Notes: You will quickly realize (like, in the first paragraphs) that this story doesn't exactly follow from the last chapter. This, right here, is when we join James. I give some sort of explanation on why I did this at the end of the chapter.

Reviewed as of Dec/2020

The sea was wasn't just upset. It was outright furious. Its waves rose high but not for long. They built their height as they crossed the ocean, but in the midst of the many currents, and thanks to the encounter of other waves, the destructive and constructive patterns would raise some up. But all would eventually tumble as drunk giants.

Then the cycle would begin anew. They splashed against the surface of the ocean again and again, throwing drops of water and creating an illusion of rain. In this cycle of stubborn rage, the sky mirrored the seas. It was stormy, dark with giant clouds that refused to let their water pour down, and so they grew to the point the sun could not shine.

I honestly had no idea for how long I had been there, watching from both above and below the water line. It was strange experience, although the least of it. Almost as if I was part of the scenario, part of the weather phenomena around me. I briefly entertained the idea that this was somehow a trance, part of the whole 'losing your body to someone else' pack. The idea of being 'mastered', however, didn't hold a lot of weight in my consciousness. Perhaps that was an proof that I was indeed being mastered, but what could I do by second guessing myself in a world that could only be the result of a dream? Or perhaps a nightmare?

Yes, I did not think I was being mastered despite my complete lack of experience. There was just something about this, something I couldn't quite comprehend. Rare these moments in your life, I thought, and suddenly I was reminded of all the times religious people told me about their feeling of wonder towards the concept of faith. I never took that very seriously, but perhaps right now, it was my turn. Here I was, not standing, not leaning, just… part of the water somehow. Part of the world. Watching the sky rumble with thunder. There was something about this, something truly eccentric and almost magical which I would be foolish to ignore, and I couldn't just pass it on to the fact I may have smoked weed a couple of nights ago.

It had started when she took over. I knew what was to come in that first moment I was facing Leviathan, standing between the monster and my sister. When I threw myself I between, it had been less an action of a hero, one who defies the odds, and more the action of a mathematician. I knew I had cards to play. I knew I was different. I knew it all my life. And when the beast came for me, I just let it happen.

A presence from the beyond and my body started to listen to orders from someone other than me. I fought it out of a paradoxical fear, despite knowing that was my and my sisters only chance to live, I still held firm out of an irrational animal instinct. The mix of emotions that flooded me left me wondering if perhaps Simurgh had joined the fray, but the following seconds made it clear that it was all just me. No foreign interference. No external agent. No mastering.

I had questioned my sanity too, and not for a second I didn't have a little voice in the back of my head telling me I was delusional. That I was going to die anyway. That I was about to meet Leviathan's tail at a sonic speed. I was going to be spaghetti with meatballs at best. Moaned meat stew most probably.

But then I thought, "No. Our story doesn't end here."

I questioned myself over the use of 'our' in the following moments, but I found fitting for a reason cannot explain yet.

It wasn't just those ethereal waves that I watched. I also felt the real world, and I could look at it as an angel can look at both heaven and earth at the same time. Although, I am sure I was feeling a lot more fear for my life than an agel ever did. After all, I was still living. I could still access my five senses, some of which left me terribly dizzy as my body performed the strangest and greatest show of acrobatics I had ever seen in person.

There was no warning as to what I would be doing next though, and that nausea of being in a wild car ride in the back seat is exactly the sort of terrible sickness I was getting if I connected with me real body. So, staying cozy in the world of ethereal waves wasn't just for the poetic view. It was also much more comfortable. Ignorance was bliss, after all.

And yet, perhaps by a protective instinct, I had to look at myself to see what was of my body. I would shut off myself every time Leviathan came too close, believing this was the end, but somehow, I would reopen them and see that the fight was still going. Perhaps the 'our' I had mentioned before had been an acknowledgement of this entity I shared my body, which had indeed forced me to face down an Endbringer…successfully?

I wasn't dead yet, I supposed.

But I was so scared, and I won't lie to myself about it. There was no way to embellish my English, or to complexify the feelings of powerlessness that I felt. I was scared. I was facing down an Endbringer and his attacks with no authority of my own. I was forced to watch someone else dodge the inevitable, skitter around attacks that were performed faster than my eye could keep up, and in return, my body performed the strangest movements to damage the undamageable.

Eventually, I had to recognize that perhaps this venture wasn't a lost cause, realizing that somehow my body had been taken over by a thing that could indeed hurt Leviathan. Whatever resistance I had been putting up, somehow, I think I managed to shut it down then. I let it go for good. Maybe James was useless to fight the apocalypse, but this… something else. She could do it. She was pushing him back.

I drifted away then, accepting my loss and perhaps preparing myself to do so permanently. If this thing could keep my body, who would miss James? Who wouldn't want the new one, who can beat the crap out of an Endbringer?

I was lost in such thoughts or a long time. Then the storm disappeared. I hadn't realized instantly, numbed by the passage of time. When I came to myself once again, I was over flat ground, lying down on it with my legs and arms spread.

"Sorry for the wait." I heard a woman's voice. It was her. Somehow, I had known it was a she too, I noticed.

That was when I opened my eyes, rising my body slightly from the water and supporting myself over my elbows as if the sea was solid. She had blue eyes, and her skin was tanned—no, not tanned. Her skin was light brown, a natural shade. Her hair was cut short, wore a blue vest with no sleeves and a turtleneck. Her hand and forearms, however, were covered by tight cloth. She also had on her baggy pants and boots that belonged on cold weather. Something you would wear in the artic. I had the feeling she wasn't from around.

"I suppose you are the star of tonight?" I asked.

She shrugged. "That's one way to put. Couldn't have done it without you though."

I frowned. "Without my body you mean?"

She gave me a look as she approached me, "I think you know who I am, James." She extended a hand, and I understood she was helping me getting up. I took a second, eye her palm and herself before taking her hand and lifting myself off the ground.

"I… think I remember you. I knew you existed, but I can't really explain it," I told her, myself troubled. "How… why… what—what are you?"

She locked her eyes with mine, giving me an expression I could strangely read despite never meeting her before. Suddenly, I understood, but the knowledge forced me to look away.

"I really am you," she confirmed, "You seem repulsed by the idea."

"I can't do what you just did," I explained, "I'm not that kind of strong. What happens now?"

Korra shook her head, "Nothing comes free, James. You must learn, you must train, and you must live and experience. But you are fine with that, your character isn't averse to that sort of life—"

"Can't I just call you? Like, when I need help? When we need to save some people?"

Korra cringed, "I can't do this again, James. It would break you. You must prepare your body, and you must add knowledge of your own."

"That sort of life… that way of describing it takes a lot of liberties," I spat, sacred by the implications, "I don't know what to do with those powers. Until today I thought they were a figment of my imagination really. Part of dreams from my childhood, part of a young and fertile imagination," I said panting, "I grew up!"

"Maybe that wasn't growing up," she suggested.

"Not believing in fairy tales is part of growing up," I shot.

She shrugged, "Realizing there are some truths behind legends would be wise though, don't you think?"

There was a flash which forced me to cover my eyes. When I opened them again, I and the woman were in what now reassembled a desert. Instead of the typical sand though, we had the earth cracking with the lack of water under our feet.

She had her arms crossed, smirking at me as if somehow what she had just said nailed some kind of hypothetical coffin.

I huffed and turned to an opposite direction, starting to walk aimlessly in the desert.

"James!", she called, and I heard her steps behind mine, "There are always points in our lives when we fail to see our place in the world. From young to old age, there hasn't been an avatar who hasn't doubted himself. That hesitation, that very moment of doubt, however, is a mark of an individual capable of recognizing his own faults. But if you stubbornly go forward down a path that leads to lies, that leads to a comfort obtained by deluding oneself, then you accomplish nothing."

I came to a stop, "What you know about accomplishment?" I asked her sincerely, "How can those powers, which no one else has by the way, give you any sense of entitlement over your own deeds? You didn't compete with anyone. You didn't face the same challenges, and those you did were no doubt much easier, if not laughable. You have advantages that are absolutely unique."

"There's a duty that comes with these abilities," she explained, her expression unaffected by my questioning, but she was answering it though, "Power indeed cannot be given randomly, and your powers certainly haven't. You are right. The life of an avatar is different, and you cannot procure enjoyment and reward from the same experiences most people do. But you do come to face a different sort of struggle, one that I promise you makes your life worth living."

"How do you deal with it though, like, personally?" I wondered, "There are people around the world that pray to these creatures, the Endbringers. But you've put a stop to one of them," I said, memory of an iceberg flashing in my head, "Even if only temporarily, there will be now those that pray to you. That sort of powers makes you almost divine. You stop being a person, and you become… something else entirely," I told her slowly, fighting my way through my muddy thoughts, "I can't do that. I want to be normal. I want to have a fair and just career in public office. I want to marry. I want to have a family, kids. I want to have friends. But this path you are throwing me into… you are stealing my life from me."

The woman was silent for a considerable amount of time.

"There is no easy way to say this," she started, "Perhaps, it's a consequence of your world being unaware of the avatar, but you aren't the first avatar to raise this question. The truth James, is that you never had that future. You didn't receive these abilities now because of the monster, of yesterday, or the day before. You are who you are because of the tings you can do. Because you are me, because you are the next avatar."

Barely she had finished, I started walking aimlessly. I didn't know how I was supposed to feel, but I felt I was bottling something up. A mix of anger and frustration? Contempt? And yet relief?

"There are new possibilities, James. You can still have some of that life if you wish for it!" she said from behind me.

I stopped again, "Who would stand close to me?! Who would take such risks? Madmen would! Only the crazyiest—"

"And the most loyal," she whispered, grabbing my hands, "It's a hard road, and it can be lonely. In time though, stand by what's right and just, and those of the same caliber as you will come to meet."

"So, I pretend it's a risk they are taking if they do so of their own volition? Doesn't sound very heroic."

She shrugged, "No one can carry the whole world. Not even the avatar."

"Right," I started with a frown, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"We are responsible for keeping the balance in the world. If the world is unbalanced, then we are to correct it." She suddenly told me earnestly.

"Sounds like something you need an army for." I thought out loud.

"Or the Avatar." She said nonchalantly. "Really, it depends on the emergency."

"You mean you can be some sort of one-man-army?" I inquired, one of my eyebrows rising, "Sounds like an awful lot of responsibility for only one person."

"You were watching the fight weren't you?"

I didn't answer immediately. "In the backseat. Yeah, every once in a while."

"You wanted to help?"

I shook my head, my voice dry. "I wanted to run. Fuck, I was so afraid."

The woman hummed in agreement. "But you didn't."

"I couldn't."

"You could. At any time." She pressed, and we looked at each other. An eerie sense of déjà vu was creeping out on me. Maybe something to do with the whole 'I am you and you are me'. I stil wasn't buying that completely. She continued, "There were moments there I couldn't have hanged on if you pressed it. But you didn't. You trusted me. You trusted yourself."

"What is that supposed to mean?", my voice came harsher than I meant, but I felt so irresponsible given the circumstances. "For all I know I could've been letting a maniac take control of my body."

She placed a hand on my chest, "You knew you could do something, even though your world doesn't have the legends of the Avatar. And yet you still took action for your sister—"

"A gamble!" I yelled, and she didn't say anything for a while. Neither did I. We stood there in a desert I had yet to come up with an explanation for. There was no wind despite seeing the occasional cloud running by, and the sun, despite high in the sky, gave us no heat. I took a moment, breathed a couple of times and steadied my voice. Maybe it was time for me to let go a bit of my emotions and try to talk to her more reasonably, try to find out more.

"Are you supposed to be my past life? Is that actually what you think?" I asked her suddenly.

The woman raised her hand behind her head, shuffling her hair a bit. "I thought we had gone over this already."

I shrugged, "I'm quite the cynical. Why would I be special in that regard? Did I trigger? I read about those before."

"I don't know what trigger means," she told me, a hand on her chin, "But you are special, specifically, and by that I mean 'we' are special, because of an accident ten thousand years ago, when we fused our soul with one of the gods."

Pinching my nose, my thoughts went wild. I wondered briefly if she actually believed what she was saying. Some parahumans can be deluded by their powers, and this, perhaps, was my power deluding me?

But no, it didn't feel right to call this a cape power. I had been born like this; I knew it. I had childhood accidents and visions that I made my best to forget.

"I'm an atheist," I blurted out.

She smiled at me, crossing her arms. "Yeah, that's not going to last. I will concede to you though that you were right not believing the religions of your world."

"Sounds like what every religious person says." I sighed, "Well, I can't really call you James too, can I? Things would get confusing fast."

"Korra. Call me Korra," We shook hands, and I felt her strong grip. She punched my arm lightly afterwards, "You gotta get in shape by the way."

"Yeah, my sister has been telling me the same thing. My physique apart, I don't need to have a figment of my imagination reminding me of my own faults."

"Oh, so that's how you are going to rationalize this?"

"I'm sure there's a scientific explanation for all this. Am I not just then a parahuman?" I asked her, curious about her reaction despite my persona opinion. In fact, I was curious if she even knew about them.

"Parahuman? I think that was among your memories, but I can't really…"

"People with superpowers. You know. People who can shoot beam out of their eyes, super strength, fly—"

"Wait, people on your world have mastered airbending?"

I looked at her quite confused. "I think we would have to ask them. Anyway, by any chance, do you know what happened? Like, we just fought Leviathan, and you managed to do something. You fucking froze a tsunami, and—like—he's stuck inside that iceberg—how did you even do that? Doesn't he control water?"

"Let's go one question at a time." She said, a hand rising to meet her chin. "That creature had a surprisingly strong authority over the element of water, but not exactly over mine. Pretty much, which ever one of us took a pack of water first had it for themselves. I could overtake his control and he could do the same to me. He was, however, surprisingly capable of bending some of the largest amounts of water I have ever seen."

"Bending?"

"A way of saying you control an element."

Probably like she did with fire. The ground too, so maybe earth? Pretty sure the first philosophers, the pre-sophists I think, believed the world ran around the elements of nature.

"After figuring that out," she continued, "It wasn't hard to plan a way to immobilize him. The last-minute Tsunami though was a rock in our shoes. The woman, Alexandria, really helped there keeping the creature distracted. Skitter too even. We were lucky to have them both."

"And how's a fucking iceberg holding the thing that controls the oceans?"

"That ice is infused with a lot of our spiritual strength. It has, before, held an Avatar for a hundred years. I'm sure it can hold that monster for a couple months."

"Spiritual strength?" I held the sarcasm as best as I could, but Korra took notice and smirked at me.

"Your enlightenment will come very soon. Before though," she said, and her voice turned more serious, "James, there are reasons you must train and do this yourself. The takeover of the Avatar State was violent. Your body had neither the physical, mental, or spiritual training to handle the stress. And although spiritually you held yourself well, your other areas seriously need some revaluation."

I shook my head. "Even my power is telling me to go to gym."

"I'm serious." She told me.

"We've already discussed this. I'm not about to play god. I'm not rebalancing the world, Korra. I'm not a messiah, Jesus, or whatever the fuck you are telling me I'm supposed to be. I'm just one man, and that man wants a good life. Do I want to help people, sure. As many as possible, but not at the sacrifice of my own. Not because I'm special, but because no one can be asked to do such."

Korra messaged her temples. "Our soul is infused with the Spirit of Light, of Peace. It is our responsibility—James, James, come back!"

I just stormed out, again. I was stomping away in the middle of nowhere, hopefully anywhere. I mean, what? I was just tired, and suddenly someone expected me to save the world? Yesterday (was it even yesterday?) I was a normal kid, last year of high school. Fuck, I had normal problems. Girls, homework, internships. All the while preparing myself for my own goals for four years later. There was a plan, one that I was following while dealing with a good amount of pressure from exams. It's not easy to get scholarships. This, however, blew that all out of the water. I wasn't Atlas to hold the world, and neither I wanted to be. That absolutely sucked.

"James, you are going the wrong way!" I heard Korra yell behind me.

"How the fuck you know this is the wrong way!?"

"Because you have to calm yourself! We are inside your mind!"

I stopped suddenly, and she bumped into my back herself. When I turned around to face her though, she was already eyeing me down with her arms crossed.

"You can make a world of difference now, James. All the things I just did, you will be able to do so yourself in time."

"And what did you just do? What you call that, the things you did? What is my potential?" I asked. It sounded like a silly question at first, but it was, I believe, essential to undermine my worries. Problem was I wasn't optimistic about the chances of actually doing so.

Korra's answer was instant. "As the Avatar, you possess the unparalleled control over your environment. The four elements, fire, air, water, earth, are the basis of your reach, but even then, they are but a fragment of what you can be. They will not only serve as a ground support for other materials, you can use them to back track and sense energy itself. Not just the physical world, but the spiritual too is your responsibility." Korra's voice, despite her more acute words, grew softer. I knew she was trying to find a balance between telling me what she thought I should do, but also show me why I should. I didn't interrupt her, I wanted to hear her to the end. "You have the tools to affect society in all ways. You can save civilizations, James. Avatars before you have done so. They've preserved cultures, peace, and protected the rights of millions of people. They've stopped not just wars, but outright genocides. They are the gamechanger. Your world needs that, don't you agree with me?"

"I do, but all I was given was power, and an amount of power no one should have it for themselves." I spat and my shoulders trembled against my will, "I don't believe in kings, I believe in deliberation and discussion. That by cooperation, responsibilities can be given with acceptable amounts of power. But this much concentrated, it's not something you learn. You need to have some sort of inherent genius to make the right choices. An unyielding moral compass. Someone fundamentally good, and I don't think that exists, Korra."

She sighed, and she tried to say something but I hadn't finished.

"I'm not. I'm not perfect. I feel jealously, greed, anger. There's a lot of heroes around the world, or just nice capes if you're not a fan of them, but that's the point. Given this much power, how will I know which boundaries to not cross? Only a select few manage to do the things you did. Even fewer put themselves on that same task you've presented me. I have but the utmost respect for those who chose that path. I just don't think I'm fit for it."

Korra's frown had dispersed, now seemingly pinched. She untangled her arms, placing a hand over my shoulder. "You will stumble James, and surely fall, but it is the choice of keep going, surpassing yourself for others that makes you the hero. So, I agree and disagree with you. No one is born the hero, they just choose to follow the ideal that no matter the scope, be it in a small village or an entire nation, whatever difference you can make, it's worth it. If you are afraid of the expectations, I understand, and I am happy too because that may be a sign of wisdom. When I was your age, I wish I would've had some of that. The point is, in a way, you've already gone through this multiple times. You've always pulled it off."

Korra was admirable. Despite the magnitude of our conversation, of what it entailed, she believed what she was saying, and she made me believe, damn her for that, that she believed in me.

"How many times?" I asked her suddenly.

"What?"

"How many lifetimes?" She hadn't been specific, but if she was a past life, then by that logic she didn't need to be the only.

Korra seemed to be running a few calculations before speaking. "100 or so. We usually live up to 130 years old, unless we die earlier due to… reasons."

I nodded. It certainly didn't bode well for her story that no one had ever heard of the avatar before.

Her voice hesitated, but the she said almost as an answer to my thoughts. "Our soul might not be native to your world."

I almost choked. "It's much easier, Korra, to believe none of this is true. Both based on facts and based on what's more convenient."

"But now you know." She said, and her voice was soft. "Anyone can do the right thing with the right guidance. We've received the best too, from Raava, the Spirit of Light. You've made good use of it before in your many lifetimes. You will do it again."

When I turned my eyes to look at Korra, as she so called herself, she wasn't there anymore. Neither was I in that lifeless landscape.

My real eyes were now open. I was in a hospital room, one only for myself, but it wasn't all that there was. I had curtains around and some sort of machinery on the outside, strange one too, close to the walls of my room. Around my bed, four poles also rose up high, with some sort of antennas pointing right at me. I felt my arms slightly numb, but after moving them, I felt they were just fine. I was on serum, among other things I couldn't recognize.

There were a few knocks on the door. As it opened, the sound from the outside invaded my room. Sound proof? The 'heavy' steps of armor made their way in until the figure came to a stop, and after the door closed, all the sound from the outside was muted once again. The individual was none other than one of the most recognizable parahumans from PRT. Armsmaster, was here in a light suit with a smaller and thinner halberd than I had seen him with on TV. I wondered briefly what the full armor sounded like if this had been enough to make my ears ring. Or maybe I was just sensitive?

"Good morning," I said, my voice surprisingly fine.

Armsmaster nodded, "Good afternoon. That's sunset," he pointed out, "James Flores, am I right?"

"I would say the one and only, but I doubt that."

I saw Armsmaster's head twitch. Perhaps I had made him chuckle, maybe he was having a stroke. Preferably the former. Wouldn't want to explain the latter to the police. His armor on hi chest opened a small compartment from where he pulled a thinstack of papers.

"This," he started, shaking the papers in his hand, "is a script I'm supposed to follow. I've been told I'm not the best with people, but for reasons you will soon know, I'm still the one chosen to be here. It's just that… you seem fine."

"I seem fine?" I asked.

"Yeah. Surprisingly so even." He said with suspicion. "You know, we had three capes specialized in health and nursing to make sure you would survive. You were pretty beaten up, and your cuts, though none too deep, were too many. We also had to make sure nothing inside you was broken or ripped off. But you were fine. You have been fine for the past three days, in fact. You also resisted three attempts at pulling you back from your coma."

"A lot of scripted lines in there," I realized, "You sure its fine dropping them?"

"I haven't really dropped all of them, and there are only a few lines. Most of it is… advising material," he confessed nonchalantly, "There's whole team of civilians and capes alike that have devised the best strategy, to their abilities, on how to approach you based on everything that is known. Straightforwardness seems to be the way to go, and I have come here to tell you that we are worried." I frowned. "A Master Protocol was activated just before you stopped Leviathan's rampage. It was anonymous, and by that, I mean a high-ranking official did it."

"Am I supposed to know that?"

He tilted his head, "Straightforwardness, remember?"

Armsmaster voice was interesting. At first you could hardly notice, but as he spoke, you could hear the small imperfections. Or perhaps, the perfections would be a better way to put it. Was he tuning it?

"It makes sense." I told him. "In your eyes I'm a man who managed to stand against Leviathan. Few've done that before, and the most famous, the Dragon of Kyushu, is a gang leader. Bit of a worrying precedent."

Armsmaster nodded. "I've been led to believe, by both testimony and records of your past actions, and not just from the battle three days ago, that you are a stable person who believes in what is right. You're a law abiding individual and have good grades. You're studious. Your professors also believe you are respectful. Quite the opposite of Lung, so we are hopeful. But tell me yourself, are we are on the same side?"

I felt slightly out of place at that conversation. It made sense they went on to find everything about me, and their straightforwardness was strangely reassuring despite the invasion of my privacy. However, when I took a look at the stakes from their side, I acknowledged it made sense.

"Yes," I started, "You said you spoke with people. Is everyone fine? Is my family fine?"

"That's… a conversation we will have in a few hours," the parahuman said, not even his helmet able to tune his troubling thoughts from his tone, "It's complicated to talk about certain things when you aren't yet cleared out of the Master Protocol."

I nodded, but I felt there was more than just protocol. "Three days ago you say?" I glanced down, my hands tangled on the white sheets over my legs. Had I been in this bed for three days? I started imagining people around me, going haywire as they made sure I was intact. "For three days I was taken care of?"

"Most of the worry is about whether you are a master, mastered, or simply none of them."

I nodded. "What have you determined?"

The cape didn't answer immediately. "We aren't sure. There are no traces, but patterns in your speech and interesting knowledge gaps could indicate a foreign consciousness in your body. The next step, naturally, is to verify whether you remember the fight. So, do you—"

"I was mastered, in the practical sense of the word," I said carefully.

I couldn't hear Armsmaster's breathing, but the way he stopped talking made me think he also held his breath.

"Explain." He asked me.

"I'm not sure I believe her explanation. You ought to take what I'm about to say with a pinch of salt. Maybe a whole mine honestly." I said earnestly. "Do you believe in god, Armsmaster?"

The cape slightly twitched his head, "Can't say I give myself much time to think about that."

"She, and by that," I said, raising my hands slightly, "I mean someone who introduced herself as a past life of mine, told me I'm supposed to be the incarnation of a world saving entity that has fused with the divine. I may also not be from this world. I wanna see how Catholicism explains that. But, now that I think about it, she may have meant different dimensions. Anyway, this all sounds like loads of rubbish, right?"

Armsmaster wasn't immediate, "Right… rubbish?"

"Exactly!" I exclaimed, ignoring his question. I was noticing telling Armsmaster the truth wasn't making me feel any better about it. "I told her the same," I said more subdued.

Armsmaster crossed his fingers, "So, you've spoken. She exists."

I shook my head. "Yes to the first one, not really for the second. She's dead now."

"So, what did you speak with? For how long?" Armsmaster inquired a little less patiently.

"A few minutes, maybe an hour. Felt longer though. You see, I kind knew she existed? Like, I had dreams when I was a child, and even until a few years ago I would still get some… flashes of what must have been her memories… now that I think about it," I said slowly, "She exists in me. She is…part of me. She is me, or at least supposedly she is. I also once had a funy accident in the beach, I kinda froze the water where I stepped. It really freaked me out and I didn't go into the sea the rest of the day."

Armsmaster lifted a hand, "Wait, you have used your powers as a child?"

"I—I—maybe? It's difficult to parse through memories of when I was four years old. I had dreams too, so it's hard to tell after so many years what is real and what isn't."

"And if she isn't a past life?" Armsmaster asked simply, "Which, mind you, is the most probable case?"

I frowned, "Then, I guess I am being masterfully mastered."

Did Armsmaster just sigh? "You seem to believe what you are saying. I'm not sure if that's better or worse," he confessed. He started pacing to one side of the room, getting closer to the machinery and taking a look at some of its visors.

I shook my head. "I am not sure I believe in what I am saying."

Armsmaster tapped his helmet. "This here is some state-of-the-art lie detector, kid. With all due respect, I trust my own creation more than your own concept of truth."

Ouch, though I guess it makes sense. "Can't say I feel like I'm in the right state of mind. Tell me something, am I a parahuman? I would like to confirm that."

Armsmaster turned to me, coming to the side of my bed, but remaining outside the curtains. "We don't have a simple answer anymore. You know what the Corona Pollentia is?" at my nod he continued, "Well, you don't have it, or at least not anywhere previously seen. You just don't seem to have what every other single parahuman in history has. While you were in this strange coma, we used everything on our hands to check your anatomy. Powers and machinery included. We just couldn't find a positive."

I clicked my fingers, "This is the 'but' part, right?"

Armsmaster stopped himself, and looked at me for a second. I don't think he had appreciated the joke, or maybe he just wasn't in the mood for it.

"Do you know who Nilbog is?"

"Yeah… that madman from upstate New York."

The cape hummed. "Amazing how that description fits more than one. Nevertheless, an apt depiction." Armsmaster said troubled. "He's sent an envoy, James. One of his creatures which describes itself as a physician, which according to a letter signed by Nilbog, is specialized in 'spiritual matters'. We didn't know what to make of it."

I nodded.

Armsmaster opened his arms, "Until then we were sure you had been mastered, that your powers were somehow granted through a link. Picture then our confusion when Nilbog wants, for all that matters, an unpowered civilian. But you say you've used your powers before, as a child?"

"Look, its fuzzy. I don't think I actually did," I said dismissively, my mind jumping to something else the hero had said. I had a bad feeling about this. "What do you mean by Nilbog 'wants', by the way?

"He's invited you over to his 'realm'. Quite the honor." Armsmaster said sarcastically. "Kid, how do you feel?"

"Funny question to ask after what you just told me." My breathing became slightly irregular. See Korra? You fight against Endbringers, but hearing about Nilbog is already driving me over the walls. "Physically, I'm fine. I might need something to drink though. Ease the stress."

Armsmaster visibly turned his head at me slightly. "Our medical team will clear you out and we will bring you in to the Protectorate HQ. Whatever is left of it anyway."

"Am I being arrested?" I didn't think I was, but I didn't see why I shouldn't ask. I thought it would be funny too, help break some of the tension.

"Kid, if I were in your place and Nilbog was after me, I would put myself behind as many bars as I could."

You know what? That wasn't funny at all.

AN:

I ended up deciding that writing out the rest of the fight isn't exactly productive. James will be shown the rest of the battle later on, next chapter, and together with the added commentary and conversations with the various parties, I was afraid it would get repetitive as Nilbog joins the fray. There's also the fact not a lot happened after the point we left off, though I admit it was important. Next chapter will also be the first real arc, and by that, I mean the original part of this story. I pretty much used Leviathan to kick off James adventure as the Avatar.

PS: for those who never got that far into Worm, who Nilbog is will be explored next chapter. There will be changes though to fit him as a part of this story instead of the original worm.