Fission Chips (IC)

[TheAbsurdist]

Hissing in pain, as the plasma seared his, before he shoved his hand back out, and this time, this time Amir did it differently.  He started to absorb the power fueling the plasma form.  Breaking the magnetic cohesion, and to put it plainly... Amir ate the energy form of Dr. Morsi.  Once it dissipated, the billionaire energy absorbing hero was looking down at Morsi.  "If you had been up to date on your FNN stories, you would know what I can do, Dr. Morsi.  The worst you are to me is a bad case of heartburn."

 

As the form dispersed, and was drawn into his body, Amir al-Misri started pulse in veins along his body.

[Supercape]

Morsi concentrated, a moment, then another. Each time a brief flare of orange light beneath his skin, where the fission chips had been inserted. 

 

"So, now you know exactly what I can do, and it seems you are the perfect counter-measure. No doubt you will take me to some secret government research agency which will spend months if not years dissecting my brain for this technology. Perhaps literally dissecting..."

 

"I do not claim to be a good man, nor a bad man either. I am a scientist, pure, and simple. But even scientists need to make money. I could, perhaps have been more wise about who I took money from. I am a Muslim, devout and true. And I did not feel able to take offers or money from the west. I do not condone terrorism, but I have no love for the West, who support Israel and drop bombs on us with impunity..."

 

"And so I took money from nobility. Prince Amir Kahn. An oil prince, with more money than God, Allah forgive me. A man who professes to be of the faith and yet...carries on like some Playboy, women, drink, drugs I would guess. A man who thought he could buy his way into heaven by sponsoring me, giving the Muslim world technology that would surpass the West..."

 

"And it is true, it is extraordinary. Except...also unhealthy. Having this much gamma radiation in your body poses a grave risk to life. Cancer, particularly. I am working on a method to counteract that...but..." he shrugged his shoulders. 

 

"My time is limited. Pancreatic Cancer. Inoperable. I have but a few months left. I would not spend them in some American Jail! I would rather die!"

[TheAbsurdist]

Then his body started to metabolize the energy, having absorbed more directly then he ever had before.  Amir shuddered a bit, as blue energy started to suffuse out of him.  Not that he was truly aware of all of the biological mechanism that powered his abilities, but the billionaire was now bleeding out Cherenkov radiation.

 

"And the Prince is suffering the same disease..."  He frowned a little, and then sighed at the theatrics.  "Here is the problem Dr. Morsi, you were willing to take innocent people with you, that is not precisely the path of righteousness, either.  So we are at an impasse.  I can put forth effort to make sure that you are not dissected, and even have your research shared... but I need to know if there is anyone else who has these, is there anyone who could be causing harm with them?"

[Supercape]

GM

 

"God be with you, Amir...I have fallen from trust. In myself, or others. Every where I turn there is some man trying to steer me from the path of righteousness. Perhaps I am a victim of hurbis, perhaps not. I no longer know which path to follow..."

 

"But know this, the Prince is something else entirely! He never dropped his playboy lifestyle. What he wanted was power! You see, the blessings of wealth and luxury where not enough to sate him. For all his parties, fine wine and loose women, he wanted to be a superhero!"

 

"These..." he pointed to the chips inside him. "Where his way to that! I warned him of the risks, warned him they were killing me, who invented them. But he was obsessed, nothing could sate him! And so, I implanted my mark 2 chips in him. Ha! And now this has come to haunt him, as I knew it would!"

[TheAbsurdist]

Amir's expression went flat, as he realized what the doctor was saying.  "This can never be easy, can it?"  It was a rhetorical question.  "You are coming with me, leaving you here is just going to have you arrested, at this point, I do not want that happening if I am not here.  I hope, Doctor, you do not get air sick."  His hand reached down, and he gently lifted Morsi from the ground, fairly well humming with power like a motor kicked into it's highest gearing.  it was a gut call, but he was being lied to by someone, and frankly, he didn't trust Morsi enough after his display of monomaniacal tendencies.

 

His arm around the man's shoulder, he moved with him towards a window.  "One of you is lying.  I have a chance to contain you, both of you."

[Supercape]

GM

 

One super powered flight later...

 

Prince Amir Kahns yacht was not hard to spot. It was big, long and ostentatious. True, in this part of Freedom Cities there were a good dozen millionaires yachts (or yachts that cost a million), but it was hardly inconspicuous even in such company. 

 

Prince Kahn was not on deck. Presumably under deck, in the jacuzi or some other luxurious environment of the yacht. Given its size, Asad could almost imagine a tennis court under his feet. 

 

What was on deck to greet him where a couple of security guards. Pistols, vests, but not heavily armed. The head guard, a tall man with a nasty scar running diagnoally across his face, and thinning hair, put his hand to his gun. 

 

"Hey, what are you doing back?" he asked suspiciously, before clocking Morsi. 

 

"Morsi! You found him! Well done!" he smiled, taking his hand from his Gun. 

 

"Muqrin Ali!" hissed Morsi to Asad, low enough to look whispered, but not low enough for Muqrin to miss. 

 

"He is a dog! Brutal! Do not hand me to his unforgiving hands!"

[TheAbsurdist]

He set Morsi down on one of the chairs, and then took off his coat carefully, "It is getting chill Doctor Morsi, you may want to cover up."  Then he casually was unbuttoning the sleeves on his rather extravagant shirt, until the material was bunched near his forearms.  Amir's physical strength was evident, his muscles moving under his skin visibly, without any bulk.  However the energy he had absorbed still pulsed under his flesh.

 

The multibillionaire shrugged, spreading his hands wide, the palms skyward.  "So, funny story, occasionally I check the top ten richest people list, for fun, I suppose.  Or competition.  I am competitive, it is a personal flaw, that I pray someday I can overcome.  But today I was lower than I expect, my personal wealth placing me at number eight.  I would be worried, concerned even, if I wasn't aware of my philanthropic endeavors being the primary cause of this.  I mean, I do not need another Ferrari, or a yacht, or a body guard.  So instead, I give money to disperse clean water options, and vaccinations.  And I realized, as I turned off Doctor Morsi's fission chips, clearly I am blessed, to be able to give and not be inconvenienced."

 

Stepping towards the armed man, he was smiling, beneficently, as he clasped his hands together.  "Though Doctor Morsi told me that you have similar chips placed in yourself, is that true?  Because I know one of you is lying, and while I would commend the bravery of lying to someone who can bend steel with their bare hands, I question the prudence of trying to lead such a person around by his nose, while cloaking yourself in righteousness.  Especially when he has someone "

Edited June 21, 2014 by TheAbsurdist

[Supercape]

GM

 

Murqin Ali placed his hand back on his pistol, but looked unsure. Shooting a superhero was a risky business, to be sure. 

 

"Fission Chips?" he asked, furrowing his brow. "I don't know what you are talking about, friend. Morsi here, he did some work on..for...the Prince" he said slowly, his hand still fingering his gun. The three other armed guards were doing the same, but clearly waiting for Murqin to act. Keeping off looters and thugs from the Yacht was one thing. Keeping of a powerful superhero, well, that was another matter altogether. 

 

"I wouldn't let Morsi touch me with a pole" Murqin said to Amir. "Fission Chips, whatever you call them. The Prince may have trusted him, but I don't. Especially after the good Prince got cancer after..."

 

He cut his words short. Clearly a degree of discretion did come with the pay packet. 

 

"But I congratulate. You found Morsi. Perhaps he can even help the Prince" he said, again using slow and careful speech. 

 

"But the Prince is...resting...below deck. I'll take Morsi to him..." he offered, hand off his gun and marching towards Morsi. 

[TheAbsurdist]

He wrinkled his nose, having worked on the speech on the way over and delivered it without really paying attention to who was standing in front of him.  Another fine one Amir, he thought, as he moved to stand between Mirquan and Doctor Morsi.  "Sorry, I rehearsed that in my mind.  Loses a lot in translation when I aim it at the wrong person."  He made a rueful expression.  "However, cowboy, settle down, and get the Prince.  Now.  Or I will go to see him.  And then I may have to use my angry voice.  If it is easier, you can tell him I was being obstinate, glowing, and more than a little rude."

 

Smiling at the man pleasantly, as he folded his arms across his chest, and looked at him.

[Supercape]

GM

 

Murqin hesitated for the longest moment, drumming his fingers against his gun. 

 

"I am the loyal servant of the Prince, my friend. He gave the strict instruction not to be disturbed...during his rest" he explained. "But you leave me no choice. My bullets are of no use here" he said, fully frustrated. "Just know, you are a guest uninvited. You break the rules of civilization"

 

For all his skill as a Security guard, Murqin was no brainless thug. The man was smart, philosophical even. How loyal was he, precisely, to the Prince? Was it for gold?, was it for love? was it for faith?

 

Down below, the Yacht was predictably ostentatious. Yes, there was the Jacuzzi. Yes, there was the bar. No tennis court, however. 

 

What was unexpected was the Princes medical suite. There he was, plumped up on a pillow, lines in veins, a pristine white room, small but clinical. Comfortable and cosy as a medical bed could be. What looked like a nurse, and, predictably, a pretty one, was attending him. She did not have the look of anyone from the middle east. Blonde hair, blue eyed, probably American. 

 

The Prince fluttered his eyelids as Asad, Morsi, and Murqin approached. 

 

"What...what is this? I gave instructions....I am not to be distrubed...." he said, weakly, with a mixture of shame and anger. 

 

Ah! Morsi! The Devil!" he said, pulling himself, with some difficulty, upright, anger winning over and inflaming him. 

 

"Calm down, sir, you must rest!" said the nurse, pushing him gently back onto his bed. 

[TheAbsurdist]

There was a sigh, "I was born in Manhattan, so you can lament about the the lack of civilization, and I can politely tell you that you can find your civilization ova' here.  Especially when the lives of others are far more important then the sense of propriety and ego of a handful of people.  In the eyes of Allah all men are equal.  But please, go ahead and push me, my friend."  His tone was light, focused on the goal as they moved through the ship towards the man.

 

"Answers, Ali, answers.  Morsi gave me a demonstration of his little toys.  And he says you request he put them in you, is that the case?"

[Supercape]

GM

 

The Prince was less than pleased. 

 

"The Devil did, indeed! A thousand curses on him! You trust him? Really? A nuclear physicist who sells his work to the highest bidder. Ha! When the world burns in nuclear fire, Morsi shall be the word on the last lips! Pfah!"

 

He raised a hand at Amir. 

 

"You were blessed with power. I had to take it! Yes, the Doctor implanted his chips in me. I wanted to be a hero! A superhero! One that could stand up to the power of the United States of America! Understand, I wish no ill on this land, and yet, to stand tall and proud in the lands of Allah! A hero for our people!" he said, eyes glinting. 

 

"I wanted more than just the wealth, the yachts, the mansions. I wanted to be a hero!"

 

He turned his eyes to Morsi. 

 

"You! You will pay for what you did to me! I am dying, yes. But not before I extract my revenge! Murqin!"

 

Murqin was unsure, but started to reach for his gun...

[TheAbsurdist]

"Ahbal!"  Amir immediately started to surge, before looking at everyone else, "Get the hell out of here.  NOW!  He is going to burn all of us!"  He roared to Morsi, the nurse and the guards.  "OUT!"  He knew what was coming next, the burn on his chest was a clear sign of such.  He saw Murqin go for his gun, and he raised his first, as the blue coruscating, flickering glow of Cherenkov radiation started to pour out from him.  Ice flash froze on his body only to be burned off by the energy that he was containing, even if barely.

 

Was Ali who he was a person?  Not a concern he could have now.  He'd question his sense of self-worth later, when the threat of nuclear meltdown by micro-fission reactors wasn't looming, like a bad donair kebab

[Supercape]

GM

 

Murqin brought up his gun. For a fraction of a moment, he considered. 

 

"<Curse the both of you to the devil! My hands are dirty, by Allah, but I will not plunge them further! To hell with both of you!>" he shouted, turned, and ran. He had presence enough of mind to keep the gun. 

 

The Princes nurse, and Morsi, hesitated far less long. Both ran away. 

 

"Farewell, Amir! I leave you to the true enemy!" said Morsi, again, having enough wit to retort before fleeing. 

 

From the sounds on deck, the other guards were in no mood to hang around either, seeing Murqin sprint away. 

 

And in front of Amir now stood an form of pure energy, much as Morsi had been. Except...more determined!

[TheAbsurdist]

"Do any of you people read any of the news reports!?"  Throwing the coat off, as he then surged towards the Prince, hands outstretched as he hoped to absorb all that energy and radiation, as he was glowing himself, having already pushed himself hard by stopping Morsi.  And those were older model chips, apparently.  Amir was less than happy over this.  He was grumpy, and he wasn't going to let this thrill seeking idiot nuke his city.  

 

He tried not to think of the parallels between them, instead he roared the first quote of the Quran that he could think of, "<Whatever good you do, GOD is fully aware thereof. As you prepare your provisions for the journey, the best provision is righteousness. You shall observe Me, O you who possess intelligence!>"

[Supercape]

GM

 

"And God will judge me Great, Fool!" replied the Prince. In his energy form, he was fast, flipping through the air like a floating fly. 

 

"And don't think I don't know who, and what you are! A squanderer of gifts! Well, so was I, but now, I am a different man!"

 

The Prince was smart enough to avoid Asad's power drain. Around, he flew, and then touched Asad himself. 

 

Just touching the energy was a recipe for sparks and fizzing. Ozone hit the air, and the nostrils. One larger spark hit the curtains, and started a fire. The wisps of smoke added to the mixture of smells. Even Asad felt the power, roaring through him. And the Prince just laughed. 

 

"Too much for you?"

 

The power was immense. 

[TheAbsurdist]

"You colossal jackass!  I didn't want this!  I never wanted this, but it was handed to me and I ran with it.  And I damned sure try to make sure I don't hurt anyone!  You are a spoiled, selfish child!  I work hard for everything I have!  My company was floundering when it was given, I was expected to fail so I would have to rely on my family.  But.  I.  Don't. Fail!"  Roaring back out now, truly angry.  "I am sorry your family gilded your swaddling, I am sorry others have suffered for your hubris!"

 

It was rare Amir was mad.  Now he was.  And it was the impetus to fully reach out and grab his power.  The absorbed energy started to spark around him, arcing out to meet the Prince, the flare of Cherenkov radiation, bursts of light from all the absorbed kinetic energy.  "You wont even be a footnote in history!  You are cast from Allah's grace because you couldn't understand sacrifice!.  You are done!"  A hand balled into a fist, and he rammed it into the center of, for lack of a better word, the Prince's mass.

Edited July 27, 2014 by TheAbsurdist

[Supercape]

GM

 

Asad's fist flew into the energy, creating more sparks, more shudders, and more flashes of lightning. Then...it dimmed. 

 

Then...it faded. 

 

The lights blew out, the power shorted. The yacht was plunged into darkness, lit only by the setting sun and the equally red fires that had started in several places. Smoke started to curl around the ceiling. 

 

The Prince coughed. Painful, for someone so ill, despite the lines that fed in and out of him. The Fission Chips still glowed brightly under his skin, but no longer streamed out into the energy being he had become. 

 

"<Nothing....Nothing....*cough*...like a thief, like a bandit, you leave me with nothing! You, who had everything! Your gifts....a test....and you have failed. You are nothing but a bandit prince of old! A playboy, a hedonist, a pretender!>"

 

The Prince was both sad and angry, and started coughing violently again as the smoke hit his fragile lungs. A few specks of blood. The medical equipment had shorted out but he was still hooked up to morphine. 

[TheAbsurdist]

Amir stopped, and staggered a little bit, flame sparking from his clothes now, as he started to draw in the ambient radiation from around them, given how much the Prince had poured out.  "What are you driving at, you deluded, sad little man.  What are you trying to delay me with..."  He couldn't kill him, after all the Prince was a deadman through his own prideful efforts.  So much so that threat of injury wouldn't help.  So instead he moved to the morphine, his eyes narrowing a bit, that... that he could do.  And he knew that the Prince cared not the damage he did to other people.

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Deluded? No, no, my friend, my enemy. I am enlightened!" he said, coughing again.The fires were fully formed now, and smoke was rapidly filling the boat. 

 

"I am a dead man. Not for a few months, but my cancer is terminal, and aggressive. So, I wish to die on my own terms, in the service of God, rather than as a weakling coward"

 

"Morsi is a traitor! He will not share his research, will not provide the nuclear weapons that the middle east needs. A vile, traitorous man, fallen from God, more interested in his own prestige than the faith. And so, he must be punished!"

 

"I am no scientist, but I have money, I have contacts, and I have people who can help.....the Fission Chips have been modified...improved on. Morsi though they could not be used as weapons. Well, they can!"

 

The glowing points under his skin burned even brighter, searing the Princes flesh. If not for the pain killers, it would have been agony. 

 

"Let their be light! Muahahahaha!" laughed a hysterical prince, as the chips continued to burn brighter and brighter....!

[TheAbsurdist]

His eyes narrowed, "And you are the idiot who called me for help.  I've seen the ending to this story, hate to ruin it, but I win."  Hoisting the prince like he was a ragdoll, and then he just went up, his other hand swinging, and charged as he was the impact was sending palpable waves.  There was a fraction of resistance and then metal and exotic woods ripped apart like tissue paper.   And then free, he did something he had never done before, he put all of that power he had taken from Morsi and now the Prince, and he burned it, pushed up higher.  The backblast of this struck back into the yacht.  Not that Amir cared, though part of him was spitefully delighted.

 

What?  Sometimes it was the little things.

 

Especially when one was hurtling faster than he had ever done before.  His absorption preventing the inertia and friction from ripping them apart.  He knew he couldn't sustain himself up there, but the Prince was going to go nuclear, and realistically he had little to no other options, as he didn't consider himself fully capable of stopping all of it, as he felt... full?  This wasn't something that translated to other senses well.

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Wha...what are you doing?" gasped the Prince, weakly. "You cannot! You cannot! it is too late for you, oh vainglorious fool!"

 

As the wind rushed past him with their ascent, the Prince looked even paler, about to pass out. For all that, as his will diminished, the fission chips glowed all the more, burning away, hot and bright as the sun. The sheer energy would have killed the Prince if he was not already a dead man. 

 

"Allah! Take this traitor to hell!" he yelled at the sky before one last, glazed and happy look at Asad. 

 

"How much energy can you take, anyway?"

 

The universe was about to find out. 

 

The explosion was beyond measure, a force unrepentant. If it had happened on the ground, the damage to the city would have been just short of catastrophic. It was hardly a nuclear weapon, but it was nuclear, all force and heat and light that would have incinerated a man without second thought...

[TheAbsurdist]

So Amir pushed, harder as he used that stored energy, it blasted back through the boat. Turning them both into a rocket as his normal ability to fly was suddenly augmented, the backblast cleaving through the deck and hull.  Amir growled through gritted teeth with the effort of doing this, something he had never done before powered solely by necessity, and the thermonuclear reaction had absorbed prior.

 

Perhaps in another moment he would find this exhilarating.  Now he was mad at the Prince's actions, his selfish desires.  "May be a fool, but you are a jackass!  Always been a jackass, and history will know you only... as... a... jackass!  Inviting the biggest energy absorber in Freedom City to 'help' you!"

 

Pushing harder and faster as he raced against time, and the Prince's imminent meltdown.  It started to hurt as he grew too hot to hold onto.  Eventually they were getting the point where the air was thin, though before it could get too extreme for that, Amir snapped around as the prince spat out his final words.  And for the first time in possibly forever there was no bit of relaxed humor, or his normal public demeanor, , as he switched to the Prince's native tongue  "<You are an afterthought... I.  AM.  ASAD!>"

 

And then all became violent.  All became bright.

 

He hung on, he had no choice, grabbing that energy, and he pulled it in.  Knowing that if he didn't that a weapon like this wouldn't stop at a lightshow.  It was, however, too much.  But he wasn't some wastrel like the Prince.  He did good.  Not for the accolades.  Hell, he wasn't sure he was coming out of this, as he was bathed in nuclear fire.

Edited August 7, 2014 by TheAbsurdist

[Supercape]

GM

 

The sky fell away as Asad plummeted to earth. The nuclear inferno had been a flash of light and heat in the sky, but far enough into the thin air of the stratosphere to ensure that Freedom City was safe.

 

The prince was no more. His body was burnt in a fraction of an instant, completely atomised. For all the Fission Chips power, they did not make the flesh stronger. From the sounds of it, they slowly destroyed it…background radiation killing the host.

Like a meteor, or falling star, Asad descended, leaving a trail of light for all to see. Around Freedom City, eyes had turned skyward to see the inferno, and fingers were pointed at the falling, glowing, Asad. They could not make him out, just a descending point of light and heat. And there was fear, and there was panic.

 

With a splash, Asad fell into the Freedom City Great Bay. It was not only the impact, but the heat, that caused a flare. Alongside the noise and the sprayed water, steam flew into the air…water that had instantly evaporated from the heat.

The cool water and impact jolted into the now nuclear Asad, waking him up slowly…

[TheAbsurdist]

It hurt.  Lots.  Somewhere in the middle of this the explosion collapsed in on itself, as he managed to hang enough just enough to absorb it.  It wasn't until the subsequent Splash down that he came back to his senses, as he plunged through the surface of the harbor at terminal velocity.  The difference shocked him, as did the fact he was underwater, and his surprised gasps drew in lungfuls of water, and he there was no difference.

 

Confused, and fumbling he pushed upwards, towards light.  It wasn't graceful as he pushed out of the water, and landed on the shore coughing, sputtering, and then heaving the water out.