Chapter 125

  Alexander’s vision blurred at the edges before sharpening again with effort. The wire tourniquet around his stump throbbed with each heartbeat, a steady reminder of what he’d lost. Julia’s grip remained firm around him, her strength the only thing keeping him upright.

  The world tilted slightly. He focused on staying conscious, on keeping his breathing steady despite the lightheadedness threatening to pull him under.

  Movement caught his attention. Three aliens in official-looking uniforms approached from the defensive perimeter. They moved with clear purpose, until they got a good view of Maximilian.

  The Dragon Lord still bore his partial transformation. Golden scales covered his arms and neck, gleaming under the station’s lights. His eyes glowed the same metallic gold. Clawed fingers flexed at his sides. The scales over his chest wound shifted with each breath.

  The officials stopped several paces before the distant barriers. Their body language shifted, uncertainty replacing their initial confidence. They waited for Maximilian to come to them instead.

  Maximilian straightened despite the visible wound beneath his scales and walked forward to meet the officials halfway. His posture projected authority and control. The sapphire dragon vanished between one blink and the next.

  “We need to get you to a medical center,” Julia said.

  Alexander waved his hand, dangling over her shoulder, in a dismissive gesture that probably looked less casual than he intended. “Nah, just let me rest somewhere. Felix can heal my stump.”

  Julia stopped mid-step. She turned to look at him, confusion clear on her face. “Felix?”

  Alexander nodded enthusiastically. The motion sent the world spinning. He swayed, and Julia’s grip tightened to keep him steady.

  “Yeah, he’s our dog,” Alexander said. The words came out faster than he meant them to. “Except he’s a cat. For healing. I’ll message him.”

  He pulled up the System interface before Julia could respond. With a series of thoughts, he shifted through the options, selecting Felix’s name and thinking out a quick request to come to the gateway.

  Julia stared at him. She was clearly trying to determine whether he was delirious or serious.

  After a moment, she helped him toward a stack of supply crates near the defensive line. Alexander half-sat, half-collapsed onto one of them. Julia settled beside him without moving his arm from around her shoulders.

  She studied the wire wrapped around his stump. Her expression held the kind of concern that made his chest tight in ways that had nothing to do with blood loss.

  “Will they be able to heal the whole thing?” Julia asked. “There are places on The Nexus that can regrow your arm.”

  Alexander looked at her. His vision was a little unfocused, making her features softer somehow. Then he smirked.

  “Nooo waaaay. I’m going to build my own lightning-gun arm. With... with... cool stuff. And I’m gonna try sticking an alien cube in it.”

  Julia’s concern intensified visibly. Her eyes searched his face as if she were looking for signs of brain damage.

  But she waited patiently. Trusting him, but watching him with that mix of worry and something else he couldn’t quite name in his current state.

  After a long moment, Julia frowned and changed the subject. “Why do you want the Beastworld gateway?”

  The question pulled Alexander’s attention back into focus. The lightheadedness faded enough for him to meet her eyes properly.

  “Because I’m a hypocrite,” he said softly. “And I won’t feel as guilty when we go in there and kill everything for XP.”

  Julia’s expression shifted as she processed that. Understanding crossed her face slowly, recognition of the moral calculation he was making. The beasts felt less human than the cultivators or wizards. Less like people with families and dreams.

  She nodded. Didn’t judge him for it.

  Alexander leaned in, lowering his slurred voice to something more conspiratorial. “Hey. I been meaning to ask, but besides sharing powers between you, can Raelene also share senses and attributes?”

  Julia froze.

  It was a subtle thing. The way her shoulders stilled. The slight widening of her eyes before she caught herself. That tiny moment of realization that he’d figured out more than she’d thought.

  She arranged her face into something neutral. A poker face that might have worked on someone who wasn’t a Hyperaware genius who’d known her since they were twelve.

  Alexander read her like a book.

  “Will you tell me if I pinky promise not to bully her again?” Alexander continued.

  Julia looked at him with mock seriousness. “Leave her alone. Or she'll never forgive you for nearly crushing her in the elevator.”

  Alexander stared at her. He waited, watching her face. Counting the seconds.

  His expression remained completely deadpan. “You can’t see it, but I’m holding out my left pinky finger.”

  Julia’s eyes widened. Then she glared at him.

  “Too soon?” Alexander asked.

  “Yes, damn you!” Julia’s composure cracked. Genuine upset showed in her glare. “You could’ve died.”

  Alexander’s expression fell. “Sorry. I turn into a real comedian when I’m bloodlosted.”

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  Julia sighed. The anger drained away, leaving behind exasperation and lingering worry.

  From about ten feet away, Hjordis stifled a laugh. She was examining the storage ring she’d claimed, turning the simple band over in her fingers. But she was clearly close enough to hear every word.

  Alexander turned toward the sound. “See?” He looked back at Julia. “Hjordis thinks I’m funny.”

  “No,” Julia said flatly. “Hjordis thinks you’re an idiot.”

  Alexander pressed his hand to his chest in mock offense. “You can’t say that. I’m crippled, not an idiot.”

  Julia rolled her eyes. The motion was automatic, instinctive after years of dealing with him.

  Alexander’s voice softened. “Before you turned to ice, I had this terrible thought that I’d never get to see you roll your eyes at me again.”

  Julia met his gaze. The banter fell away between them. The moment stretched, real vulnerability showing through the blood loss and jokes.

  “Well, you went and lost an arm first, you know,” Julia said. Her tone was serious but carried warmth beneath it. “You’re a technopath. Get some bloody armor.”

  Alexander stared into her eyes. “If I promise to stop losing body parts, will you have dinner with me?”

  Julia huffed. “You couldn’t even lift a spoon right now. You’d pass out in the soup.”

  “That’s not a no.”

  “It’s definitely a no.”

  Alexander’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Sounded more like a maybe to me.”

  Julia glared at him again. But there was a smile tugging at the corners of her lips now, fighting against her attempt to stay stern. She didn’t pull away. His arm remained around her shoulders where they sat together.

  A comfortable silence settled between them for a moment.

  “How strong do you think the cultivator was?” Alexander asked.

  Julia considered the question, her expression shifting to something more serious.

  “I think he was the equivalent of a half-step Tier 3 superhuman.”

  “Half-step?” Alexander asked.

  Julia glanced at Maximilian in the distance, still talking to the officials. Then at Hjordis, still within eavesdropping range but pointedly not looking at them. She turned back to Alexander and lowered her voice.

  “Reaching Tier 2 is simply about ascending a single attribute. But there’s a gulf between that and reaching Tier 3, attribute-wise. Once all your attributes reach the threshold for Tier 3, and you cross over... that’s the half-step. What makes a Tier 3 dangerous isn’t just their attributes, though. It’s manifesting a domain for their powers.”

  She glanced away.

  “Trust me, you’d know if you were facing a real Tier 3. The moment they’re close enough, their Will presses down on you like nothing else you’ve ever experienced.” She paused. “Not that we have any way of knowing if cultivators and superheroes have the same powers or tiers. He said something about a breakthrough, after all.”

  The sound of claws on metal drew their attention. A golden retriever raced across the platform toward them.

  Julia stared at the dog in confusion. “Wait, you weren’t kidding about the dog?”

  Felix’s attention locked entirely on Alexander’s stump. His ears went back. “Alex! What happened?”

  The golden retriever became a black-and-white cat mid-stride. The transformation was seamless, one form flowing into the other.

  “Or the cat?” Julia gasped. “And it talks?!”

  Felix jumped onto Alexander’s lap, careful to land on his uninjured side. He reached up with both paws and pressed them against Alexander’s shoulder near the stump.

  Warmth spread from the point of contact. Alexander felt it immediately, the familiar sensation of healing finding its way into damaged tissue. The pain began to recede, dulled as the power worked its magic.

  Julia watched intently. Her eyes tracked every detail, the way the cat held perfectly still, the faint shimmer of something happening beneath the contact point.

  Even lightheaded and delirious, Alexander knew better than to blurt out the first thing he thought when Felix arrived. Which was that Felix should shake hands with Julia, Hjordis, and Maximilian, and steal a power from each of them.

  The pain eased.

  Relief washed through him. Then the itching started as flesh began knitting together at an accelerated rate. The sensation was deeply unpleasant, like dozens of tiny needles working beneath his skin.

  “Alex, I cannot restore bone,” Felix said. “Only heal over the wound.”

  Alexander pushed through the lightheadedness. “That’s okay. I just need it not to kill me. I’ll make a replacement later.”

  Felix glanced up at him. “The others will be very worried.”

  “I know.” Alexander’s voice was quiet. “That’s why I haven’t told them yet.”

  He changed the subject before Felix could push. “Felix, this is Julia. Julia, Felix.”

  Felix’s ears perked forward politely. “Hello, Julia. It’s nice to meet you.”

  Julia stared at the talking cat. Confusion warred with the evidence of her own eyes and ears.

  Then she turned to Alexander. “Tell me you didn’t give the serum to an animal.”

  Alexander managed to look mockingly aggrieved. “I’m a supervillain, not a monster.”

  Julia looked back at Felix. Her expression shifted through several emotions before settling on genuine bewilderment. “Then how... I don’t understand.”

  Alexander smiled at her. Small and knowing. “It’s Felix’s secret to tell, not mine. But maybe Felix would share it with you if you agreed to have dinner with me.”

  Julia’s expression flattened into exasperation.

  Felix glanced between them, his healing continuing without pause. “Oh, are we blackmailing this superhero, Alex?”

  Julia giggled. The sound escaped before she could stop it.

  Alexander looked at Felix with perfect innocence. “What? No.”

  A beat of silence passed. The warmth of Felix’s healing spread deeper into Alexander’s shoulder. The itching intensified as more tissue reconnected.

  “We’re bribing her,” he said, perfectly deadpan.

  Felix nodded, somehow looking wise despite being a cat.

  “Ah, yes. That makes more sense.” Felix turned to Julia. “I will let you scratch behind my ears if you agree to the terms.”

  Julia made a noise somewhere between a laugh and a groan.

  Alexander considered how Felix’s personality in cat form had a hint of imperiousness, while in golden retriever form he always seemed happy.

  He’d need to discuss the ramifications with him later. When his own brain worked properly.

  Movement drew his attention. Maximilian approached. The golden scales still covered his arms and neck, though they’d dulled compared to their earlier gleam. His eyes had returned to their normal color, the metallic gold fading away.

  He stopped a few paces away, crossed his arms and studied the scene for a moment. His gaze rested on Felix, still healing Alexander. Then his attention shifted to Julia, whose face was noticeably red.

  Finally, he looked at Alexander.

  “The Galactic Council has negotiated a truce with the Empire of Stars,” Maximilian said. “They’re working on a trade agreement as we speak.”

  Hjordis joined them. “That’s really good news.”

  Julia’s expression brightened with hope. “Do you think the UEG could do the same? Regarding Earth?”

  Maximilian shook his head. “It’s unlikely. We can’t guarantee no supers will attack from our side.”

  Silence descended on them. The weight of that reality settled over the group. Earth’s chaos, its fractured superhuman community, made any lasting peace impossible to promise.

  Maximilian continued after a moment. “The Galactic Council has also agreed to allow us to assault the Beastworld gateway when we’re ready. On the condition that it’s claimed and removed.”

  Alexander met his eyes. Despite the lightheadedness, the implications were clear.

  Once he recovered and put together a replacement for his arm, they’d be heading to another world to face another dangerous challenge.

  But next time, Alexander intended for all of Grimnir to be present.

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