Chapter 25 : Abduction attempt

[Author note : New KoSP chapter. Returning to work on Monday... Which means I won't be able to continue posting as many chapters on Patréon. I promise 1 chapter of each story for now and I'll see if I can post more but... After work I'm usually tired and lazy so, don't count on it too much. I also want to thank my patrons Rayshawn, Salo, Salokin, Terrence and Monsieur Moustache ! You guys are the best !

If you're interested in my stories or want to encourage me, please check out my Patréon : https://www.patréon.com/user?u=66371596 (replace the é by a normal e) or look for Cathbel on their website

KoSP : 8 advanced chapters

The Squib who became Iron Lad... In DC : 8 advanced chapters

AoH : Prologue + 6 chapters (exclusive)

MoH : 8 chapters (Exclusive)

VOG : 6 chapters (exclusive)

Enjoy and please tell me what you think of it !]

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Like a cheap fortune-teller you'd find at a funfair, Penelope was looking into a crystal ball. Unlike the really cheap ones however, who simply pretended to see things besides their reflection, the crystal woman was indeed seeing forms in her crystal ball. However, the forms were blurry, obscured by a strange smoke.

Moments prior she was looking at a young Terran man practicing his lightning magic in a forest. When the grenades fell and the smoke was poured out of them, she closed her fists tightly. Even her jaws were so tightly clenched that there was a grinding noise, and people other than her would fear her crystal features would break. To her however, at the moment, she didn't mind. In fact, she wasn't even thinking of anything besides her sworn enemy. The person she had thought she could help, she could consider family. The attack on the young man she spied on was orchestrated by him, she was sure of it !

As for how she spied on said young man… Well, Penelope has lived a long time now. Among her group of vigilantes, she was one of the oldest. She had become an archmage in Earth elementalism ages ago, and had devoted the time after that learning new tricks. Divination was one such branch of magic she had studied and the farsight spell was an easy one for her to implement : as long as there were minerals somewhere, she had eyes !

Ever since their 'Justice League's' enemy had resurfaced (strange how she thought of Simon's name for them at this time), Penelope had kept an eye on Simon and Crys because she believed them to be prime targets for the madman. And if the current situation was any indication, then she was right…

Unfortunately, she couldn't act. Not right away. In the past, they had laid such traps to catch the man, but he was clever. Devious, even. He laid his traps through hired hands, had them retrieve his targets and deliver them at a drop off point. After which, they would disappear, only to reappear later as cold corpses. If at all…

This time, however, the Genocidal would face a real challenge in the form of Simon…

* * * * *

As he was lost in his thoughts, Simon suddenly perceived Crys' thoughts :

« Enemies inbound ! You're surrounded, Simon ! »

Out loud, though not too loud, the Terran scoffed :

« Like that makes any difference ! »

« Be careful ! My sensors detect are picking up esoteric energy from a few of them… »

« Magic ? Still doesn't matter. The Lightning Woman couldn't do anything. I doubt these guys are stronger than she was… »

Slowly, the smoke dissipated and the voices of people arguing could be heard approaching from his position.

« I'm telling ya, he's over there ! I can feel him ! »

« But you also said that you had trouble sensing him… So which is it ? »

« It's like… there's static on the line, but I can still hear even if it's a bit garbled. He'll be there ! »

« Prepare the restraints and Ace ! Don't hesitate to gas him a little more if need be ! »

Simon heard a mechanical whirring sound before a voice, slightly muffled and distorted said :

« With what I dosed him, I'm pretty sure he won't wake up for a while. But, sure… I'll keep an eye out. »

« Good ! »

Simon stood straighter and started walking toward the closest voice. This group consisted of four people, and according to Crys, he was surrounded so… They were probably a lot of them around. Or, they thought it was in the bag and decided to regroup. He'd find out !

« He~llo ! » He called out cheekily, notifying his approach like the cocky bastard he was becoming.

It wasn't just a character flaw… He knew his power and its weaknesses so, he thought that if he acted this way, like someone in control, someone arrogant, people would panic and attack him ferociously to take him down. As long as they did that, they wouldn't be able to really hurt him… As for the smarter ones, if they saw through his act, they'd still have to figure out how to hurt him. Not to mention… These people didn't seem to want to kill him, if their conversation was any indication. They wanted to capture him for some reason.

« Ace, what the fuck !? I thought he was out ! »

The man, Ace, wearing a gas mask, oxygen tanks linked to a weird flame-thrower looking thing, and grenades strapped around his torso, panicked :

« He should be ! It was enough to knock out a Birzkeg ! »

Birzkeg were massive mammals, as big or even bigger than earth's elephants, but closer in shape to hogs. They were sturdy, so this proved that whatever he used, should have knocked any humanoid out, if not killed him.

« Fan out ! » The leader apparent ordered before communicating through his earpiece : « Target's up and about ! Plan B ! »

« Beware his lightning magic ! » Another shouted as he disappeared among the trees.

Simon tilted his head, wondering what they meant with lightning magic. Simon didn't use magic… Or at least, he didn't think it was. But it begged another question : how did they know electromagnetism manipulation was one of his powers. Only the people from the bank should know and even then, since the others were all fleeing, only the lightning woman was aware of his capabilities…

« Now, now… How would you guys know this ? » Simon asked as his fingers started sparkling with electricity.

They didn't answer him. Instead, Ace pulled the trigger of his weapon, a gas coming out of it and covering the area in smog. Seeing this scene, Simon felt it weird, unnatural. In his eyes, it was like the smog was a living thing. Or perhaps…

« You're controlling it, aren't you ? »

This would also explain his get-up. Also, what he thought was a force-field covering the area might have just been his control over the gas. As it turned out, his initial thought was right : as he was walking toward his first target, he bumped into an invisible wall. If it had been Ace, or whatever his real name was, and if his power was, as he thought, the manipulation of gases, then it wouldn't have stopped him !

Suddenly, steel cables pierced the smoke, attaching themselves around his limbs ! Simon looked at them curiously until they started to pull. Slowly at first, and the Terran instinctively resisted only through the strength of his muscles. When it started to pull harder and faster however, he remembered that he had other means to resist.

He stretched his telekinetic senses to the origins of the cables, finding cannons anchored in the ground on the other end. With a thought, he pulled the cannons towards him. A deafening sound of metal bending and cracking, followed by the surprised and outraged shouts of the cannons' operators, they gave way. They flew through the air toward the invisible force-field and broke it, continuing their course toward the Terran.

Meanwhile, not paying attention to the deadly projectiles heading his way, Simon worked on extricating himself from the cables. He 'felt' something touch him, before it fell around him and once he was free, he got up and stretched. He took a deep breath of the smoke currently dissipating and exclaimed :

« Ah ! This is fun ! »

What followed was a small lull of silence…