EXE
Oxygen, it is the third most abundant element in the universe after Hydrogen and Helium. Most organic lifeforms use it for cellular respiration and most can't live without it.
I took it for granted as most people do but I started to understand how important it was after I accidentally killed some mice experimenting with my powers.
Powers, that was something I would never have thought off having since the incident. At first, I thought I was imagining things when I felt a breeze around me at constant flux.
Then I found out I could control it as easily as you can breathe. Experimentation showed me that I could create a whirlwind with some light application of my powers. I wanted a hurricane but I doubt I could test that anytime soon.
Pressure, oxidation and all known allotropes of oxygen are in my control including water. Even transmutation of oxygen is possible with some effort. I can turn metal into rust at incredible speeds by fusing red trioxygen to iron and creating oxides which I can control.
I can also create a light vacuum by shifting pressure and collapse it to create shockwave explosions without the heat. My hearing would have been destroyed in that test if I haven't turned the energy of motion into dissipating heat.
I also can create something I could call Diffusion-Oxygen. A type of oxygen that diffused into all materials I subjected it to. Accelerating it at high speeds it could destroy anything in its wake. Even dense metal and rock is wasted away without resistance.
My favorite application though is flight. As I am currently levitating above the clouds and keeping the pressure and oxygen levels in stable condition.
The stars looked so bright and beautiful so high in the air. It made me almost forget that we are living in a hellhole. People will try to ignore it but when the Nine and the Three still exist with the rest of the rampant crime around the world made me think otherwise.
Looking down back to Brockton Bay after I blew the clouds kilometers away I think this is what my power should be used for. The betterment of mankind... Even if I'm going to dirty my hands. My father deserved that much. With or without his approval.
Flying further into the sky I reach the mesosphere and went a bit further into space, holding myself in a geosynchronous orbit. Unclasping my messenger bag I pull out the thermos with my father's ashes and thought of his sudden death with dimmed emotions.
It wouldn't matter anymore, either way. I am going to avenge him and fix the city just as he wanted.
Turning a small portion of the oxygen around me into red oxygen-17, I spin a coil with it to create an electromagnetic charge. I float the thermos into the center and watch it get caught up by the magnetic field and accelerated to a small percentage of the speed of light to parts unknown. It was an anti-climatic event as the universe deemed it to be, as no sound penetrated my oxygen bubble, all I saw was the metal projectile instantly vanishing from my vision.
Turning to my right I felt the angel shaped void in lower orbit facing me and I promised myself I would destroy them with my Diffusion-Oxygen once I figure out the mechanics of the element and how effective it will be on Endbringer flesh.
And it might have been my imagination but I think I felt the Simurgh inch away from me for a moment. Ignoring that tidbit I leave the Mesosphere and fall back down while stabilizing the oxygen inside and outside my body to ignore the extreme g-forces I'm subjecting myself to.
EXE
In the last two hours flying, I found nothing of interest in my city. Normally there would be at least one idiot who would do something stupid somewhere but its been awfully quiet the last few hours.
Feeling the air around me I found a large gathering of people in the east end of the city where the ABB territory is. Being curious I flew over the area and amplified the vibrations coming from the area into my ear.
"…the children, just shoot. Doesn't matter your aim, just shoot. You see one lying on the ground? Shoot the little bitch twice more to be sure. We give them no chances to be clever or lucky, understand?" A voice yelled which I presume is Lung.
Though I doubt the brain-dead binomials are willing to kill preteen children I can't give them the benefit of the doubt considering who they are. I'm sure intervening just to be sure is a no brainer.
Lowering myself to visibility I grasp their attention by creating a small shock wave around me. Some jumped at the sound and looked around for the disturbance before one finally found me and called out his friends to my location.
Lung turned to face me and yelled out to my place above him.
"Who are you? You are disturbing gang business so fuck off before you regret playing hero!"
I would have been afraid by his proclamation if it weren't for the fact that I can cut off his cellular respiration and implode him in less than a second. Manton limits pointless in the face of my superior knowledge of material physics. It makes me grateful that my mother had a doctorate in physics with some knowledge on some other subjects other than English. I also have a solid black-red oxygen armor on that I can manually manipulate to disperse kinetic and thermal energy that can protect me to up to a gigajoule of energy. More if I made it bigger. Call me a nerd if you want.
Stopping the oxygen from going into their bronchioles in their lungs I watch them grasp their throats and panic as they suffocated. Lung tried to ramp up but his cells still needed oxygen to function. By stopping the oxygen from diffusing into his mitochondria and creating ATP from the glucose/oxygen reaction he might as well be running on hydrogen for the good it did.
He grew but the energy to move was lowered to nothing and the brain can only go so long without oxygen so he fell with the rest of the gang.
Lifting up the gang into a pile I grab some iron rods from a nearby building and force it around their legs and arms and use some vacuum welding to bind them together for insurance in case they can gather the strength to bend rebar.
As the group on the mounts finally arrived after I sensed them a few minutes ago, I turn to their entrance and see a group of capes on what I can only describe as lizard dogs hybrids that reminded me of the Earth Aleph Hulk movie dogs.
"Wow, made them unconsciousness in one fell swoop. No effort required, Oxygen deprivation? That's some power you have" the girl in a tight purple catsuit answered.
The guy in the skull helmet went forward and waved at me.
"Greetings, we're the Undersiders. I'm Grue and girl just now is Tattletale. The other girl is Bitch, Hellhound if you want the pc version. And last but certainly least is Regent"
Although I have never heard of them I can't help but feel there is something slightly off about them.
"Fuck you, Grue" The Renaissance era reject told him with a slight chuckle.
After a few moments of silence, he broke it with a question.
"Hey, are you okay?"
looking at him I instinctually grasp my throat where my larynx has been ruined by the trash pushed down my esophagus.
"She isn't hurt, she is mute" The girl told Grue with some slight amusement in her tone.
A bit agitated by her words I grasp the oxygen around us and create the correct sequences of vibrations manifesting as a loud symphony of sound.
"I CAN SPEAK JUST FINE!"
"Ah shit my ears!" Regent hissed out while holding his ears.
"Damnit! Lower the volume girl!" Tattletale yelled to me.
Feeling a bit smugger about my non-disability I stopped using the holy sound and turned my head to the guy in a motorcycle coming here a few blocks away.
"Shit, the heroes are coming, best you run before they catch you, girl!" Tattletale informed me.
Bitch whistled to the dogs and they left in a rush. Scratching my head thinking over the confusing events just now. Though I now got the fact that they're not heroes and most likely some villains. But I hate labeling people into categories before I actually know them so I reserve judgment. I refocus back to the situation at hand and tied down the rest of the gang just as the guy arrives. Which is Armsmaster as I finally figured out.
Walking away from his bike he came to me with his halberd drawn.
"You gonna fight me?" He grunted out.
Though that question made sense in its most logical form I think he hasn't yet grasped the subtleties of politeness. Not taking his words as an insult I merely resorted back to my manual voice generation.
"NO, I AM A VANGUARD OF THE PEOPLE"
A hero is rather vague and idealized so I rather took a title that is more descriptive of my function. Though he didn't really look amused at the sudden sound from everywhere nor from my words.
"What was that?" He grunted while glancing around.
"I AM MUTE, THIS IS THE ONLY WAY I CAN TALK"
"Fine, that is acceptable" He said to me with an agitated tone that contradicted his statement.
He walked to the restrained Lung and poked him with his halberd.
"You did this?" He asked of me.
"YES"
"You got a name?"
"Qwaser" I told him using a name that doesn't reveal my powers as most capes like to do.
"What did you do to them? They seem to show signs of suffocation" He remarked.
"I AM NOT AT LIBERTY TO EXPLAIN YOU THE COMPLEX INTRICACIES OF MY POWER, I AM LEAVING NOW"
Tired of his questions I flew upwards to my home but was stopped by Armsmaster yelling at me.
"Wait! You can't just fly away like that! Who gets the credit for taking in Lung!"
"I DO NOT CARE, I'M ONLY INTERESTED IN CLEANING UP THIS CITY. I DON'T NEED FAME TO DO MY JOB"
Leaving him to do his job I flew upwards to the sky into my artificial self-sustaining dark rain cloud where complex pressure waves and hydrogen kept a solid oxygen box into place. My powers have a reach as far as the horizon so it didn't take much effort to manually hold it up in place without a thought. Entering the box I saw Emma sulking on her back on the carpet blanketed floor until she saw me. She grew a fearful and guilty look before she nervously smiled at me.
"H-Hey Taylor. Did you have a good time doing c-cape stuff?" She managed with less stutter this time after I told her how much I disliked it.
Walk up to her I joined her on the floor and hugged her on my side.
"It was good, I defeated Lung today" I managed with a slight application of my power instead of the loud booming voice.
Her eyes widened but I ignored that and closed my eyes. After a while, Emma rested her head on my shoulder and her oxygen intake lowered.
"Don't worry Emma, I'll take care of you now. Forget about being strong. I'll take that responsibility for myself"
"I'll also forgive you about dad if you stay with me"
She tightened a bit when I mentioned dad. But relaxed once I didn't deprive her of her precious oxygen. It was called a torture technique for a reason.
EXE