[ Mountains, Star City Outskirts ]
The two then resumed their daily teaching, and now Thea had entered the fourth stage of perceptual learning, which Lady Shiva referred to as "Earth Listening."
This stage was maddeningly vague. It required one to sense the movement tracks of insects underground. Thea found it nearly impossible. Some of those insects weren't even the size of sesame seeds—how was she supposed to feel them?
Lady Shiva herself admitted she could barely manage it, and had no idea how to teach others to do the same. Her own method? Hang from the side of a cliff with one hand, suspending her entire body in mid-air. There, she would quiet her mind and put her life on the line—no distractions, just survival and sensation.
Thea? She had no interest in living out an action-horror movie. Sitting cross-legged on solid ground was more her speed. If one day didn't work, she'd try ten. She had time. No need to risk her life on a cliff just yet.
...
Meanwhile, Moira Queen moved fast. Within a day of Thea floating the high-speed rail idea, a crisp, media-ready announcement was already hitting every major outlet.
She'd reached out to the city governments of Central City and Midway, pitching plans to build a high-speed railway connecting them with Star City. She vaguely mentioned "enthusiastic businessmen" pledging donations, clarifying that the cities would only need to offer minor logistical support.
Naturally, the mayors of both cities loved the proposal. Bring in the dollars, get the credit, and win some goodwill—what's not to like? They offered enthusiastic statements of support, with clear subtext: "If you bring us investment, we'll support your political career."
The idea of bundling job creation with election promises was classic political maneuvering. The message to voters was simple: Vote for me, and you'll have work. Vote for someone else, and good luck.
Many candidates had tried this tactic—some failed, some succeeded. The difference? The winners had money. And right now, Moira had plenty of that.
Even Malcolm, in between mentoring Tommy and brooding, kept an eye on the news. He hadn't expected his old flame to be so proactive. Though he didn't love the idea of empowering the masses, he saw a strategic opportunity. A stronger economic presence in Central City and Midway would benefit his own network.
His massive underground organization—comprised of people from all walks of life: politicians, cops, drug dealers, arms smugglers, and even some street vendors—was more bloated than active.
His organization could easily be called the least proactive force in the entire multiverse. After its formation, unlike Akatsuki, which at least split into pairs to carry out missions, they didn't engage in any coordinated action. They'd done little since forming, sitting idle while waiting for Unitech's seismic device to finish development. For five years, they'd mostly eaten snacks and collected dust.
Now, he had an excuse to send a few operatives out to test the waters. If things went well, great. If not, well, it'd be a convenient way to purge the more restless elements in his ranks.
With Moira's campaign gaining traction and Malcolm's silent backing, it only took four hours after the announcement for one of the three mayoral candidates to publicly withdraw—and endorse Moira Queen.
...
[ Felicity's Residence, Star City ]
Thea was lounging at Felicity's house, watching her mother tearfully speak on live television.
Moira stood before a cheering crowd, passionately describing the dangers of all other forms of transportation—except high-speed rail.
Airplanes? There were countless cases of hijackers crashing planes into buildings.
Supercars? Male and female superheroes raced through city skylines—deathtraps on wheels!
Ships? She shared a tearful story, recalling how Robert and Oliver went out to sea on a cruise and never returned—as if they were on a sketchy fishing raft, not a multimillion-dollar yacht.
In short: if you want safety and a job, vote for Moira.
Every time she paused, the crowd clapped like they were listening to a TED Talk meets rock concert. The cameras panned to teary-eyed men with thick necks and shaved heads, looking like they were on a lunch break from collecting protection fees. Thea squinted at one particularly round face. Wasn't that the bar owner from her old hangout?
Felicity watched the whole spectacle with her trademark unimpressed expression. Lips pursed, eyes narrowed—classic Felicity. She had never been fond of Moira.
And honestly, Thea didn't get it either. The two women didn't seem to have any particular beef, but they always clashed. In the original timeline, Felicity had even mocked Moira at her funeral in front of Oliver. That wasn't just bold—that was brutal.
...
[ Some Time Later ]
"Your anti-gravity suit has arrived," Felicity said casually, setting down her phone.
Finally! Thea nearly jumped. The supposed "three-day" job had turned into ten. So much for punctuality. She made a mental note to black-list those engineers. Siberia's coal mines were looking mighty cozy.
But for all their tardiness, their craftsmanship wasn't bad. The suit was now dual-layered for breathability: an inner split-layer for mobility, and a looser outer layer. Unlike the original skin-tight version, this one didn't scream 'superhero' at first glance. It even blurred her silhouette enough to confuse onlookers about her gender—a bonus.
The brainwave interface was completely overhauled. They ditched the silly dome helmet and went for something sleeker—almost like Galadriel's crown in The Lord of the Rings, only techy. Think shimmering polymers holding data modules instead of Elvish gems.
Felicity had nearly burned through two keyboards coding those modules. She swore she lost three pounds just debugging them.
The modules were designed to collect Thea's brainwaves and transmit reverse-output instructions through white matter, effectively syncing her thoughts with the flying skateboard.
But human brains are slower than machine systems. Thea ended up doing all the mental heavy lifting, and it gave her a splitting headache—like someone had jammed a splinter into her skull. It took her two days to recover.
Eventually, they realized the machine had to slow down to meet the human's pace. They adjusted the system's output frequency to match her brainwaves.
The downside? Reduced response time. Dodging and maneuvering that once took just a thought now required extra input—both manual and mechanical. Felicity added a fuzzy logic module to soften the performance dip, but overall, it was still a 30% downgrade.
If the Green Goblin's hoverboard was version 1.0, Thea's scrappy prototype was more like version 0.7 beta.
Still, for her purposes—practicing, patrolling, and the occasional Robin Hood stunt—it was more than enough.
To Be Continued...
---xxx---
[POWER STONES AND REVIEWS PLS]