Your vision blurred as you pulled yourself up.
Samson was howling now, electricity surging uncontrolled through his body, melting metal and concrete around him. His skin blistered with green and yellow light. He stumbled forward, trying to hold it back.
Pulse blasted another shockwave to slow him, but Samson just tanked it—his form mutating, swelling with unstable force.
"Stop... make it STOP!!" he cried.
And then—he turned toward Pulse.
"No," you said, stepping forward. "You want me."
You held out your hands.
Energy flared to life—your energy. Not just electricity. But the memory of it. Refined. Familiar.
You welcomed it this time.
Electricity wrapped around your arms and legs like armor, flowing into your muscles, nerves, even your eyes. Your pulse synced with it.
[ELECTRIC ADAPTATION: ACTIVE]
FORM TYPE: CURRENT STRIDE
Your body lit with blue and white arcs. Faster. Sharper. You didn't just copy the electricity.
You became it.
You blitzed forward.
In an instant, you were on Samson—dodging his wild swings, leaping off debris, and landing shock-charged strikes into key pressure points. His body spasmed with each hit—but instead of pushing him deeper into meltdown, your strikes started siphoning the unstable energy back.
You were stabilizing him.
He swung again—his movements slowing.
You ducked, wrapped your arms around his torso, and discharged a surge of focused current into his core.
"Breathe!" you shouted. "You're not a monster! You're just lost!"
He screamed—his voice a painful echo across the site.
Then...
Stillness.
Samson collapsed.
Smoke rose from his back as the last of the stolen energy crackled out.
You dropped beside him, chest heaving.
Voss's voice rang through your comm. "Stand down. Team en route."
But you ignored her.
You looked at Samson, whose eyes were fluttering open.
"You okay?" you asked softly.
He blinked. "Still... me?"
You nodded. "Yeah. Still you."
Pulse stepped beside you, lowering his hands. "You absorbed it back. Controlled it."
You stood slowly, the Adapted Form slowly fading as your body cooled.
"Not just control," you said. "I learned how to make it mine."
The gamma storm was gone.
But something new remained.
You'd tasted your true potential tonight. Not just copy. Not just mimic.
You could transform.
Voss arrived moments later, walking through the wreckage with her tac team. She gave you a cold look.
"You disobeyed orders. You were told to stand down."
You met her gaze, unwavering. "If I had, he'd be dead."
A long silence.
Then—surprisingly—Voss nodded. "Then you made the right call."
She walked past you.
But you noticed her lips twitch in something like a smile.