Chapter 11

There were somedays that were good, and then there were some days that were bad. Today? Today was a day that was damn near perfect. Starting off with the news online.

No, I was not talking about the dumb dispute skirmish with Bialya and one of its neighbors. Though I will say the picture they used for the queen left an impression.

I was instead referring to the Gotham news. As once again a jail specifically dedicated to people with superpowers had a breakout. And not a small one either. About fifteen individuals successfully escaped from the prison.

And this prison just so happened to be the Juvie I went to. So, imagine my surprise as I saw Min-Jun’s name listed as one of the many superpowered juvenile criminals that had escaped.

Oh, and it seemed like The Hunter escaped in this time as well. She was mostly just a business partner of sorts, but I still wished her internally the best. Because with the mission she had…well, she was going to need it. I didn’t bother looking for Ki’s name. Mostly due to her having never told any of us it.

But there was no doubt in my mind that she had escaped as well. Hell, if she wanted to, she probably could have walked out the front doors. The only person capable of actually stopping her in Gotham was Batman.

Which meant all four of us were now safely out of there. Which meant it was only a matter of time before Ethan got into contact with me and…

And…

Hmm.

Well, I’ll cross that bridge when it comes, won’t I?

After an amazing breakfast and a daily session of meditation with Raven, I went back to my Chemistry Lab floor. Of which it now had live specimens in order to conduct tests on. Rats that I was able to sneak into the Titan’s Tower rather easily.

How you may ask?

The Titan’s Tower has a pretty impressive defensive system set up. So impressive in fact that it singlehandedly gave Jinx, Mammoth, and Gizmo the upper hand against the Titan’s despite being outnumbered and outclassed. And if they hadn’t hacked into it, it’s likely they would have been defeated at the door. Heck, I could have probably 1v3 them as long as I had the safety of the defensive system at my back.

However, there’s just one small problem with the system. It’s at it’s strongest at the base of the tower. That being the entrance, garage, and even a portion of the underground tunnel. The second strongest points were in the five living area floors, the top floor with the living area, and the roof of Titan’s Tower.

So, the entrances to the Tower were covered, right? No. See, the one thing that isn’t that protected or observed is the Zeta Tube. Perhaps due to having been installed after the fact, or perhaps due to the only people able to use it being the Titans and the Justice League. Which meant I could take the Zeta Tube and no one would be none the wiser. Bringing in whatever I want into the tower, and whatever I want out of it.

As long as no one catches me in between at least.

With the new specimen, I was able to make larger strides in my research. It was a bit macabre, but after wounding the rats enough and healing them with my own created healing compound derived from Batman, I finally discovered what I nicknamed the ‘miracle’ compound. Which allows wounds to heal at a dramatically increased rate.

Except that wasn’t everything. Sometimes wounds only seemed to have instantly healed, when in reality a sort of flesh like bandage that would connect with the epidermis before eventually getting replaced with human cells. After examining a piece of the bandage, I discovered that it seemed to have a sort of phellogen layer.

Which was…odd. But also enlightening. Combined with the tree sap observation earlier, I was starting to get a clearer picture of how this substance was made. And not only could I recreate it, but I could recreate a more efficient version as well.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t so simple as producing more and more of the ‘miracle’ compound, as there was a hard cap where instead of healing it would somehow cause the hearts of the rats to immediately stop. Which was…incredibly strange, as there didn’t seem to be anything even hinting towards a heart issue beforehand.

The Blockbuster also saw some progress, as I seemed to have finally created a much weaker strain that didn’t immediately turn a rat into something that needed to be immediately put down with extreme prejudice.

I’d need people to test it on. And even if Jinx was still here, I wouldn’t have tested it out on her. Because the possible side effect of turning into a permanent monster is pretty…severe. Life ending, potentially.

Which left…only one real possibility really. To experiment on myself.

While it was FAR from the most optimal course of action, there wasn’t much else I could do at this point in time. Besides, it was unfortunate, but I did make a very good test subject. If something went wrong, I could potentially flush it out as long as permanent damage hadn’t already been made.

And if permanent damage did happen…well…it wouldn’t be the first time I had to deal with that.

So, with but a thought, I started to flood my body with a small amount of the strain. As I didn’t feel any effects, I steadily increased it. More and more, until the point where I did start feeling something. An ache from my chest and arms. Taking off my shirt revealed swelling in areas, causing my skin to turn red. My legs were also starting to feel itchy.

However, there were no gray patches of skin, nor did anything else seem to be out of the ordinary. If I had to guess, my body was just adjusting to the strain. That or it was having negative effects and no positives. I wanted to test it out, but due to the pain my body was currently in, that wasn’t exactly something I wanted. And if I used pain relievers, then I wouldn’t be able to feel if my body got any worse.

I wanted to go back to my room, but unfortunately my body was a bit too sore to move around. Leaving me to lay on the ground while simply enduring it. As there wasn’t much else to do, I started up my phone and spent several hours distracting myself from the pain.

Until finally the pain stopped. After setting aside my phone and it’s charger on the floor, I eventually stood up. It would seem that this strain only lasted a few hours. After that the effects would wear off-

Uh, is it me, or did I get…taller?

Looking back in the mirror in the Chem lab, I examined my body to find…I now had some muscles. They weren’t massive or anything, still slim, like what you’d suspect to find on a gymnast, or a swimmer. Still, it was pretty-

Oh shit. I had abs. Goddamn. I mean, I was hot previously, but I was leagues hotter now. If I took off my shirt, at least. Otherwise, it wasn’t very noticeable. I also seemed to have gained about…an inch or two in height. It also seemed to have made my hair grow a bit. So, it had some sort of growth accelerant on-

My eyes immediately narrowed on my longer hair before immediately beginning to dye my hair again. That wasn’t something I wanted anyone to see. Least of all myself.

Besides, who doesn’t like red hair? Starfire knew what was up. And from what she’s said about most of the others on her planet, they did too.

After that quick fix, I conducted a few more tests on my body. And it would appear that my skin and potentially my bones, were a good bit more durable than what’s normal. They weren’t hard as a rock or anything, but they were hard.

…or maybe that’s just what muscles felt like.

Regardless, I was a new man. A changed man.

And I knew just what do to with this newfound power.

“Ugh…”

Raven groaned as I knocked on her the floor for the fourth time. Her legs sprayed out as she seemed to be making a snow angel on the floor. Black Canary and Kid Flash were also having fun again next to us. With Kid Flash learning from hands on experience.

“HELP! HELP ME PLEASE!”

As I wasn’t a sore winner, I extended a hand out for Raven. Helping pull her back up to her feet. To which she frowned and gave me a suspicious look.

“…Something’s changed…”

I grinned at that.

“You think? I’ve started to diet a bit. Maybe the meditation sessions have been helping.”

At the mention of meditation her face relaxed and softened. She looked away for a second as if recalling something before looking back. I could have taken advantage of her distraction, but as I was already doing pretty well, I thought that would be in poor taste.

“…You’ve done something to yourself. With your powers. Haven’t you?”

I paused at that. I genuinely hadn’t expected her or anyone really to have guessed that something had changed. Though I guess that’s to be expected as we’re each other’s sparring partner. It’d be pretty hard to not notice when the other has gotten a good deal stronger overnight.

As I was distracted, Raven immediately lowered her center weight, and pressed against the back of my knees with her leg. Instantly dropping me to the floor with a thump.

…Well, that wasn’t fair at all. This time it was Raven who extended her hand to me. As I accepted and she pulled me up, she studied my body with her eyes. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she had some sort of X-ray vision, because she was definitely undressing me with those eyes.

After a few seconds she looked back up at me with a frown.

“If you think that’s the correct course of action, I won’t stop you. But do keep in mind that there are people here who care about your safety.”

…Oh. Uh…well…

Raven looked towards Kid Flash as his scream was cut off for some reason. I wasn’t paying attention. Instead, I was just looking at Raven’s bored emotionless looking face.

“…Thanks.”

“Don’t thank me. It’s none of my business anyway.”

I kept training with Raven for a half hour after that. Then as Black Canary was just watching us on top of an unconscious Kid Flash, she decided to join in. To test me and Raven’s martial arts skills.

Which of course resulted in her kicking our butts all over the place. Though she did mention how she saw a big growth in both of us. I’m not sure if she actually did, or if she was just saying that to make us feel better. Regardless, it was a nice thing to hear after that.

I went to the bathroom straight after that in order to hit the showers. Only to instantly bump into Raven who had decided on doing the same thing. After an uncomfortable amount of time, we decided that I would go first, and that she would go afterwards.

I of course jumped into a shower stall and got to town. It would seem my improved body sweat a lot more than my previous one. Which made me stink a lot more than before. Forcing me to spend more time on washing my body with a loofah.

Occasionally I felt the back of my hairs stand up on end. Causing me to suddenly look out of the empty shower stall. Of course, no one was there.

Which was normal. I didn’t exactly take showers or baths with the rest of the Titan’s. But even still there was something…off. I was probably just psyching myself out somehow.

Going back into the shower stall saw me focus on my legs before finally examining my dick. Thankfully, my dick neither grew or shrunk due to the experiment. Which is very good, as it meant the strain was more or less safe in that department.

If it had an effect like steroids…well, I’m not sure how I’d live that down.

But I-

Once more I felt uneasy as I got goosebumps in the shower. I really hope this wasn’t going to be a new trend…