Chapter 106 : Finishing Touch

Chapter 106: Finishing Touch

Electricity exploded from his body in an uncontrolled surge—a defense mechanism triggered by trauma and pain. The dresser behind him ignited where the current touched wood. The walls scorched. Light fixtures shattered as the power overload blew their circuits.

The Manager's body—still controlled by Alex through the biomass interface—rolled off the bed, using the furniture as cover. The pistol tracked Buchinsky's movements, waiting for another clear shot.

"You're... not him..." Buchinsky gasped, "What... what are you?"

The Manager's mouth moved with Alex's words, "Does it matter?"

Buchinsky's hand shot forward, and a concentrated bolt of electricity arced across the room. The Manager's body dove behind the bed frame as the bolt struck where he'd been standing, burning a black scorch mark into the wall and filling the room with the smell of ozone.

The wounded metahuman was trying to stand, using the dresser for support. Blood loss was weakening him—his movements were getting slower and his aim less precise. But his powers were still active, still lethal to anyone who got too close.

The Manager's body moved with enhanced reflexes—Alex's combat experience and enhanced reaction time, pushing the host body to its absolute limits. He rolled out from behind the bed, fired twice in quick succession.

One bullet grazed Buchinsky's shoulder. The second hit his thigh, and the metahuman's leg buckled. He went down on one knee.

"Bastard—" Buchinsky's hand came up again, electricity building between his fingers—

The Manager's body was already moving, closing the distance before Buchinsky could aim properly. At this range, any electrical discharge would hit, would probably kill the Manager's already compromised body.

He slammed into Buchinsky from the side, driving the wounded metahuman fully to the ground. The pistol pressed against Buchinsky's temple.

But Buchinsky was faster than his injuries should have allowed. His hand grabbed the Manager's wrist, and electricity surged directly into flesh.

The Manager's body convulsed. Pain exploded through every nerve ending as high-voltage current coursed through muscle and bone. The smell of burning flesh filled the air. The pistol clattered from spasming fingers.

Alex felt it all through the neural interface. Second-degree burns on the hand and forearm. Muscle tissue were damaged and neural pathways disrupted.

But the Manager's body didn't let go. Instead, through the agony, Alex spoke:

"It's about time for the poison to take effect."

Buchinsky's eyes widened. "What?"

"You dont think I will use a normal bullet against a meta, do you?"

"Still you surprised me. I should have titrated the dosage higher for a meta with electrical powers—your enhanced metabolism is processing it slower than anticipated. But physics is physics, Buchinsky. Even you can't fight chemistry forever."

As if on cue, Buchinsky's body began to seize. The neurotoxin was finally reaching critical concentration in his bloodstream and taking effect. His powers sputtered, while the electrical discharge became erratic and weak.

"No... no..." His massive frame trembled, muscles locking up one by one.

Then his body went rigid, and he collapsed fully onto his back, eyes still open but unable to blink, chest still rising and falling in shallow breaths but unable to move anything else.

Paralyzed.

The Manager's body released him and staggered backward, the burned hand hanging uselessly.

With the threat neutralized, Alex assessed the situation. Buchinsky was down but alive. The Manager's body was damaged but nothing significant.

Time to switch vessels.

The eyeball that had been integrated into the Manager's right eye socket began to disengage. Tendrils retracted from brain tissue, from neural interfaces that had allowed Alex to puppeteer the host body. The Manager's consciousness, trapped and screaming throughout the ordeal, suddenly surged back into control of its own body—

And immediately collapsed.

Without Architect's powers compensating for the electrical damage and maintaining motor control, the Manager's nervous system couldn't coordinate properly. The body hit the floor and his muscles started twitching, keeping him barely conscious.

The eyeball extracted itself fully from the empty eye socket and dropped onto the floor with a wet sound. It landed on its tendrils, oriented itself toward Buchinsky's paralyzed form, and began scuttling across the scorched carpet.

The metahuman's eyes tracked its approach with visible terror. He couldn't move. He couldn't speak.

He could only watch as the thing crawled up towards his massive body and jump towards his face.

A spark of electricity arced from Buchinsky's skin.

The eyeball on touching his face recoiled, getting slightly singed. The brief electrical contact had damaged some of its tissue and disrupted its coordination. It fell from Buchinsky's face and hit the floor, tendrils twitching erratically.

For a moment, it seemed disoriented and its movements uncoordinated. Then, with visible effort, it turned and crawled back toward the Manager's fallen body. It scaled the motionless form, returned to the empty eye socket, and reintegrated.

The Manager's body convulsed once as the wyeball reestablished itself. Then, with jerky movements that gradually smoothed out as Alex reasserted control, it stood.

"Interesting. Very interesting. Even using my poison, his powers won't fully deactivate. Some kind of autonomous defense mechanism, probably tied to his altered physiology at a cellular level. The electrical field is weak, but persistent enough to resist foreign tissue integration."

The door to the quarters suddenly opened.

The Architect stepped inside.

His real body—not a clone, but Alex himself.

He wore his usual dark tactical clothing, hood pulled up to shadow his face. Biomass shifted beneath his skin, ready to form weapons or defenses at a moment's notice.

The room now contained three figures: the real Architect, the Manager controlled by the Architect's biomass scout, and Buchinsky's paralyzed form on the floor.

Alex looked at the scene—the scorch marks on the walls, the burned furniture, the blood, the two incapacitated bodies—and nodded slightly.

"Metas are always a source of wonder. Powers that defy conventional biology, that rewrite the rules of what's possible."

He crouched beside Buchinsky's paralyzed form, studying the faint electrical field still crackling weakly across his skin. "Maybe I should hunt more meta criminals. Expand my arsenal. The Justice League won't stay blind to my activities forever. Having metahuman powers in my repertoire could prove valuable. Hunting and integrating will take up some time but tthats some time I am willing to waste."

He placed his hand on Buchinsky's chest, directly over the bullet wound. Biomass tendrils extended from his palm, burrowing into flesh and beginning the consumption process.

Buchinsky's eyes—the only part of him that could still move—went wide with horror as he felt foreign tissue invading his body.

"It's a pity," Alex said quietly, as the absorption continued. "People with such extraordinary power, choosing to use it for such dirty work. So much potential wasted."

The electrical field around Buchinsky intensified briefly—a final, desperate surge of his powers trying to fight off the invasion. But ultimately proved useless.

"Your power could have been used for so much more," Alex continued. "Protection. Infrastructure. Emergency response. Instead, you sold it to the highest bidder and asked no questions about what they wanted it for."

Buchinsky's body began to dissolve, tissue breaking down into base components, memories and genetic information flowing into Alex through the biomass connection. Twenty-three years of life. Military service. The accident that gave him powers. His recruitment. Dozens of jobs for the Crucible organization. Faces of people he'd killed. Locations he'd secured.

And the power itself—the ability to generate and control electricity. Alex felt it integrating into his own physiology, his body learning to replicate the cellular structures that gave Buchinsky his abilities.

Within three minutes, Buchinsky was gone.

Nothing wwas left of Buchinsky. Not even bones.

Alex stood, his body still adapting to the new abilities. Small sparks danced between his fingers as he tested the electrical generation. Not as powerful as Buchinsky's full output yet—he'd need time to fully integrate and optimize the stolen power. But functional.

He turned to the Manager's controlled body, which had remained standing motionless throughout the consumption. The Manager's consciousness was still trapped inside, aware and screaming silently.

"And now you," Alex said, approaching.

The Manager's controlled body didn't resist as Alex placed his hand on its shoulder.

"You coordinated everything," Alex said as the absorption began. "You enabled the games. You hired the security. You managed the logistics. You made it all possible for wealthy sadists to watch people die."

His memories flooded into Alex—names and faces of every client, every contractor, every victim. Bank accounts. Locations. Security protocols. The complete architecture of the Crucible organization.

And most importantly: the identities of the eight masterminds. The ones who paid for the entertainment. The ones who watched from comfortable observation rooms while people killed each other in the jungle.

Wolf. Fox. Hyena. Serpent. Spider. Vulture. Rat. Crow.

Their real names. Their addresses. Their schedules. Everything.

The Manager's body collapsed as it finished dissolving, leaving only his clothes behind.

"Now that I've finished consuming everyone on the base and ensuring everything is secure," Alex said quietly to the empty room, "it's time to deal with the masterminds."

Notes :

1) The eyeball onyl gave Alex control. Manager is still a baseline human.

2) I am thinking about the mode of punishment for the masterminds. Maybe a death game or some sort of SAW style traps? Do comment if you have any opinions.

3) After this arc, Architect will start his hunt for Meta humans expanding his repertoire. And Joker will get out of prison.