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****
The rhythmic "creaking" and shaking gradually subsided…
Felicity lay in Allen's arms, her eyes dazed for a while before slowly focusing, her body still flushed with lingering excitement.
After brushing back some disheveled strands of hair, she rested her head on Allen's shoulder and said lazily, "You're amazing."
"I can say the same for you."
Even though Allen had previously considered breaking up with her in his usual, detached way…
Her passion, responsiveness, and how enjoyable the whole experience had been made him feel completely re-energized.
After a brief rest, Allen carried Felicity to the bathroom.
The warm water washed away their exhaustion and the lazy satisfaction from earlier, and afterward, they returned to bed, falling asleep together in each other's arms.
Some light exercise always helped improve sleep quality, and conveniently changed the subject.
At the very least, Felicity had forgotten about Allen's evasiveness when she tried to ask questions earlier.
The night passed peacefully.
After breakfast the next morning, Felicity headed to work.
Allen sat down in the living room with her laptop, monitoring Laurel's activity while casually browsing the latest news.
Gotham. Central City. Metropolis. Various headlines flashed past.
Laurel hadn't visited the Queen Industries factory in several days, as if what had happened last time had been completely forgotten.
Her daily life was incredibly routine.
She left home in the morning and came straight home afterward, like a grade-schooler with a strict curfew.
Because of that, Allen's daily life had also become rather regular.
During the day, he browsed the web while monitoring Laurel's movements.
In the evening, Felicity would return and they'd chat or watch some TV.
Then, without fail, they would engage in some intense late-night "exercise."
Felicity had been glowing with health and joy recently.
One night, during a particularly rhythmic creaking session, Felicity suddenly gasped excitedly.
"It moved! It moved!"
"Wasn't I moving the whole time?" Allen teased.
"I mean Laurel! Her location just changed!"
Felicity pointed to the nearby laptop, where a red dot representing Laurel had finally started shifting.
She had left the house.
"She's going out this late? Do you think she's coming to find you?" Felicity asked, eyes sparkling with curiosity.
Allen gave her a sidelong glance and shrugged.
Laurel finally did something interesting, but right now, he had more pressing matters.
Not that Felicity would stay distracted for long.
****
The bright moonlight bathed the quiet streets of the slums.
There were few pedestrians around.
Only in a few corners could one spot homeless people curled up and sleeping on the street.
In front of the abandoned Queen Industries factory, Laurel appeared in sportswear, carrying a backpack.
She looked around cautiously, taking a few deep breaths to steady herself.
Then, as if bracing for something, she backed up, sprinted forward, leaped up, and grabbed the top of the tall iron gate.
At two meters high, the gate took considerable effort to climb.
Laurel struggled for a while but eventually managed to scale it.
Landing on the other side, she opened her bag and took out two items: a flashlight and a stun gun.
The abandoned factory was dark and empty.
Her flashlight went through the darkness like a spotlight.
Laurel quickly navigated through the building based on memory, arriving at the same spot where she'd been kidnapped the last time.
The bent steel bar was still lying on the ground.
"Is anyone there? I'm here," she called out, her voice echoing through the quiet factory.
"Allen? Are you there?" she asked softly, almost timidly.
But there was no response.
Was he not here?
Suddenly, she felt a hot breath at the back of her neck.
Laurel shivered instinctively, spun around, activated the stun gun, and jabbed it at whoever was there.
Zzzt zzzt zzzt.
The device crackled to life.
But at that moment, her wrist was caught mid-swing.
The flashlight beam shifted, and she saw Allen calmly standing in front of her, holding the wrist that held the stun gun.
He glanced at the device, then at her, and with a slight tightening of his fingers, Laurel involuntarily dropped the weapon.
It clattered loudly on the ground.
Startled, Laurel looked down and saw that Allen's hand, still gripping her wrist, had begun to glow faintly blue, crackling like static.
It looked exactly like the electricity from the stun gun.
Sparks danced through the air as a jolt of current surged up Laurel's arm.
Her body convulsed, and she dropped to the floor, twitching slightly, eyes wide in disbelief.
Allen ignored her stunned reaction and looked at his own hands.
'True power…'
Electric arcs sparked across his fingertips.
As his power began to layer and compound, the light intensified, spreading across his body.
Crack!Crackle!
The air around him buzzed with electric energy, and the blue glow lit up the entire space.
At that moment, Allen looked like a thunder god, radiating dominance and impressive power.
Allen had known for some time that [Mimic] could replicate the power of matter, but until now, he hadn't had the opportunity to test it.
Previously, his copied abilities had all been passive, limited to what he happened to absorb in passing.
But when he saw the stun gun, inspiration struck.
He decided to try actively replicating its energy.
It worked.
Even though a self-defense stun gun had weak voltage, the initial strength didn't matter to Allen.
With his [Stacking], even a small jolt could be compounded until it had the destructive force of a storm.
Now, that was something to be excited about.
A smile escaped his lips at that moment.
He truly felt like he was a superhuman at this moment.
Though he had good reflexes, and somewhat of a superstrength, it still didn't rival pure elemental abilities.
Electricity was a very destructive force.
For example, someone who could fight well, even a master of martial arts, wouldn't be as flashy as someone who could manipulate fire and use fireballs casually.