SDC 5

Whoo. Happy new week. Excited about this new chapter. Vote with your stones. Let's get to 500 power stones this week.

--

As it turned out, sparring wasn't any easier against a trained opponent, even with superpowers.

Artemis slithered forward the moment the fight started and, in a blink, planted her feet on my chest and flipped, landing gracefully.

I remain rooted in place thanks to Inverse and rushed forward on my own, fist cocked back, coated in Cursed Energy. I swung, and she twitched her head, dodging. Exploiting the opening, she dug into my gut with a whip-fast punch that chained into a second and a third.

Reinforcement blunted the first hit and Inverse nullified the follow-up hits. I swung downward on the fourth punch, hand snatching her wrist, and I pulled and punched.

She flowed into the hit and jabbed at my eyes with two fingers.

I dropped a level with a shift of my knees, taking the jab to the forehead instead of the eyes. I pulled her in, slinging her over my shoulder, and flung her onto the mat, but she somehow landed on all fours like some kind of super cat.

Now that was just some bullshit.

Fuck it. Let's see how she handles a full-on charge. I flexed my limited control of Cursed energy, pushing it below my waist and into my legs. I exploded forward, instantly closing the distance between us, but somehow, Artemis had taken off before I had.

Her run transitioned into a slide halfway through, which broke my momentum. I tried to slow down but stumbled instead. One leg crossed over the other, but Artemis' legs clipped mine before I went down.

I activated Inverse just before contact, and it was a hellish mistake.

What should've been a love tap shattered my shin and ankle. A gut-wrenching scream ripped out of me before I went down, and my health dipped by 20%. 

The description of Inverse flashed in my vision before everything went black.

While Inverse is activated, Strong attacks become weaker and vice versa. Inverse possesses a lower and upper limit of what can be categorized as a strong or weak attack. The level of the technique determines both, as does your vitality, cursed energy strength, and reserves.

I woke up with a groan in the motel room I rented, with a healed leg and a shattered pride. I'd expected the asswhopping, but to be tripped into unconsciousness was a new low.

Artemis was cycling through the channel on my shitty motel Tv, pizza sitting on the table, half-eaten. She seemed happy as a clam. I bet the entire fight hadn't even winded her.

"Urgh…" I muttered, looking down at my leg. She'd splintered the break and bandaged it, allowing it to heal correctly. Most of the bruising was already gone.

"You're finally awake," she sat up. "Thank God. I was afraid I might've given you brain damage in addition to kicking your ass."

I gave her the middle finger.

"Want some Pizza?" she gestured to the box. "Figured you might've been hungry after all that healing."

My stomach twisted as the smell hit me.

"I could eat," I said, grabbing half a slice and shoving it down my throat.

"Whuut?"

Artemis watched me with an amused smirk.

I'm a growing meta. I needed the calories.

She watched me scarf down slice after slice with a look I couldn't quite place.

"Want to tell me how I shattered your Fibula by tripping you?" she asked.

We had a ten-second staring contest before I finally answered.

"It's the cost of my invulnerability. Guns shots feel like love taps while…"

"Actual love taps make you feel like you've been runover by a car. Inverse. The name makes a lot of sense now."

"Essentially…yeah."

"That's terrifying," Artemis said quietly, "but also kind of fair. I mean healing, a strength boost, and invulnerability. I was starting to think you were superman's distant cousin."

"Could be," I shrugged. "Would have to meet my dad's family to know for sure."

"I don't see it," Artemis said, leaning in. "Facial structure is all different."

Heat rose to my cheeks, and I shoved away her face.

"Obviously, you have to dial back your use of Inverse. You're gambling in every fight until you can get the timing just right. Because if you slip up once during a street brawl, or get caught by a stray jab…"

"It could be game over," I muttered, falling back into my pillow, suddenly feeling very human. The incident had snapped me out of whatever high I'd been riding since I got my new abilities.

My meta-ability seemed almost necessary to even use the Cursed technique. I took comfort in the fact that it would help me recover from the many, many training wounds I expected to receive while training with Artemis.

I turned to her. "Thanks for looking after me. Your mom is probably pissed I've got you out so late again."

"She is," she said, "but not as much as my dad. But then again, I like him that way."

I gulped, suddenly questioning this week-long boot camp we had planned. I wasn't afraid of many things—okay, that's not true—but on top of the very short list was Mr. Crock. He was right there up next to Batman and the Joker.

All it had taken was watching one sparring session between him and his daughter to put the fear of God in me. Compared to him, Artemis was a saint.

"Hope you kept my name out of it."

Her lips twisted into a devious smile, and I shuddered. "All he knows is that I've been spending more time with a friend who happens to be a boy."

Crap. "Not funny, Art. If your dad kills me, I'll come back from the dead to haunt your actual boyfriend."

--

Five days later.

I laid into the heavy bag with a grim determination and controlled breath, Reinforcement wrapped around me. I had my training bag to the side, stuffed with Turkey sandwiches and water bottles.

After hours of training and the subsequent healing cycle, I couldn't get food in me fast enough. Oftentimes, I ended up with a pudgy gut that quickly deflated. It wasn't pretty, but it got the job done.

Artemis called it a 'dirty bulk,' and said something about ending up fat, but I was more occupied with getting stronger so that I could hold my own in a fight.

All my stats went up by three points at least—even perception, and I had better control over my Cursed Energy.

We've also started practicing with compound bows, and I've even jumped down a few buildings despite Artemis's warnings.

She was right, of course. I shattered my fibula and femur and fractured my skull multiple times during training, but it'd all been worth it.

Inverse went up a level, as did Cursed Energy Reinforcement and manipulation.

The difference was night and day.

Inverse had a more manageable lower and upper threshold, and I didn't take as much damage from a botched activation. The technique also took less time and energy to summon. The same could be said for Cursed Energy Reinforcement.

Curse Energy Reinforcement Level 1: Achieve Active and Passive boosts in physical parameters by circulating cursed energy through your body. Active Enhancement provides a more pronounced benefit, while passive Enhancement occurs naturally over time as you gather more Cursed Energy and become more proficient in manipulating Curse Energy.

Current active boost: 25%

Passive boost: 10%

2 CE per second.

It was where the growth was the most obvious, but I appreciated Cursed Energy's manipulation the most. It made my entire combat style possible—switching Inverse on and off while I used Reinforcement.

However, after a week of practice, the level increase in hand-to-hand combat felt the most earned.

Hand-to-Hand Combat Lv 2—An all-encompassing skill that covers various martial arts you possess knowledge and proficiency with. 5% boost to learning martial arts, damage, and speed.

Every dig to the gut, judo throw, and kick felt worth it.

I'd still not managed to beat Artemis once, but I was getting closer, and it was more than enough for what I needed.

Help Sasha and put Tim in his place.

As for Black Mask, I'd done away with the delusion that I could take him alone, but I wasn't throwing in the towel either. I just needed to attack the problem from a different angle.

Artemis was waiting for me by the entrance of Lowes when I finished my session, leaning against the doorframe.

"Dipping out before tonight's spar?" she asked.

"It's Sasha. Been a while since I heard from her. She's not taking my calls, even the ones from payphones around the city. I'm afraid something's wrong."

"You think he got to her?" her expression softened.

"Maybe," I said, "she could just be on a bender."

"Has happened before," she said, moving out of the way to let me pass. "Call me if you need me."

"You've got a pair of spandexes I don't know about?" I chuckled.

"You'd be surprised," she said with a wink, and I gingerly stepped past her, eyes lingering longer than they should.

--

My trip back to the Narrows was a short and oddly emotional one. I rode in the cab in silence with my hood down, my eyes scanning over the various places Eddie and I used to visit. The cab dropped me off a few blocks from my neighborhood, and I headed over to Sasha's, slipping into her building.

I helped myself into her apartment using the spare key Eddie gave me, and it was a mess. It was like a hurricane blew through here, or more accurately, some kind of party.

The kitchen counter had several-day-old cake, moldy food, unwashed Tupperware, and half-empty bottles of Vodka and beer sitting on it. A greeting card put the final piece in place.

Sorry for your loss.

Marj.

Fuck.

"Eddie's wake." I missed it. My heart sank. Probably happened while I was training. I pocketed the card and swung by Eddie's room next. It was the only part of the house that remained untouched.

In the corner was his football gear. A dirty hamper sat by his closet, and above his bed was a poster of some supermodel that I always teased him about.

In a basket beside his bed was what Eddie affectionately referred to as his arsenal. Baseball bats, pipes, and old rope.

I hefted his favorite bat and gave it a practice swing. It was Solid Aluminum. Sturdy as a rock. It was the last thing his mom bought him before she disappeared. That was five years ago now. He only brought it on special jobs. I vanished into Cursed inventory, a small smile at the corner of my lips.

It was another one of my hidden cards and had as much potential as Inverse if I played things just right. It grew with my Cursed Energy base and could be used for all manners of mischief and creative fighting.

Smuggling, arms dealing, the sky was the limit.

I shook my head, shoving aside those thoughts for now, feeling up the card in my pocket.

Marj might know something. It was almost seven, so I had half an hour before she had to be at the nightclub opposite Vinnie's lounge. It was where Sasha worked.

I knew her in passing, only sharing brief conversations occasionally, but she seemed decent enough. Smart too.

Her place was a couple blocks down. Several lingering eyes followed me as I walked. More than once, I tensed up, breathing a little faster, but my Cursed Energy remained tucked tight underneath my skin, where it should be.

Something was clearly up, and I had a nagging feeling I knew what it was.