Disclaimer: This fanfic is created for entertainment purposes only. I do not own characters from existing franchises. I only own my original characters.
Enjoy Chapter 5!
---
BOOOOM
The shockwave of Ether shook the entire planet, transforming not only most humans but nearly every living being it touched.
…
Every human felt it. Even those who didn't awaken, the massive wave of Ether was unmistakable to anyone.
The United States, China, Spain, Brazil—everyone.
Especially Colombia. After the destruction of a critical part of Medellín, those mourning their families went on strike immediately. It didn't even take an hour for Helena's battle to go viral.
Colombians are hard to manipulate (though, like anywhere, there are always some with the brains of a chicken), and most were raised to be "avispados"—a term for those who know how to seize opportunities, whether or not it benefits others.
Thus, the new generation, who thought everything happening was AI-generated, was alarmed by the events. Meanwhile, the older generation, except for a few, focused only on putting food on the table.
Some teenagers wept for their families. Others, who had nothing but acquaintances or friends who cared for them, lost them in Helena's battle. Consumed by vengeance, they stopped thinking rationally.
Others began to see themselves as protagonists… young people addicted to fictional worlds, Chinese novels, fanfics.
All waiting to awaken a system, something to make them the strongest. Some were more reserved, believing they'd "farm aura" by acting mysterious; others were more volatile, treating people with condescension.
Then there were those more scared than excited. Even with their love for reading, they knew it was "fictional."
But what happens when the fictional becomes real? Aware of how dangerous a world with superpowered humans could be, they didn't even want to leave their homes.
On the coast, in Barranquilla, some young people didn't care about what happened unless it directly affected them. What did it matter? They still had to turn in university assignments, still had to work to support their families.
Even so, the Ether showed no mercy. Hours of protests, and the Ether struck them all.
Children, teenagers, the elderly, and parents.
Some awakened with above-average strength, nothing remarkable. Others gained a heightened sense of smell.
But there were people who awakened abilities far beyond normal.
Among them were those with enough rage to care about nothing else. Ambitions arose.
Some had hero complexes, saving people from involuntary awakenings, only to die as a splatter of flesh without realizing it.
But while everything went to hell…
At the northern Bogotá zoo, where people had been enjoying family time, eating, and unaware of the world's chaos, a Bengal tiger stood behind thick reinforced glass panels. Its amber eyes gleamed with an intensity they had never held before.
Hrrrrr…
A low growl rumbled from its throat as it observed the humans on the other side. Entire families. Children screaming. Parents snapping photos with their phones.
"Mom, look! The tiger's staring at me!" A girl, no older than six, bounced excitedly, her brown ponytail swinging as she pointed at the beast.
The mother, a woman in her thirties with her hair tied in a messy bun, smiled tenderly at her daughter's enthusiasm. "Yes, sweetie, isn't it beautiful?"
Other visitors approached, smiling at the adorable scene.
Then, the ground trembled.
A deep shudder, as if born from the very bowels of the earth.
"W-what's happening?" The woman instinctively grabbed her daughter, pulling her close to her chest.
"Let's get out of here, now!" A burly man seized his wife's arm, dragging their two sons along. Panic spread like an invisible virus. People began running toward the exits, tripping over each other.
The girl's mother prepared to follow the crowd when it happened.
SUUUUUSHHH
The wave arrived.
It wasn't sound. It wasn't light. It was a *presence* that pierced everything—every cell, every atom—transforming reality itself into something new.
"KYAAAAA!"
Screams erupted throughout the zoo. Some were of pure terror. Others of confusion. And some… of awe.
Inside its enclosure, the tiger felt the energy flood its body. Its muscles contracted violently. Its bones cracked—crack, crack, crack—expanding, strengthening. Its orange and black fur shimmered with an unnatural sheen.
GRRROOOOAAARRR
Its roar vibrated the reinforced glass. Its size had changed: from 2.2 meters long, it now measured 3 meters, its shoulders broader, its claws twice as long.
…
In the monitoring room, three security guards stared at the cameras in disbelief.
"What the hell…?" One of them, a lanky man with a sparse mustache, dropped his coffee. The brown liquid spilled across the keyboard.
The screen showed the tiger moving inside its enclosure. Not with its usual lazy strides. This was different.
"Call Supervisor Gómez. NOW!"
Minutes later, a heavyset man in his fifties burst into the room. Aurelio Gómez, supervisor of the big cat area. His flushed face glistened with sweat, and his breath reeked of cheap aguardiente.
"WHAT ARE YOU IDIOTS WAITING FOR?" His voice came out in a shrill scream. "GO FIX THAT!"
The guards exchanged nervous glances.
"Mr. Gómez, I think we should wait for—"
"I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK! MOVE YOUR ASS OR YOU'RE FIRED!"
Three men were sent. Armed only with radios and batons.
----
CRASH
The reinforced glass exploded outward in a thousand glittering shards. The tiger leaped through the shattered frame with lethal elegance, landing on the concrete with a heavy thud.
People ran in all directions. Some had begun experimenting with their new abilities—small sparks of electricity, objects levitating clumsily, a woman whose skin glowed with a faint light.
Caught up in the thrill of their newfound powers, they didn't even notice the danger.
The tiger moved.
Its first target was a heavyset man trying to record with his phone, too engrossed in capturing viral content to notice the threat.
RAAASH
Claws tore through his back. The man let out a high-pitched scream—"AAAHHHH!"—before fangs clamped around his neck.
A teenage girl tried to defend herself, her hands generating small blue flames. "Stay back! I'll burn you, you damn—!"
The tiger was faster. A massive paw struck her from the side with enough force to send her crashing into a metal railing.
CLANG
Her body crumpled before collapsing to the ground, motionless.
One by one, the tiger hunted them. Each human it slaughtered seemed to feed something within it.
…
The three guards arrived when six bodies already lay strewn across the ground. Pools of blood spread over the gray concrete.
"Dear God…" The youngest, barely twenty-three, vomited on the spot.
"Focus!" The group's leader, a forty-year-old man named Vargas, clenched his fists. Instinctively, his skin began to shimmer strangely, as if something inside him was awakening. "Surround it!"
They tried to coordinate an attack. Vargas in front, the other two flanking.
The tiger lunged.
Vargas felt something activate within him—his skin hardened momentarily, taking on a metallic sheen. "Fire the darts!"
The tiger's paw struck him. His newfound hardness wasn't enough. His internal bones shattered. Vargas flew backward like a broken doll.
The youngest guard tried to dodge, his reflexes responding with a speed he'd never experienced. He almost succeeded. But he didn't even manage to raise his gun.
Fangs closed around his leg.
CRUNCH
"AAAAAAHHHHH! MY LEG! GOD, MY LEG!" Tears streamed down his face as the tiger shook its head side to side.
The leg tore off. The man collapsed, clutching the gushing stump. "No… no, no, no… I… I have a daughter… she's only… only three years old… please…"
The tiger approached slowly.
"Please! Please, no! My wife's pregnant! I'm going to be a dad! Please, God, please!" The guard dragged himself across the ground, leaving a crimson trail.
The tiger opened its jaws.
RRRAAAAAGGGHH
The screams cut off abruptly, replaced by wet, horrific sounds. The snap of cartilage. The crunch of ribs.
slrp… crunch… gulp
When the tiger finished, its body convulsed. Muscles rippled beneath its fur. It grew again—now 4 meters tall, 6 meters long. Its fur became brighter, more vibrant. Its fangs, already the size of butcher knives, gleamed with an unnatural edge.
It shook itself, splattering blood in all directions, and headed toward the main exit.
Howls and sounds of other animals echoed through the zoo, fueling more panic.
---
The mother and her daughter were almost at the zoo's entrance. The woman panted, her heart pounding so hard she thought it would explode. Her daughter sobbed against her chest.
"We're almost there, my love, almost—"
"Mommy!" The girl suddenly broke free, her eyes glowing. "Mommy, look! I can do magic!"
"What? No, sweetie, now's not the time—"
The girl stretched her small hand toward a giraffe plush someone had dropped. The toy trembled… and floated clumsily half a meter off the ground.
The mother froze. "My God…"
Her first reaction wasn't fear. It was protection, that fierce instinct only a Colombian mother could have. 'My daughter has something special. I can't let them take her for experiments.' She didn't even know her daughter wasn't the only one awakening.
"That's… that's amazing, love, but we have to—"
A deep growl echoed behind them.
Both turned slowly.
The tiger was there.
Four meters of pure death, its fur speckled with fresh blood that dripped—*drip, drip, drip*—onto the pavement. Chunks of flesh and fabric hung between its fangs.
"KYAAAA!" The mother screamed.
The girl began to cry, thick tears rolling down her cheeks. "Mommy! Mommy, I'm scared!"
The mother pushed her daughter behind her, spreading her arms. "No! Stay away from my daughter!"
The tiger approached with deliberate steps.
"Bad tiger!" The girl flung her floating plush at the beast.
The toy bounced harmlessly off the tiger's snout.
A deep growl vibrated in its chest—"grrrrrrRRRRR".
The mother hugged her daughter, both crying. "I'm sorry, God, I'm sorry for everything… please protect my baby…"
"I promise I'll be a better mother, a better daughter, please protect us…" she said aloud, tears in her eyes, seeking a higher power to cling to.
The tiger crouched, its muscles tensing. It opened its jaws impossibly wide.
It lunged.
---
At that moment, a man burst in, running with superhuman speed, crashing through walls blocking his path. A woman, slower, followed behind.
A hand grabbed the upper jaw.
Another grabbed the lower jaw.
The tiger stopped dead, suspended in midair.
No god had arrived. At least, not yet.
Jhon had arrived. And with him, hope.
There was no real effort in his expression. His muscles, already developed beyond human limits, barely tensed. The tiger tried to close its jaws—"grrrr"—but it was like trying to move a mountain.
"Miriam." His voice was calm, controlled, without a hint of strain.
The dark-haired young woman appeared instantly at his side, moving with superhuman speed. She grabbed the mother and daughter firmly but gently. "I've got them."
Her hazel eyes glowed with that greenish shimmer. Where her fingers touched the exposed skin of both women, small cuts and scrapes began to close. The skin regenerated with a warm tingling, cells dividing and repairing at an accelerated rate.
"I've got them, they're okay, let's go…" Miriam led them away, her power working instinctively as she ran.
When they were far enough, Jhon smiled.
It wasn't a kind smile.
He pushed the tiger back with a casual motion, sending the four-ton beast sliding several meters across the pavement.
The tiger regained its balance quickly, growling with fury.
Jhon rolled his shoulders, his neck cracking. "Alright. Let's see how well this works."
He extended his right hand forward, fingers slightly curled as if grasping something invisible.
Behind him, the air distorted. A humanoid figure materialized—metallic, green, with headphones integrated into its impossible design. Enhanced Echoes ACT2.
"Strength, speed. Reflexes." The words came out calm, almost conversational.
Sound symbols materialized and crashed into his body. His muscles densified momentarily. His perception of time slowed slightly.
The tiger charged at him.
Jhon moved.
…
It couldn't even be called a fight. It was more like training.
The tiger swung a paw the size of a shield. Jhon twisted his body, letting the limb pass centimeters from his face as he watched the paw move slowly. In the same motion, his palm struck the animal's extended elbow.
PAK
Not hard enough to break, but enough to completely deflect the attack. The tiger momentarily lost its balance.
Jhon capitalized. His right foot planted firmly as his left rose in a circular motion—mawashi geri, a roundhouse kick. It connected with the tiger's side.
THOOM
The beast slid sideways, its claws scraping the concrete in an attempt to stop itself.
He gave it no time to recover. Jhon closed the distance in two strides, his body low, centered. When the tiger turned to bite, Jhon was already gone.
He had pivoted on his front foot, letting the jaws snap shut on the air where his torso had been. In the same fluid motion, his elbow shot upward violently.
CRACK
It connected with the tiger's lower jaw. Teeth shattered. The beast's head jerked to the side.
ROAAAAR
The roar was one of pain and frustration. The tiger retreated, more cautious now.
Jhon adopted a low stance, hands open, fingers slightly curled. He observed every movement of the animal—how its hind legs tensed before leaping, how its shoulders contracted before a swipe, how its ears flattened when it was about to bite.
The tiger attacked with both front paws, trying to crush him.
Jhon sank deeper into his stance, letting the limbs pass over him. Then he exploded upward, both palms striking the animal's exposed chest simultaneously.
BOOM
The tiger lifted off the ground, its massive body suspended for an instant before crashing onto its back.
It tried to roll and stand, but Jhon was already on it. One hand grabbed the fur at its neck. The other pressed against its shoulder. With a twist of his hips and a shift of weight, he threw the tiger again.
WHAM
The beast slammed into a metal bench, reducing it to twisted scraps.
Jhon stepped back several paces, observing.
The tiger rose shakily. Blood dripped from its mouth. Several ribs were likely fractured. But it still breathed, still stood.
"Interesting." Jhon tilted his head, studying the creature. "The energy really altered its composition. Minor regeneration, increased bone density…"
He extended his right hand again, this time palm up. He closed his eyes for a moment.
When he opened them, his blue eyes had faint golden flecks.
Something shifted in the air around the tiger.
The beast growled in confusion, sensing something it couldn't see or comprehend. Its fur bristled. It tried to move, but its muscles responded clumsily.
Jhon frowned, focusing. Sweat began to form on his forehead.
'Come on… Miriam's power works with… cells… tissues… synaptic connections…'
He moved his fingers subtly, as if manipulating invisible threads.
One of the tiger's hind legs twitched involuntarily. Then the other. The beast collapsed onto its haunches, growling with confusion and growing panic.
GRRRRR
"Almost…" Jhon gritted his teeth, his hand trembling slightly. "I just need to… understand the flow…"
The tiger's muscle fibers began contracting and relaxing in chaotic patterns. It wasn't painful—yet—but it was profoundly wrong. The beast tried to roar, but the muscles in its throat tensed at the wrong moment, producing only a strangled croak.
ghhhkkk
Jhon smiled. "There it is."
He closed his fist.
The tiger's muscles froze completely. The beast stood motionless as a statue, only its eyes darting frantically, filled with primal terror.
"Fascinating." Jhon approached slowly, observing every detail. "I can feel every muscle fiber, every neuron… It's more complex than just healing. It's basically control and alteration."
"Miriam's going to be very powerful in the future," he said with pride in his eyes.
"Well, I suppose I wouldn't expect less from my woman," he added with a narcissistic smirk.
He opened his hand again. The tiger's muscles relaxed violently. The beast collapsed, panting, its body trembling from the trauma of having its nervous system manipulated so brutally.
"One last thing." Jhon knelt in front of the fallen tiger and touched it. His golden-blue eyes shone brightly, scanning, analyzing, understanding.
Intuitive Aptitude was fully activated.
In an instant, unlike before, he understood everything. The reconstructed muscle structure. The expanded nervous system. The altered bone density. The new organs processing the Ether. The modified cells enabling accelerated regeneration. Every component, every connection, every function.
The tiger was an open book, and Jhon had just read every page.
He stood, shaking his head as if clearing a mental fog. "Done."
The tiger tried to rise one last time, its survival instincts forcing it to move despite the pain and fear.
Jhon snapped his fingers.
"Goodbye, kitty."
snap
…
There was no dramatic explosion.
The tiger simply… unraveled.
Its body disintegrated from the inside out. Cells separated, tissues liquefied, organs dissolved. In less than three seconds, four tons of mutated predator turned into an organic soup that spread across the pavement.
splrrrrsh
It was silent. Almost peaceful, if you ignored the grotesque image.
Jhon observed the puddle that had once been a tiger, his expression completely neutral. "Cleaner than an explosion, I suppose."
He wiped some sticky substance from his sleeve. "Well, it works. Better than I expected, even."
A piece of… something… fell from a nearby tree.
plop
"Still gross." He grimaced.
He turned, walking toward where Miriam had taken the two women. His steps were casual, relaxed, as if he'd just finished a gym workout instead of disintegrating a mutant tiger.
His footsteps echoed in the silent area.
Then, as he walked, he decided to check his character sheet.
A translucent screen materialized, visible only to him. Lines of text began to appear.
Name: Jhon Ariza Montoza
Race: [Human]
Gacha Points: 11/30
Character Assimilation:
- [Empty Slot]
- [Loki (Earth 199999): 20%]
Assimilated Characters: Jason Todd (Batman: Under the Hood)
Summoned Characters: T-1000 (Terminator 2) Loyalty (10/10)
Powers:
- Stand: Echoes ACT2
- Intuitive Aptitude
- Accelerated Regeneration
- Thermal Resistance
- Biological Manipulation (Minor)
Jhon paused, looking at the screen with genuine interest.
"Let's see, let's see…"
…
In the distance, Miriam held the mother and daughter. Both were physically unharmed thanks to her intervention, but the emotional shock was evident on their pale faces.
"Is he… is he okay?" the mother asked, her voice trembling, glancing toward where Jhon had been fighting.
Miriam followed her gaze. From this distance, she couldn't clearly see what had happened with the tiger. She only saw Jhon standing alone, looking at something in the air she couldn't perceive.
Her hazel eyes shimmered faintly with that greenish glow as she processed what she'd felt while healing.
"He's fine," she replied finally, with a confident smile. "He's always fine."
The girl, still clinging to her mother, looked at Jhon with wide eyes. "Is the sir a superhero?"
Miriam didn't answer immediately.
Because honestly, she didn't know what to say. Right now, she was processing how sexy that had looked.
Though if Jhon had heard her call him "the sir," he probably would've tripped on the way.
…
Jhon approached where Miriam was with the two women. His footsteps echoed against the blood-stained concrete as he sidestepped the crimson pools still steaming faintly. The smell of copper and viscera filled the air.
"Are they okay?" His voice came out hoarser than usual, the adrenaline still pulsing through his veins.
Miriam looked him up and down, checking for injuries. "Jhon, are you hurt? I saw blood on your—"
"It's not mine." He raised his hands, showing the dark stains covering them. "I'm fine. Really."
The mother clutched her daughter to her chest, both trembling. The girl had her eyes squeezed shut, her tiny hands gripping her mother's neck.
"Thank you," the woman managed to say, her voice breaking. "Thank you, thank you, my God, I thought… I thought we were going to die…"
Miriam placed a hand on the woman's shoulder, that greenish glow pulsing softly in her eyes. Where her fingers touched, Jhon could see the woman's tense muscles gradually relax, her ragged breathing becoming more regular.
"You're safe now," Miriam murmured. "It's over."
Jhon watched the interaction for a moment before turning back to where the tiger had been. All that remained was that grotesque puddle of fluids and liquefied tissue. His mind was already processing what he'd learned.
"Jhon?" Miriam's voice pulled him from his thoughts. She had approached, leaving the mother and daughter to recover. "What… what did you do to it?"
He looked at his own hands, flexing his fingers slowly. "Your power. I managed to understand it better during the fight."
"My power?" Miriam frowned. "But how? I barely know how to use it, and you can already…" She gestured vaguely toward the puddle. "…do *that*?"
"My power," he replied, his tone thoughtful. "When I touched you before, when we hugged after the wave… I copied your ability. But it's not what I thought."
He fell silent for a moment, processing. Miriam waited, knowing that look he got when analyzing something complex.
"There are limitations," he continued finally, looking at her directly. "Limitations that feel… imposed. Like there's an invisible ceiling I can't break through, no matter how much I understand the mechanics of the power."
"Limitations? What do you mean?"
Jhon walked to a nearby wrecked bench, brushing aside debris to sit. Miriam followed, settling beside him.
"Your power lets you manipulate biological processes, right? Accelerate healing, slow infections, that kind of thing."
She nodded.
"Right. When I copied it, I gained access to that same ability. I can feel biological systems, understand how they work, even alter them." He raised a hand, studying it. "But there's an upper limit. It's like… a wall that stops me from going deeper past a certain point."
"And the tiger? You… you undid it."
"I didn't directly modify its biology," Jhon explained. "I made it fail. It's different. I can affect other living beings, but only as far as my understanding allows. And against someone with enough willpower or control over their own body…" He paused. "They could resist."
Miriam processed this slowly. "So… does that mean your power is useless against strong enemies?"
"Not useless. Just less effective." He rubbed his face with both hands, feeling the exhaustion pile up. "What worries me is why these limitations exist. Is it random? Or did whatever caused the massive energy surge also impose restrictions on the powers?"
"Jhon…" Miriam placed a hand over his. "You're overthinking. You just saved our lives."
He looked at her, a tired smile curving his lips. "I guess—"
"Sir! Sir superhero!"
Both turned. The girl was running toward them, breaking away from her mother, who tried to stop her. In her arms, she carried the giraffe plush she had levitated earlier.
"Look! I can do it again!" Her eyes shone with childlike excitement, no trace of the terror from moments before.
The plush trembled… and floated. Clumsily, wobbling in the air, but definitely floating.
Jhon knelt to her level. "That's incredible. What's your name?"
"Sofía." The girl smiled, showing a missing tooth. "Are you a real superhero?"
"Something like that." He extended his hand. "Can I see your magic?"
Sofía nodded eagerly, taking his hand with her small, sticky one.
The contact was instant. Information flowed to him like water finding a channel.
'Telekinesis. Manipulation of force fields at a molecular level. Capacity to…'
Jhon frowned as he spent ten seconds feeling the girl's power. Unlike other powers he'd copied, this one didn't have that obvious ceiling. It was like looking into an endless tunnel, the possibilities stretching far beyond what the girl could currently do.
'This girl will be dangerous when she grows up*, he thought. *If she survives long enough to develop her power… she could be a Tatsumaki, but without being a loli.'
Then he felt it. A deep shift in his own body, as if something inside him had reconfigured.
His perception expanded momentarily. He could feel the cold of the air differently, more intimately. Temperature stopped being something external and became something he could touch, shape.
He opened his eyes wide, analyzing himself with Intuitive Aptitude.
"What…?"
Loki. The assimilation had progressed enough to unlock something new. An alternate form. A racial heritage he hadn't considered, not with everything happening.
Frost Giant.
Loki, unlike his brother Thor and adoptive parents, doesn't have a divine body.
He was adapted by his father Odin in an attempt to improve relations with Jotunheim, with the possibility that Loki could ascend to the throne as Laufey's son.
It was a diplomatic move, not purely altruistic, but over time, Odin came to love him as his own.
Obviously, Loki didn't feel the same, and that led to most of the Marvel movies.
To recap, Loki's ancestry is Frost Giant, and by assimilating him, I inherit that by default.
It was weak now, barely an echo of what it should be. But it was there. And with it, his thermal resistance had expanded dramatically. He could feel his body now capable of withstanding temperatures that would have killed him before.
A slow smile spread across his face. 'The gacha… does it help overcome imposed limitations? If I gain characters with abilities similar to those I already have…'
The image of Alex Mercer crossed his mind. Biological manipulation taken to its absolute extreme. If he could assimilate something like that…
"Sir?" Sofía's voice brought him back. "Are you okay? You have a weird face."
Jhon blinked, realizing he'd been frozen with that unsettling smile. "Sorry, little one. Just thinking." He ruffled her hair. "You have a very special gift. Take care of it."
"Sofía!" The mother came running, nearly tripping in her haste. "Don't bother the man!" She grabbed her daughter by the shoulders, pulling her back. "I'm so sorry, she's very restless, she didn't mean to interrupt…"
"It's fine," Jhon stood, brushing dust off his tattered pants. "Really."
The woman looked at him with a mix of gratitude and something else… admiration? Her eyes briefly roamed his figure before she blushed and looked away.
"I… we… thank you so much. For saving us. I don't know how…" Her voice broke again.
Miriam stepped closer, placing a comforting hand on the woman's shoulder. "It's okay. You're safe now."
RING RING RING
Jhon's phone cut through the moment. He pulled it from his pocket, the cracked but functional screen flashing.
"Grandma" blinked on the display.
"Hello?" He answered, stepping a few paces away.
"Mijito!" His grandmother's voice sounded surprisingly energetic. "We're on our way! That friend of yours, the quiet one, is helping us a lot."
"Are you okay? Did anything happen with that energy?"
"Oh, my boy, we're better than ever. That weird thing made us feel twenty again."
"JHON!" His grandfather's voice burst in the background, excited to the point of sounding manic. "JHON, MY MACHETE'S ON FIRE! ON FIRE, BOY! I KILLED A CHICKEN WITH ONE SWING AND IT COOKED ITSELF!"
Jhon could hear fighting noises in the background. Animal growls, the whistle of metal cutting through the air, and his grandfather's completely unhinged battle cries.
"ANDRÉS, STOP PLAYING AND GET IN THE CAR!" His grandmother shouted. "You've killed enough chickens!"
"BUT THIS ROOSTER'S CHALLENGING ME!"
"GET IN THE DAMN CAR!"
Despite the situation, Jhon couldn't help but smile. "Grandma, please take care…"
"Don't worry, mijito. I feel so good I think I could give you another uncle."
Jhon's smile froze. His face twisted in genuine disgust. "Grandma. That comment was completely unnecessary."
"Oh, don't be so delicate. In my day—"
"NO!" Jhon nearly shouted. "I don't want to know. Ever. Please, just… take care, okay? My friend will keep you safe until you get here."
"Alright, my love. We love you."
"And I love you." He hung up before his grandmother could share more details about her renewed youth.
…
Flashback - 20 Minutes Earlier
The wave had hit.
Jhon, still hugging Miriam on the apartment floor, felt every cell in his body vibrate with the energy. When it finally passed, the first thing he did was grab his phone with trembling hands.
"My grandparents. I have to call my grandparents."
He dialed the number with fingers that barely obeyed him. One, two, three rings…
"Jhon?" His grandmother's voice sounded confused. "What happened? I felt something weird and—"
"Are you okay?" He interrupted. "Where's Grandpa?"
"Right here, boy." His grandfather's voice sounded… different. Stronger. "Just killed a rooster that went crazy. With my bare hands, Jhon. BARE HANDS!"
A battle cry echoed in the background.
"Grandpa, what are you doing?"
"There's more chickens attacking! But I ain't scared anymore! COME ON, YOU DAMN HELL BIRDS!"
"Andrés, leave the chickens and—" His grandmother shouted. "Jhon, your grandfather's gone crazy. He's fighting the whole coop."
"Listen to me," Jhon tried to stay calm. "I'm sending someone to help you. A… friend. His name's Daniel. Trust him, okay? He'll bring you safely to Bogotá."
"A friend? Jhon, what's really going on?"
"I'll explain later. Just… trust me. Please."
There was a pause. "Alright, mijito. We've always trusted you."
At the same time, Miriam had her own phone pressed to her ear.
"Dad? Dad, are you okay?"
"Miriam, thank God." Her father's voice sounded shaken, with sirens and shouts in the background. "Where are you? Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine, I'm with Jhon. Dad, what's happening?"
"I don't know, my love. But everything's gone crazy. The whole city… I need you to stay where you are. Don't go out on the streets."
"Dad—"
"Promise me, Miriam!"
"…I promise."
When they both hung up, they looked at each other in silence for a long moment.
"We have to help people," Miriam said finally.
Jhon nodded. "Let's go."
End Flashback
…
The women nearby overheard parts of the conversation with the grandparents. Small smiles appeared on their tense faces, the absurdity of an old man fighting chickens providing a moment of relief from the terror.
"How do you make uncles, Mommy?" Sofía asked suddenly, her little voice clear in the silence that followed.
The smiles froze. Sofía's mother stiffened. Miriam coughed, covering her mouth. Jhon felt a bit embarrassed.
"That's… something you'll learn when you're older, my love," the mother managed to say.
Sofía's eyes lit up with that innocent child logic. "Then you could make me an uncle with the superhero man!"
"That's not how it works, honey," the mother said, but the girl kept chattering, saying she wanted a dad then.
The mother turned the color of a ripe tomato. "Sofía! Don't say those things!" She turned to Jhon and Miriam, mortified. "I'm so sorry, she doesn't know what she's saying, I'd never teach her that, you two seem like a couple and—"
"It's fine," Miriam interrupted, though her own cheeks were flushed. "Kids say things. It's okay."
Jhon just laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. The atmosphere had turned strangely tense.
Suddenly, his eyes widened. "Shit."
"What?" Miriam looked at him.
"My uncles." He brought both hands to his head. "I completely forgot about my uncles."
He started pacing in circles, muttering to himself. "Analyze, analyze… What do I do? How do I help them? I don't have the T-1000 anymore, it's with my grandparents. They're not close, I can't get there in time…"
The women exchanged confused looks. Sofía tilted her head, watching Jhon with curiosity.
"What if I don't make it? What if it's too late? I can't… I can't lose more people…" His breathing quickened, his hands trembling. "I have to think, there has to be a way, there has to—"
PAK!
Miriam's slap echoed in the air.
Jhon froze, a hand on his stinging cheek.
Then he felt another hand grab his crotch with enough force to get his attention but not to hurt.
"WHAT THE HELL, MIRIAM?"
"Stop acting like a child," she said, her voice firm but not cruel. "You're not alone. You don't have to solve everything on your own."
He frowned, taking a deep breath. "But—"
"We'll call my dad." She squeezed lightly, making Jhon stiffen. "He can send patrols to check on your uncles. He has resources you don't have right now."
Jhon processed this slowly. "…Okay. You're right."
"Of course I'm right." Miriam began rubbing gently where she'd grabbed, almost absentmindedly.
*Why… why does it feel bigger*, she thought, her eyes widening slightly. *I don't think it'll fit now…*
She had grabbed him there to snap him out of it quickly, but this…
She realized what she was doing. In public. Outdoors. With witnesses.
"I'm going to call my dad!" She blurted, stepping away quickly, pulling out her phone as she jogged to a corner.
Jhon stood there for a moment, processing what just happened. A small smile crept onto his face.
But a bad feeling gnawed at his chest. Something about his uncles. He shook his head, trying to dismiss it.
A few meters away, Sofía's mother was staring at Jhon's crotch, unconsciously biting her lower lip. Her eyes widened slightly before she shook her head violently.
'No, no, no. He already has a girlfriend. And I have a daughter. He wouldn't even consider me. Besides, I'm not as beautiful as her…'
She looked away, focusing on her daughter.
Unaware of all this, Jhon closed his eyes. Intuitive Aptitude activated fully.
His perception expanded like an invisible wave, encompassing the entire zoo. It was as if he could feel every living being within the perimeter. Their heartbeats. Their movements. Their panic EXCEPTIONALpanic or rage.
Families hiding behind wrecked kiosks. Parents shielding their children with their bodies. Young people fighting mutated animals with sticks or rocks, some winning thanks to newly awakened powers, others losing horribly.
And the animals. So many animals.
He isolated the most dangerous ones. Those with no one to stop them or causing the most damage.
'Let's see, in the eastern sector, there's a three-meter-tall lion on all fours. Apparently, it has an electric mane. It just killed two guards.
In the aquatic area, there's a crocodile. Five meters long. Scales like armor plating. I could break through it with brute force, but I'd risk a chain reaction affecting the people around. It's got a family trapped on a walkway.
There's a gorilla in the primate sector. Four meters tall. Strength equivalent to… twenty normal men. Muscles dense as steel. Not that strong in the grand scheme, but its muscle density makes it tougher.'
He also detected the insects. Hundreds, thousands of them. Ants, beetles, wasps. All mutated in some way, but without enough intelligence to resist manipulation.
An idea began to form.
'Should I have an insect army?'
With a smile, he extended his hand, focusing. Biological manipulation flowed from him like an invisible web.
The insects responded instantly. Their simple nervous systems were like clay in his hands. He could shape their impulses, redirect their instincts.
"Go," he commanded mentally. "Attack the weaker animals. Pandas. Koalas. The ones that haven't evolved as much."
A wave of chitin and venom swept through the zoo.
"Jhon," Miriam had returned, pocketing her phone. "My dad sent two patrols. They should reach your uncles' house in ten minutes."
"Thanks." He looked at her. "Ready to fight?"
"Fight? Against what?"
He pointed toward the zoo's interior. "Against that."
…
They moved as a team.
Jhon in front, Miriam covering his back. The dominated mutant animals followed at a distance, awaiting orders. Meanwhile, the mother and daughter took shelter out of sight of dangerous animals while they handled things.
The first encounter was with the lion.
They found it tearing apart a souvenir stand. Plush toys flew through the air as its claws sliced through metal and plastic like paper.
GRRRAAAOOOWWW
The roar shook the air. Electric sparks danced through its golden mane, each hair glowing with blue-white energy.
"Shit," Jhon muttered. "That's new."
The lion saw them. Its yellow eyes locked onto them, predatory intelligence gleaming behind the madness of mutation.
It charged.
Each step left scorched marks on the concrete. The electricity it radiated made the air crackle with ozone.
Jhon didn't move. He closed his eyes for a fraction of a second.
When he opened them, something had changed. The air warped around him.
Three identical figures appeared, materializing as if they'd been there all along. Illusions. Projections of Asgardian magic gained from his increased assimilation.
The four Jhons scattered in different directions.
The lion hesitated, confused. It turned its massive head, trying to locate the real one.
CRACK-ZAP
An electric arc shot from its mane, hitting one of the clones. The illusion dissolved in golden smoke.
"Miriam, now!"
She extended both hands. Her power flowed outward, probing, searching. It found the lion's nervous system—a complex web of electrical and chemical impulses.
Thanks to the general biology knowledge from Jhon, her understanding was enough to manipulate it slightly.
She couldn't control it directly. The lion was too strong, too aware. But she could mess with it.
She accelerated the neurotransmitters in its inner ear. The lion's balance faltered momentarily, the world spinning in its perception.
RAAAOOWW
Jhon capitalized. The two remaining clones attacked from opposite flanks while the real Jhon leaped from above.
The lion reacted on instinct, biting at the clone on the left. Its jaws closed on smoke.
Jhon's foot connected with its skull.
BOOM
The impact created a shockwave that scattered debris. The lion rolled 15 meters, its electric mane sparking erratically.
Jhon landed in a fighting stance, both clones flanking him.
"Your turn," he said to Miriam.
She focused harder this time. The lion's nervous system spread before her perception like a 3D map. She found the nodes controlling its limbs.
She squeezed.
The lion's hind legs collapsed. It roared in frustration and confusion, trying to stand but betrayed by its own body.
Jhon walked toward it slowly. The clones dissolved, no longer needed.
"Shhhh," he said softly, kneeling before the fallen predator.
He placed a hand on its electric mane. The sparks tickled his skin but didn't harm him—his enhanced thermal resistance protected him.
His power flowed inward. Intuitive Aptitude analyzed every aspect of the lion's mutation. The specialized cells generating electricity. The dense muscles. The reinforced bones.
Then came the manipulation.
He didn't destroy the lion. He did something far subtler.
He altered its brain chemistry. Rewired its neural connections. Installed new synaptic pathways leading to one place: absolute loyalty.
The process took thirty seconds that felt like an eternity.
When it was done, the lion stood. The madness in its eyes was gone. Only obedience remained.
"Come," Jhon ordered.
The lion approached, lowering its head. It let Jhon scratch behind its ears.
"One down."
…
Minutes Later
The crocodile was harder.
They found it in the aquatic area, its massive body partially submerged. The scales on its back gleamed with an unnatural metallic sheen, like armor plates welded to its skin.
A family of four was trapped on the walkway above the tank. The father held a metal bench as an improvised weapon, shielding them as the crocodile slammed the structure from below.
CLANG-CLANG-CLANG
Each hit shook the entire walkway. Cracks had already formed in the supports.
"HELP!" The mother screamed, clutching two small children. "PLEASE, SOMEONE!"
Jhon assessed the situation in a second. "Miriam, get them out."
"What are you going to do?"
"Just do it."
Miriam ran, moving with speed enhanced by the energy. She reached the walkway just as another hit from the crocodile shook it violently.
"Come with me!" She extended her hands. "Quick!"
The family didn't need more convincing. The father grabbed his two kids, the mother following. Miriam guided them to solid ground.
Leaving Jhon alone with the crocodile.
The beast noticed him. It turned in the water, creating waves that splashed the tank's edge. Its yellow eyes were utterly cold, lacking the lion's spark of intelligence. Only primal hunger.
It surged out of the water like a living torpedo.
SPLASH-CRASH
Its jaws opened impossibly wide. Rows of butcher-knife teeth gleamed with saliva.
Jhon rolled to the side, the crocodile's momentum carrying it sliding several meters.
SCREEEECH
Its claws scraped the concrete as it turned for another attack.
Jhon needed to immobilize it. He tried biological manipulation—but the metallic scales blocked his perception, too dense to penetrate from the outside. And he needed to touch it to use Intuitive Aptitude.
'I need direct access.'
Echoes ACT2 appeared, writing in the air.
鈍化(Donka - Dulling)
The kanji hit the crocodile. Its movements became slow, clumsy, as if moving through molasses.
Jhon capitalized. He used his weak telekinesis—barely enough—to create resistance in the tank's water, making it harder for the crocodile to move.
He searched for a weak point. Found it: the inside of its mouth.
"Open wide," he muttered.
He focused all his telekinesis on forcing the jaws open. The crocodile fought, but between the dulling effect and the invisible pressure, its muscles barely responded.
Jhon shoved his arm directly into its mouth.
Miriam screamed from a distance. "JHON, NO!"
Sofía's mother and the girl, standing beside Miriam with the lion, closed their eyes, unable to watch.
But what they feared didn't happen.
The teeth closed partially, cutting his skin.
"Urgh." Sharp pain shot through his arm, but his regeneration was already working, cells dividing rapidly to repair the damage.
His hand touched the soft tissue of the throat. Biological manipulation flowed unhindered.
He found the reptilian brain. Simple. Primitive. Easy to rewrite.
He did.
When he pulled his arm out—intact, protected by his regeneration that had already healed the superficial cuts—the crocodile went completely still.
Echoes canceled the kanji. The crocodile's movements returned to normal, but something was different in its eyes. Recognition. Submission.
"Two," Jhon said, wiping the saliva off his arm with a grimace.
Miriam ran to him, checking him frantically. "You're insane! You could've lost your arm!"
"But I didn't." He grinned. "Trust me."
---
The gorilla was the last. And the most dangerous.
They found it in the primate sector, surrounded by shattered cages. Thick steel bars were bent like plastic. The ground was covered in craters where it had pounded with its fists.
Four meters tall. Shoulders as wide as a small car. Muscles bulging under black fur that gleamed with a metallic silver sheen.
And it was attacking something. Or rather, someone.
A young man, maybe twenty-five, was trying to defend himself. Small flames danced around his fists, a newly awakened power he barely controlled.
WHOOSH
He launched a fireball. It hit the gorilla's chest.
The fur singed slightly. Nothing more.
HOOO-HOOO-HAAA
The gorilla roared, pounding its chest. The sound was like war drums.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM
It charged. The young man tried to run but tripped over debris while screaming.
"HELP!"
The gorilla's fist descended like a hammer.
Jhon appeared. Telekinesis—all he could muster—pushed the young man aside.
The fist hit the concrete.
CRAAASH
A five-meter-wide crater exploded in the ground. Stone fragments flew everywhere.
"Run!" Jhon shouted to the dazed young man.
He didn't need to be told twice. The guy scrambled up and ran, throwing useless fireballs over his shoulder as he vanished.
The gorilla turned its attention to Jhon. Intelligence gleamed in those dark eyes. More than the lion. More than the crocodile. This one knew Jhon wasn't another frail human like the kid.
And it was furious.
It moved with speed impossible for something so massive. It closed the distance in three strides, its fist already swinging.
Jhon dodged instinctively.
The blow grazed his side, but he wasn't the only one there.
It hit Miriam, who had been too close.
"AHH!" Miriam screamed in pain before collapsing unconscious.
The impact sent her flying. Her body slammed into a brick wall with a wet, horrible sound.
"MIRIAM!"
Jhon's scream was raw, primal. Something shifted in his expression. The calculated calm evaporated, replaced by pure rage.
His eyes glowed—gold and blue mixing in impossible ways.
The air grew dramatically colder. Frost began forming on the ground around his feet.
CRACK-CRACK
Frost Giant. The alternate form partially activating for the first time.
His skin took on a pale blue hue. Frost patterns traced across his arms like living tattoos.
The gorilla hesitated, sensing the danger instinctively.
Jhon launched himself.
Not with the martial elegance of before. This was visceral, brutal.
His fist connected with the gorilla's jaw. The impact created a visible shockwave.
BOOM
Ice exploded from the point of contact, covering the left side of the gorilla's face in thick frost as it sent the beast flying several meters.
The beast roared in pain, retreating. It smashed its own face, shattering the ice.
But Jhon was already on it.
Echoes appeared, writing multiple kanji simultaneously.
重力(Juuryoku - Gravity)
鈍化(Donka - Dulling)
痛み(Itami - Pain)
The effects stacked. The gorilla felt twice as heavy. Its movements slowed. Every breath felt like fractured ribs.
It fell to its knees, growling in confusion and agony.
Jhon placed both hands on its massive skull. He thought about killing it for what it did to Miriam, but with things as they were, he needed allies. So he calmed himself and thought rationally to finish quickly and save Miriam.
The biological manipulation flowed but met resistance. The gorilla had too much willpower, too much awareness.
"I can't rewrite it completely. But I can…"
He altered its neurotransmitters. Flooded its brain with endorphins, serotonin, oxytocin. Chemicals of peace, trust, satisfaction.
The gorilla blinked. The fury in its eyes faded slowly, replaced by confusion. Then… calm.
It sat, looking at Jhon with something like curiosity.
"Good," Jhon panted, the mental exhaustion hitting like a hammer but recovering moments later. "Stay."
The gorilla stayed.
Jhon ran to where Miriam had fallen.
She was alive, but barely. Blood dripped from her mouth. Her left arm was bent at an unnatural angle. Broken ribs, likely puncturing internal organs.
"No, no, no…" His hands trembled as he placed them on her body.
He used his new power. But this time, not to destroy. To heal.
He accelerated cell division. Guided bones back into place. Stopped internal bleeding. Repaired damaged tissue.
Miriam's eyes opened. She coughed blood, then clean air.
"Jhon…"
"Shhhh. Don't talk. I've got you."
He hugged her, feeling her body finish healing under his hands.
He closed his eyes and felt her warmth.
When he finally let go, she was fully healed. Exhausted, but alive.
"Don't scare me like that again," he whispered.
"I scared you? You stuck your arm in a crocodile's mouth…"
Despite everything, they both laughed. Softly, nervously, but it was laughter.
…
After controlling those mutant animals, the insects finished off the weaker ones, growing stronger and slightly larger.
They set out to save more people. They found an elephant, but unlike the others, it stayed in its enclosure, oblivious to the chaos.
Apparently, it was a male who had lost his will to live after the death of his mate, living in depression, uncaring.
They saw no need to bother it, so they left it alone.
They saved a few people but altered their memories to make their rescuers vague.
At that moment, Jhon was with Miriam, the mother—whose name he still didn't know and didn't want to lose Aura asking after an hour—and little Sofía.
Then…
THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD
The sound of rotors filled the air.
Jhon looked up. Helicopters. Dozens of them, moving over the city in precise military formations.
They weren't just over the zoo. They flew across Bogotá, their lights gleaming against the darkening sky.
About twenty minutes ago, they had evacuated the people trapped in the zoo—or as many as they could.
The mutant animals stood with them, like obedient puppies awaiting orders. The insects remained still, unmoving without a mental command.
"Finally!" Miriam stood, leaning on him. "Help's here."
But Jhon didn't share her relief. His eyes narrowed, watching their flight patterns. Too organized. Too quick for an improvised emergency response.
*They were prepared. They knew something like this would happen.*
His mind raced through possibilities. Governments with prior knowledge. Pre-established containment facilities. Protocols for capturing the awakened.
He turned sharply. The mother and Sofía were about ten meters away, watching the helicopters with hopeful expressions.
Sofía. The girl with seemingly limitless telekinesis.
*She can't fall into their hands. If they study her, use her as an experiment…*
"Echoes," he murmured.
The Stand appeared, writing in the air.
不可視(Fukashi - Invisible)
The kanji expanded, enveloping Jhon, Miriam, the three dominated animals, and the two women.
Then he made it suppress the sound of their movements.
The light stopped refracting properly. They became invisible.
"Jhon?" Miriam whispered. "What are you doing?"
"I don't trust them." He began walking, guiding her. The animals followed silently.
"But my dad—"
"Your dad's different. I know him. I don't know them."
He reached the mother and Sofía. Both jumped slightly, startled by their sudden appearance.
"Come with us," Jhon said, extending a hand. "Now."
"What? Why? The soldiers—"
"They're not trustworthy. Please. Trust me."
The truth was, he didn't need to take them along; they barely knew each other. But at the zoo, he had connected with little Sofía, reminding him of his past desire to be a big brother.
So he would take them, as long as the mother agreed.
Something in his voice—urgency, sincerity—made the mother nod. She picked up Sofía.
It wasn't because she liked the way he looked at her. Definitely not.
They moved toward the zoo's rear exit, taking advantage of the partial invisibility and the general chaos.
…
The city was a disaster.
Buildings with shattered windows. Cars overturned in the streets. Mutated animals roamed the avenues—dogs the size of ponies, cats with glowing eyes hunting in packs, giant birds flying erratically.
And people. So many people.
Some ran, terrified. Others fought, using newly awakened powers with desperate clumsiness. A man raised walls of earth to block a rabid dog. A woman shot beams of light from her palms, blinding herself more than her attackers.
But there were others. Looters.
Jhon saw a group of five men smashing a jewelry store window. One of them—younger, maybe nineteen—levitated boxes of rings with clumsy telekinesis.
"We hit the jackpot, bro!" He laughed, stuffing jewels into a backpack. "No one can stop us now!"
His friends cheered, smashing display cases with baseball bats and metal bars.
CRASH-CRASH-CRASH
"The world's gone to hell, but we're coming out on top!"
Jhon watched the scene with a neutral expression. Part of him wanted to intervene. Stop them. But…
'I can't save everyone. I can't be everywhere. If I reveal myself now, if I draw attention…'
The only reason he acted at the zoo was because he was nearby when the energy surge hit. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been so direct.
He shook his head, clenching his teeth. He hated this. Hated having to choose. But his priority was protecting those with him.
They kept moving.
Similar scenes unfolded across the city. Stores being looted. Houses burning. Families hiding in basements as mutated animals tried to break in.
Miriam had tears in her eyes. "We can't just… we have to help…"
"We will," Jhon promised. "But first, we need a base. A safe place where we can operate without being detected."
"A base? Where?"
Jhon stopped in the middle of the empty street. He looked around—at the group now depending on him. Miriam. The mother and Sofía. Three loyal mutant animals.
It was so little. And the world had changed so much.
'I need more power. More resources. More… everything.'
An idea began to form. Crazy, maybe. But possible.
"I have ten gacha points left," he muttered, more to himself than the others.
Miriam looked at him. "What?"
He smiled—that crooked smile he got when he was about to do something reckless. Without answering her.
He opened his mental interface. The numbers glowed before him.
Name: Jhon Ariza Montoza
Race: [Human]
Gacha Points: 11/30
Character Assimilation:
- [Empty Slot]
- [Loki (Earth 199999): 30%]
Assimilated Characters: Jason Todd (Batman: Under the Hood)
Summoned Characters: T-1000 (Terminator 2) Loyalty (10/10)
Powers:
- Stand: Enhanced Echoes ACT2
- Intuitive Aptitude
- Accelerated Regeneration
- Extreme Thermal Resistance
- Biological Manipulation (Minor)
- Telekinesis
Eleven points. Not enough to guarantee something incredible. But maybe…
Three pulls, three cards. All or nothing.
He was going to spend them on a wild hypothesis that the gacha helped its user.
He spent the points.
The holographic roulette spun before his eyes, visible only to him. Colors, symbols, infinite possibilities swirled in a dizzying kaleidoscope.
The cards began materializing one by one.
First, he got Grayfia's panties, somehow the gacha thought he needed that.
'Who the hell needs used panties?'
Losing some motivation, he looked at the other two without much hope.
Until the second appeared.
Jhon's breath caught.
- [Secure Base - Advanced Underground Bunker]
'Holy shit, if I hadn't gotten so little from previous gachas, I'd think they're handing me everything.'
Type: Infrastructure
Origin: Metal Gear Solid - Mother Base
Specifications:
- Self-sustaining underground facility
- Independent power generators
- Laboratories (biology, chemistry, technology)
- Housing for up to 70 people
- Advanced security systems
- Electromagnetic cloaking (invisible to radars/satellites)
"Yes," he whispered. "Yes, hell yes."
He jumped so high the women looked at him strangely.
Who wouldn't? He looked like a crazy guy staring into space and grinning like an idiot. If one didn't know him for years and the other wasn't grateful for him saving her, they'd have run.
The last card appeared. A character.
But Jhon barely paid it attention now. He'd look at it on the way. The base was what he needed. What they all needed.
This confirmed one thing: the gacha somehow helps. Even if it's supposed to be random, there's a chance it gives you what you need in a moment of absolute necessity. Though I won't rely on it always being that way.
He accessed the card mentally. A holographic map of the city expanded before him, marking possible locations.
The gacha gave him the option to choose within a 50km radius to place the base.
'Where…'
His eyes settled on a spot. The outskirts of Bogotá. Wooded hills. Close enough to access the city. Far enough to avoid detection.
"There."
He confirmed the selection.
In his mind, he could feel the structure materializing. Underground, invisible to the world. Waiting for them.
"Miriam." He looked at her. "I've got a place. Something… special."
"Special how?"
"You'll see." Then he addressed the whole group. "I need you all to trust me. We're going to a safe place. But to get there…"
He looked at the mutant animals. The lion with its electric mane. The armored crocodile. The massive gorilla.
"You're going to have to ride them."
The mother paled. "What?"
"It's the only way to move fast without being seen."
"But… but they're wild animals…"
"They were," Jhon corrected. "Now they answer to me. They're completely under control."
Sofía, who had been quiet since leaving the zoo, suddenly spoke. "Can I ride the lion? It looks like a Pokémon!"
Her mother looked horrified. "Sofía!"
But Jhon laughed. "Sure, little one. The lion's yours."
It took another twenty minutes to convince them. Eventually, everyone was mounted. Sofía on the lion, clutching its mane with childlike excitement. Her mother behind her, rigid with terror but holding on. Miriam on the gorilla, her hands buried in its silver fur.
Jhon walked in front, the crocodile following like a lethal pet.
"We're heading north," he announced. "Stay close."
They began moving through Bogotá's ravaged streets, an impossible caravan making its way to the hills.
---
Meanwhile - On the Road to Bogotá
The stolen Toyota sped down the empty highway. The T-1000 drove with perfect mechanical precision, its metallic hands gripping the wheel.
In the backseat, Jhon's grandparents chatted animatedly.
"He's a very quiet boy," the grandmother remarked, looking at the back of the android's head. "Where did you say you met our grandson?"
"He saved me," the T-1000 replied, its voice devoid of emotion. "He gave me a new purpose."
The grandfather leaned forward. "Purpose? What kind of purpose?"
"I cannot discuss the details." The T-1000 took a curve with unnatural smoothness. "I can only say your grandson offered me a second chance when I had nothing."
The grandparents exchanged glances.
"You sound like you were in trouble," the grandmother said softly.
"I was. I'm not anymore."
An awkward silence filled the car.
The grandfather tried to change the subject. "And your family? Did you bring them too?"
"I have no biological family."
"Oh." The old man didn't know what to say to that.
They looked out the windows. The landscape passed by—empty fields, abandoned houses, the occasional mutated animal roaming in the distance.
"The world's changed," the grandmother murmured. "Everything changed so fast…"
"Yes," the T-1000 confirmed. "And it will keep changing. Your grandson will ensure you survive those changes."
There was something in its tone—not quite warmth, but absolute certainty—that made both elders relax slightly.
"He's a good boy," the grandfather said finally. "Always was. Even after losing his parents, he never gave up."
"I know." The T-1000's eyes gleamed faintly in the rearview mirror. "That's why I serve him."
They continued in silence, Bogotá looming on the horizon. Where fires burned and helicopters flew in warlike patterns.
Where Jhon Ariza was preparing his next move in a world that no longer made sense.
…
Meanwhile
A muscular woman rested in a base, bandaged over most of her body except her face.
Helena, who had been in a coma, opened her eyes abruptly.
…
Jhon was on his way with the women, the animals running as fast as a damn truck while he had Echoes suppress their sounds and used his telekinesis to clear some debris.
Moments ago, he had mentally sent the base's location to the T-1000 to bring his grandparents there. So he turned his attention to the character he'd obtained. He didn't have high hopes, so he hadn't paid much mind, but that apathy lasted two seconds after seeing it.
His pupils dilated slightly at the character's name.
- Brandon Sampson (Jupiter's Legacy)
"Well, looks like I just jumped from street to city with one click."
---
That's Chapter 5.
By the way, for the impatient readers, starting from Chapter 8, he'll travel to his first world, so be patient, friends—patience is a virtue.
As for the power limitations, they won't apply to everyone, as you may have noticed.
Some powers are limited, others aren't. Who's setting the limits? All I know is it's not the author.
Ahem, I mean it, it's not me.
Please give me reviews with constructive, objective criticism.
Oh, and the power stones—don't be stingy, they're not money! Toss them freely to this poor guy, please.