Still, the physical strain of tinually shifting gravity around herself added up quickly. As soon as she stopped, a dull, throbbing ache settled into her bones.
She headed over to a bend colpsed onto it, stretg out her legs and massaging her sore muscles. A satisfied sigh escaped her lips as she rested, taking the moment to enjoy the brief respite.
Her eyes drifted over the sery as her mind wahinking back to the fight with the Neon Vipers. She couldn't shake off the memory of Kasumi's smug smile whehought she had the upper hand. She also recalled how fast the woman fought. Faster than anyone else Axion had e across so far.
And her nanowire things. Those were pretty terrifying.
Edith had given her a basidown on how those wires worked while she was rec from the fight. Tech like that was unon even iropolis, but a lot of criminals there had access to it.
It didn't take much for Axion to piece together that Kasumi and probably a lot of the Neon Vipers weren't from the slums, but instead, they were exiles from the metropolis.
The bigger gangs were like that too, so she shouldn't be surprised. Still, she couldn't help but wonder: how many angs here had access to tech like that?
If it was just pipe guns—or even actual guns—she'd be fine. But nanotech? That ged the stakes. What other weird ons would she have to fight against iure?
Maybe she should start using ons herself. Virgil had offered to teach her, but the idea of shooting or stabbing people always felt wrong to her. Sure, pung or kig them wasn't much better, but it just felt different. As long as she made sure not to put too much force behind her blows, she wouldn't have to worry about actally killing someoh her power.
Shooting at them with a gun or slig them up with a khat seemed more likely to kill them or cripple them. She had no iion of being a murderer, even if those people might deserve it—
Oh...
Well, she did use her power to reflect the bullets that Zoltar and his goons shot at her and Quinn. At the time, she reoccupied with self-defense, so she didn't think twice about it. Now though, the realization struck her. She could've killed them back there. Just a little bit of misdireg here, and the bullets would've torn through their faces and necks, leaving nothing but a red mist in their pce.
"Did I...almost bee a murderer that day?"
The words left her mouth before she eveered them.
She let them sink in, dwelling on the possibility that she may have beeering on the edge of crossing a line, something that she swore o do.
But in the heat of that moment, that was the st thing that crossed her mind. All she cared about at the time was keeping Quinn safe and fighting back. Using the bullets they fired back at them? Yeah, that seemed perfectly reasonable in her mind.
No one could've bmed her for reag that way, could they?
Axion shook her head. It's not like she pnned on killing them. She just wao get them off their backs. Besides, no one died, right? Everyone walked away alive with only a few bullet holes in them.
That had to t for something.
As she took a break, she gnced over at the Tower of Songs. It stood tall above the slums, one of the only remaining ndmarks from back when the slums was...well, just a normal city.
Edith had mentiohat the pce used to be called the Paarasoft Building, and it used to be the city's pride and joy, housing the corporate headquarters for a big pany.
Now it was nothing but a relic.
But despite that, the pce became some sort of haven for musis, artists, and other creative types. People gathered in the courtyard and on the balies to perform, pying instruments, singing, or reg poetry. Those performances drew crowds, and ChitCreds flowed. Food, drugs, and booze sold like water, and those profits were used to support the performers and hire more security. Soon, the pce became known as the Tower of Songs.
The whole plex became as close to a self-suffit unity as you could get in the slums. It almost seemed like airely different world, separate from the rest of the grimy, crime-ridden, poverty-stri pce. Even the gangs respected its status as ral territory and rarely caused any trouble there.
Performers lived on the upper floors and worked together to maintain the building, renovating and refurbishing old rooms to turn them into apartments, studios, and galleries.
The ground level was verted inte hall, where live music could be ehe main area tained food and drink stalls, and even had an open-air stage, where theatre and dance shows were performed. The courtyard and baly areas served as outdoor spaces, allowing people to enjoy the weather and rex between indoor shows.
Most of the electricity that the metropolis drip-fed into the slums also went to the Tower of Songs. This meant that the lights on the building still worked properly and stayed on long after they failed in the rest of the slums. Only the Neon Alley, the Night Market, and a few other pces mao keep their lights on. It made the building stand out like a sore thumb among the darkness of the rest of the slums.
During Axion's patrols, she sometimes visited the tower, stopping by to listen to a performance or two. She liked how lively the pce was. It was one of the few spots in the slums that never lost its color or cheer. It always had something neening, be it a show, a band, or an artist painting a mural.
There was always something going on.
Axion leaned against the rusty metal bench, watg the performers on the balies and the ground floor. Music wafted through the air, creating a soothing backdrop to the din of the slums.
She blinked as she spotted something new on one of the walls by the courtyard. She squi the sight, trying to figure out what she was looking at.
From a distance, she could see several people climbing the building's outer walls, their grips secured onto colorful hand and footholds embedded into the crete.
Axion stood up and approached the base of the wall, ing her neck upwards. Up close, she could see that the wall was covered in various grip-textured surfaces: ridges, grooves, and knobs desigo provide purchase for climbers.
She spotted a small crowd of onlatherihe bottom, pointing and exg as they watched the climbers scale the wall. Axion pushed through the throng of spectators, standihe front to get a better view.
"Hey! It's Axion!" someone excimed. Several heads turned, staring at her in awe.
She waved awkwardly and owards the wall. "Uh, hi. So...what's going on?"
"Oh, you haven't heard? They built a climbing wall there," a girl replied enthusiastically. "I've seen people climb up and down before, but today, they're peting! I don't know who's leading or what they're peting for, but it sure is exg to watch!"
"Yeah," one of the men chimed in. "You should go check it out sometime. You won't believe how hard those guys pull. I'm not much of a climber myself, but I bet you'll get the hang of it quickly since you're a Super."
"Really?" Axion's LED eyes widened, gng back at the wall. "Is it...fun?"
"Oh, for sure! Climbing be a real workout. And a good way to clear your mind too." The man smiled at her. "All you gotta do is grab ahold of the wall and start moving. Trust me, once you get going, you'll get addicted!" He owards the petition. "Want to have a go yourself?"
Axion tilted her head thoughtfully before shrugging. "I mean, I guess? Sure, why not? It sounds iing."
The man ughed. "Trust me, you'll love it!" He pointed up at the wall. "They've got harnesses you borrow for safety, so you won't have to worry about falling. You even fall on purpose to get back to the bottom quickly, hah."
"Oh, it's okay. I won't hem. I have my powers." She tapped her helmet for emphasis.
The man scratched his cheek, seeming a little unsure. "Alright, suit yourself. If you ge your mind, just ask those guys for a spare harness."
"Okay, thank you!" She fshed him a thumbs-up, then strode over to the wall and stood underh the ing ledge. The person was only half. Looking up, she eyed the distance. From a ghe climbing seemed straightforward enough, with lots of jutting holds to grasp.
"Nah, I'll figure it out as I go. I'm gonna do this by myself."
"Thanks."
She didn't want to use her powers for her first climb. Just being a metahuman should give her enough advao get her to the top. If she slipped and fell, then she'd just use her power to safely nd.
Taking a deep breath, she unched herself into the air, reag for the highest handhold she could reach. She grabbed hold of a bumpy protrusion with both hands and heaved herself upwards. Pulliher arm up, she wedged her fingers into another hold and started hoisting herself upwards.
As she asded, she found herself rexing into the process of searg for hand and footholds, adjusting her grip, and finding the spot to tto. Her body instinctively swayed with the wall's texture, seeking out the most secure pces to rest her limbs.
Before long, she was so absorbed iask that she almost fot about the crowd of spectators below, cheering and egging her on. She paused for a moment, gng down, and noticed a group of guys gawking at her. They were clustered he base of the wall, eyes practically bulging out of their skulls.
What are they staring at?—Oh!...oh...
Axion shifted unfortably, suddenly aware of the position she was i over, legs apart, butt wiggling as she struggled to keep her ban the wall. Her bodysuit hugged her curves a little to the imagination.
Awkwardly, she adjusted her posture, fttening herself against the wall with her legs spyed and chest pressing against the rough texture.
The crowd started h louder, whooping and whistling. A few even made suggestive catcalls, and someone called out, "Yeah, baby! You got it!"
Don't look at them. Focus on the wall.
She refocused her attention oexturing, sing for the best holds to tto. Slowly but surely, she found her groove, falling into the pattern of handhold-foothold-repeat, ign the lecherous ents from the peanut gallery. Before she k, she was almost at the top of the climbable portion of the wall.
Without her power, she felt the pull of gravity more acutely than usual. Her fingers burned, ag from their tinuous pressure against the rocks, and the rest of her body felt stiff from stantly holding itself in a strange tortion.
The feeling of 'down' tugged at her, temptio drop. She had only felt a simir feeling when she released her gravity field at the apex of her jumps, but this sensation was stronger, almost overwhelming. But she ighe urge to use her power, f herself to focus on the physicality of the climb.
Almost there, you do this. Almost—There!
As Axion reached for the final handhold, her fiips brushed against the smooth material, uo gain any purchase. She tried to wedge her nails into the crack, but they couldn't find a good grip. She shifted her weight, attempting to adjust her stance, but her other foot had no support either.
Suddenly, she felt her foothold dislodge, and her body tipped dangerously. With a cry, she scrambled desperately, her fingernails scraping uselessly against the crete. Her foot filed, searg for a hold, but there was nothing. She was slipping, falling—
Just as she was about to drop, she activated her gravikinesis, intending to lighten her weight to float gently to the ground.
Instead, her mind honed in on her practice with her Gravity Slide, and her feet ected with the wall, sliding downwards as her body instinctively aowards the surface.
She yelped in surprise, her arms waving frantically as she tried tain her bance.
'Down' started to tug at her again...but her feet also experienced 'down' in a different dire—towards the wall.
Two downs?! I'd rather stick to the down where my feet are!
Halfway down, her feet stuck to the wall.
Axio out a soft gasp as she realized she had somehow switched her orientation. Her 'feet' were now firmly attached to the vertical wall, while her 'head' faced the ground.
The 'down' she experienced ahead of her faded. Instead, she felt a 'down' towards the building underh her feet.
What the...How does this even...?
She looked behind her and saw the top of the Tower, and beyond that, the sky. In front of her, the crowd stared in shocked silence. She looked down at her feet and raised oively from the wall.
Slowly, she eased it forward, testing her new orientation. To her astonishment, she stayed firmly attached to the wall, like an io a sticky surface. The feeling of 'down' was now towards the building instead of the actual ground.
She took off her jacket a go. It fell to the wall, stig to it just as she had done.
"Woah..." she muttered, her helmet's LED eyes widening.
Edith's voice buzzed in her ear.