1.11 Outsider Part 6

Fiona yelps as the Awakener pumps her full of the aqua lightning. It finishes after a moment and Fiona glares at me as I move to unplug her.

“That hurt,” complains the young woman.

“I did warn you several times it would,” I point out.

“I know, but I didn’t believe you,” protests Fiona, “My enhancements should have dealt with the pain.”

“At least it’s a good reminder that you can still be hurt even you’re prepared for it,” I say as I finish freeing her from the Awakener.

“How did it zap through my armour,” grumbles Fiona as she gets up.

“Don’t know,” I reply, “My granddad and I didn’t invent it, we just improved it.”

“Can I use my powers?” asks Fiona.

“Let’s try them out in the training room first in case they cause collateral damage,” I tell her, “By the way, your eyes haven’t changed colour as far as I can tell.”

“That’s good,” mutters Fiona absentmindedly, “I don’t feel different.”

“I doubt you do,” I reply, “Through people who went through the Awakener would mention they felt they were at their best afterwards.”

“I was already at my best,” shrugs Fiona

“Maybe,” I mutter too quietly for Fiona to hear even her enhanced hearing.

“So what powers do I have?” asks Fiona.

“That’s what we’re going to find out,” I say.

“Do you two have any powers?” inquires Fiona.

“No,” I answer.

“I have an ability,” says Alex, “All my family does, but it doesn’t count as a power the same way being able to inherently master a skill doesn’t count. I’m considered to be gifted, not powered. ”

“I suppose that makes sense,” replies Fiona, “If that sort of stuff would be considered to be having powers back in my home dimension. Of course what’s normal is relative I guess.”

“That is certainly true,” I agree, “I consider the life of a superhero to be normal because that’s what I grew up with.”

“Just I consider what I am to be normal because I spent the few years living solely with people like me,” says Fiona, “How close are we to your training room?”

“You go in this door here,” I say as I stop, “It leads to the training room floor. Alex and I will go in that door further down the corridor. It’ll take us up to the control room and observatory.”

“Okey dokey,” says Fiona as she marches into the door.

She stumbles backwards, clutching her forehead.

“I expected it to open automatically,” complains the Drakesguard, “Or at least break open.”

“This base is one of the sturdiest and well-built structures on the planet,” I tell her, “It’s also one of the oldest buildings with electronics built into it. A couple years before automatic doors were even invented actually. And none were added in later years as they can be electronically hacked. Also the doors are strong enough to resist anything short of Class 6. Even then they can take a few blows usually.”

Fiona grunts and charges the door. She slams into before I can react and falls over backwards.

“Don’t damage my property!” I yell at Fiona, “Use the darn handle to get it open like a normal person!”

I check the door as Fiona back flips to her feet. No dents other than the ones already there.

“Fine,” grumbles Fiona as she finally uses the handle to open the door.

I watch her enter and wait for her to close the door behind her. I sigh before Alex and I head up to the control room.

Fiona is waiting in the middle of the training room.

“So now what?” asks Fiona out loud.

“Do something,” I reply over the training room speakers, “Try and use your new powers.”

“Okay,” says Fiona and stands there, concentrating.

“Maybe try moving?” I suggest after nothing happens.

Fiona steps forward and there’s a flash of blinding light. Well, not quite blinding for me as my armour filters most of the light away, but there’s still enough light for me to instinctively shield my eyes with my arm and look away. Alex, on the other hand, yelps in surprise.

“Whoo-hoo!” yells Fiona joyfully, “Did you see that?”

“We saw the light,” I answer as I look for Fiona.

I would say yes, but something might have happened that was concealed by the light.

“I teleported,” says Fiona happily, “By the Tragan, I teleported.”

“You did?” I reply as I replay the footage in the corner of my HUD, but the light fills the entire footage.

I flick through the different forms of viewing such as thermal, x-ray and ultraviolet, but all are also blocked.

A flash of light that can block viewing across the entire spectrum. Interesting. Of course it isn’t perfect, after all, my armour was able to filter it and someone who knew what they were dealing with could neutralise the effects.

Also it didn’t seem to work when Fiona wasn’t moving so that might be another limitation.

“What happened?” I ask Fiona, “The flash of light you gave off shielded you from being watched.”

“I step forward and suddenly I was a few meters forward,” explains Fiona, “I didn’t see any light.”

“So you weren’t affected by your own light,” I mutter before speaking up, “That’s useful. You could theoretically use your light to blind enemies or sensors while attacking or escaping. Especially if we figure how far you can move when teleporting.”

“Do you have any training drones I could fight?” asks Fiona, “To test out my new power in combat.”

“Sure,” I say and think for a moment before adding, “Without your armour.”

“Why?” protests Fiona.

“Because if you’re going to go home and be a superhero, you’ll be wearing a costume, not your armour,” I explain, “Therefore you should practice fighting without your armour.”

“So you want me to just take off my only clothing in a middle of a room while you watch me,” asks Fiona.

“I want you to change into a spare cos-mat suit,” I reply, “I’ll send Alex down with one and look away as you change. Any preference on colour?”

“White?” suggests Fiona, “I’ve had enough conflict with darkness and evil to enjoy the colour white and light it symbolises.”