Alex had spent most of the time waiting near the Fort, or looking for Laroche's men to eavesdrop on any potential information they could have had- they didn't have any, he learnt quickly, were too busy celebrating their victories and/or giving pain medication to those suffering from the Plague.

Speaking of which, Cross had only called once to tell him that Rooks was en route, and he had coughed twice during that short conversation. Still, when Alex asked him about it, he denied having been affected by the Plague, ignored all symptoms despite knowing perfectly well that the Runner was correct about the whole situation. And Alex knew it- the coughing had sounded too deep to be superficial, and he had more or less smelled the Plague when he had talked to the Colonel at Fort Phillipe.

Only Cross didn't care much about it- if Alex broke his legs, Cross would still force himself to finish his mission. Same with dying lungs- as long he was drawing breath, he was going to continue until he could go no more. Stubborn to the end.

It commandeered all of Alex's respect, and frustrated him to no end at the same time, and he suspected it was mostly denial that kept the man going despite everything.
Denial and him not believing the Runner, either.

Alex figured it was justified- He wouldn't trust himself most of the time either, so why should somebody who was actually an enemy believe his words?

...Was Cross the enemy?

He wasn't, was he? He was family.

Why didn't you infect him then? Turn him into one of us? He would never have to be afraid of death again.

Because Cross told him to leave him alone with it. If Alex had forced it on him, he would have lost his trust- and created an enemy he wouldn't have been able to defeat.

No matter what he wanted to achieve with it, the results would never excuse the methods, and Alex knew a lot about the methods. Remembered two and a half million people who fell victim to Greene's attempt at creating a family.
If Cross wanted to do it the hard way, they were going to do it the hard way. If he died because of it- then it had been his decision.

He wasn't okay with the idea in itself- but if there was no way...

The roof beneath him cratered when Alex stopped abruptly. There was a way to stop the Plague.

The Plague was caused by Ray Field Energy, the same the Beast and the Ray Sphere gave off on each activation, and it was the same energy that Conduits constantly emitted at low levels.
And they had a Ray Field Inhibitor to stop those fields. Alex remembered having read the remark 'Stops the Plague(?)' in Wolfe's work- and until now the man had been right about everything- so the chances were high he was right about this one too.

Ray Field Energy needed the source to work and keep its effect going. If they cut off the Beast's energy field, the effect- the Plague- should stop by itself.

Radiation doesn't work that way.

It doesn't. But Ray Field isn't radiation.

Radiation fed itself by constantly knocking out particles of atoms which in turn knocked out other particles. Ray Field Energy was constantly being fed by the Ray Field Energy source. If the Field was gone, so was the effect.

When he killed Sasha, the powers of the lesser Conduits she created all dwindled fast. She had been the literal conduit between them and the Ray Field Energy source. Once she was gone, so was the energy. The same happened with the Dustmen once Alden was dead. The First Sons had been an exception, but that was because of the circumstances- Cole was Kessler and as such, shared the same Field.
At the same time it meant if they killed the Beast, the Plague should stop. Just like when they killed Greene and the Infection gradually receded until it wasn't a threat anymore.

"It could work", he said to nobody in particular. "I could work." Several dozens of voices inside his head told him that it was impossible- but so far there had been a lot of impossible things going on, including himself. Maybe he just needed to be a bit more open-minded about everything?

Alex found the new rooftop hideout easily enough. Even if Heller's directions weren't enough of a hint, the constant cloud of ozone that accompanied Cole, and Dana's scent were a dead give-away. Since he didn't notice any activity on their side, he approached slower, buffering his breakneck speed into a glide to set down more gently.

So he wouldn't disturb any of the others. He arched one eyebrow at the scene in front of him. Heller was asleep, sprawled over a folding chair with countless snack wrappers littered around his current position. Dana and Dunbar were on the couch on opposite ends, both just as dead to the world as Heller was. Dunbar was sprawled out, Dana curled up on the side, using the arm rest as cushion. She had snacked too, but way less than Heller had, and Dunbar was surrounded by several empty beer bottles.
Cole himself was behind the couch, lying on the roof top at an awkward angle, and Alex could smell hints of ozone. It seemed the Conduit was just sleeping off the effect of the Blast Core they found.

The television was still running too, though the movie had ended. He switched it off as he walked around the low table to carefully shove Dana further up on the couch to prevent her from falling off. Then he headed to Cole and prodded him with the tip of his shoe. No reaction. Alex shrugged and walked back to the front, taking Bertrand's briefcase with him to sit on the floor and start looking through the files.

When dawn was breaking, he heard the soft shuffle of clothes on cloth. "Hey there" Alex glanced up, his eyes meeting Dana's. She was still draped over the arm rest of the couch and was blinking sleepily at him, but there was a smile on her face. "You've been gone for a while."

"Sorry. But I met with Cross first, and I had some thinking to do", the Runner replied. "How about you?"

"I'm doing fine. Laroche and his men had been gentlemen to me. Once I reminded them that you are my brother." Dana yawned and stretched, inadvertently kicking Dunbar. He just snorted once and rolled his head to the side a little, and continued snoring.

"Guess you guys had fun?"

"Yup. Didn't know how fun Lee van Cleef can be when you ingest a few bottles of booze." She stretched again and sat up. "Anyways, it's the first time it's just us, and we needed some time off. We can't stay on high alert the entire time."

Alex bowed his head. "Guess so."

"You're making that face again", she continued as she sat on the floor next to him to throw a look at the files he was holding. "Bertrand's a massive butt, huh?" She added once she threw a look at the sales contracts.

He just arched one eyebrow. "A 'butt', Dana?"

"Give me a break, my brain hasn't woken up yet. Once it is, I promise I got a few better choice words."

"I hope so. Or else I would be worried about you."

She rolled her eyes. "Dork"

Alex chuckled and Dana worked on mushing her cheek into his shoulder to read the contents of Bertrand's files.

"Alex?"

"Mhm?"

"James said you were doing that Hive thing."

Alex grimaced. "I do. Kind of." He inhaled a little shakily, mentally steeling himself for a possible screaming match with his sister about his choices. "It's not the same Greene's was, but at the core it's supposed to protect me as it did her. Feels more like a cage to me, though."

"A cage?"

"I can't move anywhere without making contact with the Hive. I know everything that is around, see everyone. And I can't leave New Marais either because the Hive is here. Basically, I grew roots here. I don't like it."

"But it's you, right? Not like Greene. She was just the focus. The first Infected, and she was at her strongest inside her Hive." Dana cocked her head. "But you have more power than she ever would have had, period. Especially considering that you are the Infection, not just another zombie." She shrugged. "As such, shouldn't you be the one to tell the Hive what to do, and not the other way around? You're thinking too much like we do. You keep forgetting that you are far more than we could ever be."

Alex blinked. She was right. The Infection was him. These weren't just remote-controlled storages, this was him. Blacklight was all over New Marais- He was all over New Marais. He had grown roots here, because he wanted it. He had told Cole that anything he cut off from himself and kept alive had the same powers as he had, and that wasn't a lie. He also told Cross that he couldn't keep his mind if he tried controlling many different bodies- and he meant it.

But...he wouldn't need many bodies. He had one, all over the city.

Alex leaned back with a groan. "Fuck, Dana, you're a genius."

"Thanks, I am aware", she grinned in reply.

"I can hit the Beast", he explained. "I already did so when I was just me and it stayed down for a while. And right now, I am the whole city. If I hit the Beast with a city's worth of Blacklight, I can keep it down. I thought I'd need a few armies to distract that bastard, but I don't- I just need me." He grinned. "I won't defeat it, but at least I can stop it for as long as I want."

"So Cole can get the RFI rigged", Dana finished with a wide grin. "See? Without me you would be running circles and not know what to do."

He grinned too. "I knew there was a reason I kept you guys around. Different perspectives."

Dana hit him in the shoulder with a snort. "Dumbass"

"I know"

She cocked her head "Since you can't hit the Beast without it showing its face, what are you going to do next?"

"I'm waiting for Cross to call me. But I think I will look for those ships carrying the Vermaak. I mean, anything to piss Bertrand off. Remember, we still need to deal with him, too. Can't forget him when the Beast's here, or else he manages to get away and start over." His expression became thoughtful. "Maybe he'll transform and I get to chew on him."

"I prefer scones", Dana pointed out with a grimace. She glanced at the sky and the sun that was partially hidden behind clouds. "Well, let's begin, then. I'll go and make some coffee to get the other idiots here started."

"Cream with sugar", Heller's voice threw in with the tone of somebody who just woke up. "Actually, hold the coffee. Just cream and sugar, if you would."

Dana glanced at the Evolved, who was leaned over the armrest to sluggishly start picking up the snack wrappers. Alex hadn't even noticed him waking up. "Thought you didn't like cream and sugar?"

"Yeah, but I'm also still famished. Have to get my blood sugar up before I go back out and go crazy with hunger halfway through."

Dana shrugged. "I'll go look whether I find any buckets for your cream then."

"Thanks, you're a peach." Dana left and Heller paused briefly. "Find anything interesting?"

Alex smirked. Bertrand got two ships. Tries to use them to transport a few of those Vermaak guys overseas.

"To sell them, far as I understood."

Yup. Going to look whether I can stop them. Besides, these guys apparently paid in advance, so...

Heller grinned. "Bertrand's going to be pissed if we intercept his shipment."

Could be he shows himself, or tries to flee. Both cases are acceptable.

"Whatever it is you guys are talking about- I want in." Alex and Heller both turned to see Cole stare at them with a singular determined expression. The Conduit had sat up and was rubbing his neck, but his eyes were lucid and narrow. Dunbar was also still snoring away on the couch, showing little reaction to their discussion asides from an occasional dry cough.

"Why do you assume we've been talking?" Heller questioned.

"Alex is grinning after making eye contact with you", Cole pointed out. "And sorry about that, but you aren't exactly a sight for sore eyes."

Alex snorted amused, cutting off anything Heller could have said. "Enlighten me, then, what do you think were we talking about?"

Cole furrowed his brows, then sat up straight and pointed at the briefcase. "You know where Bertrand's taking the Vermaak guys, do you?"

"I do"

"Good. I want in."

Alex just cocked his head, but didn't question. Cole quickly caved in under his gaze. "I need to be there, okay? I just...I have the feeling I need to be there."

His pulse was being irregular, and the Runner exhaled a sigh. "How do you feel?"

Cole blinked. "Uh...I'm fine?"

"You're not", Heller threw in.

"And how would you know?"

"We're living detectors for all things concerning health", Alex reminded him. "And your system is being wonky." His pulse was irregular, his blood pressure too low, body temperature elevated. From the smell alone, Alex figured that there was a hormonal cocktail with differing functions rushing through his body, too.

"Not exactly how I would have put it, but yeah", Heller added. "Wonky"

The Conduit glared at the two of them, and threw up his hands as he stood up from the couch. "Fine, I am feeling wonky. Nothing a small jog around the block wouldn't fix, though. And anyways, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?"

"It doesn't work that way" Mercer grumbled. Wolfe's data suggested he could very well kill himself if he keeps this up.

Heller furrowed his brows. "Shouldn't we warn him?"

Wouldn't work. He's a stubborn idiot. Alex sighed. We just need to make sure he lives to actually use the RFI.

"Great."

"I know you guys are talking about me again", Cole bit out. "And I know I don't want to know about what. So you going to show me where to go, or do I have to go and look by myself?"

"I'm with you on that one", Alex threw in, getting up to approach him. "I know where to look. And frankly, if Bertrand got some ice soldiers ready for sale, then the Militia must have been good enough to re-trap a few of them. I'd like to know how they did it." That, and ever since the Beast made its appearance in New Marais without killing all of them, he had prepared what could be prepared. Now he had to wait- and nothing grated more on his nerves than having to wait.

He shook his head and glanced at the Conduit. "You want to eat something first?"

Cole shook his head. "Nah, man. Just thinking of food makes me want to throw up. Let's just shoot down Bertrand's work." He grimaced. "I really think I need to go there. It's like my head screams at me to do so."

Alex's eyes narrowed just as Heller's did. "Weird choice of wording, no?"

It is. Can't help but think that something's about to happen.

"Shit. Now what?"

Get ready as quickly as you can. Tell Dana too.

"Guys? How about you do me a favor and not do your telepathy thing when I am present? I'm starting to get an inferiority complex here."

Alex snorted. "Sorry about that, but, you see, it's very convenient to talk without being overheard." He simply motioned for the Conduit to follow him. "Bertrand has two ships, to the South of Gas Works. You passed them by when you took out the warehouses."

"Shit-"

"We didn't know about this, so don't sweat it."

"They could have left, could have sold these guys off at any given time-"

Alex barked a short laughter. "They wouldn't have. Bertrand's trapped, and without his orders, they wouldn't leave anyways. Plus, I'm pretty sure these Vermaak guys are also trying to free their buddies, so these ships won't be able to get away."

Cole's glare hardened, before he snorted and slumped his shoulders. "I hope you are right on that account. We can't let anybody have those ice freaks for weapons. They are dangerous and completely off their rocker."

"I know I am right", the Runner replied easily. "Because the ships won't leave either. The gas pumps to refuel them were located at the warehouse you and Heller destroyed."

"So they don't have any gas to go anyways", Cole exhaled in relief. "Good. So we'll just take them out-" He cut himself off with a startled yelp when the roof edge beneath proved itself not to be as stable as he formerly thought, and the ancient stone crumbled the moment he tried to put weight on it.

He didn't hit the floor, though, because he remained tethered to the crumbling roof structure.

Tethered by a line of static electricity.

Alex blinked and actually had to compute the situation- dozens of voices inside his head screamed that this was not possible by physical standards, when Cole made a surprised noise and pulled himself upwards, the line fading the moment he had a secure grip on the wall.

"Okay. That just got my blood pumping", the Conduit declared with an awkward grimace as soon he was back on top of the roof. "Uhm...what was that?"

"No idea", Alex admitted. "Kessler never had this ability. It looked like...a lightning tether?"

"Must be a new ability from the Core", Cole muttered with a frown. He stretched his arm and let lightning run across it, then clenched his fist and reeled his arm back. When he threw it to the front, a lightning bolt jumped from his palm and hit the wall of a building across the street- but instead of fizzling out, the bolt increased in thickness and remained.

Cole blinked again, and experimentally tugged at the line- and it instantly shortened and yanked him across the street towards the building.

Alex caught him before he could collide with the wall.

However, once he let go of the Conduit on top of the roof, Cole instantly tried again, this time deliberately reeling himself towards the next wall and catching himself on a window sill with a rather ungraceful belly-flop. Alex watched slightly amused how the Conduit scrambled upwards to balance on the sill and immediately threw another lightning tether upwards to the edge of the roof to pull himself skywards with enough speed and momentum so he flung himself far above the building with a gleeful whoop. "Now that's the way to climb!"

Alex snorted amused the moment the Conduit angled his body and enveloped himself in a cloak of flames to glide across the rooftop in a manner very similar to himself, and he kicked off to soar right next to him with streaks of red trailing after him. "Nice move. Can't help but think I've seen it somewhere."

"Yeah, Spider-man does it all the time", Cole replied with a grin, then hit a roof in a roll. Alex landed besides him with a heavy thud. He threw a cursory side glance at the Conduit, switched to his Whipfist and pointed at a group of Vermaak soldiers. "You think you could grab one of these guys?"

Cole blinked, eyed the clawed tentacle in confusion. "Like...you do?"

"Exactly." Alex lifted his claw briefly. "I could demonstrate, but that would probably scatter these guys."

Cole frowned. "I think I can do it." He exhaled and shuffled his feet slightly wider, then generated his lightning tether and threw it to the front. Being lighting, it was a lot faster than Alex's Whipfist, though there wasn't any mass behind it as it hit its target. The man still jerked in surprise- and Cole clenched his fist and ripped his arm back, yanking the man right off his feet and pulling him towards himself.

He didn't seem to strain himself doing so, though he was still unused to this kind of power, so the Vermaak soldier was on a collision course, one that Cole couldn't control. Alex snatched the guy right out of mid-air with his Whipfist and slammed him into the roof to shatter his form, sending ice shards flying everywhere.

"Not bad for your first try."

"Yeah, thanks", Cole brushed off his pants and paused with a frown. "Uh...I guess we should maybe get ready for his buddies?"

Alex grinned. "They won't be around any longer." He lunged off the building and right between the ice freaks, lashing his Whipfist in a circle around his body. Three soldiers were ripped to pieces, the others managed to dive clear.

Didn't matter. Alex spun on his heel and slammed his Whipfist down, instantly sending tendrils burrowing into the ground around the impact area. He grimaced briefly at the sub-zero ice that was firmly lodged into the soil, and forced his Groundspikes out of the floor, impaling a few more of the Vermaak soldiers.

The others tried to flee. Alex simply bunched the muscles in his legs and launched himself after them, colliding with one of those Heavies in mid-air and turning him into icy mist on impact.

Bright light stole his eyesight for a moment, and he kicked off the air to get into some safe distance the second Cole's lightning tether came out of nowhere and sheared through the remaining four guys with ease. Not so much tearing like his clawed tentacle, but rather burning through these guys like a cutting torch.

When the bodies hit the ground, Alex landed on a car with a solid crack. "Impressive work"

Cole was still staring at the bisected corpses, then exhaled and grinned. "See? Now I got a whip too."

"Laser whip even", the Runner supplied. "Should come in handy." He probably wouldn't want to get hit by that- he would heal, but it wasn't going to be pleasant at all.

He paused at the sight and sound of several Vermaak soldiers closing in on the two cargo ships at the south end of Gas Works. "The cavalry already arrived."

"Cavalry?" Cole squinted into the direction of the ships. "Wow, looks like they really want to free their buddies."

Alex just cocked his head. "Guess it'll be a little tougher to get through."

Cole snorted and flames flickered to life along his arms. "Yeah, nothing we didn't have before."

Alex hummed in understanding. "There are two ships, and two of us." He glanced at Cole. "I'd say you get the one closer to our current position, I take the one further away."

"Deal, but how do we stop this thing?" He cut himself off and corrected his question. "How do I stop it? Since I can not, like you, throw a ship around."

"Target the anchor winch", Alex suggested with a smirk. "It should be connected to the main machine. Fry the winch, and the whole thing should die. If not, get to the bridge and shut the navigation down."

"Okay" Cole inhaled once, bounced on his heels twice- and leapt off the warehouse they had stopped on to dash towards the first cargo ship. Almost immediately, a group of Vermaak swarmed him. He reacted in an instant, smashing one of those ash tornadoes into them to get them to back off, before he used his lightning tether to reel himself into a better position. The men charged after him, using pillars of ice to catapult themselves upwards and after him, but Cole's lightning blasts took care of them easily.

"Think he has this?"

You've been with him. You tell me.

Heller snorted. "Yup. He got this down, alright."

Any reason you're talking to me? Usually, Heller wasn't the one to initiate a conversation between them.

"I'm kind of worried. Dunbar's been coughing ever since he got up. That's...the Ray Field Plague, right?"

Most likely. Alex sighed. We need to tell Cole.

"Yeah, no shit"

We'll get back to you once we stopped those ships.

"Do that." The Runner turned and headed for the second ship now that he was positive that Cole would manage on his side.

He had a ship to sink too, after all.

A wide grin made its way on his face as he headed for the cargo cranes sitting at the dock just next to the ship. He hit the structure hard, making it shudder from the sudden strain- and pushed upwards while coiling the mass in his legs.
He leapt off as soon he reached the end of the crane and just kept going straight up, the dock spiraling away beneath him. The Vermaak idiots hadn't noticed him yet, and Alex gave himself a moment to calculate the best angle.

Then he kicked off the air and shot straight towards the ship, Armor forming to reduce wind draft and increase his total speed.

When he hit the ship, he smashed right through the main deck and into the main cargo hold beneath.
Before he even stopped falling, his body exploded into every direction in a tightly packed ball of tendrils, shooting outwards for dozens of feet and easily eating up whatever got in their way to thoroughly thrash the cargo hold and kill whatever Ice Soldier had been stored down here. They also speared through the bottom hull violently and when they pulled back to him, they ripped metal paneling loose, so water rushed gurgling into the belly of the ship.

Alex grinned unseen under his faceplate and kicked off the damaged floor to get back on deck.
The Vermaak were still reeling, but recovered quickly the moment he made his appearance and shot towards him, yelling enraged. He just scoffed, let the first blasts of ice hit his dense shell, then swung around and formed the Musclemass to simply slam his fists together once and dissolve the closest guys into crushed ice.

Another blast of ice hit his back, near his gills, and Alex grunted in displeasure when the sub-zero air leaked into his system. He turned slowly, glared at the group of Vermaak behind his body- and dropped to one knee to jab his hand into the deck and unravel himself through the crawlspace beneath the floorboards.

The Groundspikes caught these guys unaware and tore them to shreds within the blink of an eye.

More Vermaak were still present, but they seemed more cautious. Alex snorted and removed his shell, charging to the front much faster than he had done so before. The first four guys didn't even know what was happening when his talons tore through them and sent the pieces of them clattering across the floor.

When the others finally reacted, they were too late. Alex picked them off easily, and even the two Heavies nearby hadn't been able to slow him down at all.
He scoffed and brushed some crushed ice off his shoulders as soon as the last guy crumbled to the ground, when he paused and slowly turned to glare to the front of the ship.

The back deck was shaking with tremendous steps, and the air temperature was constantly falling. A malicious grin revealed his teeth. It seemed the Vermaak had been bringing up the big guns, because that was one of these Titans Heller and Cole had fought before.

It turned and roared at him when he casually walked towards it, head cocked to the side as he glanced at it. It swung its giant arm at him to smash him, though he easily caught the blow one-handed, twisted his wrists briefly- and crushed the entire limb to icy dust. The Titan reeled back with a surprised yowl, and Alex pulled his arms close to his body, drawing his Biomass into tight curls. The giant jerked back to the front and stomped the floor to create Ice Groundspikes, though he easily dodged and leapt upwards while continuing to build the pressure on his inside.

He slammed his palms downwards towards the Titan and simply let go of the force. Tightly packed tendrils shot from his arms and chest and crashed into the ice monster like a cannon blast, went right through it like it wasn't there in the first place, and tore through the ship's front part with ease. The ship groaned like a wounded animal, then shrieked when he yanked his Biomass back and ripped the hole at the bottom of the hull wide open. As water rushed into the cargo hold, the whole ship shuddered and creaked loudly, before its entire front snapped off and both parts sank into the shallow harbor basin, while the water roared and churned violently.

"You son of a bitch!" Alex landed on the deck and turned slightly to glance at Cole. The Conduit had approached him while he was busy toying with the Vermaak, and was now staring with wide eyes at the destruction he caused.

"I am, care to clarify what made you realize this?"

The Conduit flapped his arms in a very familiar gesture of 'I don't believe this shit right now'. "Heller and I needed good five minutes to take a bastard like that down, and you just pulverize it and destroy the whole damn ship in one blow?!"

Alex shrugged. "Sometimes you just need to ravage everything in your closer vicinity. I think it's also the best way to prevent anything from coming to bite you in the ass." He grinned. "Plus, why should I restrict myself if I have the abilities?"

The ship beneath them bucked and groaned in that moment, and the Runner grimaced. "We should take this somewhere else", he suggested. "Lest we want to take a bath."

"Yeah, would be better", Cole agreed, but didn't move. His brows were furrowed as he stared at the anchor winches installed on the back deck. "But I have a feeling?"

He didn't explain further, just walked over to the anchor winches, frowning even deeper.

"Cole?" Alex cocked his head as he trailed after him. His behavior seemed odd, even for his standards.

"Let me just try something?" The Conduit aimed both palms towards either winch and released lightning, frying both machines. Alex heard the whine of electronics, and the cracking of machinery far below their feet. He cleared his throat. "In case you haven't noticed, but I kind of tore the ship apart, you don't need to-"

He cut himself off when suddenly something exploded, and Cole ducked to the side with a swear, nearly losing his balance in the process. The ship heaved and whined like an animal, sparks were spewing out of the winches and the engines beneath them screeched as they overheated and erupted one by one.

Then flames sprang up from the back deck, and for a second Alex suspected that somewhere cables caught fire-

The flames didn't feed on anything, appeared just in front of them for all of a split moment, before they vanished again.

It was as if somebody hit the pause button- everything seemed to freeze when a figure stood where the flames had been. Alex hissed and reeled back, just as Cole stepped to the front, eyes wide as he stared at the other. "What the Hell?"

The newcomer smiled at them. "MacGrath, Mercer, it's good to see you again. I wanted to meet you earlier, but things happened."

Alex ducked back, snarling, even as Cole's jaw dropped open. "John White?!"

Did you know that at the back of a ship is the poop deck (and no, you don't do there what the name implies), and at the front is the back deck? I didn't.

I hope I managed to tie up most loose ends here, just Bertrand and the Vermaak left now that we know the Beast's true identity.

Also playing around with the Lightning Tether. What, you think you would be able to control a newly acquired abilities that easily? That shit's hard.
On another Side Note, Alex is still far more powerful than Cole ever will be. I will fight you on that.