Chapter 59 : New Years fight
[Author note : If you're interested in reading more of this story, or try some of my other ones, you can visit my Patréon page (e instead of é). Search for Cathbel on their website. Enjoy this new chapter !]
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Ned was notified about the confrontation between Superboy and Wonder Girl as he was watching another train… ing session. He was not going to compare this group of teenager's training to a train wreck. Not again. Especially not since he realized it wouldn't be very fair to the train wreck !
In any case, his armor's speakers sounded in the evening, with Bastion notifying him about the fight since he was the one keeping an eye on Cassie, while Symmetra watched Robin's little group. Obviously, they didn't do so in person when they could simply use drones for it.
So, Ned opened a portal to his workshop/operation's room where he was swiftly followed by the smartest kids of the TA : Kid Flash, Solstice and Aaron. The others reacted too late and had their way barred by Winston and Mel. When he saw the three who were following him, he frowned. His eyes rested a little longer on the yellow wearing speedster, a headache starting to form.
Trying to take his mind off the idea occurring to him, he turned toward the massive screen on the wall and ordered :
« Bastion, put it up, please ! »
« Bi-boop ! »
The trio, along with Ned watched as Superboy leaped toward a flying Cassie, over a crowd of celebrating New Yorkers. Actually, they weren't exactly celebrating anymore… Some were watching the fight, enraptured, others were yelling and reacting angrily at the display of power from the freaks and others still were beginning to panic… The latter were probably among the smarter ones, since they seemed to have an idea of the kind of damage such a fight could provoke.
« Is that… Superman ? No, too young… His kid ? Did he have a kid ? Why's he beating on the pretty gal ? Is she a villain ? » Kid Flash started, yet again, to rapid-fire his questions without waiting for anyone to reply.
The headache knocked on the side of Ned's temple, already in, but still making noise…
« The medias call her Wonder Girl because she's saved a couple of people in the past. Either they think she's related to Wonder Woman, or they find similarities with her… I don't know. As for the male, his codename is Superboy. A hybrid clone of Superman and an unidentified human. »
« Is that why he doesn't seem to have all of Supes' powers ? The girl's holding her own against him it seems. He doesn't or can't fly, can't fire heat beams from his peepers, and doesn't turn her into a popsicle with a sneeze… »
Solstice snorted softly, while Aaron watched the fight intensely. More precisely, he was fixated on Superboy's suit.
« That's from N.O.W.H.E.R.E. ! » He asserted.
« Indeed. » Ned nodded. « Superboy was actually outside the facility when I rescued you guys. We fought for a bit before he let me talk to him. He's actually not a bad guy… » Seeing Aaron about to speak up, Ned raised a hand : « He hasn't left his pod until a month or two ago… N.O.W.H.E.R.E. basically considers him their thing, their product… Their weapon. And it's all he knows. Well… That's not exactly true. He told me one of the eggheads there tried to give him a semblance of normal life, albeit a simulated one. It's quite funny really, since they're the ones who tried to teach him empathy of all things ! »
Aaron deadpanned :
« Hilarious ! »
« Oh, come on ! At least, they didn't put explosives in your heads so you don't get out of line… »
As soon as he said that, the three teens froze and Kid Flash was the first to react almost a fraction of a second later, which for him, must have felt like an eternity :
« You're sure they haven't right ? Have you checked ? »
Ned looked at him silently, an expression of affront barely suppressed. After a couple of seconds, he spoke up :
« Of course I checked ! »
« Then… » The accented voice of Kiran interjected. « … Where did this comment come from ? »
He couldn't tell them it was what Amanda Waller was doing to her 'operatives'. So instead, he diverted the conversation with a shrug and gestured toward the screen :
« What do you guys want to do about this ? »
As he said this, Superboy managed to get a good hit in on Wonder Girl, sending her back into a building. Debris and glass shards could be seen falling onto the crowd below, the people fleeing like a disorganized mob. Frightened shrieks and shouts could be overheard over the voice of the reporter :
« As you can see the fight between the two metahumans is escalating, increasing the property damage as well as causing havoc on the people celebrating New Year's Eve. The young woman has previously been sighted and called by the medias Wonder Girl… As for the young man, previously unknown, people are calling him Superboy. We still don't know what led to these events unfolding… »
« We have to go ! » Kid Flash declared, soon backed up by a nodding Solstice.
« Yes. This is getting out of hand… They could kill people ! »
Ned kept silent. It was obvious that these kids were new to the business… People dying as collateral was a rather common occurrence in these things. Ever since Ned started out, he was often kept awake at night by the loss of life he couldn't prevent. Soon, they too, would know this feeling. It was probably something most heroes shared since even someone like Ned, who started this out for selfish reasons was feeling it.
Suddenly, Ned's M-phone rang on the worktable. Before he could enquire, Symmetra told him who the caller was :
« This is the third call from Jacinth Noir, Ned. Shall I put it on ? »
« Yes, on the side, please !… Hello ? »
« Ned. Finally ! I've been trying to call you… »
« I know. » Ned interjected with a smirk as he watched the irritated face of his friend and assistant.
« You know ? » She raised an eyebrow, her lips thinning to prevent her from showing her displeasure at her boss. « And do you know that your company has been under attack these past few weeks ? »
« Ahem… I'm sorry, Noir. I've been a little preoccupied. What do you mean attacked ? Who attacked ? »
« Well, let's see… » She raised an open hand and used the other to close her fingers one at a time : « First, there was the attempt from MACUSA to pass a law targeting our products. Thankfully, I thwarted that attempt by reminding them that they were as reliant on it as the rest of the Wizarding World and that it was a simple thing for us to simply cut them off our networks. »
Ned nodded ; it was a smart and logical move.
« Then, some wealthy families, with quite a few possessing ties to the government offered to 'invest' in us. Basically, they wanted to buy the company. They even tried to bribe me when I pointed out where their allegiances truly lied. You know, they made some enticing offers, but I told them you could beat them… »
Ned smiled wryly. Jacinth changed quite a bit over the time they've known each other. If at first, they were both wary of the other, as time passed and she grew more experienced in business dealings, she developed some shark tendencies. And not the flesh eating kind… After a moment, he nodded once more with an unsure 'Of course…'
« When that didn't work, they used our last hiring campaign to try and infiltrate their agents. They even succeeded with a few, but we managed to spot them before they could steal any valuable information about your technomancy. »
« Good job ! » Ned made a double thumbs up at her image.
« Yeah ? Well, when that didn't work, they decided to bribe our other employees… And now, they're laying siege to one of your factories attempting to breach the wards. »
As she said this, Ned furrowed his brows. He doubted that, even if they stole his tech or blueprints and datas, they could make sense of it. After all, most wizards were simply disinterested in technology as a whole, and his technomancy was steeped in it, even if he adapted it to work with magic. However, it was another matter if they had people on their sides to decipher it, something they probably had given their brazen assault.
However, it still puzzled him… How could a government act like this ? Surely their excuse that he was somehow a threat to the Statute of Secrecy couldn't justify everything, could it ?
« I'll leave you to find who turned, Miss Noir. I want their contract terminated and penalties applied. I'll deal with the burglars… »
He ended the call soon after, only remembering he wasn't alone in the room after he glanced around. Now, this was awkward… He did put the Statute in jeopardy. Then, he shrugged it off. If anything, one person in the room proved that their secrecy shield had holes in it.
« Alright, hm… I have to deal with a few things. Behave, alright ? Symmetra, Bastion, I'll leave the kids to you. »
Needless to say, the kids in question protested being called kids… Mostly Kid Flash (ironically) and Aaron. Solstice offered her help, as did an eager and obviously bloodthirsty Aaron. He refused and ignored them, donning his armor before flying out of the workshop.