The next chapter to HVITBAN is chugging along. I finally overcame whatever hurdle that kept me from touching it. In the meantime, have something that I had to write but am not sure I can complete. The story is about some poor sap who ends up in a mostly Young Justice version of the DC universe with the powers of an alchemist from Fullmetal Alchemist (Brotherhood of course). He is an artist, not a hero, but having superpowers makes things complicated. After all, the first thing any villains think of when they hear the word 'alchemist' is 'philosopher's stone'. This scene is from after he ended up living in Mount Justice to avoid being kidnapped again.

"You know magic isn't real, right?"

I very deliberately did not sigh. I'd been expecting this for a while, but I certainly hadn't been looking forward to it. Kid Flash constantly scoffing at any reference to magic or alchemy had been wearing, to say the least.

"...Did you want something Wally?"

The old nails made a dull clatter as I grabbed a handful to add to the pile in the middle of the circle. The images M'gann had sent me gave me a good idea of what her home looked like. Surprisingly, it wasn't all rust-red like I had figured it would be. There were plenty of rock formations like that though, so I needed plenty of iron to color the grey stone of Mount Justice.

"Whatever that is, it's not magic. You're just using some metahuman power and dressing it up to make it seem mysterious."

I grit my teeth and tightened my grip on the last handful of nails. M'gann flinched out of the corner of my eye. A brief image of Truth's inhumanly wide grin popped into my head as I remembered my experience in the Gate...

'-for whatever you'll give me.'

'Oh? That's 'all' you want? Then it's a deal! I hope you're ready, Wannabe Alchemist! Let's see how much your mind can take!'

I remembered the pain of my right eye being disintegrated and watching it reforming in 'his' face after I paid the price. ...Then I remembered my Gate opening up and the great grey eye looking out at me. I quickly shoved the memory of what happened next back into the depths of my mind to keep M'gann from seeing it. I forced myself to take a few deep breaths before turning away from the circle and looked Wally in the eye.

"KF, do you remember me explaining how my powers worked?"

"Yeah, 'equivalent exchange' or something like that. It's basic chemistry, nothing special."

I nodded and spoke in a dry tone.

"Indeed. I can make nearly anything if I have the right ingredients, an alchemical circle, and a good enough mental image. But I mentioned that I can't do human transmutation. Do you know why?"

Kid Flash's expression still had that hint of a sneer.

"Because you aren't using magic."

I ignored him and spoke in a lecturing tone while double-checking the matrix of my circle and the chemicals inside it.

"Humans are 65% oxygen, 18.5% carbon, 9.5% hydrogen, 3.2% nitrogen, 1.5% calcium, 1% phosphorus, .4% potassium, .2% sodium, .2% chlorine, .1% magnesium, .04% sulfur, and tiny, tiny traces of a bit over a dozen essential trace elements like iron, boron, zinc… Stuff like that."

I grabbed a nail of the pile and tossed it to Kid Flash, who reflexively caught it.

"You've got enough iron in you to make a nail the same size as that one. I could pick up the elements I'd need to make 'you' in a single shopping trip. So, what's stopping me from gathering up a tub of ingredients, sticking them in the right kind of circle, and baking myself up a human?"

Kid Flash looked a little uncomfortable now, but I didn't let him reply. I planted both hands in the circle and pushed the image in my head into it. Dozens of chemical equations filled my head as I sorted out what I needed to gain the result I wanted.

For a brief second the wall was covered with blue lightning. My will took hold, the exchange was made, and the wall was transmuted.

The chemicals I had gathered sunk into the ground and flowed up into the back wall of M'gann's room. The featureless grey wall shivered and changed, its texture changing as portions of it forcing themselves out while other parts sank inwards. The elements that had been added to the rock rearranged into the patterns I needed. They fused with or coated the stone, coloring it. Then the sand, lead, and potash I'd prepared mixed and flowed over the finished piece, protecting it with a layer of lead crystal.

The end result was a beautiful diorama of the martian landscape at sunset.

M'gann and Wally stared at the completed artwork. It had turned out perfectly. Thanks to the mental image M'gann sent me I was able to do much, much better than I'd hoped. At first glance, it looked like we were looking out a window at Mars itself. I was pretty proud of it; it had been hard to get the angles, colors, and reflectivity right to create the sunset.

"I can make something greater than the sum of its parts; more valuable from a human perspective even if it's technically the same 'value' as far as the universe is concerned. I can't make a person though. The law of equivalent exchange would stop me. Trying to make a human, kryptonian, martian or any other sapient would cripple or kill me. Because we are more than our bodies. We have souls, Wally. And there is nothing as valuable as a soul."

The two of them stared at the artwork for a bit before looking at me. Wally West spoke again, much more reasonably this time.

"Alright, I get it, but what does that have to do with magic?"

I let out a sigh. I was in a much better mood now. Making art was relaxing.

"It's important because the universe is much more than what we can quantify with science. But even if we could pull it apart, it doesn't stop existing. Love doesn't stop being real when you understand the glands and hormones involved. Lightning will still be lightning no matter how much you know about how electricity and weather work."

I walked out of M'gann's room, patting Wally on the shoulder as I did.

"If you take the universe and grind it down to the finest powder, and sift it through the finest sieve, you won't find one atom of justice or molecule of mercy. ...And yet, you are here, Kid Flash, a hero in training. Because just because something isn't 'real' doesn't mean it doesn't exist. And just because you can't quantify it, doesn't mean it can't change the world."

M'gann found me half an hour later, kneading a massive lump of dough. I needed to unwind and was in the mood for homemade bread. I mentally broadcast a welcoming message and shifted to give her room to cook. Telepathy wasn't in my skillset, but mentally speaking to a telepath was surprisingly easy. M'gann was openminded in both senses of the word. It didn't take long before I felt her mind brush up against mine.

{Thanks.}

{It's fine. The kitchen is big enough and I like the food you cook.}

{Not that, I meant for the painting.}

I felt myself flush slightly with embarrassment and coughed lightly.

{Ah, right. You're welcome. Actually, it was my pleasure. Seeing something that amazing, even secondhand, was inspiring.}

M'gann smiled at me before pausing, unsure of what to cook with me using the oven. I sent her a bunch of suggestions, mostly focussing on foods that were easy to make large amounts of. She deliberated a bit before deciding to try spaghetti. I sent her another burst of information, this one about the different ways I knew of making sauces. She sifted through that as well, then started opening cupboards.

I mentally debated making my bread into garlic bread before deciding against it. The spaghetti was going to be done long before the bread was, and a bunch of teens wasn't going to be leaving leftovers. A bottomless pit like Kid Flash made that a guarantee. This recipe wasn't right for proper garlic bread anyways. I focused on my mental connection with M'gann again.

{I hope it turned out alright though, there's a chance that my human perspective might clash with a martian's aesthetic-wise.}

{N-no! It turned out perfect!}

I paused in putting the dough in the oven and gave M'gann a disbelieving look. She was a bad liar. Trying to do so while communicating with telepathy probably didn't help either. She fidgeted a bit, obviously not wanting to hurt my feelings. I just kept staring at her till she gave in.

{Sorry! It's just that the colors were a little weird.}

The artist part of me was a tiny bit offended. I made sure not to let it through our connection though, just letting her feel my confusion. I ran her words through my head a few times before it clicked.

{Oh! Our eyes are different, so some of the chemicals in the diorama must have reflected ultraviolet light that my eyes couldn't pick up! Should I try and fix that? I could probably tweak the chemicals if you helped me.}

{No! It's fine! I like it the way it is.}

I gave her a fish-eyed stare, but she insisted she liked the diorama the way it was. Eventually, I gave in and we kept cooking. Between the two of us, it didn't take long to make a decently sized meal. Telepathy made cooking together surprisingly easy. We were as coordinated as chefs in a professional kitchen. M'gann always seemed a lot happier when she got to use her telepathy like this.

It was a shame no one else was comfortable using telepathy with her outside emergencies and missions. Telepathy was a huge part of martian life and culture, so not being able to use it must be making her very homesick. It was a bit tiring to focus my thoughts for long periods of time, but M'gann was just so cheery that I didn't mind.

Suddenly, Wally zipped into the room he sniffed the air for a second before shaking his head and looking at me.

"Ooh! what's that? It smells- Wait no, that's not why I'm here. Gerard, can I talk to you in private for a second?"

I sent a quick mental message to M'gann asking her to take over for me. She smoothly used telekinesis to grab the eggplant I was working with and replaced me. I quickly washed my hands and stepped out into the hallway.

"So? what did you want?"

Wally rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, but he did look me in the eye before speaking.

"I… wanted to say sorry. I still don't believe magic exists, but I should have called you a sham and stuff like that. It's obviously a big deal to you."

A tiny, petty part of me noticed how he was willing to make a fuss in front of others but wanted to apologize in private. I took a deep breath and shoved that thought away before exhaling and replying.

"I forgive you. I can understand wanting to figure out the 'truth' of things. Art and alchemy are a big deal to me though, so I can get touchy when people insult them."

"...Alright. I didn't mean to."

I believed him. Wally could be an insensitive jerk, but it wasn't intentional. His mouth tended to move faster than his brain and he wasn't all that socially aware. He did mean well though. I gave him a nod and a proper smile.

"Cool, just remember to respect the way people look at their powers and things should be good. It doesn't matter if magic is actually 'quantum manipulation via controlling conceptual elements empowered with exotic energies' or whatever. If the person who invented it named it magic, then that's what it's called, even if they were an old, bearded dude in a pointy hat ."

Wally kind of zoned out and mouthed the words. It was funny seeing the metaphorical light go off in his head. I cut in when I saw his grin though.

"Remember, don't act like a know-it-all."

"Yeah yeah, I'll be good."

"Cool. Oh, by the way, food will be ready in a few minutes."

"Awesome! What is it?"

"Spaghetti, parmesan eggplant, and caesar salad. I'm baking bread too, but dinner will be done long before it's ready, so it'll have to be desert."

"Bread can be dessert?"

"It can when it's right out of the oven and fresh enough to melt the butter and jam."

It didn't take long for the food to be finished, although according to Wally it had been an eternity. M'gann managed to hold him back long enough to gather everyone for an early dinner. I smiled the whole time. Today had been a good day. The only way it could be better was if I finally weaseled an invitation to Atlantis out of Kaldur.

I really wanted to see their art galleries.