Chapter 9: Practice.

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(Billy's P.O.V)

It was almost the end of the week. Tomorrow was Friday.

Despite the four days in Midtown High, I still felt as if my time could be better put to use somewhere else. Like for example, setting up a true base. Living inside the dingy apartment was not a problem but it was hardly what you would expect from a champion of the gods.

I had decided, if I was going to do this then I was going to do it the right way. The original Shazam had the Rock of Eternity. I wasn't in luck. There was no ultra powerful Wizard to hand that out to me while he fucked over to somewhere.

I only had myself to count on.

That led me to a few more options since I was still not joining Shield or leeching off Tony. There were pocket dimensions scattered across the Earth. It wouldn't be too hard to find one to use as my base.

Or I could also take over Latveria. Yesterday, a section of the city was destroyed as the Avengers fought Dr. Doom. The megalomaniac genius scientist, leader and sorcerer had wrested control of the Midgard Serpent by using a weapon from Asgard.

The Avengers came out on top and Doom had unceremoniously banished into the Asgardian Underworld, home to the Rock Trolls. His castle was ripe for the taking...then again, I probably wouldn't make it past the entrance.

That idea was quickly discarded. Which meant I had to seek out my own base. Even if I decided not to leave the apartment, mixing superhero stiff with real life was a recipe for disaster. I wasn't hopeful about the Dimension thing either. Just an abandoned warehouse hidden from view would suffice.

And it seems as if the gods were smiling down upon me. Through some luck, I had come across something similar to a warehouse. It wasn't exactly viable due to the distance from my apartment but it was in a section of the city that was mostly abandoned due to the Chitauri invasion 3 years ago.

After another soulless day at school, I stood in the center of the abandoned factory, surrounded by rusted machinery and dusty equipment. The open space and isolated location was perfect for practicing my telekinetic abilities without fear of causing damage.

It wasn't a perfect base but for a training space, it was sufficient.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, focusing my mind on the crates and barrels scattered around the room.

With a flick of my wrist, I lifted the closest crate off the ground and held it suspended in mid-air. I concentrated on maintaining my hold on the crate while reaching out to another object, a large metal barrel in the corner of the room.

Slight pressure on my temples became apparent but it was not as bad as it could have been 4 days ago. It took a moment to stabilize the hold on the barrel, but soon I had both objects floating in the air, both controlled by hand movements. A slight chuckle escaped my lips. I was actually doing it.

I felt a surge of excitement as I began to move the objects around even faster, twirling them in the air like a baton twirler.

The crate and barrel moved in perfect harmony, as if they were extensions of my own body. I grinned to myself, reveling in the feeling of power that came with manipulating objects with just my thoughts.

2 days ago and keeping my bag suspended next to a single book used to give me immobilizing headaches. And now, now I could do this.

As I continued to practice, I began to experiment with more complex maneuvers. I lifted a stack of crates with the motion of my left hand, while controlling the movement of a conveyor belt with my right despite the lack of power in the building.

It was tricky to keep both objects in check, but I felt a sense of accomplishment as I managed to handle the complex mechanism of the conveyor belt.

But I wasn't satisfied with just moving objects around the room. I wanted to push my abilities to the limit and achieve my ultimate goal--the ability to fly. Getting around the city would be easier with flight in my repertoire.

I had been training this skill for the last few days. All I had managed to achieve was a brief levitation, where my body was suspended in the air for a few seconds before the load became too much.

But this morning I woke up and just knew. The day before, I had used most of the money I had left to your the city, specifically the locations that had been affected the most by the invasion.

I had decided to therefore go out the next day which was a Saturday. So I needed to be able to fly of I was to go around the city saving people.

I closed my eyes, clearing my mind and only leaving behind a mantra.

'I need to fly.' ' I need to fly.'

'No, I Want to fly', I reaffirmed with determination.

Breath escaped my lips as I focused all my energy on creating a telekinetic shell around my body. Slowly, like a soft cascading curtain, I was enclosed in a blue cloak.

The pressure on the sides of my head increased but I could handle it.

It took all my concentration to maintain the shell, but I felt a sense of exhilaration as I slowly lifted off the ground.

I hovered in mid-air for a few seconds, feeling a small breeze blow against my face. It was a thrilling sensation, but I knew I had to keep practicing if I wanted to become truly proficient. I imagined moving to the left, only for my my body to shoot towards the wall in a burst of speed.

"Whoa, too fast! Too faaast!"

I let out a telekinetic blast at the wall, leaving an imprint that had cracks running out of it's form. I was pushed away by the rebound, twisting my body and tightly holding onto the control of the shell around me, before I kissed the floor with my face.

Slowly, I reoriented my body. And then just as slowly, I begun waving my hands in a swimming motion. My cheeks were aflame in embarrassment. However it seemed to work to balance my posture.

After a few minutes, I flew around the factory easily but slowly, dodging debris and obstacles, honing my skills and strengthening my telekinetic shell.

I couldn't stop the surge of pride as I landed back in the ground.

I still had a long way to go before I could truly master all the abilities at my disposal. For now, the abandoned factory was the perfect place to practice and explore the full extent of my powers.

(Later on)

I was expecting the mission rewards to appear any minute now. I'd spent a full week in Midtown high and despite the fear that something would happen to the school while I was there, it was a fairly quiet week. All things considered. (this was Marvel after all.)

Tonight I had used most of the money I had left, to buy some groceries and actually have a home cooked meal. I had been surviving off instant ramen and takeout. I missed the taste of my own decently cooked food.

It was also an extension to my training. A normal person would have blinked in surprise at the knife chopping apart the ingredients. Using Telekinesis to cook, ain't that an enviable skill.

The spices were measured to the exact amount, vegetables chopped and sliced the right way, heat measured to the exact degree. It was clumsy at first but intuitive to the point that my apartment was filled with the delicious scent of stir fry.

That was until something literally crashed through the walls of my apartment, destroying the window and shredding apart my stove.

The knife went through the ceiling as I lost control of it in a blind panic, throwing up a spherical shield around my body for protection.

The shield received the impact fairly well as we crashed through the thin walls separating the bathroom from the kitchen. My head ached a little bit I was otherwise unhurt.

I groaned, rising to my feet as the pipe in the bathroom started splashing water across the shattered room. I scrambled out, pushing the ceramic pieces of the bathtub away as my bare feet walked out to see what had attacked me.

My body sang with energy. I kept the tight shroud of psionic energy over my skin in preparation. This was going to be my first true fight.

The red hulk like creature that had clashed onto my shield, sending both of us into the bathroom growled getting to it's feet.

My body froze. It had it's back to me but it was so...huge. It's back muscles rippled under the one piece costume it wore. The creature rumbled forward still not noticing me. My eyes were wide open as it tore off the bricks around the hole it's body had created.

"The Hulk is truly powerful! Red Skull didn't lie! This battle shall be glorious!!!!"

The red skinned monster roared in battle lust, a blood thirsty smile on his face. He didn't even spare a look my way before jumping out through the same hole. I watched it leap across dozens of tall buildings in one simple action.

It was gone. I had... survived.

Relief fell gripped me. I was...alive. I walked forward, knees wobbling while staring around. Yeah I was alive but the damage to my apartment was extensive.

The window and an entire section of wall facing the street was destroyed. The new York night life revealed to my sight. I could see people taking videos and pictures from the sidewalk. Sirens sounded out from afar.

The interior was worse. The oven was nothing but clashed metal, my mattress had blown off into the street and my bathroom was leaking water.

It was so... inconsiderate of him. Of them.

No really. You have to understand. A civilized person at least acknowledges their mistakes. This thing basically crashed through my apartment, did damage and then fucked his way off.

It made me mad. Very very mad. Mad enough that the fear washed away, replaced by a cold fury that wanted nothing but revenge on the creature for taking away the only thing I had!

I might have looked down on the rundown apartment but it was mine! By God it was.

I roared, energy bursting out of my pores in a wave of a bright rainbow like aura. And then I was off, flying through the hole in my apartment while following the path of the red creature.

Their Psionic trail was easily distinguishable from normal people. I could differentiate between the two distinct brainwaves, the thousands of New Yorkers passing under me as I flew in pursuit to the Alien creature.

I cleared 5 blocks before arriving at the scene.

My body came crashing down onto a street that was destroyed. A car was burning near the entrance to a flower shop and the Hulk was sending shockwaves rippling out while battling with two red skinned humanoid beings.

The psionic trail led to one of the creatures.

I lashed out with a hand and all the worry, desperation, confusion, anger and hatred I had accumulated over the last week came out in one large burst of power.

A telekinetic wave that was indiscriminate, unavoidable and powerful. It did not distinguish between foe or friend so the Hulk as well as the pair of red skinned muscular aliens dressed in a one piece were all thrown away.

Concrete, wood and metal making up the flower shop were shredded as pieces of glass shattered due to the blast.

The trio crashed onto the wall of a building before I even knew what was happening.

I blinked and reality came crashing down on me. A man in a red and yellow colored armor landed before me, his face plate retracting as he stared.

"Okay Kid, calm down."

Iron man raised his hands in the air. And that's when I realized, I had a shit ton of debris floating around me, ready to shoot out and impale/crush my enemy.