Chapter 23 : Hephaestus' forge

[Author note : New chapter. I started to post more on P A T R E O N. Once I've sufficiently increased the number of chapter my patrons can read, I'll try and post (no promises) a little more here. But I know you guys are more interested in my Fan fiction than my original story. Personally, I liked writing the fan fiction more too at first. Now... The passion is basically gone for both. Maybe not gone... Dimmed. I just need the spark of inspiration that would make me go : "That's an awesome idea ! Can't wait to put it to word on screen !"

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 : 4 advanced chapters

The Squib who became Iron Lad... In DC : 5 advanced chapters

AoH : Prologue + 6 chapters (exclusive)

MoH : 8 chapters (Exclusive)

VOG : 6 chapters (exclusive)

Enjoy and please tell me what you think of it !]

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A few weeks later, Ned found himself in an infernal place, learning once more the basics of smithing. His new teacher, despite Ned's assurance that he knew what he was doing, had insisted on teaching him anew. And who was he to argue ? You don't ! Especially not with a God.

After the initial 'introduction' with Diana and Kara in the House of Mystery, Ned had asked about her equipment, knowing full well that the weapons she carried were forged by a God. He praised their sturdiness in the face of Circe's spell and asked if it was possible to meet with the God in question. Hephaestus was… unlike most of his Olympus brethren. Although he was prideful in his craft and distant, he didn't disregard the lives of mortals, nor did he use them for his own gains.

Sure, he had a ton of workers in his forge, but they were the discarded males of the Amazons. This story was a distasteful one best left for another time… The God might use them to help in his work, but he fed them, cared for them and even taught them his craft and knowledge so that they could live on their own if they wanted to. Not many did…

Although his personality was alright for a God, his appearance was frightening to say the least. He was bald with protruding bones on his forehead not unlike the depictions of Neanderthals, small eyes and a small nose, but a big and large mouth with fang-like teeth. Finally, the most striking features : his arms. Arms like still heated molten rocks, hot and raging. All-in-all, it made for an intimidating figure…

The outside however, didn't mirror the inside at all in his case. And frankly, compared to the descriptions given by some myths of the God, he wasn't as hideous.

It took a while for Ned and the God to come to an agreement. Ned wanted to learn how to forge eighth metal, the metal of the Gods, in order to improve his armors further. It wasn't Nth metal, with its physics breaking property, but it was still a divine metal. It was highly conductive to magic, much harder that goblin silver… Moreover, he hoped that studying such an alloy could give him insights into other things. Studying objects made out of it would help too, especially if they were 'blessed' or enchanted by Gods.

Finally, Hephaestus relented and agreed to teach him, on the condition that he wouldn't willingly give mortals access to it. Hearing the condition, Ned was a little bummed since he hoped to incorporate Eighth metal into his technomancy and thus improve the products he sold to the public. Still, he could live with that. He'd just have to improve it without godly knowledge. Perhaps study other possible materials or simply improve his understanding of magic.

So, the God agreed to teach Ned. Which brings us to now…

Ned stood next to the forge powered by some kind of magical or divine fire. Needless to say, it was hot ! In fact, it was almost unbearable. Ned needed to stay hydrated so he drink very often, cutting into his forging. The squib lamented his foundry. He modernized the process of creating goblin silver precisely because of this : he disliked heat.

And the worst part ? He could exactly take off layers of clothes ! What he was currently wearing were protection against possible splashes or shards of heated metal. Leather gloves and apron as well as a metal helmet to protect his face.

Ned couldn't wait to finish his apprenticeship so that he could work on new designs for his foundry !

And so, the weeks and then months started to pass…

* * * * *

While Edgar Stark was learning new forging techniques and reviewing old ones, Mel was picking up the Silver Lad's slack. Again !

She wasn't bitter about it, exactly, but at this point, she wondered whether being a Hero was really among her 'father's' objective or if it was simply a hobby. Of course, she understood the significance of what he wanted to learn. Or at least, she knew that it could only help them in improving their hardware. But still…

Fortunately now, she didn't have to borrow Ned's armors in order to save people and take down bad guys ! She had her very own body. At first, it felt foreign, like donning the newest model of Ned's armor. Little by little however, she started to really like her new body. Granted, she felt the sexiness and flaunted sex-appeal was a little demeaning, but since she was a sniper, it wasn't as if she needed to be seen.

In fact, Ned worked real hard to make it hard for her to be seen. With her gear and body, she could get almost anywhere, see anything and shoot from a long distance without caring about the laws of physics. Magic for the win !

As for Winston, even though he also obtained his own body, he wasn't interested in vigilantism. Sure, he'd helped in the fight against Circe but that was only because Ned was in trouble. If it were up to him and the world was a safer place, he'd never fight.

Mel found it a shame. According to Ned's classification, Winston's body was designed to be Hulkbuster grade, meaning it was supposed to rival in strength with the likes of Superman. Of course, he doubted that was even possible at the moment but, the Hulkbuster grade was made to contend against people with an insane super strength. Ned had even promised him to upgrade his body once he mastered the secrets of Eighth metal…

However, what Winston was interested in was working on technomancy. Much like Mel herself and a little faster than her too, Winston had exceeded his original programming. While he was designed to help in writing and coding the softwares for the magic phones (or M-phones as people had taken to call them), he found himself a talent in creating and tweaking machines and gadgets.

So, like their father, he spent a great deal of time in the workshop, working on something or other, either on the computers, or on the worktables. Currently, though, he was mostly working on creating a pocket space and converting it into his own personal workshop. Because of his massive frame, most of Ned's tools and equipment was difficult for him to use. He kept breaking stuff and he kind of feared Ned's reaction if he came back only to find his workshop trashed !

Hence, why he worked on his own personal pocket space. He hoped to install it into a small sphere he could keep on himself and put anywhere. Then, it'd open a portal for him to pass through and into his spatial workshop. Mel suspected her brother had copied the idea from a certain manga for young people…

Another of his projects that he wasn't able to really work on for the moment was a way to confine powered people, damper their powers or protect people from them. For that, he planned on modifying the shield emitters Ned had created. After all, although they were effective, they relied mostly on the protego spell so there was a lot of room for improvement. Protego worked on a lot of charms, curses and hexes but some of them could overpower or ignore it. Moreover, it was mostly useless against physical objects such as transfigured (or not) projectiles. Winston was pretty sure he could create something better by simply applying some principles of electromagnetic manipulation in the emitters. In fact, he was already working on coding a spell that could do exactly that ! The problem he expected to face was… the power it would need. In order for the shield to protect against virtually anything, it would suck magic power like a starving vampire would his prey.

Mel's processing of the last few weeks was interrupted by her new friend. A blonde teenager with the powers of a God and one that had experienced a great deal of loss. Okay, a 'great deal' was an understatement. She had lost her family, her friends, possibly her lover, her home and finally her planet. The only thing left of her past was her baby cousin Kal-El, or as the public know him best Superman, and he was all grown up despite the fact that Kara was supposed to be 15 years older than him…

Oh ! There was also the Sunstone her father had sent in the pod with her. With it, she was able to build herself a home away from home deep under the sea… According to her anyway. It was a little baffling everything the girl talked about in the little time they've known each other. Perhaps teenage girls were like that ?

Mel was pretty sure that Ned was aware of… pretty much everything Kara revealed to her. In fact, he probably knew even more. Still, she compiled a file on the girl and everything she said of the Man of Steel. Although, they weren't enemies, the fact that they survived the destruction of their world proved one thing : their race wasn't extinct. Who was to say that others couldn't have survived ? Also, as Ned liked to quote (out of context, of course) : 'Absolute power corrupts absolutely'… It was possible for either Kara, her cousin or the possible Kryptonian survivors and refugees to come to let the power go to their head and decide that : « Why should they bother with rules made by lesser men ? »

In that case, she figured having information about them, their close ones and their abilities was of paramount importance !

« Why are you looking at me like that, Mel ? You make me feel like I'm naked… » Kara admitted bashfully.

Only now did she realize how much she'd been staring. She wondered idly if having a body had made her prone to human-like behavior and flaws… She smirked and retorted :

« Say the girl who can literally see through clothes ! »

Kara smiled : « Touché ! »

* * * * *

Edmond, 'Ed' Stark was not having a good day ! Out of the blue, two aurors had accosted him in his office and asked… No ! Demanded that he followed them. Then, he was led to an interrogation room and left to stew for 2 hours without the slightest idea as to why he was even here !

Needless to say that, when the aurors came back, he was pissed !

« Why, in Merlin's name, am I, here ? You jackasses must have a lo~t of time to waste. However I don't ! So, either tell me why you've dragged me here or fucking let me go ! »

The mustached man on the left, with his graying hair and the cutting spell scar on the side of his face dropped a folder on the table and simply said :

« Silver Lad ! » Ed blinked, surprised, but trying very hard to not let any emotions show on his face. After a short pause, the man resumed : « Tell us about him… »

« Silver Lad ? The vigilante ? He's a no-maj hero… What's that got to do with me ? » Ed felt cold sweat traveling down his back. His forehead started to glisten and his hands felt clammy.

The man's partner, a young african-american with a shaved head shook his head :

« That's what most people believe. The no-majs certainly don't know about him… » He slid the folder his partner had dropped to his side and opened it, swiftly retrieving two articles and showing them to him. The first one was about the Battle of the Ministry that happened a couple of years ago… A figure in armor was circle in red in the background. The second, retrieving the previous photo but with a bad quality focus on the armored figure talked about a conspiracy to hide the attempt on the life of the new UK ministry candidate, Amelia Bones. It was a short article, with no proof and a lot of unsubstantiated claims.

The older guy took over with two more photographs of Silver Lad flying over Metropolis and fighting Metallo. At this, Ed interjected :

« They don't look the same at all… »

« That's true. » The older man admitted, before adding : « But they're both called Silver Lad. What are the odds, you think ? »

Ed shook his head :

« I have no idea. Statistics aren't really my thing… »

« I'm sure they aren't. It's probably more your son's thing, isn't it ? » The man said slyly. Ed thought 'They know !' But kept his poker face. « Speaking of your son… His M-phones are really something ! They've helped us tremendously in the Auror department… Is it the same for yours, Mister Stark ? »

Ed nodded, trying to imitate a confused expression.

« I remember his demonstration on the Wireless… Remember, Sam ? When he used the levitation spell. I couldn't see it but there was no reason your son would lie about that, right ? And when we got the phones… Well, I had to try ! »

He turned a sharp glare toward Ed and hammered his point :

« Now… We've got Silver Lad who's either a no-maj hero or someone that belongs to our side of the world. And we've got your son… who's a squib able to make magic with technology. You see where we're going with this ? »

The African-American man spoke bluntly :

« I'll be honest with you, Mister Stark. » He paused and looked him in the eyes. « You're in trouble ! »