9 A Den Of Shadows And Fists

(Nathan POV)

Being able to feel every part of your form is interesting as I could feel every piece of hair to every blood cell in my veins. Yet by the second, my cells are infused with Blacklight, yet, because of inviolate, I remain human, so I am more akin to James Heller than Mercer, but all the better for myself.

My DNA can't be scanned unless I allow it to, but in this case, if they had taken any blood or other things, I made it so my DNA looks the same as any human. It's almost funny as the only place where they could find DNA that I could not hide was back in my old place, and it is now up in flames and ash.

"I know you are awake. Do not try to trick us further, acolyte." I hear Talia say as the bag is taken off my head, and I find I am being aimed at by multiple guns as I look in her eyes.

My look must have satisfied her as she continues, "Since you have decided to join us, we shall be traveling to a place where your training will begin. It is up to you whether or not you live, but with my father having high hopes for you, we shall see if you live up to them. Uncuff him. He has nowhere else to go now."

They then take the cuffs off, and as I rub my hands to give them the illusion I was uncomfortable, I ask, "So what shall be my role exactly, an agent, an assassin, or target practice?" The last one causes her to raise her brow as she scoffs.

"If we wanted you for target practice, the snipers would have taken you out the second you put a sword to my neck. No, for now, we shall see if you have the stomach to do what is necessary." She then grasps my chin as if observing my looks as she comments, "You seem to be healing from your wounds. Good, it is nice to have an initiate with some vitality.

I don't like that wording. But as she lets go, she sits down in front of me while asking, "So how does it feel to understand that there is no going back to what you knew? This is a world of monsters and mayhem, and you made a choice to join it. I almost believe that you are insane or have nothing to lose. And from your profile, I believe it is a bit of both."

"I would rather take my chances with you than the Batman and his rather colorful Boy Wonder for a stealth suit, but I digress. Now I have to ask you how it felt to almost lose to a novice?" This question makes her frown as she takes out a knife and puts it to my eye.

"I am your superior now, and you will treat me with due respect initiate, but I do appreciate a little fire in new recruits as it's so fun to break it and watch it burn away in the wind. I do hope you can back up your confidence." She then sheaths the knife as she bids to retake her seat.

As the flight continues, I focus on trying to distribute Blacklight to the rest of my body so as to begin to form an adaptive resistance. As while I am immune to most forms of poisons and other debuffs, one must always be prepared for your advantages to disappear. 

Ironically enough, Superman is the best example of this as with either red sun radiation or kryptonite, and he becomes a normal man and a man in pain at that. The memories from this body do recall that there was a decent meteor shower a couple of years ago, which may have carried the mineral to this world.

I should try to study some for later, as having some on hand is always a necessity. And as the hours passed, Talia and I essentially played a fucked up version of twenty questions. 

It was almost two games in and of itself because while we were playing 20 questions, we were also trying to tell the least amount of information to each other, and this process did help my Loid template gain a decent increase.

Loading up my status, I see my current progress:

[Loid Forger (Spy X Family): 55%]

[Taskmaster (Marvel Comics: Earth 616): 47%]

[Alex Mercer (Prototype 1&2) 9%]

Slow going, but it is enough as the strength of Blacklight, taskmaster, and the skills of Loid is a good way to start. Once I have two more slots, I will immediately put Palpatine and Robot in them, as their collective political and technological acumen will only add to my arsenal.

Let the shadows believe that I am their puppet; if I were any normal person, I would not have noticed the micro explosion they placed into my bloodstream that is now attached to my heart. I have already surrounded it with biomass created within myself, as while it seems connected to my heart if it explodes before I can launch it out, it will not harm me very much.

Once I get higher in the Alex Mercer template, I will be able to regenerate from a single cell, and because I have inviolate poisons like blood tox and radiation do not affect me. With every second, I grow and evolve. I do hope once I get strong enough, I can implant the virus in others and turn them to my views.

But for now, let's play along.

It's almost hilarious as after what happened, my emotions had felt muted and distant, but now, in imminent danger, I find a thrill. I do hope that this is a passing feeling, as I would prefer not to be filled with thrills and always seeking the next battle. But even after all this time, I can still feel parts of my mind fractured by what I went through.

 If I were to compare it to anything, it would be similar to what the emperor goes through in Warhammer 40,000 after being connected to the Golden Throne and, more essentially, the warp as he has multiple personalities and memories floating throughout the immaterial as he constantly tries to pull them back together.

Whisps of memory and better days show themselves to me as I wonder if I may ever return there. But with how the Multiverse or the larger Omniverse is set up, by the time I get there, Earth may have turned to dust or a rock floating through space.

But this is my new reality now, and these people in front of me are very real threats. As I think back to my conversation with Lucifer, a mixture of emotions runs through me. Anger, hate, sadness, regret, pain, but also happiness. It is a small source of shame that I find myself feeling excited as even after all of the excruciating agony, I found myself in a place that I'd once thought was not even real.

Gods were walking among humans. Aliens existed amongst the stars, legends existed parallel to reality, and endless possibilities. But for me, all I see is endless possibilities to evolve.

A more immature part of me desires to find Lucifer at the end of my journey and end his apparently empty existence out of revenge or pity. Even I do not know.

"You seem to be deep in thought for one being held at gunpoint. What is going on in that head of yours, I wonder?" This woman truly does embody the title of femme fatale as every movement oozes sex appeal, but with my own skills, I can see a tightly wound spring/knife ready to hit me at any moment. 

"Debating the nature of reality, contemplating how normalcy can exist in a plane that houses gods and humanity, and how the hell you fit so many weapons in a latex bodysuit." The last one gets a small chuckle as she gets closer to me.

"'Would you like me to show you?" She asks as I thank Blacklight for hormone control and my own self-control. This woman is definitely physically appealing right now. She is nothing but an obedient pet for her father.

"I would, but not now. As I would not want to upset my new boss before even starting training." This causes her to look me in the eyes, but my stare remains unflinching, to which she silently gets off me and sits down again. But even with that, I could almost feel the palpable jealousy from the other ninjas.

It was almost like a scene from an anime where the protagonist is hit on by the popular girl, and the extras react ridiculously. But in this case, if I were to even make one wrong move out of line, that knife she was holding would go through my neck, which they know, but human irrationality will always be present even in the most logical of human minds.

The flight then continues on in silence as the ninjas put away their guns and sit completely still. You could hear a pin drop in the winds outside more than you can hear these ninjas breathe. 

The only consolation is that I am now on a plane ride that finally does not include a crying child, and all it took was being in a comic book universe and being surrounded by ninjas.

The plane then lands as the windows are opened, and I see endless snow and peaks as we enter a cave in the mountains. Of course, they have a base in the Himalayas that is inside a mountain. Now, all they need is a bald guy with a cat who introduces himself while turning around in a chair.

As I exit, followed by the other ninjas and Talia in front of me, I see Ra's and, who I believe to be his follower, Ubu, talking with a man in red robes who was a guy called Sensei from my memory. The man then walked up to me, looked me up and down, and proceeded to try to push me in the face, which I dodged as he swept my legs but failed. I blocked it and Roundhouse kicked him in the chest, but he was already gone.

"Average form but no discipline and strategy. You have much to learn, initiate." I find him behind me as he holds a few fingers to my neck. And as he backs away, he nods to Ra's, who nods back with respect, and as the Sensei looks me over again, he says, "You will be tested in the morning; rest now; you will need it."

He then goes into a dark corner and disappears somehow. Truly sensei's in comics and anime are bullshit.

Talia then says, "I am surprised that the Sensei already likes you. It took me days to get him to even speak to me. You should be honored." I give her a questioning look as she then walks away with her father, and he bids two of the grunts to show me to my room.

As we walk the endless corridors of the base, I see a blond guy wearing what seems like a hockey mask and some body armor, and as we approach, he steps in the way and eyes me up.

"So this is the new blood, huh? You look like a kid who's past his bedtime. What are you doing playing with grownups squirt?" He eyes me with animosity and intrigue, to which I simply shake my head and continue walking.

He then grabs me by the shoulder as I grip the arm and flip him over me, to which he almost smiles under that mask as he says, "Now that's what I like to see from a shadow. You'll fit in well here, kid. But I'm going to enjoy kicking your ass. See ya around kid." He then walks away as the ninjas show me to the room.

If one could consider four stone walls and a bed that looks like it hasn't been used since the Victorian era a room, but I assumed as much already, and as I sat down and closed my eyes, I focused on every movement I saw and using Senju Muso I can use what I saw to create mental enemies.

And so I fall asleep and dream of coming battles while I proceed to get my ass kicked in my own head.