Ascension: The One Who Takes

Lorne's breath was uneven, but not from fear. His hands trembled—not in terror, but in revelation. He had spent years, decades, trying to force what I had just done in an instant. He had tried to graft powers together, stitch evolution with brute force and science. And he failed.

But I hadn't.

I could see it in his eyes. The calculations, the rewiring of his entire belief system happening in real-time. He wasn't fighting against it anymore. He was submitting to it.

He took a slow step forward. Then another.

"I see it now." His voice was almost reverent. "You were never meant to be controlled. You are the control."

He wasn't pleading for his life. He wasn't bargaining. He was surrendering, willingly.

Lorne wanted this.

"You spent years trying to force what I did naturally," I said, tilting my head. "And now?"

He exhaled, shaking his head in disbelief. "And now I see the truth." His lips curled slightly, the ghost of a smirk forming. "You are the culmination of everything I was trying to create." His voice dropped lower, as if saying it out loud cemented the reality. "You are the next step."

He spread his hands, showing complete submission. "You don't need control, Kael. You are control."

I stepped toward him. "If you truly believe that, then prove it."

Lorne's lips parted slightly. "How?"

I let the power in my palm flicker to life. Electricity curled between my fingers, brighter, sharper than ever before. It wasn't just electricity. I had taken multiple electric-based abilities, and now they weren't separate anymore. The charge moved faster, hit harder, spread farther. What should have been just another ability had evolved into something greater.

And it wasn't just that.

When I lightened my step, the ground barely registered my presence. When I increased my weight, it wasn't just adding mass—it was an anchor, an immovable force. The density wasn't shifting in simple increments anymore. The more I absorbed from others, the stronger and more complex it became.

Lorne's eyes gleamed. "You noticed it, haven't you?"

I turned toward him. "Explain."

Lorne's voice had that excited edge again. "The more you take from a single source, the stronger it gets. The abilities don't just add up—they reinforce each other. It's why your electricity isn't just stronger, it's something different now. It's why your density control isn't just about weight anymore." He gestured toward me. "Your body is adapting faster than any human should be capable of. Your very biology is restructuring itself to house these changes."

I clenched my fists, feeling the charge ripple across my skin.

He wasn't wrong.

I thought back to the battle, the way my abilities had started to overlap. The way my energy surged, the way my movements had become sharper, more efficient.

Lorne continued, his voice quieter now. "If this continues… if you keep taking more…" He hesitated.

I raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Lorne exhaled. "There might be a limit."

I didn't like that word.

"A limit?" I repeated.

He nodded. "Your body is adapting at an unprecedented rate, but even adaptation has its thresholds. What happens if you surpass what a living being was ever meant to handle?"

I didn't answer. Because I didn't know.

But I needed to push this further.

And Lorne needed to prove himself.

"If you're really as smart as you think you are, then let's put that knowledge to use." I gestured to myself. "Figure out how this works. See what happens when I take more."

Lorne hesitated. Not out of reluctance—out of sheer excitement. He was already forming ideas, already planning experiments.

"I can run diagnostics, test your physiological response to the integrations," he muttered to himself, his fingers twitching in anticipation. "There are variables we need to account for—does your body adapt at a genetic level? Does your brain compensate for new sensory inputs from unfamiliar powers?"

I grabbed him by the collar, snapping him out of his scientist trance. "You don't have time for theories. You have time for results."

Lorne grinned. "Then let's get to work."

But he wasn't just thinking about me.

He was thinking bigger.

"You don't just need power," he said, pacing now. "You need something more. An empire."

I narrowed my eyes. "Go on."

"Project Reclamation wasn't just about taking abilities," he explained. "It was the first phase of something bigger. Something the world wasn't ready for." He turned to me, smiling darkly. "But you are."

He walked to a nearby console, fingers dancing across the old keyboard. Holographic displays flickered to life, revealing files upon files of classified data.

"They wanted to create enhanced soldiers—beings with multiple abilities, perfect integration, no rejection." His gaze flicked to me. "They never could. But you? You can."

I let that sink in.

The idea was tempting.

More than tempting.

Lorne leaned in slightly. "I can help you make them. Your own warriors. Built from the strongest abilities, loyal only to you."

I thought of Kurt.

That small, blue mutant—loyal, fierce, but weak. Unrefined. What if I could make him something more?

What if I could make him unstoppable?

"What would it take?" I asked.

Lorne grinned. "Time. Resources. Subjects."

I glanced at the holographic screens, the blueprints of failed experiments. The wreckage of what Project Reclamation tried to create.

It wasn't a failure anymore.

It was mine now.

And the next phase?

It was time to evolve.

Ascension continues.