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SM/DC Chapter 70 : Galatea and the Blackwynds
🕑 Added 2025-03-26 22:57:24 +0000 UTCThe polished mahogany desk reflected the soft glow of the chandelier above as Adam Blackwynd leaned back in his chair, phone pressed to his ear. His fingers drummed lightly against the wood, his mind juggling a dozen thoughts at once.
" Don’t do anything stupid. This is the government, not some back-alley thugs. You hear me ? Arthur ? ARTHUR!..." Adam sighed “he hung up on me...” His voice was still rather calm, collected, but his brow creased slightly. His younger brother had always been a handful, even more so since he changed.
With a sigh, he ended the call and immediately dialed another number. As the line connected, a voice crackled to life, his chief scientist.
"Mr. Blackwynd," the man greeted him.
"Skip the formalities. Status update."
Next to him, Lady Blackwynd, his mother, the ever-elegant matriarch of the family, was already watching him with thinly veiled scrutiny. She had always carried herself with poise and grace, the kind of woman who could command a room without raising her voice.
"What did Arthur want?" she asked, her tone refined yet laced with concern.
Adam barely glanced at her. "Nothing you should worry about Mother. Just something he needs." His focus returned to his call, his fingers adjusting the cuffs of his tailored suit.
That wasn’t enough for her. Of course, it wasn’t.
"Nothing I should worry about?" she echoed, her voice carrying that sharpness only a mother could master. "Adam, ever since your brother developed those… strange abilities, he has barely been home. His academic performance has plummeted, and most concerning of all....he has begun associating himself with… unsavory individuals."
Adam inhaled slowly. He had heard this speech before.
"People like Arthur always attract danger," she continued, standing with an air of sophistication. "But does he have to seek it out himself? Have you even spoken to him about this? About how reckless he has become?"
Adam said nothing. He simply walked toward the window, phone still in hand.
"Yes… yes, just make sure to..."
Then he saw her.
A shadow against the moonlight. A figure descending from the sky, effortlessly, deliberately.
Galatea.
She wasn’t in a rush. She wasn’t crashing down like some meteor. No, she floated like she belonged there, as if gravity itself was an afterthought. Her blonde hair flowed behind her, catching the night breeze. Her piercing blue eyes locked onto his, a knowing smile curving her lips.
Then, solid ground.
She landed without a sound, yet the moment her boots kissed the earth, the entire world felt heavier. Like a storm had just touched down at their doorstep.
Then she began walking, casually. Deliberately towards them.
Adam’s breath hitched. His heart pounded against his ribs, but his mind remained sharp. His mother, still lost in her own tirade, hadn’t noticed.
He forced himself to stay composed, to keep his voice even.
"Finish what I asked for and send it to that location… AS SOON AS YOU CAN."
He hung up.
The phone in his hand suddenly felt far less important.
Adam’s fingers twitched as they brushed the grip of his pistol. He kept his movements measured, subtle, smoothly drawing the gun from the concealed holster at his waist, hiding it behind his back.
His breath was steady, but his pulse was hammering.
The woman, no, the thing...was still walking toward the house, that eerie, self-assured smile never leaving her face.
‘This is bad.’
He turned to his mother, his voice low but urgent. "Go to our underground shelter. Now."
Lady Blackwynd frowned, completely unamused. "Adam, what on earth are you talking about?"
His jaw clenched. No time for this.
He snapped at her. "No time to explain! , just do it, Mother! I think we have an intruder!"
The sheer force in his voice, the rare desperation behind it, froze her in place. Adam Blackwynd was a man of control, always composed, always logical.
But this... This was fear.
She didn’t argue after that. With a sharp nod, she turned and disappeared down the hall, her heels clicking against the floor as she made her way toward the hidden passage beneath the estate.
Adam exhaled. Good.
Now it was just him and her.
His grip tightened on the gun, and he took a slow step back, his eyes never leaving the intruder.
Then, glass shattered.
Adam flinched as the window exploded, shards scattering across the floor like a thousand tiny daggers. But it wasn’t from a forceful landing. No...she had just walked through it.
Galatea hadn’t even hesitated. She had simply kept moving, letting her body tear through the window and the wall like they were made of paper.
The reinforced stone barely slowed her down.
She walked through it, the structure cracking, splintering, and then collapsing around her like sand. It was like the laws of physics didn’t apply to her.
She stepped forward, boots crunching on the broken glass.
Adam cursed under his breath. She’s not human. And he already had certain theories about what she is.
He didn’t wait.
His gun snapped up, and he fired.
BANG!
The first shot hit dead center.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
He emptied the clip in seconds, every round aimed directly at her chest and head.
She didn’t even blink.
Each bullet hit with a metallic thud, flattening against her skin before harmlessly dropping to the floor. No recoil. No reaction.
She just kept walking.
And she was smiling.
As the final round clicked empty, Galatea tilted her head slightly, as if amused. Then, with a soft chuckle, she spoke for the first time.
"Pathetic."
Adam barely had time to register what happened.
One moment, she was standing there, smiling.
The next
BOOM.
A blur of motion. A streak of white and blue.
Then, pain.
Something hit him. No, something obliterated him.
His body was launched across the room like a ragdoll, bones rattling, ribs screaming as he crashed against the far wall with a sickening CRACK. The impact nearly tore the breath from his lungs. His vision blurred, his skull rang, and for a brief second, the world around him warped in and out of focus.
‘Damn it all… I didn’t even…see...what hit me..’
Everything hurt. But Adam Blackwynd was not a man who gave up easily.
‘Move... dammit.’
Through sheer force of will, his fingers fumbled toward his belt. His muscles protested, his arms felt like lead, but he forced his hands to move. One bullet. One goddamn bullet was all he needed.
With ragged breaths, he reloaded his gun.
His hand trembled as he lifted it, still leaning against the shattered wall, barely able to keep his head up, but his aim was steady.
He pulled the trigger.
Galatea’s eyes flickered toward him.
And then,
A searing beam of red light erupted from her vision.
The heat vision engulfed the gun instantly.
The metal warped, melted right in his grip.
The pain was instant.
Adam let out a guttural scream, the burning agony racing up his arm as molten metal seared into his skin. His fingers instinctively spasmed open, dropping the now unrecognizable lump of slag that was once his firearm.
His breathing came in sharp, pained gasps as he cradled his scorched hand.
Galatea didn’t even flinch.
She stepped closer, her expression still eerily calm, as if his defiance was nothing more than an inconvenience.
Then, in a voice as cold as steel, she said:
"I'm not here for you."
Adam's blood ran cold.
Galatea’s gaze shifted, her glowing red eyes dimming as she turned her attention away from him.
She inhaled slowly, her super senses sharpening.
And then she found what she was looking for.
A slow, satisfied smirk tugged at her lips.
"There you are.."
Adam's heart sank.
No. No, no, no
His mother.
Galatea had found her.
"Damn you! No, wait!" Adam pushed himself forward, every instinct screaming for him to move, to stop her.
But it was already too late.
Without hesitation, Galatea shot downward, her sheer power cracking the floor beneath her as she launched herself through it. The marble shattered like brittle ice, sending debris flying in every direction as she descended straight into the underground shelter below.
Straight to his mother.
The underground shelter was silent, a vast, dimly lit space hidden a bit deep beneath the estate, built to withstand wars, natural disasters, and even metahuman attacks.
It wasn’t built for her.
Galatea descended like a phantom, her presence alone making the air feel heavier.
Lady Blackwynd stood frozen.
Her regal posture remained intact, but her hands trembled slightly at her sides. Shock. Disbelief. A quiet horror.
Galatea touched down lightly in front of her, her piercing blue eyes scanning the older woman with clinical detachment. Weak. Fragile. Mortal.
And yet…
Lady Blackwynd’s lips parted slightly. Her gaze softened ever so slightly, as if she were staring at something, someone, she knew.
"...Kara?" she whispered.
Her voice carried a mixture of awe and horror, her expression flickering between emotions. Her eyes blinked rapidly, trying to process what she was seeing.
For a split second, something flickered in Galatea’s gaze.
Then, her expression hardened.
Her brows furrowed, and her lips curled downward into something akin to disgust.
She grabbed Lady Blackwynd’s arm, tight, unrelenting.
"Wrong." Her voice was cold, flat, an edge of annoyance.
She yanked the woman effortlessly off the ground, holding her as if she weighed nothing.
Then, with a single push from her feet, Galatea soared upward, dragging her captive along.
The estate started to shrank below them.
The wind howled around them, whipping against Lady Blackwynd’s face as they rose higher and higher, floating effortlessly above the ruined house.
Galatea smirked.
"I’m the upgrade."
Then,
A shiver ran down her spine.
Something was coming.
Fast.
Her instincts flared too late.
BOOM.
Time seemed to slow.
A blur of movement a flash of blue and black.
A fist, encased in jagged bone gauntlets, came from nowhere, colliding with Galatea’s face with earth-shattering force.
The moment of impact was brutal.
Her head snapped sideways, her body launched downward at blinding speed.
She hit the ground like a meteor.
BOOM!
The entire estate trembled.
She bounced violently, her body skidding across the earth, demolishing everything in her path, shattering walls, tearing through the estate grounds, leaving a cratered trail of destruction behind her.
The dust settled. The echoes of the impact still reverberated through the land.
And then
A shadow loomed over the wreckage.
Arthur landed not too far from Galatea.
His boots cracked the ground beneath him as he touched down.
His presence was heavy, suffocating, his figure illuminated by the flickering embers of destruction around him.
His eyes, glowing, burning with a cold, menacing blue were locked onto the wreckage where Galatea had landed.
His expression was not amused. Not smug. Not even angry.
It was dead serious.
He exhaled slowly, stepping forward, his tone low and sharp.
"For someone who is supposed to be the upgrade...why do you look so damn breakable ,clone?"
