Beyond the Limit (DC)

| Mojave Desert - September 10

It took only minutes to reach the Mojave Desert from San Francisco at their speed.

Captain Atom had shed his human disguise, while Joseph had removed his hoodie and jeans—revealing a gold skintight Nth metal suit beneath. A plumeless Nth metal Spartan helmet gleamed on his head.

Surrounded by bronze dunes, the silver and gold blurs slammed into each other mid-air with a thunderous shockwave.

Joseph wasn't using the Strength Force. Even without it, he knew Captain Atom—who could probably hold his own against Superman—was stronger and faster. But this time, Joseph had an edge. He had training, he had Nova, and he had nanites enhancing his movements and strength.

Captain Atom's style showed his Air Force background: structured, grounded, military-grade hand-to-hand mixed with a few stray techniques. But Joseph had the closest thing to perfect martial arts downloaded into his brain. He didn't just match the Captain—he started edging ahead.

While Captain Atom had more raw speed and power, Joseph was quicker in close-quarters combat. It was like comparing an MMA fighter's reaction speed to a world-class sprinter's straight-line speed—or a boxer's precision to a bodybuilder's strength.

Captain Atom took hit after hit, unable to predict Joseph's precise feints and misdirections. Occasionally, the Captain's superior striking speed landed a counter, forcing Joseph to block or evade. The sky lit with dozens of shockwaves as power met technique in a deadlock.

Neither man tired, and both were absurdly durable. After several minutes, they pulled apart in a silent mutual decision to shift strategies.

A lull.

"You got better," Captain Atom admitted, a little grudgingly.

Joseph smirked. "And you stayed the same. Maybe I should teach you a few things."

"I'm man enough to take that offer. Hand-to-hand was never my specialty," his mentor said, pointing his arms forward. "Always been more of a... firearms guy."

Yellow bolts of quantum energy exploded from his hands.

Joseph laughed at the terrible joke, raising telekinetic shields and weaving between the blasts, retaliating with golden bolts of Nova Force. He didn't even try using his anti-gravity field—previous spars had shown it was useless against Captain Atom, who could ignore fundamental forces using quantum energy.

Captain Atom didn't bother dodging. He absorbed the Nova Force blasts and returned them.

Fine. Two could play that game.

Joseph focused on absorbing the energy, his body warming with each hit. He couldn't absorb 100% of any unfamiliar energy source unless he'd spent extended time with it—maybe 30% if caught off guard, and up to 80% if concentrating. But the bonded Nth metal on his body soaked up the rest, letting him recycle the excess.

They fell into a bizarre game of high-powered ping-pong—firing bolts, absorbing, and returning them with a little extra each time.

When Captain Atom fired a yellow blast powerful enough to level a city block, Joseph absorbed it. But this time, instead of returning it from his hands, he shot twin beams of golden light from his eyes, aiming directly at the Captain's—blinding him.

Joseph surged forward, ready to return the favor for every time he'd been cratered in past spars.

But Captain Atom wasn't done. Even blinded, his quantum senses flared, warning him of Joseph's approach. He moved at blinding speed, trying to slam Joseph into the sand below. Joseph barely dodged and countered by smashing both Nova-charged fists into the Captain's back, sending him crashing to the desert floor.

That move was pretty satisfying to pull off.

Joseph hovered above the fresh crater. "You alright?" he called down, a bit too smugly—mimicking the words his mentor always said after winning in their past spars.

Captain Atom just laughed. "Yeah, yeah. Not so fun on this side of it. You better be ready for the rematch."

**

Some time later, they hovered in the desert air, the tension replaced by quiet focus.

Joseph had put his hoodie and jeans back on, concealing his face and a new black nanite under-suit. The bonded Nth metal had been removed and now floated as a shimmering 3-cubic-foot golden block beside him.

Captain Atom closed his eyes and concentrated. He reached out and touched the block. Instantly, it disintegrated into particles as fine as dust—barely distinguishable from the surrounding sands.

But the particles didn't fall.

Joseph held them aloft using a mix of telekinesis and anti-gravity manipulation, guiding the Nth metal dust under his clothes. The nanites in his suit activated, organizing the Nth particles into precise armor layers, integrating them at the molecular level.

Captain Atom watched with interest. At first, there was barely any visible change—just a faint golden shimmer briefly flickering beneath Joseph's clothing. Then Joseph closed his eyes, and black nanites surged over every exposed part of his body.

He casually removed his hoodie and jeans, suspending them in midair with his anti-gravity field. Beneath, his entire body—skin, hair, even his face—was enveloped in matte black nanites. He looked like a locked video game character, as he discreetly activated his Speed State to accelerate the transformation.

From his back, gold began to spread, outlining his form with precise, metallic accents. It flowed along his shoulders, down his torso, and traced along his thighs. Armor-like plating formed over his shoulders, and gold gauntlets wrapped around his forearms. Each wrist now bore segmented golden bands.

Nova had learned that Nth metal exhibited anti-magical properties, so he'd used the nanites to relocate the three magical essences that had been dangerously close to his heart. The Order magic now resided in the right wristband, the Chaos magic in the left. He hadn't yet decided how to use them, but Kent had warned that if they interacted, they could trigger an explosion—so this separation was precautionary.

As for Wotan's lightning magic, Joseph had isolated it entirely from his body. It now powered a weapon holstered at his right thigh—similar in design to the laser pistol Paran Dul once wielded. This sidearm could discharge concentrated magical lightning. Kent had said Wotan's spellwork carried a lingering corruption, and Joseph wasn't taking any risks. The holster itself could retract into his body, but the gun would always stay out.

His inner thighs and torso remained matte black, while his legs and entire back gleamed in solid gold.

Joseph felt it immediately—his strength increasing, his vision sharpening, and his thoughts accelerating. The fusion of Nova Force with Nth metal-enhanced nanites created no wasted energy. Everything flowed with perfect efficiency.

Finally, a golden Spartan-style helmet materialized around his head. He opened his eyes, now fully white, shielded by a microscopic, high-density layer crafted by the nanites, acting as a HUD interface. Then they glowed gold as the Nova Force surged through the new suit, and his entire body radiated with controlled, blazing power.

Captain Atom let out a low whistle. "What do you kids say these days? Right… that was pretty dope."