Issue #4

(Bonus Chapter!)

Jack told Emma about all of the abilities he had gained from killing various insects. He was only able to find some ants, spiders, and a couple of beetles. But even with just these, he had already gained 5 different abilities.

From ants, he had gained the wall-crawling ability and could lift 10 times his body weight. Since these were the basic ants that anyone could find in their garden, Jack couldn't get anything else from them.

From the beetle, he gained the ability to produce wings from his back as well as create dermal armor around his body. These were some common beetles as well so Jack couldn't get any more powerful abilities from them.

Lastly were spiders. Jack had killed 13 of them that had been in the home but the only ability he gained was the ability to create webbing.

Jack assumed since several of the abilities that the insect had overlapped, he only kept the one he initially received or the strongest one. It was still too early to tell since he had only tried it out on three different bugs.

As Emma heard this, she instantly began formulating plans for Jack's future. After Jack finished speaking, she grabbed her phone and began making several calls.

"I need 3 wolves, 3 lynxes, and 6 bats delivered to my private residence at the academy. Oh, I also need a few dozen high-quality beetles and ants. Make sure they are there by the time my flight lands."

Emma then turned to Jack to explain why she got those animals.

"Most animals will be pretty useless to you. With the strength of ants and the protection of beetles, the abilities you could gain from other animals will have minimal effects. The bats have echolocation as a few other potential abilities that may be useful to you.

The other ants and beetles are to see if we can get your current abilities to even greater levels. The strongest ants can lift around a hundred times their weight while the strongest beetles have shells that not even ticks can match in durability.

The wolves and lynxes are for you to try and get their senses as well as predatory instincts. Maybe even their claws as well. This way, we can pass you off as a feral mutant in case anyone asks. I'm not even willing to let the other members on my side of the Inner Circle know about your powers. They would definitely turn you into a weapon."

Jack nodded along with her words but felt a bit disappointed inside. If he did nothing but hunt animals, he would always just be stuck having the most common powers.

'Spider-Man is cool and all but he is no match for Thor or Captain Marvel,' were pretty much the thoughts running through his mind

Emma looked at Jack, who was looking like a sad puppy, and laughed at the boy.

"You are thinking too little, Jack. In order for you to gain better powers, you need to kill people with those powers. Are you willing to take another person's life?" Emma asked with ice in her voice

Jack's mood immediately plummeted. This was the part of his power he did not want to come to terms with. He had never killed anyone nor could he imagine himself killing another person.

"No. I'm not," Jack said with reluctance before looking out the window

Emma nodded and felt happy that Jack could appreciate life before feeling sad about what she would have to do with this boy.

'He is kind and pure. And I will have to corrupt this child before the world does as it did me. At least that way, I can help him keep part of that innocence.'

Emma shook her head and hardened her heart. If Jack was going to be her successor and number two, she needed to make sure that he was tough enough for the task. The Hellfire Club was no place for those that were unwilling to do whatever it took for victory.

The pair rode the rest of the way in silence before they arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Instead of walking through the security terminal, the trio went toward a private entrance where they made their way through the entire airport without being stopped or having their bags checked once.

They then boarded a private jet where Lilith took the pilot's seat while the student-teacher pair sat in the cabin. Emma had work to do for her private business so she was on the phone and her laptop for the entire trip. Jack pulled up all the information he could on the most dangerous animals he could find.

He knew that Emma had already covered the basics but he wanted to try and get as many other creatures as he could that could provide unique benefits to him.

One of the things he learned was that beetles were actually the strongest animals. If one of the beetles Emma got him was a Dung or Rhinoceros Beetle, his strength could reach hundreds if not a thousand times his weight.

Salamanders also had pretty good healing factors. He could regenerate limbs and organs if he killed a few of those. There were several different birds he was interested in getting as well.

For several hours, the duo sat across from each other as they each did their work. Emma would look up occasionally to look at Jack who seemed to be studying seriously. Unknown to the teen, everything he was looking up was being shown on her laptop.

Each time he came across an animal and favorited a page, she would email that to the same person she talked with before they boarded the plane in order to get that particular creature sent over to the academy. One of the perks of owning the wi-fi and plane that another person was using.

By the time the plane landed, the academy had a small zoo next to the headmistress's dorm. But Jack wouldn't find that out right away. The first stop that the pair made was going to Emma's personal tailor. He needed the uniform for classes that started the next month.