Something Greater
Disclaimer: Guys, trust me, I don't own DC. Don't sue me.
Burgers and Big Things
"Now, as we practiced, breathe. Focus. Clear your mind." M'gann said, sitting in front of Frankie as she followed her instructions. It had been several days since the team learned of Frankie's psychological issues, and as Kent had said, she was practicing her control with M'gann.
Mia was practicing hand to hand with Barbara. She'd gotten better at CWC, but she wanted to be the best, which Kent respected.
Recently, Kent had also told Traci to practice summoning large amounts of magic without relying on high density population. This way, if she were caught in rural areas by villains, she could defend herself better, was what Kent had said, and Traci had to agree. Irea and Josh training by themselves, Irea doing laps, Josh shooting clay pigeons to get better with aiming his vibrations.
Kent looked over all this, smiling. The team was getting better, and even though they all had a long way to go, himself included, he decided to savor all victories, large or small.
Presently, he was looking at his tablet, viewing old footage of his parents, fighting, sparring, catching villains. They were the greatest heroes of their time, so he had to learn from the best, as painful as it was to continually see his dead parents. Continually be reminded of them not being here anymore. But Kent knew he'd have to be at his strongest, if he was going to be a good hero and a competent leader.
"Hey." Kent was nearly startled by Clark coming up behind him.
"Oh, hey Uncle Clark." Kent smiled, albeit sadly.
"What's wrong? What are you- Oh." Clark realised the reason Kent was down as his eyes landed on the screen, watching Kara and Barry sparring with each other. It'd been some time since he'd seen his cousin's smile. "You know your father used to say your mother had the biggest smile in the whole multiverse." He said, half jokingly, half sadly.
"I'm sure Jon inherited something like that." Kent smiled. "He's always grinning, and I swear his mouth stretches a mile."
Clark laughed heartily, as Kent joined in too.
"I was watching their footage to learn good moves and strategies from them." Kent said, looking back at the screen. "Have been for some time now."
"That's not a bad idea, but are you gonna be okay?" Clark asked.
"Yeah. I'll be fine. I have to be at my best for everyone." Kent said, but Clark put a hand on his shoulder.
"That's not what I meant." He told his nephew sincerely.
"I know." Kent said, offering a sober smile. "Don't worry, I know to take actual care of myself. I'm not gonna do everything myself or bottle up anything. Promise."
"That's a good boy." Clark said, smiling and patting Kent's shoulder.
Caitlin suddenly walked into the Hall. "Clark you here?"
Kent flew both himself and Clark down, Kent quickly hugging his aunt.
"Hey, Aunt Cait." He said softly as he wrapped his arms around her waist, feeling her arms go around his shoulders.
"Hey Kent." She said, hugging him tightly for second , before letting go. "Well I'm glad both Kents are here. Hal is about to return."
"Oh that's good." Clark said.
"I'm feeling there's something else." Kent said.
"Yeah, but it's nothing bad. We'll have another new recruit. They'll be here in a few days." Caitlin said, looking at her tablet.
"Well great." Kent said. "The more the merrier. Anything we know about, uh, him or her?"
"Well, he wears a ring." Caitlin winked.
"Lantern. Should be good." Kent said.
"How's training going?" Caitlin said. The elders had decided to let Kent oversee their training on a daily basis, with them only checking their progress weekly.
"Steady. Most of them don't have a surefire weakness, it's just minor shortcomings that need to be worked on slowly. At this point, most of them are just getting better." Kent said as they walked to the console.
"Good. You need to be ready for anything." Clark said.
"Agreed. On that note, I'd like to get back on my research." Kent said, pointing at his wrist tablet.
"Alright go ahead Kent." Caitlin said, watching as he walked away, picking a secluded area to watch his parents' footage.
"He's already a fine hero, Caitlin." Clark said to her from beside her. "I know I wasn't this mature or driven at near that age."
"I just hope he doesn't overwork himself. I'm proud of how serious he is, how good he is as a hero already, but…" Caitlin trailed off.
"He knows better than to overwork himself." Clark said, Caitlin now looking at him. "I just had a talk with him before you came. He's not going to do anything that hinders him, even if it means taking breaks. That is one driven kid."
Caitlin now looked at Kent, sitting up in the rafters as he diligently studied his parents' exploits, feeling pride well up in her chest. Kent may not have been born to her, but he was every bit her son as he was Barry and Kara's.
"Well, I have a couple simulations for them, should we see-" Caitlin began, but was interrupted by the emergency alarm.
"A villain? Where?" Donna asked, flying over to the console area as Caitlin hurriedly typed away.
"National City. There's a… something. What is that?" Caitlin asked, squinting at the screens.
"That is a damn Paradoom." Clark said, gritting his teeth.
Kent gasped to himself. Paradooms were modified Parademons, made by forcibly injecting Doomsday DNA into a Parademon. It was incredibly tough to create one, but those who survived the process because incredibly stronger. They weren't Kryptonian level strong, but still stronger than most Parademons. More importantly, they're a part of the Apokoliptian army. Why was one here?
"No one's available right now. Diana, Zatanna, Wally, everyone's away. I'm going out. Have Cisco meet me there." Caitlin said in a determinea voice.
"No." Kent said, stopping her. "We're going out."
"What? No. You're not ready." Caitlin said.
"Aunt Cait, neither you nor Uncle Cisco can take him, especially without a plan that we don't have time for. This is what you're training us for." Kent said. "Besides, training and simulations will only get them so far. They need real experience, out in the field."
Caitlin looked down. Anxiety and doubt clouded her face, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Clark, with a small smile.
"It's okay. They can do this." He said with a meaningful nod.
Caitlin sighed, before nodding. "I don't have to tell you to be careful." She said, before turning to the others. "Or to follow Kent's lead." She added, glaring at them.
"Trust us more, Aunt Cait! We got this!" Jon said enthusiastically.
"I mean it! No arguing!" Caitlin said, before stepping to the console. "Well what are you waiting for?"
"Donna, M'gann and I will engage head on. Jon, stay close by, stop it if it gets too close to civilians." He said, quickly assigning everyone roles. "Irea, get civillians away to a safe distance. Frankie, Traci, Mia, and Barbara, do not engage unless absolutely necessary. Josh, open us a breach."
"Already on it." Josh said, holding a fist out, breach gradually growing in size to fit everyone.
"Let's move, people!" he said, speeding into the breach, everyone else following.
.
They came out on a rooftop. The Paradoom was right there on the street, a couple blocks down from them, breaking things at random. It seemed all it was here for was destruction.
"Remember your roles, guys! Let's go." Kent said, before jumping off the roof, floating down and speeding in.
"Why are we on the sidelines?" Mia complained.
"Because we're not supposed to argue with Kent. Besides, that thing gives Kryptonians and Amazons a hard time." Barbara said. Frankie watched anxiously as Donna and M'gann joined Kent, facing the hideous minion from Apokolips. Jon, for all his bubbliness, was not overreaching, staying a ways behind the three, as Irea was speeding around, carrying people away from the fight.
Kent didn't attack right away. He slowly circled around, trying to gauge what its objective was. A supersoldier from Apokolips was no accident. Donna and M'gann joined him, floating in the air around Kent.
The Paradoom yelled out, before jumping at Kent. Kent, however, was too fast for it. He quickly ran around it to avoid the attack, stopping behind it. The Paradoom didn't take breaks, however, getting straight back to attacking, this time swinging at Donna. Donna quickly dodged left, throwing out her own right hand in a punch, knocking the monster back. The Paradoom shook its head, before continuing the fight.
"Guys, why aren't we finishing it?" M'gann asked.
"She's right. I don't think we'll get any info from this one, Kent." Kent heard Josh's voice on comms.
"Okay, let's finish this then." Kent said, sighing. "Let it have it." He said, looking at the other strong ones beside him.
Donna cracked her knuckles before flying in, landing punch after punch on the Paradoom's face.
"What's she doing?" M'gann asked. Donna kept punching, knocking it back bit by bit. Kent quickly ran up to a roof, and looked around, before smiling and answering M'gann's question.
"She's taking it out of town." His voice rung through comms. "Come on, everyone help her!" He yelled, running at the thing and landing punches of his own. Kent's combined strength and speed knocked the Paradoom back by miles, and soon they were at the edge of town. M'gann shapeshifted her hands into tendrils, several of them, tying around the Paradoom and pulling it out of the city, throwing it into the sky.
"Donna! A lift?" Kent called out, extending a hand. Donna took it, and threw Kent into the air. Kent controlled his descent using his limited flying power, gathering lightning in his fist as he landed on the grounded Paradoom, punching it straight in the face. The impact knocked it down into the ground, cratering the area, while all the lightning straight up charred its face.
"Jon! Heat Vision!" Kent called out, and with his cousin, he started burning the monster, two white and two red beams of heat vision striking the Paradoom. It roared into the sky, before jumping into the air. Suddenly, it started to release some energy.
"It's going to self destruct!" Kent yelled out. "Frankie, Traci, hold it! Josh get it out of here in a breach!"
Frankie stretched her hands out, making a ball with her hands. The Paradoom suddenly became constricted, as if held by an invisible small cage. Traci came behind Frankie and put her hands on Frankie's shoulder.
"I'll channel my magic into you. Should increase your power output." Traci said.
"Thanks. Josh?" Frankie called out, holding the thing becoming relatively easier thanks to Traci.
"I'm almost done! There!" Josh yelled out, a breach opening in the sky next to the Paradoom. Kent, Donna, M'gann and Jon all flew up, winding back punches, and hitting the monster as hard as they could, and it flew into the breach. They all landed on the ground, and Kent and Jon looked up.
Suddenly, there was a muffled, faint boom, evidently the explosion of the Paradoom.
"Sheesh that's far!" Jon said cheerfully.
"That's right. Edge of the atmosphere. Nice job, everyone." Kent said. "All of you did good." He smiled.
"Hey, we had a pretty good leader." Donna said.
"A leader's nothing without good teammates though." Josh said. "We're all getting better."
"Exactly. But don't let it go to your head. Keep training at your best." Kent said.
"I just wish I did more than carrying people around." Irea said from the back, standing with Mia and Barbara.
"Hey, if you hadn't kept the civilians out of the fight, we couldn't have focused on the Paradoom." Kent said. "You were just as important."
"Oh I know." Irea smirked.
"Let's get back to base. Josh?" Kent said, as Josh stuck out his fist, opening a breach to the Hall.
.
.
"Why'd you need me to throw you?" Donna asked Kent.
"My flight powers aren't as good as all yours'." Kent sighed. "And believe me, it's not for lack of trying. The lightning in me seems to interfere with my Kryptonian cells' ability to generate their own gravitational field. So I can't fly well."
"But then you flew up to punch the Paradoom, and I've seen you fly before." M'gann said.
"I said I can't fly well. I can float around, and descend just fine. But I can only ascend for a little while before it gives way. I can use it coupled with my speed to jump really really high, but that's about it. The bottom line is, my gravitational field is too weal to defy this planet's gravity too well, like most Kryptonians, or others like you guys." He said, pointing at the other flying members.
"That was a Job Well Done, you guys." Caitlin said, coming up to them.
"You're getting better, all of you." Oliver said, coming up beside her.
"Thanks Uncle Oliver, Aunt Cait." Kent smiled.
"I think you've earned the rest of the day off. Go on, have some fun." Clark said, smiling at the kids.
"Okay, Uncle Clark." Irea brightly said from behind. Kent chuckled, before turning to the team.
"Let's go then guys." He said, getting his suit back into his bracelet.
"I have an idea. Why don't we do something together?" Irea said.
"What did you have in mind?" Donna asked.
"Well, first thing that comes to mind is food. We have to go to Big Belly Burger, you guys!" Irea excitedly said.
"I have no plans." Mia said, and Barbara nodded along.
M'gann shapeshifted into a young red haired girl, with freckles all over her. "Meet Megan Jones!" she said excitedly.
"Okay Megan." Kent said. "Let's get going." He said, smiling.
Josh responded by opening a breach, and everyone hopped through. Kent turned back before follow the others. "Bye, Aunt Cait." He said softly, before hopping through, seeing her wave at him.
The team was in National City, in an abandoned alley, near Big Belly Burger. Everyone was out of there suits, so they walked out of the alley and went to the eatery. The big words on the top glowed, 'Big Belly Burger'.
"I've never been here." Traci said.
"Me neither." Donna said, M'gann nodding beside her.
"A lot of you haven't, but trust me when I say this, this place is the absolute best. And besides, this is where Kent's parents ate all the time too." Irea said excitedly.
Kent's expression flinched for less than a second, before resuming his usual demeanor. He was just happy the team was getting along well. Infighting is always bad news. Especially when the people in the team are risking lives on a daily basis.
"I see a big empty table! Come on!" Josh said, pointing at a corner, where a large table with about a dozen seats lay empty.
"Like it was made for us." Mia said, taking her seat.
"You're not wrong." Kent spoke, taking a seat.
"I'm sitting… here?" Frankie said, going beside Irea.
"No, you're sitting here." Irea said, pulling her to the other side, sending her beside Kent.
"Irea, what are you doing?" Kent said in a lightly annoyed voice.
"Getting her a good seat! Sue me!" Irea said, shrugging. Frankie sat down next to Kent, giving a small, nervous smile to everyone.
"Who wants what? I'll go place the orders." Kent said, getting up from his chair.
"Double cheese!" Traci said excitedly.
"Same!" several others said.
"Patty and Tuna." Mia said. "What?" she started on receiving weird stares from the group.
"What about you? Frankie, Irea?" Kent asked.
"Triple triple. I've been running a lot." Irea gasped.
"You gonna pay this time?" Kent smirked.
"Yes, so get me my burger." Irea said.
"Two of those for me!" Jon yelled out.
"Alright then." Kent chuckled.
"I'd like a Triple." Frankie said.
"Okay." Kent noted and went off to the counter.
"Dang, I didn't think you'd take a triple." Irea said.
"Does it matter?" Josh said. "I'm hungry, and I need food!"
"Honestly. They are rubbing us hard, aren't they?" Mia said.
"Well I think it's good. We should be the best we can be if we're going to succeed at this." Donna said.
"No shrap." Barbara said, eliciting a chuckle from everyone.
"Guys, one day we have to go get pizza from Lucali's. It's heavenly!" M'gann said.
"Yeah, I've heard of it too." Mia said. "We'll all go some time."
Kent presently walked up to the table, holding two trays nearly overflowing with boxes of food for everyone. "I have no problem carrying these, but I'm pretending to be normal, does someone mind helping me?"
"Sure." Frankie said, standing up and passing the boxes along to everyone. The smell of fresh bread and cheese and patties wafted over them.
"Ooohhh.. My senses are in zen right now." Irea said, closing her eyes and leaning back.
"So, what is this I hear about Lucali's?" Kent said, sitting down and opening up his food.
"Should have known you'd be listening in on us." Josh smirked.
"We're planning on going, sometime soon on the next team getaway. Well no exactly a getaway, but.." Mia said.
"That's a good idea." Kent said. "Their pizzas are delicious."
"You've had it?" Irea said, surprised.
"You know about my Saturday Pizza rule, right?" Kent asked, taking another bite out of his burger.
"Wait, you don't have Lucali's every week, do you?" M'gann asked.
"No, but I've had it multiple times." Kent said.
"Okay, now we have to go. I refuse to let Kent and M'gann be the only ones to have tasted the legendary Lucali's." Irea said, and multiple people laughed out.
"How does next week sound to you guys?" Mia asked, soundly eating her Patty and Tuna.
"Depends on training, people." Kent warned with a smile.
"Yeah yeah. Super Shway." Barbara said.
)))))=====(((((
I'm guessing I was presumed dead. No surprise there. I'd lost inspiration, due to a couple problems, and the fact that I really don't like the Flash anymore. I'm talking about the series currently, not the character itself or the previous episodes. But season 7 is killing me. At least Supergirl looks good, but it's ending soon, no more on screen SuperFlash. I'm depressed. But I think I can get back to writing, but I'll also be working on a few new stories, on totally different things. I'm excited to start writing again, and I'm sorry I haven't been uploading much. But I'm back. Promise.
I'm gonna hold off on any promotion, since I botched it by being absent for months. But hey, see y'all next chapter. Peace!