Chapter 5: Secrets
Arc 1: Out of Shadows
*Disclaimer: I don't own any characters or anything Marvel-related, all I own are my OCs.
November 2009 - New York City
To say that the room felt tense would be an understatement. In the room right now, it was Cedric, his mother, his aunt, and his mother's apparent guy friend. The room was dead silent. Everybody sat on the couch just staring around awkwardly except for Cedric and his mother who happened to be staring at each other. The ride to the penthouse was dead silent the whole time. His mother didn't say anything to him. No "hey", no "happy to see you", no "I missed you", nothing but dead silence. Her guy friend would try to make conversation but would fail miserably and earn a death stare from Cedric which honestly he was lucky that it was just a stare.
"Hey guys, I'm gonna go run and go grab some food for us. Everybody cool with Chinese?" He asked standing up. He was a fairly tall bald, African American male with caramel brown skin with brown eyes with a black goatee patch. He was sporting a black pair of slim-fitting jeans with a white button-up and black loafers.
"Yes, Paul. That'll be alright," Kimberly said without lifting her gaze off of her superpowered son.
"Alright, I'll be back in about 20 minutes," Paul replied, grabbing his jacket off the coat rack behind the door and walking out of the door, closing it gently as he left.
"Well, I'm gonna go take a show-" Vanessa said as she rose up to her feet trying to leave the tense room but Kimberly cut her off.
"No, sit down. You're in trouble too." Kimberly said as Vanessa sat back down. His mom and his aunt were roughly about 4 years apart. Their dad, Cedric's grandfather, was an army general, William Harvey. He wanted so desperately for his girls to follow in his footsteps but only one chose to do so and that caused a rift between them both. But they've always had their differences that originated before that.
"You allowed him to go on this crusade and be this vigilante knowing how I feel."
"Kim, I told him-"
"No!" She shouted, making Vanessa jump. "I specifically told you that I didn't want him doing that and you allowed him to do it!"
"It's not her fault. It's mine. She told me to talk to you and I ignored it. I-"
"I don't recommend that you continue because I'm already pissed off! Now I told your ass a long time ago that I didn't want you doing that and your ass decided that you didn't wanna listen! You think you big and bad! You think you can just do whatever!" His mother shouted at him, making him frown.
"You're acting like I'm doing something wrong! I'm helping people! Why can't you just accept that? It's because of me that you're still alive! You could've died today!" He shouted standing up. His mother responded by standing up and walking towards him, slapping him across the face, making him frown. He could see tears starting to well up in her eyes. This conversation was paining her just as much as it was paining him.
"Don't you ever raise your voice at me again! I'm only trying to protect you, there are men out there who will target you because of what you can do! I want you safe! That's all I ever wanted! And it hurts me, to think that you've been keeping this a secret from me this whole time." Tears started to fall on both of their faces.
"Just like how you keep secrets from me. You won't tell me about my father, you won't tell me how I got these abilities. And you didn't trust me enough to tell me about this new guy you're dating. You talk to me about my secret but you've been keeping secrets from me the whole time." He wiped away his tears and sighed.
"I'm not dealing with this." He said as he walked towards the balcony door.
"Cedric. Cedric! Come back here!" His mother shouted as he opened the balcony door. And bolted up into the air blasting off into the sky and quickly out of sight. Kimberly's head dropped down and she started to stare down at the floor as the tears continued to fall and she began to sob. Vanessa walked toward her sister and place a hand on her sister's shoulder.
"It's gonna be alright. He's gonna come back. He just needs some time alone," Vanessa tried consoling her sister. They knew this was bound to happen eventually. It was just a matter of time.
Miles Maverick sat at his desk in his office at the Maverick Industries HQ in downtown Manhattan. Because of the success of Maverick Industries, Miles and Madison Maverick were able to live their life that they did and establish the Maverick name as one of the most powerful names in American History but that wasn't enough for Miles. Miles wanted his name to be the most powerful in World History. He wanted Power. He needed it. It was something that fueled him. So much that he drove to great lengths in order to ensure it.
Miles had an iPad in hand looking at an article online with a frown on his face. It was a blurry picture of a man flying and catching a plane.
"Dammit!" Maverick said as he slammed his fist down on his desk as he slammed the iPad down. The plane he caught, was supposed to be destroyed. There was someone on that plane that Miles wanted dead. Paul Hondo. Paul was an FBI agent who was investigating The Monarch, the criminal alter-ego of Miles. To put it lightly he was thorn in Miles' side
"He was supposed to die!" He said as he grabbed his glass of scotch that was next to him and threw it at the wall. He exhaled deeply as he then sat down in his seat and turned around to look at the picture of his father, Michael. In Miles's eyes, Michael was the devil. After Miles's mother, Michelle, passed away giving birth to Miles, Michael turned into a heartless son of a bitch who beat him.
"Look at you, you heartless son of a bitch. Funny thing is, I have you to thank. You made me this way. You made me the King of this city. Who would've thought what you created all those years ago turned into this. I single handedly turned the company you started into my billion-dollar empire. So I guess you have me to thank for creating a positive legacy for you. And to think, all these years you said I would never amount to anything, you said I would be in the ground way before I did anything good. Jokes on you, I'm the King and you're dead." Miles said as he stared at the portrait of his father. The sound of his phone ringing made him spin around in his seat and pick up his phone. He looked at the number on the screen before letting out a deep breath and answering the phone.
"What?" Miles asked with a hint of aggression in his tone. After a few second of the person on the other line talking, he sighed and spoke again.
"Meet me at Club Zero." He hung up the phone and placed it in the inside pocket of his suit jacket and rose up to his feet to walk out of his office.
Miles Maverick pulled up in an alleyway outside of his nightclub, Club Zero, driving his matte black Maserati GranTurismo. He got out of the car, closing the door behind him before walking to the door and typing in a code, unlocking the door. He entered the nightclub and walked up the steps to his office. In his office, he saw his Lieutenant Adam Pierce sitting on his couch with his feet propped up on his coffee table drinking a glass of scotch.
"Get your goddamn feet off my table." Miles scolded Adam, making him take his feet off the table, mumbling something inaudible earning a look or two from Miles. Adam was a 5'10, Caucasian male in his late 20s with dirty blonde hair and dark brown eyes. Adam and Miles's partnership started years ago when Miles started his journey as The Monarch.
Miles walked over to his desk and fixed himself a glass of scotch quickly gulping it down before setting the glass down.
"Now what's the problem?"
"There's two. For one, Paul Hondo is in town. He was supposed to die in that plane explosion but you saw it, he was stopped by the man in the sky which brings me to my second point, a lot of guys are afraid of the Black-and-Blue Blur and I'm guessing that man in the sky has some relations. So if we're gonna get back at the Dogs of Hell for ripping us off and smuggling our shit, I'm gonna need a crew."
"I got a crew for you, don't worry. I might even have a special addition to the crew. They're clones are made out of nanites, you'll need the controller for them to function, you lose that controller, you lose control. If all goes well tonight, these nanites may be the future. An army under my control. Now come with me there's something you might want to see." Miles said with a smirk as he then walked out of the office.
Cedric's feet touch down onto a green field of grass. He was in the place where his known family originated from, Silsbee, Texas. His grandfather decided to retire on a farm in Silsbee, Texas. It was a 12-acre plot of land. The plan was to have land that could be passed down generation after generation.
Retiring as a Major General did have its perks and the money that came with the job along with the retirement funds and etc was all perks.
Cedric looked around the farm with a smile on his face. He heard in the distance what sound like someone with a hammer pounding on metal. And it was coming from the barn, making Cedric turn his gaze towards the barn. He bolted towards the barn and walked through the open doors of the barn.
"I knew it was you as soon as I heard that loud crack in the sky. You flying now?" His grandfather said as he kneeled down and worked on a tractor.
"Yes sir, I finally got over my fear of heights." For the longest, Cedric was afraid of heights. Ironically it happened once he found out he could fly and jump to unimaginable heights at the age of 13. Cedric looked his grandfather up and down, taking a look at the 66-year-old man. His grandfather had to be around 6'1 and was built with a bit of a beer gut and had a head full of gray.
"I'm glad." His grandfather stood up, throwing his hammer off to the side, and turned around to get a look at his grandson. He walked towards his grandson with his arms stretched out. "I haven't seen you in a while, How have you been? You look good." He said as he wrapped his arms around his grandson with a smile on his face.
"I've been good." Cedric hugged his grandfather back with a smile on his face. His grandfather pulled away and led him to a set of stools he had at a worker's desk set with tools. Both men took a seat and began to continue their conversation.
"I saw you saved that plane earlier."
"Yes sir, I did. Although doing that made mom scold me."
"She did. Why?"
"She says that she was protecting me. She doesn't get it. I use my abilities to help people, to save lives. She's acting like I use them to terrorize people or to my advantage. I'm just trying to make a difference."
"Your mother is only doing a job. I know how much you want to help and you can, you just have to find a common ground that you two can agree on. One thing is for sure, you can be one of the world's greatest heroes or you can be a mild-mannered citizen but the only person who can decide on that and write your story is , you, Cedric. I know you will change the world." Cedric looked down at the ground with a small smile on his face. His grandfather was always a believer in him. Since the beginning, he always believe that Cedric could change the world and possibly make the world a much better place. He believed that he could have an effect as strong as Captain America or better.
"Can I ask you something else?"
"Sure."
"You and grandma, how'd you decide that she was the one?"
"Before I met your grandmother, I was a mess. Growing up my dad wasn't really home, just like me, he was in the army. My mom didn't have time to truly raise me like she should have, she was always at work trying to make sure that we had food on the table. I wasn't the best person. I was a rebel. I did a lot of shit just to try to get their attention and it never truly worked. But when I met your grandmother, she gave me that attention that I craved. She made me believe that I could be a better person. She showed me that I wasn't a bad man, just a misunderstood man. She gave me hope. She gave me a home when I never could find one. And when we turned 18, we got married and I joined the army but I swore not to be like my father. You having lady troubles?"
"Something like that. I met this girl Mikayla on the train when I first got to New York. She's beautiful, kind. I'm just afraid of the idea of her rejecting me because of who I truly am. And then there's Nancy, she's smart, independent but I get a weird feeling from her. I feel like she's hiding something like she's not who she says she is. But the thing is neither one of them are her." William sighed as he shook his head.
"Anything else I should know?"
"Well I've been dating Nancy for about a week now and last night we actually did something together and I have a date with Mikayla on Friday."
"Well son, the only thing I can recommend is to pick the one who can accept you for who you are. Pick someone who makes you a better man, who can make you happy in life. Somebody who loves you for the man that you are, not what you are. I know they're not Ms. Rose but they're all you got right now."
"Thanks, grandpa. You've always believed in me." Cedric said standing up.
"It's because you've always shown me the impossible." His grandfather said as he slowly rose up to his feet. "You got enough time to enjoy a cup of coffee with your grandmother and me?" He said as he placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I can make time," He said with a small smile.
"Alright, let's go. She's gonna be so excited to see you." His grandfather smiled as he started to lead the way to the house.
Miles Maverick and Adam Pierce walked through an underground facility that seemingly was well funded and owned by Miles or at least Maverick Industries. As he passed through, Adam could see several scientists and engineers working on various projects.
They arrived at a metal door with the initials Ra on the door. Miles walked to a number pad on the side of the door and typed in a number and stepped back.
"What you are about to see is strictly confidential. The only men who know of the contents in the room are me and Dr. Grey and now you." Miles said right before he walked into a room with plain silver metallic walls with a pod set in the middle of the room. Inside that pod was a black man floating inside a pod that had a liquid. The body was missing a few limbs and was badly scarred and burned.
"Who is he?" Adam asked, looking at the body with a frown on his face.
"Cade, I think. Doesn't matter whoever he is, he's going to help me rule." Miles said looking on with a smirk as he pointed to one of the walls as the panel of the wall slowly went down into the ground showing a metallic robotic body.
"What's that for?" Adam asked, pointing to the robotic body.
"His body is a former shell of itself. But if I can give him a new body with a power source strong enough to source the body with enough power to rival Stark's Reactor then there is no stopping him."
"So a one-man army. What happens if he gets other ideas and wants to rule for himself?"
"He won't but if he does, I have the killswitch located directly in a part of that body that he won't be able to find."
Adam was about to say something but he heard his phone ring making him frown as he pulled his phone out of his pocket, looked at the screen, and swiped right answering the phone.
"What is it?" There was a few seconds of silence making Miles look at Adam with a confused frown.
"Alright, keep him there. I'm on my way." Adam then hung the phone up and placed it back into his pocket.
"What's going on?
"They've got Hondo. I'm gonna go interrogate him."
"I'll go with you. It's time The Monarch makes an appearance." Miles turned around and started to walk out of the lab. Adam gave one final look at the body floating in the pod and followed suit after Miles.
The sun was down and it was now night time as Cedric sat at the table with his grandfather and his grandmother laughing as his grandparents told him stories about his mother and her siblings. His grandmother was a beautiful woman in her 60s with a head of salt and pepper hair with caramel brown skin.
"Your mother was something serious. I remember her 13th birthday, she demanded we stop calling her Kiki and we call her Kim." William said, making Cedric chuckle as he took a sip of the coffee.
"Yeah, they'll never be another like her again." His grandmother, Claire, commented.
"No, there won't."
"It's nice to see you, is there any woman keeping you company?"
"It's complicated, grandma."
"Yeah, Cedric here is a bit of a chick magnet as they used to say back in the day." William took a sip of his coffee as Cedric chuckled.
"Be careful. Women can be dangerous."
"Yep, your grandmother can tell you all about that," William said, making Claire give him a look.
"Grandma, you used to be a little dangerous back in the day," Cedric joked as he looked at his grandmother with an amused smile.
"Baby, don't pay no attention to what your granddad is saying. That was the old Claire Young," his grandmother said making Cedric and William chuckle.
"Can I ask you both something?" Cedric asked as he looked down at his hand with a hint of nervousness in his voice. Claire could see this and placed a hand on her grandson's hand trying to perhaps calm his nerves.
"You can ask us son, whatever it is," William said as he placed a hand on his shoulder.
"It's about my father. I don't know who he is and mom won't tell me anything about him. I don't know if she's trying to protect me from him for some odd reason but I want to know about him. I think I deserve to at least know about my father," Cedric said earning a sigh from his grandfather.
"Your father was a good man son. I only knew him for a short span of time but in that time, I saw the good in his heart. And that same goodness I saw in him is the same goodness I see in you," William said as he gently squeezed his grandson's shoulder.
"It's just like your grandfather said you're so much like him in many different ways. Once the truth about him comes out, you must be prepared for all of it because once it's out, it can't go back in," Claire said as she gently squeezed his hand. Cedric was about to say something but his phone rang making him pull his phone out of his pocket and look at the screen seeing it was his mother, making him roll his eyes before answering the phone.
"Hello," Cedric said on the phone before his mother began talking.
"Hello son, I wanted to apologize for everything. I was wrong. I tried to hide the world from you but I was really hiding you from the world. You were always destined to be someone that inspired hope. Something that inspires hope and strives to seek truth and justice. I knew it since the day you were born and your father knew it also. I never talked about him growing up because it pained me to know that you would be growing up without him or his guidance. You and your father share a lot of similarities and you'll learn them. Tell your grandparents, I said hello and tell your grandfather to give you the gem that I had hidden. It will take you to a place where you can learn about who you are, what you are and learn of your true heritage," listening to the words his mother spoke brought a frown of confusion on his face, especially that last part speaking of what he is and his "heritage".
"I love you son and I always have and I always will."
"I love you too mom. And I'm sorry for raising my voice earlier."
"It's okay, just make sure it never happens again. Just because you have super strength doesn't mean mama won't whoop your ass. Bye son," She said.
"Bye mom," He said chuckling before he hung up the phone. He sat his phone back down and looked at his grandparents.
"Mom told me to say hello to you guys," he turned his attention over to his grandfather and spoke, "And mom said something about a gem."
William took a deep breath and stood up and walked over to the fridge. He reached up, opening the cabinets above the fridge to retrieve a wooden box.
"We lined this box with lead, lead has minerals that block the use of x-ray vision. Son once you open this box, there's no turning back. You'll look at everything differently, you'll look at everyone differently," William warned as he placed the box in front of Cedric.
The warning told by his grandfather did have some effect on Cedric but at the same time, it wasn't enough to cure his curiosity. He needed to know about his father. He needed to know about who he was and what he was.
Cedric reached for the box and ran his hand across the top of the wooden box as the eyes of Claire and William set upon their grandson.
He took a deep breath, letting out a sigh of relief as he opened the box, revealing a bright blue crystal. Cedric reached down in the box and grabbed a hold of the crystal that started to radiate with bright blue energy.
"That crystal was given to your mother by your father. He said that when the time was right, it'd lead you to a place where you can learn of him," Claire said as Cedric stood up with Claire and William following him up to their feet.
"Well, I guess it's time we let you go and find out who you are," William said as he walked towards Cedric patting him on the back. William gave Cedric another hug, holding onto him tight. Once William pulled away from Cedric, Cedric walked over to Claire and gave her a hug. Claire held him tight and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"You be good, now. Don't make it months before you fly over here again"
"Yes, ma'am. I won't." He said with a smile as he pulled away from his grandmother. He walked towards the door and pulled the door open, looking back to take another glance at his grandparents who gave him a smile. He closed the door behind himself and walked off the porch to stand on the dirt road. He kneeled down feeling some of the specs of dirt slowly start to levitate around him. He looked up and the sky and bolted up in the air leaving a sonic boom as he flew off.
Cedric floated near the Andes' mountain range with a frown. The crystal led him to Argentina, the province of Mendoza to be exact. He didn't know why he had to travel to Argentina to learn about his father but he did and he was gonna do whatever it took to learn about him.
He held the crystal up in the air, seeing the crystal glow and radiate with energy. Suddenly the crystal started to spin around as it almost made a hum-like noise making Cedric look at it with a confused frown on his face. He released the crystal from his grip and watched in amazement as it floated up in the air much like he did and floated away. Cedric followed suit as the crystal floated in front of what looked like a hidden panel in the Aconcagua mountain. There was a hole in the panel that was seemingly shaped exactly like the crystal.
He gently pushed the crystal forward allowing it to match into the slot. The crystal set into it's slot and started to glow a bright, blinding light that made Cedric shield his eyes. When the light faded away, he uncovered his eyes to reveal a door made from the mountain with the same mark as the 8-point star emblem that he wore around his neck but in the center of this emblem was a hand-print.
Almost instinctively Cedric placed his hand in the center of the hand-print causing the door to lift up giving him the opportunity to walk through if he wanted to.
This was it. This was everything that he wanted just in front of him if he was willing to take it. The only thing he needed to do was walk through and actually go and accept it.
Cedric took a deep breath and walked through the door into a hallway. The mountain itself used to be a volcano but wasn't active anymore and that might be the reason that the volcano seemed to be cold. The walls of the volcano were seemingly lined with valuable gems that miners would deem valuable.
Once he reached the end of the hallway, he looked around noticing the open space that he had. The first thing that caught his attention was a 8-point star computer-like set up in the center of the room with a opening for a on object shaped like the 8-point star emblem that he'd seen before. He dashed towards the kiosk looking at it with a confused frown on his face.
He ran his hands over the slot, examining it for any clues on what would suffice as a key of some sorts. He placed his hand on the object around his neck feeling the grooves on his father's necklace. He ripped the charm from around his neck examining it, seeing the shape of the object. He held the charm over the slot, trying to perhaps line it up to see if it would match but the charm was seemingly snatched out his grip and put intot he slot.
He looked at it with wondering eyes before pushing the charm into the slot, watching the place seemingly come alive.
"Recursive diagnostics complete. Guiding presence authenticated. All systems operational." The AI system of the ship said as he looked around the room with a frown on his face. The giant 8 point start that was set in the center of the computer chambers started to glow as a hologram appeared in front of him. A holographic image of his father. The pictures his mother gave him didn't do him enough justice.
His father looked almost exactly like his picture. He had clear honey brown skin with hazel-colored eyes. He had a salt-and-pepper fade with a goatee matching his fade with black eyebrows. His father was around the same height as him. He wore black boots with gold lining on the boots with a black suit. He had a gold belt around his waist with a black and gold chest shield with the House of Korra symbol in the center of the shield with a black cape with gold trimmings on the outside of the cape.
"To see you standing there having grown into an adult. My only regret is that I didn't get to watch you grow into a man."
"Dad?" Cedric said as he looked at the man standing in front of him. The hologram simply nodded as tears started to well in Cedric's eyes.
"My name is Koya, I am your father, Nisu. Or at least, his consciousness. He designed me as a fail safe, in case he ever died. I meant to guide you on your journey of life. It makes me proud to see you standing here grown into a man."
"Nisu? Is that my name?"
"That is your Ryonian name. Your mother and I decided to name you Cedric. After the man who introduced your mother to me. Your name, Nisu means Hope."
"I have so many questions. Who am I? What am I? Why are we so strong?"
"You are a product of both humans and Ryonians. We came from a planet called Ryon located in the Andromeda galaxy. I reigned over the planet for nearly two decades as the king but your brother took that throne and exiled me. Your brother, Kalon, believed I was too weak and that I was the one dragging our planet down. So he had me exiled."
"So I see mom's side of the family is not the only screwed up one," Cedric said with a smirk.
"No, I guess not," His father said with a slight chuckle. "The yellow sun of this planet is different from our red sun. Your cells are drunken with radiation, strengthening your muscles, your skin, and your senses. Your body has so much energy loaded in your cells that you can release that energy in many different forms. You've grown stronger than I ever would've imagined."
"Is our planet still around?"
"That is a question I cannot answer my son. Your brother has always had a lust for violence and destruction. I thought it was simply a phase that would past but it never did. And every life that he has taken is because of me."
"What a messed up family we have," Cedric joked as he folded his arms.
"Yes but like all families, we have our differences. Your brother believes that a world like this should be dominated or destroyed, he believes that a race like this has no place in the galaxy. He believes our people would never be able to co-exist. But you're the bridge between our worlds. You can embody the best of Earth and Ryon. The people are Earth are different from us, but ultimately i believe to be a good thing. They won't make the same mistakes that we did as a race, but if you guide them, if you give them hope, they can succeed."
"Hope?" Cedric asked looking on.
"Yes, hope. That's what your name means. That's one thing this symbol stands for. Hope, Truth and Justice. Embodied within that hope is the fundamental belief that everyone has the potential to be a force for good. They can be great people but they lack guidance. You can guide them Nisu," Koya said as he pointed to the side, causing the ground beneath him to rumble.
Cedric watched as a crystal-like capsule slowly started to rise out of the ground. The crystal showed a suit. The suit featured a black chainmail-like skinsuit. The boots were blue with a M-shaped double rim at the top of the boots in silver. The suit featured a blue metallic belt that went around the waist and featured a silver 8-point star in the center of the belt. In the center of the chest there was the House of Korra emblem in blue with a silver outline. The suit had black metallic cuffs that went to the halfway-point of the forearms with a blue metallic lining at the end of the wrist. He had a long blue cape with a House of Korra emblem in silver.
His eyes were glued to this suit seeing the magnificence of the suit in front of him.
After a few minutes, Cedric walked out of the front door of the place that taught him about his alien origin. He looked down with a huge smile on his face at the arms and chest of his suit, examining the features of the alien bodysuit that would serve as a possible symbol of hope for the people of Earth.
As he stood there the words that his father said to him circulated in his mind as his gaze changed up to the sky. He closed his eyes and soaked up the solar radiation radiating from the Earth's yellow sun.
"You can give the people of Earth an ideal to strive towards. They will race behind you. They will stumble. They will fall. But in time, they will join you in the sun. In time, they will accomplish wonders."
He opened his eyes and lowered his head as he kneeled down, placing his hand down on the ground. He took a deep breath as the pebbles down on the ground near his body started to levitate. He let out a smile before he bolted up into the air leaving a small crater from where he was kneeling.
The feeling of the cape flowing in the wind brought a smile to his face. He felt the crisp cool air caress his skin. There was flying and then there was this. This was something different. The feeling of flying his Ryonian bodysuit was exhilarating. He could finally be himself and use his abilities to serve the people of Earth that needed his help. He could finally be the hero he always wanted to be.
He floated up in the air looking down over his body and looking at his suit. The smile on his dissipated as he heard the sound of his mother's voice. It sounded as if she were upset about something.
"Cedric, if you can hear me. Baby, I need your help. Baby, I need you," His mother said clearly in disarray as she called him. She knew his hearing would allow him to hear what she was saying.
A frown found its way on his face and he bolted away making his way towards her.
Cedric floated near the balcony of his aunt's place seeing his mother standing looking on with eyes full of emotion. Although there was fear in her eyes possibly from the idea of losing someone she loved, the image of seeing her son in front of her sporting a suit that reminded her of his father.
"Oh my god, you look just like him," His mother said making him smile.
"Thank you, I'm glad to have finally met him. What's the problem?"
"It's Paul. He's missing. He's been gone for way too long and the restaurant is only 2 blocks from here. He put a tracker in his right boot. It went inactive about an hour ago. I thought it was an error but I'd rather have you take a look and be safe than be wrong and lose him."
"Now, let me make this clear. Do I like him? No, I don't but you love him so that's all the reason I need. Now, where was his last known location?"
"Somewhere in Brooklyn. On 16th street. Please be careful and bring him back to me. I can't lose another man in my life."
"And you won't. I promise you. I'm gonna bring him back safely." He said as he floated towards his mother and grabbed both of her hands and gave them a gentle, reassuring squeeze.
"If there's one thing I can say about your son: he keeps his promises." Aunt Vanessa said as she came out onto the balcony. Cedric looked up at her with a small smile and gave her a nod. She nodded back right before he switched his gaze back onto his mother. He leaned in, giving her a gentle kiss on the forehead before he slowly pulled his hands away and floated away from her.
His mother and his joined hands as they watched him slowly float away before bolting up away into the sky. Both women looked on smiling as they watched the man they had been with since he was a kid, fly away as an adult. A mature adult who's willing to go to great lengths just to help people.
"You raised a great man. He's gonna change the world." Vanessa said as she watched her nephew fly off.
"I hope so. For our sake." His mother said as she continued to watch him fly away.
Cedric flew through the thermosphere into space. He floated in space looking out at the earth taking a look at the world that he was meant to protect. He closed his eyes, clenching fist as he felt the sunlight hit his skin and making him feel stronger. He smirked right before he bolted back towards the city.
As he entered the atmosphere, he felt the heat on his skin but it didn't really affect him. It just felt like a little tingle. Once he was over the city skyline, he made his way over to Brooklyn to investigate the kidnapping of his mother's boyfriend.
Flying through the city, he could feel the crisp cool air of the cool New York City air. He could hear the gasps and the things that many of the city's civilians were saying as they saw him flying in the sky. He looked down and saw a little kid with an ice cream cone in hand staring up at him. He winked at the kid and waved at him. The kid's ice cream slowly slipped off the cone as he stared at amazement of seeing a man flying in the air.
He could feel more people starting to stare as he flew off in the air. The small smile that was on his face slowly started to dissipate, he needed to focus. He needed to find Hondo and he needed to find him fast.
Cedric kicked it into overdrive and bolted through the air on his way to Brooklyn to investigate the abduction.
Agent Romanoff sat in her temporary apartment cleaning her black metallic Walther PPK/S handguns with a frown on her face as the TV was playing in the background. She was a tad bit irritated at the moment. Mostly because of the fact that she was letting a man that she was supposed to be keeping an eye on, get her out of character.
She was a spy, a highly-trained Russian assassin who had taken down governments in mere days. Had killed dozens, if not hundreds for the Red Room. She had even taken down a secret government organization that was known for training Russian assassins. She was one of the most dangerous people in the world. She was a master manipulator, a master of multiple world languages, a master of disguise, etc. She never got off task and always stayed focused on her mission.
And here she was letting her mission, letting the man she was supposed to be watching take her out of her element. He had her distracted. And distractions were never good.
Agent Romanoff momentarily stopped cleaning her handgun and quickly shot up, turning it around, putting it directly in the face of a 5'9, dirty blonde fauxhawk with blue eyes.
"Sloppy. You should've noticed me before I even entered the apartment. What's on your mind?" He asked as she lowered her gun and gave him a look as he walked over to the kitchen.
"Nothing."
"Natasha-"
"Clint-"
"You don't have to lie to me. I'm your friend," He said as he reached into her fridge and grabbed a slice of pizza from the box and started to eat the cold New York style food.
"I know you are,"
"So you'll tell me?"
"Clint, I have a feeling, you already know."
"You're being reassigned. But I want to know why. So can you do me a favor and tell your friend why?" She didn't answer but turned her head and took a look at her bedroom. Clint frowned and turned his head to take a look in the same direction. With wide eyes, he turned back around looking at Nat.
"You slept with him?"
"I did," She said as she ran a hand over her face. Clint looked at her shaking his head.
"Nat, that's not like you."
"I know Clint. Trust me, I know but this guy. He-" She paused looking down at the ground, "He's different than most guys. It's just something about him that just makes me forget about all the bad that I've done. He actually makes me feel like a human instead of a monster." She said as she began to get choked up while tears started to well in her eyes.
Clint said nothing but pulled the Red-Headed Russian into a tight hug.
"You're not a monster. We've all done shit that we regret. It's just a matter of how we atone for those sins." Clint said as he rubbed her back.
"I hope you're right." She said softly.
"Trust me. Just trust me Nat." He said as he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. The two SHIELD agents continued to share a hug.
Cedric landed on 16th street, presumably where Paul was taken. Cedric looked around the scene with a frown on his face, looking for some type of clue that would indicate where he was. Cedric inspected the walls and the ground around the area. He bent down looking at the ground seeing a few drops of dried blood on the ground. He turned his head and saw a black glock 19 under a dumpster. The dumpster seemed to have a few bullet holes, indicating that there was a fire fight.
As he continued to look on the ground, he noticed that there were a few more drops of blood on the ground. The trail led to the street. He walked towards the street, looking for some type of clue. He looked down at the street using his vision to see what looked like tire tracks.
"Now where could he have gone?" Cedric asked himself. He floated up in the air as he continued to look around and keep an eye on the area before he flew away.
Inside some unknown facility, in a room with concrete walls, the federal agent by the name of Paul Hondo sat in the center of an empty room with one single light above. Paul had a bunch of scratches and bruises and was bleeding from his mouth and his nose. He had his hands tied behind his back, behind the wooden chair he sat in. His eyes were closed as he was drifting in and out of consciousness.
Hondo's captor, Adam Pierce walked into the room with a golden face mask covering up his entire face.
"You, Mr. Hondo, have dug yourself a hole. That can't be escaped. You shouldn't have come here. The Monarchy doesn't need you snooping around." Paul, in an act of defiance, spit at Adam's face mask splattering his blood on the golden face mask. Adam chuckled as he closed his eyes while the crimson droplets dripped off his mask.
"Screw you," Paul said.
"You're gonna wish you hadn't said that," Adam said as he turned around and opened the door, stepping to the side.
"He's all yours," Adam said with a smirk as a 5'10 male walked through the doorway into the room. He had golden tanned skin with blonde hair and electric blue eyes. He wore a sleeveless bodysuit with a baby blue chest plate with two yellow lightning bolts engraved in the center of the chest plate. He had black cargo bottoms and military boots with fingerless combat gloves.
The man chuckled as he raised his hand while electricity started to surge from the palm of his hand.
"Let's have some fun, shall we?" He said right before he pointed his hand at Paul as electricity flowed from his hand to Paul's body, shocking him, making him scream out in pain and agony. Adam peeked over his shoulder once more with a sickening, cruel smile before walking out of the room.
Cedric floated in the Brooklyn Skyline with a frown. He could hear the faint sound of someone screaming nearby. He turned his head in the direction he heard the scream. He used his vision to see what looked to be an old, abandoned underground facility that was being used by some organization. Probably the Monarchy. He saw a car quickly speeding off through some tunnel. He had to make a decision, follow the car and find out what they were up to or save Paul.
"Dammit." He could try to do both but it would be extremely risky and could cost Paul his life. But he made a promise to his mother and he made sure to always keep his promises.
Cedric bolted in the direction of the scream.
"Hold on, Paul. I'm coming." He said as he flew through the air.
Meanwhile back inside the facility, the tortuer continued to torture Paul shocking him with electricty, pausing momentarily to allow him to somewhat get a break before torturing him again. He didn't want to kill him just yet but instead he wanted to continued to torture him.
"Hondo, you should've listened the first time, the Monarchy warned you. You should've stayed away. But now, now you're gonna suffer the-" He was saying but stopped momentarily as he heard the sounds of muffled grunts and groans and semi-automatic weapons firing off.
He looked at the door with a confused frown.
"What the fu-" He was saying before the door was blasted down and he was sent flying with a blue blast of energy. Paul looked at his apparent savior before he fell out of consciousness. Cedric walked towards Paul but before he could free him from his restraints, he was blasted with a bolt of electricity that sent him flying into a nearby wall, leaving a crater where he hit the wall. He grunted as he dropped down to his knees.
He slowly raised his head looking up to see his attacker with a smirk on his face.
"Nice makeover. Too bad, it's about to get stained with your blood." The attacker said before sent rays of electricity into Cedric's chest making him groan in agony as he felt the electricity surge through his body, giving him a painful feeling. Cedric's head dropped down as he groaned. His eyes started to glow blue as he closed his eyes, continuing to absorb the punishment and pain. He looked up and opened his eyes, hitting his attacker with a beam at his left eye, making him stumble back as he covered his eye while he screamed out in agony.
Cedric raised his hand as a bolt of energy shot from the palm of his hand and sent his attacker flying back-first into a wall knocking him out of consciousness.
"Shit." He cursed as he rose up to his feet still feeling the remnants of the electricity surge through his body. He walked towards Paul and walked around behind him, ripping the restraints away from his wrist and grabbed his body. He walked through the doorway he entered and began to make his exit the same way he entered.
Cedric landed in front of Lenox Hill with Paul's body in his arms. He walked into the hospital getting stares from everyone in the room.
"He needs medical attention fast. I don't know how bad he's hurt but he does need help." Cedric said as a nurse came walking towards him with a stretcher. Cedric placed him on the stretcher and watched as they went to work before he backed out of the hospital ignoring the stares.
Once he walked outside of the hospital, he bolted off into the sky making his way to his home. Flying through the sky, he felt the crisp cool air of a New York City night fly off his face but little did he know on the ground level he was being watched by a bald black man with a black eye-patch watching from a black SUV.
Miles was sitting in his home office in a black leather executive chair at his desk with a laptop on the desk. He had a glass of scotch on a coaster on the desk. It had been a long night so far for the billionaire. He had some work that he wasn't able to finish at the office so he just packed it up and brought it home. Not to mention, it gave him a chance to look into his other enterprise.
"What's this I hear about you cutting the funding on the Michelle Maverick Foundation?" His sister, Madison said as she bolted her way into the office.
"I didn't completely cut your funding. Some of your funding is going towards a new project."
"Let me guess? Your Maverick Tower?"
"Our tower. You share the last name as well. Or did you forget?" He said as he stood up and walked around his desk to stand in front of her. She rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she looked into his eyes.
"How could I forget when I'm reminded constantly by you and everyone else?" She rhetorically asked. "While you want to create weapons and dominante the weapons industry and cause chaos, some people actually want to save the world." Madison's statement seemed to bother her brother as he looked at her with a frown right before she turned around and started to make her way out of the room.
He picked up his glass of scotch taking a sip as he continued to look on with a frown. Miles became distracted as his phone started to ring. He picked up the phone seeing the name Adam on the screen before sliding right to answer.
"What do you want?" Miles asked with a hint of aggression in his voice.
"We can't go through with the plan tonight. It's too hot right now. I just got word that Hondo was found by The Blur."
"Dammit. We'll wait another week but then we gotta strike. The more we wait, the more the Dogs of Hell continue to steal from us. Those actions cannot go unpunished. Just hold on, we'll handle The Blur." Miles said before he hung up the phone and threw it down onto the table. Miles in a fit of jealous rage threw the glass of scotch as the portrait of his father and himself hanging up in his office.
Miles panted for his breath as he looked down at the floor.
"Blur, I don't know who you are or what you are but I'm gonna end you." Miles said as he slowly raised his head and looked up at the ceiling.
"I promise."
Cedric landed on the balcony seeing his mother and his aunt both on the couch with concerned looks on their faces. He walked towards the doors and slid it open before walking into the living room. He saw his mother and his aunt both stand up and walk towards him. Cedric looked at his mother and simply nodded his head making her scream out in joy and give him a hug.
"Thank you! Thank you!" His mother exclaimed.
"Don't thank me. I'm just doing the right thing." He replied, getting a kiss on the cheek from Kimberly.
"I'll grab our coats and we can go." Vanessa said, earning a nod from Kimberly. His aunt made her way to the bedrooms to grab the coats for them, leaving the mother and son alone.
"I'm sorry I kept a lot of secrets from you. I only did so to protect you and I guess, protect me. I loved your father very much. I thought keeping him a secret would protect you from the pain of him not being here. From the pain of not being able to see him anymore. I realized now that it was selfish and I'm sorry."
"It's okay, mom. You were only doing what parents do and that's to protect their kids. I just hope that I can do the same when I have kids of my own."
"You will. I know it." She said as he placed a hand on his cheek.
"You ready?" Vanessa asked, walking out of the bedroom in her coat as she handed Kimberly her coat. Kimberly simply nodded as Vanessa helped her put on her coat.
"What are you gonna do?" His aunt Vanessa asked.
"There's a lot of people out there that can use my help. I think I'm gonna go try to help them." Kimberly and Vanessa both looked at him with a smile and leaned up to give him a kiss on the cheek. He smiled as he backed up, back out onto the balcony and bolted up in the air flying off to go be the hero they always knew he was.
A/N: So as of 9/11/22 this chapter has been updated to go back and introduce The Nexus which is Cedric's HQ where he can go and learn about his heritage and learn about other aspects of his culture. So essentially it's his fortress and I also combined the two chapters labeled Secrets so that they would flow better.
Paul Hondo - Shemar Moore
Adam Pierce - Joel Kinnaman
William Harvey - Denzel Washington
Claire Harvey - Lynn Whitfield
Later Guys and Gals!