Chapter Fifteen

“I have to admit,” Kensuke said, “the timing surprises me.”

The elderly Japanese operative wore weariness like a suit. It set Haruki on edge. The unflappable leader typically stood as a pillar in a tempest. The boy relayed everything he’d seen, and he watched the man’s expression darken with each passing word. “Sir, that’s what happened.”

Matomaru, while listening, frantically sent texts and messages to connections. “I’m in touch with our experts on America, sir.”

“Thank you,” Kensuke said, drumming his fingertips against each other. “I expected the Americans to try to clone you, but I thought it’d take longer.”

Haruki coughed. “You expected them to clone me?”

Kensuke gave him a ‘really?’ look. “Kid, you have to realize something, this is international politics. There are no good guys, there are only less bad guys.”

Matomaru turned to them. “Sir, our experts say there’s little chance the American government is working with or for Aeriesai knowingly.”

“How,” Haruki argued, “can you possibly say that?”

“Easy,” Kensuke said. “Think about it. Why would the world’s most militarily powerful nation willingly work for someone that poses a threat to them?” He leaned back in his chair. “We’ll play it coy for now. We can’t tip our hand that we know this. If they suspect we know, things will get out of hand very quickly.”

Haruki huffed. “I can’t believe I handed them a perfectly good copy of my DNA. I should never have agreed to go with Freedom’s Ring.”

Kensuke put a hand on his shoulder. “Listen, you’re a hero. You’ve saved many lives. You did the right thing.”

“Besides,” Matomaru added, “you couldn’t have known. In the meantime, is there any other information that’ll help?”

Haruki thought about it, going back to the scene. There had been scientists of all nationalities, and when they’d realized he’d taken control of the body, they’d injected something to put him to sleep. His eyes widened. “They stuck needles in the clone for IV lines!”

Both government officials shared a glance. Matomaru tilted his head. “Maybe they had the clone turn his powers off?”

“No,” Haruki replied. “That’d require it to be conscious when I wasn’t in it. When I let go, my fire activates, and my powers kick in. In training, in the time it takes me to fall from a foot off the ground, my power’s gone back to full.”

“Right,” Kensuke said. “You have to actively suppress it. Mind control?”

“Except,” Matomaru argued, “if it was that easy, why not do it when Aeriesai knocked him out?”

Haruki turned. “Wait, what do you mean? That wasn’t Aeriesai.”

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Kensuke asked.

The boss had a point. “Still,” Haruki argued, “his voice and mannerisms were different.”

“Easy to fake,” Matomaru said. “Besides, we sent them the helmet footage from you fighting the metal guy, so they know what he sounds like.”

Haruki thought about it. Freedom’s Ring might outclass him in strength, but this god posed an existential threat to the USA. Cloning Laser Hammer wasn’t the smartest move; it was the only move. In international politics, any advantage upsets the nuclear balance. If the shoe had been on the other foot, Kensuke would’ve definitely cloned Freedom’s Ring for Japan. “No bad guys or good guys.”

“You got it,” Kensuke agreed.

He thought about his memories and history. “You know how I told you my past self’s memories?”

“Right,” Matomaru said. “You explained how Zenus killed ‘Korazon’s’ mother and some of his people, and your past self, he fought and won against him.”

“Exactly,” Haruki said. “I don’t think he did the murders.”

“You said,” Kensuke said, remembering, “that he looked surprised to see his crimes.”

“A basic Greek tragedy,” Matomaru said, “son sets up father for crimes he didn’t commit. Take the throne and everything.”

“Except he didn’t count on you winning,” Kensuke said.

“That’s not all,” Haruki said. “He’s clearly on Earth for something. If he’s powerful enough to knock me out, none of the nations have supers powerful enough to oppose him. So what could he want?”

“Cui bono?” Kensuke said. “It’s Latin for ‘who benefits’ and it is the first question you should ask. He’s here because he thinks there’s something here he needs.”

“I just wish there was an easy answer,” Haruki said.

“Don’t worry about it,” Kensuke said. “We’ve got our best on it. Go practice some more.”

“Yes sir,” Haruki said, dashing off.

The calm quiet became a torrent of sound assaulting Haruki’s ears. Combining both Spirits unleashed his senses. His sense of touch surged, providing him with an intimate understanding of each fabric touching his body. How each hair moved, and each drop of sweat dripped revealed themselves. It frightened him just how detailed everything was. His feet hovered above the ground to avoid damaging the building.

Gods and monsters, he thought.

Opening his eyes, he gingerly lowered himself. Using his kinetic manipulation, he pulled objects closer to him the way Push & Pull did. After ten minutes of practice, his telekinesis worked 70% of the time. Taking steps proved difficult, as he placed a foot slightly too hard and cracked a tile. Twenty minutes of effort later, and he could stroll across the room at a brisk pace without damaging the floor. Another fifteen minutes of handling things passed before he could handle basic objects without damaging them. Kensuke, in his infinite wisdom, had provided lots of simple metal shapes and pieces that could be freely damaged in practice.

He let his Lightning retreat, leaving only fire. It took a few minutes of strolling around the facility to find Matomaru. The second-in-command set down his tablet. “You wanted to measure your strength with both Spirits active?” Haruki nodded. “Follow me”

They walked over to one of the testing chambers. Haruki took position under the piston and waited as the machine whirred to life. When he pressed his hands into the slots and pushed, the pressure ramped up. He held on for thirty seconds before the piston lifted. “How much was that?”

Matomaru checked the screen. “Nine hundred and twenty-seven tons.”

“I’m gonna put both spirits up,” Haruki said. Matomaru gave a thumbs-up and pressed the screen. With both powers active, the piston came down and he pressed against it. At first, it seemed to be a piece of paper weighing down on him. As the metal whirring got louder, it became like a weighted blanket.

“That’s it,” Matomaru said, hitting a button. “The machine maxed out at three thousand tons.” The piston retreated upward. “How did that feel?”

“Barely anything,” Haruki explained.

Matomaru folded his arms. “It seems with both powers engaged, you’re strong on levels never seen before.”

Haruki sighed nasally. “I can’t help but feel this is playing into Aeriesai’s hands.”

“All we can do,” Matomaru explained, “is prepare as best we can for what we don’t know. You knowing how to use your powers is always going to be more beneficial than not knowing.”

“You’re right,” he agreed. “I’m just not sure how ready I can be against our opponent.”

An intern barged in. “Hey, if you don’t mind, Kensuke needs both of you in the main room.”

They looked at each other briefly before dashing off. In the main room, Kensuke sat with several of his interns going over printouts of maps and surveillance photos. The elder statesman regarded his lieutenant and top hero. “Ah! Good. You’re here. We’ve made a breakthrough!”

“Sir,” Matomaru agreed.

“Good news and bad news,” Kensuke explained. “Bad news is, since we can’t trust the American government, we don’t know exactly how far along their super program is. Good news is, my spies have made a discovery.”

“You have spies in the American super program?” Haruki asked.

Kensuke raised an eyebrow. “Surprised? Really?”

Haruki snorted. “No.”

“Anyway,” Kensuke said, “we’ve found the real identity of Freedom’s Ring.”

Matomaru and Haruki both gasped. “Real identity?” the boy asked.

“It’s got to be related to how he switches bodies,” Kensuke said. “We know he can’t just switch bodies at will, because they had to set up a specific encounter for you. Also, we know they have lots of supers. I think this is a lie, and both of these facts are related.” He shoved a printout forward. “Here. The real Freedom’s Ring.”

It was a black woman living inside a secure facility. Haruki read the sheet. “Samantha Bordman?” He looked at his boss. “How’d you figure this out?”

“By burning every candle I could,” Kensuke said. “She developed the ability to have massive musculature and power at puberty, at which point the government bought her services. She lives in a nuclear-proof bunker and somehow transmits her power to others.” He slid a second printout across. “The man you trained and fought with is Brian McKenzie, lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force before becoming the new Freedom’s Ring.”

Haruki looked at each. The young woman appeared to live in a facility that provided all her needs, including entertainment. Even from the little security footage he saw, the facility had the utmost defenses the United States could afford. The second printout showed a younger Brian, with average height and a basic athletic build, before becoming the mountain of muscle the world knew. Whatever mechanism allowed the transmitting of powers must allow Aeriesai to transmit himself. Perhaps that was why he couldn’t just be anyone at any time. “What a gig. If Freedom’s Ring dies, they can just replace him with another one.”

“Precisely,” Kensuke said.

“So,” Haruki asked, “what are we going to do?”

“You and the team are going to perform reconnaissance on the goings-on of her facility,” Kensuke said.

Haruki flinched. “Spy stuff?”

The boss winked. “With your speed, I’m sure your team will be able to ascertain some highly useful information.”

“And,” Haruki countered, “you think this’ll help against Aeriesai?”

“I know it will,” Kensuke said. “If for no other reason than we have to make sure the Americans aren’t working with him.”

“I’ll get ready,” Haruki said.

It was time to shine some light into the blind spots the mad god hid in.