He shook his head, but he didn't offer another explanation.
"Can I ask about the new power, or-"
"Yeah," he interrupted.
There was a pause. I saw him raise his hand and create a slithering mass of darkness around it.
"Feels different," he said, "And I can tell where it is, more. Slower to create, spreads faster."
"But the other powers? I counted at least four."
"One new ability."
I nodded. Didn't want to argue, so I waited.
From the other end of the couch, he raised one hand and pointed it towards my head. I stayed utterly still as a tendril of darkness snaked through the air, taking its time as it approached.
I stood up, abruptly, and he jumped to his feet in alarm. I could see his hands clenched, lines standing out in his neck.
An awkward, tense silence reigned, as we stood facing each other.
I waited until he'd relaxed before I spoke. "Had a bad time with someone else trying to get into my head, not so long ago. Um. Can we- can we just skip the demonstration? Or make it more blunt?"
"Right." It was like a shadow had passed over his face. He stared hard at the shuttered window at the end of the room.
I sat down, pulling my knees up in front of me so I could wrap my arms around my legs, and I waited for him to rejoin me. He'd healed himself, but he hadn't exactly bounced back. It wouldn't be right to expect him to. Was this the kind of interaction Tattletale had wanted to avoid, when she'd urged Aisha to go to Brian, instead of me?
"I've talked to Tattletale about this. My power's always had some effect on capes like Shadow Stalker. Her powers didn't work as effectively in my darkness."
"Velocity struggled, too. He was slower, but I wasn't sure if it was because of the increased air resistance or something else."
"Yeah. So we think I always had some effect in that department. That's stronger now. Affects more powers, according to Tattletale. She's making an educated guess that this aspect of my power is going to be more effective on capes with a physical power."
"Right."
"And when it works, I feel… a circuit? It's like the darkness comes alive, a cord or wire between me and the people in my darkness, and I can actually see it. If I focus on it, it gets bright and hot, and I have access to whatever my power's sapping from them. A fraction of a power, one power at a time."
"So the healing?"
"Othala. I was so worried she'd escape my darkness before I finished giving you guys regeneration. I couldn't just use her power on each of you, because it was only lasting a few seconds after I touched you."
"And the regeneration was… Crawler?"
He nodded. I could see that dark look pass over his face.
"And then the duplicate you created would have been Genesis."
He shook his head. "No."
"No?"
"She wasn't in my darkness, I'm almost positive. And my power's weaker than whatever I'm stealing. It doesn't make sense that I was able to form myself as fast as I did. It wasn't like she's described it, either. Remember, I worked with her when we were dismantling the ABB."
I nodded.
"It was more like… a forcefield. Except not. A hole in reality, and it took something out of me to feed and shape itself."
