36: Enter

  Breathi differei different. Every part of him had undergone a qualitative ge that he could barely prehend. A, at the same time, he still felt like himself—he was still him, and for John, that was the only thing that mattered.

  Slowly, his body, which had been lifted into the air, began to desd, nding softly on the ground. It was natural, instinctive, as if he had always been able to do it.

  "Are... are you okay?" Raven asked. She had started approag him, her curiosity and astonishment evident. Meanwhile, Howard was lying slumped against the wall, his eyes closed—he seemed to have lost sciousness.

  "I feel fine. Different, but... at the same time, not." He didn’t want to sound cryptic, but he couldn’t help it. Trying to describe his emotions aal state at that moment was difficult—he simply didn’t think there were enough words for it.

  Raven stepped closer, her hand slowly lifting toward him. John allowed it, watg as the tips of her fingers grazed the ethereal energy that surrounded him like fmes.

  There was a moment of tension, but when Raven didn’t feel pain or danger, she closed the distairely, letting her hand move deeper into that “fire” until it touched John’s body.

  "It’s warm... but not too much, like lukewarm water, if that makes any sense."

  No, it didn’t, and both of them k. But did it really matter? For John, his pn had succeeded—even if he barely uood what had happeo him.

  The power now c through his body made him feel invincible.

  Of course, that might have been an exaggeration. After all, the euphoria of having achieved it and the dopamihat flooded his brain were still fresh, making his thoughts overly optimistic.

  His self-fidend belief in his ability to successfully carry out his ideals were at their peak, and he didn’t think anything would ge that anytime soon.

  “Ugh...? What happened?” Howard’s voice broke the moment, causing both of them to turn in his dire. The man began to sit up slowly, holding his head with one hand and using the wall for support with the other.

  It was a bit embarrassing to admit, but they had both fotten about him.

  Before they could ahe man found his own answer. With his vision now clear, his eyes fixed on John—or rather, on the energy dang around his body, illuminating the space with its glow.

  “D-Did it really work?” Howard asked, his voice trembling slightly, as if he could hardly believe it despite seeing it with his own eyes.

  John found it a bit amusing to see him like that.

  However, the slight smile that was beginning to form at the ers of his lips faded when he saw him advang toward him with quick steps and a gleam of fasation aasy in his eyes.

  'What’s this guy thinking?' He suddenly remembered that he was now pletely naked, and for some reason, a shiver began to run through his body.

  It was ohing to let a cute girl like Raven e close and touch him a little, but to let an ugly guy like Howard do it? That was something pletely different!

  Determio avoid this, and before Howard could pletely close the distaween them, John raised his palm toward him in a clear gesture to stop.

  Uedly, this a caused the new energy within him to rea its own, and in an instant, a green glow surrounded Howard’s body. Abruptly, his steps stopped, and before he could do anything, the stist found himself floating in the air as if gravity had suddenly ceased to work for him.

  “Whoa!”

  John blinked, looked at his hand in fusion, and then at Howard in surprise.

  “I-I usually don’t have a fear of heights, but I don’t think I like this way of being in the air!”

  Seeing Howard floating in the air, filing his arms and legs chaotically, Rave out a snort of amusement.

  But before she could begin ughing, she suddenly felt her feet leave the ground and the ceiling start to draw closer. A pale green glow, identical to the one surrounding Howard, now encircled her body as well.

  "What are you doing!?" Raven began to move both arms in a strange way, as if trying to fp her wings. It was instinctive—she had gotteo doing it wheook the form of a bird and flew through the air, but this time, she was still in her human form, so the a ended up being embarrassing to watch. something she quickly realized and stopped doing.

  A clear pout of annoyance appeared on her face.

  With both hands stretched out toward them, John couldn’t help but marvel. He could feel it, like an invisible limb, like ara arm. Using only his mind, he could dictate their movements remotely.

  Telekinesis.

  Or at least something simir.

  John put his gaze on one of the debris around him, a piece of the now broken capsule that was on the ground. He tried to make it move just with his look, but it seemed it wasn’t going to be so easy si didn’t even seem affected. Frowning, he put more effort into it until he felt how his eyes were heating up and, in a sed, his vision fshed.

  Then, a pair of green energy beams, with yellow tones inside, shot out at great speed, easily pierg through the piece of the capsule that John had been trying to move before striking the ground, sinking into it to an unknowh. Fortunately, he had been pointing down, or it could have hurt someone.

  "What was that!?" Howard and Raven stared in disbelief at this new dispy of power, while John, who had tightly shut his eyes to stop the beams shooting from them, began carefully direg them back to the ground, unwilling to keep testing his "telekinesis" on them.

  He had gotten carried away, and in his excitement, he had fotten how dangerous a new power could be when you could barely trol it. He was lucky Howard hadn’t been actally hurt by him.

  "I think I o run some tests."

  .

  .

  .

  Before starting to iigate his new abilities, John asked Raven and Howard to check the state of the base while he stayed alone in the b. He didn’t know how muotion his "transformation" had caused and didn’t want the pce to go on high alert because of him.

  So, while waiting for either of them to return, he ed up some of the mess around him and finally sat down in a meditative pose. His bare buttocks toug the cold floor barely distracted him from what was on his mind.

  There was a lot to do, but one of the first things he needed was to get his body to stop glowing. While the effect looked quite incredible, John didn’t want to spend the rest of his life lighting up the world like a Fug Christmas tree.

  Fog deeply, he tried to "turn off" the fmes, which was not as easy as he had hoped. Even so, after several minutes of intense tration and trial and error, he finally mao get the energy around him to dim, gradually retreating into his body until it returo "normal," much to his relief.

  It would have sucked if he’d actally turned himself into a living bonfire.

  The sound of the b door opening pulled him out of his thoughts. Soon, he saw Raveering with a rge case in her arms, causing him to raise an eyebrow. She froze when she saw that John had stopped glowing, and soon a blush crept across her face.

  Without the energy surrounding him like fire, it became a bit harder for Raven to ignore his naked body. Earlier, the awe over his ges had kept her from thinking too much about it, but now that the energy was go was harder to keep doing so.

  Fortunately, her quick mind had already thought of a solution without John having to ask.

  "Take this," Raven said, throwing the case toward John, who caught it easily.

  He didn’t hesitate and ope, gng at its tents, though he already knew what it was.

  "You really thought ahead, eh?"

  "You said you’d be runnis. I figured regur clothes would be useless because of hile they are, so I decided to go with this."

  John nodded, giving her an approving look. Raven’s judgment had been spot on, and he scolded himself for not thinking of it soohough, in his defense, his mind was still somewhat distracted.

  ‘I thought I’d try it out otlefield, but doing it now isn’t bad either,’ John thought as he looked at one of the experimental suits made for the meta-human team, more specifically the one designed especially for him.

  It resembled his usual attire but with some slight ges. Unlike most of the team members—excluding James—John didn’t need excessive prote. As such, the vibranium protective ptes in his new suit were only pced at key points, meaning vital areas of the body and articution points like elbows and knees.

  This addition made the outfit look slightly bulkier due to the vibranium ptes being cealed beh several yers of reinforced Kevr. Even so, it was still a lighter ensemble than the suits made for the rest of the team, which also included bulletproof vests and full-body tactical protes.

  Apart from that, John had finally acquired a proper “helmet.” He hadn’t used one before, thinking it unnecessary, but he’d decided to plete the ensemble now that vibranium was avaible for it.

  He based its design mainly on what he remembered of the inal Captain America’s helmet, adding, of course, a lower mask simir to the ones Cassandra and Charles wore to pletely cover his head if necessary. However, this was more modur, allowing him to leave it behind if he thought it might get in the way.

  All in all, it was a truly fitting and impressive new suit.

  Deg not to wait any longer, John took the tents out of the case and began dressing. Raven turned her gaze away, though every now and then, John could feel her eyes on him. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that, so he chose to ig, deg he’d deal with it ter.

  Soon, he was fully dressed, though without the helmet or mask. He would’ve liked to have a mirror to admire his appearance, but he figured that could wait until ter.

  As he stretched to test the suit’s esticity, he turned his gaze toward Raven.

  “What happened with the base? Was there any trouble?”

  Raven shook her head, much to his relief.

  “Everything is fihe disturbance was barely noticeable. The staff thinks it was just a small tremor in the area, and Howard is making sure that’s the official report.”

  It seemed the base was quite resilient, which, in hindsight, made sense sihe entire facility had been built in the middle of an active war. It was expected to withstand even enemy bombardment. While John’s transformation had caused some otion, it hadn’t been intense enough to cause signifit damage or draw unwatention.

  Which was good, after all. Besides the SWORD base, the Allied Army base was also nearby. If the otion had beeer, c it up would have been a headache.

  That reminded him that sooner or ter, he’d have to expin to Peggy why part of Howard’s b would need extensive renovations.

  She’d probably be upset with him for not telling her about Project Assion, wouldn’t she?

  Well, he’d deal with that ter. For now, he had some cool new powers to experiment with.

  "Alright, my faithful assistant, it’s time to get started," John said, and with that, he flexed the energy he could feel within himself. In an instant, the light exploded outward, c him from head to toe.

  It was thrilling, especially since even the air around him began to stir.

  ‘I wonder… is my power level over housand now?’

  To think that he now had his own "ki" aura, although it wasn’t actually that.

  ‘No, this needs a different name, something unique.’

  It looked like fire—at least in its basic appearand it stemmed rgely from the energy of the Tesseract, so it was also i nature. ic fire? No, maybe stelr fire? Yes, that seemed fitting. He liked how it sounded.

  "What will you do first?" Raven’s questiht him back from his thoughts, refog him on what he was supposed to be doing.

  "Let’s start with the basics... although maybe we should go somewhere else,"

  he thought, looking at the room they were in. Although it wasly small, it wasn’t a particurly rge space either, and there were still some funal boratory equipment that would be better not to damage—those things weren’t cheap, after all.

  Yes, it would be better to have a more open space, somewhere where it wouldn’t hurt to destroy things. Therefore, John turned off his aura again and, along with Ravehe b, deg to get as far away from the base as possible—specifically heading toward the border between Italy and Austria, amidst the t mountains.

  Once again, they both fot about Howard.

  .

  .

  .

  The winter wind howled; the icy blizzard, which could have frozen an ordinary man to the bone, was easily ignored by John. Perched on his shoulder in her bird form, Raven shielded herself from the cold thanks to his warm aura, which seemed to provide perfect prote against the harsh weather.

  Although John could have ignored such low temperatures before, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t feel the cold. But now, the cold seemed ent, uo affect him any longer.

  He would have to test it, but he felt the same would happen even if he were exposed to intense heat.

  'Prote agaireme climates' one more advao add to the list

  "This pce should be fine," John said, looking at the siderable-sized clearing hidden deep within the mountains. They probably wouldn’t find a better spot even if they kept searg, so he decided this would be his testing ground.

  "Maybe I should have brought something to keep warm. I don’t think I stay in this pce for long unless I’m close to you," Raven said, looking at the thick accumution of snow around them.

  People often fot, but essentially, she was "naked" most of the time.

  Maybe it would be better if she returo the base. If she stayed, she would just be a burden, and she didn’t want that. It was a bit disappointing, as she wao see Joh his new powers.

  Hearing her, John almost nodded in agreement. He had brought her along out of habit, as it had bee natural for him to have her by his side every step of the way. But the weather was harsher than he expected, and while it wasn’t a problem for him, it was still dangerous for her.

  'Although maybe...' With an idea f in his mind, John raised his hand and focused on the fiery aura surrounding it.

  With careful i, he tried to focus it, to trol it, and as if responding to his will, the energy began to gather like a rising fme around his palm until it started to take the shape of a burning sphere.

  Then, with a swift motioended his hand forward and willed the energy to be released.

  It was more effective than he expected.

  With a fsh, a beam of green energy streaked with blue and yellow light shot forward at high speed, striking a dozen trees in the distance.

  The wood was easily pierced, and the iy of the released energy charred their remains while melting all the surrounding snow.

  Traces of stelr fire began to burn in the impacted area. In some strange way, Joh a e with them and khat, if he wanted, he could make them extinguish.

  "What do you think? Do you think this could work as a campfire?" At his question, Raven, who had been silent, snapped out of her surprise and looked at the faint fire geed by John’s energy bst.

  "Yes... I think it will,"

  Raveuro her human form and approached the fire, feeling the warmth it emanated. It wasn’t as f as being close to John, but it was enough to elimihe problem of the freeziher.

  With the problem solved, John moved several meters away from her until he stood in the middle of the clearing.

  Now, how should he approach this? At first, he thought about simply perf some basic exercises, trying to probe his new limits. But the more time passed, the more he realized this might be somewhat plicated.

  'First, let’s test what I’ve already discovered,' he thought, sing the area until he spotted a rge snow-covered rock about the size of a small car.

  Stretg his hand toward it, palm ope the energy within him act. Soon, a faint green light surrouhe rock, and it effortlessly began to lift into the air.

  'I don’t feel any tension or weight.' He wondered if there was some kind of parameter. How much weight could he move? Did it depend solely on his mental endurance, like Cassandra's telekinesis, or was it only reted to the energy inside him?

  While p this, John ched his fist, and instantly, the massive rock shattered as if crushed by immense pressure.

  Although this ability was o him, John had trained enough with Cassandra to know some of the tricks she used.

  And because of that, he soon noticed a limitation.

  'Moving rge objects is easy, but small things and precise movements aren’t...' Cassandra could use her telekinesis to catch a dozen bullets and make them dance across the battlefield like guided projectiles.

  But he couldn’t do the same. He tried to catch all the fragments of the rock he had crushed, but in the end, only some of the rger pieces remained in the air while the rest fell to the ground.

  Not only that, but he had to use both hands for it.

  'Precision is low when dealing with objects smaller than the palms of my hands.'

  He wondered if this was an insurmountable limitation or something he could work on improving.

  For instance, Cassandra had also o use her hands in the beginning. But over time, that need diminished for her, though she still used the gesture when requiring intense tration, almost like a mental aid.

  'Now let’s see how muentum I give them,' He brought the rock fragments he had mao capture closer, making them levitate around him. Then, just as Cassandra did, he sent them hurtling into the distah force.

  John watched them soar through the air for several kilometers before suddenly feeling his e to them vanish abruptly.

  'So there’s a distance limit too.' If he calcuted correctly, it was at least 7 or 8 kilometers—not insignifit, but raordinary either.

  Still, he liked it. Now, his shield could serve as a more effective projectile than before.

  Plus, he wouldn’t run the risk of losing it actally anymore.

  With his enhanced visioched the rocks tinue sailing through the sky. Then, with a smile at the er of his lips, he focused his gaze and began trating his energy around his eyes, causing them to start glowing.

  Suddenly, a pair of energy beams were fired, and with precision, they sailed through the sky, striking the rocks he had throwe the distance.

  Laser vision, a power that seemed simple but was also incredibly useful and cool.

  Johhat he could truly start calling himself Superman from now on.

  Of course, there was still ohing he o test to truly make the parison.

  "Raven, stay here for a moment. I’ll be right back,"

  Without waiting for the girl to respond, John closed his eyes and, with a deep breath, focused on seeking that force surging within him. He didn’t o try too hard because it was something instinctive, a freedom that came to him as if it had always been at his disposal.

  Slowly, his feet began to leave the ground. The wind swirled around him with more iy, and soon it was as if the p’s gravity no longer existed.

  Then, in an explosive burst, his blurred figure shot toward the sky like a bzing et, leaving a long trail of light in his wake.

  Upon witnessing this, Raven, still on the ground, couldn’t help but let her jaw drop. Although she had seen incredible things since joining John, everything that happehis day seemed to be the cherry on top of them all.

  And without being able to stop it, that feeling of inferiority that had been lingering in her mind resurfaced, causing a hint of longing to be born deep in her eyes.

  Such power… She wondered if one day she could obtain something like that, too.

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  “WOAAAAH!!!” John screamed from the depths of his soul. His body pierced through the clouds and soared through the air with absurd ease, leaving a soni in his wake as he increased his speed, hurtling directly beyond the horizon.

  He didn’t know how fast he was going, but everything around him blurred, and soon a deep darkness became visible.

  He was about to reach space.

  ‘Oh, shit!’ John opened his eyes in arm as he realized it, and for a moment he hesitated. Could he survive in space? While he knew he could hold his breath for a long time, he had never really tested how long.

  ‘No, air shouldn’t be a problem. Even at this height, I don’t feel short of breath. In fact, I don’t feel anything bad.’ He hadn’t calcuted it, but he had definitely surpassed the so-called “death zone,” a he was still inhaling and exhaling without any difficulty.

  ‘Is this another be of iergy, self-sufficy? I now survive without external means?’ He robably jumping to clusions, but he felt there was er expnation.

  With that worry out of his mind, he finally decided to move forward, and soon silenveloped him—a silence so overwhelming and absolute that for a moment, everything he had ever know irrelevant pared to the immensity before him.

  A space so vast ahat it seemed infinite, an o of stars without a horizon, without a boundary.

  John stopped his advand remaiill, floating in the void, absorbed in the moment. Then it happened—he felt it. The rays of sunlight struck his back with their warm glow.

  Slowly, he turned around, his eyes now pletely greeing for the first time the world he was noart of.

  Majestid radiant, suspended like a jewel in the infinite darkness.

  Earth was more beautiful in person than he had ever imagined.

  “Impressive, isn’t it?” When the words reached his ears, John’s pupils shrank at the same time that every hair on his body stood on end.

  A voice where no sound should exist—an impossibility that made him doubt his senses for a sed.

  Was he halluating?

  With cautiourned his head, then he saw her, suspended in the infinite abyss, just a few meters away from him. There was a figure ed in yellow robes, adorned with intricate goldeails that seemed to dazzle thanks to the sunlight. The fabric of her garments swayed slowly in an almost hypnotic motioe the ck of any kind of wind to make it possible.

  A hood cealed her features, revealing only the shadow of a serene and enigmatic face. The absence of expression only intensified the weight of her presence, as if the void itself sought to bend to her will.

  She was not just a figure. She was a—a force impossible to prehend.

  “It seems that the time for our meeting has finally e, Captain.”

  When their eyes met, John couldn’t help but swallow, while his brows furrowed tightly.

  It seemed his little trip into space had led him to enter a problematic existence.

  He wondered if it was too te to return to the ground.

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  Note:

  End of the chapter!

  Writing it was much more plicated than I expected. Out of nowhere, my mind decided to go a bit bnk while I tried to e up with ways for John to discover/study his new abilities, or at least some of them.

  I didn’t want to make it too heavy, but I also didn’t want it to be too superficial. I know there are still things left to explore, but I think the best approach is to do it little by little.

  I mean, we haven't seehing John do yet and he doesn't kly what he do either, so I guess it's going to be a journey of self-exploration that we'll be on.

  On another note, describing things is also challenging. Many of you have probably noticed by now that I’ve never been too descriptive with the appearance of things or people because I feel like I ck the vocabury for it. I’m not sure how to solve this, but I’ll work on improving.

  Finally, I’d like to wele 2025 with great enthusiasm! I don’t usually post during the week, but I didn’t want to start the year without sharing something, so here we are.

  This actually makes things a bit tricky for me since I only have one chapter of Supersoldier ready in advan Patreon. It's something I o fix soon (I’m w hard to publish a chapter there today as well). I know it’s not much to offer, but it’s what I’ve got. I really appreciate everyone who supports me, and if anyone else wants to join in, you know you’ll have my gratitude. ;D ( patreon.maCruzader )

  Happy new year!