Chapter 23: Chapter 23: Forces Not Meant For Mortals.
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(Billy's P.O.V)
The light streaming in through the window made me groan and throw a pillow at the offending sun.
The pillow sailed the distance only to stop mere inches away from the window pane. A shimmering blue glow covered the edges, telekinesis allowing the pillow to float in midair.
With a sigh, I pulled it into my hands and swung my feet off the bed.
The alarm clock on the night stand showed it was 10 in the morning. I usually set it up for earlier than 6. I must have been too tired to even hear it.
Last night I came in late, so it was understandable I would almost sleep half a day away.
And what an eventful night it was. I laid back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling with a growing smile on my face.
"I met the Daredevil, fought KingPin, saved a bunch of people and...oh."
I stopped, immediately sitting upright.
"The money."
I said softly.
"The money!"
I repeated with more excitement, my face reflecting the elation I was feeling.
Now more invigorated, I sat cross legged on the bed and reached out into my hammer space.
Within it, was the Trident of Neptune; which I was yet to study, let alone use.
"I should learn how to fight with it. The ability to manipulate water this close to the ocean is an OP skill."
I mumbled to myself as my awareness moved past the trident and the Chitauri weapon, before landing on a bundle of green paper.
With anticipation building inside, I pulled the money out, leaving it in a neat stack on top of the bed.
Running my hands over the crisp bills, I counted the amount and did a doubletake.
14,500 us dollars. 500 bucks short of 15k but we're not gonna stress the technical stuff.
"Holy fuck. I'm rich!"
I flew up to the ceiling, doing a few dips and flips while avoiding the fan and the overhead light.
I stopped in midair.
"I can finally have a real decent meal."
I said, with realization dawning on me that my biggest problem was now solved.
14 grand wasn't a lot of money in the grand scheme of things but still, to the current me, my money troubles were effectively gone.
"Oooh maybe now I can get as many of those spicy pastries as I want."
And who says the superhero gig doesn't pay?
'Next time leave the money where you find it.'
Daredevil's voice echoed at the back of my mind.
My excitement dimmed a little. I needed to be careful moving forward.
Matt had mildly chastised me for taking the money. Which meant I couldn't make it a habit of stealing from bad guys all the time.
This time I'd been very desperate.
"This is just until I get a more stable source of income."
I promised myself.
Shazam was a hero blessed with numerous abilities, there was a lot of ways to make money.
Maybe I could become the bodyguard of a rich dignitary. Or I could journey out into space and mine Asteroids for precious metals like gold.
Or if that failed, I could raid sunken ships for treasure. Oh, that might create a problem with the Atlanteans. The good thing was that they didn't rule over all of the ocean like Aquaman from DC.
I only needed to avoid Namor and his people and I would be fine.
The real upside to all this was that now that I didn't need to worry about money, I could focus on something more important, fully practicing my abilities.
I wanted to complete the Ring of Solomon mission and that meant actually coming up with an original psionic ability.
Now to be honest, I'd been pushing this thing back as much as I could. But I don't think I could do that any longer.
I couldn't put it off longer. Fortunately, I had an idea on how I could go about creating the ability. Magnetism.
Which meant...supergrind! An evolved form of grind where you go extra hard...
"Extra time."
I slapped my cheeks while staring at my reflection on the mirror.
My body was already changing. My muscles were still that of a teen but there was definition there. And I was toned in the arms too. Just because I had powers didn't mean I had to ignore my physique.
So aside from Psionic energy training, I'd also been lifting anything I could find in the Abandoned factory, to build my body up. The only thing lacking had been a nutritious diet but that was now handled.
I wanted to have a firm base before the more physically oriented legacies awakened. That would make for more powerful abilities overall.
"Welp, let's get onto it then."
First, a round of cardio.
I left my apartment and took a jog through the city. The sidewalks were too busy though, so I had to change directions and ran in the park.
After the cardio, I left for my training base where I pushed my telekinesis even further.
Afterwards, I got into the reason I was here, learning how to bend metallic stiff like Magneto.( A gross understatement of what control over magnetic fields actually was)
A few minutes in and I could see progress.
I had managed to sense the magnetic fields around everything.
This field was omnipresent.
Though stronger in some things and weaker in others, it gave me a better interpretation of information when paired up with telepathy.
It was almost as if I could map anything out using this new sense. Before, I'd only gotten impressions and blurs. Movements and motions of the body.
For instance, when I had sensed King Pin about to pull the trigger on the Chitauri gun and how I'd known that Daredevil was standing infront of the weapon.
This time the sense was stronger. I floated above the interior of the abandoned factory, simply breathing in and out.
With each exhale I would send out a pulse. By breathing in and pulling my magnetic field closer to my body, I would release it and let the invisible field interact with the components within the factory.
The conveyor belt had metal on it so it stood out like a bright light in a dark room. The barrels, metal frames, crates, nails...
And on the ground, tiny pinpricks of light that belonged to the numerous metal shavings left from back when the factory was active.
I took it all in. Simply studying the interaction it all had with me and I with everything else.
By the end of the day, I'd made even more progress on that front. Fine tuning the sense enough, that I could feel the Earth's magnetic field.
This progress could be attributed to my experience with Psionic Energy.
The Earth's magnetic field was like a blanket that covered everything.
Everything including me was in relation to the Earth's magnetic field. And trying to delve deep into it was like getting lost inside an ocean with no bottom.
Eventually, the day ended but I never noticed the time slip by. I was too busy, gliding in the aether, swimming in the seas, experiencing seasons that had already passed and were yet to come.
I felt how she had felt billions of years ago when she had formed. The ice melting into water. The first signs of life on her surface.
How she had to create a warm cover over her surface to shelter her children in safety. Protecting them from the harsh winds and cosmic radiation of space.
I sank into Earth's memories and from within, I felt a presence greater than anything else I'd ever sensed, turn to regard me.
(The age of the gods ended long ago, little champion. Who do you belong to?)
The question had risen from seemingly nowhere.
I have no recollection of what answer I gave. But what I do know is I could sense a deep interest from the presence.
(Very well. If that is what you choose, then I shall aid you. I shall hide you from my brother's scarlet hued gaze. But heed my warning champion. Your presence is a catalyst. The age of gods is upon us once again.)
The presence had said.
"Who are you?"
I had asked, calling out the question through verdant green plains, tall mountains, deep ravines, wide caverns, tropical islands and deserts.
And like the whisper of a swallow's wing beat, the answer flowed through my mind,
"Gaea."
Solomon's Wisdom confirmed the truth of the name instantly.
The next morning saw me open my eyes to a wondrous sight.
Every magnetic object close to me was floating in midair, vibrating slightly. I raised a hand and waved it through a cloud of metal shavings that was spinning around me like the rings on Saturn.
I blinked and lost control of what I was doing.
A cacophony of loud noises sounded out as several heavy objects fell to the floor. Instantly my head felt like it was being split into two.
I barely managed to fly down before I i stopped using my powers. Fuck. I'd felt as if I'd been standing on the precipice of something grand.
Throughout the whole week this feeling only grew stronger. It was a few days later that I finally cracked the code of magnetic field control.
Solomon's Wisdom was a big help. See there was a very big difference between how Magneto used his x-gene to tap into the Earth's magnetic field, and how I did.
He was a mutant, last I checked, I wasn't.
So basically, he had a natural connection to the Earth's magnetic field.
I on the other hand, used my psionic energy to interact with different fields. It was an empathic process that demanded understanding and respect.
I was after all messing with forces never meant to be wielded by man. And this way of approaching things gave me something I doubt Magneto had.
It gave me not just control but knowledge on what I was controlling.
I had just unlocked a new ability, Psychometry.
For example, magneto wouldn't know where a particular coin had been, but he could control it.
I on the other hand could read the magnetic field of that same coin and know how long ago it had been created and a few other details like it's durability and worth.
Nothing too outlandish as this was still a relatively new skill.
But my new awareness of magnetic fields and Psychometry were the basis to what would be my original psionic skill.
And by the start of the following week, I was ready to create it.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone