Disclaimer: DC Comics owns all rights to the characters within. They are used without permission and not meant to infringe on copyrights or meant to generate income.
Tragedies of the Past, chapter 3
"I can't believe I'm doing this," Conner muttered, looking with disgust at the building before them.
Max was calmer. "It's the assignment we pulled."
"I still don't have to like it."
"Let's get the tour done. Then we won't have to stick around Lexcorp anymore."
Conner sighed at his bad luck. He had pulled a field trip to the Lexcorp building in Wichita. He had to gather information to write a report about it. While there was a lot of information on the internet, the class required an on-site visit. Others had pulled different companies, but at least Max got the same one as he did.
The two dutifully registered at the desk and received their visitor passes. The guide met them and began the tour.
In the sub-basement, the robotics team was celebrating. They had finished the prototype military combat robot and were ready to begin its initial test.
One of the team members flipped the switch to turn it on, and the initialization process began. Things were going well until the test coordinates were entered. A flaw in the code had the robot acquire the federal building as its target instead.
As the team realized this, they tried to shut it down, but the robot's security shut them out. It rocketed up to leave the Lexcorp building and destroy its target.
One of the team members looked at the gaping hole and said, "There goes our completion bonus."
Conner was feeling a little better about the assignment. On the tour, he learned that Lexcorp did more than build weapons that Luthor tried to kill Superman with. They actually had an advanced agricultural program that helped increase crop yield and replenish the soil. Even though Jonathan was no longer a farmer, Conner had heard quite a bit about crops and farming from him. He was starting to think that Lexcorp might be okay after all.
Of course, a giant robot coming through the floor did its part to cut off that line of thought.
"Destroy target," it intoned in its computerized voice as it left the building, leaving chaos and destruction in its wake.
Conner looked around. The tour guide had fled. He turned to Max.
"I'll go after it," he said in a low voice. "You up to joining me?"
Max shook his head. "My powers aren't strong enough. I'll check on its origin."
Their plans made, the two set off in different directions.
Superboy changed into costume in a deserted alley. He flew after the robot. He caught sight of it and unleashed his heat vision. It rocked the robot back a little. It turned to face him.
"Acquiring new target and shifting to offense mode," it said as it began opening fire.
"It wasn't in offense mode before?" Superboy muttered to himself. "Crap."
Max had picked up a lab coat and a pair of glasses to disguise himself. He did his best to hide his hair under the coat, but it wasn't a very good job. Still, it was better than nothing. He strode confidently through the building, looking like he belonged.
He found a group of people milling around where the destruction looked to have begun.
"What's going on?" he snapped in a commanding tone.
One of the scientists looked at him uncertainly. "Uh, who are you?"
"I'm Sterns," Max lied. "I'm here to stop this mess from becoming a major disaster. I need a report of what happened, now!"
In the confusion, nobody questioned the one giving orders.
"We've lost control of our prototype."
"I can see that. How do we get it under control?"
"We haven't fit it with the transmitter yet. There's no way to get control of it."
"There's always a way," Max said confidently. "If the transmitter is installed now, would that take care of it?"
"No," another team member said. "It's not integrated into the system. Installing it isn't the problem; it's getting through the security."
"Why isn't installing it a problem?"
"We've got a mobile transmitter that we can slap on. Getting through the security...that's the difficult part."
"Is it the Lex-OS?" Max asked.
"Yes."
"Give me the transmitter and a notebook to send to it," Max ordered. "I'll take care of the security."
Superboy was getting the worse of the battle. The robot was moving a lot quicker than its bulk would indicate and it seemed to have all sorts of weapons. So far, it had tried knock-out gas, a net to entangle him, missiles, and some sort of energy beam. What was worse was that it seemed to have some sort of really good armor that shrugged off his punches. It also seemed to be protected by some sort of energy shield that prevented him from disassembling it with his tactile telekinesis.
"Superboy!" he heard Max call out.
He dodged another blast and flew over.
Max was in disguise as a scientist. He pushed something into Kon's hand.
"It's a transmitter," he explained. "If you stick it on the robot, I'll be able to get into its systems."
Kon nodded and then flew off to engage the robot. He dodged some more attacks and slapped the device on the robot's back.
Max had set up the notebook computer on the sidewalk and immediately tried accessing the robot's systems. He was annoyed to see that the only competent people who worked on the project were involved in the robot's security systems. It was going to take time to crack.
"You really need to just stop," Superboy told the robot as he landed another punch. "If I promise to oil you, will you give up?"
The robot didn't seem to have a sense of humor and lashed out with a punch that sent Superboy flying. He regained control and retaliated with his heat-vision.
Max continued to type at a rapid rate. He had cracked the first two layers of security, but the robot's main programs were better protected. He started deleting subfiles, but they were apparently being restored by the robot from a protected section of its systems.
"Incoming transmission attempting to disable this unit," the robot said. "Tracing transmission...done. Acquiring new target."
"Crap," Kon said as he charged the robot, trying to stop it before it got to Max.
Max heard what the robot said but ignored his own safety and continued attacking its systems. Another couple layers of security were evaded.
Kon swore. He was slowing down the robot, but it was still getting closer to Max.
"Initiating missile bombardment of transmission site in thirty seconds," the robot said.
"Get out of there!" Superboy shouted.
"I've almost got it!" Max shouted back.
"Get out, now!"
"I'm going to finish this!"
"Stop being so stubborn!"
Max didn't reply until he said, "Done! Its defensive systems are down!"
Superboy tried to channel his power into the robot again, and this time there was no energy shield to stop it. The robot scattered into its component pieces.
Kon squinted. No missiles were launched. That was good. Fittingly, it seemed as if most of the damage the robot caused in its rampage was confined to the Lexcorp building. He took a brief flyover to make sure that no one needed any help. By the time he finished that, Max had hidden his disguise and was making a call.
"This is Max," he said. "There was a giant robot that broke loose in the Lexcorp building. Yes, Conner and I are fine. Could you pick us up? Also, could you let the school know you've done so? I don't think other students were affected."
Conner landed in an alley and changed to his civilian clothes. By the time he was done, Max was waiting for him.
"That was well done," he complemented Conner.
Conner gave him a look. "I'm angry at you."
Max gave him a startled look. "Why?"
"You nearly got yourself blown up!"
"I knew that I was ahead of it."
"You're not the only one with a good time sense. You had less than a second before it fired."
Max took a look around to make sure no one could hear them. "I saw the specs. I knew that I was ahead of it enough to get the field down for you. Besides..."
"Besides, what?"
"You were here."
"What do you mean by that?"
Max spoke with absolute conviction. "I knew you'd save me if there were problems. I have complete faith in you."
Conner looked at him suspiciously. "If this is some kind of joke..."
Max shook his head. "It's no joke. I trust you more than anyone else."
Conner sighed. "Try not to make me worry, okay? I don't want to let you down if I mess up."
"You'll never let me down. You always try your hardest."
Back at the Kent's farm, Conner was relating his fight with the giant robot when there was a knock at the door. Max answered it to reveal Clark and Lois.
"This is a surprise," Max said. "I take it you heard the news?"
Clark nodded. "I wanted to see if you two were okay."
Max led them to the dining room. "Conner's the one who took a hit from the thing. That reminds me, I have something to give you."
He left the room while Clark looked Conner over. He sighed in relief.
"You're okay?" Clark asked.
Conner nodded. "It wasn't too bad. I'm glad I was able to stop it before it hurt anyone."
Max returned with the notebook computer he received from Lexcorp. "The schematics of the robot are on here."
"Where'd you get the computer?" Lois asked as Max handed it to Clark.
"I borrowed it from Lexcorp to help stop the robot."
"They just let you have it?"
"I was sort of in disguise at the time."
Lois laughed. "Have you ever been interested in becoming an investigative reporter? If you are, I can teach you everything I know."
Clark shot her a look. "Thank you for getting this, Max. I'll return it to Lexcorp after we extract the data and remove any traces that you had it. Please don't get in the habit of doing this."
Max nodded. "I won't."
Conner chimed in. "You should have seen him! He went and hacked his way into that robot! He brought its defense systems down which let me tear it apart."
Clark exchanged a glance with Martha and nodded. She got up and left the room. In a few minutes, she returned with a box.
"That brings us to why we're here," Clark said, taking the box. "After hearing about the events of today, I think you're ready for this."
He offered the box to Max. Max took it with an inquisitive look on his face. He opened it and softly gasped in surprise at the contents.
Inside was a black t-shirt with an S-shield logo done in a manner similar to Conner's costume, except it was blue instead of red.
"What's this?" Max asked in confusion.
"It's your costume," Clark answered. "When your powers return, it's what we want you to wear."
"But...I don't deserve-," Max tried.
Lois cut him off. "Yes, you do. You've done good."
Conner nodded. "You risked your life today to help me against that robot. I don't want you making a habit of putting your life in danger, but you did it regardless of the consequences."
Max was too overcome to speak.
Seine walked calmly through the hallway. He stopped in front of a non-descript door. He took a moment to compose himself before knocking.
"Come in," he heard.
He opened the door and saw Rhine looking through files. The elderly man looked up.
"I take it you have something for me, Seine?" he asked.
Seine nodded and handed him a disc. "That contains evidence that Match did survive."
Rhine put the disc in and played it. The audio file on the disc consisted of the shouted conversation from the fight between the robot and Superboy.
"Well done," Rhine said. "That does sound like him, doesn't it? How do you propose we deal with this loose end?"
"I suggest we let Danube take care of it. She's always hated him, and she has the power to do it."
Rhine smiled. "Yes, she would be an excellent solution, wouldn't she? Sadly, she no longer takes orders from me. This wouldn't be enough to convince her."
"Then perhaps we need to stage another incident to gather more proof."
"And how do you suggest we do that?"
"Operation: Dark Reflection can be put into motion."
Rhine smiled. "We seem to be on the same wavelength. Prepare it."
"Yes, sir."
---------
Giant robots make everything better. They honestly do. In case anyone was worried from the last chapter, this is not going to turn into a yaoi fic. I just like the occasional tweaking of fandom and its lust for finding pairings anywhere.
Any and all comments welcome!