The Road to Happiness, The Long One
A/N: So if you guys think this story is trash and refuse to try it out, let me know in a review or PM on how to make it more readable.
SSF (Summary So Far): Cal saved Kara. Kara has invited Cal and Mason to dinner at her parents after school today. Cal, Mason, Kara, and Barbara all had some interesting events in their first 2 periods. But as the third period started, a gunshot goes off. Cal fights off the 6 armed gunmen and uses his powers to make everyone forget what he did. But Kara and Barbara still remember. Cal and Mason get to their orphanage and realize it's Cal's birthday. Cal is painfully reminded of his father leaving him on the doorstep. Cal and Mason create special handcuffs to subdue super villains. Cal decides to go after Morph Duchess and the Unnamed. Boom, all caught up.
Characters: Cal (Your "average" mysterious male), Mason (Cal's best and most trustworthy buddy), Kara Danvers (Kara Zor-El, AKA Supergirl), Barbara Gordon (Batgirl), Dick Grayson (Nightwing), Clark Kent (Superman), Lois Lane (Superman's wife), Batman, and more that aren't quite ready to be presented yet. (Lots of characters are Out of Character (OOC).)
Chapter 5
Cal waited on the rooftop next to the Museum of Ancient Jewels. Cal knelt in his suit and looked through the skylight of the museum, waiting for the Morph Duchess and The Unnamed to arrive. Cal's suit was a form of armor. The armor was gold trimmed. The armor's color was white with black, shifting blobs. The black spots moved constantly, never stopping and always shifting uniquely. The joints of the armor had a smooth black leather. The armor spread from the wrist and came to a point over the elbow. The same thing was with the boots over the knees. The helmet Cal wore was plain white colored helmet with small bas-relief, rounded wings on the sides. The helmet went over the face and nose and connected under the chin, including a chin guard. Over the mouth was a mouth plate that connected from each side of the helmet. Over the eyes were special white lenses. The neck was covered in smooth leather. At the center of the chest, a 3-point white shield with a circle around it. The boots were armored, save the soles, which was a highly resistant rubber. The golden trim shimmered in the moonlight.
Cal looked over through the skylight of the next door museum. He waited patiently for any movement. The newest jewel, a Faberge egg, glimmered in the moonlight through its case. The case was bulletproof and even the slightest crack would set off the alarm, with was on a total of 3 generators if the power was cut. All this was unnecessary, Cal knew, when you could phase through objects. Cal waited late into the night for any sign of his prey.
"Another one bites the dust, another one here, another one there…" Mason sang softly through their special com-link system. Cal rubbed his eyes for umpteenth time.
"Not yet Mason, absolutely no sign of them yet," Cal replied, "It's 11 pm and still absolutely no sign of them."
"Maybe they didn't take the bait," Mason said. Cal shook his head.
"No way, this is the last time this egg will be in town. She likes a challenge, not to mention Unnamed wouldn't be late, let alone THIS late. The Unnamed might not be showing up, but I know we can still nab the Duchess," Cal said. Suddenly, a slight shadow rippled across the museum's room.
"Well, had we known that they wouldn't be here yet, we could have been answering the numerous 911 calls and— "Mason started.
"I see movement, going in!" Cal said, leaping from his perch and landing silently on the rooftop of the museum. Mason shut up and waited, his heart pumping for fear of his friend's safety. "Don't worry Mason, I've faced worse than a girl who can run away from everything. You were there with me during some of those worse times, so you know what I'm talking about." Cal peered through the skylight, waiting for more movement. The Duchess solidified and her dog, Diamond, appeared next to her. The large black Caucasian Shepherd was definitely intimidating. The Duchess slowly walked toward the egg, and Cal noticed something new, a whip, at her side. Cal shook his head, 'Catwoman wanna-be,' he thought. Cal went over to the loose window of the skylight and jumped down, creating a soft click of his boots on the marble floor. The Duchess spun around surprised and Diamond bared his teeth and reared his head. The Duchess put her hands on her hips. Cal's eyes narrowed.
"So The Shield's come out to play?" the Duchess joked. Her nickname for Cal was 'The Shield'. (Cal didn't like it, but with the amount of times she'd called him that, it was starting to grow on him.)
"Why do I always have to do all the talking? Have something against speaking?" Duchess mocked. Cal stood still, watching the huge dog warily. "I guess actions speak louder than words! Diamond, attack!"
Diamond rushed forward and leapt at Cal. Cal raised his arm and braced himself as the dog's jaws sunk through the armor and tackled him to the ground. The dog's teeth cut through his armor and into his skin. Diamond slowly started to grow in size, crushing Cal beneath him. Cal grunted and managed to kick the dog off of him. The dog flew across the room and crashed against the wall, narrowly missing a painting. Cal slowly got to his feet. The Duchess looked him over.
"You seem off your game, almost being taken out by a dog," she said. Cal shrugged. "Well, no more games, I'm taking this egg!" She ran forward and Cal prepared for her attack, but right before she reached him, she shifted into dust. Cal somersaulted forward and turned around. The Duchess pouted.
"I don't get to even TRY to suffocate you anymore?" she asked innocently. She rushed forward again, this time pulling out her whip. She swung her whip and cracked it where Cal and previously been standing. She swung her whip again and cracked it over Cal's head. Cal narrowly avoided the next swing and took a few steps back. She wordlessly walked toward him, but he made no move to avoid her. She smiled and raised her whip. She swung it hard and Cal simply raised his bleeding arm to catch it. It wrapped around his arm, and she wrench it back, but Cal held his ground. He pulled his arm back and the Duchess flew forward. Before Cal could quickly cuff her, her dog jumped on his back. Cal grunted in pain as the menacing dog dug its claws and jaw through his armor and into him. Duchess clambered away to her feet while Cal kneeled over. Cal reached back and grabbed the dog's neck. He wrenched the dog off his back and slammed him into the ground. Cal stood up and turned around. The Duchess had her whip and was ready to attack again.
*Crash*
A dark figure fell to the floor, landing on his feet. He was dressed and covered entirely in black, leaving only a spot for his eyes. Glass landed around him, but he seemed unfazed by anything that was happening.
"I am Clone #5272, assisting in capture of subject 5272," Clone #5272 said robotically. Cal looked confused.
"On it," Mason said over the com.
"Don't mean to be rude, but this is MY egg!" Duchess said frustrated. Cal looked at both of them and prepared for the inevitable fight ahead, but before anyone could make a move, another figure crashed through the skylight. This time it was someone on Cal's side. She floated gingerly above the ground. Her loose blonde hair fell gracefully around her shoulders and her warm blue eyes were a sight from heaven. Her red cape slowly made its way down to her red boots height. Her red skirt and blue shirt fit her comfortably, but without being extremely tight. But what made her go full circle was the bright 'S' on her chest. Supergirl looked confused at Cal's glowing armor, but even more at the obvious signs of a fight. Cal looked confused at Supergirl, who was obviously Kara, his date for tomorrow after school.
"Subject 5272 capture in progress," Clone #5272 said robotically.
"Assuming that 5272 is a name, one option might surprise you… 'Kara'," Mason's voice rang through the com-link. Cal's eyes widened. Cal realized that 'Subject 5272' was Supergirl/Kara.
"Well, let's get this party started!" Duchess said.
The clone rushed forward and drew 2 knives, both glowing green with, what Cal assumed, was kryptonite. He intercepted the clone by tackling him to the ground. Supergirl realized that the armored man was her side and flew towards Duchess. Cal knocked the knives out of 5272's hands and held him to the ground. Before Cal could pull any handcuffs, the clone kicked him off. Cal quickly got up and faced the clone. The clone rushed forward, feinting a swing and swung hard with his foot. Cal attempted to block the feint, but masterfully was able to recover and block the kick. The clone jumped up and swung his foot again, this time aiming for Cal's face. Cal ducked and rolled behind the clone. Before the clone could react, Cal punched him in a soft part of the back hard, causing the clone to fly into the wall. The clone casually caught himself as he hit the wall and bounced back. He landed on his feet and ran towards Cal, throwing 2 hidden throwing stars at Cal, who caught them and threw them to the ground. The ninja jumped and kicked at Cal again, but Cal caught the leg and swung him to the ground. While the clone was down, Cal quickly cuffed him.
Meanwhile, Supergirl was fighting the Duchess and was doing so fairly successfully. Kara nimbly and easily avoided the dog, but multitasking was a bit more difficult. Duchess was attempting to make her way to the glowing green knives left on the floor for defense, but Kara wasn't having it. Whenever Duchess swung her whip, Kara dodged and got slightly closer to her. Eventually, Kara managed to get both the dog and Duchess unconscious in the corner. Cal quickly ran over and cuffed the Duchess. He took off the dog's collar and the dog returned to normal size. Supergirl looked at Cal.
"Thanks for the help, probably would have been toast if you hadn't been here to help," Supergirl said. "I'm Supergirl, who are you?" Cal narrowed his eyes, weighing whether or not to answer.
"I don't have a name," Cal answered. His voice was deeper than normal in order to hide his identity.
"Well, you have a shield emblem on your chest and you really helped me out tonight, maybe… 'The Protector'?" Kara suggested.
"Nice ring to it, I'll go with it," Cal answered. Kara beamed.
"Well, there are other valuables to save, gotta fly. See ya around!" Kara said, taking the cuffed bad guys and flying away. Cal smiled under his helmet.
-Break-
"So you're saying that Supergirl is Kara, your date for tomorrow?" Mason asked, "and that a clone of the world's deadliest ninja was after her? Why would that be?"
"Yeah, to me it was fairly obvious that it was her, but I'm still not sure why anyone would be after her," Cal answered.
"And you're also saying that she saw you, which means the Justice League will actually catch wind of you for the first time ever, and named you 'The Protector? I mean, it fits, but I wanted to name you! I was going for something like 'Guardian'," Mason complained.
"First off, I'm pretty sure the name 'Guardian' is taken and do I detect a hint of jealousy?" Cal asked jokingly.
"So you might, but still. It's unfair that the girl you saved technically 3 times now-"
"—2 and a half," Cal interrupted.
"Fine, 2 and a half times now gets to name you. You should be naming her!" Mason said, frustrated.
"Relax Mason, we can always pick a different name, it's not official!" Cal said, trying to calm his friend down.
"Ah, but it is! You won't offend her by changing your hero name! You're too nice like that and you have a thing for her!" Mason claimed.
"So I have a crush on her, we've been over this. She can't and won't know my secret, ever!" Cal answered.
"You say that now, but you watch, she'll tell the League about meeting you, then Batman will be on your trail to figure out how to stop you in case of an emergency or maybe just to figure out who you are!" Mason warned.
"Well, she appeared there after I did, and I'm 100% sure no alarms went off, so there was no way for me to know she was going to pop on in!" Cal defended.
"…ok look, all I'm officially saying is that now we are known to a League of super heroes who make it their business to know everything they can for everyone else's safety," Mason said.
"I get that, but there's nothing we can do about it now," Cal said.
Mason sighed, "I know, but I wish there was. 50 years of training in a dimension without aging and we can't even do anything about us being known."
Cal nodded, "We learned a lot those 50 years, but nothing could prepare us for our current situation."
Mason smiled, "Yeah, but now that it's 1:45 in the morning we should probably get to bed."
"Yeah, most kids spend the night playing video games and whatnot, then there's us," Cal said smiling.
"So how's the armor holding up after the dog fight?" Mason asked.
"The armor is repairing itself, as usual, but I hate the fact that the dog has the sharpest teeth in the world. I swear Duchess sharpens them on a regular basis," Cal answered.
"Good, good. How does it feel to save the day 3 times in 2 days while sustaining injuries?" Mason asked concerned.
"I'm fine if that's what you're asking," Cal said. "Besides, we both know that I'll be perfectly fine in the morning."
"Well, best get to bed and prepare for your date tomorrow," Mason joked.
"Ha ha, you're just jealous that she named me," Cal said.
"You know it," Mason replied.
-Meanwhile at Justice League HQ-
"So you're saying that a man in armor was already there when you arrived? And he took out this supposed clone of the Unnamed? By himself? And he calls himself 'The Protector'?" Batman asked suspiciously.
"Yeah, he had cool armor, a full face mask helmet, even with white lenses, and he took out this clone on his own and was fighting Duchess by himself before I got there," Supergirl answered. Batman thought for a moment.
"J'onn, Cyborg, is there any sort of hero, or villain, in our database with that description?" Batman asked.
"No, and as far as I can tell there is no previous existing record of that description anywhere," J'onn answered.
"Same here," Cyborg chimed in.
"I personally don't see a problem here," Green Lantern said, "He helps take care of our ever increasing bad guy population and looks good while doing it. What's the problem?"
"The problem is," Batman growled, "He's taken out an expertly trained assassin by himself and we are just now hearing about him. He has clearly taken an interest in not being know, but why?"
"Look Batman," Flash said, "You can't just assume that every new hero, no matter how talented or powerful, is a threat to the world!"
"I agree with Flash, he can't just be condemned for being able to fight in hand to hand combat well," Wonder Woman said.
"It takes years and years to master hand to hand combat like an assassin, and they themselves are trained to be unstoppable. Whoever this is has had an expert teach them for years, and Supergirl says that he had no obvious powers, which means that he either doesn't have any, or saw Supergirl arrive and decided to keep them to himself." Batman said. "I like to know who's out there and able to stop me, but if you don't want to look into this guy, then by all means don't, but you can be sure as hell I will!"
Superman sighed. "Supergirl, was there anything else about him that you noticed?" asked Superman.
"Well, he was bleeding from his arm. I think it was the dog's bite, but from what I could tell it didn't faze him at all," Supergirl said.
"He was bleeding?" asked Batman.
"Yeah, from his left arm, why?" Supergirl responded.
"If he allowed himself to get bit, then he's either an amateur or doesn't have control of what he could do. Without control, he could destroy lives or maybe even the world. If he's an amateur, then maybe we should train him before he gets people killed," Batman said.
"Look, Batman, we all get what you're going for, but I don't think any of us see the need to track down this guy and force him to train," Superman said.
"Fine, I'll do this on my own, but when it's your asses on the line, I'll be sure to stop by and say 'I told you so'," Batman said as he left the room.
"Well Supergirl, time to go home, you've got school tomorrow," Superman said.
"Fine, goodnight everybody!" Supergirl waved goodbye as her and her legal guardian left the Watchtower.
A/N: Have a nice day! Please review!