Previously on Blessed Inversion SWAT…
SWAT-Spider, still injured from his torture, is approached by Haze with a bargain. Intervene in Pheromasters upcoming plan and kill him and In exchange, Haze would erase the memory of his identity from the leader of the mafia Biohazard. With the aid of the Inhibitors, Doctor Khonshu, Black Ice, and his son Jetstream, Pheromaster is stopped. While he deals with his new family member, the former Inhibitor Titan, and Raja plans a major shift in business practice. Doctor Khonshu has his own priorities…
|
Doctor Khonshu/Kreon Galanis |
“Just one final adjustment and…” Doctor Khonshu thought aloud as he worked on a computer in a brightly lit basement laboratory. His Khonshu Drives resting on the table, connected directly to his desktop computer which itself is also connected to a neon blue visor. “Finished!” he says ecstatically.
“Finished with your project dear?” a statuesque woman says as she comes down an escalator. Her hair was a deep black that complimented her matching nightgown. A nightgown which highlighted all her perfect curves and left little to the imagination. Her face was smooth yet defined with eyes of bright hazel. Each step she took towards Doctor Khonshu was just as perfect as she was. She even made the almost ghastly pale color of her skin seem positively radiant. She exuded an air of calm and perfectly in control at all times. Stephanie Roberts Galanis is her name, and she’s been happily married to Doctor Khonshu for over a decade.
“Yes, my shimmering diamond.” Doctor Khonshu says standing to embrace and kiss her. “I just upgraded the AI program I’ve been working on. Now when I start the KS I won’t have to be the monitor for every little detail myself.”
“Is there anything you can’t think of Kreon?” she asks shifting her attention to his computer.
“A way to deal with Kessler.” Doctor Khonshu exhales before retrieving his Khonshu Drives.
“What’s wrong this time?” she inquires.
“He decided to adopt a 17-year-old super strong metal skinned flying ex-Inhibitor.” he grabs the bridge of his nose and continues. “This is on top of the whole custody battle, divorce, and all the trouble at RajTEK.” he shakes his head and sighs. “I swear he does not like making my life easy. Lord knows he’ll find some way to make us have to deal with this.” Stephanie just smiles warmly at him. “What?”
“You always get so passionate when you complain about him.”
“And?”
“He’s your friend Kreon.” she grabs Doctor Khonshu’s hands and looks into his grey eyes. “I know you like to act like he isn’t but maybe just showing him you care will be enough to help him out.”
“For you oh glistening emerald of mine, I’ll do my best.” he uses the Khonshu Drives to levitate the neon blue visor, his newly completed Khonshu Lens, into his hand and puts them on.
With a final kiss, Doctor Khonshu leaves his wife and flies out of the basement. Up into their truly massive lobby and out the front door of the mansion they called a home. Between Stephanie’s monumentally successful modeling career and his own work at RajTEK it was easy to afford a home in Gold Plains. He was content with a smaller house, but for his wife, he made sure she had the best. With his new AI, he’d be able to do the same for his new project. But the first step was meeting the individuals in question. Keeping his mission in mind, Doctor Khonshu flew out of Silver Plains.
“Time to test out the new toys.” he thought before pressing buttons on the Khonshu Drives display. Activating his new AI.
“Hello, Doctor.” The AI responds in Doctor Khonshus voice albeit somewhat mechanically. “How can I assist you?”
“Do you have plans for global conquest?”
“I do not.”
“What do you think of me?”
“I think you’re the most intelligent man on the planet.”
“You flatterer. So long as you don’t try to kill all mankind like your predecessor we’ll get along nicely.” Doctor Khonshu replies casually. “Now then, give me the address for our first stop.”
“Yes Doctor.” the AI responds. After a few minutes, it creates a map on the Khonshu Lens display pointing him to a series of apartment complexes located by the Hudson River in Yonkers. They were fairly new and the building still had fresh peach and red paint coloring its walls. While it got a nice view of the river from one side, the train tracks on the other.
“Why would you put something so nice next to a train?” Doctor Khonshu thinks aloud. Holding his left hand across his chest while the right holds his chin.
“Convenient proximity from to a train to Manhattan or Silver Plains as well as a ferry across the Hudson River.”
“Do you know what a rhetorical question is?” Doctor Khonshu sighs.
“Do you know what sarcasm is?” the AI responds flatly.
“The first AI tries to kill me and the second sasses me…I’m too good for my own good.” he thought to himself as he activated the right Khonshu Drive’s onboard computer. With it, he accessed some of the Inhibitors files he…borrowed during the Pheromaster incident.
“Incoming call.” the AI says as the Khonshu Lens displays a picture of Raja before picking up.
“Hey Kreon, mind if I ask you something?”
“Remember what I said about boundaries?” Doctor Khonshu snarkily jokes.
“It’s actually important so can we not do this for once?” Raja responds annoyed.
“Okay.” he responds after a few moments of somewhat startled silence.
“Was it wrong that I started to use my powers for RajTEK?”
“Do you get mad at a chef for cooking a 5-star dish with his natural talent? No, so you shouldn’t have to be bothered by using your powers. I know I’m not…not that either of us can exactly stop if we wanted.”
“Does that mean Jason was right about us?”
“I’m assuming you mean the whole making competition thing you referenced yesterday? Yes, he was. How do you think we got so successful? Sure our products are fucking GLORIOUS! But, thanks to our combined Inversion genius and your technopathy we are literally leading the tech field. With us around why buy other products? And don’t you dare say customer loyalty.” he answers bluntly.
“Thanks, you’re still a dick about it but thanks.”
“Anytime Raja.” Doctor Khonshu says ending the call. “I swear they’re hopeless without me.”
“Should I request assistance from either Kessler?” the AI inquires as Doctor Khonshu begins to fly up to the 6th floor.
“Did you not hear my boastful confidence a minute ago? I’m not asking a 13-year-old to help break and enter a house. His father maybe but I don’t want to owe him a favor. Besides, my plan is pointless if I can’t do this on my own.” he glances at his wrist computer briefly to locate the window to apartment 601.
“You are aware you are about to commit a felony?”
“He’ll be thanking me for this.” Doctor Khonshu ignores the concern and uses the Khonshu Drives gravity manipulation to unlock the window and float inside. The apartment itself had an oddly vertical centric design. It had a spacious living room but a small spiraling staircase leading up to a small bedroom. The kitchen was obscenely tiny and meant for one person at a time while the bathroom sat next to it and was even smaller. “At least I won’t have to search long.” he thought to himself. His eyes scanning the pitch black room for any signs of life. His Khonshu Lens connected directly into the Khonshu Drive wirelessly and afforded him a number of scanning tools. He could see the ripped clothes laying scattered on the floor haphazardly as clear as day. The cool temperature of the instant cook noodles left on the floor next to the couch. Even a series of soldier dolls discarded on the floor without their uniforms. “I’m assuming you’re watching me Mr. Oliver. I assure you, I’m not here rob or murder you. My name is Doctor Khonshu and I’m here with a job offer.” he continues his scan of the room by hovering up to the second floor. The bed looked like it hadn’t been used for some time. “You see, I’m an Inversion just like you.” Doctor Khonshu says as he floats back down to the ground. His hands clasped behind his back. “My power is my genius and with it, I made the Khonshu Drive and Khonshu Lens I’m wearing right now.” his eyes focus on a notification appearing on the left side of his visor. It had located a small heat signature, approximately 4 inches tall, hiding on a trophy shelf.
“Scans show accelerated heart rate and breathing rate. Target is scared.” the AI notes.
“He’s a person, not a target.” Doctor Khonshu sighs. “Marco, I’m making a team and I’d like you to join it.”
“Go away…” Marco whimpers lowly.
“Good, you can speak. I was afraid I just scanned a rat. With the way you clean it wouldn’t be surprising.”
“Please just leave me alone.” he requests as he moves from his hiding spot when he thinks Doctor Khonshu isn’t looking.
“Why?” Doctor Khonshu asks.
“I’m a monster…I…just go please…”
“Hmm…” Doctor Khonshu looks around the room to locate Marco once more. The Khonshu Lens locates him sitting hunched over on the leaf of a small potted plant. He was a tan wavy-haired man with a thin frame and an unkempt beard. A spiral-themed tribal tattoo covered his entire right arm. Large dragonfly wings and a dragonfly tail growing out of his upper back. He wore the military pants he took off one of the action figures discarded on the floor. “You can’t control your abilities can you?”
“My friends kept saying how much they wanted powers. That it was a blessing…It’s not, it’s a curse you can’t…” he stops upon a sudden realization. “You’re a doctor right?” he flies over to Doctor Khonshu, landing on the back of his lab coat. “Can you cure me?”
“I won’t lie to you, but that is very unlikely. If I tried to suppress your power you wouldn’t be able to shrink but you’d still have your wings and tail.”
“So I’m a monster for the rest of my life…” he begins crying uncontrollably.
“Have you killed someone innocent?” Doctor Khonshu asks, trapping Marco in a gravity bubble, and pulling him off his back so they can be face to face.
“What…I mean…no I…”
“Then you aren’t a monster. Peculiar, dirty, and a downer sure. But a monster you aren’t. I can’t fix you because there’s nothing wrong with you. So no more pity party or hiding in the dark depressing bachelor pad. We’re getting you some sunlight.” Doctor Khonshu asserts with an air of unwavering certainty despite never meeting the young man before now. He flies out of the apartment and down to the riverside. “If I let you out do not try to run away, it won’t work.” he warns before letting out Marco who begins to hover in place. As much as he hated his wings, using them were second nature to him. “Can you return to normal size?”
“If I do I’d just tear through my pants.” Marco laments as he sits on Doctor Khonshu’s shoulder. His knees against his chest and head hung low. “I can’t wear shirts, I can’t lay on my back…I can’t even go to the bathroom properly anymore or shower without shrinking first.” he whimpers defeated.
“That sucks.” Doctor Khonshu blurts out nonchalantly. “Lucky for you I’m a genius and can make something to fit your powerset.” he smirks confidently.
“Why are you doing this for me?” he looks up at Doctor Khonshu’s head.
“Because the Inhibitors are, quite frankly, incompetent. Do you know how hard it was to find you? They have a long list of Inversions to watch but they were all the same. Inversions with objectively useful powers across the globe to fit their multinational design. People they wanted to use, make sure others couldn’t, or they didn’t want to risk turning supervillain. You were so far down on the list it would’ve taken years to find you. Luckily, and I can’t stress this enough, I’m a genius and cut down the time needed to sift through it all. Granted I am running on about a dozen cups of coffee and sheer willpower right now but I did it. When I came across you I saw potential. I want you on my Khonshu Squadron. I won’t be able to remove your powers but I can help you learn to live with them. Maybe one day you’ll begin to like and accept them.”
“I…but what if I mess up? What if I was at the bottom of the list for a reason? What if picking me is a mistake?”
“Please, I’m Doctor Khonshu.” he smirks confidently. “I don’t make mistakes.”
Next Issue
Blessed Inversion SWAT Chapter 11- Rebirth
Recommended Reading
Blessed Inversion Universe Chapter 1- Less is More
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Ultronimus Gaming 