Previously on Blessed Inversion Golden Age…
Darcy has gone missing and Black Ice has joined with the Khonshu Squadron to help find her and other missing people. Though they don’t find the kidnappers they discover Terry Sharp, Black Ice’s adopted brother, as the hero White Shadow. Adding to the hypothesis that Inversions are drawn together. Following this train of thought, Doctor Khonshu believes that Darcy may be an Inversion herself. While he looks into this, Black Ice and the rest of the Khonshu Squadron return to normal life. Black Ice going to locate Jey who has seemingly disappeared prior to a possible Inversion attack. Now he stands face to face with the eccentric man Jojo who knows his secret identity…
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Black Ice/Henry “Hal” Sharp -Superhero. Cryokinetic Inversion |
Joey “Jojo” Jones |
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Doctor Khonshu/Kreon Galanis -RajTEK R&D. Genius Inversion |
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The air begins to chill as Hal prepares himself for a fight with Jojo. It was a slow build up, just enough to be felt but not enough to be an outright attack. It greatly concerned him that Jojo knew his secret identity but he didn’t know yet if he was a friend or foe… “If you know who I am then you know why I’m here. Where the hell is Jey?” his brow furls as he glares at Jojo who remains unfaltering.
“I do not know and I do not care.” Jojo responds coldly. “I only came here for you.” he lowers his right arm and holds his left hand on his hip. His head tilted slightly upward as if to look down on him intentionally. “Black Ice; codename for Henry Sharp who is a Fifth Generation Inversion. Adopted son of Bob & Linda Sharp, younger adopted brother to Terry Sharp. Birth parents and by extension full ethnicity unknown. Majored in Art and currently dating former college roommate, Ji II Connors. Most commonly called Jey, although neither is willing or able to publically admit this. Skilled in inline skating and capoeira. Since his powers of cryokinesis have activated, he’s been active throughout Silver Plains aiding firefighters and on occasion dealing with criminals. Currently working with Doctor Khonshu and his associates.”
“Great, I have a stalker. The hell do you want?” Hal stands his ground and encases his arms in ice.
“I want to make you a costume.”
“…What?” Hal replies confused. The disturbing level of knowledge Jojo possessed put Hal on greater edge than he already was. Having such a simple request only added to this.
“I’m only interested in designing things for Inversions. Even then I’ll only do it for ones who interest or challenge me. You, Black Ice, as the first public superhero, interest me greatly. It’d be both a challenge for me to design for you as well as a great promotional opportunity.
“Am I supposed to be honored or insulted by this?” Hal stops releasing an aura of ice and unfreezes his arms. However, he remained cautious and ready to reactivate it if needed.
“Honored clearly.” Jojo sighs and shakes his head.
“Thanks but I don’t need a new costume.” Hal prepares to leave but a thought comes across his mind. “How did you find out all this stuff about me?”
“My assistant is able to track Inversions when I learned about you I had them assist me in learning more.”
“Could you help me find someone? I mean you are my biggest fan aren’t you?”
“Hmph.” Jojo scoffs and crosses his arms across his stomach. “I don’t care.”
“What?”
“I came to make you a costume. Nothing more and nothing less. I have no reason to help you find people.” Jojo remained defiant to the idea.
“Fine, what if I let you make me this costume and in exchange, you’ll help me find Jey and Darcy?”
Jojo takes a step to the side and thinks. His right eye glancing over at Hal intensely. “Very well then. I’ll help you find them after I finish my work.”
“Awesome, so what do I have to do?”
“You have to take me to your house.”
“Creepy.”
“So that I can see your costume.”
“Slightly less creepy.”
Hal didn’t want much to do with Jojo but he was his best possible lead on Jey & Darcy which meant he had to play nice. Jojo takes the lead and takes the pair to his Midnight Blue two-seat sports car. It was by far the most expensive and lavish vehicle Hal had seen in person before. But given Jojo’s…unique outfit it made sense he was likely someone famous or at least wealthy to a degree. He begrudgingly enters the passenger seat and they drive to Hal & Jey’s house with only the sound of the radio to keep them company. Any attempt by Hal to do small talk being met with silence. After parking, Jojo retrieves a silver briefcase from the trunk of his car and follows Hal inside. It takes a few minutes for Hal to return to his bedroom, put on his costume once more, and return downstairs where Jojo awaited.
“Well, here’s the costume.” Black Ice tries to pose dramatically with both fists on the sides of his hips. Jojo remains silent and begins to look the costume up and down. Circling him all the while. “So…now what?” Jojo continues pacing until he’s at the front of Black Ices body.
“I do my thing.” Jojo walks over to his suitcase and grabs it with his left hand. He holds it between his legs while his right hand is raised with an open palm in front of his face. His eyes visible on the left and right of his middle finger. “Wicked Weave!” he calls out as his Astral Manifestation appears behind him. It appeared to be a thin translucent navy blue figure. Its arms and legs seemingly made of jet black strings. A massive star emblem covered its chest in the same location as Jojo’s coat but stuck out like a breastplate. A symbol that looked like Saturn sat over its navel. A sun emblem sat on the top of its left fist while one of a moon sat in that same position on the right hand. The fingers on its right hand appearing to be massive sewing needles while the left had its fingers made of thimbles and the palm appeared to be a sewing palm. Its head was smooth and pristine but its eyes shimmered like stars.
“I change my mind!” Black Ice begins to freak out at the looming clawed figure.
“Don’t move.” Jojo orders as Wicked Weave holds its left hand over the briefcase and swipes at Black Ice with its right hand. It’s bladed fingers altering his costume in an instant. “My Astral Manifestation, Wicked Weave, can alter the materials of anything its right-hand touches. So long as I have the appropriate materials on hand as well as the proper amount of said materials, I can change it beyond just the visual.”
Black Ice quickly creates a reflective ice mirror on the wall and begins to look at himself. His full body spandex suit was now split in two. The top now being an open vest that only extended inward to his nipples. Blue lining its edges while his snowflake emblem was now covering the back. The snowflake emblem that sat on his navel now acted as a proper belt for the lower half which remained spandex. The blue lining at the top of the waist further giving the impression of a belt. His masks and gloves, however, remained the same.
“What did you do to my costume?!” his eyes widen in a mix of emotions at the sight. “Wait…” Black Ice begins making different expressions as the lenses of his masks move and adjust accordingly.
“I made a minor adjustment to your mask so it’d move and react with your face beneath it. Having more expressions will be far more useful when you’re saving people than a cold dead stare.”
“Why is my vest so small and why do I even have one?” he turns to face Jojo who banishes Wicked Weave and sits down with his legs crossed.
“Most footage of you shows that you turn your parts of your body into ice to protect yourself while fighting. Usually with your arms. When you do it for a majority of your body you become suspiciously less agile. I’d assume your clothes doesn’t move with you when it’s frozen so that’s why you relied so heavily on just your arms instead of a full body transformation. Now, you can wear your costume without sacrificing protection. On top of this, you make it clearer why the black part of Black Ice is there. Given your physique, it’d be a waste to hide it.”
“I guess you have a point…” he sighs. “I’ll just wear this when my old one isn’t ready. Totally wearing the mask all the time though.” he grins and admires the lenses getting smaller to fit his expression. He felt like a kid on Christmas day and had difficulty reining himself in. “I did my end of the deal. Now, where’s Jey and Darcy?”
Jojo rests his left arm on his knee while his right arm rests atop it and his head rests on that lazily. “I have no idea where Mr. Connors is.”
“So basically you lied to me?” Black Ice scowls annoyed.
“Not at all, given his powers and those he’s associated with I can’t easily track him.* I can, however, assure you he’s safe.”
*Blessed Inversion Soul Chapter 7- Guardians & Blessed Inversion Soul Chapter 8- Circe
“Let’s pretend I believe you. Where’s Darcy then?”
“Currently in a laboratory beneath Eclipse Labs Gold Plains branch. Though I can’t guarantee she’ll be there when you arrive. At the very least you’ll find clues.”
Black Ice still didn’t fully trust Jojo but he didn’t want to risk him being honest and passing on the advice. “Thanks…but how am I supposed to get in?”
“You’re a hero aren’t you?” Jojo stands and heads for the front door. “You’ll find a way. Your kind always does.” Jojo hands Black Ice his business card before driving off.
Black Ice wastes no time and begins skating back up to Golden Plains with all his might. His mind focused exclusively on his mission. He had never been to Eclipse Labs but he heard of it in conversations at Gunma Inc. It was said to be more advanced than RajTEK but wholly dedicated to scientific ventures rather than commercial gain. As such, while things used their technology they didn’t actually sell any products. They weren’t nearly as flashy or well-known and in truth, Black Ice wasn’t fully sure where it was. But his emotions ran hot and he didn’t care to wait. Taking him over an hour to locate the building. It shared a high-rise skyscraper with several other companies. Its sign was so small even a corner store that was going out of business was more easily visible. Without stopping to look, one wouldn’t even know it existed here at all.
“Here I come Darcy…” Black Ice muttered under his breath. His body being pushed to its limits and starting to catch up to him. But he didn’t stop. Entering the building fearlessly. “Excuse me, I’m looking for Eclipse Labs.” he asks the front desk security.
“Is something wrong?”
“Well…” Black Ice begins before he’s lifted into the air by an outside force. His mouth sealed and unable to be opened no matter how much effort he used. Doctor Khonshu had come and his dour expression was clear for all to see. He floated into the lobby and lands next to Black Ice. Not batting an eye at him all the while.
“Excuse my questionably dressed associate. My name is Doctor Khonshu and I’m here to discuss the RajTEK-Eclipse Labs partnership that we had previously agreed upon.”
“Sorry, but that’s not on the schedule.” The security guard says after looking over his notes repeatedly.
Before Doctor Khonshu can speak again, Black Ice shoots a beam of ice at the right Khonshu Drive with his index finger. Freeing him just enough so he could talk. “Look, I think something bad is happening here you aren’t aware of. I can’t say much more than that but if you know who I am then you know I’m on the level.”
The security guard hesitates before standing and handing Doctor Khonshu a key card. “You can use it to access the elevators.”
“Thank you.” Black Ice let out a sigh of relief. His gamble to rely on the goodwill he earned paid off.
“You’re lucky that worked.” Doctor Khonshu begrudgingly accepts the key card, drops Black Ice to the floor, and signals for Dragonfly, Achilles, and another man Black Ice never met to join them. A man of Asian descent with black hair parted in the middle and going down to his shoulders. He was somewhat muscular and wore a white suit shirt under a black suit vest with the back half of it colored a dark green. Black suit pants over dark green sneakers. He carried a pool cue case in his left hand which was covered with a silvery shell-like forearm guard. His right hand was covered with a glove that only had the thumb and index finger covered.
“Maybe.” Black Ice stands to his feet. “Or maybe people really just appreciate what I’ve been doing.”
“Don’t let it go to your head.” Doctor Khonshu takes the lead and enters the elevator. Using the Key Card to head to the lowest basement level which was level B5. “Arbiter, this is Black Ice.”
“Hey.” Arbiter shakes Black Ices hand.
“Dare I ask why the new costume?” Doctor Khonshu glances at Black Ice.
“It’s a long story…”
Next Issue
Blessed Inveresion Golden Age Chapter 11: Darcy
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Blessed Inversion Golden Age Chapter 9: Hypothesis
First Issue
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