Chapter 74: The Berserker

A.T.C. Building 29th Floor 

Miranda|Laura Boggan 

'The Hand!' She thought, realizing just who had attacked them. She looked at him and shuttered. The Hand had been an issue the guild was dealing with; an organization taking root wasn't something they cared about, but an organization that took contracts from them was another. She had even heard rumors of a potential war with the criminal element. 

Her mind began to piece together likely scenarios, and she concluded that her organization had been contracted to handle York because The Hand demanded it. 

Her training had kicked in, and she positioned herself near the unassuming mother; Laura stood straighter as she felt the sharp object pressed against her skin, right above her kidney. 

Laura turned slightly and glowered at the woman, but suddenly, an indescribable feeling superimposed itself in the large office; she felt small and weak. 

Miranda audibly swallowed as Jeremy's grey eyes locked onto her.

Cole Stephens

He stepped atop the bodies as he made it toward the women. He had calmed down most of his anger spent on the soldier. Jeremy York hadn't cut loose in a while; those aching memories of the deceased teen had found some semblance of peace, the smoldering embers lesser for now than they were. 

His anger upon waking here had always made him heat up and distort the area around him like a sauna and burn those that got near; in truth, it was as if Jeremy York was the soul of flame in him. 

He regarded the woman as he walked past her. She angled herself behind the woman, using the mother as a shield against him. 

"It's useless." He said, waving his Hand in her direction, making the woman stumble back; the mother remained rooted, not taking the popular to escape as she stared questioningly at him. 

'Kaecillus crisis is over.' He said telepathically.

'I will stay near at all times, Sir. My apologies for leaving you vulnerable.'

'You think I would fall to these people?'

'Remember Kaecillus, I, too, have a Red Lantern ring, yet I've still had no reason to activate it.' He thought angrily. 

He felt kaecillus enter New York, but he needed to figure out where he went. He didn't micromanage his people.

'Forgiveness, Sir. I meant no disrespect.' 

He telepathically waived the man off. 'Contact The Broker; we need targets.'

'The price would be related to the ring, sir.' Kaecillus transmitted. 

'Hmm. I trust you know what to keep secret.' Cole didn't wait for a reply and closed the door that connected them mentally. The mandate was strange, but he had learned to seal himself off. 

Cole picked the tipped chair up and slid it to his desk; before sitting, he pushed a Hand soldier from the desk; a drone quickly grabbed the body and dragged it away. Hundreds of them came and went across the floor, cleaning up the mess he had made.

'It was a small mercy the staff went in during the attack.' He thought inwardly. He had yet to deem it necessary to tell his employees who he was. 

"You're Red Hood!" Stated the mother. 

Cole closed his eyes as he waited for the system to complete its random withdrawal of a new persona. This time, though close, he wasn't in battle, and he was positive if the installation hindered him, he wouldn't be too bad off with how weak and pathetic The Hand was. 

Cole opened one eye; momentarily, he hadn't had enough time to decide what route to take with the mother. Looking at her annoyed him; he had stumbled across the fire and casually helped. He didn't expect to get a quest and another strange, annoying person that, from his estimation, was going through her own Origin stories, or was she in the mix of another. 

Unbeknownst to the assassin, Miranda's shadow had widened and taken on a frightening visage. Miranda had come closer to Laura. The mother stared at the man, no boy before her, and frowned at her current predicament.

"I will give anything-

Cole felt a petulant kind of grumbling inside of him. He huffed, silencing her, and slowly opened his eyes and leered at the woman. Another individual that so happened to needs him or his people to assist them. Cole didn't even recognize her.

"One moment," Cole said. The prompt flashed before him, and he clamped down on a groan as he felt his body reconfigure. He had learned with Haunt. His body would adjust to the new persona. His appearance had changed slightly last time. His complexion had become paler, and his nails had permanently turned black. 

System message: Secondary Persona(s) completed. 

System message: Baran Flinders- Mammoth (Injustice Earth) acquired. 

System message: Tertiary Persona has been confirmed. Host, please stand by. 

Outwardly, he still looked normal, or close to normal as he could be, but inwardly, his body was undergoing a metamorphosis. He held in the irritation, but a groan escaped his mouth as he felt his upper and lower canines grow more prominent; he leaned forward, his body picking up twenty-odd pounds and a few more inches. 

He was so occupied with a personal acquisition that he didn't even recall Alfred moving a medical drone toward him with the healing injection shot, a chemical compound that promoted healing; it would revolutionize medicine if he ever released it. 

Mammoth powers were standard bruiser stuff; his Berserker Rage made him stand out, which increased his already formidable strength. Baran had fought against Superman and Wonder Woman singlehandedly and hadn't lost outright. His mind continued to absorb the life of the newest persona.

He was amazed. He had hoped to get Superman or anyone who could remedy all his problems and make most of the things to come effortlessly. Instead, he obtained a raging metahuman that had held his own against many Powerhouses. Mammoth was like a watered-down Hulk, a Class 100 at his strongest.

Cole had super strength already. He and Alfred had made some assumptions, but his base was quickly 8 tons, and that wasn't adding the modifiers that the system added to his attributes. 

Name: Cole Stephens

Known Name: Jeremy York

Alias- Red Hood

Race: Updating

Physique: Unique Physiology

Alignment: -Neutral

System-Bank: $2,945,234

Minion(s) Bullseye—Contracted

Anne Weying—Contracted

Kevin Lourdes-Contracted

Legal—Contracted

Angelica "Angel" Jones—Contracted

Dr. Mishimoto-Contracted

Kaecilius- Red Lantern-Holder

Morlocks-Coerced 25%/100%

Leech-Protectee

Annalee-Corerced 29%/100%

A.T.C Soldiers- Coerced 12%/100%

Persona(s)Jason Peter Todd- Red Hood 103%|100%

Daniel Kilgore- Priest - Haunt 50%|50%

Kurt Kilgore- Special Agent - Haunt 50%|50%

Baran Flinders- Mammoth 1|100%

Attributes

Intelligence: +Moderate Tier 10

Strength: Exceptional Tier 2 -> Extraordinary Tier 1

Speed: Moderate Tier 10->13

Durability: +Exceptional Tier 1->3

Energy Projection: +Moderate Tier 10

Fighting Skills: Advanced -> Exceptional Tier 1

Gear-Inventory

Red Hood Symbiosis Costume

Mammoth Costume

Roy Mustang Gloves

Atrocious Lantern Ring

Jokers Crowbar

Batman Utility Belt 

Clark Kent's Glasses

Clark Kent Cape 

Scarecrow Gear 

Cloak of Destiny

Orichalcum Knives 

Nth-Promethium Katana 

Dual Pistols [9mm rounds] 

Dual Modified| Sniper Mod|M1911 [.45] 

Deadshot Wrist Gauntlets

Captain Cold's Gun. 

Fear Toxin 

Smoke Grenade 

Pocket Explosives 

High Powered Taser 

Bulk Medical Bag 

Bulk Duffle Bag [Electronics] 

Ace of Winchesters

Kinetic Hammer

Penguin Umbrella

Super-bike 

Black Hawk 

Blue Beetle Bug 

Tumbler Batmobile 

Star Trek Commbadge

Desiccated Hand 

Smith & Wesson Model 500. 

.44 Magnum Model 629.

Abilities

X-Gene: Host mutant factor has awakened.

Thermokinesis, Fear Inducement, Superhuman Strength.

[Unexposed]Terrigenesis 

Unique physiology: The Host's mutant abilities, alongside your latent inhuman nature and the new ghost-like powers and skills, have caused the Host to develop a unique physiology.

[+1] Holder of the Hero-Villain System.

[+10] Criminology: Deception. Stealth. Infiltration. Demolition. Enhanced Investigation.

[+7] Occultism: The Host knows various mystical concepts due to his training with the All-Caste. Additionally, the Host has formal training as a Catholic priest.

[+9] Superhuman Senses: The Host has supernatural senses, allowing them to see, hear, smell, taste, and feel better than their average species member. 

[+19] Superhuman strength-Class 50: The corrupted energies of the Lazarus pit flow through your unique physiology. Your extraordinary strength grants blow that can deliver devastating damage and are known to shake the Earth. 

-> Raging Strength: Berserker, this ability is throttled by the Host's rage—the potential to lose yourself in the haze of battle. The longer you fight, the more significantly your strength grows. 

-> Super-Leaping: The Host can make extraordinary leaps in the air thanks to his strength.

->Superhuman Stamina: When fighting, the Host appears almost untiring, a force of nature that does not stop until defeated.

->Superhuman Durability: While not invulnerable, the Host is still challenging to injure. 

[+12] Skilled marksman, assassin, and expert tactician, Gadgetry 

[+9] Martial Artists: Dim Mak Expert, Rain Taijutsu Specialist. 

[+7] Mechanical Aptitude: Acute understanding and utilization of high-tech equipment, robot engineering, and advanced weaponry. 

[+2] Bioengineering: Chemistry 

[+8] Business Management: A.T.C., Wayne Enterprises, Lexcorp, Iceberg Lounge. 

[+4] Computer Operations: Computer Hacking. 

[+0] Ectokinesis: The user can create, shape, and manipulate energy unique to spirits/ghosts.

Astral Projection Portal: By manipulating Ectoplasm energies, The Host can project his consciousness onto the astral plane, allowing him to manifest and communicate without being physically present and create portals. He can only use the astral plane to port to places the Host has marked spiritually.

[+9] Thermokinesis: The ability to manipulate and control the motion of molecules, slowing them down or speeding them up, thus changing temperature in the surrounding area with the power of the Host mind. It is an ability on a broader spectrum than simply being pyrokinesis or cryokinesis. By its nature, this Mutant ability can be affected and altered by other attributes and abilities. This is considered a mutant ability.

[+5] Pyrokinesis: Create and control fire, manipulate heat in your immediate vicinity with your mind. 

[+2] Cryokinesis: The ability to control and manipulate frost, Ice, snow, and cold temperatures in general

[0] Transformation: Originally, when Daniel and Kurt's ghost merge, Daniel's body becomes covered in ectoplasm that gives him various superhuman abilities; because of the unique nature of the Host, this transformation involves all personas, significantly increasing Haunt's parameters. 

Red Hood Armor Symbiosis: Joining of your ectoplasm|Bio-Electricity with your armor. Amplifies Host parameters to an undefined amount. 

Red Hood Cowl: Heightened Mental Resistance.

[0] Claws: Haunt has razor-sharp claws on each finger that can easily decapitate enemies.

[0] Metamorphosis: You can manipulate your ectoplasm to create tentacles, cobwebs, spikes, blades, and other appendages.

Adhesions: Haunt can stick on walls.

[+7] Inhuman Optimal Healing Factor: Granted by the system and augmented by Chi and Ectoplasmic energies, you can heal from extreme mental or bodily trauma in minutes.

Red Lantern Mantle: The first Lantern has been chosen; the Host now bears the responsibility of holding the Mantle of the Red Lantern Corps. 

The First Ring-Atrocious: You wield the first Red Lantern Ring ever created. The boundless rage of Atrocious fuels your powers. Furthermore, unlike the more scientific Green Lantern Ring, the Red Lantern Ring uses vast amounts of magic in its construction. 

A Red Lantern's ring is one of the most potent weapons in the known Universe. Red Lantern's ring can affect and use fundamental forces of the known Universe, including electromagnetic energies such as gravity, radiation, heat, light, and powerful blasts of concussive force. 

The ring can also create fields of power formed from a red energy spectrum. The limitations of such use are the user's skill, knowledge, and imagination.

[+8] Rage Suppression: Said to be a rarity amongst Red lanterns, holders of this power need not the baptism of the blood ocean. You can control all the Red Lantern ring's degrees of intensity; lanterns under you have limited access to your passive suppression. 

[+6] Chi Manipulation: Host's mastery of martial arts and hidden innate parameters have unlocked one of the most sought-after abilities in the Universe. You can wield and manipulate the natural forces of life and control your steadily growing Bio-electrical energy. 

[Augmentation] The Host Chi can enhance physical and supernatural parameters and significantly boost healing and recovery time.

[+6] Fear Inducement: Your presence has shown itself as a fragment of fear. The physical manifestation of your presence takes the form of an incorporeal bat-like thing. The target of your inducement perception may be altered, causing them to have waking nightmarish dreams pulling taut on their deepest fears. Your presence can now affect the waking and spiritual domain, causing the Host to become ominous, dark, foreboding, or even monstrous. This is considered a mutant ability.

The shift in his physiology had run its course. He felt the newfound power hidden behind his lithe stature. Unlike Mammoth, who possessed a physique that matched his limited hulk-like strength, Coles was all packed away in refined upon refined muscle tissue, all perfectly packed by the system. 

He knew when he woke up tomorrow, the accurate details would be shown. In the best case, he got the brute alpha male Adonis beard. 'Please save the ginger.' He thought chuckling.

"Listen, I want out of here or-"

'A shame he couldn't transform into the Six-Eight one-ton metahuman Giant.' He thought, tuning his assassin out. 

Cole raised a finger, holding the strange stylized ring with an odd symbol atop it. He said. "First, she isn't one of mind but a person that I happened upon," he paused to let his words hit home before continuing. 

"Second, when you act, I assure you that you will die slowly and long after our guest."

Cole's steel grey eyes shifted to Laura; he regarded the woman, taking in her appearance now that she was cleaned up, and smiled brightly. Both women stilled at that. Miranda's mind turned over the details she witnessed. Something is different. He's not acting like he did. Was it all a farce? Is this the real him? 

Laura had seen those looks on many men. She straightened, standing tall; even if the young man before her was a teen, he was not your average teenager; the bodies stacked across the floor were a dead giveaway, after all. 

Miranda thought about what he said and withdrew her pilfered blade. It was his. He had last seen it sticking out of the hand soldier's eye. She stood stiffly and looked at me disappointingly. He smiled at her countenance. 

'Prepare the training room, Alfred.' He ordered. 

"Now that's over. You two need to follow me." He stood, and his pants were shorter than usual. He shifted clothes before the woman. Both are openly gawking, and he strolled past them.