1.19 Ascendance Part 5

Joan doesn’t get very far before Superior grabs her by the neck with one meaty hand. She struggles at his grip as she is lifted off the floor and her feet dangle above the ground.

“You’re not going anywhere,” growls Superior as his eyes blaze with fury.

Ceta?

I’m sorry Joan, there is nothing I can do.

Oh.

I can restore you using a back-up of your mind and genetics, but otherwise...I’m sorry. The Guardsmen will avenge you and Leo.

Leo...

I will remove your ability to feel physical pain.

As Joan refocuses her attention on Superior, the villain yanks her left arm out of its socket and tosses it aside. Despite the horrific injury, Joan doesn’t feel a thing, something that she is very thankful to Ceta for.

Leo’s dead. He’s dead. No, he can’t just be dead. Leo is too paranoid for that. He has some plan to avoid death or come back from the dead or something. Maybe Ceta or Legacy will know what to do. Or Jaylyn. Our darling daughter was created by Leo. She might have some way to save her father. But we can figure that out once Ceta brings me back. That’s right, we’ll bring Leo back once this is all over. Just like they’ll do with me. Heh, nothing to worry about. Absolutely nothing at all. Heh, heh.

“Now you join your pal,” sneers Superior.

“You’re a monster,” retorts Joan as she stares Superior in the eye.

“A monster?” replies Superior before laughing as he stares right back at Joan, “Little girl, I am a hero. One who has ascended the barbaric and primitive species of Homo Sapiens into the realm of Homo Superior.”

“So you’re one of the people who believes in might makes right then,” Joan replies, surprising herself at how calm and polite she is remaining.

“The difference is that I can back it up,” counters Superior.

“So the most powerful parahuman world is just another Nazi-wannabe,” snorts Joan.

Joan doesn’t flinch as Superior rips off her other arm.

Wow, it feels so weird not to being able to feel my arms.

I can fix that. At least I can make seem like you can still feel them without feeling any pain.

Cool.

“What is wrong with you?” demands Superior, “Doesn’t that hurt?”

“Not really,” replies Joan, “You suck at this!”

“Clifton don’t!” yells the woman before Superior does anything to Joan, “We need her alive.”

“She’s a @#%$ing bitch sis,” complains Superior as he turns to look at the woman.

So they want me alive huh?

So it would seem.

Too bad for them then. If I judged Superior’s personality, this should work just fine.

Joan spits at Superior and the next thing she knows, Joan is floating in the middle of open white space.

“Okay,” says Joan as she looks away, “So I’m assuming I’m dead. Anybody going to correct me or I am right?”

“I would assume the latter,” says a voice that Joan recognises as belonging to Leo.

“Leo!” exclaims Joan happily.

“I’m afraid not,” replies the person as Joan turns around to face them.

A featureless person that is engulfed in a glowing blue light floats opposite Joan.

“Who are you then?” demands Joan as she crosses her arms.

“Joyous Star,” answers the person with a courteous bow, “You may recognises me as one of Leo’s Companions.”

“Then where is Leo?” asks Joan as she clasps her hands together.

“I am unware of his location,” replies Star, “The last thing I remember is making Superior bleed after we used the remote controls in Reinkal to lodge it in Superior’s back.”

“Reinkal is that halberd right?” inquires Joan and Star nods, “So do you have any idea why we are here?”

“No,” replies Star with a shake of his head, “This is as much a mystery to me as it is to you.”

“Well, nice to meet you Joyous Star,” says Joan as she holds out a hand for him to shake.

“The pleasure is mine,” replies Star as he grasps the hand that Joan is offering.

As they make contact, the world around Joan flashes and she stumbles backwards. Joan blinks and she finds herself on her back, staring at ceiling of the corridor outside her bedroom.

What happened?

You have Awoken.

Sweet, wait, is that the same as manifestation?

An immensely stronger version of Manifesting.

Definitely sweet. So are you my Companion then? What powers do I have?

Yes and you have three game breaker powers.

What are they Star?

First is your Enhanced Rating. You are an Infinity Aphrodite with your physical prowess at A+ levels. Which is to say at the A+ level of conventional powers in a Bellator manner rather than the A+ level of Enhanced Ratings such as Bellator or Aphrodites.

Freaking awesome!

Indeed they are. Your second strongest power is your newfound invulnerability.

So I have top tier nigh invulnerability?

No, just outright invulnerability.

No way! Wait, you said that was my second strongest power? Does that mean I have a stronger one then?!

That you do Joan. I can’t get an exact reading on this power, but you seem to be a practically unrestricted reality warper. The only limitation I can find is that you can’t affect other powers. I am sure that there will be others, but if there are, I am lack knowledge of their existence.

That is-no @#%$ing-I don’t-unbelievable-you know what that means?

Superior is no longer the strongest parahuman on the planet?

Damn right.