I stayed invisible as I moved through the convention center, keenly aware that Black Noir was now actively searching for anomalies. Through my enhanced hearing, I could track his movements—the soft whisper of his armor, the controlled breathing, the calculated footsteps.
He was trained, professional, and terrifyingly effective.
My next target was a woman called Mindstorm—a low-level telepath who'd been using her powers to manipulate people into giving her money and information. Not as violent as some targets, but definitely criminal and definitely someone whose telepathic abilities would complement my own.
I found her near a corporate booth, schmoozing with Vought representatives. Through my existing telepathy, I could sense her subtle mental manipulation—little pushes and suggestions to make them like her more, trust her more.
It was crude compared to my hypnosis, but effective in its own way.
"Mindstorm," I projected telepathically, using my invisibility to stay hidden. "There's a private meeting room on floor three. Vought executives want to discuss a contract. Go there now."
Her eyes widened slightly at the mental communication, but the compulsion I'd layered into the message overrode her caution. She excused herself and headed for the elevators.
I followed, still invisible, acutely aware that Black Noir was now on the same floor.
The meeting room was empty—I'd checked earlier with Frenchie's help. Mindstorm entered, looking around confused.
"Hello?" she called out. "Is anyone—"
I dropped my invisibility and locked eyes with her before she could finish the sentence.
"Don't scream. Don't run. Don't resist."
My hypnosis slammed into her mind, but something was different—her telepathic defenses created resistance. She was fighting back, her own mental powers clashing with mine.
"You... you're the one," she gasped, struggling against my control. "You're killing Supes. I can see it in your mind—"
I pushed harder, pouring more power into the hypnotic assault. Her defenses cracked, then shattered.
"Yes. And you're next."
The black lightning ended her quickly. As her powers flowed into me, I felt my telepathic abilities expand dramatically. Her knowledge, her techniques, her understanding of mental manipulation integrated with my existing capabilities.
Ten powers. My telepathy was now strong enough to potentially break into even well-defended minds.
But I'd taken too long. Through the walls, I could hear Black Noir approaching the room.
"Shit," I muttered, going invisible again just as the door opened.
Black Noir entered silently, his masked head scanning the room. He couldn't see me, but he knew something had happened here—the scent of ozone from my lightning, the body, the disturbance in the air.
He knelt beside Mindstorm's corpse, examining it with professional detachment. Then he stood and pulled out a phone, typing something.
Through my enhanced vision, I could read the message: "Confirmed. Multiple Supe deaths. Unknown hostile in building. Lockdown protocol."
The convention center's alarms began blaring.
"Bloody hell," Butcher's voice exploded in my earpiece. "They're locking down the building. You need to extract now!"
But I was trapped in a room with Black Noir between me and the only exit, and dozens of Supes were about to start searching for an intruder.
Time to see just how good my new powers really were.
Chapter 21: Invisible Confrontation
I stayed perfectly still, invisible and silent, as Black Noir turned slowly in the room. His body language suggested he knew someone was there—his posture was tense, ready to explode into action.
Could he sense me somehow? Enhanced hearing detecting my heartbeat? Thermal vision seeing my heat signature through the invisibility?
"I know you're here," he said. His voice was surprisingly soft, almost gentle. It made him more unsettling, not less. "Your invisibility is impressive, but I can hear your breathing. Smell your presence."
Damn. Enhanced senses it was.
I had two options: try to slip past him and escape, or engage directly. He was one of the most dangerous fighters alive, but with ten absorbed powers, I might actually be able to match him.
More importantly, if I could kill him and absorb his abilities...
The thought was tempting. Seductive, even. Black Noir had super strength, durability, combat training beyond anything in this world, possibly healing factors. Taking his powers would put me squarely in Homelander's weight class.
But it was also incredibly risky. He was trained specifically to kill Supes. One mistake and I'd be dead.
"Frenchie," I subvocalized barely above a whisper, "I need a distraction. Something loud on the other side of the building."
"Copy. Give me thirty seconds."
I focused on slowing my breathing, using my enhanced control to minimize my presence. Black Noir tilted his head, tracking the sound.
Then, from across the convention center, a massive explosion rocked the building. Frenchie had blown something—probably one of the corporate displays.
Black Noir's head snapped toward the sound, his tactical instincts warring with his hunter's knowledge that this was likely a diversion.
The moment of hesitation was all I needed.
I dropped my invisibility and hit him with a full-power hypnotic assault, our eyes meeting for just an instant.
"Stop. Don't move—"
He broke eye contact immediately, moving with superhuman speed to avoid my gaze. He knew about mental powers, had trained for them.
Fine. We'd do this the hard way.
I hit him with black lightning. He dodged, moving like liquid shadow, and countered with a knife that appeared from nowhere. I barely blocked it with an energy shield, the blade scraping against the golden barrier.
We clashed in the small room—lightning against knives, strength against technique, raw power against trained precision. He was faster than I expected, his combat skills honed by decades of experience.
But I had variety. I hit him with electricity, then switched to hydrokinesis, pulling moisture from the air to create ice that trapped his feet. He shattered it instantly, but it gave me an opening.
I grabbed him with telekinesis—when had I developed that? Must have been latent—and slammed him into the wall. His armor absorbed most of the impact, but I'd created distance.
"You're good," I admitted, breathing hard. "But I'm getting stronger every day. Eventually, I'll be unstoppable."
He didn't respond, just threw three knives simultaneously. I deflected two with shields, but the third grazed my shoulder, drawing blood.
Pain lanced through me, but also something else—the knife was poisoned. I could feel it trying to shut down my nervous system.
I used my enhanced healing—another latent ability from my Mazahs base—to burn through the toxin, but it cost me precious seconds.
Black Noir closed the distance, and we grappled directly. His strength was incredible, matching my own absorbed powers. We crashed through the wall into the hallway, locked together.
Supes were running everywhere, evacuating or looking for the threat. Some saw us fighting and stopped, confused.
"Everyone FREEZE," I commanded, releasing a massive wave of hypnotic power that blanketed the entire floor.
Dozens of Supes stopped mid-step, their eyes glazing over. Black Noir struggled against it, but even he couldn't completely resist a command that powerful.
His movements slowed, giving me the opening I needed.
I hit him with everything at once—lightning, energy blasts, telekinetic force, water pressure. The combined assault overwhelmed even his defenses, driving him to his knees.
But I didn't kill him.
Something stopped me—maybe the realization that killing Black Noir here, in front of dozens of witnesses even if they were hypnotized, would escalate things beyond recovery. Maybe it was the knowledge that he was ultimately a victim of Vought's experimentation, a weapon rather than a villain.
Or maybe I just wasn't ready to cross that line yet.
Instead, I hit him with the strongest hypnotic command I could muster. "Sleep. Deep sleep. You won't remember what happened here. You saw nothing."
He collapsed, unconscious.
I turned to the frozen Supes around me. "You all saw nothing. There was an explosion from a faulty display. Black Noir investigated and found nothing. Return to normal activities."
I released the hypnosis and went invisible again, slipping through the chaos toward the emergency exits.
"Alex, status?" Annie's voice in my earpiece, worried.
"I'm out. Meet at the rendezvous point."
I'd only gotten two kills tonight instead of seven, but I'd survived a direct confrontation with Black Noir. That was worth something.
More importantly, I'd confirmed something crucial: I was getting close. Close to being strong enough to challenge the top tier of The Seven.
Soon. Very soon.