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The water lifted out of the pool forming a large eagle, its wings flapping and sending droplets of water to the surface of the pool.
Roman concentrated even harder, moving the flying beast made of water higher into the air, spinning it around, keeping its form in place.
“It worked!” Ava floated on the opposite end of the gym, fire licking off her body. She had a smile on her face, her eyes burning yellow as she watched the water creation touch back down.
“Water Mimicry,” Roman mumbled. When breaking down Class Cs, he’d seen words like hydrophysiology and hydrokinesis thrown around, and all could be used to describe what he was currently doing.
In fact, the usual verbiage he used, something like a Type II, Class C, was simplified. It could get much more complex than that, but most didn’t bother. If they needed to investigate what class an exemplar was, they could simply look for the details on their ID.
Roman watched the eagle made of water fly a bit higher. His ability to animate inanimate objects was something entirely molecular, its possibilities seemingly endless. A quick look at his power dial and he saw that the middle bar was pulsing. He turned his palm up, and the water lifted in a column that fanned out at the top.
There was another thing he wanted to try, but he could give that a shot later, after he did what he’d come here to do.
Roman pulled the water toward him, forming a sluicing suit of armor over his body. The water moving over the fabric of his clothing felt incredibly odd, almost as if he were being massaged with his clothes still on.
Ava zipped over to him, a trail of flames following her.
“Are you ready for this?” she asked, a supernova of energy moving over her body.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
Ava bulleted into the air and spun backwards, careening toward Roman. Realizing this would be like any fight, albeit one that involved elemental forces, Roman did what he normally would if an attacker advanced on him in this way: he sidestepped her attack at the last minute, chopping her in the back with his water-encased hand.
The air filled with steam as the two forces met and Ava landed and lunged for Roman, who again blocked her next strike.
His fists at the ready, the water had come up and over his head, forming a moving mask that felt strange against his skin.
“He’s a good fighter,” Coma said, reminding Roman that he was controlling the water and giving the doll life.
“Coma, can you go stand next to Celia? I’m sorry, I just want to try something.”
Coma understood immediately what he meant.
The masked doll stepped next to Celia and spread her legs a bit to support her body, and once she did, Roman stripped her of her power.
He felt a surge of energy come to him. “You really want to take this to the next level?” he asked Ava, feeling the water beneath his feet start to lift him into the air.
“I was hoping you’d ask that.”
He blasted backwards, propelled by water spraying from his heels. He noticed that the surface of his armor had changed in porousness, which made him think it was bringing in the natural moisture in the air and using that to fuel the suit of water.
Once he was in a good position, Roman brought his arm back and fired off an arc of water at Ava, who blocked it with a huge fireball, both their attacks sizzling out.
He was a little shaky, not able to get his footing as well as he wanted, but he was getting more used to being suspended in air, his stomach doing somersaults as he dove forward, protected by his shield of water and a slide-like water chute he’d created.
Roman hit the end of the chute and smashed into Ava, steam billowing off their bodies as they cracked into the ceiling.
It was a bold move, one Ava hadn’t been ready for.
The two tumbled towards the empty pool below, steam smoking all around them, Ava trying to right herself and Roman, a wild look on his face, trying to drive her down.
She pressed away just in time, her fist connecting with Roman’s cheek. Thrown off his trajectory, he slammed into the side of the pool, getting the wind knocked out of him even as his armor protected his body.
“Are you crazy!?” Ava shouted at him.
“Maybe?” Roman blasted off again, a column of water spraying out of his feet.
He felt the air around him begin to change. The water surrounding his body started to boil and soon, he was free-falling to the ground, no longer able to control the boiling-hot water heating up his skin.
A gust of balmy air stopped him from the fatal fall. It lightly set him down, Ava now hovering directly over him.
“Let’s be clear,” she said, a grin whipping across her fiery face. “I’m still the teacher here.”
“Yep, that’s right.” Roman pushed himself to his feet. “I got ballsy. I just wanted to know the limitations. Speaking of which...”
He focused on some of the fire flickering off her feet. The fire began to twist in the air toward him, curling as it stopped just before his finger.
Ava lowered to the ground and approached Roman, hardly able to contain the look of surprise on her face. “I mean, it makes sense,” she finally said.
“Yes, it does.” The fire twisted into the air over his palm.
“But you aren’t an absorber, nor a mimic.”
“It must be molecular,” he said, honestly. “It seems like if I have the ability to see it, I have the ability to modify it, and by ‘it’ I mean anything.”
“There are other things we should try later,” Ava suggested.
“Is this before or after we have dinner together?” he asked as what was left of his water armor dripped to the floor.
“You are really pushing your luck with me, you know that?”
“Sorry, just trying to make a joke.”
She rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t a bad joke, but it wasn’t good either.”
“I’ll take mediocre.”
“As I was saying, we should try other substances later.”
“Like what?”
“Anything and everything we can think of. So far, I’ve seen you modify love dolls, wood, metal, water, fire, ink—and I’m sure there are some things I’m missing.”
“They’re not love dolls, they’re sex dolls.”
“Ha! Okay, if you’d prefer I call them that.”
“Just joking,” Roman said, a yawn coming to him. He was starting to feel tired. He’d gotten little sleep the previous night, and was planning on a nap when he got home. Roman knew it’d be foolish not to recharge before meeting Paris.
“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to actually enjoy my day off. What do you say? Let’s call it quits for today, and reconvene two days from now.”
“I have a meeting then,” he said, referring to his Heroes Anonymous class.
“After that. And we can order food if it gets late. How’s that for a date?”
Roman smiled at the flaming woman, enjoying the tension between them.
“Sounds like a plan.”
Roman wasn’t expecting to see Harper waiting for him when he got back to his apartment. The young waitress with her long neck, short brown hair and her eyes spaced far apart seemed genuinely happy to see him, and he felt bad that he’d been blowing her off.
“Harper,” she said, looking to Celia, who stood next to Roman in her superhero regalia.
The teleporter that had transported them cleared his throat and disappeared in a fizzle of energy.
“Celia,” said the doll.
“Hey Harper,” said Coma, who looked at the woman with a mischievous grin. If Harper was thrown off guard by the women with Roman, she didn’t show it.
“We should talk.”
Coma and Celia naturally stepped away. The two moved to a newsstand on the street corner and checked out the magazine rack.
“Yeah, sorry if I’ve seemed a bit out of the loop.” Roman placed his hand on the back of his head.
“It’s fine,” she said, reaching her hand out for his.
“I’ve gone through some serious stuff over the last few days,” he blurted out. “And right now might not be the best time to be around me.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that there are big changes coming in my life, and at the moment, I’m trying to sort out the pieces.”
“What kind of serious stuff have you been going through?” she asked, concern in her eyes.
It was on the tip of his tongue, and Roman knew that he was trying to force himself to turn a new leaf, but try as he might, he wasn’t able to get his confession out. Thinking of telling Harper that his wife had just passed, and that they’d been seeing each other while she was in the hospital only reminded Roman of just how depraved he’d become.
No, he wouldn’t be able to come clean about this to Harper—not yet, anyway. He liked her, and she had a dominating sexual energy that he enjoyed, but Roman also didn’t want to be with someone he’d have to lie to constantly. And that wasn’t considering his newfound power, yet another secret.
“I can’t really tell you what I’ve been going through,” he finally said.
“Is it something I did?”
“No, absolutely not. You’re incredible. Really. I just need some time to process all this right now, and figure out how I should go about my life moving forward. Sounds crazy, I know.”
“So you’re breaking up with me?”
“I never said that.”
“Sorry, that assumes we were together.” Harper ran her hands down the front of her pants and then crossed her arms over her chest. “What I’m trying to ask is: do you still want to see me?”
“I think the bigger question is if you still want to see me.” Roman sensed Celia and Coma behind him, their presences always known. It was odd that Harper hadn’t mentioned them, but then again, Harper really seemed like a cool person, one who wouldn’t immediately pass judgement.
“That’s why I’m here,” she finally said.
“Even with what you already know about me, and the fact I can’t be honest with you?”
“Yes,” she said, hesitation in her voice.
Roman nodded, offering her his best smile. “Give me some time, a week or so, and let me see how things are shaking out. I’m totally attracted to you, you know this; and aside from that, I think you’re a great person. I know this isn’t the answer you wanted, either, just to be clear. But I have a lot going on. I need some time to sort it out, and I don’t want any of my issues backfiring on to you.”
“Okay.”
Harper stepped toward Roman and he lifted his arms, bringing her into a hug. “I’m sorry for all this.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“No, it really is my fault. All of it.”
And for a moment, Roman thought of inviting her up for a nap—nothing fancy, just a nap. But he knew better, or at least, he was trying to know better. And he was by no means looking to curb his sexual drive; he just knew now wasn’t the time.
