Adamant Blood

Over the bridge, alongside the lake, and then down the road. The tram whizzed by and then another one went the other direction, and Mark decided to ask his team what they were doing. He tapped at Quark, who acted as his phone for that bit of time, and then he waited. He could, theoretically, have Quark send out messages, but that seemed rude to his friends, who he cared for; he wanted to talk to them directly.

Isoko and Sally were busy with a healer request for a last minute fill-in for a 5 hour mission beyond the Wall; they'd be back later tonight. Eliot was busy with the Sacredcuts, and it was an intense discussion over Derek. He'd check in later.

And so, Mark walked on.

Eventually he found the islander place and he had some really good fish with lime and tortillas that almost reminded him of the tacos that Mom would make now and then. The high flyer twins who were heroes in the Hero/Villain Program, and who had disavowed Tartu even before the Battle for Memphi, William and Wilma Hallingill, were there. They were in their green and gold webweave when they saw that Mark was prepared to eat alone so they 'saved' him from that. Mark was happy for the company, he supposed.

With the twins, it was easy to kill an hour eating food and talking about the HVP.

There were no requests for rescues and the Brawny Battles were coming up, and so Mark, along with William, went off to the arena. They boarded the tram and zipped through the normal business district south of the lake, where tens of buildings were brightly lit and making sales, the place looking completely different from the grasslands of just 5 months ago. Women with shopping bags, a dad with kids on a leash, young teenagers getting up to trouble smoking stuff in the back alley. Young people in a settlement! Kinda crazy, but they were probably all the kids of business people who were visiting, or stuff like that.

The tram went on, and eventually the coliseum came into view. Mark and his guys could see it from the top floor of their apartment on the other side of the Noble's District, but looking at it from this angle was a lot more satisfying.

Mark loved the place.

It was kinda magnificent, and completely normal-looking, and nothing compared to the Gate or to the castles that Eliot had built. But it was nice because it was plain fun to be here. Also, it reminded Mark of the coliseums at Citadel Freyala.

"You ever try fighting the actual brawnies?" William asked, walking beside Mark, in the crowd, into the coliseum.

Mark pulled off to the side, through a massive archway that read 'COMPETITORS'. William was right there with Mark as Mark said, "No way. They'd kick my ass!"

William laughed. "Ain't that the fucking truth!"

In the background, people rushed back and forth to get seats, to get popcorn, to get drinks both alcoholic and not. There were about 80,000 people in the settlement these days, and that number was growing fast. Way too fast, really. Most of them were not here tonight, but a lot of them were, because the place was pretty safe! Lots of people wanted to move here, and the sooner the better, because property bought now inside the city would be worth an incalculable fortune in ten or twenty years down the line. Heck! Maybe even just 5 years later.

Eliot was scheduled to expand the walls next month. He had already expanded them twice, both times to the north for more gate-holding space, but the next time would be to the south, into residential places.

There were probably 2,500 brawnies competing tonight, and all of them were being sorted up ahead.

Mark got into line with the other guys and he spotted Shawn in the crowd.

"Shawn!" Mark called out, but it was fucking loud in these big stone hallways.

Shawn whipped around anyway and spotted Mark. He grinned and made some signs that he was going in. Mark waved and then Shawn was swept away in the line for actual brawnies—

And then Mark was at the front of the line for non-brawnies, which was just as long as the other one, and he was swept up into intake. Rapidly he followed the line to an AI kiosk where a screen looked at him and then pronounced him fit for fighting. A few buttons appeared on the screen if he wanted to heal people when not fighting and what level of fight was he looking for tonight, and what name he wanted to use.

Mark pressed 'yes' and 'full throttle', and then he typed in 'Blackvein'.

A confirmation message appeared if he really wanted to use his HVP-issued villain name.

Mark grinned, told himself, "It's so cool I can do this," and then he pressed 'yes'.

The terminal flickered and then turned crackled-black and Mark's villain name flashed across the screen, and then flickered through a bunch of other screens to travel across the sign up room, all the way to the big sign with the big list of contenders for tonight. William was already up there as 'Combo Flight for Non-Brawny battles!', with his name and hero image rotating to the side.

But then some video-enhanced black lightning struck the screen from the other screens, and an announcer cried out, "KAIJU KILLER AND SUPERVILLAIN BLACKVEIN JOINS THE NON-BRAWNY FIGHTS!" The crowd cheered, and some turned to try and find him, but Mark was currently wearing his armor illusions.

Mark grinned as he went through the throng of people, as Quark flickered some information to the side of his vision.

Berth 2-C #26!

Second floor, non-brawny floor, C-rank Power, room 26.

There were cameras everywhere, and Mark walked toward room 26, pulling back his armor to a simple backpack, only wearing his helmet, his webweave revealed, black and solid. And now people started to recognize him. Some guys called out. Mark didn't know them.

Blackvein waved anyway, saying, "Hello!"

- - - -

Mark had gone through about 15 people tonight, and his blood was up and pumping as he swung around his coliseum-granted spear. All of his actual weaponry was in his adamantium backpack on his back and on the soles of his feet so that he didn't have to constantly carry around all of that 155-ish kilos; he could Adamantiumkinesis most of the weight off of his body if he had an actual connection to the ground somewhere. Sure, it was technically using his powers in a match, but whatever!

His opponent would be doing the same, and Mark was looking forward to it a lot.

Adansa Lukago, whom Mark was pretty sure was one of the settlement's prognosticators and who absolutely did work for the guard, grinned as she took to the sands of the relatively small room, saying, "Blackvein! We meet again!" She grinned wide as she twirled her staff and said, "I'll have you repent your evil ways, this time!"

Blackvein guffawed and held up his spear, saying, "I may be down to my personal strength, but you'll never take me alive or dead, copper!"

Overhead, maybe about 30 meters overhead through solid stone, some actual-brawny was going all out, their vector flashing all the way down here as they stabilized the floor, to leap away. A second brawny slammed down into the ground, missing the person they aimed for, and their control wasn't that great. The ceiling cracked a little.

A shard of stone fell down over Adansa, but she was already twirling her staff, and she clipped the stone solidly, strongly, and sent it flying at Mark. Mark laughed and dodged the stone, which was what Adansa wanted. She charged forward and attacked.

Mark instantly fell into the flow.

Adansa made Mark need to do that, and Mark revelled in the speed and the power of it all. Adansa loved it, too.

Spin the spear, crack the staff, but the staff flows away and the girl twists, kicks sand. Close the eyes and follow into the dervish. Whipcrack the staff away, slip inside with a thrust. No. Feint.

Pull back, feet grabbing too much. Whoops! Don't cheat with adamantium. Pull that back and just walk on the sand.

Here she comes.

Step to the side and strike from below. She counters, backing away and spinning, spinning.

Walk into the storm and deflect, but she was waiting for that. Deflection turns to thrust to the wrist. Pain. Pull back, recover just enough, but she pushes the flow. Breathing is difficult and Mark almost uses Union to do it for him, but he gets a moment. Adansa has had a lot more moments. Mark is carrying around 150 extra kilos.

Discard the kilos. They're right there. They're fine.

Everything is easier.

Push forward, crack snap whip—

Spear tip flies to the side. Gone.

She turns with her whole weapon and deflection only breaks Mark's weapon more.

She was holding back, too. She knows where Mark is going and she's already there, cutting off retreat—

"Okay," Mark says softly, breath gone.

They disengage instantly.

Adansa breathes really fucking hard, "Fuuu—" She breaths harder and goes to her knees, and then her ass, falling onto her back. She keeps breathing. "Uhhhh!"

Mark is already on his ass, chuckling and using Union to heal both of them. Breathing becomes easier, and the pain of exertion goes away. Mark kinetically grabs his adamantium and puts it back on his back. The cuts and tears in his webweave from Adansa's staff strikes are already repairing, but slowly. They'll be repaired fully in 5 minutes; there wasn't that much damage and Mark has a really good armor-repairing enchanted ring.

Mark is still in the flow a little.

Adansa sighs and sits up, saying, "Great fight! You're one of the only people that gives me consistent trouble."

Mark laughs. "You, too!"

Adansa frowned at Mark, "I am lucky to get into the arena with you. Who did you fight the other month? Oh yes, that turtle kaiju. The beaming one."

Mark faltered out of the flow.

Mark said, "It was about the only one I was able to fight, and only because I could tell where it was aiming." Mark gave Adansa a look, saying, "You could have done the same."

"With about 200,000 credits of assistance, yes, but I take your point." She got up. "So what fight was that for you?"

"15! The end for tonight, since you're my third loss."

There was a scoreboard to the side, and it was showing 'Blackvein-3, Adansa-1. Adansa advances!'.

Adansa asked, "Who were the other two?"

"Tell me who beat you first!" Mark only managed to beat Adansa without using his Powers about 40% of the time. After tonight he was 99% sure that Adansa was the Battlesenser Prognosticator of the settlement, but Mark was not going to say that aloud.

Adansa smirked. "Beat me next time and I'll tell you."

Mark scoffed, then he answered her question, "Some guy who I am absolutely sure was using some sandkinesis to fuck around with my footing, but he thought I was cheating with my adamantium soles, so I took the loss. Then there was some other person who was probably 80 years old and he whooped my ass. One of those old master types."

Quark knew their names, and Mark knew their names too, but he wasn't giving that information up that easily.

Adansa's eyes went wide. "The old dude got me, too!"

Mark chuckled—

The sign to the side flickered with new battles for Adansa, and none more for Mark, unless he wanted some. They wouldn't count for his final payout, though, which was 3,500 credits. Not a whole lot, but still a very good amount. Probably among the top people today. Most of the fights were just people fighting for experience, though; a lot of people stayed past their 3 losses. Ending at 10 fights was normal.

Mark said, "I'm heading out to heal people. See you around!"

Adansa bowed. "Till we meet again, Blackvein."

Mark grinned, and got going.

The automated organizers of the coliseum assigned Mark a place on healer's row to heal people all around him. Mark felt that the front row, center field and 20 meters from the fighters, was a great spot. A lot of healers got front row seats like that, and if Mark had any friends with him tonight then they could have sat with him, but it was just him. Mark still put his armor and illusions back on, though, and planned on looking incognito for a while. Maybe he'd order a beer and some fries, or something like that.

Mark walked down a hall to the healer's row and found his seat, about 20 meters from some Castellan healers that Mark knew, but never really met. He knew the Freyalan paladins much further away around the ring, though, and he was already in a Union with them and the crowd, and the brawlers.

Mark ordered some delivery and then he had a great time watching some guys beat the shit out of each other.

It was going to be a great night—

Someone was approaching?

Mark turned and there was Derek.

Derek sat down beside him, grinning wide. "Hey! Mind if I sit for a bit?"

Mark was a little bit surprised, but he rolled with it. "Ah, yeah sure! Welcome aboard. How did the Sacredcuts go?"

"Absolute shutdown!" Derek said, with a false happiness that was, in truth, a simple resignation. "Eliot was a real help, though, but it's fine if it doesn't work out. I might be busy with the Inquisitors right alongside you, anyway. Lola is a great teacher."

Mark smiled softly. "She is a great teacher, yeah…" Mark's voice trailed off as he wondered about how much Derek would be a part of his life going forward, since they were entering the Inquisition at the same time and all that stuff. Same teacher, same settlement, and Derek could be literally anywhere, at any time, now that they had broken the seal of introductions. Especially if he decides to do the HVP thing as a hero with Tartu. "Say, so? You wanna have a conversation about what it means for you to be in the HVP with Tartu? Or anything else, really? Our team is full, but I imagine we'll still be seeing a lot of you."

Derek laughed, though Mark didn't get the joke, and then he made a pair of copies of himself, and said, "A lot of me is right!"

Mark had a blank sort of moment, and then he laughed uproariously. "Ah!"

Derek smiled wide and then three of him became one, just like that, as he said, "You didn't mean to make the pun, did you?"

"I did not!"

Stolen novel; please report.

Derek was still grinning as he looked out across the battlefield, his Union vector spreading as far as he could go. It wasn't very far; only to the people sitting behind them, really. Mostly, he served as a vector for Mark's and others' Unions to join with… But now that Mark was really looking, Mark saw another 4 Dereks sitting on the other side of the arena, and down over there, and also over there…

Wow, okay.

Mark asked, "Is this your first time healing warriors on a field?"

Derek said, "This is my first time here! But not my first time healing warriors on a field. I got about 10 of me on a mission out there beyond the walls right now. I'm fighting some trap-gators. It's going poorly, which was the point. Lola told me I should come here to heal, but I can't even reach the fighters. I still think I'm helping? I can't tell."

Mark was impressed. Mark focused on what he could see, though, and he said, "You can reach me, and the people in the crowd, and that does help. We're all like a network and though some nodes are small, they still help expand the strength of the larger nodes… Actually. I am surprised at your range." Mark asked, "You can always reach yourself, right despite any distance? Out beyond the wall and also here?"

"That's totally different. I'm not a Far, but other multimen have helped me expand my personal distance, just so I wouldn't die to someone trying to experiment on me. Union seems to be limited to my individual bodies, though. I can connect with myself when I'm close enough, but not all the time."

Mark paused as he focused on the largest part of that revelation. "People experiment on you?"

Derek grinned. It was a tough grin. He didn't answer, but he was really, really thinking about answering.

Mark moved on, before he made Derek more uncomfortable, saying, "So we're in the Inquisition now. I'm doing it because I need to know what is out there so I can kill it and not have it kill me, or catch me unaware. That's about the same as you, right?"

Derek playfully asked, "What about killing all monsters, and demons, and getting Resurrection magic and saving the entire world?"

Mark smirked. "All of that stuff is on the list, for sure. There are steps."

"Ha!"

Mark grinned. "Anyway. I'm in this for the big haul; the everything-grab. I'm getting everything and staying on top of it for as long as life allows. I don't know what I need you for, Derek, but I'm always glad to party with anyone. Just not a permanent party."

Derek easily nodded, seeming secure as he said, "Good to know! I kinda… I'm honestly kinda freaking out a whole fucking lot sitting here next to you, so uh… The Inquisition! I'm doing it to get credibility with every organization out there, and also so that I can kill the cultists I find— There was this one…" He went quiet.

He was quiet for a while.

Mark decided not to poke directly at that nest of wounds, and say, "I'm still fucked up that we're going to be asked to kill people, but I get the reasons for it. It's just so… It doesn't make sense to me. How does it make sense to you?"

Derek stared outward. After a moment he went, "Whooo, boy. I… don't like it? Not thrilled about needing to kill cultists, but I'll do it, for sure. Those assholes have tried to do worse than kill me, so…" He went in a different direction. "People die all the time, but we try to minimize that. I die all the time, and I don't really care about minimizing that. But I'm not like other people at all. I'd much rather run into a burning building if it'll save another dude the same fate. Sure, I'll die, but I die all the time! Not a big deal…" And then he got a little mad, adding, "But a lot of evil bastards see me that way, too, and that's fucking… awful to be around. To be seen as less than a person because I'm, like—" He paused. "25 people."

Mark had never really talked to Derek before, so he had expected… He wasn't sure what he had expected when he asked that question. Whatever sort of answer Derek's answer had been, it seemed too deep, and not really telling. Perhaps that was Mark's own fault for going too deep so fast. But Derek picked up the topic and ran in a weird direction, and now Mark knew more than he ever knew about the guy.

People treated him like fodder.

Mark asked a serious question, "Has Tartu treated you like that?"

Derek went, "Now THAT guy… is not a bad guy, but he is absolutely a user of people. He uses people to what he thinks is their full extent, and anything anyone does outside of that little box doesn't matter to him. Worse yet, he doesn't like it when people try to reach beyond their box. I've gone out on a team with him before. He used me like I use me, and that was… weird. Understandable, but weird for someone else to do that. He's very used to commanding people, and most people aren't like that. It's like… You know. It feels bad to be told to go into the breach and fill it with your body, everyone knowing that you can't survive the monster coming your way. But if I choose to do it myself, then that's completely different." Derek was quiet for a while. Then Derek said, "I think Tartu's problem has to do with how his Domainer Skill is all about separating stuff into places and parts."

Mark nodded, then he asked, "You believe that Powers shape the person?"

"Of course they do!"

Mark clarified, "I mean like a mental act upon a person; like the stereotypes. 'Shapers are impossible to talk to because they move the goals all the time', 'Naturals only think their own way', 'Arches are muscle wizards'."

Derek nodded. "The stereotypes are true."

Mark laughed once.

Derek shrugged. "People are what they can do. That's the simplest way to put it. No mental shenanigans needed. Mathematicians think in math, soldiers think in war, and Powered people use the tools they have to solve the world; same as all the rest."

Mark realized that he had never really talked to Derek at all… Or maybe Derek had changed recently? Mark asked, "You changed, huh? I remember you being kinda… 'behind the computer' and then 'dying on the field'."

Derek grinned. "I was a good Union sink though, right! For that big walker kaiju. You drained it into me! That was fantastic. I never made as many clones as I did that day…" He trailed off, deep in thought.

His attention might have been elsewhere; Mark couldn't tell.

The fights happened in front of them. Brawnies crashed into each other, vying for positions, and then trying to take off limbs when they could. The big brawny fights were in the full open, and everyone cheered when someone won, and groaned when someone lost. There was a lot of that. A lot of good times, a lot of hurt feelings on the field.

Mark connected to a lot of people right now, giving Good to the warriors on the field and spreading out the Bad till it wasn't noticeable to the average person. Mostly, he was just a balancer. People who were hurt got better, people who were fantastic lost a little bit of energy.

Derek finally said, "I think you helped me break through some internal barrier that day, Mark. With the walking kaiju. My Power used to be Clone Army. Now I have Army of One, and my upper limit is a classified secret."

Mark's eyes went wide. Then he found himself nodding a little, saying, "That's awesome."

Derek relaxed, grinned, and said, "It is! Thanks, Mark. Thanks for… for a lot! Uh…" He stood up. "Enjoy the fights! I just wanted to say 'Hi!'. And now… Bye!"

Derek got out of there fast and Mark waved bye, sort of, but Derek was already gone and Mark was left alone in the crowd… But not really. There were lots of people at the Brawny Brawl tonight, and Mark was loving the energy of the place.

Mark's drinks and food eventually arrived, the drone that delivered it beeping an apology for the long wait; the coliseum's food kitchens were set up for 3,000 people max, but tonight was 7,500 people at least. Almost a tenth of the entire settlement; only 950 of which were actually warriors for the settlement, like Mark.

Mark smiled at that and sent off a text to Eliot, telling him the coliseum needed more kitchen space.

The night was only going to get more packed as the easy fighters were picked off and sent packing, and the heavyweights remained, biding their time and their power. They didn't really need to bide their Power, though; Mark and the other healers were healing away all astral exhaustion as a matter of course.

And sure enough, as the sky deepened to darkness and auroras brightened the land, every empty seat in the coliseum gradually filled up. Healer's row got more and more people, too. Some of the people in the seats had been fighting down there on the sands just a half hour ago.

An hour after that, before the big fights, Eliot walked out onto healer's row to sit down next to Mark, with Isoko and Sally right behind him. Sally was carrying an absolutely massive tub of fries, drenched in meat bits, sour cream, and onions, and a soda cup the size of Isoko's torso.

Mark called out, "Gimme some!"

"Sure sure," Sally said, plopping down next to him, offering him some of her tub.

Mark made himself an adamantium soda cup and took some of her soda, too.

Sally rolled her eyes but let him take it.

Isoko looked out across the land as she sat down, saying, "I'm so glad we got here before Emerald Flash's real battles."

"He's up in the field over there, coming right up!" Mark said.

Eliot munched on Sally's tub of fries too, in his own adamantium-made food container, as he asked, "Who's gonna win tonight?"

Mark said, "There's Beige Brawny and Miss Rift as top contenders."

"What about Kandon Valen?" Sally asked, frowning as she looked out at the scoreboards up to the north. "Did we miss the Colonel?"

"He's not here yet—"

"Oh thank god!" Sally said. "He's a badass with a blade."

"Yeah, but he's just a True Brawny," Isoko said, rapidly adding, "No offense to Aurora's brother, of course."

Mark grinned.

Sally countered, "He might not have the raw power—"

"Or speed!" Eliot said.

"Or speed!" Sally said, "But he's got skill, and he's killed kaiju before."

"They're not allowing kaiju blades and Telekinesis on the field, though," Isoko said.

"Or any Speed modifier over 4," Mark added, smiling as he ate some terrible-for-you fries. They tasted wonderful; all meaty and fried and potato-y.

The conversation meandered with his friends, but everything was interrupted when someone caused an explosion on the field. It turned out to be someone reflexively using their actual Power, and not their Brawny power. That guy was forced to take a loss and retire for the night. No one was seriously hurt…

Well. One guy was seriously hurt, but he got better.

The fights continued, steel clanging on steel, Tactile Telekinesis vectors like moving flashlights and floodlights filling those weapons and the field itself, as vectors fought for dominance. It was amazing to watch, and the conversation between friends casually died and restarted in time with the beginnings and ends of the fights.

The night wore on with fights and cheers and roars of the crowd, and Mark was right there with them, and his friends. Derek remained seated around the place, but not really close to Mark. There were hundreds of other people Mark knew too, and he said 'hi' to those guys when they walked by, including William and his sister Wilma, but Derek occupied the back of Mark's thoughts more than a few times. And then he ignored that as the real fights started.

Afterward, Mark walked home with the guys, but they couldn't talk until they walked away from the very loud river of people moving out of the stadium. After they crossed the bridge north, to the Noble's District, the crowd thinned. Then they talked about the fights and how Emerald Flash had done surprisingly well.

"Of course he did well!" Isoko said. "The maximum speed allowed in the competition and a decent Strength modifier, and his skill. Got him all the way to the win, just like two weeks ago. Fourth place last month."

Sally said, "Will they let him compete again next week?"

Isoko shrugged.

Mark asked, "Anyone here actually roll with him on a mission? Because I haven't."

Isoko said, "He's a new guy from Memphi— Or from New Denver, actually. I don't think he does missions out beyond the wall."

"Ahhh!" Eliot said, "A fighter, not a warrior."

Isoko went, "Ehhhhh! I guess— Oh!" She pointed. "Who wants to stay up all night and talk fights at Bar Palladium!"

Mark turned and saw the bar in question, all shining silver with a bunch of lights and the restaurant hopping upstairs. It was full of people who had gotten out of the coliseum early in order to have a seat, but it was filling up fast. Mark said, "Yes!"

"I'm done for the night!" Sally said.

Eliot said, "Same. You two have fun!"

They easily split paths and Mark went with Isoko to hang out at the bar.

Half an hour later the champion, Emerald Flash, showed up, and the bar cheered wildly for him. Mark bought the guy a beer.

The guy looked at Mark and exclaimed, "Oh holy shit. Blackvein! … And Platinum Princess?!" He looked at Isoko a lot and Isoko preened under his view, which was not a chaste view at all, but Isoko didn't seem to mind. And then Emerald Flash blinked and looked back at Mark, rapidly asking, "Can we like, hang out tonight?!"

"I'm up for it~" Isoko said, making eyes back at Emerald.

Mark rolled his eyes a little, but he was smiling as he said, "Of course! That was super cool when you kicked Beige Brawny's head and sent him tumbling. That guy really felt it, too, and we were healing him a lot."

Emerald Flash looked relieved. "I was worried that I had hit him too hard, but he wasn't going down—"

"So yeah you gotta hit 'em harder!" Mark finished.

Emerald grinned. "Right!"