Chapter 52 : Regrouping and Bunker
[Author note : You can read a bit ahead freely by visiting my Patréon page regularly (e instead é). Search for Cathbel if you want. You can even donate and have access to more !
Now, onto probably more interesting matter for you reading aficionados ! This fiction isn't my only one... As some of you might know since I've published about 30 chapters of my original KoSP on Webnovel.
I had this FF that I wanted to share but didn't know if you might be interested. Basically, a classic reincarnation story with the MC being born as Harry Osborn, with Reed Richards' intellect, set in the Ultimate Marvel universe. Unlike his cannon counterpart, he would tweak the Oz formula to enable to take on various Goblinoid forms. Basically, the idea is inspired from Ben 10's omnitrix. What do you guys think ?
Anyways... Enjoy the chapter, guys and gals !]
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Kid Flash who wouldn't speak of his secret identity, since it was very important… Solstice, whose real name was Kiran Singh of Indian descent. And Aaron Sicklehand, (another brit) and with no other nickname or codename. Although they weren't the most powerful, or important people of this little group of powerhouses, Ned had to start somewhere. And although he knew neither Sicklehand or Solstice, he knew Kid Flash. The junior version of DC's Justice League's founding members were rather well-known.
Robin, Superboy (or girl), Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, Miss Martian, Speedy, Aqualad… From what he could remember, only the last one was a relatively new hero and he only heard of it in an animated TV show : Young Justice. Of course, the mentors of some of these heroes weren't (always) founding members. In some instances, three heroes had spearheaded things : Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. In another, Ned recalled that it was formed with those three, along with the Flash and Green Lantern when Darkseid started to invade Earth… There probably were a lot more that he couldn't remember.
It was during those times, when he felt that his mind couldn't perfectly recall everything, that he envied those with magic. Well… To be truthful, he always kind of envied them. They could do things he couldn't and make it appear effortless. Meanwhile, he spent a painstaking amount of time researching, calculating, drawing designs and testing them out, failing oftentimes and succeeding after a long time… But if he didn't use his machines, he was pretty much powerless. Even if his mind was a fantastic weapon in itself.
However, if he could use magic, the first thing he would do would be to lock down his mind. Learning the Mind Arts figured at the top of the list of things he wanted to master. With it, and more precisely with Occlumency, his memories would be better protected and recorded and he'd possess something close to eidetic memory.
Of course, Ned's memory was impressive. So much so that he long thought he possessed this skill. However, as his research topics increased as did his Technomancy endeavors, he noticed that… It wasn't so. His mind was fallible. And so were his memories.
Before, when he hadn't really entered the hero scene, what he could recall of the DC multiverse was enough. He knew most of the big villains and heroes, the major catastrophic (or not) events. Unfortunately now…
Beyond his lacking memories, there was also another, more important fact about DC… Writers had worked on the franchise for more than half a century ! He had only read about it with a kind of reboot… The New 52. He didn't read everything and after a few years, he also started reading other things, missing quite a few issues and events. So… There was a lot of things Ned didn't remember or know.
Solstice, however… She was familiar. He was pretty sure she was a character created or reintroduced in the New 52 comic line. Kid Flash, Robin, Wonder Girl, Superboy and Solstice… He was pretty sure there was at least one or two other characters missing, but this was most of the Teen Titans team. For instance, Raven, the half-demon daughter of Trigon, the hell lord… She was another pretty big shot in the world of heroes. For one, she was a pretty interesting character in the sense that she truly embodied the idea of conflicting aspects in a human personality. The light and the dark. Her desire to do good and fight against her father, and her darker emotions, pushing her to succumb to his temptations. The other reason why she was an important character… She was hella strong !
Magic, darkness manipulations, psionic powers, teleportation, flight, astral projections, empathy… And Ned was pretty sure those were only a part of it ! On the magic scene, she might be on par with big shots like Zatanna or even Shazam ! Well… Not the Zatanna of Ned's world. Not yet, at least.
In any case, the squib was pretty sure that this series of events with N.O.W.H.E.R.E. would end with the creation of the Teen Titans. With a cast like this, it was pretty obvious.
He turned to look at Aaron who was animatedly discussing with the new troops wanting to take on N.O.W.H.E.R.E. This one, on the other hand… Since he was a Wizard (or at least, he was pretty sure he was…), it was safe to assume he wasn't originally a DC character. And he didn't appear in any of the Harry Potter's books. Or at least, he couldn't remember him. He was a couple of years younger that Harry and not a Gryffindor so… He was probably one of the hundreds of people never mentioned in the books. An extra !
When this thought hit, he was suddenly a little anxious of what would happen to him during their upcoming fights. Extras never really fared well in important battle scenes… In fact, most of them died off screen. He really hoped that wouldn't happen to the kid !
Ned observed the interactions of the group for a while, before he, along with his two children, started to interject. They needed to prepare, train… If they wanted to take on something like this shadowy organization. After all, nobody had heard of it (except now, them, and Robin's team). The heroes didn't know of it. It didn't appear on the authorities' radar, not even those of the most nefarious like Task force X. Granted, he couldn't be absolutely positive, given the state of his memories, and the fact that he, in fact, didn't know everything there was to know about this vast universe. But he felt like they didn't. In fact, he was starting to remember… No, not remember. He had the feeling like he knew about this organization and its leader. It was still fuzzy, but he was pretty sure he had read about it… Perhaps not read the comics themselves, but an article on the net.
Anyways, if these kids wanted to play in the big leagues, they had a lot of work ahead of them…
* * * * *
Meanwhile, on a cargo train passing through the Badlands, an unlikely trio was having their first rocky meeting. A teen dressed like a homeless person, a young Mexican teen and… a giant cocoon, faced off inside a container. It sounded like the start of a bad joke, but it wasn't one.
The Mexican teen introduced himself as Miguel Barragan in a friendly manner, demonstrating a bit of pity for what he assumed was a hobo fleeing something. Yet, he couldn't deny, in the back of his mind being both puzzled and a little anxious about the cocoon. The homeless kid didn't seem to care or pay overly attention to it, so perhaps it was safe…
However, as Miguel's rapid fire of word soup ensued and he revealed being a Metahuman, the homeless dude suddenly attacked him out of the blue.
Blindsided and feeling not just a little wrong, his counterattack came to a stop when he discovered who the homeless guy actually was : Robin ! He wouldn't have guessed ! The very person Miguel had hoped to meet and it was how the encountered one another.
« Robin ! Awesome ! I'm such a big fan, Hermano ! So much so, that I don't even mind that you kicked me in the face like that ! Though it does hurt a bit… » Rubbing his sore cheek (even though he reflexively protected himself with his power), he looked at him puzzled, eyes narrowed : « Why'd you even hit me ? »
« Why ? Isn't it obvious ? That's because you're another one of N.O.W.H.E.R.E.'s goons… »
« Huh… ? » Now, the Mexican teen appeared as if thunderstruck. Dick wasn't sure whether the man was a good or crappy actor because of how many emotions he displayed in so little time, but it left him wondering if perhaps, he hadn't jumped the gun a little fast. And indeed, Miguel spoke to clear things up : « I'm not ! Actually, I'm an avid reader of your blog… That's why I was sneaking in the US : to meet you ! That, and also to try and build a better life for myself… » He paused for a few seconds, before raising his index finger :
« Wait a minute ! I have something to show you ! »
The teen went to rummage through his backpack, instantly putting the young vigilante on edge once more. And then, the Mexican started to put some weird purple clothing… Some kind of costume, Robin identified…
« Name's Bunker, Hermano ! » The teen, now clad in purple and magenta form-fitting clothes declared with a huge satisfied smile on his lips.