Metal Theory
Say My Name….
“No, I refuse,” Charles declares.
“What? Why?” Amethyst scrawls.
“Because it’s an insult.”
“I don’t think it as such. Besides, you guys got superhero names given to you. This is what was given to me.”
“But seriously?”
Erik approaches the duo, finding it rare that they are bickering about something. “What’s going on here?” he asks.
Amethyst folds her arms under her breasts, unconsciously causing her already huge breasts to thrust upwards. Men can only do as much as what healthy men can do: stare.
“Charles is denying me my codename, which I think is unfair ‘cus you guys have one,” she explains. “I mean, what’s so hard about calling me by my name?”
They’ll tell her what’s hard, alright.
“Are you guys even listening to me?” She follows their direction of eyes. She raises one eyebrow. Not that she minds. If it is anybody else, it will turn out differently.
An idea pops into her mind. Charles might pick it up, but he can’t access her mind if she puts up a mental block. She doesn’t want that. In fact, she opens hers up, allowing her to see all sorts of naughty things she can do.
She sees his Adam apple’s bobs, clearly seeing what she’s imagining. He raises his hand up, trying to calm her down. “Now, Amethyst….”
Amethyst stalks towards him, her mannerism predatory. Both men back away, suddenly feeling uneasy with the change of attitude. Charles tries to step back, but Amethyst already has her eyes on him. In a matter of seconds, she punches like a snake, cornering him against the wall.
“That’s not my name,” she whispers in his ear, all the while pushing images of insatiable acts of what she can do to him. Charles feels his body heating up. She touches his chest, and his breathing becomes heavy. “Come on, darling. You know the right answer. Say my name….”
“White Devil,” he whimpers.
Her mouth curves into one devilish smile. “That’s right.” She rewards him with kiss, but changes her mind at the last minute and settles on a lick instead.
Charles catches her arms, his eyes hard on her. Don’t tease me, he mentally says.
Erik puts his hands in his pockets, almost forgotten in the background. “I don’t know about you, but I think the name suits her.”
The Metal Theory
“Alright Mr. Lehnsherr, please step closer to the exhibits and raise these metals,” Amethyst presents trays full with evenly cut cubes made from different raw materials. Erik does as told, and they all watch as all the materials start to float on air, though some are raised higher than others.
“Please try to align them,” she says, and he follows suit, lowering all the metal down to match the lower points. “Thank you, that will be all.” He returns them back to the trays.
“First of all, I know that you don’t like experiments, but I’m glad that you’ve decided to take part in this one,” she says. Mentally, Charles sends her a proud, “You’re welcome,” which she returns with a mental smile.
“Based on my observation, Mr. Lehnsherr, your power does not base on magnetism, but rather the metal bending itself.”
He gives her one of his scrawls. “What dos that supposed to mean.”
“It means, Mr. Lehnsherr, that you are an elemental. Which is a good thing, because one of my great-grandfathers is also an elemental—not particularly in metal, but earth instead. Close enough. Now, at first glance and feel, these cubes look like they are all made out of metal. But if you know how some of them were manufactured, like I did, you’d discover that not all of them are made out of pure metal. Some of them are made from a blend of various metal and a type of very strong plastic—hence explains why some of they are harder to get lifted than others.”
“That’s strange. I couldn’t feel the presence of the plastics at all.”
“That’s because they were mixed so well that you couldn’t even tell the difference.” Then to the others, she says, “And if you’re wondering, these items are produced in my factory. That’s also why I’m so rich, among other factors.” Her tone turns sly at the end, before returning her attention back to Erik.
“Now, Mr. Lehnsherr—”
“Okay, enough with it. You can call me Erik.”
“—I think it would be best if you try some of the bending techniques to maximize your ability. Please take a look a this diagram.” She presses a button from the control panel, and an image appears on the big screen behind them. “See that the core has four main elements? The fire, air, water, and earth? Then notice the outer circle?” She zooms in the image. “If you take a particular look at the earth element, you’ll find that metal actually has a close connection to it. This also means that those who possess these powers has the chance to branch out their power. But that’s for later. For now, I’d like to teach you a couple of new theories that might increase deeper understanding of your power, and in turn hopefully make you stronger. Let’s go to the field.”
They move to outside the mansion, where a pile of heavy raw metal is waiting for them.
“I’ve got a report book that is aye high,” she gestures a meter’s height, “but I’m just gonna save you the trouble of reading and just summarize what I’ve learned. The key thing is building endurance. Please pick a piece and lift it up.”
Erik does as told.
“Now please maintain that for the entire day. Try to lift it as long as you can. Rest if you must.”
He gives her one of his infamous annoyed scrawl. “It’s just one piece. I’m sure I’ll manage.”
“Yes, but it would be better if we start building your endurance from scratch. Tomorrow, I want you to add another piece and repeat the steps for the following days. Compress them if they get unnecessarily too roomy, but keep them separated—this will build up your multitasking skill as well. Follow this exercise until there is no piece left from the pile—”
All of the sudden, all of the scrap metals bend in and starting to compress. Once each of them are in the size of small cubes, somewhat similar in size, they start to float in the air.
“That’s a total of 300 kilogram. I don’t think you should—”
“I’ll manage,” he says stubbornly, then starts to walk away with the metals.
Amethyst only shakes her head. “You’ll collapse,” she calls out, though she’s not sure he can still hear her.