Yellowknife, northern Canada.
Bitter winds laden with ice crystals swept across the bare ridge. Lucian sat cross-legged at the edge of the cliff. Wrapped in a thick down jacket, Ryan huddled against his leg, gazing up at the night sky.
"Dad, look!" Ryan pointed overhead.
An emerald aurora rolled silently beneath the stars.
At the very moment the aurora shone brightest, the progress bar in the empty space at the lower right of Lucian's vision suddenly jumped, filling all the way to the end.
[Copy progress: 100%. Heat Vision LV4 fused. Heat Vision LV5 (fusion enhancement) locked in.]
Lucian closed his eyes. A terrifying heat seared the depths of his eyes, and violent energy spread along his optic nerves throughout his body. The super-baby's blue thermal energy and the even more violent red thermal energy Ryan had inherited from Homelander completely merged at that moment.
The fullness of power satisfied him. He opened his eyes and turned his attention to another progress bar he had not deliberately checked in a long time.
[System charging...] [Estimated time to reach 100%: 20 years.] [Charging sources: thermonuclear energy, Heat Vision energy, and electrical energy within the host.]
Twenty years. Lucian silently repeated the number. It was far faster than that distant, century-long plan from before. With Heat Vision's fusion enhancement to LV5 just completed, the charging speed had visibly increased again.
If he copied a few more energy-based abilities, he could shorten that time considerably. The initiative to travel between worlds was finally, truly in his hands.
He lowered his head and looked at Ryan beside him.
The little boy was watching the aurora with complete concentration. Green light filled his eyes, and an unguarded smile rested on his lips. Over the past two days, Ryan's dependence on him