Chapter 48 : Silver Lad vs Superboy

[Author note : New chapter. I wonder if you can tell that I'm struggling to write these days... Still, I'm currently writing chapter 61 and I intend to continue for as long as I can ! You can show your love and support by visiting my patréon page (e instead of e). Search for Cathbel ! Enjoy !]

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Right after the clone said his piece, he launched himself forward toward Ned. The other two were in the same direction, but it was obvious Ned was his priority. Winston and Mel kept their focus on the rest of the group, understanding that their father had already chosen the half-kryptonian as his target. Half a beat later, the woman with the two-faced mask and white hair cursed and ordered the team to attack. Mel instantly took her distance with her wrist-mounted grapple launcher, positioned herself so as to fire on their assailant easily, but also hide herself. Before the battle began, she had already noticed the outcropping east of the base and electing it as her optimum placement.

Meanwhile, Winston didn't have to think much. He activated his skin-tight forcefield and jumped in the middle of the group. His Tesla cannon was set at the minimum amperage, so as to not cause permanent or fatal damage… Still, it was still possible for it to happen if the fellow being shocked was unlucky enough. While it looked as if he just blindly used the arcs of lightning, he actually selected his target by predicting how their bodies would react half a second before shocking them. After all, if their muscles contracted, especially their trigger finger's, they'd risk shooting half their friends dead. Or, he could accidentally set off the grenades they carried, or… There really was a thousand ways for things to go wrong. Thankfully, being a tech-spirit, it was easy for him to make the calculations necessary to reduce the risks.

Mel, or as it was supposed to be in the field, Widowmaker, just picked off her targets one by one. Usually… At this time, however, she had picked one : the female leader. And it proved to be one hell of a difficult target ! Her 'one-shot, one-kill' motto had been completely proven wrong time and again. If it weren't for her focus and the calculations she herself conducted to adjust the path of her shots, Mel would have no doubt grown quite irritated. Or, she should… And yet, for some reason, she found herself enjoying this game of theirs.

The person Widowmaker shot at, on the other hand, was feeling a little distressed. Like most of the abductees, she too was a meta-human. Rose Wilson, AKA Ravager, daughter of Slade Wilson, the deadly mercenary better known as Deathstroke. She inherited her father's power : healing factor, enhanced strength and speed, as well as heightened senses. On a meta-human power scale, it was nothing to write home about, but coupled with her years of intensive training, her knowledge of military tactics and her mastery over all kinds of weapons, Rose, like her father, was quite the tough opponent. So, being played with like this by a sniper was somewhat new for her… And she didn't like it !

Superboy and Ned took off, leaving their allies in the dust (or rather the snow), to pursue their fight in a more isolated place. The truth was Ned decided to lead the clone away from the influence of his handlers and/or jailers. In the squib's mind, a hero like Superboy couldn't willingly belong to an organization like N.O.W.H.E.R.E. ; the way he saw it, they probably used some form of mind control on him, or like Hydra in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, forced him to obey by kidnapping his loved ones.

Or, if the clone was young enough, it was also possible that he just didn't know any better. It fell on him to educate the young half-kryptonian as to what he represented. While he acted based with this idea brewing in the corner of his mind, he idly noted that Superboy didn't seem all that… Super, right now. He jumped high and far, no doubt. But he didn't seem able to fly. He just followed the flying Ned like a humanoid grasshopper…

As he flew, he ordered his on-board assistant :

« Bastion, please highlight any communication and listening devices on and around Superboy… Thanks ! And please, keep it on until I've destroyed it, alright ? »

As Ned expected, even if the clone trusted N.O.W.H.E.R.E. the sentiment wasn't shared ! His suit was filled with monitoring devices. And of course, he was also in constant communication with them through the earpiece. Even though at the moment, he didn't seem to be listening on the orders Ned could piggyback on…

His superior, the woman code-named Ravager was cursing at him something fierce in-between dodging Windomaker's shots. It brought a smile to Ned's face since it seemed his daughter was enjoying herself…

Suddenly, a growl came from behind him :

« Raaaah ! Will you stop running ? »

Ned glanced around for a moment, before agreeing to the clone's request : there were far enough, now. He stopped and lowered his altitude before turning toward the clone. He hoped to strike up a conversation… Superboy wanted to strike something else !

Before he had the chance to open his mouth, the alarms of his HUD blared, and he noticed the rapidly approaching form of a fist, headed straight for his faceplate. He had no time to dodge, and according to his computer, the strength behind that punch would dent both the plate and his face ! Immediately activating the emergency Arresto momentum with a thought, Ned saw the fist slow down and stop. In fact, the fist was the only thing filling the eyes cameras' vision.

Capitalizing on the clone's bewilderment in being stopped and hovering in place, Ned decided to put a bit of distance between them by activating his palm thrusters… This time, the enchantment he used to power the foci was a new and more complicated one : one to generate electromagnetic fields. The reason he used this one was… not just to hurt the clone. Although that would happen, it wasn't what Ned wanted. Well… Maybe a little for the scare, right now.

No, the real reason why he used this enchantment was to fry the electronic in Superboy's suit and on his body. Without it, they could finally have a real conversation !

Unfortunately for Ned, he didn't take into account the extremely irritable personality of the clone he zapped to high heavens. Only, being a half-kryptonian, even without all the powers of his more powerful genetic donor, he was made of sterner stuff than humans. While most people, taking in this much electricity would have been at least unconscious, if not dead, Superboy was only a little stunned… And disheveled. Oh ! And extremely pissed !

With another, unintelligible growl, the clone got back to his feet and rushed the squib once more. Ned dodged frantically while trying to speak :

« Wait… » He ducked under a left hook. « … A minute… » A high kick. « I want to… talk ! » He grabbed the clone's arm from behind and threw him to the ground in a judo throw. « Can you please stop this ? » He said a little breathless.

Unfortunately for him, Superboy didn't heed his words. He just got back up and lunged at him once more. So, Ned sighed and prepared for a lasting defensive battle. Inwardly, he was a little anxious… Unlike a kryptonian (even a half) who could recharge under the sun, his magic reactor wasn't so effective. It recharged, but only when it wasn't in use. And staying still in front of a raging Superboy with the power to bend him in half even with the armor on, this was not a good idea.

So, he was hoping that the clone's rage would quickly subside and they could finally talk… As their little bout turned into a protracted battle, Ned tried his utmost not to antagonize the clone further. Unfortunately, he seemed either extremely irritable or he wanted to prove himself in the eyes of his employers… Ned wasn't sure which it was. Finally, when it became clear that the fight wouldn't end unless one of the two fighters was taken out of commission, Ned resolved himself.

« Alright, then… Let's talk after you wake up again, alright ? »