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A Leader? Nope, I am More of a Follower Chapter 3: It’s Never That Easy
The sun came out of the end of the tunnel Shocker had made for us all. Fisk moved like a foreman at a factory, treating this like how a boss watches his men work. Just another day for him as he walked along like he owned the beach next to the river.
Ox and Fancy Dan moved beside Fisk, and Sebastian kept the rear. Seeing these guys look like they were in the best shape of their lives made Sebastian accept that he was going to have to do what he dreaded so much -- exercise.
Something he had always avoided. He just didn’t like feeling that burning sensation in his arms, that soreness that accompanied any form of workout he had tried in the past, and the wet, disgusting sensation of his sweat coating his body. Then the worst part was his lungs burning from the inside as he felt like he would suffocate to death.
It’s why he had avoided doing it as much as possible. The only form of physical exertion he had had for years was working retail and stocking shelves.
Though Sebastian would admit he did far better with those pipes for far longer than he ever could before. He was barely standing by the time they put him in solitary confinement after his fight with Sabretooth when the adrenaline left his system. Whatever thoughts on where that strength without his telekinesis reinforcing him came from died when it hit him.
His hand came up as his eyes blinked the rays of the sun away, having gotten far too used to being locked up away from nature. The smell of the ocean and the caws of seagulls and river splashing in the distance were like music to Sebastian’s ears.
He already felt the sun bearing down on his pale skin, but for once he didn’t mind if he got a sunburn. He was free. Free and now capable of becoming far more than he ever had before in life. Becoming someone that others could respect even if he was a simple minion. It was better than being an easily forgettable shadow on the wall.
“Ah, fresh air!” He said happily.
Looking back towards the prison, Sebastian could already see smoke rising from sections of it. The sound of fighting could be heard even this far away from it.
His nearly silent humming continued. Threads of what was, what is, and most importantly what could be. No issues, no threats besides the heroes that might arrive but would be distracted dealing with the mass riot. Especially when blasts of electricity were shooting out of one particular section of the prison like fireworks.
Must have been where they held Electro. A sigh of relief escaped him when the sight of a boat floating just off the shore greeted them.
In the distance, he could hear the faint sounds of fighting. The riot was already doing a good bit of work in keeping the security and anyone who could have noticed them busy.
Standing ashore was a man in fishing attire. He didn’t look out of the ordinary, just a man with a boat. The only thing that made him stand out was where he was at.
Fisk and the man exchanged some words before we all got in the boat. A short boat ride later and us stopping at a dock, using the spare clothes stashed in the boat for everyone to get dressed. Now out of the prison clothes, Sebastian felt a lot better.
Those things were itchy and constricting in all the worst ways. That said something when Sebastian was as scrawny as he was. They all left the place behind, having made their way further into the city proper. Fisk himself was wearing a crisp, clean, light gray suit with a white inner suit.
It was paradoxical, a man capable of such violence and brutality, yet he was the spitting image of a gentleman, not just in appearance but also in demeanor.
A bit of walking with silence between their group before they came to their new place of residence.
“Welcome to our temporary safe house.” Fisk waved grandly with his arm outstretched at the small house nestled between several businesses that had seen better days. Not that they were decrepit either, they looked well taken care of but in need of some renovations that the owners likely couldn’t fully afford.
Fisk stepped inside as we all quickly shuffled in. It had a single couch that was in far better shape than anyone would have guessed, and a simple outdated TV with an old-school antenna sat atop it like a hat. It looked like a well lived in home that was taken care of.
The Enforcers took their bags that held their suits and equipment. Montana himself, wearing a wide-rimmed cowboy hat, took out his gauntlets that looked like they were jury rigged.
Scrambled together from various scraps he used to make them. “Need to get my old gauntlets back.” He said aloud. “These ones wouldn’t hold up against the bug.”
Fisk nodded imperiously. “Unfortunately, your old gauntlets were kept much deeper within the prison. We wouldn’t have had time, but rest assured, you will get suitable replacements.”
“That won’t be necessary.” Montana waved him off. “My weapons of choice have gotten on the more expensive side every time the Spider or someone else managed to take me down. Something I had to learn if I didn’t want to dig too much into my budget.”
Huh. Never thought the hired muscle would be smart enough to figure out his weapons that were usually supplied to him. It made sense. It would get costly when he kept getting beat by Spider-Man or anyone else that dressed up to fight crime.
“Then I will put out some feelers to find what you need to get yourself armed properly. Make a list and I will find what you need.” Fist turned towards Sebastian.
He felt awkward following Fisk around like a lost duck trying to follow its mother. But he didn’t exactly have much else to do. Nor did he know what to do.
“Sebastian,” Fisk said without turning towards him. “While we hide until we begin to make our moves, I need to know what you are capable of. Fancy Dan, when you have time, I want you to spar with Sebastian.”
The dark skinned man nodded before looking me over. “No offense, but you got a long way ahead of you, kid.”
A strained smile was returned. “Yeah, I’m well aware.”
Sebastian wasn’t stupid. He knew he needed to get into shape. If he ever wanted to fight against superheroes and become one of those badass minions to the villain, then he needed to get in shape.
After that everyone settled in, Sebastian took a shower to clean off what was caked onto him and joined Ox as they watched an old black and white comedy show on the TV that surprisingly still got reception. Ox sat on the couch with a small smile under his handlebar mustache, enjoying the show.
Sebastian, for his part, was doing push-ups waiting on Fancy Dan to test him. It wasn’t the greatest thing in the world, but it would get the job done. He only used his power just enough to push past when he would have stopped sometime ago. Which, oddly enough, he was doing far more pushups than he ever could in the past before he used his telekinesis to help him keep going.
“Twenty two… Twenty three... Twenty four… Twenty five.” He continued on, aiming for thirty.
“If you're trying to build up muscle, I’d recommend food rich in proteins.” Montana said, passing by where he was using the floor to exercise.
“Thanks.” He huffed out after a moment of gulping down any air his lungs desperately demanded. Getting back up and wiping off the sweat he had built up with a rag, the door opened, drawing Ox and his attention.
Fancy Dan stepped in with a bag of fast food. “Ox, Montana, got the food for you and the boss.”
Sebastian looked through the past and saw why Fancy Dan didn’t say his name… He got him some food, but he was going to put him through the ringer before he got it. He turned towards Sebastian.
“Time to see what you're made of.” Fancy Dan said.
Letting out a sigh, Sebastian got up and found himself inside of a surprisingly spacious basement. One that had a board with various photos and newspaper articles with strings moving to and fro from each article of information.
It was safe to say no one could have expected someone like Fisk to do the detective board of information thing you would see in movies and shows.
A kick was lazily avoided by Sebastian tilting his head and sidestepping the follow-up roundhouse from the same foot that seamlessly transitioned into it. Sebastian, despite seeing the future and correctly guessing which strand would happen, was still almost too slow.
The tip of the leather shoes almost touched the baggy shirt near his chest.
“Good, you're paying attention. Not too sloppy, you have some agility.” Dan listed off as he began to go through various attacks.
Each one getting faster and more aggressive. Even without his suit that could enhance him, he was a capable fighter. Wide arcs of his legs, snap kicks that had far more force than they appeared, even adding the occasional punch.
Even as winded and tired as Sebastian was, not feeling any pain from him was motivation enough to avoid his attacks. For a moment this went on with Sebastian gauging where each strike would go, guessing by the most likely place he would go for next.
Combined with the various threads that showed the options to him and his power growing in both accuracy of events and how fast he saw it all without any wind-up time, Sebastian also saw the echoes come and go, guessing each one correctly. He was getting better.
Or he was until a surprise punch came in that messed with the entire flow of Dan's movements. It smacked lightly against his cheek, making him taste iron.
Sebastian fell back, breathing heavily, drenched in sweat before flinching when a hand came into view. He almost used his telekinesis on the man but stopped from freezing him when he saw it was an open hand. Grabbing it, he was hauled back to his feet.
“Not half bad, but you're no martial artist. Not that anyone thought differently with how you handled Sabretooth.” Dan said smoothly, circling Sebastian like an instructor.
Adjusting his posture, where his feet were positioned, showing him he still had arms and could block, making Sebastian go through a series of maneuvers as he telegraphed his strikes. Sebastian ate it all up. It was like a switch in his head got flipped, and one moment he was the awkward dork he had always been, and the next he was a sponge that soaked up anything involving fighting.
It was almost… instinctual. A punch was blocked on a forearm, making Sebastian hiss at the pain. Seeing a few possibilities, he sidestepped one punch, practically dancing on his feet like an amateur boxer.
“You're pretty good at this… You sure never did this before?” Dan asked, sounding slightly suspicious.
He breathed heavily, sweat pouring out of him. Dan was moving onto more complicated moves, ones that Sebastian was struggling to do but still managed to do even if they were sloppy. Dan was a ballerina and Sebastian a bull in a china shop when it came to their movements.
“Never… in… my life.” Sebastian got out with a huff. He struggled with each word when each breath burned and felt like it was going to be his last.
Dan nodded after a long searching look towards Sebastian. He slowly lowered his fists. “That’s annoying.”
Sebastian just grinned. “Thanks?”
“Impressive.” Fisk's voice said softly, watching them spar out of the corner of his eye while he focused on the board he had assembled.
It looked like a detective's conspiracy board with all the pictures, newspaper clippings, and strings going from different parts of it. Like a spider's web, showing how it all was connected.
Sebastian didn’t turn his head, already knowing Montana and Ox both had come down to the basement. The two men were completely silent, somehow avoiding the creaking boards of the old wooden stairs. Sebastian was more surprised seeing Ox hadn’t caused any damage when coming down.
The man had to have weighed well over three hundred pounds. And that was likely the minimum.
“Sebastian, while you still need to work on your skills, you have proven sufficient to take part in the next stage of my plan. But first, it’s time I explained what my plans are to begin with.”
Fisk walked like a stalking wolf, back and forth, he went from one side of the board on the wall to the other. “My arrest was not warranted… at least for the obvious reasons anyone would expect in your line of work.” A hand waved towards the Enforcers. “An impostor has usurped my position within my company.”
He stopped, and a single hand gripped the sturdy metal table that sat before the board. It groaned as he gripped a corner before letting go. Sebastian eyed the warped metal with the imprint of a hand on it before focusing his attention back on Fisk.
“Think it was Chameleon?” Montana said more than asked, with a country accent thick as mallasus.
“If it was, it was really stupid of him.” A voice chimed in, and Sebastian realized too late that he himself spoke up.
Everyone turned towards Sebastian.
“How would you know?” Fancy Dan asked not with suspicion, but more like he was probing Sebastian.
Sebastian turned to Fisk. “He has worked for you in the past?”
A calm nod.
“Has he ever made a move to try and cheat you?”
“No. He has not. Chameleon, much like most people who I have employed, understand that there are… consequences.”
He turned back towards Fancy Dan. “I may not know Chameleon on a personal level, and beyond a few news stories involving him, but if he wasn’t stupid enough to backstab Fisk in the past, then why do it now?”
Sebastian just gave a shrug. “It might be him pretending to be Fisk up in his company tower, but if it is, this likely goes deeper than we know.”
“Conspiracy theories aside, regardless if it is that face stealer, what matters is we have a job to do. With the goal established, what’s the next stage?” Montana cut straight to the chase. The man didn’t mince words.
“We need to gain strength and resources. Your shock gauntlets, while capable as they are now, will not be sufficient if the web slinger comes crawling around.” Fisk said before his once calm tone turned into a vicious growl.
His hands squeezed, and the image of a man’s head getting crushed appeared in Sebastian’s imagination.
Montana's eyes narrowed, his posture shifting from business to something more personal. “Fair enough.”
Sebastian almost shook in excitement at the idea of fighting a hero like Spider-Man! He was one of the more popular ones, even if he stuck to mostly street-level stuff compared to the Avengers like Thor or Iron Man.
“A means to rectify that issue has come to my attention when we were still incarcerated. A warehouse has recently been secretly filled with old gadgets created by none other than Tony Stark himself.”
Everyone perked up at that. No matter who you are, you know Tony Stark's products, even if they were considered outdated by his current standards, were still leagues ahead of most anyone else’s tech.
“For now, we test and gather information for the next two days. That is all the time we have to make our move. For if we do not, then the valuable items will be gone by the third. In that time, I want all of you to prepare.”
After that the two days go by fast. Sebastian continued to train with Fancy Dan, who started upping the training regimen on Sebastian. Each of the two days that went by had Sebastian actually figuring out how to properly fight. Nothing amazing by any means, but enough that he knew how to throw a punch and was getting good enough he could handle himself in a fight.
While Dan continued to train with him, as the man said, at one point when asked why he was still testing him, he just said he did it because it would do us both some good to have a sparring partner. Even if he still had to hold back with Sebastian. According to Dan, Sebastian was a natural, everything he showed him he just sucked it all up.
Sebastian didn’t get it himself, it all just clicked and made sense. He saw what he did, every muscle tense and relaxed, how they moved alongside his tendons and the rest of his body. Towards the end he realized he could use his telekinesis without restraining the man. It was like a blanket you couldn’t feel or even know was there. It further helped Sebastian pick up what the man was doing physically and did his best to copy him.
"Mmmm, this is a good burger.” Sebastian said between bites.
“Don’t talk with food in your mouth. We just got this van, and I don’t want any food stains on the seats.” Fancy Dan said matter of factly, already getting a napkin to clean with.
We were in a van for a company called Plumbers of The Deep. We were currently parked outside of a business down the street from the warehouse all dressed up in plumber suits. It wasn’t too difficult to get the suits, and the acquisition of the van was even easier.
It was an older one that the company was going to scrap. A few adjustments to some papers, and instead it was going to a place no one knew and, more importantly, didn’t care enough to look at it with a critical eye.
Swallowing the food in his mouth bashfully, Sebastian winced. “Sorry Dan, it’s just so nice having real food and not that slop.”
Sebastian wasn’t about to risk the odds of someone hearing him say prison food. If this thing went horribly wrong, it wasn’t going to be on his shoulders.
The man smiled at that. “I hear ya on that little man… Damn Ox, what did you inhale it all?!”
The big behemoth sat in the back, taking up far more space in the car. He was sitting with the rolled up bag of fast food set off to the side. The man had ordered four double stacked burgers with two large fries.
He got his food last out of the four of us yet somehow finished before all of us.
He just shrugged at Dan. “What? I was hungry.”
Dan just shook his head while Montana took slow, measured bites of his fries while subtly watching the warehouse. The three of them had long since scoped the place out and got information on its blueprints.
Despite losing his company and a solid chunk of his power base, Fisk still had some means to get things done.
“Alright. It’s time.” Montana said, watching the guards near the place go through another rotation. “We get in, quickly search through the crates, get it in the van, and get out. Understood?”
“Yes sir.” Sebastian said with a smile and a salute.
Montana scoffed. “This ain’t the military string bean. That power of yours senses anything going wrong in the future, then let us know ahead of time.”
"Uh, my power shows me what might happen, so it doesn’t exactly-”
“Let. Us. Know.” Montana said with added emphasis on each word.
Sebastian just swallowed and nodded. He almost regretted Fisk notifying them of his powers.
Pleased, the man drives off with the van as the three get suited up.
An alley that had no surveillance that was some distance from the warehouse was where they were going to make their move.
Standing around, Fancy Dan looked towards Sebastian. "Are you ready?”
Sebastian just nodded. “Yeah.” He tried his best to hide both his nervousness and excitement. He failed with both.
Montana pointed off in the distance towards a big wall that helped protect the warehouse. “We need to get over that wall without triggering the external security.”
Sebastian looked at the wall, then the three men, and back at the wall again. He kicked his lips, feeling the pressure mount and beginning to get to him.
“You’re sure this is a good idea?” Sebastian asked Montana again. He was a little nervous considering the method they were going to use involved moving through the sky to get to it.
“Yes. Just do what you described doing in the Rafts walls.” Montana crossed his arms, fingers tapping out a rhythm while giving a stern look directed at Sebastian.
“Alright, alright, alright. Take it easy, I'm doing it.” He extended his hand.
Telekinesis gathered, and the air itself seemed to distort for Sebastian. A flat invisible surface shaped almost like a hand formed beneath a metal sheet that was left abandoned in the alley.
Montana looked down. “Is this stable?”
“Yep.” Sebastian conveyed as much confidence as he could into that single word. Montana cautiously stepped around, feeling out the platform's edges. It held through it all.
“Good.”
“See?” Sebastian internally felt relief this wasn’t screwing up. He hadn’t exactly tested his limits yet when it came to this, and his future sight was entirely focused on ensuring they didn’t get caught.
Another platform was formed under Fancy Dan. But unlike the first one, this time there were complications.
Like the platform immediately tilting when Sebastian’s attention was divided far too much.
Fancy Dan's foot slipped. “Whoa!”
Then the platform shifted to the other way. “Kid!”
“I know!” Sebastian’s forehead began to sweat. Keeping one platform beneath one person was easy. Keeping three separate platforms beneath three people while moving them vertically? Apparently that was where his telekinesis had decided where it drew the line.
Sebastian panicked, and the platform vanished. Fancy Dan dropped approximately three inches before Sebastian caught him telekinetically.
“Sorry!”
Fancy Dan stared at him. “Individual platforms?”
“Apparently harder than I thought.”
Sebastian looked back at the wall, then the three men. An idea began to take shape. It was simple and dumb, but sometimes the dumb option would work out far better than the smart idea.
“Okay.”
He formed three platforms just to try for the original intention, but they were unstable. His gut screamed at him that it was a bad idea currently. All three of them dropped to the ground again, and Ox frowned at him.
“What are you doing?”
“Making this easier.” He concentrated.
A much larger single invisible platform formed. Instead of giving each man his own floating surface, Sebastian essentially made one enormous invisible slab beneath all three of them. The platform rose, and Montana immediately grabbed Fancy Dan, who did the same, along with Ox grabbing the two of them.
The three enforcers shared a look. Before any of them could say something, their mouths fell open when each of them was lifted into the air.
Sebastian just stared at the three. “…Okay, this is actually working.”
Sebastian’s concentration intensified, and unlike the other attempts, he kept the platform stable. Was he capable of doing what he did back in the prison because he was entirely focused on it and not distracted?
Quickly yet slowly and steadily the top of the warehouse wall approached. Sebastian expected some kind of struggle or concentration issues to happen while doing this.
Nothing.
He could move himself and the Enforcers around with little issue. It took some effort, but it wasn’t anything that would make him have a brain hemorrhage. Not that the four platforms before would have done that. It was more of a skill issue than anything else.
One moment the four were standing around. The Enforcers in their iconic suits that they had used against Spider-Man on numerous occasions. Sebastian on the other hand was in a zipped up black suit with a gas mask covering the entirety of his head.
It was rather tight and made it difficult to see with the thing, but Sebastian compensated when he relied more on his future sight.
Montana gave him a hard look before letting out a sigh and closing his eyes briefly. “At least you had ‘nough sense to make it easier without compromising the job. Just get us in there.”
And that Sebastian did. He moved them fast enough to avoid people noticing if they took too long but slow enough to ensure no accidents when Ox started to wobble a little.
Soon they hung over the wall and landed on the roof. No one screamed, no one fell off, and most importantly, no one had noticed them. Fancy Dan looked back over the wall and then at Sebastian.
“You know,” He said, “Most people with telekinesis would have just thrown us over.”
Sebastian just shrugged. “Would have been less subtle, and I don’t trust myself to do something like that just yet.”
Montana nodded approvingly. “Good.
Ox patted Sebastian’s shoulder comfortingly. “You’re leaning.”
Sebastian gained a warm smile at the big, gentle giant. That meant more to him than he wanted to admit. He technically wasn’t the strongest person here and was far from the most experienced. He wasn’t even particularly good at using his powers just yet.
But they were teaching him, Fisk had given him a place, and the Enforcers were giving him skills. For once in Sebastian’s life he wasn’t some forgotten nobody watching other people have adventures. He was part of the crew now.
Fancy Dan motioned toward the warehouse entrance on the roof. “Come on, rookie.”
Sebastian followed him. “Rookie?”
“Don’t worry,” Fancy Dan said. “If you survive tonight, we’ll come up with something meaner.”
Sebastian could only grin at that. “Looking forward to it.”
They all got to work avoiding the cameras and various security systems. Dan got to work pulling out a small computer device from his belt on the suit, plugging several wires into it.
A moment later a beep came, and the group swiftly entered through a less used side door. It opened and painstakingly slowly closed.
“What are you doing?” Fancy Dan whisper hissed.
“The doors are designed to be loud when they close.” They all came up short at my comment.
Montana thought on it for a second or two before nodding. “Guess the ones who own this place thought of all the little things.”
He walked forward with purpose. “Everyone get your comms on. We go in, Rookie and Ox, you go here and search for anything of use and value. Dan and I will be going to this side here to search. Got it?”
The massive slab of meat that was Ox and the tiny beanpole, by comparison, both nodded and got to work.
The warehouse, once Sebastian got a proper look at inside, was enormous. Rows upon rows of crates stretched into the darkness, stacked several levels high. Some were normal industrial containers, others were absolutely not.
He spotted one crate with a warning label that appeared to have been written by someone who had given up on explaining what the contents actually did.
Do not activate. The word "seriously" was written underneath it with three exclamation points for good measure.
Then under that, in different handwriting -- We mean it this time.
“That’s reassuring.”
Ox was checking the copy of their map that the Enforcers had gained from the warehouse's security office in another part of New York.
Their comms crackled to life. “We’re looking for anything that can help Fisk reclaim his operation. Weapons surveillance equipment, transportation technology, and communications gear. The most valuable and the ones that came from Stark's younger years, those two things take priority.”
Fancy Dan chimes in, “The more advanced stuff is probably locked deeper inside. We’re more likely to find abandoned prototypes and older equipment toward the perimeter.”
Sebastian glanced towards Ox.
“Sure.”
He had expected the giant to be intimidating. Ox was huge, absolutely enormous compared to almost every man Sebastian had ever met. Besides, of course, Fisk was the sole exception.
Yet the man, after spending several minutes with him, discovered something he hadn’t expected. Ox was nice. Not pretending to be nice like some people Sebastian had watched in the past, but he was genuinely nice. He spoke quietly, didn’t rush Sebastian too much, and listened to him when he warned of security systems like cameras or on-duty guards.
Even thanked Sebastian when his visions were proven true. Then they started searching for some of the crates. The first few crates, to Sebastian’s disappointment, contained mundane equipment. Still advanced and would net a nice profit, but he doubted it was the most valuable.
Though Sebastian was getting an odd feeling in his head the longer they remained near the stuff in the warehouse searching through it. It was similar to his future and past sights, but it was… off.
Ox opened another crate while Sebastian began to slow, trying to figure out what was going on. Ox paused briefly before reaching in and taking out two bands of metal with wheels attached to them.
“What… are those?” Sebastian managed to focus his attention on what looked like roller skates you attach to your shoes. He took it as a lifeline because whatever was happening around him was putting more pressure on his head.
Ox looked at the objects in his hand, then at the crate. The symbol on it was the company stamp of Stark Industries.
“Roller skates…” Ox just stated the obvious because he couldn’t think of anything other than why they would be in a Stark crate.
“Pffft! Ha ha ha!” Sebastian just laughed. Ox even smiled, and his eyes crinkled playfully behind his goggles. “Guy can make a powerful suit of armor yet has roller skates sitting in a valuable crate.”
He could only shake his head at the absurdity of it all. “Those are stupid… I’ll take them.”
Ox let him grab the roller skate parts, giving him a questioning look. “You just said they’re stupid?”
“Yes! And now they are my stupid. It’s one of those really dumb, absurd things you just have to have because of how dumb it is.” Sebastian explained.
Something many tourists in foreign countries tended to do. People liked gravitating towards the weird and absurd. Unless it had to do with mutants… Sebastian never understood the hate for them besides the understandable fear of dying to one that couldn’t control dangerous powers. But they go too far with it in Sebastian’s eyes.
Ox nodded sagely. “Ah. I understand.”
Sebastian looked them over, noting the quality of the metal and the wheels before quickly figuring out they just clamped onto the bottoms of his shoes. They were firmly on there after a few quick raps of his knuckles against them.
They moved further into place, and Sebastian helped Ox avoid any guards courtesy of their group not wanting anyone to know they are out of the Raft just yet.
Invisible hands grabbed and moved crates around to make their job a little easier. It doubled as a form of training for Sebastian, helping him get better control of multiple things as they shook midair, moving like a seesaw.
Sweat beaded along his forehead, but he concentrated, and the wobbling settled down. Setting the crates down so Ox and he could search through them, the two quickly got to work.
Their search took some time, and Sebastian’s perception was growing. Sweat beaded his forehead, making the already uncomfortable gas mask much worse. His breathing picked up, trying to understand whatever his perception was doing. It was like someone urgently conveying something in a foreign tongue, but you couldn’t grasp what was being said.
Touching the objects made it much worse. He felt things when he got too close. The signal, or whatever this is, got worse the closer he was, especially when touching the objects. They weren’t memories, not exactly.
It was something stranger. More like the origins, since a memory would imply it came from a person's perspective. Connections and information hit him all at once when the dam finally collapsed and it came flooding in when he reached for another crate.
It was a clean, highly advanced lab. Tony Stark stood in it with blueprints and equations displayed all across the room in a hologram that looked more like a display of the cosmos than advanced mathematics and engineering.
Lists and readouts came to Sebastian in a flash. A cocktail of metal alloys, power requirements, assembled prototypes, and failed tests-- on and on it went.
Sebastian recoiled backwards as if struck. His breathing became haggard and uneven, growing worse the more images that flashed by. It was almost the same experience with his precognition, except he just had an entire technical manual dumped directly into his brain and started flipping the pages faster than he could read.
His hand snapped out, grabbing the side of a crate. Tony’s hands worked like an artist's. Every movement he made caused Sebastian’s head to throb. His power was somehow extracting the information from the objects themselves. It had never done this before so quickly. It had to have been many years ago when Tony was much younger considering he didn’t have his iconic goatee.
The deeper his perception reached, the more it gave him. Sebastian barely noticed he’d stopped moving, a raging ocean of runoff of numbers and equations combing through his mind.
Ox eventually noticed Sebastian stopped moving. “Kid?”
Nothing.
Ox fully turned around. “Rookie?” Sebastian remained frozen, his breathing heavy and erratic. Ox walked over in concern.
“Hey.” Nothing again.
Ox gently placed one massive hand on Sebastian’s shoulder and shook him gently. He didn’t want to say his name even over the comms, but Ox was worried about the kid.
“Sebastian.”
He finally blinked, the various kaleidoscopes of Tony Stark and his creations fading away to dust in the wind, and only scant numbers and equations in their creation remained embedded. The warehouse snapped back into focus.
“…What?” He said breathlessly, realizing where he was.
“You stopped.” Ox said with concern for him.
“I…” He looked around for a moment. “How long?”
Ox thought about it before giving an answer. “About a minute.”
Sebastian rubbed his temples, feeling the lingering phantom sensation of that overload of information. He could best describe it as the mother of all headaches. Yet it was gone. He had clarity, if a bit of radio interference from the surrounding objects, especially the tech, slowly drip-fed him information once he forced it to slow down.
No different from a dial that controlled the volume of a radio, he adjusted it enough that it wouldn’t overwhelm him and for some things once he figured out how to completely shut them out. He could control it now compared to whatever the hell happened a moment ago.
“It felt longer.”
Ox crouched slightly so they were closer to eye level. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” Sebastian looked at the crate, finally catching his breath. Then his gaze moved across the surrounding equipment. “I think my powers are doing something new.”
Ox didn’t immediately ask questions, instead, he waited. Sebastian appreciated that. “I think I can sort of… get information on things. But deeper.”
“Like reading them?”
“Kind of.” Sebastian frowned. “Except it’s not like reading. It’s more like someone throws pieces of a puzzle at me.”
He tapped his temple. “I get the basic principles, the science, physics, and sometimes the reason something was designed the way it was.” He looked down at the roller skates on his shoes. “But not everything.”
Ox nodded. “So you know how this all works?”
“Not completely.” He shook his head, thinking of a way to describe all that runoff with only a few things sticking. “It’s like… if someone showed me a sentence where I only know a few letters.”
He gestured vaguely. “I could guess what the sentence is probably about. Maybe figure out some of the words. But I wouldn’t actually know the whole thing.”
Ox smiled, the move of his lips clearly noticed through the shifting of his mask. “That still sounds useful.”
Sebastian’s expression changed as he looked deeper into the warehouse. “Very useful. Like over there.”
Ox followed his finger. “What?”
“The valuable stuff. Let’s go.” Despite how Ox seemed skeptical, that quickly was wiped away when Sebastian forced a crate open and Ox saw far better-looking tech than what they were scrounging through before.
The two shared a look and nod and got to work. They would have continued had it not been for them freezing in place when gunshots and crackles of electricity were heard across the warehouse.
Of course, it wasn’t going to be easy for them.
