“… What are you?” Jango demanded. He was standing over the holotable giving a live feed of the battles raging across the city.

His helmet was off, sitting beside his hand, which squeezed tighter and tighter, straining the durable fabric under his armor. He looked at me, his entire body relaxed but I could see he was far from it. 

He was tense. Just hovering over an edge ready to drop a nuke on whatever he saw in the chasm. It was all directed at me. The grunts and guards had their weapons ready to shoot me should I pull any stunts. 

Many of them didn’t want to do it because of my saving them, reputation, or simply hearing about what I had done earlier, killing several Jedi and dismantling as many droids as I had. Couldn’t blame them on that last part, even I wouldn’t want to fight a guy who did what I had.

It would be like a grunt in one of those power-trip fantasy games having to fight an overpowered being that you had no chance of winning in the first place, like a Blackwatch soldier about to be face-to-face with Alex Mercer in a dark hallway.

The dread and fear that you knew that you didn’t have a prayer of surviving.

“I’m Corvo Attano. Altmer, or high elf. Father, bounty hunter, soldier.” I listed a few things I had done in life.

Jango's fist slammed against the table making the hologram flicker from the force. “Don’t play games with me, Corvo. Are you a Jedi?” He hissed the words out, his entire body screamed hatred when he spoke that word. 

I laughed. It came out as a chuckle at first before it turned into a full-on laugh. Jango's knuckles tightened. His fingers brushed against his blaster pistols just waiting for an opportunity to shoot me if I gave him a reason.

Then the laughter abruptly stopped. The anger at having been turned on so readily by someone I had saved before. It was a laugh not born from amusement but frustration, anger, sorrow. The kind of laugh you would get when you hit your funny bone or were at your wits’ end and couldn’t help but laugh.

Now the room was silent as a cemetery at night. Jango glared at me, the people around us were wary. They had their weapons in arm's reach or already in hand. Jango himself was ready and waiting for me.

“No. I am no Jedi.” I said it with no emotion. Just cold calculating calmness.

It was surreal for the people in the room to see me like this. “A Sith?” 

“I’m not force sensitive Jango.”

“Bantha poodoo! You fired lightning from your hands. I know the old stories of the ancient Sith. How they could do the same thing. You have to be force sensitive or you couldn’t have done what you did.”

“Jango, let’s hear Corvo out. He has earned that much.” Bane said being oddly enough the voice of reason amongst the tense situation we found ourselves in.

I nodded my head towards him, grateful as he reciprocated even if he looked unsure of what to make of all this.

Jango stared at me for a long moment before he let out a sigh looking towards Bane for a brief moment but I was never out of his peripheral vision. “Alright. Explain.” 

“On my homeworld, everyone could do what I can.”

A series of mutters came from everyone in the room. Bane and even Jango looked taken aback. I raised my hand but stopped when Jango was about to raise his blasters with the others around me ready to shoot.

Bane was the only one who didn’t even attempt to draw his weapon. Not that he didn’t view me as a threat. But because he knew I meant no harm.

My hand lowered as I gave an apologetic smile. “But it’s not the force. It’s magic. I am not force sensitive.”

“Could be your people called it something else and it’s the same.” Jango pointed out his hands easing off slightly from his blaster pistols.

“No, it’s not. I know for a fact it’s not the same. The Jedi I fought against would have been able to sense it if I were using the force as they call it.” 

The room was becoming even tenser as Jango’s posture all but screamed murder and it was rather impressive he was still in control enough not to let his instincts take over with how much he looked ready to throw down here and now with me.

“I have studied and looked for information on both the Jedi and what they call the force. My magic is not the same thing. It is not something gained from some higher power, it is something innate to me. Just as it was to nearly all other sentient races on my homeworld. Our emotions do not affect it, nor does it have any influence over us.”

“Why should I believe you?” Jango said testily. He wanted to believe, to try and trust me but there was something I didn’t know that was preventing him from having faith in me. “For all I know you could have been a plant from the beginning for the Jedi and Republic.”

Ignoring how deep his words cut at him even thinking I was a traitor or spy. “Because I saved your life and have watched your back every time we were together. Unless that means nothing to you.” I coolly pointed out, starting to lose my patience and not wanting to die over whatever Jango is currently going through.

Jango was torn. On one hand, he knew I was right but on the other, he showed that he questioned everything I did and wondered if it was all to get in his good graces.

“Then we test Corvo.” Bane cut in offering a solution. “We can’t have this happening for much longer when our enemies are closing in. We all need to trust one another.” 

The tension had settled down if only slightly with the solution Bane brought up. “We will test his blood. If he isn’t force sensitive then he isn’t an undercover Jedi.”

“Alright. Do it.” Jango gave the order with the people bringing in a medical droid that so happened to have the necessary programming and equipment to check force sensitivity.

How that worked was up in the air since I didn’t remember a thing about a blood test leading to someone being revealed to be force sensitive. Not that I was worried. 

Various scum of the galaxy kept their weapons ready in case I did something while Bane leaned against the wall near the doorway relaxed and not bothered by what was happening beyond annoyance that it ever happened in the first place.

The droid took a needle and extracted some of the blood from my arm. It took the blood and placed it on a tray before it was sealed off in its chest cavity. Jango was behind me, his head blaster pistol held in his hand but aimed at the floor.

“So they just have droids on hand to test blood like this normally or…” I asked, trailing off curious while everyone was tense.

Ready for me to try something. Anything at all and they would unload their blasters into me. At least they would try to. Not like it would work out for them. The only two amongst those gathered here I had any concern for were Jango and Bane. 

“Yes. They keep’em around to test for any kids that have the potential to become a Jedi. Most cities have’em.” Bane said flippantly, ready for this to be over with. He was surprisingly acting neutral while trying to get everyone focused back on the more immediate threat.

That was interesting while it also made some sense. The Jedi couldn’t be everywhere in the galaxy and having a means to test force-sensitive children in areas where they couldn’t have a Jedi posted would help in finding and bringing them to the temple.

“Scan complete. No midichlorians have been detected.” The droid broke the tension with everyone in the room looking at it in disbelief.

“Impossible,” Jango said, looking between it and me.

I shrugged my shoulders. “I told you I wasn’t.”

“Not that Corvo. Even if it’s a small amount per cell, everyone has some. You don’t have any.” Bane said looking at me like I was a puzzle he was trying to figure out.

Everyone stared at me. It was awkward and made me want to fidget. “So I’m cleared. Can you put your blasters away before someone does something even stupider than this entire mock court?” 

My voice got louder and angrier when everyone looked towards me wide-eyed, wincing before putting their weapons away. Save for Jango, Bane, Bossk, and the latter's father.

They had the decency to lower their weapons not directly aimed at me. “You're cleared, Corvo. I needed to be certain you weren’t a spy, that’s the last thing we need when things are dire enough.” Jango said, bolstering his pistol.

I stared at him for a long moment with a blank expression. I didn’t know what to feel. On one hand, it was a slap in my face despite all that I had done for him, and he was shown to be worthless. On the other hand, I understand that even if what he did was excessive. There was more to it than just him checking if I was a spy or saboteur.

A hand grabbing my shoulder snapped me out of those thoughts. “Come on, Corvo. We have a job to do.” Bane said walking back out of the command center with me looking back at Jango one last time. He met my gaze with a frown on his face and before I left the room he turned away from me out of shame.

“Right. Let’s get this over with.” 

The two of us quickly left the building hearing the sounds of blasters far closer than they had been before. Speeders flew above us the crews working tirelessly shooting at things in the distance, with the hum of their repulsorlifts filling the air with the thunder and lightning above joining.

The rain had gotten worse with the ground filled with half a foot of water. “The infrastructure the city had for flooding was severely damaged by this point. Otherwise, the water wouldn’t be so bad.”

Bane said this with his hat and coat keeping him mostly safe from the downpour coming down upon us. Like gods above weeping at the battle happening down here.

“What about the civilians? Any survivors?” I asked since I never learned what happened to them after the explosion where we had them held to keep them as far from the fighting as possible.

“Of course there was. A lot died from the explosives planted where we kept them.” Bane grumbled, sounding more annoyed than sad at the loss of those people's lives.

“Do we know who planted them?” 

Bane stepped onto a speeder bike with mounted blasters on it. “No. Jango seemed to believe it was you for some reason. With the revelation of what you can do, he may have gone with the assumption that you were a Jedi in deep cover. Even if it made no sense for a Jedi to kill civilians.”

Letting out a long sigh before turning to go where I was needed and to do the next stage of the plan given how far back our forces are getting pushed back. They were giving as good as they got but with what amounted to several million if not far more battle droids it didn’t matter.

“Corvo.” I turned back to look at Bane, his speeder bike already powered up pushing the water under it away and splashing my pants with it. “Don’t take what Jango did personally. I know what he did was excessive but with how things are it was a mistake any of us could have made.”

I didn’t have much to say to that. “For what it’s worth I did defend you when Bossk and Cradossk were pushing for you to be executed when the teams called in what they saw. Even if I hadn’t Jango had already ordered for you to be escorted back here and not gun you down on the spot. Make of that what you will.”

With that Bane flew off heading over to support and direct his men. Shaking my head and ridding myself of any distracting thoughts when a life and death battle was being waged all around me.

Running through the water sending far larger splashes into the air before I jumped with a quick flex in my legs. Many of the people around us looked at me in awe. All of them froze and watched as I soared through the air and landed atop one of the smaller buildings before leaping from it.

Rushing through the dark city with little light to see beyond the blasters, distant lightsabers, and lightning. 

“We need back up, we are getting flanked by Republic troo-- Jedi!” Someone under my command yelled through our communications channel with the sound of blasters before the familiar hum of a lightsaber made their voice adopt a tone filled with pure panic.

Rushing towards their position it took me little time to get there. Most of my men were already dead but a few were still alive shooting at the two Jedi and the troopers behind them.

Unfolding my bow and notching three arrows the string pulled taut before it was released just when I dropped down off the edge of the building. Three of the five troopers were struck. One had his eye impaled by the shaft of the arrow sticking out of his socket with him falling face-first the arrow was shoved further into his head.

Another had his throat where his artery was located speared by the arrow. He fell like a puppet with its strings cut grasping at the arrow. The last of them had the projectile find a gap between his armor hitting his heart as it deflated like a flat tire before falling silent. 

Dropping down near one of the Jedi who was ready for me. Their lightsaber with a simple decapitation strike was blocked by my newly acquired lightsaber. The blades crackled with each blow exchanged. I overpowered them with my greater strength shoving them back with each strike handling the weapon like a great sword. 

One last particularly powerful blow had sent them even further back before I rushed at them not planning anything, simply going for the kill while reading their body. The Jedi tried to counter with a low sweeping strike that would have taken my legs below the knee only for it to be redirected.

The blade held at an awkward angle had its strike veer off before with a quick thrust the smell of burnt flesh filled the air with me swiftly rushing past the falling form of the Jedi.

“No!” The other Jedi yelled in desperation seeing their comrade dead. 

“You and your friend here knew what you were walking into. This is on you as much as it is us.” I said calmly, already moving into a frenzy of blows that he struggled to match. 

Before he even got the chance to block a nasty blow aimed to knock his blade aside and take his head a series of blaster bolts impacted his back making him gasp with several more coming in from behind. The two remaining Republic troopers fell to the ground dead.

Pocketing the throwing knives I was about to toss at them before looking down at the Jedi who had fallen to his knees, his lightsaber extinguished and dropped into the water out of sight. 

I frowned, feeling bad for yet another Jedi having to die here. Hardening my heart with a resolute expression thrusting the hissing blade into his chest he looked up at me wide-eyed before his expression softened into a gentle embrace with death. Peace permeated him before he fell into the water with a splash.

I looked towards the remaining squad members. “Fallback to the next line, you’ve lost too many people to continue harassing them. Head down to street level after equipping yourself with the proper equipment and help hold the streets.”

They nodded at me staring in awe before I left. Our forces had been pushed back several blocks. Not that the droids or Republic forces didn’t pay a steep cost. My droids were helping hold back the lines of droids with the few remaining personal ion cannons taking out whatever tanks they got into the city.

Speaking of them, a few of said tanks lay on their sides or face down in the water with plenty of droids surrounding them piled up in the water looking like a dam built by a beaver. 

Despite the rain coming down hard and fast, smoke and fires across the city still raged on, the red of blaster fire filling the darkness of this dreary night. If it wasn’t for my days fighting in the war before the nukes were fired then this would have been something I couldn’t look away from.

Moving through the areas harassing and doing everything in my power to slow the advance of the machine army. With my powers now revealed there was no point in holding back like I once had.

One area was flash frozen with the droids and troopers turned into still statues with flakes of frost floating about like snow. Another area was turned into a boiling mess with steam, water boiling like it was fresh off the stove, molten metal from the cheap droids turned to slag, and the smell of burned bodies floating in the bubbling water.

Each time I used my magic it took a chunk out of my magicka but nothing that couldn’t be recovered while moving from point to point. A single glance below me was all I needed to know if I needed to intervene.

“Get out of the water!” I yelled. Everyone holding the choke point that was about to be overrun did as ordered after a moment of hesitation. They clambered onto crates, metal pieces used as makeshift barriers, even going inside open doorways to shops and houses.

“It’s the bounty hunter.” A droid pointed at me with many of the machines marching along aiming at me. Far too long with their simple programming to line up their guns fast enough. Hand lazily outstretched before tongues of lightning like angry vipers snapped out.

The water went from a murky black reflecting the darkness above, to a blinding neon blue that sparked and danced along the surface. The lightning didn’t act like normal lightning should but it still was lightning at the end of the day.

If it were one of the more advanced spells beyond a simple spark spell this wouldn’t have worked nearly as well. The higher tiers emphasize better control over the respective element which is why chain lightning would only hit what the caster deemed as a target or threat. On occasion when it did hit an ally, but those incidents could be chalked up to the caster losing or not having enough concentration when casting the spell. 

The magicka generated the lightning, and through that magicka, it acts like an extra arm. You have some control over it not letting it abide by the normal rules that things like electricity would.

The droids were soon spasming, smoke wafting off of them with sparks pouring off their metal bodies like sweat. For a few tense seconds with several Republic troopers who were too slow to get out of the water they simultaneously fell into the water.

What few troopers were left swiftly tried to retreat with most of them getting blasted in the back and those that weren’t shot by those below me I just gunned down with my pistol.

The group below me cheered that they were still alive. A few were smart enough to realize that they still were in the middle of a battle. “Come on, we still have more coming! Man the blaster cannons!”

They all quickly fell into line retaking their positions and bringing the makeshift turrets out of the water and ready to start blasting anything that comes down the road. 

“All light assault squads, pull back. The next phase is about to begin.” Jango's voice rang across the comms channels for each person across the city.

Pulling up my own comlink, “Jango, Bane, any word on finding out who the saboteur is?” 

“No. A little busy trying to fight off the Jedi and droids marching over what may be our last stand.” Jango said bitterly.

I understand where he is coming from but something like that not getting corrected could lead to a bad situation happening for us all at the worst time. 

“Alright, I get it, busy leading a ragtag bunch of criminals against overwhelming odds. At least have it set up where those fixing my ship have specific orders that they are not to leave one another’s sight and no one is allowed to go off on their own unless they have at least two others with them.” I listed off what I could think of on short notice.

A pause on the other end went on for a bit longer than I liked. Just when I thought they hadn’t heard me Jango spoke up, “Alright it’s something at the very least. Anything else?”

“Besides giving everyone instructions if they see someone doing something suspicious or acting shifty to immediately report it I got nothing else. It’s better than nothing and might be able to slow those down that are stabbing us in the back.”

“Alright. I’ll start giving out those orders, meet up with Bane, your light assault duties are finished.” Jango ordered.

“Corvo I’m over at the entertainment district, near the big tower,” Bane told me while I swiftly moved across the tops of the buildings like I was Tarzan swinging around through a jungle. In this case a duracrete jungle.

Occasionally taking a pot shot mid flip or swing at some troopers with the blaster bolt landing right on target and killing them with my back and retreating form being the only thing their comrades could see when they returned fire.

By the time any of them did I was long gone. I felt bad for killing them and the Jedi in this battle. Especially the Jedi. But it’s not like I had much of a choice. If I didn’t they would kill me or bring me to Coruscant where Sidious would want to cut me open and see what made me tick.

That’s not an option. So as sad as it is they have to die if this galaxy is going to have any kind of future that doesn’t involve an oppressive empire crushing anyone under its merciless authoritative boot.

My body was fully drenched in water with the rain from above just coming down harder and harder the longer this went on. With my forces pulled back seeing them scramble across rooftops with them rushing to retreat as the droids and troopers moved through the flooded streets unimpeded now.

Before they would struggle to even move down these flooded roads and corridors let alone try and hold them before taking substantial losses. Now they moved through them with impunity. Though the droids weren’t advancing as fast as they had before.

Not because the flood waters or debris were slowing them down but more like they had purposely slowed down. Rows of droids moved along the streets with several tanks backing them up hanging in the middle of each group.

Leaping off a sign that jutted out at an odd angle from one building, grabbing some pipes, and swinging off that to sail over another before landing on a building that showed the tower and street Bane and a lot of our people were at currently. 

Landing with a big splash sending water everywhere had Bane whirl around a blaster held at the ready with his eye droid hovering over his shoulder built-in blaster aimed and ready to fire.

He huffed holstering his pistol. “Next time just run down the streets Corvo. One of these days Jango or I are going to mistake you for an enemy and put a blaster right between your eyes.” Bane pointed a finger between his own eyes giving me a cocky smirk.

“Bane we both know you ain’t making that shot even if it was an off day for me.” I chuckled, shaking my head at him. “Now the droid I made for you,” I stepped over rubbing my hand along its cold metal shell, “It could potentially make the shot.”

The less-than-impressed look Bane gave me made me want to crack up laughing at the man. “Enough with the wisecracks we've gotta’ job to do,” Bane said all business and definitely not because he was getting annoyed with me.

“Alright, alright, take it easy. If this is our last fight in this life, we might as well get some laughs before the end.” I respond calmly walking forward while whipping an arm out flinging water off of me. 

The cold doesn’t bother me thanks to my vampiric heritage which was eating up this conflict. It was worse than that time I drank my first energy drink and I couldn’t hold still. Excitement poured out of me making me want to vibrate on the spot.

But none of it showed to anyone around me keeping myself in check. Didn’t want to look like a raging psycho when everyone else was looking at what would be their last moments of life.

“Forget about it, Corvo. They won’t find anything funny right now,” Bane waved dismissively towards everyone around us, “Especially when what we are about to do is important.”

Bane walked over before addressing the crowd of criminals. “Everyone listen up and listen well I won’t repeat myself. We need to hold this road as long as we can. This is the main road through the city and it leads straight towards the spaceport where our means of escape is.”

Everyone stared at Bane with the utmost attention at the mention of our current only means of escape.

“So you all understand why this is the most important job you have right now. What we are going to do is hold this point even if the droids are right on top of you. You will not flee if Jedi are swinging their lightsabers around. Am I understood?”

A chorus of agreements was given even if they were done with hesitation.

“Good enough,” Bane said not pleased with what he had to work with but accepted it all the same since he didn’t have a choice. He turned back to me, “Corvo, how exactly does your… magic work?” 

I bit back my retort at him not wanting to call it magic. “I just think of a spell I know, if I got the magicka which is the fuel for the spell I can perform it and keep it sustained if need be before I run out.”

“That simple?” Bane asked, tilting his head while grabbing some blasters off to the side near some makeshift ramps and stairs they got ready when the water began to flood the city. “How long does it take for your magicka to come back?”

“It’s that simple and it takes a couple of minutes of rest.” 

Bane fell silent at that before a big smile formed on his face. He rubbed his hands together looking rather happy now. It was… kind of off-putting since I don’t think I have ever seen him this happy before. Or at all for that matter.

“Those droids and the Republic are not going to have a good time.”

After Batman’s little interrogation and my reenactment of the wicked witch of the west melting into a puddle before reforming the rest of the day and the following week was uneventful. The League was busy helping with relief efforts in Washington, and not a single one attempted to come to Gotham.

The news reports had shown that the deaths that came from Poseidon throwing a tantrum were in the single digits surprisingly. A lot of injuries and even more damage to buildings and infrastructure but otherwise despite the cataclysm the city was somewhat fine. Not that the media or the politicians would let you believe that.

“I swear in my tenure as part of Congress Silhouette will be brought to justice!” An older politician who looked more like a fossil that should be in a retirement home than running the government said into a microphone. 

“The damage done to Washington D.C. is currently estimated to be over one hundred and fifty million and rising. Several countries have openly condemned the American government for allowing something like this to happen while foreign dignitaries visited.” A young, pretty blonde reporter said, while in the background, crews worked tirelessly to try to clean up the mess. 

On and on the news channels droned with several channels from foreign countries outraged at this happening and how it was allowed to happen. Even the United Nations was furious. Possibly more so than my home country because of the black eye they just got with a slap to the face for good measure.

They had been thoroughly embarrassed and made a mockery of along with America. Though it would seem that the everyday people, while not all of them liked Silhouette, they weren’t against me embarrassing their leaders and showing how powerless they really are.

Who would have thought that many people who have been screwed over by the system while their leaders live it up in luxury where they struggle would enjoy them being made to look like a bunch of fools.

But my eyes were on another channel. One that was surprisingly late to the party for a long-overdue review. Bringing a glass to my mouth keeping my form exactly how I want to be without it melting into a puddle of slime.

“Now I know I am way late to this party but with recent circumstances in the world and some personal things happening like college tends to make it difficult to properly play through the recent sequel blockbuster that got released some time ago.”

The edges of her hair were still dyed green as she was rocking a black tank top with a mesh underbody to it. She looked tired with bags under her eyes. But otherwise, she looked happy. 

“Silent Hill 2 wasn’t what I had expected it to be. Which isn’t a bad thing!” She held a hand up like she was trying to stop someone from ranting at her, “I was originally expecting the story to be a continuation of Harry and his adoptive daughter after the conclusion of the first game since it was implied from the various endings that The Order is far from gone.”

Images pop up with clips of the first game and thumbnails with links to her various videos discussing the cult and those associated with it. 

“Instead I was completely shocked to see a more… personal story that beyond a few connections of the first game was its own story. A story that didn’t hold back any punches and made you feel everything the main character James Sunderland felt through his own personal hellish journey in Silent Hill.”

She looked excited and happy talking about it. “I can’t remember the last time a game has managed to engross me in its story so well and for me to either grow so attached to a character or outright despise them.” 

She went on talking about everything that happened within the game and how she absolutely loved the monster's designs, particularly the segments with Pyramid Head. “Out of all the monsters of the horror genre Pyramid has now taken the top of that list. Yes, he toppled the Abomination from the Abyss. And anyone who knows me and my channel knows how that is my favorite horror movie to this day.”

She raised her arm gesturing when her webcam showed her room with the various posters, figurines, and other memorabilia of horror icons of this world. “I have more Abomination things than I do of any other monster or slasher in my recording room. Pyramid Head has toppled the position. Not just because of him constantly stalking you throughout the game, always never far behind but because of his ties and connection to James.”

She goes on about the game's story, the newer and older monsters. Even acknowledged how she loved the monster's newer designs while harkening back to the first game with how the monster's lore-wise would appear different to each person who looked at them. Even the gameplay, heavily improved compared to the first one, improved in every category while reducing the few minor complaints players had.

“To those of you who haven’t played the game, for whatever reason you have, don't pass on this. Even if your not a horror fan, this is the type of game that can still draw you in with its amazing story telling, and the developer Dr. Feel Good was kind enough to even set up a narrative difficulty,” She gave little air quotes at the difficulty setting, “Which is something no other developer has done to my knowledge which takes away from the survival horror and makes it a purely narrative driven focus with horror elements.”

Her video shows smaller clips of herself and other channels she is friends with checking out the narrative difficulty. “The story of James and what haunts him is good. Amazing even. This was an absolutely insane sequel that I was skeptical of because it chose to do a more personal story instead of following up on what is going on with The Order and Harry alongside his adoptive daughter.”

She showed some clips of her going absolutely nuts over some of her theories about the cult, Harry, Heather, and the fog world itself along with its mysterious goddess that the Order was obsessed with.

“But I found myself glad that they chose to do a personal story like this. It made all of my skepticism evaporate. Add to this the game is incredibly cheap, coming in at a whopping $5! If you haven’t gotten this game before me then I don’t know what you are doing.”

I could only smile at the praise with her showing the various monsters and their designs along with the many creatures in the ominous atmosphere that managed to get her to jump or scream. Which took some doing after watching her library of playthroughs of various horror games while I trained and tinkered after getting control of my new physiological abilities.

I turned away from the screen, tasting the carbonated goodness even if it didn’t fill any needs in me now beyond tasting something nice. Setting the bottle of Nuka Cola down, walking away, and checking over how my various businesses were doing. All of them were prospering with my newly founded company Nuka Cola was getting various orders from different stores and companies. Add on top of that the various mines now under my control added even more to the growing pile. 

It helped that Lex was kind enough to grease some wheels to help me out on the Metropolis side of things. Not that it would have been too much of a problem for me but why add extra work onto my plate when someone would make it easier for me?

Not that it was obviously Lex Luthor. It was like the stars had aligned themselves to make it far easier than it should have been. Something like that doesn’t happen naturally because of how rare it is to occur in the first place. 

Especially when there are so many things that simply worked out when they usually stacked onto one another becoming a far bigger problem. Then you have the loose connections to Lex that further reinforce that he had a hand in it.

If Lex asks me for a favor then I don’t mind helping out. But that would depend heavily on what he wants from me. If it’s something that involves killing Superman he can forget it. 

Going through a series of exercises in the monastery using my chakra helps build up more control and reserves while talking with the hunters. They and the engineers had the area purchased where the herbs would grow while keeping it from being properly observed or stumbled upon by any random person who for whatever reason walked out in the middle of Gotham's outskirts.

But people in a world based on comic books, it doesn’t exactly line up with a person's thinking from my Earth… well at least not as many. Images of people doing some incredibly stupid things came to mind that anyone with two brain cells to rub together would know is a bad idea. Like playing a harmonica in the middle of seemingly nowhere that so happened to be testing grounds for gamma radiation experiments.

A stealth field had been established around the irradiated ground with the herbs making it appear as if it was just another random patch of land with nothing to show for it. Other methods like scramblers that would fool any sensor that could detect the unusual energy within the area and the sort. 

The energy proved to be a bit more difficult since the engineers had to figure out a means to do so since it wasn’t something they had encountered before and traditional methods didn’t work on it.

Sure it was radiation that wasn’t harmful to things around it, but it was something exotic that bordered on supernatural. Speaking of that, my last acquisition had made the engineers and Heli nearly lose their collective minds. Not every day you have a bunch of them scratching their heads trying to comprehend how my body had been converted into a slime.

I could still feel, though things like pain were dulled down. I could eat and drink tasting everything as it was with no differences when compared to my memories of how it should taste. Though eating and drinking were pointless from what Heli gathered. My body had somehow become self-sufficient. Forms of physical attacks did not affect me any longer. 

A substance ran down my body in rivers that was made to be as close to sweat as possible so that I could blend in better when out in public. Otherwise, I didn’t need to sweat anymore and it was more for practice to keep up the facade of what I was before. Ideas flitted about like dust amidst a turbulent storm on how to introduce this to everyone else if it ever got revealed. It would be best if I came to be this way after an accident.

Trying to explain how I didn’t know about this until something speared or crushed me revealing nothing but slime under the surface would be rather difficult with how intelligent I was in everyone else’s eyes.

Chakra flowed through my body letting me move far faster than I could with just my enhancements from the engineers. Combined with my new change my speed had reached absurd levels.

Using what’s left of my reserves my hand extended towards a training dummy with nearly invisible wires with small drops of water formed from my chakra. The feeling of the water taking little to no effort to form felt like what it must have been for Gohan and Krillin when they got their potential unlocked. 

With a flick of the wrist, the ends of the wires impacted the dummy’s head. The small droplets exploded with an audible wet pop that took several-inch chunks out of the head.

I nodded to myself satisfied that I was making great progress. With the monastery, I had come some way from where I began, but with the knowledge and potential forced into my head alongside my new body, I was running miles ahead of what I could do before. The fake sweat abruptly stopped before it was reabsorbed back into me with any that had soaked into the clothes I was wearing before a certain contact notification popped up. 

Shaking my head, thankful my schedule is currently clear otherwise it would be awkward to call out when a certain someone is getting a little impatient. Can’t exactly blame him when you have what we do at our disposal.

It didn’t take Heli or me long to get me strapped into the machine. To be more precise, forcing me into the reinforced tube chamber since I could just melt without paying attention to falling out of the restraints and the device around my head that kept me linked to the body double. The top of the see-through cylinder opened before I walked up, my body elongated as my now liquid form slithered out of the clothes that fell to the floor.

It was a strange yet somehow not jarring experience. No eyes yet I could see everything. My sense of feeling had been boosted further with me capable of feeling the various ambient temperatures and subtle changes in the air around me telling me Heli was moving about. 

With a mental flex and the shape I desired, my new body complied, growing thinner before moving over the open container and flowing into it. Heli watched in fascination still trying to comprehend how my body functioned and worked the way it does. Now firmly nestled in the container with the material sending out nodes of energy that gathered information and translated it to the puppet body.

“Alright Heli,” My voice sounded normal, like it wasn’t a big puddle of sludge in a container that looked similar to a blender, “Drop it in.” 

Doing as told she took the head piece they had been designing for me to just wear and it would transfer control of the puppet to me instead of having to connect my head to it through a wire. It dropped in hitting the outer layer before my head appeared taking shape with it around it.

Mentally adjusting the insides of my head so that the neurons and other such former biological parts could take shape creating a slime-based copy of them. It took longer than I had liked but after twenty minutes of going through various changes, it finally worked while Heli took notes on what she was seeing both with her eyes and the various scanners analyzing my body.

A brief flash of light and I opened Will’s eyes, blinking before opening the secret door in the underground tunnel and dressing in my Silhouette outfit. It proved more difficult when the body stumbled forward half-dressed to the ground with my actual senses returning.

Heli squealed, looking at me in both annoyance and concern. “Not my fault Heli! I’d love to see you try and keep your brain and internal organs necessary for this to work formed while controlling a separate body entirely.” 

Heli just gave me an unimpressed look before she narrowed her eyes at me. “What are you-- Hey!”

The container I was in began to vibrate and shake rapidly, distorting my voice and turning me back into a pile of goop that for a moment struggled to stay solid. Heli looked pleased with herself. Or she had until a tentacle shot a glob of goop right into her face with a wet splat. 

She blinked owlishly before she looked like she was about to do something else. “We have a schedule,” A tentacle tapped another that had a vague shape in the form of a wrist watch on it, “Knock it off. I know you hate magic since you can’t understand it but don’t hate me. I didn’t ask for this!”

Heli’s expression softened as her tentacle rubbed mine consolingly. She didn’t hate me coming through the side of the container. She did it because she wanted more information and she needed me to settle down with how much I had been working myself. She and the others didn’t like magic but that didn’t mean they hated me. 

“Thanks Heli and sorry for snapping at you. Alright, let’s settle down and get this meeting over with.” Heli nodded a look of concentration on her face.

Reforming my head again after seeing the head piece was still functioning Will’s eyes snapped over once more seeing I was face-first on the floor. 

Getting up and finishing getting dressed I head down a specific tunnel that had flooded long ago. It was difficult at first occasionally popping out of the puppet when my concentration lapsed but between each screw up the time grew longer. Eventually, I managed to keep both active while moving through the passage. 

It was kept free of debris after putting it to use and before long I was greeted by a sleek black bullet-shaped personal submarine I had the engineers cook up. The design was heavily inspired by the one used in Escape from LA. The hatch slid open silently followed by me strapping myself in before taking off underwater. 

Like the boat, the sub was incredibly fast when it needed to be and right now I needed speed. With it underwater I weaved through the maze of flooded tunnels that Gotham and its inhabitants had long forgotten. Most were blocked with the tunnels not being maintained but there were a few left that were intact enough for us to build them back up enough to not fall apart should one of us be under it at the wrong time.

It wasn’t long before the submersible exited the tunnel moving at absurd speeds but with me being deep enough in the Gotham Bay that no one would notice the water getting more turbulent than normal.

Once out of the range of the city my craft moved around the water as I marveled at the beauty below the surface. Plants of all kinds, numerous fish, and different biomes across the water that I zipped past. It would be something I would love to create a tour over… There's an idea!

Pocketing that thought for later use it was about an hour later that I found myself at the location we had agreed on. My craft slowed down before I contacted the underwater base. It was something I had found through the engineers digging for some potential safe houses and forward operating bases if we happened to be in an area and things went fubar.

The place was unlisted on most official means but that didn’t stop my cuddly space eels from finding an old off-the-books Cold War bunker. It was a place that Black Manta had surprisingly known about and was fine with it as a place of neutral ground between the two of us.

The bulkhead doors opened with a groan like a whale far in the depths. My submarine swiftly moved in with the doors closing behind me. 

The water was channeled through the chamber and soon my vehicle floated up and docked with the walkway as I opened the cockpit. Numerous men with advanced weapons and armor looked down at me, weapons drawn but not aimed at me. 

I could respect the professional attitude of these men. Black Manta didn’t hire just anyone and he ensured his men were properly trained. When you are fighting someone like Aquaman and his people you need people who are both competent and capable.

Just saying good enough by that point wouldn’t cut it. It’s why Black Manta is someone known well enough when he is brought up in certain villain circles. He isn’t talked about too much in the dark web but when he is it’s nothing but respect. Higher-tiered villains are mixed on what people think of them. Manta isn’t mixed, it’s overwhelmingly positive of the guy. 

The only negative thing people could give him is his helmet design but that’s negligible considering it doesn’t detract from his intimidation factor.

“I expected you to be late… impressive machine.” Black Manta’s deep voice greeted me as he stepped through an open metal door with two men with rifles pointed at the ground standing by his side.

“I know, I just had to try her out and the perfect chance came up,” I said excitedly gesturing at my sleek beautiful personal submarine.

“As nice as it would be to talk about procuring one of them for me and my men, we both know why you are here.” He gestured towards the doorway for me as I adjusted my coat sleeves despite not needing to.

“Very well. We can discuss details like that at a later time.” No one said a word activating my suit which made the back of the submersible open up. Manta’s men looked towards it ready to shoot but relaxed when a robotic arm dropped a four-wheeled trolley onto the concrete floor. Grabbing the handle of it I led the group through the halls with Manta and his men following. 

None of them even commented on me knowing the facility like the back of my hand as we moved through the mess hall or the examination equipment I brought with me, past the exercise area where some of his men were taking turns on a punching bag, the eating quarters with a few who were eating rations.

They all turned to watch us before quickly going back to what they were doing. “They are well trained. You should be proud.” 

I complimented Manta, waving my hand casually at his men doing something and keeping their guard up but relaxed enough that they didn't burn themselves out. 

“I am. Of course, some need improvement and there is always more room for that. You have done your research on this facility.” He said the last part more than asked.

“You should know by now how I prefer to be kept out of the dark. It’s in the name after all.” I shrugged towards him getting a chuckle made deeper by his helmet.

“A rather fitting name indeed. Silhouette. The shadow illuminated by the light around it.” Manta mused aloud, “Unlike some villains you actually put some thought into your name.”

We arrived at the part of the bunker where the trident was stored. I half expected this to be a trap or trick so that Black Manta could have the trident for himself even if it was currently useless to him since it required a person with the potential for magic to wield it.

Instead, I saw it was suspended behind a sealed section of the room that would normally be reserved for prisoners. The room had some outdated machines that after a cursory scan showed they were surprisingly still ahead for their time. Goes to show how much the government hides from the public when a computer from the seventies and eighties is still more advanced than some of the modern ones we have now.

There were a few exceptions like the Batcomputer but that’s besides the point. The room had several more of Manta's men inside keeping guard. 

Our group walked up to the weapon and artifact as my eyes lit up with joy, for a brief moment I was about to stumble losing control of my body but I managed to keep balancing, keeping my mind formed, and keeping the puppet dancing along. 

The trident hadn’t lost its luster as it shone from an unknown light source like a great golden treasure hidden in a deep dark cave.

The wagon stopped with the equipment stored on it, soon assembling itself into a small field laboratory. One that I had modified for the express purpose of studying supernatural phenomena instead of your standard scientific kind.

Manta and his minions watched it all unfold before I gestured towards the trident. Manta silently raised the see-through wall of reinforced resin of some kind with it going into the ceiling. Hand gently touching the trident with those around me tensing up ready to start shooting me the instant I showed even a hint of treachery.

They went ignored by me as I gently placed the weapon onto a machine that whirred to life with a faint light going over the trident. Heading towards a monitor that showed me the results. Even with a specially crafted machine designed to examine and detect magic it was struggling to give me a proper image of the trident.

Not that it was the end of the world since I had expected something Poseidon had given the Atlanteans to not be some simple magic bauble. Poseidon had his pride just as Zeus did, if he gives a blessing it is going to be something good.

Even as mercurial as his moods can be, his pride would win out in the end. Despite it being a magic weapon and the equipment having been carefully made with that in mind using my knowledge of the arcane and using carefully prepared rituals to help make the components that the lab used, it wasn't registering some of the more exotic parts.

Like an X-ray but instead of seeing what it was supposed to show you it wasn’t showing up at all in the image. Some parts of it that were magic did, but there was an extra layer there that wasn’t appearing. Only faint outlines and small smudges that showed it existed but it was like a blurry photo of the Lochness Monster.

It made you question if it was really there or if it was just your mind seeing things you wanted to believe. This would be annoying to handle because the runes I wanted to make from this now would be incomplete since the parts I needed to study and understand on the metaphysical level were currently mostly undetectable.

Where the machine failed I could feel… something. It was an odd feeling, like fingers lightly brushing against your neck when you were super focused on something. You could feel it but never fully notice it like one voice amongst dozens of others. 

The feeling I felt was no different. It felt oddly familiar, yet alien to me. “Trouble?” 

Manta's distorted voice drew me out of my thoughts. “Of course. Nothing that can’t be handled in time.” I gestured to the screen then at the trident. “All the destruction in Washington was caused by the god Poseidon.”

Manta paused for a brief moment before he finally responded. “The Greek god Poseidon?"

“The very same one, yes. Despite the Justice League and the government being silent on what caused it, I saw the god himself make an appearance in a water construct. Unlike you I can feel and sense magic, this wasn’t conventional magic but divine as I have come to call it. Can’t be detected through conventional magical methods.”

“Then it is safe to assume he is fine with us holding the trident he had given to Atlantis?”

“So it would seem. I told him we did this for him since if Aquaman was worthy and took it all seriously he wouldn’t have lost it. But we are getting off track. The same signature I couldn’t detect from him is the same kind that is on the trident.”

I showed him the monitor and pointed out the different things that it did show from the normal magic to the parts that were missing despite the two of us seeing the patterns inscribed into the metal with our own eyes.

“So you are telling me it's impossible?” He asked with a warning in his tone.

“No. It can be done, it will just take longer than I had anticipated. Already have the more basic enchantments being recorded as we speak.” I told him eyes glued to the screen, not concerned in the slightest if he tried anything.

A quick grab for the trident would handle that. Even without it I was confident in fighting my way out and escaping. The readouts for the various enchantments placed in the trident were like a work of art.

It was like each enchantment that the machine could see was a link in a grand chain seamlessly moving into the next and so on like a tapestry made out of chain mail. It was breathtaking with me mentally visualizing the great tapestry. It would be even more beautiful if I could see the rest of the parts that were missing.

It was like a once-in-a-lifetime painting that no one could ever hope to match had several chunks taken out of it making the image incomplete, taking away from the grandeur of it all. 

But with my knowledge and whatever is happening to me which will need to be investigated at another time I could theorize and fill the gaps. A mental image showed what I had in mind shifting various pieces around to fill in the gaps. Stopping myself when my concentration on my form began to lapse. It could be dealt with later despite how much I wanted to do this now.

“Good. I didn’t risk myself and my men for nothing.”

I paused before turning to look at him. My head tilted with an application of chakra keeping my hat firmly secured. “While you and your men took a risk, I can attest I took the biggest risk of all. I handled Aquaman, got him separated from the trident, had Wonder Woman unlock her heritage,” That was something that I am still looking into even now since that was the only thing I could think of what happened, “And then came after me, then the great Shaker himself arrived. Safe to say I took the biggest risk by far. We all played our part, and we all made it through to the other side.”

Black Manta remained silent, having a staring contest with me. Yet neither of us knew who blinked first since the gas mask and helmet made it rather difficult to figure out.

But we stared at one another for a long time. I wasn’t backing down on this. As supervillains, we have a sense of pride, one that I never understood in my old life. But after becoming Silhouette and achieving all that I had and doing the cops and robbers bits with Batman and the other superheroes I can see why people like Manta had taken great pride in doing what they do.

It explained a lot about things like the Guild of Calamitous Intent from the Venture Bros show. Like why were they so obsessed with doing the whole villain shtick? Now I fully understand. It was fun!

Eventually, Manta nodded towards me grudgingly. “I will acknowledge your points. Even if what happened with Wonder Woman was your own doing.”

I shrugged my shoulders, “Best laid plans of mice and men and all that. Everything can’t be predicted, you plan for what you know and improvise when things don’t work out.” 

“Sounds unprofessional.” Manta harrumphed.

I turned back to the monitor ensuring the machine is staying accurate with the enchantments translating them to the runes I have envisioned mentally. Occasionally the machine needed to be corrected which was far easier than I was expecting it to be. A rune was slightly off on the angle or it chose a sharp angle instead of being curved.

It all came to me understanding what was wrong far faster than I had been before. Not that I was slow on figuring out problems, it was more like the difference was big enough that I would take notice.

“No plan survives first contact with the enemy. Had I not been capable of doing all that I had then we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now.” I countered smoothly focusing on a particularly interesting looping set of enchantments that helped control water and stacked upon one another enhancing each subsequent enchantment. 

It gave me all kinds of ideas just seeing how they managed to create this. It would prove difficult to recreate it through my runes but that has never stopped me before.

“I said it sounds unprofessional. Not that it isn’t effective or smart.” He countered.

“Fair enough. Things don’t have to be pretty or eye-catching to be effective even if it would be nice.” 

We fell into silence with Manta sticking around for a bit asking questions while I gave him an uneducated hicks lesson on magic. I didn’t exactly have anyone to hold my hand on this before I got the monastery and thanks to the memories of those they came from I could answer most of his questions.

I know he couldn’t do anything with magic himself, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t use the knowledge to ensure any future dealings with magic users he would be at least somewhat knowledgeable in some areas enough to know when someone was pulling a fast one.

He left to go handle other affairs but I didn’t doubt for a second that he didn’t have methods in place in case I tried something. I hadn’t failed to notice that despite his men’s advanced armor and weapons they had no means for me to hack into them.

It would seem he hadn’t failed to notice me hijacking those fighter jets or other such means of acquiring information. Even the facility beyond what was left here had been easy to get into albeit more difficult than anything the public had access to.

But he and his men ensured their equipment was air gapped and kept as simple as possible. Manta wasn’t an idiot. Hours went by with me studying the trident taking in every enchantment that I could, while also studying the unknown parts of it. 

The longer I spent near it the more familiar it had become to me. It was similar to what Wonder Woman had going on when she powered up. But it felt more like Poseidon's… aura I guess I could call it. It wasn’t as powerful since when he showed up it set my teeth on edge.

Sure he is a god but that feeling of static before lightning strikes to describe it was not something his presence alone did. I was coming to believe it was his divinity. Or whatever others would like to call it. So the trident may have elements of him in it…

Or he blessed the trident and it became imbued with his power. Just look at what Klarion had done and how I was harvesting the ambient chaos with my rituals. It’s how this place stays off the radar. Chaos is not inherently evil despite how Klarion acted and treated people in general.

It was a force of change. Everything goes through chaos which is just another word for change. It’s how I am keeping the places I don’t want found away from prying eyes that have access to magic. Just enough chaos to mask its presence to a magic user.

But with chaos, I could detect it. With the trident and Poseidon that was a different story. The machine couldn’t do anything with it. It couldn’t properly sense it. Where I on the other hand could feel it. 

What that said about me I didn’t know. It left me with plenty of questions. Did my newly gained grasp over technology have a hand in this or is it another ability? 

Hours go by with Manta getting a status report on how my testing is coming along. He didn’t seem upset or happy with each update but it could be that he understood this would take some time. It’s not like making a sten gun out of some pipes and a clothes hanger and calling it a day.

Eventually, I stopped when I noticed what time it was. The men around me despite how bored out of their minds they had to be stood around with a few staying close to one another. They hadn’t even talked to one another while I was in here. They perked up when I deactivated my lab equipment, shrinking back down into its large trunk size.

Taking the trident and gently placing it back in the cell they had it in before turning toward them with their guns aimed at me. 

“Well don’t just stand there like a couple of morons, close the containment unit so I can leave.” They looked towards one another before one pulled out a radio.

“Silhouette is done with their tests, sir.”

“Good. He can leave. I will meet him on his way out.”

Not even needing the man to give the go-ahead I was already walking towards the door leaving behind the equipment to conduct my tests. The equipment could only be used by me courtesy of some built in fail safes so I don’t worry about leaving it here. 

Pocketing the hard drive just in case Manta decided to cut someone else in on the deal and I’d rather not have a magic user use my notes to create something that I could get blamed for.

Waltzing out of the room with various guards patrolling around the place. Turning a corner before Manta's voice greeted me.

“What’s your progress?” He asked me, getting right down to brass tacks. 

Falling in step beside me his men not far behind the two of us. “Good and bad.”

“What’s the bad and the good? Bad first.” My head turned to look at him and he seemed to understand my silent question before I voiced it. “I learned early on to take the bad news first, it helps me better understand if someone is worth keeping around if the good news can’t fully even it out.”

I nod my head in understanding. There was more to it than that I assume but we are talking about important business and I’d rather not deviate from the topic of our discussion.

“The trident has an unknown energy signature that I am going to try to narrow down so it can be identified. Before you ask I already got some leads and ideas on how to go about detecting the signature.”

“Nothing too troublesome I hope.” 

I simply shook my hand in a so-so gesture. “Wonder Woman. I am going to have to observe her since the only other signature besides Poseidon is hers. I think we can both agree that bringing him out will not end well for anyone.”

“Considering what happened in the capital of the United States, it would be for the best. I leave it up to your discretion on how to spy on her and gather your data.” As we walked into the entrance I had arrived at we stopped, “Only so long as you don’t jeopardize what we hope to achieve.”

I held my gloved clad hands up in a soothing gesture. “Relax Manta. I have no intention of screwing this up after we had accomplished the hardest part of this.”

“Good. We both have much to gain and even more to lose.” He held his hand out for me to shake, “So I wish you luck, partner.”

I couldn’t help but smile at the compliment and his acknowledging me as an equal by calling me his partner. He is a villain, but he is a villain that I could respect. My hand took his in a firm handshake, acknowledging one another and the deal we had struck between each other.