorb him since he didn't get stronger, he did something to his clones.
It wasn't until I watched them more closely that I realized that they looked the same as well and when one was absorbed by that one person, he grimaced slightly before continuing to hide in the crowd.
Suddenly another clone appeared beside the young masked man, who then joined the battle. 'He was creating them?' I thought as I witnessed the instantaneous cloning. A meta?
Another thought appeared when I sensed the fluctuation in his life force as he created another duplicate of himself.
He duplicated himself from his clothes down to his life force. It was quite marvelous to see. I observed the life force carefully as I went and beat them up, trying to decipher how this meta was doing it.
He created life force out of thin air as he duplicated himself. It was actually quite fortunate that he didn't absorb the life force and add it to its own when the duplicate's 'died'. He would probably be unstoppable in no time.
I glanced over to Kara who seemed to be in her element as she beat the thieves nonchalantly. It wasn't anything new for her, even as a hero she would beat up thieves, so I could let her do her thing as I concentrated on this Billy Numerous' ability.
He had been talking and trying to placate us, but I obviously wouldn't listen to him. The only reason I had heard his name was because of how stupid it was. He asked us to calm down to talk but since I wanted to study his ability he wouldn't get any rest anytime soon.
At some point, he stopped talking when he realized that we weren't here to have a conversation. He even tried to give up but after I struck down the kneeling clone, he seemed to be genuinely terrified and continued to fight with more vigor.
He wasn't a genius at fighting only realizing some patterns after I used them to exhaustion. It seemed like the only thing he had going for himself was the Superhuman physique and the ability to duplicate himself.
With each fallen and newly created duplicate, my understanding of his technique increased and I could already form ideas on how to create a similar technique of my own.
I grew more excited as I thought about it, but alas everything good had to end after all the duplicates were defeated multiple times, he discontinued creating new ones. He just slumped to the ground exhausted. His stamina was rather bad.
I picked him up by the neck and was about to head out the warehouse when Kara spoke up in confusion, "Didn't you want to do it here?"
She asked and I couldn't help but wonder if it was truly the time to have sex now, "We are on the mission right now." I reminded her before walking outside.
She seemed to be buffering before she followed me quickly, "I mean, didn't you want to-" She stroked with her finger across her neck before she continued, "-him here?"
I stared at her for a second ignoring the crying plea of the young thief, "Geez. No, we are turning him in."
"Thank God!" "Thank Rao!" They both exclaimed. I quickly read the thief's mind before I knocked him out.
"Don't mention any names." I glared at her and it seemed to have been conveyed through the mask as she nodded after thinking over it for a second. Didn't want anyone to make the connection that she was a Kryptonian because she mentioned their god.
We then got our stolen wares back that were hidden in a secret hideout. It wasn't far away from the warehouse since he had intended to get it during the deal. He was waiting in the warehouse for his client that wanted to buy Westmob's materials, but unfortunately, we were there earlier.
I waited for ten minutes before two cars arrived. They were carrying strange red-glowing weapons slung over their neck or holstered to their hip like normal guns. With a tug of my psychic powers, I snatched their weapons out of their possession.
They weren't even remotely prepared and considering that they were humans, they weren't even prepared for my follow-up attack as I let them all magnetically crash into each other.
A rope shot out of the warehouse and tied them up tight before I started to sift through their minds, but I couldn't find anything of significance. The only thing noteworthy was that they were hired by Intergang to cause some trouble for Westmob and were even geared up by them.
I made an anonymous call to the police and left the place with the wares, weapons, and our unconscious thief. We headed back to San Francisco and delivered the wares and Billy Numerous to Westmob.
I indicated that I would want to see Billy again on another date, so they would arrange a special facility, especially for him. With him being a meta the special circumstances of his holdings were easily explained for anyone that cared to ask.
I would try out my ideas of my own cloning technique and if I needed a reference I could use Billy to do it for me.
Cloning techniques weren't that high on my priority list of 'Techniques to be recreated' initially, but now it was a different story.
It wasn't something I had thought about creating on my own since it would take a lot of time to perfect something like that, but now with a test subject, creating my own version of Tien Shinhan's multiform was quickly achievable.
Even if my cloning technique had the same drawback of halving my ki, with my current strength it would be more than enough to deal with almost anything. Not to mention the possibilities of doing some Naruto shadow clone training.
How many techniques I would be able to master or even transformation as well. It almost made me salivate. There were so many techniques that I realized were rather difficult to replicate like the Kaio-ken, so I had put them on the back burner, but now it looked like they were back on the menu, boys!
Until I managed my multiform I would discontinue mastering the techniques that I had selected to focus on. The potential for improvement was gigantic. Not even considering the time I would be able to save when learning advanced techniques like the Spirit Fission or Ultra Instinct, the future transformations had to be mastered as well.
Once I was easily able to enter Super Saiyan there was a plethora of transformation to master. The different grades of Super Saiyan or Super Saiyan used in tandem with Ikari were all items on my to-learn list.
As I was imagining the possibilities we returned to San Francisco. Just like usual I hid away my villain garb at a secret place as well as the materials before I stealthy headed back home. I would pick it up in the future with my telekinesis.
As we flew towards my house, I had to ask her, "Did you really think I would kill him for stealing from Westmob?"
"No. The entire situation was just too tense and I needed to release some tension..." I couldn't see her expression as she answered me since she was following me from behind, "He was our age. I didn't believe you would, but if you had tried I would have fought you..."
I didn't respond as we quietly entered the dark house.
Kara went and made herself and me a tea. It was clear that she wanted to talk about what she had witnessed tonight. Now that her mask didn't cover her face I could see the frown as she remained deep in thoughts.
I suspected that her expression hadn't changed for a while. She should already know that I dealt with the underworld and acquired some illegal materials, but how far she had imagined my involvement was anyone's guess.
After she made us tea I dragged her to the gravity chamber, so we could speak more freely without the fear of getting overheard by someone.
"The plutonium was from the submarine." I decided to throw out. Her eyes flashed towards me before she gave me a smirk.
"Yeah, I figured. How did you snatch it away right under the nose of Green Lantern?" Her slightly teasing tone made me feel at ease.
"I wasn't the one that stole it initially. Some undersea water creature stole it first and I found it with it."
"Oh, I see..." Her grin faded slowly as she fell in thoughts again, sipping her tea.
Her furrowed eyebrows came back at full force before she looked at me, "Nathan why are you working for them? I mean, I get why it is convenient since you got access to a lot of their resources and all that, but you could as well just pay them and don't associate with them besides that. Even better you could ask the Justice League for help. I think they would be willing to help you. I don't really see what you gain from working for them so deeply."
I sighed slightly, having already figured that she wanted to know more about what I did and why I did it, "I don't work for them. I am mind-controlling their boss."
It was probably one of the worst things I had decided to do when I came to earth. At that time I was still resentful of my past life and my following imprisonment.
I had acted out for several months, using criminals as test subjects which made me quickly realize that it was a tool I won't be able to do without. It was probably only because of the influence of Kara that I wasn't as brazen about it now as I would be otherwise.
Her lips thinned at my admittance of mind control, but she didn't say anything. Contend with listening to me for now, so I just continued, "On a practical side it gave me the opportunity to steer the underworld into a direction I wanted. Materials that were too high profile to go after would be options they would have to consider.
Scientists would be more willing to join an organization than a single person... There are many material benefits to running a huge organization, but the most important for me was the influence I would get..."
I pondered if I truly wanted to dig out my past life, but I knew it would help her understand why I did some of the things I had decided in the past. Since I had already opened up some things I didn't think I would have ever mentioned otherwise it was only fitting to reveal why I used Westmob.
Maybe it wasn't justifiable, but perhaps understandable, "...In my past life as a human I was put in the prison for defending myself... There was a group of young men bashing random strangers until they were either a bloody mess or worse. I had heard about it, but it seemed so far away from my normal life that I didn't think it would actually happen."
I exhaled as I thought about the night that had changed my life, "I was out jogging rather late in the night and for some reason, they had chosen me as a target. Maybe it was because I looked at them wrong when I passed them or I was just a convenient target with no one around, I don't know. Unfortunately for them and me, I wasn't anyone to mess with even back then. It escalated and one pulled out a knife and another a pistol. Somehow I was able to wrestle the gun out of the guy's hand and I killed two and heavily injured another two before I managed to run away..."
The hand rubbing on my shoulder woke me up from the memory and I smiled disarmingly at her, "Even with their dashcam recording part of it and after it was confirmed that it was their gun. It should have been clear that I acted in self-defense, still, I was judged guilty. Maybe it would have been better if I had turned over and let myself be beaten... It turned out one guy I killed had some influential parents.
After I went to prison they hired several thugs and prison guards to arrange for my death as their revenge, but with some dumb luck, I managed to survive and even thrive in the prison for years. Since they couldn't kill me, they targeted my family... It was only a few weeks away from my release when they grew anxious and decided to use more drastic measures. They gave me a phone...There was a live feed of my parents tied up and my brother in the hospital and a message... Since they couldn't kill me, I either committed suicide before I was released or they would die."
We sat in silence as I digested everything again. I had tried not to think about it, bringing it to the surface wasn't enjoyable. It was the first time I had said it out loud, but instead of helping, it made me angry again.
"I was so resentful. I was an upstanding civilian, but because I didn't have any connection to some judges, ties with other criminals, or money to bribe them I ended up that way. Even after years of spending in prison and thinking I knew some of them, it paled in front of someone with connections. Even though I was stronger than most people it did jack shit once someone came that had some friends in the right places...
Westmob is my safety net. If the government, police, or even heroes try to do me in I would be able to survive in whatever they want to lock me up in. I now know that at least the ones that I controlled would be able to get me out of it or would at least try with all their might. So this is why I controlled Westmob and several important members of other gangs. Material that I could gather with them is all good, but... I-I probably don't even need it as a Saiyan... the Justice League, they are good people but they are also potentially very dangerous. I can't- Controlling these criminals that would do anything for me is reassuring. And I won't- I can't stop now, not until I got back there, just to make sure they are okay. That it wasn't in vain."
I stumbled over my words as I tried to rationalize how far I went to feel a resemblance of security. Something that was escaping me even with all the strength at my fingertips. I knew I wasn't the biggest fish and there were even fragile geniuses that could render all my strength useless because of some bullshit, but even if they could lock me up, my mind-control wasn't easy to remove especially if they didn't know how many and who I controlled. It was because of this that I was still using this to influence several criminal bosses even though I detested using something mind-control. In fact, I thought it was worse than killing someone, but I did it anyway.
Kara's arm wrapped around my back as she hugged me from behind. Her head rested on my shoulder and we just sat there for several moments, "Just- Just don't lose yourself." I leaned back into her hug. It was quite comforting. I listened to her words but maybe I was already too far gone.
I had done some things in prison that I wasn't proud of, but it had always benefitted me in the end. This wasn't anything different. Only if I stopped halfway would all my detestable actions be for nothing.
Although Kara didn't say it outright, I was glad for her acceptance even if I didn't believe in my plan myself. I hoped that I could jump back in time and enter my original universe, but I realized that it was unlikely to work.
Not to mention another multiverse but even another universe wasn't necessarily affected by the time of this universe. I got that, but that was the only thing I could think of and I was grasping for straws.
Even if the times resumed in the other universes, as usual, I would at least know what had happened to them. If my suicide had been worth anything or if I had just wasted my life and they killed them anyway.
Back then I knew that it might not change what they would do to my family, but I had no other option to escape. If I could have I would have ripped out the door, knocked out the prison guards that were confining me, and escaped from prison.
I would figure out where they held them to rescue them and all that before they killed them. But would I be able to do that? Should I have at least tried to achieve something impossible or accept their offer? Or should I have gone for revenge instead?
I would be too naive to think that they would let my parents go after they had kidnapped them, but I didn't know any other way out of this, so I decided to give my life for the slim chance that they would be able to survive.
When I sat there watching the live feed on the small phone while being locked up in a cell and watched by prisoners and guards, I only knew that revenge wasn't something I sought. I felt disgusted thinking about surviving when my death might be able to prevent their death.
My family was everything I had left in the world and I would give anything for a just sliver of a chance to let them survive. My life would be a small price.
Back then it could only be described as foolish and naive just like my plan to travel back in time was right now, but it was currently the only thing I could hope for. At the very least, I had to try.
