1.11 Outsider Part 12

“So you won’t need any help back in your home dimension?” asks Sam as we see Fiona off.

The portal she is using is already open in one of the lower levels of the base. It turns out the old League had a interdimensional portal device stored away.

I wish I had known about this sooner, I think, I could have used it to help Narszara get back home. Why didn’t think to look for it before now?

Fiona is in her costume with two containers of Sentinel Tech.

“Thanks for the help guys,” says Fiona with a wave goodbye to us before stepping through the portal of swirling multi-coloured energy.

I hesitate for a moment before deciding on a course of action.

“I need to ask Fiona something,” I tell the others before going through after her.

I look around as I arrive in another world, on top of a mountain. This is my first time in another dimension, I realise as I spot Fiona at the mountain edge. I follow her trail of sight, looking at the American town below that the mountain presides over.

She puts the containers down and sits down, her legs dangling over the edge.

“May I join you for a moment?” I ask Fiona as I walk up to her.

She turns her head and stares for a moment, before saying, “Sure.”

“Thanks,” I say and I sit down next to her.

“I assume there is a reason you followed me through?” says Fiona.

“Yeah,” I reply, “I wanted to ask you something, but it slipped my mind until the last moment.”

“What is it?”

“When you first arrived, you said you came to my universe because something unusually there stood out to you. I was wondering if you could explain what is was in greater detail?”

Fiona thinks for a moment before replying.

“There is a interdimensional phenomenon called Outsiders,”  Fiona answers, “It occurs when one isn’t connected to a universe and as result, become immune to effects that would change that reality at its core. Usually when someone ends up in a foreign universe or they end up travelling between dimensions. Because we’re from outside that reality, when it changes internally, we’re not affected because the local stuff doesn’t apply to us. So say someone travels to another dimension and settles there. They would be an Outsider. Then someone goes back in time and changes something. Everybody else would act if the change had always happened because for them, it had. But the Outsider would remember before the change and would be able to act on them, because as foreign element, the internal changes wouldn’t be part of them. This makes a settled Outsider a *&@#”£ to fight as they wouldn’t be affect by time travel, reality warping or other stuff like that. Plus the vast majority of Outsiders are tough and dangerous as they had to struggle to survive and end up very good at surviving and adapting to rapidly changing situations.”

“So a settled Outsider in my universe and that is what drew your attention?” I say.

“One that’s particularly unusually,” replies Fiona, “You should know something about Outsiders. When they’re in a universe, it can’t split into alternate realities that occur when different paths are taken. This is because you can’t get alternate version of an Outsider. While you can get alternates that both end up as Outsiders, an Outsider won’t form any more alternate of themselves. This means that any changes to that reality are permanent and proper. So time travel or reality warping would usually create an alternate version of a reality, but if it has Outsider it won’t happened because that would form alternate of that Outsider.”

“So what you’re saying is that my universe is particularly vulnerable to internal changes?” I say.

“That’s one aspect of it,” agrees Fiona, “But you should be aware that people can leave their reality and return as Outsider like I am. And not always after the same amount of time has passed. For example, it has only been two years for my reality since I left, but it’s been six years and a half from my perspective. Over three times longer for me.”

“Thanks for that information,” I reply, “It might come in handy someday. Call for advice if you need it. I’ll also send you some spare costumes once you inform me where you want them to appear in this dimension.”

“Goodbye Sentinel,” says Fiona as I get up.

“It’s just Daniel Griffin,” I reply, “I’m not in my armour. And goodbye Flashblast.”

I walk back through the portal where Narszara is waiting.

“Milord,” says Narszara as I deactivate the portal, “I wish to ask you something.”

“Ask away,” I reply with a wave of my hand.

“You have technology that can be used to communicate with those in other parts of the Multiverse?” inquires Narszara.

“Correct,” I tell her.

“Excellent,” says Narszara happily and begins to walk away.

Wait a moment…

“Narszara,” I say and the Norgardian comes to a halt, “Do you know what an Outsider is?”

“Aye Verigar,” replies Narszara.

“Are you an Outsider,” I ask her.

“Yes I am,” answers Narszara, “I do fit the criteria.”

“That is all,” I say and she leaves the room.

Narszara is an Outsider. If my suspicions are correct, it was her presence that got Fiona’s attention.

I’m also relieved at the idea of the League having an Outsider as a member, especially one as powerful as Narszara. Even if someone does alter reality, Narszara would still be around to stop them even if those changes got rid of the League.

1.11 Outsider Part 11

I trot through the sewers, doing my best to ignore the stench. I really ought to get used to it because having a tunnel system is really useful. Especially one with such easy access and an extensive network.

I got everything from both bags with me. Quite lucky, I think, as the gang could have easily have spread the contents across the house.

Now I have two options, either head to my family’s house or the base. If I head home, I’ll have to answer awkward questions from my family. If I go to the base, folks that will be understanding and Narszara can use her magic to heal any scrapes and bruises.

To the base it is.

The walk to the base from my location technically isn’t that long, but that is only because the base is massive. I would mainly just encounter the unused areas that are for emergencies. To actually reach the parts of the base that I use, it’ll be about an hour and a half walk in this dark and smelly sewer system.

I guess that is what I should have expected as part of being a vigilante when not acting as a superhero.

I check my League communicator. I got a signal despite the fact no phone would be able to get a signal here. Then again, my League communicator certainly doesn’t count as just a phone.

“Report Janelle,” I say.

“No cameras or other devices recorded you,” says the AI via the speakers on my communicator, “Despite attempts by neighbours to call the police once they heard the screams from the house, police only receive notification once you entered the sewers. The police have also a report from the Sentinel detailing almost all of the Shirley Marauders’ crimes. Nothing overly serious such as murder or anything like that, but enough to put them away for a good many years.”

“Good,” I say before walking the rest of the journey in silence, thinking about the fight.

It was the first time I was out in a fight when not acting as a superhero. I was also the first time I when I got into a serious fight without wearing one of the greatest suits of power armour in the world.

It should have been terrifying, but I too calm and focused to worry. And since it went darn near perfectly, I can’t really look back at it and be worried. Especially since between the lack of evidence and my connections, I don’t need to worry about the police.

Sky, Helen, James, Fiona, Alex and Narszara are all waiting for me at the table as I enter the main room. Fiona is still wearing the white cos-mat costume while Narszara is wearing a green one. I only recently have gotten her to wear something other than her armour willing.

“Do I have a black eye?” is my first question and receive variants of the word ‘yes’ in response.

I sigh before asking Narszara, “Can you heal it please? I would rather not explain to my family or the police if they come knocking.”

“Aye milord,” answers Narszara as she gets up and walks towards me as I reach the table.

I sit down and place the bags on the table as Narszara looks at me. I feel an itch around my eye that fades after moment as Narszara retakes her seat.

One thing about Narszara is that she rarely uses words when casting her magic. I been meaning to ask her about that, but now isn’t the time.

“Any questions?” I ask, “I assume you all know about Fiona and her situation by now.”

“Yeah,” says Sky, “The computer lady also says you went and beat up the guys who mugged your sister. I’m guessing from the bags that she is correct?”

“The computer lady is Janelle and she is both correct and the AI of the League’s starship,” I reply, “I took down six of them and last one give me the information I needed. Janelle made sure that wasn’t any evidence of what I did and that the police didn’t get informed before I got away. She also released enough information to police for them to arrest the gang.”

“So everything is going to work out just fine,” asks Helen.

“The police don’t have any solid evidence of what I did and no jury would convict me anyway,” I answer, “Lily will probably just be glad I got her stuff back. Mum will be fine as long as the police don’t get too involved. She knows about granddad and the League. Dad on the other hand will be angry. He doesn’t know about Sentinel and the League so he thinks I’ll have risked getting badly hurt and getting into trouble with the law.”

“But let’s not worry about that now,” I continue, “It’s my problem not yours. Let’s talk about Fiona aka Flashblast.”

“From what I heard, she arrived in our dimension this morning,” says James, “Then you brought her back here and used the Awakener on her. Now she going to back to her home dimension and become its first superhero. And you, we, are giving her equipment and advice to help her do so.”

“We’re helped Fiona picked out some gadgets while you were busy with your...thing,” says Sky, “She using some Sentinel Tech with the rest of her gear being provided by her old boss. You’re also getting her a costume and a League communicator so she can stay in contact with us. How does that last one work?”

I sigh before replying. Sometimes I wish the others would just read what their equipment can actually do instead of only finding out when I mention things.

“The communicators used by the League have setting that can be used to contact any other League communicators, even when they are in different dimensions,” I reply, “Granddad gave them the ability to do so after members of the old League got trapped in other dimensions a few times. In this case, the setting will allow Fiona to contact us and vice-versa. That way she can asks us for advice on being a good superhero and I will be able to resupply her. So when will you be leaving Fiona?”

“As soon as Lantern returns with my costume,” says Fiona, “I’m not going reveal myself to my family straight away once I get back. You see, I want to scout things out and come up with a plausible story before I rejoin my old life.”

“So that was what Sam was doing?” I say, “I saw him flying overhead earlier.”

“Yup,” says Sam from behind me as he enters the main room of the base.

He got a costume folded underneath his arm which Sam then tosses at Fiona. The Drakesguard catches it with ease.

“Can you put it on?” asks Sky, “I really want to see how you’ll look as a superhero.”

“Sure,” replies Fiona with a shrug.

“You know where the changing rooms are?” I ask.

“Alex showed me,” says Fiona as she walks off.

I speak with the others as Fiona gets changed, mostly asking them about what they and Fiona have done together. Turns out that they mainly discuss the differences between our world and Fiona’s, gave her advice and help her pick out items from masses of Sentinel Tech stored in the base.

Sky was particularly impressed by the amount of gadgets and has decided that she’s going to use more of them when she can.

I’m about to start explain what different gadgets my granddad had invented by Fiona returns.

“Take a look,” says Fiona before striking a heroic pose with her hands on her hips.

The costume is white with golden gloves and boots. The sides of her costume are also gold while on her face is a white domino mask with a gold border. The costume itself smugly fits her body, showing off her muscles and curves.

“You look great Flashblast,” says Alex.

1.11 Outsider Part 10

I casually walk into the living room that first gangster had left. Another of his mates is in there, already on his feet. Unlike the first, this one has short black hair and the beginnings of a beard that he is growing.

I catch the punch he swings at me and bring me other fist down on the elbow of his arm.  The man screams, alerting the rest of the gang. I need to finish him off quickly.

Within a split-second I kick him into the knee to put him off balance and grab his shirt. I slam him face first into the wooden table in the middle of the room a few times, stopping when the man is finally out cold.

I don’t even glance back at him. He’ll be fine apart from a nasty headache when he wakes up and a collection of bumps and bruises.

This is going well so far. Two members of the gang are already down and I don’t even have a scratch on me. I exit the living room to go back into the hall. Further down the hall you have only two places to go. The dining room or up the stairs.

Those stairs don’t look particularly safe. This house is one of the worst in the area so I suppose that is to be expected. And those two burly men coming down them don’t help their image of safety.

Two men plus the guy leaving the dining room make up over half of the remaining gangsters.

I step backwards. I can use the hall to funnel the gangsters towards me, one at a time. With only one of them able to reach me, I minimise one of the greatest dangers of this fight. It doesn’t hurt that I’m personally trained by one of the greatest fighters on the planet while these punks use little more than crude brute force.

The closest one rushes me and I easily dodge his clumsy swipes. My counter-attack is brutal. Two swift jabs to the head followed up by a gut punch to daze and winded my opponent respectively.

I kick the man backwards into his comrades. As he staggers backwards, I vault over his tumbling body and kick the next guy’s head into the wall. I only half-hope he isn’t too badly hurt as he slumps down against the wall.

I trip of the last of these guys up before kicking the first in the head. With a couple more kicks to the other downed gangster’s head, both are out of the fight. Five down, two to go.

I hear footsteps coming down the hall and I turn to face my latest foe, only to receive a fist to my face.

Despite being stunned, my training and reflexes take over as I grab the arm of attacker and pull it backwards with me. I hear a grunt of pain as I come to my senses. Seizing the initiative again, I pull the arm into the lock and yank it hard.

I’m rewarded with a scream of pain before letting go. I quick look at my muscular foe and I know I’m fighting the bodybuilder leader of the Marauders. That and his right shoulder is now dislocated.

I follow up with flurry of blows to his face until he drops over backwards. I step over the bodies of my opponents to face the final member of the gang as he backs away from me at the far end of the hall.

“I don’t want no trouble mate,” protests the gangster as he raises his hands in surrender.

I take the sight of him in. He looks like scum with only jeans and white tank top. Tattoos go down both of his arms while his head is clean shaven.

“Neither do I,” I reply calm as I slowly walk towards him.

I can only imagine how terrified the gangster is. After all, some kid just came in, beat up all of his tough guy pals with nothing more than a black eye in return and now he is coming after him.

“But you guys mugged my sister and her friend yesterday,” I continue before I pause about a half metre away from the petrified man, “And I’m sure you understand I can’t just let it go.”

“Totally,” agrees the gangster nervously.

“But it hasn’t gone far enough to involve police just yet and I’m sure you’ll want wrap this up without getting hurt,” I say, “So let’s make a deal. Tell me where the stuff you took is and let me take it and leave and you won’t end up like the rest your friends over there.”

The gangster gulps before answering, “Upstairs, third room down.”

“Thank you,” I say, “Now get out of my way.”

The man is eager to comply and scrambles into the dining room. I walk up the stairs quickly and find the room. It’s a pigsty, but I quick pull how my League communicator and scan the room as I pick up the bags of my sister and her friend.

Using the data from my phone, I spend another minute or two collecting the items from the bags that were lying about before heading back down. A couple of the gangsters are getting to their feet, but I ignore them.

I decide to head out the backdoor. I barely spare a glance to covering gangster I march past him. I use my parkour skills to hop over the fence before heading towards the sewer entrance.

It is useful having a sewer system large enough to fit people in. In the past, the authorities have proposed making it smaller and more efficient, but Sentinel Technologies have always paid the extra maintenance.

It really helps having this secret tunnel system, I think as I hop down, The sheer usefulness easily outweighs the smell of using it.

1.11 Outside Part 9

I march up to my lab and strip myself of my armour, saying hello to a couple of the Rileys as I go past them. I’m actually getting used to them being around the base much to my surprise.

Once I changed back into civilian clothes, I left the base, alone and unarmoured.

It feels strange and tense walking towards a fight. Not that I hadn’t done that a few times before, but this time is different.

I was alone, but that wouldn’t have mattered if I have my armour or if there is only one person to fight. I was unarmoured, but I would have been okay if I had someone else at my back or my opponent didn’t. I had no problem fighting a group if I had either people backing me up or the Sentinel armour.

But no, just Daniel Griffin without his friends against a local gang. No Sentinel with the League of Heroes to back him up.

On the other hand, I was certain I could take them. I am as fit as I can be and I still retain my fighting skills even without the armour. The key is that when you’re beating up one guy, you keep an eye on his friends so they don’t get the drop on you. All the fighting skill in the world won’t help you if that happens.

Plus if I’m lucky, all seven won’t even be there at moment. Perhaps just three, maybe four. Possible just two or even one if I’m extra lucky.

But Granddad said never to rely on luck. He also said not to worry about things you can’t do anything about and this is one of those things. Unless I back out of course.

Why are my thoughts straying? I got three quarters of an hour left to where Janelle said there hideout was. Better check again, I think as I pull out my phone. Janelle downloaded their location to my phone as a custom app that will tell me their locations as Janelle tracks their movements.

You know, I could probably use this app for the others purpose. It would be pretty useful for tracking people, especially I if put it on all the League communicators.

This is not my lucky day, I think as I stare at the location of all the gangsters. Unfortunately for me, they’re all in the same building.

Better think of something else to occupy my thoughts. Like the trying implement magnetic boots and gauntlets into the Sentinel.

The main problem I’m having is not getting the boots and gauntlets to work, but getting them to work in a manner that makes them viable in the field. Or at least to point that the pros of having them outweigh the cons.

I either get them working, but they’re too chucky and thick to fit to be worth having or I get them streamline enough, but they’re too weak to work.

I ponder the problem, but I am unable to do much other than come up with theories without access to the lab to actually test them.

Once I’m nearing the run down house that the so-called Marauders call home, I look up briefly, wondering if I doing the right thing. My granddad, both of my parents and the Bible say not to follow an “eye for eye” and instead “turn the other cheek”, but these people hurt my little sister.

As I look at up, I spot Sam or rather Lantern flying by on one of his patrols. I sigh. That the problem with powers and using violence to solve what’s wrong. Too easy to cross the line, be it quick or slow.

The League are vigilantes, but only because we don’t obey the letter of the law. We uphold justice and spirit of the law unlike some vigilantes who do it out of vengeance or some other reason.

I think about how this is going down. This is partially about vengeance, but it should also be about justice. I will not use excessive force nor will I cripple or maim any of the people I am about to fight.

I’m not walking into this fight completely unprepared. I pull out a pair of seemingly leather gloves to protect my hands when I punch. Scraped and injured knuckles are unpleasant. While they look leather, the gloves are actually much more durable and protective. They even have some power-boosters built in to give my punches, well, more punch.

My trousers and shirt both have cos-mat underneath to soften blows and blunt weaponry and block any sharp or bladed weaponry.

As I finish putting on the gloves, I decide I’m ready to enter the house, mentally and physically.

I open the door using the handle. As Janelle told me on my way via text, the Marauders have left the front door unlocked. I hear some voices and I spot a man get up in the room on the other side of the wall.

I walk down the hallway, reaching the doorway of the room as the man exits. Barely old enough to be considered a man, his hair is shaved way too short and his face has punk look to it. He looks at me in surprise briefly before I take him down.

I knee his crotch at the same time I punch him in the throat. He gags in pain and drops to his knees. Before he can recover, I grab his head and slam it into the radiator next to us. He slums as I let go of him and collapses on the floor.

One down, six to go.

1.11 Outsider Part 8

“Can we wrap this up?” I ask Fiona, “I got other things to get done today.”

“Sure,” answers Fiona, “I got the hang of my powers now anyway.”

“Then let’s discuss your costume, codename and good superhero behaviour,” I say.

“I’ll be up in just a-,” starts Fiona, before stopping with a grin on her face.

She runs towards the observatory and jumps, flash-stepping in the middle of the air. Fortunately Fiona dulled the light so Alex and I are not blinded and irritated respectively.

“I already know what I’m going to call myself,” says Fiona as she stands up straight.

I look at. Something off, but I can’t quite my finger on it.

No wait; it is just her blue eyes. Which were brown earlier.

I can’t believe I missed that until now.

“Hey Fiona,” I say, “What is the colour of your hair and eyes?”

Fiona gives me an odd look before answering, “Black and brown of course.”

Alex makes a quiet ‘ohh’ noise and Fiona turns to face her.

“What?” demands the Drakesguard.

“That may have been the case,” I say delicately, now sure how strongly Fiona will react on the matter, “If you look at yourself, you’ll see that you’re a blonde with blue eyes now.”

“Serious?” demands Fiona.

“I believe the Awakener must have changed the colours,” I reply, “I hope you don’t mind as I have no control over what happened.”

“It’s fine,” shrugs Fiona, “It’s not like I can’t disguise it or anything. Plus it’ll be useful for keeping my secret identity separate from my superhero identity.”

“Let’s talk about that in a moment,” I say, “But first I want to talk about your codename for your costumed identity.”

“I assume I should go for something related to my powers?” says Fiona.

“Or something heroic sounding or a mixture of both,” I reply.

“What about Flashbang?” suggests Alex.

“Nahh,” says Fiona dismissively, “Wait, I’ll go for Flashblast. You know, because I can flashstep and blast stuff with my hands.”

“Good name,” I reply, “Now let’s talk about your costume. I can get you a cos-mat one for you with spares available, but what colour scheme will you want? I have some recommendations if you want?”

“You’re the expert,” says Fiona, “What are your ideas?”

“I think the best choice for you would be white as the primary colour with gold as a secondary colour,” I tell her, “The white fits in with your flash-stepping and both colours work well with your new hair and eyes. All of those would make for a good iconic image of superhero. Which is what you’ll be if you’re the first superhero in your home universe.”

“That sounds like a good choice,” replies Fiona, “I’ll go with it.”

“Then let’s move on to my next point,” I say, “As I just mentioned, you’ll be an iconic superhero in your home universe due to being the first. That means that whatever you do will set the precedent and expectations of publics. While some might argue what should or is expected of you, the average person will have their expectations shaped by the first superheroes, which would be you. All of your actions as Flashblast, no matter big or small, will shape your world for the better or worse.”

“That sounds like a big responsibility,” replies Fiona.

“It is,” I agree before continuing, “Once the authorities find out what you are, they’ll want you to either work for them or to control you. Most likely they’ll try to do both. If you do decide to give in to them, it’ll become accepted that superheroes should work for the government. If you refuse and continue as a vigilante, it’ll become acceptable for superheroes to be independent. If you choose to work for a corporation, that’ll be seen as acceptable, but I would highly recommend against that. I feel strongly against the idea of people selling out their powers rather than using them out of a sense of duty or morals. While vigilantes and government agents with powers are still prone to corrupt, it is much more likely to happen to mercenaries and corporate employees.”

“I understand,” says Fiona, “I have encountered that sort of people a few times. It...rarely went well. For them at least.”

“Yeah,” I mutter, “Same with my granddad. But as I was staying, there is certain behaviour I expect from a good superhero. It is basically the League of Heroes unofficial rules and regulations that most teams around the world have.”

“Let’s hear them,” says Fiona with a casual demeanour.

I’m about to reply when Narszara and James enter the room and take seats next to Alex. I glance at them before turning my gaze back to Fiona.

“One of them is no swearing as you know,” I tell her, “It sets a bad example to kids and I don’t want young children to swear because they heard a superhero do and think it’s okay because of that. Another is to respect those that put their lives at risk such as the police or military. For example, while the League does help the local police with everyday crime, we still respect the officers and let them make the arrests even if we are the ones to catch the criminals. We also try to keep politics separate from what we do. While it can overlap if we do something with political implications, especially if a politician is trying to keep it done, we simply claim it was coincidence as it would be. If we do get involved with politics, usually endorsing an action or policy, it’s because we feel it’s the right thing to do or it helps people. While only Gateway is the only new member of the League old enough to vote, she and the old Leaguers also do their voting in secret unless we strongly support a candidate. We also expect good behaviour to set good examples to those who take inspiration from us, especially children.”

 

I quickly look at the time on my HUD. Almost eleven now.

“Now if you don’t mind,” I say, “I have business to take care of in my civilian identity.”

1.11 Outsider Part 7

“Done yet?” I ask Fiona as I keep my eyes away from the training room as she gets changed into the white cos-mat suit Alex brought her.

“Yeah,” answers Fiona and I finally look back at the training room.

Fiona has piled her armour at the side of the room and is looking up at the observatory from the middle of the training room.

I almost don’t recognise Fiona. Fiona in a white closefitting cos-mat suit looks very different to Corporal Morgan in her black concealing armour.

I look at Fiona for a moment, observing this new look to her. Fiona would make a great superhero iconic. Her figure is most definitely there and is both shown up off by her closefitting fabric and concealed by it being a full body suit with thick material. Her body is lean and muscular, making her look strong and powerful. Her hair is cut short just short of the top of her neck and is a startlingly blonde.

Overall, Fiona looks like an amazon without being over the top buff and large. Strong, confident and power projecting. She has the look of a grand superhero and the power and skill to back it up to become the real deal if she so wishes.

Fiona suddenly poses and says, “Looking at me Sentinel?”

I look away and blush slightly.

“Just the contrast behind you in a superhero costume versus your armour,” I reply truthfully, “You have the potential to be a great superhero icon if you do go home.”

“Thank you dear Sentinel,” says Fiona as she adopts another pose.

Rather than reply to Fiona’s playful flirting, I press a bunch and a trio of humanoid combat drones drop from the ceiling. I do have a girlfriend after all.

“Whoa,” mutters Fiona as she rolls away from the drones.

She starts to move to take something off her back, but halts when she realises she doesn’t have her armour and weapons with her.

“Damn,” curses Fiona.

“Good superheroes don’t curse or swear,” I tell Fiona, “It sets a bad role model. I only recently got Storm Knight to come off swearing. Now he only uses words like banana or sugar.”

“So none of the League of Heroes swears?” inquires Fiona as she backs away.

“Only the old Leaguers when it got really bad,” I reply, “Try and use darn instead.”

Fiona smiles and pretends to look for her weapons again before saying, “Darn.”

I let out a little chuckle as Alex re-enters the control room and observatory.

“Can I punch them?” asks Fiona, “No complaining about breaking your property?”

“Sure,” I answer, “We had people a lot stronger than you train down here. I expect the drones to end up broken.”

“Great,” says Fiona as the closest drone takes a swing at her.

Fiona sidesteps and casually grabs the drone’s arm at the elbow whilst readying her other arm for a strike. She punches the drone in its shoulder, her fist slamming into it and denting its armour. Then it explodes.

The drone’s shoulder has blown open internally where Fiona punched it. The arm has gone flying across the room and the head is limply hanging backwards. The drone was blown off its feet, only Fiona’s grip on its other arm keeping it in place.

That was not supposed to happen, I think blandly as I try to figure out what did happen.

“I’m freezing the drones,” I tell Fiona as I deactivate the training drones.

“What was that?” asks Fiona as she drops the drone in her grip, “I saw the explosion, but didn’t feel it at all.”

“I’m just going to check the footage,” I reply, “But on a limp, I say you caused the explosion when you punched it.”

“Another power?” says Fiona excitedly.

“Most likely,” I mutter as I pull up the footage in front of me and review it.

I zoom in where Fiona punched the drone and press play. While it dents under the impact of her strength, it does explode or show any signs of exploding. Then the shoulder joint of the drone suddenly blows up from the inside.

Powers are easier to understand when they obey the laws of physics.

I turn the footage off when I hear a boom in the training room.

“Hey Sentinel,” says Fiona, “I think I can send out explosive blasts.”

She waves her hand at one of the frozen training drone with a boom, shaking it. You can’t see the explosion, but the sensors picked it up.

An invisible explosive wave with no logical source other than Fiona. At least we got a basic idea of what happened now.

“Okay,” I say, “Now we know what your powers seem to be, let’s figure how they work and what their limits are.”

And that’s how we spent the next couple of hours, figuring out the details of Fiona’s powers. By the end, I could say for certain that Fiona had the two powers.

Fiona quickly dubbed her teleporting ‘Flash-Stepping’. It works by moving and then teleporting further while in the same motion. So if she jumps, she could teleport up further. If Fiona rolled, she would teleport further and then come out of the rolling motion. Plus she could do through solid objects. The limits on distance seem to be a maximum of a few metres with no limits on how little she could go, but with her enhanced senses, reflexes and reaction times, Fiona could flash-step several times a second in the same direction.

The blinding flash of light always happens when Fiona flash-steps. She can dim it so it isn’t as blinding, up to the point where it is just a dull flicker of light. Fiona was also able to weaponise the light her flash-step gives out by simply move about by a couple of millimetres, giving off the flash while not really moving.

As for her explosive waves or concessive blasts as Fiona prefers to call them, Fiona can direct them with her hands and scale their power up or down. She can also cause selected parts of whatever she has made contract with to explode. Such as at point in the training, she destroyed all the joints of one drone.

I look at the time. This is taking too long. I still need to deal with those punks who went after my sister before school starts back up tomorrow.