Hello and welcome back to The Chimera! Now, onto reviews!
starseedchild: Don't worry about Chimera, this chapter and the next are going to be relatively stress free for him.
ENDDRAGON369: Glad to hear it. Fortunately for you, it's the chapter after this one.
Diabolos Aides: I'm glad you enjoy my writing.
Han-Daewi: I'm operating on the theory that the Omnitrix protects the user from direct mental attacks. Indirect mental attacks, such as using an ally's telepathic network against the Omnitrix user or attacking from the Omnitrix, would work. There's proof with Sublimino, Ghostfreak/Zs'skayr, and Ra'ad in the Classic Continuity to support my claims, and as far as I can recall, there's no official word on the topic.
Raidentensho: Armor will probably happen, and his girlfriend's gonna be Jessica Cruz. There's no serious romance till later, but it's in the works.
Death Fury: I'm glad you keep enjoying my work.
Wade98: Burning Martians aren't a commonly known thing, given the fact that their only appearance in official DC media (as far as I know) was back in a 2003 arc of JLA.
Mount Justice
September 7th, 2010 06:25 EDT
I wake up in my bedroom, excited for today. After all, it's M'gann's and Connor's first day of high school. Naturally, I offered to take them there as their older brother figure, and they accepted!
I immediately get out of my pyjamas and I change into what I call my 'I'm not The Chimera' civilian clothes. It consists of a hoodie designed after Upgrade over a shirt, pants, shoes, and the Omnitrix in disguise mode looking and acting like a normal digital watch.
Once I'm done wearing the set, I head out to the kitchen and I make myself a quick breakfast sandwich with an egg. As I eat my breakfast sandwich, I head to the mission room, where M'gann and Connor are meeting up with J'onn and Red Tornado to finalize some stuff regarding Connor's attendance at the school.
I see Kaldur walk into the room with J'onn, Red Tornado, M'gann (in her Miss Martian form) and myself. I find Kaldur's presence here interesting, since he's supposed to be coordinating Red Arrow's defense of the Rhelasian Peace Summit.
Pushing my thoughts aside, I walk down to the hangar, where Connor's working on a bike. M'gann flies down to Connor, carrying two filled brown paper bags.
"Ready for school? I made our lunches!" M'gann cheerfully exclaims to Connor
"The first day of the scholastic season carries great cultural resonance. We want to wish you both well." J'onn exclaims.
"And as the only person in the cave who actually graduated from American high school, we all decided that I will give you life advice while I walk you there on your first day." I announce.
"Guess it's not a Kryptonian thing," Connor notes, wiping his hands on a towel while M'gann hands him his lunch.
I wince. "I tried bringing it up with Superman and he declined." Seriously, what will it take for Superman to actually try and connect with Connor, or at the very least explain why he's so hostile to him?
I get distracted with a "You… may wish to change." from Kaldur and I agree with "Yeah, that skirt's not gonna pass the dress code, assuming your teachers care enough to report it."
"Ah! I spent hours choosing this outfit!" With that, M'gann's clothes change from her Miss Martian uniform to that of a white t-shirt under a red short sleeved sweater and skirt. A red hairband forms in her hair, while her boots change into white knee high socks and dark blue shoes. "What do you think? Can M'gann M'orzz pass as an earth girl now?"
Kaldur and I turn to each other, looking each other in the eyes before turning back to M'gann. Eventually, Kaldur acquiesces "Well-"
"Just kidding!" With that, M'gann's skin turns to a caucasian skin color. "Meet Megan Morse!" 'Megan' does a little twirl to celebrate the change before asking Connor "So, what's your last name?"
"My what? " Connor asks incredulously, which reminds me that Connor has been living mononymously for months. Today's meeting in the mission room was to get him to make a last name so we can update his documentation.
J'onn changes into a bald African American man wearing a black two piece suit, white dress and a red tie. "I chose the last name of 'Jones' for myself and have suggested 'Smith' for Red Tornado. Perhaps Kent would work for you." I try very hard to suppress whatever feelings bubble up.
"Ohhhh~!" M'gann exclaims in a very fake cheerful voice. "In memory of Doctor Fate, the late Kent Nelson." Why is she emphasizing- oh right, M'gann got cleared to know the founding seven's secret identities after she read my mind. She's messing with me right now.
J'onn changes back into his Martian Manhunter form. "...Of course."
"Okay sure, I'd guess it'd be an honor or something." The newly christened Connor Kent grumbles.
M'gann moves her head towards Connor. "Well, Connor Kent , time to change your shirt." Connor glares at M'gann, who points at the Superman logo "You don't wanna reveal your identity!"
I decide to snark at the two lovebirds. "Really? Because last I checked, Superboy has not been seen in public outside of the collapsing bridge thing. Honestly, it seems like you just want to see Connor's abs, M'gann."
A few seconds later, Connor flips his shirt inside out, much to an aggressively blushing M'g-Megan. I should get used to that just in case there's a telepath on school grounds.
"Will this work?" Connor asks, blind to Megan's growing crush on him.
"Works for me." Megan approves in a dreamy voice.
As Connor puts on the inverted shirt, Megan and Connor walk to the school with me following after them and the lunches floating into Megan's hands. "Wait, shouldn't I be Connor Nelson ?" Connor asks.
I answer with "It's a reference to another superhero with the name Kent." Megan looks at me and smirks.
"Huh. I wonder which superhero it is." Good lord, does he not look at himself in the mirror? Clark Kent is a household name level reporter, on par with Anderson Cooper back home! He has photos of him on the internet! How on earth is Superman's own half clone fooled by fake glasses, and changes in voice and posture?
Before I think on this any further, Megan pokes me. "So, Zeke, got any stories to tell us about high school?"
I grab my fidget cube before replying "I'll admit that my experiences are very different from yours, and my advice is based on what I personally experienced. There are a few things to note, however. One: it's nothing like TV. Two: Cheerleaders are nice, decent people. Three: there's going to be a fight once every school year at a minimum. Four: you're gonna lose contact with your friends from high school unless you make the effort to keep in touch. Five: you'll get some amazing stories that you can tell your friends. Six: Never tell teachers your personal interests. You will get embarrassed by them trying to connect with you, and I'm speaking from experience. And last but not least, Seven: This is where you'll truly become who you are."
"What do you mean by your last piece of advice?" Megan asks.
"I mean what I mean. High school's trials and tribulations will either make you or break you. I am not lying when I say that prior to being forced to move away from my parents-" Code for 'being thrown into this universe with nothing but the clothes I was wearing and the Omnitrix' "-high school was some of the most formative years of my life. Seriously, I juggled AP US History, Beginner Spanish, and everything else in junior year and I went to summer school two years in a row to make up for my abysmal math grades so I could graduate."
"Sounds rough." Connor replies.
"Well, I mean high school math does sound rough, but summer school was actually easier despite it cramming two and a half months worth of classes into two and a half weeks." I inform them.
"What else can you tell us about high school?" Megan asks.
"Well, as I said earlier, find a group of friends. Once you find them, you'll have people to talk to and hang out with. Joining clubs and sports teams will make finding new friends easier and a good place to hang out. Also, take AP classes if you feel normal school work is very easy for you and you want a challenge, but don't take more than two unless you're insane."
With that, Connor nods and eventually we see the school come up. I take a look at the Omnitrix, and I see that it's currently 7:58 AM. In about two minutes, classes will begin according to the bell schedule I got off the internet. Ah, high school: Starts at 8 AM expecting students to be fully functional at the time when in reality, they aren't.
All of a sudden, I hear an "Aaagh!" behind me. Turning around, I see Connor holding (based on what I'm guessing from the safety gear he's wearing) a skateboarder by the collar of his jacket. "Hey!"
Connor points at the green and yellow logo with an M through it. "Explain this." He growls.
I make a placating gesture with my hands. "Connor, put him down on the ground, gently . This is not how you talk to people." I grumble on the inside. Less than a minute on campus and Connor already makes a bad first impression. Without thinking, I give Connor my 'I'm disappointed in you' look and Connor gently puts the man down.
"I have to agree with the new guy. Put my man Marvin down." I turn around to see the new voice, and I see a tall, muscular African American guy with jet black hair in a red, yellow and blue Superman shirt with a smaller, petite African American girl in a yellow and black cheerleader uniform with two buns in her raven black hair.
"I, uh, don't think he likes my shirt." The boy- Marvin- tries to process what just happened.
Seeing a bunch of people crowd him, Connor says "Your shirt's fine. Everyone's shirt is fine."
"Someone's fine." The cheerleader sarcastically replies back.
Megan introduces us to the jock and the cheerleader. "Hi. We're new. I'm Megan Morse, and this is Connor Kent. Our friend here is Ezekial Arakelian."
"So, you three new here? 'Cause Zeke seems to be the best at handling school out of the three of you." The jock asks.
I answer with "Actually, I'm in college taking online courses. I graduated from high school over a year ago now. I'm just here to give these two life advice and walk with them to their first day, since Megan's only been in school for a few months and Connor was purely homeschooled until now." Lies, of course, but they're truthful if you squint and tilt your head. Not to mention, they're supported with falsified records that look so clean, you will only know they're forged if a founding Leaguer told you. If anyone goes to check Connor's records, they'll find homeschooling records dating back a decade.
As Connor walks up to the jock, a twenty something brunette with a soul patch walks up in between them and snaps his fingers. "Okay, time to get to homeroom, gang." I'm assuming this is Snapper Carr, given the fact we're in Happy Harbor, his place of residence and his snapping of fingers.
The students all walk to their respective homerooms, and I wave goodbye before telling them "Well, this is where we part ways. I'll see you two later."
Megan yells "Bye Zeke!" enthusiastically, while Connor grumbles a incoherent goodbye.
I walk to the cave's mission room and I see Kaldur in his Aqualad uniform and his swim jacket over his shoulder punching in some coordinates to the Zeta Tube. I cough, and Kaldur takes a look at me. "Zeke, what are you doing here?"
"Well, I was going to Zeta home, but since you're going to Zeta out as well, I was wondering if you would like my help with whatever you were going to do?" I sincerely reply.
"While I do appreciate your concerns, aren't you under probation until Batman and Black Canary deem your punishment over?" Kaldur asks. Didn't he get the memo? The confusion must have appeared on my face because Kaldur asks "Did I say something wrong?"
I wince. "Black Canary has been deemed unfit for her role as my primary therapist once it turns out that she doesn't have training in dealing with special needs such as autism, which I have. Add her on the spot therapy session at Nelson's funeral and the decision for Guy Gardner taking over as my primary therapist starting the next session was swiftly agreed to."
That meeting turned into a shitshow. After everyone accepted appropriate amounts of blame, we all came to the agreement that Guy Gardener be brought into the know about me in addition to taking over my therapy sessions. He took the whole 'fictional in another universe' thing surprisingly well, until the Omnitrix scanned him and revealed he was half human, with the ring and alcohol suppressing his alien DNA from manifesting. That turned into another shitshow, which resulted in me being ordered to go over every detail I can recall, no matter how insignificant, minor or stupid.
"I didn't know you were autistic." Kaldur confesses.
"It's not something I advertise." I admit. "I don't really want people treating me differently just because of a quirk of genetics making me different from others in how I do things, such as dealing with friends. And before you ask, I'm not using it as an excuse for my three counts of excessive brutality. It's a partial explanation for what caused them, not an excuse." I inject all the honesty I can to get Kaldur to understand that last fact, which he does given the nod he makes.
"I see." Suddenly, Kaldur realizes what I said. "Wait, three counts of excessive brutality? I only know of Kadabra and Psimon."
"Do yourself a favor and look up 'Xenowulf mauls Mr. Bliss' in your free time." That bastard (and I'm being charitable here) was a narcissist with pathokinesis. What did he expect when I learned that he used his abilities to not only press gang his fellow circus performers turned metahumans into crime, but to have nonconsensual romances with the sole female member? For me to go easy on him?
Bringing up those memories understandably makes me a bit irritable. "Now, am I allowed in or not? We can talk about my personal life later."
"I could use the backup." Kal-no, Aqualad admits.
"Sweet." I then run to the changing room, quickly change into my Chimera uniform, set the SIM card on my phone assigned to my civilian identity to Do Not Disturb, and run back to Aqualad, who fires up the Zeta tube and we both step in.
Taipei
September 7th, 2010 20:34 TST
Ah, Taipei. Home of many things, including the Rhelasian Peace Summit, one infuriating bald narcissistic scientist and businessman who's called in as a mediator, and a red clad archer possibly permanently stuck in that 'edgy lone wolf' phase most teens have.
Unfortunately, Aqualad and I aren't here to see the sights, we're here to pull a James Bond and save the Rhelasian Peace Summit from a ninja with an obsession with Alice in Wonderland and the world's greatest and deadliest martial artist, Lady fucking Shiva herself.
Needless to say, both Aqualad and I are in for a tough day. Or is it night? Whatever. Humming the James Bond theme, I dial in Fastcat, transform, grab Aqualad in a bridal carry, pull up the address of the hotel on my phone and we head into the lobby.
We reach the hotel and I set Aqualad down before I detransform. I then check to see if the translator is on before I walk up to the receptionist and I tell her "Hi, I'm The Chimera and this is my friend Aqualad. We were invited by Red Arrow to provide additional security for Lex Luthor. Can you help us get to them?"
The receptionist looks flustered, checks something on the computer and tells us "Lex Luthor is on the penthouse floor. You'll need these keycards to head up." She gives us two keycards. I thank her and we head to the elevator and we swipe the keycards to get to the penthouse.
As the door opens, I see Red Arrow with his arms crossed staring at Lex Luthor, a brunette woman in a badass suit (Mercy Graves, most likely), and a twenty something young man with brown hair in a black suit with a red tie.
"The League of Shadows wants you dead." Red Arrow oh so helpfully reminds everybody.
"Doesn't every League?" Lex Luthor snarks.
"It's not just Cheshire. Lady Shiva and Ra's al Ghul himself wants your head on a platter." Red Arrow reiterates.
As Mercy puts on Luthor's jacket, the young man replies in a somewhat dull tone "It makes sense. Ra's al Ghul was always opposed to my mentor's humanitarian efforts. The League of Shadows wants war, as war equals profit." Mentor? Ah. This must be Sebastien Mallory, Lex Luthor's protégé and Jimmy Olson's arch-nemesis.
I then cough, attracting everyone's attention. "We can debate over what Luthor wants from the Peace Summit later. The important thing is to ensure that it goes smoothly in the first place."
Luthor glares at me. "Clearly, Chimera here has the right idea. We'll increase security, though, if the Shadows think you're dead Red Arrow, maybe we could surprise them."
Aqualad voices his thoughts. "I fail to see how we can surprise them. They have Lady Shiva as part of the assasination attempt. She has no superior when it comes to close quarters combat."
I continue from Aqualad. "However, since I'm here, I should be able to piss off Shiva enough to get her to focus on me. Or she could decide that fighting me isn't within her abilities and she'll leave. Either way, I should be enough of a counter against Shiva."
Both of my superheroic cohorts think about this. "It should work." Aqualad admits. "Shiva prefers to fight purely normal humans or weak superhumans. She might retreat when confronted with Chimera."
"So it's settled then." Sebastien states with absolute certainty. "Chimera, Aqualad and Red Arrow will deal with whatever surprises the Shadows have in store for the peace summit."
Once everything's settled, Aqualad puts on his swimmer's jacket and we head upstairs to the conference hall. The hall itself looks fitting for the occasion: A long rectangular table in front of green felt covered stairs where security surrounds it in such a way that the only plan of attack is a straight line from the windows to the table. The room is decorated with giant golden statues depicting notable historical figures from Taiwanese history, and a flood of reporters are flashing their cameras at the table, excited to catch a glimpse at the man who reunited Rhelasia.
Which makes my job easier, as I move to face the table, back touching one of the statues. Aqualad moves into the crowd, easily blending in. With that done, we wait.
While waiting, I manage to overhear a news report. "This is Cat Grant from GBS, reporting to you live from the Rhelasian Peace Summit. With South Rhelasian Prime Minister Tseng Dangun and North Rhelasian General Singh Manh Li in the same room, tensions run high as they struggle to reunify their people. If they fail to do so, then their two countries will go into all out war by tomorrow. To prevent such an action, they have called upon Lex Luthor as a mediator to help them come to an agreement. But with assassins looming on the horizon, can the two leaders reunite their countries or will there be all out war?"
Huh, a good summary. With the news report done, I stand by the statue, waiting for politics to begin. The summit starts off simple enough. Luthor leads the two into discussing what they want, and he tries to talk them down so that they can calmly discuss reunification. Unfortunately, what North Rhelasia and South Rhelasia want are two different things, and this escalates into a shouting match that lasts for what feels like hours before being ended by Lex Luthor.
"Reunification is unthinkable!" Dangun shouts.
"Our peoples no longer have anything in common!" Mahn Li shouts back.
"Gentlemen," Luthor calmly, "This is mere rhetoric. Despite your differences, you still share an appreciation for many things, such as the exquisite art of the Rhelasian tea ceremony." Oh, sweet, we have tea. As much as I like to join, I'm on guard duty here. But more importantly, what better way to destroy the Rhelasian Peace Summit than by sneaking up to the two leaders via the old 'disguise as somebody beneath suspicion' trick? I look around and I see a-what do they call those ladies dressed in kimono with white face paint? Geisha?
Aqualad and I walk up to the geisha, clearly in sync as to who this is. Cheshire. After all, Shiva's in her thirties or forties and the Geisha's younger, either late teens or early twenties. We step in front of her and Aqualad announces "That is far enough, Cheshire ." while I load up Oceania and lock him in.
Gasps are heard all around the room while Cheshire glares, Red Arrow loads up an arrow, and I push the Omnitrix core down. Cheshire pushes a hidden button on the cart, and Aqualad makes all the drinks flow upwards, I generate some water, and a double layered water barrier is created through the combined efforts of Aqualad and Oceania. Red Arrow shoots an arrow at the cart, and the cart explodes, destroying the barrier as it does so.
Thanks to our combined efforts, the explosion, while damaging the room and breaking the windows, doesn't manage to severely harm or kill anybody. I detransform, panting, to get ready for Shiva's arrival.
We all jump over the fallen statues (Thank Baker that being a superhero requires a strict training regimen. I wouldn't be able to jump over them had I been in the same shape as I got here.) and get ready to fight. Red Arrow draws his bow, Aqualad readies his water bearers, and I circle through the Omnitrix's selection menu, planning on choosing Solarion, only to see a humanoid pterodactyl head suddenly appear. A Pturbosaurian. Starsenal. Bingo. I smirk and I select the Pturbosaurian, and the Omnitrix core pops up.
"It's over, Cheshire." Red Arrow growls, tempting fate. Why must people tempt fate? It never ends well for them, no matter the circumstances.
"You would think so." Lo and behold, a helicopter comes in and a slender yet tall brown eyed asian woman with black hair and lipstick wearing a trechcoat over a sensible yet form fitting red uniform walks in, surrounded by mooks who rush in. Lady Shiva.
The Police chief yells "Stop the assassins! only for me to yell "Whatever you do, DO NOT GET INTO MELEE RANGE of the older unmasked assassin. You will die." And with that warning given, I push the core down.
I feel my digestive system shift into what can be best described as a food and water powered particle accelerator, I lose all hair on my body, my head shifts into what can be best described as a pterodactyl head, my feet and hands turn into claws, vents grow on the top my hands, my skin becomes rubbery and a jetpack and wings grow out of my back. My clothes shift into a green and black pilot jumpsuit, perfectly tailored for me with holes in the back for my jetpack and wings. With the transformation complete, I yell out "Starsenal!"
I float up into the air, fire a laser from my mouth at one of the sprinklers and yell out "Aqualad, we need crowd control, now!" before I squawk. Can't control those instincts, I guess.
The sprinklers all activate, one by one, flooding the room. Aqualad gathers the water and forms it into a snake which moves in a way that takes out the foot soldiers. Before it knocks out Shiva though, Cheshire jumps in and throws a smoke bomb, destroying the construct before Cheshire throws a dozen shuriken, which all hit Aqualad despite my best efforts. Aqualad collapses, and I yell out "Man down!" before squawking.
I immediately form two flail whips from the vents on my arms and I yell out to a coughing Red Arrow "You take Cheshire, I'll take Lady Shiva!"
As I fly to some distance above Lady Shiva, I hear Red Arrow exclaim "Understandable."
I look Shiva in the eyes and I ask her "So, what makes you decide that fighting me is an exception to your rules and your sense of honor?"
Shiva glares back at me. "You are…. interesting. Your fighting style changes with your form, and you have been given training in various martial arts. I wanted to see if you would give me a fight worthy of my time."
I smirk. Or try my best at it anyway. Beaks aren't really made for smirking. "Oh, Shiva, I am more than capable of doing that. Squaaaak!"
"Indeed." Shiva smirks. "After what your team did at Santa Prisca and Biyala, I believe you are capable of more than what I expect."
I frown. "W-what? How do you know? Your cult doesn't operate in Biayla as far as I know." Yeah, I said cult. Turns out, Shiva has a cult. She doesn't like them, treating them as cannon fodder when she actually needs to use them and ignores them when she doesn't need to.
Shiva looks at me, like a predator looks at their prey. "My employers have an inside source on your team. Not you or your leader, of course- they're not that good- but they were quite kind enough to inform me of the particulars of Biyala."
I glare. This is going to need further discreet investigation. Anyone could have been flipped, and I need to make sure to isolate the mole.
Now, should I repay Shiva in kind by revealing I know about her daughter? Thinking about it some more, I decided against it. Chances are that Cassandra doesn't exist, which is supported by a complete lack of records for a 'Cassandra Cain'. But then again, the League of Assassins are involved. They more than likely unpersoned her from all government records, which isn't too hard for a shadow organization. I should get Hal to check for her. You can fool many things, but not a Lantern ring. There's also the matter of pissing off Shiva, and doing that is suicidal. With that in mind, I doubled down on not taunting Shiva at all.
I move the whips towards Shiva, only for her to block them with her sword, which is impressive, because my whips are made of solid plasma contained by a growing and stretching magnetic field.
I fire some lasers at her and Shiva moves her sword as if she's cutting them in half. Much to my amazement, the lasers just bounce off the sword and move into my direction. If it weren't for her teaching methods and her idea of a final exam, I would ask her to teach me that.
I change my flail whips into kamas, and I move closer. Shiva blocks my attempts at stabbing her, which I expected. With her face exposed, I charge up a laser from my mouth, only for Shiva to kick me in the knee. I cut off the beam and I decide to generate a shockwave from my jetpack. It works, and Shiva briefly staggers to the ground.
Seeing that there's no point in trying to continue fighting her at what can be generously described as close range, I shoot a laser around Shiva, hoping to make Shiva fall into the floor below.
It works. The floor underneath Shiva collapses, and I hear her bones break. I then turn to the conference. "How long was the fall?" I ask out of concern.
"23 feet. She'll survive, but she'll need months of rest and recuperation unless Ra's decides to throw her into the Lazarus pit." Red Arrow notes, preparing to shoot Cheshire. "But couldn't you have just done anything else to her?"
"I tried!" I exclaim in annoyance, squawking as I do so. "She managed to counteract my every move! It's as if-wait, hold on." I fire a blast at Cheshire, knocking her unconscious. "It's as if she knew how to counteract my every move! Which is worrying, since I only got Starsenal a few minutes ago." I blink, and then it hits me. Shiva has a body reading ability that Cassandra Cain has as well. How it worked with Starsenal in spite of a Pturbosaurian having radically different body language compared to a human is something I am curious about.
"If you had Starsenal for a few minutes, then how did you come up with a name immediately? Better question, how did you know how to use his powers?" Red Arrow questions.
"I have a list of names for several forms, and I browsed through the Omnitrix's databases to get a handle on my forms when I unlock them." Which is true, if you ignore the whole 'I watched the Saturday morning cartoon the Omnitrix came from' bit. "Now, let's get Aqualad medical attention."
I take the discus out of Aqualad's body and I grab him with my feet. "Y'know what, I'm curious as to how this happened. Shiva is fully aware of my powers and abilities, yet she still fought me. Maybe she got a bunch of mooks with specialized Anti-me weaponry?"
"Sounds likely." Red Arrow grumbles, and I fly over to one of the unconscious mooks.
I grab one of the high tech rifles with my hands. "Omnitrix, scan the rifle I'm holding."
"The weapon is a rifle, mass produced in a small quantity. It is designed to hold dozens of ammunition types, all of which are specialized to counteract the unlocked samples of the Omnitrix. Records from both the Justice League and the CCPD show that it is based off of the rifle of a criminal known as The Plunderer. "
I chuckle-squawk, nodding my head from left to right. "No wonder why the assassination attempt crashed and burned. They over-prepared for me. You just don't do that. "
Red Arrow glances at me curiously. "Why not?"
"The Omnitrix has various safeguards dedicated to preserving my life. As a result, this assassination attempt more than guaranteed that I would be getting a new alien." I put the rifle down and I flew over the fallen statues.
Mahn Li and Dangun walk up to me. Mahn Li speaks up first."Thank you for saving our lives!"
"How could we possibly repay you?" Dangun asks. I glance over at Luthor and I see him give me a murderous glare. Damn, I'm gonna have to be on the lookout for assassins in my own city later, no thanks to a combination of his jealousy at what I'm about to do and Shiva's cult probably getting revenge.
"Well, you could reunify your countries. It's what I came here to do, and I'll be damned if I leave without it happening." I sincerly reply.
"Of course. We'll have to discuss the specifics of it, though." Dangun notes.
"That's why you have Lex Luthor to help with the Peace Summit. He is in truth, much more skilled at this than I am." Looking over at Luthor, I see that he's… angrily smirking at me? Best to keep him happy.
"That is acceptable. Come Dangun, we have to discuss reunification." Mahn Li reminds his partner.
"Well, now that that's over with, Omnitrix, mind scanning Aqualad for the chemical formula of whatever's affecting him?"
I hit the Omnitrix to turn into CheMystery, and I see the chemical formula for Tetrodotoxin. A few seconds later, I create a quick acting antidote for it, and I spray Aqualad with it. He stands up, and looks at us before smiling.
"Nice work." Aqualad compliments me.
"Eh, I did my best. You shouldn't be complimenting me, when we have so much to discuss back at base that we can't talk about in private. Operational security and all that jazz." I nod."I see. I'll wait to ask for details until we're at base." Thank god Aqualad understands that.
We decided to stick around for a few minutes and see the peace treaty signed. Lex, surprisingly, manages to hammer out what each country wants from the other, and he even manages to get the two to agree on financial guidance and aid from LexCorp.
As the deal is finalized, I overhear Red Arrow grumble "Can't believe we just did a solid for Lex Luthor."
"I feel you, Red. We wanted what's best and we had to save a devil to get it. It's a real Catch-22." I responded.
"Remember, we didn't do it for Luthor, we did it for peace. Beyond that, if Ra's and the League of Shadows wanted to sabotage the Summit, the signing of the peace treaty renders their contract moot. It is over." Kaldur states with finality.
Once we reach the outside, away from prying eyes and ears, Red Arrow asks "Is it? I heard what Shiva said. Do you really think that there's a mole on your team?"
Aqualad and I look at each other. "We cannot rule out the possibility. We'll investigate, quietly."
"After telling Batman, of course." I remind Aqualad. "He'll find out sooner or later, and it's best we make it 'sooner'. Not to mention, there's Shiva just lying about the whole thing. Psychological warfare isn't really her preferred choice of combat, but I wouldn't put it past the Shadows to do so. And there's the possibility that the mole is more likely somebody who knows about the team rather than being on the team. I doubt anyone on the team would betray each other willingly."
"Seriously, you're trusting your teammates despite you only knowing them for months?" Red Arrow sneers at me.
"Well, we're all broken and damaged people. I'm not joking when I say that Kid Flash is tied with Aqualad over who has the most stable upbringing out of all of us, and yes, I'm including myself."
Red Arrow and Aqualad blink, surprised that I don't consider my upbringing stable. Finally, Red Arrow rubs his forehead. "I'm… not gonna get into that right now." He walks away from us. "Good luck on your mole hunt."
"One moment, my friend." Aqualad asks, and Red Arrow pauses. "Tonight, you could have called Green Arrow for help or the Justice League. Instead, your first instinct was to call the Cave."
"You're right. The Team deserves… has my respect. I'm still getting used to this solo act stuff. But if you need me, I'll be there." Red Arrow-no, Roy - offers his hand, and Aqualad and I shake it, the first branch in the reunification of Red Arrow and the team.
As we part our separate ways, Kaldur and I begin discussion. "The League of Shadows have their contract rendered moot, but I cannot help but ask who hired them." Kaldur ponders.
"Probably Lex Luthor under an alias. Reunifying Rhelasia in spite of assassins would boost his public reputation, and with it, his ego. Or maybe some people who wanted to keep Rhelasia separated out of a blind following of 'tradition' or something similar to that." I sincerely reply.
"Either of those possibilities are plausible, but we cannot figure out who it is at the time until we investigate." Kaldur informs me.
I grumble. "Don't remind me."
We discuss some more on the reunification and our thoughts on it, until we reach the Zeta Tube. I punch in the destination and we walk into the Zeta Tube.
Mount Justice
September 7th, 2010 17:53 EDT
Kaldur and I walk into the mission room. It's quiet, which means that either Me-M'gann (we're in the Cave, it's secure against outside telepathy) and Connor aren't here, or they're most likely in the kitchen planning out purchasing school supplies. As Kaldur starts work on the computer, I walk over to the kitchen and who do I see? Connor and M'gann. What's curious is that M'gann's still in her human form, the only changes I note being M'gann's wet hair and her wearing Connor's jacket.
I blink before dully asking "I'm guessing you had an interesting day today."
"Yeah!" M'gann exclaims cheerfully. "I made it onto the cheerleading team!"
I clap my hands. "I'm glad to hear it. Still, while I don't know the specifics of what cheerleading is like, being a guy and all who never went to a football game, be prepared to work yourself to the bone." Wait, do Martians even have bones or are they just one telepathic amorphous biological mass? It's something that I should know given Mindburner, but I can't recall that fact for the life of me.
"Really?" Connor raises an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Cheerleading is more than just rallying support for the sports teams. It has acrobatics involved. I recall back when I was yo- in high school," I reminisce, "my school's cheerleading team made human pyramids where they put one cheerleader at the top, before throwing them in the air and catching them as they landed on the top of the pyramid. I think. I can't remember exactly. It was during a school assembly and most of the students- including me - didn't pay attention to those. Hell, I started bringing books to read during the assemblies after a while."
"They can't be that bad." M'gann tries to defend them.
"The entirety of the auditorium booed the current freshmen acting their play out on stage because they sucked very badly. I wasn't even paying attention to the play, I was reading a book during it but I joined in. It wasn't even a normal play, it was celebrating the last football game of the school year played between my high school and our rival high school."
"That seems… harsh." Connor points out.
I tsk. "It may seem harsh, but if you had actually attended my high school, it would be business as usual. The most modern building in the school was the arts building (not that I'm complaining, I took an applied tech class and some photography classes there), we lost locker privileges permanently in my sophomore year, the bathrooms kept closing down to the point that the boys only had two at most out of five per semester, there were two murders of students by students due to racial tensions before I was born , and there was a lockdown due to a fight while I was attending with news of said fight going national at a minimum ."
M'gann and Connor blink. "I don't recall there being a high school fight that made it to national news recently." M'gann speaks slowly.
I look at M'gann like she said the sky was plaid. "M'gann, the fight happened years ago in my original universe."
M'gann facepalms. "I can't believe I forgot you were in college when you came to this universe."
Connor looks at me expectantly. "I have to ask this: Why did you keep attending that high school given all the bad things that happened there?"
I shrug. "Honestly, it was the best option I had out of the three high schools in the district. I didn't want to go there at first, but given the fact that the school I wanted to go to required me to have a 3.0 GPA-which I didn't have, Math was always my weakest subject, to the point that I was proud for just passing a test- and the fact that the other high schools that would accept me were far enough that travel would be a hassle at best and a nightmare at worst made it the best option by default."
The fact that it had the most AP classes in the district, technically making it more academically attractive than the magnet high school-the same high school I wanted to attend-goes unmentioned. I went to the one I attended for the convenience, not the challenge.
"Do you have any good stories from your high school during your time attending it?" M'gann asks.
"I have loads. In fact, I'll tell you one story before I head out. It's a short and simple one. Very short, actually. Want to hear it?"
"Go for it." Connor tells me.
"It was just over a year ago. I was the TA for an AP English class taught by my English teacher who was bringing up titles of young adult books, asking her students if they read them. She announces 'Ender's Game', and I stop stapling the papers she gave me to look up and raise my hand, only to get her laughter. I look around and I see nobody else raise their hands, so I promptly berate the AP students for not reading the book before I went back to stapling papers. That's it, end of story."
Connor hesitatingly speaks up. "That's more of an anecdote than a story."
"Ah. Duly noted. Besides that, what do you think?" I ask.
"It was amusing, but I have to ask: What's Ender's Game?" M'gann asks. Connor and I turn to glare at her.
"Only one of the best books decrying child soldiers as a military practice by brutally showing the side effects of turning a kid into humanity's best hope against an alien invasion: a traumatized mess. The exact moral is lost on me, but that's the gist of the story." I informed M'gann. Baker, do I need to reread the book again. Thank fuck that the book went mostly unchanged somehow.
"Okay, I get it." M'gann raises her hands. "It's a book so good you'd swear your honor on it."
"Pretty much." Connor tells her.
"Anyways, I'm gonna get going. I have some stuff I want to do, and it's in Coast City."
"Bye, Zeke." M'gann sadly says goodbye.
"Bye." Connor bluntly tells me. Man, Connor needs to work on emoting.
With that done, I deactivate Do Not Disturb on my civilian SIM card and I open the messaging app, opening a DM with Batman.
Private Message with Bruce
Me: Hey, Shiva told me that there's a mole on the Team. While I cannot rule the possibility out (for obvious reasons), I doubt the mole-if there is one- is on the Team, merely aware of it. Kaldur and I are gonna start investigating it ourselves, but I'm informing you now to make sure you know about it.
Bruce: Noted.
Me: I'm also getting Hal to search for Shiva's daughter. Best to get her out of that nightmare of a family situation ASAP and chuck her into therapy.
Next, I open up my chat with the Lanterns. Best to have one of them to hunt down Cassandra Cain and get Bruce to adopt her.
Private Message with Hal
Me: Hey, can you do a planet wide scan for the biological daughter of Lady Shiva and David Cain and get a League raid? And it has to be the kid of both Shiva and Cain.
Hal: Sure. It shouldn't take long, but can I ask why?
Me: In order from most to least important: To make her happy, accelerate her being a superhero by years and to fuck with both Shiva and Cain.
Hal: Ah. Gimme a moment.
I wait a few moments before I see Hal reply.
Hal: Got the info, she's in a bunker somewhere in the Paracel Islands in the South Chinese Sea. I'm proposing a League raid via the 'Black Files'.
Me: Make sure you check daily. If she's eight years old right now, chances are she's gonna run away from her 'home' any day now. I don't need to tell you why, it's in the Black Files.
Ah, the 'Black Files'. Code for 'Chimera's metaknowledge', it's accessible only to the people cleared to know about me, and editable only with certain codes. This being very valuable knowledge, they're accessible via Batcave only, and even then, it's after intensive scans to make sure you're not compromised mentally or if somebody's impersonating one of the founders. They're locked down nearly as tight as Batman's contingencies that he denies the existence of.
I put my phone away and I walk to the locker room. Opening my locker, I take off my Chimera uniform and I change into my 'I'm not the Chimera' clothes. (Note to self: figure out a way to use the Omnitrix's nanotech to instantly change my clothes. This is getting ridiculous.)
I then grab my phone and I decide to text Jessica. It's about 3 PM back in Coast City, so she should be awake right now.
Me: Hey, you up?
Jessica Cruz: Yeah, y do u ask?
Me: Is it okay if I talk to you about my day today? I had a bit of a crazy day at work and I need to vent to somebody not on the job, y'know?
Jessica Cruz: Sure. U can meet me at the Sundollar we met at, preferably within the hour if work lets you. Let me know and I'll let my folks know.
Me: Fortunately, I choose most of my hours. I'll join you within the hour. :)
Jessica Cruz: …. y is that smile so ominous?
Me: I don't know.
Smiling, I put my phone in my pocket. I enjoy my friendship with Jessica. It's enjoyable to have somebody who clicks with you even if they aren't a superhero themselves. Yet.
I then frown. The fact that Jessica and I click based on our hang ups with lost friends and family makes it somewhat concerning.
I shake off that thought and I head to the Zeta Tube, eager to spend a good chunk of time, possibly the rest of the day, with Jessica. (It's just before her superhero career, she's still a shutin due to trauma and PTSD, usually going out to see a therapist and just that. Apparently, the coffee shop meeting I had with her was a bimonthly [once every two months, not twice a month] exception. I can only hope that I can find the people who killed her friends and arrest them before she gets a Lantern Ring without the no-kill rule.)
I punch in the coordinates to the Coast City Zeta Tube, and I say my goodbyes to Kaldur.
Coast City, Oregon
September 7th, 2010 15:06 PDT
I looked around the alleyway, glad to see that nobody saw me enter. Which reminds me, I have to ask Zatara if he put a perception filter over the Zeta Tubes. It makes a lot more sense than merely supernaturally good luck.
Walking out of the alley, I grab my phone and I punch in the address for the Sundollars we met at. A short walk later, I see Jessica with a younger girl that looks a lot like her, just shorter by a few inches and with brown hair instead of black. Sara Cruz, perhaps?
I walk up to them and I say "Hello there, you must be Jessica's sister. I'm Ezekial Arakelian, her friend."
The younger girl looks at me and smiles. "Glad to see Jessica's making friends. As you just figured out, I'm her sister Sara." Huh, I was right on the money. "Shouldn't you be in school?" She asks me.
"Shouldn't you ?" I snarkily replied.
"They have a block schedule, so I get out at 1:50 PM. But you didn't answer my question." Sara informs me.
"I graduated from high school last year. I'm currently taking online college classes right now." Inwardly, I curse. Why is it that everyone assumes that I'm younger than I actually am? Seriously, shaving off facial hair should not do that.
"So, Zeke-do you mind if I call you Zeke?-Why were you out at Sundollars at 5 AM?" Sara asks me.
"You can call me Zeke. And as for the Sundollars-" Alright, time for the truth. Well, a part truth. "I was there because of work. I do stuff with the government-you're not cleared to know what- and I just got off from work so I decided to get something to drink from Sundollars. I met your sister, and I decided to strike up small talk with her. We exchanged phone numbers after we got our orders, and we decided to keep texting each other."
"Well, that's nice to hear, but why do you have a government job?" Sara asks cautiously. I can see why. I'm an 18 year old who mentioned having a government job with the particulars classified.
"I have a unique set of abilities that are irreplaceable, and the government agency I work for are dedicated towards using similar abilities for benevolent purposes, such as crime fighting and evacuating people from natural disasters." Sara nods. Good, I'm getting somewhere.
"What do your parents have to say about this?" Sara asks, and I see Jessica tense up. Given her look, I assume I do too. Sara looks at me oddly. "What? What did I say?"
I look her in the eye before I fidget with my hands. "My parents and I have been separated by circumstances outside of our control. They think I'm missing, if not dead, and despite the vast resources of my employers, we haven't been able to reestablish contact despite our best efforts. Fortunately, I'm emancipated, so I won't have to deal with CPS knocking down my door and forcing a family on me, but it still hurts not having a real family.?"
Sara looks almost apologetic. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I was just curious since Jessica's such a shut- in that we're lucky that she's started sneaking out and all of a sudden she made a friend one day- you- and I was worried that you were manipulating her somehow."
"I understand where you're coming from. Still, this is something I expected from Jessica's father, not her younger sister." I responded.
"Mom and Dad wanted to meet you in person, but given the suddenness of the meeting, I decided to act in their place." Sara tells me.
"Ah." I respond emotionlessly. It makes sense, parents with a traumatized daughter being overprotective. "Well, I was hoping to spend some time with Jessica, but since you're here, I suppose you can join in as well on our little chats, unless Jessica doesn't want you here."
Sara and I turn to Jessica and we both look at her expecting something. "I'm sorry Zeke, but I'd like Sara to join us."
Understandable. She doesn't trust me yet, but she wants to. "It's okay, Jessica. I understand how big of a deal I am to your family. Now, let's go order some drinks."
And so we went off to the counter to buy coffee and talk about our lives.
Taipei
September 7th, 2010 21:54 TST
Back in his penthouse suite, Lex Luthor looks over the Taipei skyline. While things haven't turned out as well as The Light hoped, they still managed to achieve their primary goal: reuniting Rhelasia.
The elevator door dings, and Ra's al Ghul walks in. "Ra's, so nice of you to join me."
Ra's al Ghul looks around the penthouse. "It was not a problem. While I detest modernity, I need to have a change of scenery every once in a while."
"Understandable. Let's get down to business, shall we?" Luthor motions to the couch and Ra's takes it as an invitation to sit down.
"What do you think about the reunification of Rhelasia?" Ra's asks, curious as to Luthor's opinion.
Luthor pours two drinks. "It could have gone better. Li and Tseng were so impressed by Chimera that they took his advice and had me mediate peace between them. I was admittedly hoping that Shiva, Cheshire and the other assassins you sent would be more than enough to handle him, but Chimera surprised us all with a new transformation before managing to defeat Shiva by cutting the floor around her."
Luthor turns away from the bar to a frowning Ra's, who strokes his chin. "There is so much about the Omnitrix that we don't know about. However, even with the failure of the secondary objective, our primary one was still a success."
"Let's put aside that thought for now." Luthor states. "We managed to ensure the reunification of Rhelasia under LexCorp's political and economic guidance."
Ra's takes the drink Luthor offers. "And thus, another corner of the world sees the Light."