Well, This sucks. To give context to those who actually care, I had another story idea, But well, I don't know if I'll be able to handle a Digimon sotry

Doesn't stop me from feeling the urge to write it, along with another story idea that's been pestering me for a while. I mean, I don't expect anyone to take the idea and write it on my behalf. (how many one off stories are in the apocrypha that I asked people to make actual stories out of, and no one has? not a lot obviously, but still.) So I might, MIGHT, start writing it in my spare time.

Don't get your hopes up though.

Chapter 6

Tomorrow Is Another Day

After the sudden departure of the new hero kid, Supergirl decided to take a quick flight around to check the damages caused by the fighting.

She's not at all hoping to avoid certain people who likely found out she never showed up for school yet today.

Kara let out a sigh at that. She had thought it wouldn't be too difficult. Follow the cry's for help, fix the problem real quick and then fly as fast a possible back to school before anyone notices she's gone.

Because of course it had to be a trap. She internally groused.

Though she wonders what's going to hurt the most? The inevitable lecture she'll have to endure, her dignity from falling for such an obvious trap, or the fact that Metallo was actually disappointed that she ran into his trap instead of Superman?

She didn't have long to dwell on it when she heard someone yelling and looked towards the source.

And was admittedly confused by what she saw.

A man was angrily swatting away a bunch of little yellow creatures from a crushed car.

With not much else to do, Kara decided to intervene.

"Hey, what's going on?" She asked, floating down to land on the street.

"'What's going on?' What do you think! These little gremlins trashed my ride, and are trying to take what's left!" the man practically shouted.

Kara glanced around the oddly familiar scene, before she finally remembered that her fight with Metallo went down this way some time ago.

She also noticed one of the yellow things pick up and toss away a wallet, with little interest.

A bit odd, how the wallet is of little interest but the trashed car is something they'll hover around-

She's getting side tracked.

"Um, I'm pretty sure they didn't have anything to do with your car getting smashed." She started, hesitantly.

Kara's had experience with this before, about destroyed property caused by fights between heroes and villains, and not all of them were pleasant.

"You see, there was this fight earlier I had with Meta-"

"HEY!" The man had turned to keep an eye on the little yellow creatures, and noticed they were swarming his car again. So he started to stomp their way. The sudden shout startled them and when they noticed the angry human marching their way, the Metalls started to retreat.

Until one of them tripped.

"When I said 'stay away from my car' I MEANT IT!" The guy shouted as he reached the downed Metall. He raised his leg, preparing to kick, when a metal hand suddenly grabbed his raised foot.

He looked down and saw another one of these creatures grabbing his foot, with "#1 sass" written on it's helmet, and idly wondered how he didn't notice it sooner.

"Met."

And then the Metall pumped a painful amount of voltage into the human. Nothing lethal, of course. Otherwise the doctor would be very upset.

"Hey!" Kara shouted, as the man slumped over.

What happened next was very sudden. Before Kara could rushed in, she started to hear... Static? White noise? And it quickly grew unbearably louder, forcing Kara to pause and cover her ears, until it suddenly stopped. Then, one by one, each and every one of the little creatures started disappearing in beams of light.

Kara blinked. This... was very similar to how that one kid left. Although the shite noise was new. Or maybe not, she could've sworn she heard something before he suddenly disappeared.

Kara groaned, getting the distinct feeling she would be getting a headache soon.

I stopped rubbing my forehead, knowing that it won't ease my headache.

"I don't even know where to begin here. This has become such a mess."

Across from me is Blues, sitting on the operating table, and a small group of Metalls that I recalled from scavenging.

Seriously, I turn my attention away from the scavenging team to Blues for a moment and then the next, this happens?!

Clearly, I need more assistants. I internally grouse.

"Doc, are you sure you're not exaggerating? You're making it sound like they killed someone."

"They electrocuted a man in full view of a hero Blues!" I barely manage to contain my shout. "If there wasn't someone snooping around before, there will be soon!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I notice a distinct little Metall attempting to sneak off.

"Alex you're not sneaking off!"

The newly named Metall froze and turned back to meet my glare.

"Met, metete?"

"No I'm not saying you should've let him kick the Metall. But you took it a step too far!"

Alex just glanced to the side and blew raspberries.

This Metall, I swear...

"Hey Doc," Blues interrupted. "How about we focus on patching me up and then we deal with this?"

"I can multitask Blues."

"Mehhhhht, metmet. Metete!"

I glare at number- I mean Alex, for the sarcastic remark.

"Fine then. Hand me my tools." I growled.

The repair process wasn't too extensive. A quick scan showed the damage and what needed to be done. But it still took a while due to the topic at hand.

"Metallo wasn't exactly as easy either Doc."

"I still told you to be careful, and that my knowledge probably wasn't the most accurate." I state, turning off Blues' artificial nervous system.

I then began carefully removing the synthetic skin from his shoulder, patches around his arms and legs, every area that suffered damage really.

The synthetic skin was the trickiest part, both to make and maintain, if I where to just haphazardly strip it off, it would be unusable. And considering how resource expensive it was to make, I don't want to risk that.

"You know, Doc, most people would find this rather creepy. Downright horrifying if their on the receiving end like this."

"Would you rather I don't fix you up and wait until the damage is irreparable?" I grunted, beginning to weld the cracks in the metal limb.

I know Blues is trying to lighten the mood, but this is a bad way to go about it.

I sigh, deciding to throw Blues a bone. "But, all things considered, that fight could have gone worse. You did good Blues."

"Thanks Doc." I could practically hear the smile in his voice without looking at him.

I put my welder down. Most of the damage done are dents to his metal endoskeleton.

"Some minor denting here or there, most of it frivolous. but some aren't. Get the place ready everyone!"

Without further instructions, the lab became a mess of activity. The many Metalls moving things out or strapping things down. Two in particular wheel out a machine towards the table.

"I'm going to have to strap you down for this Blues."

"Okay... What exactly is that Doc?"

"Just something to fix dents." I say as I start strapping Blues to the table. "To keep it simple, the method for this is to use a strong magnetic pull on a specific spot to force the dented metal back into place."

A few Metalls rerouted one of the generators to the machine in question, before strapping it down too.

"Okay. Then why does everything need to be removed or strapped down?"

"Strong magnetic pull Blues." I say. "It's not exactly easy, nor have I figured out how to make it precise enough to not effect everything in the room."

I turn the machine on and let it warm up. Honestly this is better then outright replacing damaged parts, less resource expensive.

"Aren't magnets bad for electronics though?" Blues asked somewhat nervously.

"Bah, don't worry. I've already fixed that problem."

Well, sort of. It was a weird happenstance really. It just sorta... stopped messing up electronics after a few tests and a bit of tinkering. I still haven't figured out how or why.

Magnets, man. How do they work?

I suppose that could be the next subject for a Robot Master design, as well as their "civilian job" too.

"Admittedly, using magnets wasn't my original idea. I was more wanting to use gravity or mass manipulation to carefully shift the dented metal back into place, but eh. What can you do on a low-budget plan right?"

Not that I didn't try and shoot the idea to my colleagues, but even they said it was a bit much.

"Not exactly filling me with confidence here Doc!"

"Oh don't start with that again Blues" I say, as I bring the machine closer. "In case you haven't been paying attention, you're quite well put together!"

Blues doesn't dispute that, and some of the Metalls still around give nods and affirmatives.

I grab the tool from my dent removing machine. "Alright, we're starting. Everyone out."

"Metmet. Mehhht." Alex orders. and soon all the Metalls leave the room.

Hopefully this won't take long.

It took about two hours. Mostly because I wanted to be thorough, partly because the damage was a little more extensive than I thought.

Note to self, debug scanner.

And there's still a certain headache to deal with. Which may be evolving into a migraine.

"This is one of the worst scenario's we could've been put in." I say.

It's one thing to deal with Blues getting injured from a fight with Metallo, it's another when a cape sees my Metalls openly tase an asshole civilian.

Because of course we got the one dumbass who loves his car more than his life. Shouldn't be that surprising though, most civilians in comics are pretty stupid.

Nothing but sheep. Lambs to the slaughter!

"Doc?"

I shake my head. Bad time to zone out.

"Yes?"

"I asked how bad could this possibly be?"

I sigh. "Right, well for starters We'll need to lay low again. No more scavenging operations obviously. which means we will probably run low on supplies."

The few bits the Metalls managed to take aren't much. In fact, If I am going to make my new Solar Core power generator, I'll probably use up everything. Assuming this is enough to begin with.

"Can't we just buy parts? Scrapyards exist don't they?"

Yes they do, as well as Junkyards. But admittedly, I've never been to them. Mostly paranoia in my case, thinking I'm going to somehow stumble across a supervillains hideout.

But also...

"I don't have a lot of money to work with Blues. Between bills and groceries, and occasional maintenance for the truck, I just don't have much left over."

Blues gave me a look. "Well, from the little I've learned about you, I know you're too paranoid to become an official scientist, but I thought you'd maybe be a repair mechanic or something."

I give Blues a look. "That's very vague. I'm guessing you don't mean an engineer?"

Blues shook his head. "No, at least, not quite. Just a general repair mechanic. You know, fixing computers or other electronics? Maybe even work at an auto shop?"

Ah, well then.

"Actually, I did. I worked at an auto shop, got paid repairing broken cars and such. And then I got fired, because one of my coworkers hated me and happened to be friends with the boss."

Blues winced. "Ah, sorry. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

I shook my head. "You didn't know, it's fine. I've long since come to terms with that incident, no matter how unfair it was."

And boy was it a sucker punch. I'm busy doing my job and this bitch decides to distract me by wanting to talk instead of, oh I don't know, do her job?!

And she was a coworker too. I asked Robert, my boss at the time, if she was an employee there and he said "Yes, she works the desk up front". Really? That same desk I barely ever see her at? The one stacked with papers needing to be done?

What was even more sickening was how she basically convinced practically anyone else capable to do her job for her. And because I happened to be the one guy who didn't want to deal with her bullshit, or fall for her "pretty girl" act, she gets me fired!

That's all people are, Sheep and Monsters. Nothing more.

Not everyone was that bad. There are still good people out there.

But how can you tell? They all wear their masks. You won't know until it's too late.

And are we different? How long have we worn our mask? In fact...

Is it even still on??

I wince, and clutch my head.

"Are you okay Doc?"

"Met met?" Alex mimicked.

Wait, when did Alex get here?

I blink colored stars from my vision. The blue and purple spots fading.

"Aside from my headache getting worse? Yeah, just peachy." I grumbled.

But now... Wait, what was I talking about again?

"You sure? I know you said your over it, but you looked pretty angry."

I was angry? I was... Oh, right.

"Okay, so maybe it's still a sore spot." I admit. "But it's not important anymore. And of course, finding a job that I can enjoy and use my talents obviously isn't easy."

"Well, what job do you work now?"

I groaned. "The less I talk about that the better, Blues. I'm just glad to have a paid vacation from-"

I stopped, suddenly dread began to bloom in my stomach.

"Uh actually, what day is it?"

"Metmet Met."

...

To whoever is listening...

Please kill me now.

"Oh god, my vacation is over! I have to go back to work tomorrow!" I bemoaned.

I don't want to go back to that thankless job, I still have so much to do here! But I don't have the resources! What's a genius of my calibur supposed to do?!

"Mehhht. Metmetetet."

I look down to Alex. "Pardon?"

"They said, they might have an answer." Blues responded.

"I know what Alex said Blues."

"Really? Because it looked like you were getting lost in your head again."

I glare at Blues, he quickly raises his hands in mock surrender.

"Okay, no need to get hostile Doc. Anyways it's apparently something Alex has been looking into."

I don't even know how to feel about that. "Alright, and?"

"Metmet, Mehhht Metetetet."

"This again? Look, we can't move, we have no way to pack all of this-" I gesture around the basement. "-without being detected. It's just not possible."

This happens every so often. Alex suggesting we move since I can't stand the constant danger of Metropolis. And every time I have a counter-argument Alex would pause, think on it and then begrudgingly agree.

"Metmet! Mehhht! Metetmet!"

"The teleporter?" I start. "Okay, yeah, sure. And how exactly are we going to move said teleporter to the new house without people noticing?"

I expected the same result today. But what I got was a blank stare from Alex, followed very shortly by a...tantrum? I guess that's what this is. Alex just started jumping in place, flailing around while screaming curses.

Well, more like "Mets" but I can understand the meaning. They're curses, trust me.

I am at a loss for words right now.

"Uh, Doc? Maybe they've got a point?" Blues interrupts. "We probably should go, so we don't need to worry about any heroes coming down on us, or the house getting stomped. It makes sense doesn't it?"

I sigh and shake my head.

"Blues, if it were so easy, you think I wouldn't have just done it by now?" I say as I start climbing the stairs up. "We'll just do what we usually do; lay low until their interest dies off, or start looking elsewhere."

This whole day has been a rollercoaster ride. Although, compared to work, the whole cape situation is by far the worst.

Still, tomorrow is another day.

I went about my daily routine with look of dread.

I don't want to go back to that hellhole. But I need money.

With a sigh, I finish up and get ready for work.

"Hey Doc! Superman's been kidnapped!" Blues yelled from the living room.

"Really?" I droned. I probably should care more, but really it's probably just that time of the month for superhero kidnappings.

"Yeah, some Pale looking biker guy started fighting him and now they've been taken up into a spaceship."

Hmm. That's oddly familiar.

"Did you happen to get the name?" I asked.

"No, the news doesn't either strangely enough. though the picture of him is still up."

Figuring I can risk a minute to sate my curiosity, I walk to the living room. And guess who I see on TV?

"Lobo, huh? Neat."

Lobo was always a laugh in the old cartoons.

Probably not as much in real life though.

"Who's Lobo?" Blues asked.

"Galactic bounty hunter. Not some we want to deal with." I say as I start heading back out.

Blues gave me a look. "You seriously have to go to work still? even though that-" Blues points back to the TV, as it shows brief footage of the fight between Lobo and Superman. "-has apparently been going on?"

"Welcome to Metropolis Blues." I say in a droll tone. "Or to be more accurate, Welcome to comic book world."

And with that, I head out and start my long walk to work.

Because if there was a fight, or there's going to be a fight, I'm not risking my truck getting destroyed. Or getting caught in a traffic jam.

Sure enough, I can see the spaceship floating in the sky. As well as the damage from the fight along my path.

Now, any sane person would take that as an excuse to take the day off.

Too bad this isn't a sane world. The last time I tried that, my boss threatened to fire me. Honestly, if I had a better job waiting for me I probably wouldn't care. But most, if not all, of the jobs available are under some branch of Lex Corp. And, again, I NEED the money.

During my walk, I try to wrack my brain for any supposedly similar scenarios as to what's happening. How many possible "Superman kidnapped" plotlines are there? Specifically with Lobo involved?

Off the top of my head, only one comes to mind. The animated series, where this collector guy wants to preserve the "last of a species" so to speak.

But that only goes so far here. For one; Supergirl is here. She didn't show up in the cartoon until later, if memory serves. So, unless I missed it, Lobo should be out hunting for her now.

Which also explains why the ship's still here. because I vaguely remember the episode ending with superman having to pilot the whole thing back, and take in the various aliens.

And where is the League for that matter? I get it if some are busy, but I would think they'd be mounting a rescue for one of their members.

As if I somehow jinxed myself, the ship starts exploding. And is now slowly descending towards the city.

Some of the debris ends up landing close to me too. Too close even. Like the "if I was any more to the right I would have likely died" type close.

... I should probably start moving now.

My progress to get to work slowed significantly, as I constantly take glances at the ship in question. Which seems to be moving away from the city now.

Even more so when I rounded a corner and was suddenly greeted by the sight of an alien that was currently in the middle of melting itself down to slip through a sewer grate!

So, I guess it's safe to assume the ships cargo is now loose. Joy. Also, probably going to be giving my faucets and bathroom the stink-eye from now on.

I slowly back away into an alley and begin texting a warning back home. Because I have no idea is there were predators in that ship.

And no sooner had I sent the text, had a nearby trash can tip over noisily.

Please either be an alley cat or a harmless alien.

Unfortunately, the answer to that prayer was worse. Crawling out in the open was a very familiar alien. A purple, red eyed starfish looking alien.

Oh shit, Starro!

Starro looked at me with it's red eye, emitting a sound that I'm guessing is their equivalent to a growl. Starro was tensed up to, looking ready to lunge.

"Okay, woah! Let's not do anything hasty pal!" I say, as I take a step back.

First mistake, Starro took that as a cue to start crawling towards me. I began to internally panic.

Shit! What was Starro even doing on the ship?! Was he on it? I don't remember any- Wait! Batman Beyond! There was an episode involving Starro, explaining how he was always there! He made clones too. But I don't think he wanted total galactic domination, not at first. Damnit what was it?!

"You want to go home?!" I blurted out in my panic.

Starro stopped, still looking at me.

"That's right, you just want to go home! Back to... uh, aqua-something?"

Shit, I don't think they ever named the planet Starro was found on! Think of something else!

"You're just homesick right? I know the feeling, I want to see my home again too." I all but babble out.

Because honestly? I'm unsure about how true that is. Sure my old life wasn't bad, not perfect, but still. I have a bit of a family here now, so do I really still miss my old life?

Okay, existential questions later, very real threat of being alien starfish thrall first!

"You obviously can't talk right? Or at least, if you could, your captor didn't care any? No, no, of course you can't you'd have said something by now." Shit, rambling again! "But look, maybe we can help each other? Or at the very least I could get you home maybe?"

Starro stops making its noise, and even stopped looking tense. I started relaxing a bit as well, though I am still ready to run if need be.

Turns out to have been pointless. Because that's when Starro lunged.

Okay, yeah. Really feel like a broken record now. I suppose I should be lucky that Life didn't punch me harder so to speak, or else this would have probably been delayed to sometime after the new year.

Firstly, No, I will not be making that Digimon story. Over the course of the break I've had both that, and various other story ideas pop in at random. Even if I wish there were more decent Digimon stories, that aren't dead. I only ever found two at most, with one being dead.

Secondly, I'm not joking when I said that Life practically sucker punched me. I'm just glad what happened turned out to be nowhere near as serious as I thought in the end. Didn't stop me from trying to write though, which lead to the whole "mask" quote, which I honestly wish to remove. I was not in a positive enough thought process and it honestly just makes me cringe reading it. but I can't for the life of me figure out how to write it out!

And Thirdly, This probably would have been longer, but I had to cut out an entire segment for feeling far too out of character. It was just another Justice League meeting about the Metalls, but I felt like I was making them out as some paranoid conspiracy club. I mean, yeah that's Batman's thing, but not everyone else's.

Oh and just so you know, that bit about getting fired is based on a true story. Exaggerated for the story's sake sure, but true.

So yeah, aside from some other minor issues that I've noticed with my writing, I think I did alright.