A/N:
" " : Speech,
' ' : Thought,
"Italicized text" : Telepathy/Space Speech
———————————————————
Omniscient POV
Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA, North America, Earth.
A week had passed since Benjamin had begun his superhero career as Codex, and he quickly came to a realization that most of the dangers that Earth's inhabitants faced came from natural disasters, critical failures in infrastructure, and other creatures that lived on the planet, rather than alien invasions and superhumans that used their abilities for nefarious purposes, with those coming out rarely, but hitting harder.
In the time that had passed, he had stopped a flood that was caused by a dam bursting, he had kept a wildfire from irreversibly damaging a forest in Australia, saved a passenger airplane from crashing after being struck by lightning, saved some people from rockslides, and even stopped a tornado before it could cause any damage. Those were the major things he'd done. He'd also stopped some minor crimes here and there in different countries, , never forgetting to say the name of his hero persona.
Apart from stopping crimes and averting natural disasters, he also went around looking for any accidents to extricate people from. In his search, he stopped multiple building fires, helped save trains that were on the verge of derailing, saved some people from being run over, amongst other things. He quickly understood why most heroes started in their home cities before moving out to the rest of the world.
So, choosing to follow their actions if even for just a short while, he had returned to Chicago to lighten his load, leaving the hero work around the rest of the globe to clones. Now, he was calmly flying over the city, keeping his senses sharp to detect any events that would endanger anyone. As he continued flying, he suddenly detected a large amount of heat coming from a bank, and shortly after an explosion went off.
He was a bit confused, as he had watched Invincible take down Killcannon, but he wasted no time flying towards the bank. As he flew down, he detected another person flying there as well, albeit slower than him, and smiled behind his mask. Upon reaching the perpetrator, he saw a brown robotic suit that had orange grid lines as eyes and highlights on its torso, and after studying the arms and cannon on its back, he was sure that they were flamethrowers, which would mean that the supervillain he was facing was Furnace, who was in his Power Suit.
"The hell?!" Furnace said, then turned one of his flamethrower arms at Codex, blasting him with a deluge of fire. However, he noticed that the flames began to very quickly shrink, looking like they were being sucked into… Codex. He utilized his Pyronite(Heatblast) abilities to fully absorb all of Furnace's flames, then at the instant that Furnace shifted in hesitation, he blasted the Power Suit with a freezing ray from his hand, encasing it in ice.
Codex absorbed the flames from Furnace's initial attack on the bank, then grabbed the ice, which was starting to melt due to Furnace's heat-based powers, and flew through the roof of the bank, as he turned both himself and Furnace intangible. Right as he brought Furnace out of the bank, the person he had sensed arrived, and it was none other than Invincible.
Codex threw Furnace up into the sky, surprising Invincible, as the massive block of ice with a brown robotic suit inside it flew past his face at hypersonic speeds. "Oh, hey. Sorry about that. I didn't see you there." Codex said, drawing Invincible's attention over to him. "Yeah, don't worry about it. Who was that?" Invincible replied, pointing upward.
*Codex*
"Oh, that was Furnace. Kinda your run of the mill supervillain trying to make off with some cash by robbing a bank." Codex responded. "So, you wanna get in on this?" He asked Invincible as he looked up. Invincible looked at the male hero clad in black and green, then shrugged. "Sure, why not. Try to keep up." He said, then shot off into the sky, only for a streak of black and green to shoot past him.
Invincible was surprised that there was another hero who could fly as fast as him, that wasn't a part of the Guardians of the Globe, but he gritted his teeth before flying up after Codex. As for Codex himself, he had stopped right at the inner edge of the troposphere, and watched as Invincible finally reached him.
"Why are we stopping here?" Invincible asked him. "It's because this is where he'll be stopping." Codex replied, and just a second later, Furnace reached the exact point where the two heroes were hovering, and stopped ascending. Codex grabbed the ice and blasted it with his own flames, quickly evaporating it to steam, then grabbed Furnace's suit and quickly ripped the metal apart.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! We can talk this out!" Furnace shouted, trying to dissuade Codex from destroying the suit. Invincible was shocked at how quickly Codex dismantled the suit, but he also noticed that despite Furnace not showing any ability to fly, he wasn't descending. This was because Codex was simply using his telekinesis to hold the humanoid mass of molten lava in the air.
Although he had ripped the suit apart, he wasn't quite done yet with the metal. Channeling the instincts of a Planchaküle(Juryrigg), he quickly reassembled the pieces of the suit, but rather than reforming them into the Power Suit that Furnace used, he altered the suit and its functions, turning it into a containment suit that worked as a mobile prison for Furnace.
He built the suit around Furnace, leaving only his head free, and leaving Invincible wondering just what had happened in front of him. As far as he was concerned, he saw a new hero suddenly throw a supervillain up into the troposphere, he followed the hero, and watched him turn the supervillain's own suit against him, all in the span of 30 seconds. He was confused, but genuinely impressed.
"What? Hey! What the hell did you do to my suit?!" Furnace shouted. "Nothing that I'd explain to you, hothead. Now, go to sleep." Codex replied, then sent a small cloud of dust, which knocked the flaming supervillain unconscious. "So, when were you going to tell me you got superpowers, Mark?" Codex asked Invincible, which caused the Viltrumite to look at him with alarm.
The mask over his face receded into the neck of his suit, revealing Benjamin's face. "Ben? But… how? When?" Mark asked. "I'll tell you later. First, let's get this guy down there so that he'll be arrested." Benjamin responded as he re-covered his face.
…
After Codex and Invincible had dropped Furnace for the GDA to come by and pick up, the pair of newbie heroes flew away from the city to the top of an uninhabited mountain area. "Okay, we're out of anyone's earshot with this." Codex said, then retracted his mask once more, as he sat down on a boulder. "So, wanna answer my question?" He said to Mark.
"Answer your questions?! What about you?! I know that you used to train in MMA, but that doesn't explain how you've got powers!" Mark said, still trying to deal with the fact that his best friend, who had never shown any signs of having powers before, had suddenly become a superhero. "If you feel that way, then how do you think I feel? And that still doesn't answer the question, Mark." Benjamin said, looking at his friend with disapproval.
"What? Were you waiting for me to come meet you and tell you that I know your dad's Omni-Man before you'd finally think that maybe you could trust your best friend with the fact you're a superhero?!" He said, digging into Mark. "Oh, yeah?! And what about you? You've been at this for God knows how long, and now you suddenly have a problem with me being a hero?!" Mark shouted back.
"Mark, I don't have any issue with you being a hero, you absolute dumbass. The only issue I've got is that you didn't trust me enough to tell me about you becoming one. If I didn't basically corner you, I know that I and William would have to figure it out ourselves." Benjamin said, his voice being much calmer. "I didn't tell you guys because I didn't want you to be in danger. If a supervillain that hates me chose to attack you, I… I don't know what I'd do." Mark said weakly.
"Fine. I'll let you have that… but you still haven't answered my question, Mark. When'd you get your superpowers?" Benjamin asked calmly. "It's been a little over three weeks now. What about you?" Mark said, the frustration and anger from earlier seemingly gone. "Huh? About the same." Benjamin replied, and they looked at each other. "Same time?" He asked, and Mark nodded. ""The same day that the Mauler Twins attacked the White House."" The pair said at the same time.
"Wait, when?" Benjamin asked. "It was that evening, while I was working at Burger Mart. The same day that you punched Todd and he… You got yours that morning!" Mark said in realization. "Guilty as charged." Benjamin replied with his arms up. "So, I take it that you're basically Omni-Man mini. Superstrength, superspeed, and flight?" Benjamin asked, and Mark nodded. "Yeah, basically. What about you?" Mark asked.
"Well… It's this." Benjamin said, then a green flash of light went off, and when it receded, standing in Benjamin's place was a large figure with red skin, four eyes, four arms with four fingers on each hand, and two two-toed feet. This was a Tetramand, an alien species with impressive physical strength and land combat capabilities.
Another flash went off, and Benjamin had turned into a Transylian(Frankenstrike), then another, and he turned to a Petrosapien(Diamondhead), then he turned to a Viltrumite. Mark watched this with awe, as this was another world-shattering revelation for him. First, one of his best friends had shown him that he had developed superpowers and become a hero, then that same friend had powers that allowed him to transform into some strange creatures. He didn't know how to react to it.
"My powers allow me to transform into the best physical specimen of sentient alien species. I can receive new transformations when I come across species I've never come in contact with, and when I transform back to a human, I keep their traits and abilities to a lesser extent." Benjamin explained, then reverted back to his human form. "Pretty cool, right?" He said with a smile. "Yeah." Mark said blankly, still trying to process what he'd just heard and seen.
"Wait, does your mom know about this?" He asked Benjamin. "Of course she does. You really think I'd not let her know about something as important as me getting superpowers?" Benjamin responded. "Yeah, I guess you would do that. Now that I think about it, how'd you know my dad's Omni-Man?" Mark asked.
"Are you serious? He doesn't wear a mask and I've met him out of his superhero life. If I couldn't notice something like that, then I'd make a machine to extract my brain, just so a clone of mine could study what the hell's wrong with me." Benjamin said, and Mark laughed. "Yeah. That makes sense. But really, why do so many heroes not wear masks, or at least something to cover part of their faces?" Mark said, still chuckling. "Only God knows, Mark." Benjamin replied, having long since given up trying to rationalize it.
"So, what now?" Mark asked. "We keep doing hero work… and we tell William about this tomorrow." Benjamin said, and Mark groaned, still intent on keeping his superhero life secret from their friend. "Hey, he's been our best friend for years, and he's always confided in us. He deserves to know about this, if nothing else." Benjamin said, chastising his friend.
"But…" Mark started, but Benjamin glared at him, shutting him up. "Fine. I'll tell him tomorrow. Geez." He said, acquiescing to Benjamin's persuasion, before flying away.
…
It had been just over seven weeks since Benjamin and Mark had told each other of their lives as superheroes, and unlike Mark thought, William took the news quite well, even having some pride in his two friends for not only having powers, but putting those powers towards helping humanity. While they were both pleased by this, the superhero life was already taking its toll on Mark.
For how enhanced his body was, Mark still needed sleep, and since he wasn't getting enough, it was becoming more common for him to be seen yawning in exhaustion at school. Benjamin, however, didn't face this issue, as he could replenish his body's energy far more easily than Mark or any other person on the planet could. And in the rare case that he exhausted himself to the point that he absolutely had to sleep, his clones still remained active, keeping Codex's presence active all over the world.
Mark had expressed his jealousy at how easily Benjamin could keep up his superhero life with his clones, and in what seemed like jest, Benjamin offered to help him gain the ability to clone himself. Of course, Mark took this as a joke and dismissed it, not knowing that Benjamin was being wholly serious, as he and his clones were capable of genetic modification to a level that Earth's brightest minds could only ever dream of, so if he wanted, Benjamin could give him the cloning abilities of a Splixson.
Right now, the two of them were faced with their first major battle in the form of a kaiju that had come through a cross-dimensional portal, and was terrorizing the city. Codex stopped time and used his superspeed to evacuate everyone out of the area before the otherworldly creature could cause any major damage, clearing the area for them to fight it.
After the people had been evacuated, Invincible began the fight, landing a powerful punch on the massive creature's head, the clash causing a shockwave that spread to almost a mile away from the epicenter. Codex came in, blasting the creature with neuroshock blasts from his eyes, causing it to roar in pain, as the energy directly attacked its nervous system.
Invincible took advantage of the opening that was created, and slammed multiple blows on the kaiju, hoping to physically knock it into unconsciousness, only to suddenly get smacked away by a massive, scaly forelimb. The kaiju looked at Codex and roared out, only for a small, bright ball to hit its face and explode.
"Hey, looks like you two need a hand!" A male voice shouted as it got closer to them. "Not really, but the help is appreciated." Codex said, then fired two ice beams from his hands onto the kaiju. The kaiju roared and flailed as its entire body was being thoroughly frozen from the bottom up. "Invincible! Finish it!" Codex shouted. "Don't have to tell me twice." Invincible said, then flew straight at the frozen kaiju's head, shattering its top half into thousands of pieces.
Codex put his hand into his own chest and brought out a small cuboid that was only an inch long, which suddenly enlarged into a freezer. "Woah. What's that for?" Invincible asked. "Tissue samples. So that way, if anything like it ever comes over here, I'll have been able to develop something to take it down faster." Codex replied.
"Huh, guess you guys really didn't need my help." The male voice said, now coming from beside them. "We, didn't even get a chance to do anything." A male figure dressed in a red and yellow superhero costume, with yellow goggles on his face and brown boots on his feet, said. Codex identified this person as Rex Splode. Around him were three other heroes, two girls, which he identified as Dupli-Kate and Atom Eve, and the third was Robot, who Codex knew was being remotely piloted by its creator, Rudolph Connors.
"I had said so, but the help was appreciated." Codex responded and waved at them. "I'm Codex. Nice to meet you." He said, calmly introducing himself as he created a clone to continue collecting tissue samples. "And I'm Invincible." Invincible said, still hovering in the air.
"Whoa. You can clone yourself?" Dupli-Kate asked, surprised to see someone else with similar abilities to her… and her brother. "Amongst other things, yeah." Codex replied. "Codex… I've heard about you. You possess quite the repertoire of abilities." Robot said, his voice level. "I try." Codex said.
"Cryokinesis, hydrokinesis, pyrokinesis, electrokinesis, superstrength, superspeed, flight, energy blasts and absorption, laser eyes, and now cloning. I'd say you've certainly done more than just try. I'm Robot. A pleasure to finally make your acquaintance." Robot said, walking up to Codex and putting a hand out, which Codex calmly shook.
"Hey, I'm done collecting the samples." The clone said, flying to the original with the freezer in its hands. "Good. Take it back to the base so you guys can get started with it." Codex said, and the clone nodded, before being swallowed by a quick, green flash of light. When the light vanished, the clone was no longer there, as it had been teleported away.
"Teleportation as well?" Robot asked. "Not really. That's just tech." Codex replied calmly. "Excuse me." Atom Eve said, drawing Codex's attention. "Sorry. What's your suit made of?" She asked, and Codex smiled under his mask. "This? It's made of unstable molecules, and it's been infused with nanites. That way, it doesn't get damaged when I use my powers, or when I enter extreme environments. Why do you ask?" Codex said.
"Define extreme environments." Atom Eve said, her eyes still stuck on his suit. "I could fly into the core of a star and come back with everything intact, monomolecular blades can't cut my suit, the gravity of a black hole is pretty light for me, and in the unlikely event that it does get damaged, it also automatically repairs itself." Codex said, and everyone looked at him skeptically.
"It might not sound believable, it's the truth. I just don't have any reason to use the levels of power that'd require the suit fixing itself while I'm on the planet… for the time being, at least." Codex said with a shrug. "Hearing you say that makes me feel like my suit's pretty lackluster now." Invincible said. "Your suits are still impressive in their own right, but I had over a dozen of my clones work on this. If one person could match that while working with Earth's limited tech, I'd be disappointed in myself." Codex said, just as the clone he sent to the Omni-Core returned.
"They said that what we got is enough to work with." The clone said. "That so? Well, if that's the case, then let's get rid of the body." Codex said, then flew over to the remaining half of the kaiju, while the clone used gravikinesis to pull the other parts that had broken off closer to them. As he reached the kaiju's corpse, Codex, put his hand through the ice and onto the flesh of the creature, then using Big Chill's powers, he fired it with another freezing ray, but this time, he didn't let up, allowing the freeze ray to forcibly cool the kaiju's body all the way to absolute zero.
Invincible and the Teen Team watched this with rapt attention, watching as the kaiju's color turned from the teal that it came through the portal with into a pale, deathly white. Channeling the vibrations from his Talpaedan(Armodrillo) powerset, he punched the now extremely brittle ice statue, releasing a shockwave that spread throughout the statue, reducing it to ice dust. The clone used gravikinesis to pull all the ice dust and frozen parts into a tightly packed ball, then flew away, very quickly leaving everyone's line of sight.
"So, where's he going?" Rex Splode asked. "He's just disposing of it. The kaiju's body was emitting radiation that I've been absorbing since I got here. Don't want any residue to be left behind to harm anyone, now." Codex replied, then put his hand to his ear. "If any of you want to reach me, you can contact me via your comms. It's been nice meeting you." He said, and after what seemed like a second later, every person that was evacuated from the city was returned to their position before the evacuation. The people could only look around in confusion, while Codex had left the area entirely.
…
Later that night, after Invincible and the other members of the Teen Team had either hit the hay or left to attend to their personal lives, Rudolph was working on modifications for his robot body, when suddenly, a familiar, albeit masked face appeared in the HUD of Robot's lenses. "Hello, Robot. I wanted to speak with you privately." The face – Codex, said with a digital trill.
"How'd you get into my systems?" Rudolph said, trying frantically to remove the infiltrator. "Calm down, Robot. Or I guess I should call you by your actual name, Rudolph Connors." Codex said, causing Rudolph to freeze. "Who told you my name?" Rudolph asked, unsettled at how someone had found out about him without his knowledge.
"That's irrelevant, Robot. What is relevant is the fact that you've been making deals with the Mauler Twins." Codex said, and the reveal that someone, anyone, knew of his agreement with the Mauler Twins shook Rudolph. "I'm contacting you to offer you a better deal." Codex said, subverting Rudolph expectations of coercion and blackmail.
"What?" Rudolph asked, still confused. "You want the Maulers to help you make a body, right? With their help, you could clone anyone of your choice, then have them copy your consciousness onto the clone. But I'm offering to help you have a body that's truly yours. Rather than cloning someone else, I'll be able to produce a clone from your original body, while eliminating all the defects. Pretty good deal, wouldn't you agree?" Codex said.
"And why should I trust you?" Rudolph asked, and Codex smirked at him. "The better question, Robot, is why did you ever trust the Mauler Twins? Was it because you could just capture them again and send them to prison? Even without your help, they could still escape. But I'm making you this offer, from one hero to another, and I'm the one you're being suspicious of? For someone as logical as you, that's quite irrational, don't you think?" Codex replied.
"No one has to know about your deal with the Mauler Twins if you agree to my deal, and you'd have the satisfaction of truly having your own body. There's no cons to this, so why reject it?" Codex asked after a few seconds of silence. "Because it sounds too good to be true." Rudolph responded. "Well, I don't work for the GDA, and I'm not into crime, unlike your acquaintances, so you don't have to worry about being double-crossed." Codex said with a laugh.
"The only thing you have to do is temporarily give me access to your actual body, which you would have had to do regardless, if you went through with your deal." Codex said, and Rudolph finally calmed down, taking some time to think. "Fine. I'll trust you with the task of making my body." He finally said, after more than a minute of silence. "Good. Next time we meet, I'll send a clone over to your body to get your genetic material. After that, you should have your own body ready within a week." Codex said, surprising Rudolph.
"I thought something like that would take longer." Rudolph said. "Well, if I didn't have to repair all the genetic damage, it'd only take two days. If it was the Mauler Twins, you'd need over a week just for the body to form. Well, talk to you next time." Codex said, and his image began to flicker.
"Wait! How did you get into my systems? There should be nothing on Earth that can infiltrate them." Rudolph asked. "One touch. One touch was all it took, Rudy. Be seeing ya." Codex said, and his image vanished. After Codex's digital presence vanished from Rudolph's systems, he scoured all his connections and saw no entry points or corrupted code. The words that he said as he left resounded in Rudolph's head, then he remembered the only time he had touched Codex… the handshake. Rudolph laughed to himself as he wondered just how he could prevent something like this from happening again.
Chapter End.
Word Count: 4,093
Thanks for reading!