Rise of the Mystic Mutants the Tale of Henry John Braddock
Chapter 7
Twenty-two-year-old Henry John Braddock stood in one of the octagon-shaped cubicles of the research and development building. It had been eight years since he started his training, and today was his final test with his three primary instructors, Lionel Jeffries, Mary Lebow, and Giovanni Zatara.
He had changed a lot over the last eight years. He topped out at 6'1", and his body was packed with lean muscle.
His Emerald eyes scanned the room as he walked in, his gaze sweeping over the two tables sitting in its center. Giovanni stood with his back to the tables as he watched Henry draw closer.
Off to the side, his mother, Madalyn, and Cain stood against the wall. Each of them had helped in his training. Because of their emotional connection to him, it was decided they wouldn't be able to give him a fair assessment.
Stopping before the table, Henry slipped his hands into the pockets of his dark slacks. He inclined his head, "Teachers."
None of his teachers had changed over the last eight years, whether it was Hampton village's medical program or something in their abilities, he didn't know, but it was curious.
"We are here today to test Henry John Braddock in biological manipulation, technology manipulation, and sorcery. If he passes, he will gain the rank of apprentice in these three areas and gain the equivalent of a graduate degree."
"Now," he swept his arm to the side, "let's begin." He moved over to stand beside Mary's table with those words.
Approaching Lionel Jeffries's table, Henry stopped before it, staring into the man's blue eyes. "I want you to create," Lionel began, "something that will better Hampton village."
A slip of paper appeared in Henry's right hand, "I need these ingredients brought in."
Lionel raised an eyebrow, "Can't you rearrange molecules to create what you need?"
"I can, but that wouldn't guarantee the elements would be in the correct proportions in the ingredients."
Lionel nodded, "Good answer." Grabbing the paper, he slipped it underneath the table.
Henry felt a pulse of energy.
"The ingredients will be here momentarily."
Suddenly an energy filled the room. Blue bolts of power curled around the angled walls before snaking across the tile floor and connecting to form a cube. The energy in the room increased, causing the hair on the occupant's bodies to rise.
A small silver shelf appeared with a pop containing various plants, powders, and liquids.
Kneeling before the shelf, Henry placed his hand upon it. With a pulse of power, knowledge of everything on the shelf seeped into his mind.
Over the last eight years, they discovered that his brain works faster because of his body's secondary circulatory system and nervous system, allowing him to solve problems quicker than others, retain information, and boost his overall intelligence.
Nodding to himself, Henry stood to his feet. With a flick of his fingers, ingredients floated up from the shelf. Henry's eyes flared as they combined into a sphere and began to spin.
In his mind's eye, he saw the makeup of each ingredient break apart. He continued to move his hands as a shape began to form in the air. As the sphere of ingredients grew smaller, more items floated up from the shelf.
After about an hour, Henry picked up the vial from the shelf. With the force of will, a dark red liquid flowed from the air into the vial. Turning, he placed the vial on the table before Lionel, "If the knowledge I found in the library is right, then this should be able to purify mutant genes and ensure that the child of anyone who takes this is born a mutant. As long as at least one of their parents is a mutant."
Lionel picked up the vial, "this will definitely qualify. If this concoction works, it will definitely strengthen our island. Combine it with my pill that infuses a mutant with magical energy, and this will change the course of the island's future" He looked at Henry, "if it works." Holding it away from his body, it vanished in a crackle of electricity.
"The science citadel will test your concoction; they are all under oath to be truthful. If it passes their test, you will achieve your certification in biological manipulation. For now," Lionel gestured to Mary, "continue with your test."
"Before that, do you mind if I keep those," Henry nodded to the shelf of ingredients brought in for his test.
"Why?"
"I hope to create the specific compounds I need for elixirs by studying them."
"If you pass your test, I don't see that being a problem; if not, the price tag for those ingredients is $10,000."
"Fair enough."
Stepping up to Mary's table, Henry eyed the things on it. Copper dust, iron dust, aluminum, plastic, and a small bar of gold. He stared at the woman with the white Mohawk, "So," he began.
"Same deal as with Lionel," she gestured at the things on the table, "create something for the betterment of the island."
Henry raised his left hand. Half of the copper powder floated into the air. A light burned within his eyes as he compressed it together. A heat forced Mary to back away as the powder changed into a small amount of copper wire.
The wire fell to the table, steam rising from it. The gold and the plastic rose into the air. Streamers shot from both, slowly combining to form a minuscule rectangular shape about half the size of your thumbnail.
The light in Henry's eyes increased as two bolts of electricity shot from them and snaked around the item.
Lionel leaned over to Mary, "What's he making?"
"I don't know," she pointed to the item dancing with electricity, "but that looks like a microchip of some kind."
"What's the electricity for?"
"He's using his mind to program the chip; the electricity allows him to establish a connection with it."
The chip floated to the table, and Henry leaned upon it for a second.
"Looks like that took a bit out of him."
Mary nodded, her eyes never leaving her student.
Straightening, Henry looked at the remaining copper, aluminum, and plastic.
The silicone floated into the air forming a ring; it slowly merged. The copper and aluminum drifted toward it, creating pathways on its surface. Within the designs on the plastic, there was a square opening in the back of the circle.
The ring settled on the table, the microchip moving to fit in the opening. Small static bolts encircled the ring. Wire flowed out from the chip, seeping into pathways molded into the plastic.
Turning his attention to the iron, Henry raised his left hand; the entire collection of iron dust floated into the air, forming a ball.
Closing his hand into a fist, it began to spin, slowly growing hotter. Exhaling from his nose, streamers of gas went into the orb.
Mary leaned over to Lionel, "what was that?"
He exhaled pure carbon in a gas form and infused it into the iron. Lionel glanced at her, "Is he breaking the rules?"
Mary shrugged, "I never said he had to use only the things on the table."
Lionel smirked, "Tricky."
The orb gradually slowed to a stop, now a bright shiny silver.
"He created steel."
Keeping the orb floating in the air, Henry leaned down and untied his shoe. Pulling his shoe off his foot, it lifted into the air and settled on the table sole facing the ceiling.
The sole of his shoe streamed off, forming a soft cushion on the device coming together on the table.
"I think he heard you," Lionel muttered, "but I wonder why he isn't just creating what he needs."
"Because that requires energy," Giovanni said from his spot a few feet away, "and after your test, he will have to fight me."
As the cushion settled into place around the device. Streamers floated out from the orb of steel, slowly coating the machine.
Every once in a while, copper, aluminum, or plastic would flow together, creating a part for the device before it was covered in steel.
Henry stepped back once it was completely covered, "Done," he said, a hint of tiredness in his voice.
Mary approached the table, "what does it do?"
Henry gestured to the device, "This will allow a telepath to use the portals when you travel to other worlds as a focal point to see what's around them. Right now, its range is only about the size of a city, but at least you shouldn't be surprised."
"You turned a portal of energy into a working eye. Impressive," Mary nodded, waving her hand over the device. It disappeared in a crackle of electricity just as a slip of paper appeared in Lionel's hand in the same way.
Lionel's blue eyes danced across its contents. Slowly, he lowered the paper, his eyes locking with Henry's, his face impassive.
Henry's stomach clenched until a smile broke across Lionel's face, "Congratulations, your creation did better than we asked for. You are now a journeyman in biological manipulation."
Henry stood there stunned until his mother slammed into his back, forcing him to take a step forward. He stared at Lionel as she placed a kiss on his cheek, "Congratulations, sweetie."
Mary patted his shoulder as Henry sagged in relief, "Congratulations, let's hope you do as well on my exam."
Henry nodded as Cain and Madalyn came over to congratulate him.
Thirty minutes later, a strip of paper appeared in Mary's hand in bolts of static electricity. Flipping it open, she smiled, "Congratulations, you are now a journeyman in technology manipulation."
Giovanni stepped forward as the family celebrated once more, and they all fell quiet.
"Take a break," he glanced down at Henry's sock-covered foot, "get yourself ready. In one hour, we will have your magical exam," he looked into Henry's Emerald eyes, "it will be a trial by combat. Let us see if your old skills have rusted."
–XX –
One hour later, Henry walked down a long concrete hallway dressed in a black T-shirt, jeans, and well-worn tennis shoes.
Cone-shaped lights dangled from above, casting circular patches of light on the rough cement floor.
Exiting the tunnel, Henry winced at the light. His gaze drifted upward as he stared into the clear blue sky.
Around him was a Coliseum carved from marble. Off to the side, he could see his family sitting in the stands; they were the only ones present for this test.
Initially, they had planned to train him off the island, but his mother felt it would be better for his development to be around people. They have used the portals in the science citadel for the last eight years to train him on other earths.
That lasted eight hours a day; he would then rest in technology that would run him through simulations of what he was learning from Lionel and Mary.
That lasted another eight hours, and he could do what he wanted for the last eight hours of the day.
With the revelation of James Benedict Potter's actions in Eden village, Giovanni and Lily had made sure to scan his teachers thoroughly and put them under magical contracts so they could not reveal any of his abilities. The people that looked over his creations for his tests were already under oath.
Giovanni stood in the center of the Coliseum, his arms folded behind his back, dressed in his typical white button-down shirt, black slacks, black dress shoes, and dark suspenders.
Henry stopped 3 feet away from him.
Giovanni stared at him for a long moment, the sun highlighting the grey at his temples and in his beard, "Are you ready?" His arms shifted to his side.
"Yes," Henry said, his eyes never leaving Giovanni's form.
"Good," Giovanni's form disappeared, flowing away like smoke on the wind.
An orange light from below caught Henry's attention. His eyes widened as he looked down; a complicated spell circle formed beneath his feet in the blink of an eye. The design flared as pale blue tentacles the size of skyscrapers rose from it.
The tentacles bent, revealing their dark purple underside as they angled to wrap around Henry.
Leaning to the side, Henry teleported away in a flash of blue light. He appeared in the air to the left of the circle. An inner light filled his eyes, causing them to shine with power.
Henry swept his pointer finger down. A crescent-shaped beam shot from the appendage, slicing the spell circle in half.
Golden orange light flared from the broken symbols, traveling up the tentacles and dispersing into motes of light.
Henry slowly turned his head from side to side, searching for his opponent. When he didn't find him, he closed his eyes and released a pulse of Psionic power. In his mind's eye, a picture of the stadium formed, and in that picture was a humanoid form. Henry spun, his eyes still closed, a shotgun coalescing in his hand. With practiced ease, he pulled the trigger.
Giovanni flew back with a grunt.
Henry stretched his right hand forward, continuing to release pulses from his body. Air currents twisted through the space between him and Giovanni, reaching out to grab the older man.
Regaining his balance, Giovanni whispered a phrase. The earth around him liquefied, tendrils shot up to intercept the wind, and they exploded on impact, sending dust throughout the Coliseum.
Henry clapped his hands together; the dust cloud solidified into needles that dropped from the sky with the weight of a bowling ball.
Cursing Giovanni through his arms out to the side, a Golden orange dome appeared around him. A grunt exploded from them as the first needle impacted the shield, sending a shudder through his body. As more hit the barrier, the weight began to add up and slowly drive him into the dirt.
A Word hissed past Giovanni's lips. The next needles to hit his barrier shifted into a feather. With a gesture, the feather stiffened. With a flex of his fingers, they flew towards Henry.
Stretching forth his left hand, Henry closed it into a fist. Each of the feathers disappeared in a blue light. They reappeared behind Giovanni, their momentum still carrying them forward.
Giovanni spun on his heel, throwing his hands in front of him.
The feathers slammed into his hands, parting around him like they hit a wall. Blood dripped from Giovanni's hands as the last feather drifted to the ground.
Henry eyed the blood. 'I'm glad I didn't let those hit me.'
Giovanni stared at his student. 'He's good.' He glanced at Lily Braddock, 'from what I know of her history, she was a candidate for sorcerer supreme in their home universe, so the question is, why did the fifth cosmos want me to train him.'
Slowly, Giovanni lifted into the air, the wounds on his hands growing shut as he drew level with Henry. "This is a fun game, but I have other things to do today." Raising his left hand, he pointed it at Henry, "you passed your test, but this fight is over."
"rewop ruoy em eviG."
Pale blue energy flared around Henry's body, causing him to tense. 'Something feels off, but what is it?' Slowly, the energy began to flow away from Henry's body in streamers of light.
As the light hit Giovanni's hand, Henry felt a tired ache begin to seep into his muscles.
Henry's eyes narrowed, "So, that is your game."
Giovanni jerked as the energy reversed its pull and began to flow back toward Henry. His eyes widened as Golden orange energy began to seep out of his body and flow towards Henry.
Henry grinned, "The connection works both ways if your will is strong enough. If you use the spell again, I suggest putting in a psychic element to block the victim's will."
Grinding his teeth, Giovanni pulled on the energy, and a tug-of-war began between the two, the energy shifting back and forth.
A pale blue sword with a cross-shape guard coalesced into Henry's hand.
A grim smile appeared on Giovanni's face as a rapier appeared in his right hand.
Henry raised an eyebrow, sweat running down his face, "You know that style of sword won't stand up against mine, right?"
"We shall see," Giovanni panted, blinking the sweat from his eyes.
The two charged forward.
The blades clashed.
Giovanni's blade shifted into thin chains that snaked around Henry's body, while Henry's blade dispersed into energy and shot into Giovanni's forehead.
Giovanni cried out, clutching his head as he floated backward.
Henry grunted as the chains constricted his body, pushing his power within him.
He flexed his fingers as he dropped, but nothing happened.
Just before he hit the ground, he stopped.
Glancing above him, he saw Giovanni holding the end of the chains, his eyes barely open. A tired, pained smile spread across his face, "I told you this fight was over." His eyes closed, the chains dispersed, and he dropped to the ground.
Madalyn, Lily, and Cain approached as Henry caught Giovanni, gently lowering him to the ground.
Cain slapped him on the back, a broad smile on his face, "Looks like you won. Good job, kid."
Henry shook his head, "No, I didn't. His last attack was a spell construct; if he had put more than a sealing spell inside it, I would've lost."
"Then why didn't he?"
Lily glanced at the sleeping man, "Henry is his student. A good teacher does not need to hurt their student to teach them a lesson; he has taught Henry to always be wary in battle."
–XX –
Henry, Lily, Madalyn, Cain, Giovanni, and Mary Lebow stood in the basement of Giovanni's brownstone, staring at the gyroscope-like portal. "Are you sure this is going to…." Henry began, only to be cut off when the blue rings etched into the metal of the gyroscope turned red and began to spin.
Energy crackled between the rings as they spun faster and faster. Pale bolts of electricity danced across the metal. Eventually, they turned so fast that the two rings became one, and a portal stabilized, showing a view of an earth.
Off to the left, a circular tower surrounded by a ring floated above the earth.
"Is that a space station?" Cain asked
"I think so," Mary said, leaning forward, excitement shining in her eyes.
Suddenly, the image shifted, showing a street. Standing in the middle of the road was a woman.
She was 5'7" tall with blue eyes and long black hair. A white blouse and black skirt showed off her curves.
"Zatanna," Giovanni whispered, tears streaming down his face. He looked back at the group, "I have to go," he looked at Mary and Madalyn, "thank you for your friendship over the years, and thank Eden village for their help in my time of need," he looked at Henry. "You are now my heir in this world. Use what I taught you well."
He looked back to Mary, "You and Henry can split the library," a small smile stretched across his face, "stay strong, and look out for each other."
Turning away from them, he stepped through the portal. As Giovanni passed through it, a flash lit the room. When it faded, the rings of the gyroscope-like device were back to their original position as if nothing had happened.
Mary took a step forward. She placed her hand on the device and closed her eyes, "The inner workings of the portal; this design is entirely different than what I built." She looked at Henry, but he raised his hand.
"You can have the brownstone. We'll go through the books later; there are certain ones I will need for my projects.
Mary raised an eyebrow, "Alright, I'll have the rest of them copied and sent to you when they're done. Are you sure you don't want to stay in the brownstone?"
Henry shook his head, "It's not big enough for what I need, and I don't think I want to be so deep in the city. Besides, everyone else will be heading back to the island, right?" He looked at Lily, "mom has taken to teaching at Gilgamesh Academy," he gestured to Madalyn and Cain, "and these two have decided to settle on Hampton Island."
He focused on Cain, "I think you said something about working security," he turned to Madalyn, "while you're going to be working in the medical research department of the science citadel, right?"
Cain and Madalyn nodded.
Madalyn stepped forward, "That's right, but you don't have to leave the island; you could become part of the portal retrieval team bringing people or technology back from other Earths."
"If I get this working," Mary spoke up, "we could even travel to earths in Giovanni's multi-verse." Over the last eight years, she had gotten close to Henry, and she didn't want to see him go off into the world alone.
Henry shook his head, "There are mutants out there that need help," he looked at Mary, "thanks to my education on Hampton Island, I now have the skills to help them, or at least I hope I do."
Cain stepped forward, pulling a slip of paper from the pocket of his light blue button-down shirt, "We thought this might happen," he gestured to Madalyn and Lily, holding out a slip of paper to Henry, "this piece of paper holds the rest of the money from the facility. You will need to do something with it to make it legit, but it should help you get started."
Over the last eight years, his mother used her telepathy to invest the majority of the money they had taken from the dimensional experimentation facility, the facility for short. With her earnings, she was able to help expand the island. She also paid contractors, doctors, psychologists, chefs, and a variety of other occupations to allow her to download the knowledge into a database of sorts for the mutants of the island with the help of Madalyn's grandmother, bioengineer Greta Bronze.
Henry stared at the slip of paper for a long moment.
Cain slapped him on the shoulder, sending him stumbling a step, "Well, are you going to take it or not?"
"Thank you," Henry choked as he took the paper.
Cain looked at him, his eyes soft, "We are a family; you don't need to thank us."
Lily took a step forward, her Emerald eyes shining with unshed tears. Placing her hands on his shoulders, she stared into his eyes, "I am so proud of what you've accomplished, and I'm so excited to see what you will do in the future." She pulled him into a hug.
–XX –
Deep within the star-filled void of Giovanni's home universe stood a wall of planet-sized stone statues. The stars closest to the wall blurred as its gravity warped them. The wall had stood for eons, guarding something older than time itself.
Many had tried to pierce its depths only to become part of the wall.
Suddenly, a ripple passed through space. Two massive statues spread apart as the wave struck the wall, creating a crack.
A deep red light shone from the crack, and a dry feminine laugh echoed through the void.