Chapter 37

David's power didn't really have a default setting. He was never able to keep the same three powers active for long periods of time. Even during the calmer points of his life, they constantly shifted, pulling against his will, and only by grasping them tight could he keep the ones he wanted. Defense, offense, spare: it was a pattern he clung to, forced himself to follow for caution's sake. It was difficult at times, to maintain focus, to struggle against his own power. Difficult but necessary.

Eidolon would not die to a surprise attack.

Catalyst's fire washed over him, and David took to the air, unharmed. It was hot, but nowhere near hot enough. Pyrokinesis was yet another new power to add to Catalyst's ever growing list, but he'd felt more heat from a bonfire. So at least she wasn't trying to murder him.

Hooray.

"Controlled!" he shouted down to the insufferable girl. "A controlled spar!"

"But I am in control!" she laughed, and another wave of heat and twisting flames filled his vision.

Kids these days. No respect for their elders. But this, this was a test, or at least it felt like one to David.

Prove yourself.

He answered gladly.

Three powers available. His flight was acceptable; it came with a reasonable brute rating, no need to breathe, and resistance to extreme temperatures. He had no idea how it worked, but with a mental twist he rocketed across the central chamber, dodging plumes of flame.

Offense. Gravity manipulation.

Useful, but he already had flight. One try, then he'd toss it. He twisted reality around Catalyst, feeling utterly unsurprised when the wave of increased gravity washed over her with no effect. The equipment surrounding the girl was blasted aside, carried aloft in the wake of David's attack and tossed somewhat gently against the walls of the complex and out of the way.

Waste not.

"So that's gravity." he heard Catalyst murmur.

Last up, enhanced hearing. He threw it aside with little regret.

David juked to the side as more powers settled in, taking a moment to roll his eyes at the flaming skull construct Catalyst was chasing him with.

A new power, one he hadn't seen before. It was offensive, maybe strong enough to-

The air surrounding David detonated, sending him tumbling across the chamber. His flight struggled to stabilize him, and some strange force ripped him downwards before he managed to right himself. He was plummeting, the ground was feet away-

One of his powers twitched, and his body dissolved into fractal lightning. He splashed against the ground, completely unharmed, and rebounded into the sky. He reformed, feeling an awful lot like Legend, and sent hot plasma arcing towards Catalyst. It splashed against the air in front of her, colliding with a defensive shell that even Leviathan could not break, and stalled completely.

"Oh that's just an awful power against me." the younger hero said.

David jolted in surprisefearconfusion as the electricity forming his body was torn from his control. His fist collided with his own face moments before he hurled the power out of himself, and once again he was sent tumbling. What the hell just happened?

He mentally added 'some form of electricity control' to Catalyst's power list.

The problem with fighting Catalyst, aside from everything about that statement, was actually hurting her. An Endbringer couldn't manage it with brute force, so that option was right out. Not to mention, with her biokinesis a mere touch would be enough to win the fight.

David genuinely didn't know if he had a power that could harm her, and experimenting during a spar might get one of them killed. He'd have to settle for being inconvenient.

Matter creation. An old standby, and effective on nearly everything. He flexed his will, trying to surround Catalyst's head with steel. He barely registered surprise when it failed to happen.

Plan B then.

Create.

Mustard gas filled the bottom of the chamber, and David floated well above the war crime as he waited for a new power to settle in. He was quite certain the gas wouldn't reach Catalyst, but maybe she would run out of air within her shell before she could clear away the-

"I can do that too." David flinched as Catalyst's voice sounded in his ear. He instinctively jerked to the side, trying to dodge some invisible attack, but found himself suddenly, impossibly, frozen.

Or, rather than him, it was everything else that was frozen. Ice, extending hundreds of feet in every direction, covering the entire ceiling of the training chamber, and perfectly clear. David was locked in the center, unable to move a muscle. In his peripheral vision he could see the gas surrounding Catalyst losing its color and fading away.

A hydrokinetic too. He had suspected it, seeing how she shut down Leviathan's own hydrokinesis, but actually experiencing it was something else entirely. Was she using the moisture in the air or pulling it from other dimensions?

It was a bit like fighting Behemoth, really. She was durable beyond comprehension, capable of large-scale strikes, and hilariously lethal to non-brutes. Whatever mechanism her power used to control the elements was frighteningly fast and accurate. David supposed he was lucky that she wasn't able to harness radiation. Or perhaps she was holding back.

And wasn't that a scary thought.

But... he wasn't beat yet.

He couldn't attack through the air. She either filtered it through her shell somehow, or just refreshed her air supply as needed. He couldn't use physical force, every manifestation of kinetic energy was disregarded.

A new power slotted itself in, and David smiled.

Did Catalyst use her power to see and talk? Exclusively? His gut said she was too lazy and too arrogant for that.

He'd used this power before. It was generally a useless thing, Manton-limited, destructive to the environment, and not particularly versatile. However. It traveled at the speed of light. There was no great beam of energy, no warning or twitch that gave away the game.

Erase.

In one moment David was frozen, captured, helpless, while Catalyst grinned up towards him.

In the next, the ice surrounding him, the air between them, the ground around her, was gone, converted into light and sound.

The building sized flash-bang went off, and Catalyst staggered.

David was ready, his brute rating could take the hit.

Create.

She was still reeling, one hand over her ear and both eyes closed. His power had wiped away a huge section of ground, but he could see where her shield had blocked it. An angled crevice that she balanced precariously upon. He surrounded the area with stone and fired again.

Erase.

David could taste victory.

The light faded, the noise subsided, he moved to attack again. Matter filled the empty floor and-

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a flash of dull yellow. He turned, then stared, then gaped, as the leftover ice rippled, expanded, morphed into some sort of malleable clay. Great tendrils of it extended towards him, hauling literal kilotons of the material along for the ride.

"Semtex!" Catalyst shouted up to him, and a frisson of terror took root in his mind.

"Think fast!"

Oh fuck no.

Erase.

Nothing.

Stay calm, stay poised. He'll never earn her respect if he shits himself.

She's not trying to kill him. He pissed her off and she's lashing out like a stupid teen. She's just trying to give him a scare.

By threatening him with a low-end nuke.

WELL IT'S FUCKING WORKING.

A new power, no time for it to charge up. Teleportation, he jumped away as soon as he was able, and again, and again, diving past the security doors and deeper into the facility.

Three jumps and he paused.

...

He was rather expecting to have to outrun an explosion by now. He awkwardly smoothed his outfit, and teleported back to the training chamber, only to find Catalyst rolling on the ground with laughter.

"Pffft hahahaha!" she cackled, pointing to the ceiling where the plastic explosive hung in the air. "I don't even know how to ignite that shit! You should've seen your face!"

David crossed his arms, waiting for his heart to calm before speaking. "That was not funny. You could've brought the whole facility down on us if I used the wrong sort of attack on it."

"Yeah well, you burst my eardrums!" Catalyst huffed, sitting up and catching her breath. A thin trail of dried blood running from her ear was the only sign of her injury.

"You attempted to set me on fire. Multiple times." David replied dryly, picking at a scorched piece of his outfit.

"We both made mistakes," Catalyst nodded. "You moreso than me, of course."

"Mmm."

"I mean, I had to hold back the whole time! You know how hard it is not to just squish people?" she exclaimed, sounding almost indignant that she was so powerful.

"I do actually." David replied, leaping at the chance to connect with the girl. "In my early days, before I had a good grasp on my powers, most of my captures were rather brutal. Control is never easy, but it is both worth it and necessary."

He brushed himself off, and walked towards her. "I noticed that most of your attacks would be lethal to non-brutes. I suggest that you work on different ways to use your power, such that soft take-downs are a possibility."

"Weaver tells me that all the time. I usually just use concrete," Catalyst shrugged, "but I didn't want to break the walls. They seem important to the whole 'keeping the mountain above us' process."

"Quite." David agreed. "But adapting to circumstances is part of being skilled. Consider it your homework."

Catalyst nodded, thankfully serious for once.

"Good. For now, I think it's time you head home." David gave the girl a hesitant pat on the shoulder and an approving smile. "I'll see you here next week."

"Sure thing coach, see you in a week." Catalyst waved towards the ceiling, and the Semtex dissolved into air. "Door to Brockton Bay."

She disappeared through the tear in space, and David watched until the portal closed.

You should've seen your face, Catalyst said. She could see through his mask. Obvious, in hindsight, but she had been in a room with Alexandria.

Did Catalyst not recognize the Chief Director of the Protectorate, or did she just not care?

Honestly, it could be either.

Rebecca was going to have a conniption.

But... aside from security concerns, the girl was perfect. He could deal with rebellious and independent. That was expected with her age and level of power. What was important was respect.

David felt he had earned it from her today. He could be wrong, but the girl wasn't exactly subtle. He would know for sure in the coming weeks.

He could train her. He could teach her every trick he had learned. He would mold her into the hero humanity needed to survive. She had the power, now she just needed the technique, and the patience. Hell, her only real problem was complacency.

That would change in time, he was certain. It was a lesson all heroes learned eventually. She would learn, and learn well. He would make sure of it. There was greatness within Catalyst, hidden away beneath walls of sarcasm and foul language. David could find it, he would find it, he'd dig it out with his bare hands if he had to.

There was greatness within Catalyst.

She just needed someone to challenge her.