Adam's eyes stayed on the system window.
[Alien Slot 05: Lodestar]
The letters were still floating in front of him while the truck shook under his body. Gunfire cracked above the bridge. Metal screamed near the bus where Steve had fallen.
Adam forced himself up on one knee.
He hit the Omnitrix symbol and canceled the Diamondhead power first. The crystal layer over his skin faded. Pain rushed through him. He almost dropped back down. He clenched his teeth and twisted the Omnitrix dial.
A new hologram appeared.
It was a three-dimensional symbol, not a full alien shape. It spun above the watch like a metal star.
"Lodestar," Adam muttered.
He pressed it.
Green light ran over his body.
This transformation felt nothing like Diamondhead. Adam's body stretched a little taller without gaining Diamondhead's weight. His frame thinned until his muscles felt lighter than before.
For one second, Adam thought the watch had cheated him.
Then the world changed.
He could feel metal.
The sense was not visual. It felt like pressure moving through the air. He sensed the truck under him first. After that the bridge and nearby weapons came into his mind like waves.
Those waves moved around him.
Then some of them changed.
Sharp vibrations came from above.
Adam looked up.
Several soldiers on the bridge were aiming down at him.
They fired.
Adam's body was not Diamondhead anymore. He felt that in his bones. If those bullets hit, this form would not take them.
His hand shot forward by instinct.
The bullets stopped.
They froze a few inches from the front of his body, hanging in the air like someone had paused the world.
Adam stared at them.
The soldiers stared too.
None of them moved.
Then one of them shouted. The others fired again.
More bullets came down.
Adam kept his hand out.
The second wave stopped with the first. Pressure grew around his palm. It did not break. Bullets trembled in the air against the force holding them.
Adam slowly stood on the truck.
'So this is magnetic control.' Adam thought. 'This is basically Magneto's discount cousin.'
A smile started to come. The thought vanished.
Winter Soldier was not on the bridge anymore.
Adam looked toward Steve's shield. It lay near the bus while bullets struck around it. Steve was still there, recovering from the fall.
Then Adam looked toward the road ahead.
Natasha was gone from the bridge.
That told him enough.
'She ran.' Adam thought. 'And he went after her.'
Adam turned his head toward the bus.
"I'm going after Natasha!" he shouted.
Steve heard him from inside the broken bus. His head moved. More bullets forced him to stay low for a second longer.
Sam flew past above them and fired at the soldiers on the bridge. His shots made the men above scatter. Adam did not wait to see more.
He lifted one foot.
For a second, his body rose from the truck.
Adam's eyes widened.
He was floating.
His body rose from the road and wavered under him.
"Okay," he said under his breath. "That is new."
He tried to push forward.
The power pulled too slowly because Adam still did not have control.
So he dropped back down and ran.
He pulled on nearby metal as soon as he hit the road. The pull threw him forward farther than a normal jump. After only a few steps he launched himself again.
The rough movement carried him forward.
Each jump carried him farther. Each landing taught him a little more about the force around him. Adam felt like he was dragging himself through invisible wires.
Ahead, an explosion shook the street.
Adam turned the corner and saw Natasha.
She climbed onto Winter Soldier's back. A wire went around his neck. Her legs locked against him as she pulled hard. Winter Soldier staggered. He grabbed her and threw her off like she weighed nothing.
Natasha hit the ground and rolled.
Winter Soldier raised his gun.
Adam was still too far.
His hand stretched out.
The metal arm answered first.
Adam felt it like a block of pressure inside the waves. It was nothing like a gun. It felt dense.
Adam pulled.
Winter Soldier's arm stopped in the air.
The gun did not point at Natasha anymore. His whole body jerked sideways as if an invisible chain had caught him. Adam gritted his teeth and twisted his hand.
Winter Soldier was dragged off balance and smashed into the side of a parked car.
Metal bent under him.
Adam landed between him and Natasha.
He did not turn around fully.
"Are you okay?"
Natasha pushed herself up with one hand. Her eyes moved over Adam, who looked thinner than before. Then she looked toward the car where Winter Soldier had hit.
"You took long enough," she said.
Adam let out a short breath.
"I had to learn how to fly badly."
The car door bent outward.
Winter Soldier stepped out.
His face stayed blank while anger showed in the way he moved. His eyes left Natasha and fixed on Adam.
Natasha took a step back, still watching him.
"Can you handle him?"
Adam watched Winter Soldier reach down and pull out a knife. He held it in his metal hand.
"Absolutely not," Adam said.
Winter Soldier rushed forward.
He was fast.
Adam barely followed the first step.
The knife came toward him in a hard swing. Adam lifted his hand. The metal arm stopped again, hanging in the air while the blade stayed only a short distance from Adam's face.
Winter Soldier pushed against it.
The strain hit Adam's arm. This was not like stopping bullets. The arm was strong. The man behind it was stronger than Adam expected.
Adam stepped forward.
Magnetic pressure gathered around his fist.
He did not know the clean way to use it yet, so he did the simplest thing. He forced all that pressure into one point and punched.
Just before his knuckles touched Winter Soldier's face, Adam released it.
The force exploded forward.
Winter Soldier's head snapped back. His body left the ground. He turned twice before he crashed onto the road.