There was no roar of water or currents or anything, no colossal waves. Just the ocean in front of us, clear to the horizon, miles ahead and to the sides, rising smoothly into the air as effortlessly as lifting a teacup, and coming to a halt right in front of us.

The Atlantic was actually over a mile deep here, so there was no emptiness below. Anyone who could see it would suddenly see a column of water dozens of miles across suddenly lifting off into the cloudless sky, and hovering there.

The power needed to lift that much water was pretty hard to calculate. Lady Sersi was arguably one of the most adept reality manipulators alive, and that was why she had her Flux identity with the High Guard, a place where that level of power wasn’t out of place at all.

Even she was gaping at what she was seeing, the edge of the ocean sharp as a knife, one step away from the air bubble around us, right in front of us.

“Thanks, Mr. Parker. Can you put it all back now? Gently, of course, we don’t want to kill anything or cause any big waves.”

“Sure.” The column of water rippled, and drained away in front of us like an illusion. In mere seconds, there was a mirror-smooth sheet of water below us, which the diverted wind rapidly began to tug at and prod into waves once again.

I’d noticed she’d looked up, sensing that he had also lifted the atmosphere above the ocean, so as not to cause massive winds from the intruding mass, and kept that intact, too.

“Mr. Parker is pretty new to his powers,” I went on conversationally. “Most glaringly, he doesn’t really have the ability to really look at and sense the stuff he’s manipulating, he’s just sort of visualizing inert elements and what he wants them to do. He needs to expand the sensory side of his powers, and was wondering if some telepathic lessons wouldn’t be out of line.”

She was still staring at the ocean below, getting a grip on her composure. She turned around to look at him, a complicated look upon her face. “That is very trusting of you, Mr. Parker,” she said softly.

“No, it’s not. You trying to mess with his mind could disintegrate the Northern Hemisphere. Please don’t get ideas of messing with the natural thought processes of the Molecule Man!” I requested politely for him.

Despite himself, Ben Parker smiled slightly. “I could really use the help, Miss Sersi, and the High Guard has a good reputation. If I can’t trust one of you, then I really shouldn’t trust anyone, should I?”

She sighed as she looked down at him, and shook her head. “Someone as powerful as you is going to have a very hard time trusting anyone in time, Benjamin Parker... but yes, I would be happy to instruct you. This level of power rivals that of the Celestials themselves.”

The Parkers looked blank, while I was unsurprised, which she took note of.

“Alrighty then. Mr. Parker, if you could take us back along this line.” I pulsed a Bite exactly back along the way we’d come, and Ben shifted us along it, bringing us quickly back over the city and hovering fairly close to the river.

We descended towards the Parker residence quickly as soon as Mr. Parker got his bearings, the absolute absence of inertia pretty telling as we did so. Despite falling faster than gravity, it was very much a controlled descent all the way; no wind, no roughness, all the air held in the absolute grip of the Molecule Man.

This is going to be a very different Molecule Man than Owen Reece, I thought to myself.

-------

“He and Aunt May are over at Flux’s apartment. It turns out the High Guard have a niiice place in the city, just a few blocks over. Belongs to the Savage family, I think.” Peter sighed as he thought about how crazy his life was becoming. “Is... Is my Uncle Ben really that powerful?” he asked me one more time, to make sure my answer hadn’t changed.

“Do you believe what you saw last night?” He hesitated, then nodded. “Did it look like your uncle was making an effort?” He paused, then shook his head. “That’s good, because he wasn’t. I leave what he could do if he was making an effort to your imagination. More importantly, if he knew what to do AND was making an effort, I leave to your imagination.

“You may have to tutor him in atomic theory, chemical interactions, and quantum theory at some point, so you should get familiar with those.”

His eyes got a little wide. “Oh, okay.” He looked around. “So, did Jean leave already?”

Eugene Grey was getting used to a new name. “No, as a matter of fact. The Tribes advised that we make some minor changes to the psi-wards here, and she could use it for tempering her telepathic defenses. There’s both a fire-user here and an effective TK-user, and the FF share an empathic elemental connection that facilitates telepathic communication with a psi around. The Tribes said they’d send over a teacher once she built up her telepathic defenses to a suitable level, and in the meantime the FF could have fun working with her.”

“Oh. Well, that’s pretty lucky. What about that Xavier guy?”

“He’s making polite but insistent entreaties to take over her telepathic training.” I made a wave of dismissal. “Richards left it up to Jean, who is having fun working with them and really has no desire to leave quite yet. She doesn’t know how much she trusts the Tribes, either.”

“Well, yeah, they don’t have a good reputation here...” Parker scratched his head, as his mixer beeped at him.

“You’re using an Auric Co chemical mixer and putting down the Tribes.” I rolled my eyes.

“Oh!” He looked at the prominent brand name and flushed. Then he took the next step and started going around the lab quickly, looking at the manufacturers.

Russian, Wakandan, and Tribal companies. A couple of the less exotic tools were States-made, but only where having the cutting edge wasn’t necessary... and this was basically just a back-up lab to the real stuff upstairs.

“Reed uses a Tribal-made toaster in the kitchen, too,” I winked at Parker, pulling out the mix he’d forgotten about in his sudden urge to investigate equipment origins. “It really does make better toast.”

“Man...” he looked over the lab, frowning. “I wish we could make more stuff in the States here at this level...”

“The Savage family makes good stuff for manufacturing, but for research, the States are a generation behind, easy. Just live with it. The market is too small to compete over. I thought we were designing a better polymer cable variant?” I prodded him, shoving the mixture into the machine that would begin weaving it into threads, the threads into braids, and the braids into cables. Getting this process right would fine-tune his own future money supply, as his cables started replacing steel and iron, and were a clear step beyond anything metallic or elastic that compared to them.

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Probably stretching things a bit, but...

If you're not reading this on Royal Road, you're helping pay a thief. Please read it in its original home, it's still free! You get the foreword and afterword, author comments, and comments from people with questions! I have not given permission for this story to be posted ANYWHERE ELSE.

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Side Issues: 90a – First Call, Fateful Calling!

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A rather large amount of time passes...

“Hey Danny, have a seat.” I gave him a handshake, which he returned, and indicated he should take a seat.

“Have to ask why it’s you reviewing us. The Shields are pretty good at telling us how we are doing,” Danny spoke up.

“Sure, sure, and I read their reports, too.” He looked a bit startled. “What? I spar with them regularly, and beat them up, too. They’ve been repeatedly introduced to the fact that having a Shield doesn’t mean they win in a fight. And given the crap that’s been popping up, it’s not a surprise.

“Seriously, some guys from K’un’lun followed you all the way here? As if you and Cage bopping heads with the Hand isn’t enough...”

“Well, the ruler of the city isn’t exactly on good terms with me for not staying there to be his hatchet man...” Danny explained, somewhat embarrassed.

“Murim stuff. Understood.” I waved it off. “I was more interested in seeing what your thoughts were on the Dragons stuff you’re training in at the Consulate.”

“That...” he sighed, looking suddenly a bit overwhelmed. “I thought getting the Iron Fist made me a real power in the martial arts world, you know, Dynamo? And then I get shown all this stuff that simply goes up and up and up...”

“And you realized the Iron Fist was just a key to a locked door, and it’s swung wide open for you.” Despite himself, he nodded. “I would really, really like you to take up that stick and run with it, Danny. The blessing of Shou Lao there really does give you a big opening advantage over a normal person. With it, you might have the most potential of any martial artist on the planet.

“Becoming a four or five-Dragons user shouldn’t be out of line for what you can do. With the Blessing as a foundation, what you can become is far, far beyond anything you are doing right now. Things like your Iron Fist now being equal to your basic unpowered moves in the future.” He blinked in shock, the thought sticking with him. “Elemental attacks, superhuman speed and ability to take and deal hits, supernatural senses and awareness... there are a lot of things you can do with Chi. In its own way, it’s as magical as magic, just better used while fighting.

“So, you’re saying I really need to find some good teachers, and I can’t do that here,” he said wistfully.

“No. You’re looking at SF, the Tribes, or Russia. They’ll also have psi-users you can square off against, who you need more exposure to. The occasional super-powered goon or armor-user here isn’t exactly the same, you know?”

“It’s true. Most of them have power, but no skill,” he agreed promptly. “So, if I really want to improve, I need to leave.”

“If you ever want to have any hope of beating someone like me... yeah, you do.”

“Any suggestions?” he asked hopefully.

“Master Logan among the Tribes. He’s the absolute best mindclaw-user in the world, and his martial arts foundation exceeds even yours.

“He’ll turn your foundation to solid adamant, and then refer you to who else you should learn from.”

“The Wolverine?” His eyes were a little wide. The teacher of the Tribal Champions and Braves who kept the States military on their tiptoes was a legend in the martial arts world.

“Yeah, him. I’m sure he’s met some of your predecessors, so he’ll probably take you in if you request it as the Heir of the Iron Fist. Don’t underestimate the power of your legacy!” I chided him.

“Wow, training under Master Logan himself!” He was excited at the very thought. “What, what about the Golden Hag?” he asked in a low voice, leaning forwards.

“She never has more than one student at a time, because she’s too damn busy, according to what I’ve heard. Also, she’s a Null, not Powered. You need someone training you in the higher energies, that’s your future. For fundamentals, yeah, she probably taught Master Logan most of what he knows there, and you’ll definitely want to spar with her at some point.

“But for right now, Master Logan for foundation, and then take trips to some true Dragon Masters. Have you aligned to any of the Dragons yet?” I asked, lifting my brows.

He held up a sword-hand, and focused, staring at me. I saw the pulse of chi start to build around it, but the golden light shifted and began to burn, crackling as fire manifested and began to burn around his hand.