15. A Rising
Damn it felt good to be alive.
Though he knew his luck was running out, Atom jumped through the claws and snarls, swings and profanities of Black Adam and his Creepers like a far younger man. Yet there, in the midst of it all, that's what he was. Ray Palmer had always been a man trapped in his own mind; master of Quantum mechanics, a genius in his field. But as the Atom, he could unleash himself; indulge in his own physicality and shake off those repressions that his own mind constrained him in. Here, on the battlefield, fighting for something which truly mattered, there and then in the moment, was the greatest thrill of his life.
“Stand still, coward!” Adam bellowed as he took another swing, missing Atom's contracting and expanding form despite his lightning fuelled speed.
“I may have grown slightly senile over the years, Adam,” Atom laughed, knocking three Creepers to the ground with his density enhanced strength and a deft roundhouse, “But I’ve never been stupid. Catch me if you can!”
In the shadows of the battle, Steel slowly regained his senses and seeing what lay before him, shook the others into conciousness.
“Who is he?” Asked Steel as he held Element Boy close as he too came back into conciousness.
“I'm not sure.” groaned Wildling, rubbing her back and her head simultaneously, “But I think it's Willie Nelson. My mum used to listen to him.”
“...the atom..” Element Boy croaked as he slowly got to his feet. “He said his name was the Atom.”
The three of them watched as this 'Atom' took down Creeper after Creeper, his ever changing size twisting the mind as he darted between and under and, seemingly through his opponents. Even Black Adam seemed powerless against him and as they watched, the three teens felt their aches and pains fade, just as they felt their spirits rising.
“The Atom... wow, I’ve heard about him.” Steel said, his voice filled with awe.
“He was one of them.” Wildling sighed. “One of the real ones.”
“He saved my life.” Element Boy said, his voice growing more assured now as energy crackled about his clenched fist and a certainty coursed through his veins like he'd never felt before.
“Well... let's return the favour.” Steel said as he turned back to his liquid metal form and the three of them charged, throats open with a defiant roar, into the fray.
Montez, of course, saw none of this.
Lost in darkness, Montez lay unconscious in the rubble of the building which still barely stood about him. His breath crawled, weak and laboured from his lungs and his mind strained against the pain which embraced it. He struggled to remember where he was through the shadows that hung now within him and he was certain that all he could feel were the hands of death about him.
Then it stopped. Just like that. And all he could feel was the power... the power that he held within him. He had never felt it's like. Occasionally, whilst training with Grayson, they would find a suitable power source and Montez was able to feel the flow of electricity through his own body; feel it coursing through him as he used his mutant powers to channel the energy into a force and unleash it from his fingertips, but this... this was something else.
He could taste it, he could see and feel and hear it, thrumming through his entire being, in every cell... and it was wicked. In every sense of the word. He could feel its power, hear its whispers and promises in his ears and felt it kiss his skin as it crackled and sparked over him.
Montez liked it and as he slowly opened his eyes and entered the world again, he became aware of a sound, not unlike a great storm exploding from outside his rubble.
Log in to comment