Chapter 14 : Working like a madman to prevent madness
[Author note : New Iron Lad Squib chapter. I spoke of a 'plot-hole' (sorta) that I kind of forgot about... Though now, it's gonna create problem for our hero.
If you're interested in my stories or want to encourage me, please check out my Patréon : https://www.patréon.com/user?u=66371596 (replace the é by a normal e) or look for Cathbel on their website
KoSP : 2 advanced chapters
The Squib who became Iron Lad... In DC : 3 advanced chapters
Also, I've started posting the backlog chapters of the other stories which are just sitting, unread on my computer. Hopefully, some people will find them interesting. The first one :
Age of Heroes (AoH) : Exclusive content. 2 chapters + prologue, with 4 more chapters coming up on the next few days
Enjoy !]
After the reconstruction of Metropolis and the rescue efforts, Ned threw himself in his work as a result of his new status. Being considered a 'sidekick' and compared as if everything Ned did was a pale copy of the 'original' had both sparked his competitive spirit and gave him depression since, no matter what he did, Steel somehow did it better in the eyes of the papers… Which was preposterous ! His Technomancy was way~ better than the african-american's technology. It was more versatile, stronger and more importantly, had more effect on Brainiac's drones than Steel's hammer !
Unfortunately, he still couldn't really show how amazing his armor really was. And that was why he felt depressed… In addition to the fact that the news somehow had blinds on when it came to Steel and Silver Lad.
And so, Ned spent an insane amount of time in workshop, tinkering, thinking about new systems and possible applications. Mostly to occupy himself and his brains, but also to prove once and for all, that he was better than Steel ! It was childish, a sin of pride, but Ned needed to do this. Even though, in the end, he knew he probably wouldn't advertise any of his creations… unless he shared them with Steel, first, so that it appeared as if Silver Lad copied him.
It was a paradox where his rational mind and his pride both acted to satisfy their objectives… Still, almost every time, his pride was left hurt and wanting… And so, he returned to work !
Right now, his pen was flying over several sheets of papers. Theories, calculations, designs… Those were all joint work on one idea he thought he'd do for fun. Now, however, it served as a distraction, and possibly as a last resort or close-combat mean to defend himself.
The lumos spell as is, can not be used to really hurt someone… Or even send projectile back. Its intent is solely to light something up… In most cases, the tip of one's wand. What I need to do, is either incorporate the aspects of light from a physics point of view… No, that wouldn't work : you can't really use a photon blade to send photon-based projectiles back to an assailant… Besides, the beam of the blade would be… Well, endless basically ! What I need is to completely change the spell's intent and effect. Maybe fuse it with the Snape's Sectum Sempra spell… Eh ! A lot of S-letter words in this sentence ! Ned suddenly slapped himself : Focus, Ned ! You're creating a freaking lightsaber, dammit !
He started to mutter :
« And then, a protego to protect and send spellfire and other non-physical projectiles back to sender… The enchantment would look… Something like this ? No, that's wrong ! Maybe… »
The squib continued to talk to himself as he wrote or drew what he was seeing or thinking in his mind. It took him a couple of days of working almost non-stop on this for all the theoretical work to be complete, including the modified spell, the runic enchantment and its material requirements, as well as several schematics for equipment he'd incorporate it in. At the moment, however, only one of those were truly considered for production and that's only because it didn't require much training to use : a wrist-mounted lightsaber, inspired from Assassin's Creed and Starcraft. Well… More of small hidden photon-blade, really ! What was the point of using a full-length sword or saber blade on something like this ? He'd risk chopping his own arm off !
As intended when he started to work on it (and only because he really wasted his time considering how it could be of use to him…), this… Idea, 'cause that's all it was at the moment, would be perfect to defend himself with in case an enemy got too close… Otherwise, he could just blast him/her or it, but it wouldn't necessarily be the smartest or most effective course of action. Maybe…
Now, all that was left was to make a prototype and test it. To figure out how much of a genius he really was ! He was certain Steel would not be able to come up with something like this !
« Damn it ! I really need to stop this… » Ned shook his head when he realized his mind was going back to that.
« Still salty because of the news always comparing you to a cheap knock-off of Steel ? » Mel commented, in a bored tone.
« Cheap knock-off ! If only the morons knew how much goblin silver was worth… They'd revise their statements. Maybe even publicly apologize to me and recognize my grandeur… »
« You're being an egomaniac, again, Ned ! »
« … Right ! You're right ! » He looked at the papers in his hands before asking : « You've already scanned those, right ? »
« Scanned and archived in the 'Lightsaber project' folder. »
« Alright, thanks ! » And he threw them all in the bin by his feet before retrieving another stack of blank paper, biting lightly the top of his pen as he thought out loud : « What other projects can I work on, Mel ? »
« According to your classification of importance, The 'AC project', the 'Matrix uploader' and the 'getting around tight-spaces' are equally important… Ned, you do know the last one has a crappy name, right ? »
« I know but… I have no idea of how to solve it yet, so I don't really have a better name. Actually, let's work on this one ! » He tapped the top of the pen on his chin : « Let's see… If I remember correctly (and I do, of course !) I told you to create this folder during the Ministry battle when I was navigating between the Prophecy shelves… Right ! I thought that Iron Man didn't fight inside buildings because of this… Except he does once. In his home. And it ends up wrecked ! But then again, it's completely destroyed in Iron Man 3, so… » He shrugged and commented : « I haven't read much comics, however, except the Ultimate ones… Not sure if they're a good reference, though. In any case, how am I supposed to travel fast in such a heavy armor ? It's clunky as hell if I don't fly with it… I guess I can activate the anti-gravity spell but that won't exactly make me move faster… It'll simply be easier to move and that's if I don't mess up the dosage on the anti-gravity. »
As he was talking to himself again, Ned was doodling on one of the sheets ; it helped him think ! Then, he was back to silent mode, his thoughts running a mile a minute inside his mind…
Since I'm using anti-grav and propulsion, maybe I should add some kind of phasing function so that instead of bumping or crashing, I pass through an obstacle… Nah ! That won't cut it in a magic rich environment. In fact, it could be very dangerous for me… I don't relish the idea of missing body parts or getting stuck halfway through something. Maybe on the no-maj's side it could be used though… Let's make a note of it.
Teleportation is faced with similar problems and in addition, I either need to know the coordinates of where I want to go, or know the place… Portals needs someone to open it on one end, and another on the other. Usable with drones and short-range travels but otherwise…
Aloud, this time : « No, what I need is a way to drastically lower my traveling speed, make it more manageable… Maybe by traveling in 2D instead of 3D ? Stay on the ground, then ? Or at least, a flat surface like the ground, walls or ceilings. Hm… Now, there's an idea ! The Anti-grav enchantment could be easily tweaked so that, instead of canceling gravity on my person, the force is applied from something else ! But I'll also add a cushioning layer between my boots and the surface I'm on… Don't want to just be able to walk or run. I need to be able to move relatively fast ! Then, I just need to add new foci, or somehow reorient them to push me forward… Kinda like skates ! »
Ned started laughing like a madman. If there was one sport he's always liked, it was skating. Although given how busy he was, he never really had a chance to practice much, but in his last life, it was his main hobby. The idea of combining his hobby with his crime fighting… It was a thrill !
« Unlike the normal foci I use on the soles of my feet and the palms of my hands, these ones will be able to be switched on and off and only have limited functions. This'll take a lot of trial and error to get the balance right… I wonder why Tony never designed something like this ? I guess he really didn't fight in close quarters or he just opened the space like a barbarian with an RPG… »
As he talked and Mel listened (and recorded in case he needed to hear his thoughts at a later time), Ned sketched the new designs for the boots. With the new foci and runic enchantments, the boots became rather massive. If before, they were a little smaller than ski boots, now they were one and a half size bigger. And that was before he had a chance to build, test and correct any problems on them.
« You've got an incoming call, Ned. It's miss Noir. »
« Put her through, please ! »
Soon, the voice of his fellow squib sounded over the workshop's speakers :
« Hello, boss ! Glad you're alive ! Though I have to say… Your choice of hobby is rather worrying to your employees… Mainly, me ! »
Still focused on his work, Ned was barely paying attention to the conversation, so he was kind of confused :
« I have no idea what you're talking about, Noir ! »
« Come on ! Don't give me that… Mister Silver Lad ! »
The pen halted over the sheet as his mind registered instantly how she called him. For a fraction of a second, he considered denying it, playing dumb or something… But something in her voice, the certainty made him reconsider. Instead, he was more worried how she put two and two together :
« I'm curious… How'd you figure it out ? I thought the Sidekick angle was rather smart ! »
She chuckled :
« Oh, it was ! It made me doubt for a second… But then I retrieved the old Daily Prophet of the Ministry attack in England… Guess who showed up there ? »
« Silver Lad… » He hissed.
What a stupid moron ! Ned thought. He didn't bother changing the name because he liked it and he'd rather people around the world knew him under just one alias rather than a bunch. The fact of the matter : he didn't think it through, it seemed. Still…
« That still doesn't explain how you figured out Silver Lad was me… »
« Who else, really ? A young man, obviously decked out of silver, instead of the much harder and cheaper steel… If I wasn't a squib, I'd have thought it was just paint. But, then, I knew of goblin silver : much better for enchantments and magic. Moreover, it's as durable as Steel, if you apply the correct enchantments. The fact that you work in Technomancy, a field I haven't heard anyone else dabbling in… And the big reveal on the air of your 'magic phones'. I wasn't sure at first… Even though you were casting bombarda spells on TV. I thought maybe they were just a new no-maj technology. But it wasn't enough to make me doubt myself. »
As Ned understood it, the reason Jacinth Noir discovered his identity was because of a few things. First, unlike most people, she seemed to listen to her instincts. Secondly, she was rather brilliant in addition to being beautiful (the former being the reason why he hired her, but the latter was, in small part, another one) and she made reasonable deductions. Finally, in order for her to acclimate to her new job, Mel had given her a few files about the products his company would sell in the near future. Broad-strokes, nothing concrete she could use to reverse engineer his technomancy, but… It seemed to be enough for her to figure out what materials he used mostly in it (goblin silver).
Ned thought wryly :
I really hoped I'd be protected by comic book logic like Clark is ! Now I can only cross my fingers so that my Death eater 'friends' from across the Atlantic don't have anyone too smart among their ranks…