Chapter 28

° Downtown Brooklyn

° Noon, A Few Days Later

Matthew batted aside large and thick sheets metal with a loud clang noise as he caught another that rocketed towards his face, the former bent as it flew off and the latter quivered in his grip as if trying to get away.

Several more sheets shot towards him, each impact bothered him but didn't hurt otherwise.

"What's the matter, Strongboy?" a voice said, oozing with arrogance "Can't handle my load?"

A man covered in layers upon layers of metal sheet stood a hundred meters away and just beside an upturned and flaming armored transport vehicle that shook from someone rummaging inside.

"That's just disgusting" Matthew cringed at the obscene qip and rushed forward, fist already cocked back for a punch.

A metal sheet cushioned the blow, bending over backwards from the force. Matthew repositioned himself and punched out again, but his fists were all intercepted almost expertly.

Matthew hated the man's arrogance but he couldn't deny his skill and prowess with his powers.

"Still with that?? Don't bother, you'll never hit me!" the man said with a loud laughter "Nothing can touch Magnattack!"

Matthew stayed quiet and continued his attack, moving faster and faster to see the limits of Magnattack's metal sheets while keeping an eye on the vehicle.

Magnattack was efficient with his use of metal sheets, managing to intercept and push back Matthew with each round, but the metal could only go so far. Each strike bent and deformed the metal significantly until the villain had folded it on itself to make use of.

It didn't take long until Matthew finally decided enough was enough, just in time for a familiar flaming supervillain to melt the vehicle's walls for his exit.

Eruptor spied Matthew and unconsciously stepped back, then Matthew made his move.

The hero surged forward, faster than Magnattack could react and sent a fist to the villains gut with controlled strength. His fist punctured through layer after layer with ease and the villain doubled over from the intense pain that exploded from his stomach. But Matthew wasn't done.

Eruptor, seeing his accomplice down, proceeded to exit the scene and cover his exit with a barrage of fire based attacks. Waves of heat and energy flew outward, headed towards Matthew and the pained Magnattack.

Seeing this, Matthew finally spoke up.

"Let's see how good you are, Magnattack" he said. At the next second, Matthew gripped the villain's metal armor and hurled him towards the Eruptor's flames.

The groaning villain shifted into screams as he was thrown, the heat registering to him a quick second later before a metal sheet layer tore off his chest area and formed a wall to shield himself against the flame. Eruptor was unaware of the action as his flames covered his full visual range, and was thus unable to stop the wall of super heated metal that slammed into his face.

The loud crash that followed made Matthew smile "Wow. He is good"

Matthew flew forward and hovered over the two, watching as they tried to untangle themselves in the mess of hot metal sheets and dancing flames.

"Stay down. Or this won't end quickly" Matthew warned.

"Eat shit, superbrat!" Magnattack raised a free arm to aim an attack at Matthew, but a red boot slammed into it. Preventing his attack while also pinning the Eruptor, causing both to scream in agony.

"Say again?" Matthew asked, applying just enough force to pin both down and to convince them to surrender. However, the villians weren't surrendering.

"Or I could just knock you out" Matthew added, decreasing the force of his foot a bit "I'm still not good at it yet, so it will definitely be painful"

"A-alright!...Alright. I give" Eruptor replied hoarsely.

Magnattack showed a bit more teeth, sending out sheet after sheet to attack, but surrendered after a while as he lay beside Eruptor. His breathing was heavy and skin scalded by the heated air, making him unable to concentrate enough to use his magnetic powers.

Matthew quickly wrapped both up against each other tightly and turned around to check on the street, but instead found a number of civilians suddenly began to approach with their cellphones out and cameras flashing on his face.

He covered his face and attempted to fly away but a shockingly familiar voice stunned him in place.

"Superboy! Wait!" the voice said, rushing through the crowd.

Her lowcut red hair bounced over her neck and her stunning figure making quite the impression from the bystanders around her as she made her way towards him in her simple white blouse and sports leggings.

Matthew wanted to strangle the girl, but held the desire back to mere cringe he could not hide.

"Cl--Miss" Matthew corrected himself as he addressed the mischievous psychic superhero Claire Voyant in her civilian persona "Don't come any closer. It's dangerous right now"

Claire ignored the words, walked up, turned to face her phone, and captured a selfie with a bewildered Matthew behind her.

"There" she said, batting her eyes at him "Thank you for the selfie, Superboy"

For now, at least. I'll need more...soon

Matthew had no words to say as he watched the gathering mass of people slowly approaching and we're already taking pictures of him, without asking permission.

He thought of mentally conversing with Claire further, to deal with the issue, but held back, not wanting to test out whether his use of Telepathy would or would not worsen the emergence of the marks on his shoulder.

Coincidentally at that moment, a phone alert gave him the excuse he needed to get away.

"Excuse me, everyone, I need to go" he excused himself and flew out of the gathering crowd, giving Claire a side glare. Claire merely winked and gave him a small wave before he flew out of sight.

Shame. Hope we meet again, Superboy

Oh, we will. And I'll definitely be talking about this with Alicia

Hahaha, sure. Go ahead. See you later

After a good distance away, he opened his phone and read the message from his best friend.

[You're gonna be late for class, idiot. So hurry up! We'll be getting our grades today!]

"Oh right, shit" he cursed and burst towards the sky.

***

* Reginald Val Johnson

* Late Afternoon, Hours Later.

Matthew breathed out a low *sigh* of relief as he walked beside Madison, who held up her report card with admiration. Matthew already stashed his moment earlier.

"Ah. Hard work paying off is so rewarding to feel" Madison said.

Matthew chuckled "I know the feeling. But I am a bit sour about the 0.2 difference between your grade and mine"

Madison looked at him with squinted eyes "Well, I'm not out of school half the time kicking damsels and saving ass. So I get a 3.8"

"Yeah, yeah" Matthew waved her words away "I'm maintaining my 3.6 at least, even with all the absences and sick days"

Madison scoffed "Sick days. I can't believe I actually believed that before you told me the truth"

Matthew bumped her lightly and glared.

"Okay, relax" Madison raised her hands in a placating gesture.

They exchanged a bit of small talk before another pair joined them.

"Hey, you two" Eve greeted them both "From the smiles on your faces, I'm guessing your grades came back great?"

Madison grinned and showed her. Matthew shook his head and nodded to Eve in confirmation. Mark, who walked behind Eve, sighed heavily. Making his situation clear to everyone nearby.

Matthew cringed and asked "That bad, huh?"

"3.3 from a 3.5" Mark answered in a low voice.

Everyone shared a look of pity at the boy, even Matthew who chose not to tease his brother given his already unhappy mood.

"Sorry man" Matthew walked close to his brother and put a hand on his shoulder "But don't be that down about it. We can make it up during the Semifinals and Finals"

"Yeah" Madison added "Still a long way to go till the end of high school. A semester and a half more"

Mark looked solemn despite agreeing to their points "This superhero thing is still destroying my GPA"

Eve, who had been silent for a while, spoke up with a sarcastic remark "Like you'll ever need to find Mongolia on a map"

"I know, right?" Mark, seemingly oblivious to her sarcasm, answered.

"No, you do need to know that" Eve whirled around, her voice gaining a tinge of irritation "I'm not kidding, it's really important that you can find places from the air"

"Oh, yeah" Mark almost shrank back, hiding his discomfort by looking away and letting out a nervous laughter "Right"

Madison gave Matthew a glance before she said "You okay, Eve? You seem...upset"

"You ever read about those kids who get kicked out of the house at 16, and wish it was you?" Eve said after a brief silence.

"Uh... no. Not really" Madison said, going to Matthew's side and elbowing his arm for help.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Mark asked first before Matthew could come up with the words.

"Yes" Eve said, then shook her head in confusion "No. I don't know. I-I just don't know what I'm doing anymore"

Matthew, hearing her words, wanted to pry into her thoughts and get a clearer view of her situation but held his mental probing back out of respect.

Amber joined in a moment later, waving her greetings at the others while giving Mark a somewhat cold response when he tried to kiss her cheek. They had a short and tense exchange that made the others watch them curiously.

"Oh, looks like someone is in trouble in Amber paradise" Madison whispered to Matthew's ear, much to Matthew's amusement. Eve, who was now standing beside Matthew, giggled after hearing the words.

Amber finally noticed the stares and decided to explain the issue.

"Mark volunteered to help me at the Beckwell Community Center downtown. We do dinners twice a week for anyone who's hungry" Amber said.

"I'm impressed" Eve said, nodding approvingly at Mark.

Matthew looked at his brother and narrowed his eyes suspiciously. As if he was trying to see if he wanted to genuinely volunteer or was being blackmailed into it. Leaning more on the latter.

"Do not be" Amber said plainly "He owes me"

"Ah, that makes more sense" Matthew said with a smile, earning a glare from his brother that he just brushed away.

"Beckwell's like my second home. I used to hang there after school till my mom was done working. Changed my life" Amber explained proudly.

"It's on Third Street, right? Low brick building?" Mark asked for clarification.

"Yeah. 7:00 p.m. Don't be late" Amber said for emphasis.

Mark's phone rang and he suddenly "Oh, man, gotta run. I told my mom I'd help with an open house. I'll see you there. Bye, Eve!"

Matthew watched his brother run off with a raised eyebrow. He could've sworn that their mother had not invited any of them to help with an open house as she always insisted on being able to handle it herself. And he was somewhat amused by Mark's choice of who he said his goodbyes to.

"Hey" Madison whispered "I'm confused. Is your brother dating Amber or Eve?"

"No idea. But I can say that Eve isn't looking for anyone to date for now" Matthew answered.

Madison stopped and gave him an odd look.

"That's weird. How do you know that?" Madison asked.

Matthew realized his mistake too late and went to try to make up something when Amber cleared her throat. Both of them went quiet and looked at her as she watched them both expectantly, Eve stood behind her and was looking curiously at them.

"Umm...hello?" Madison spoke first.

"You guys coming tonight?" Amber asked "To volunteer, I mean"

Before Matthew could even come up with the lamest bullshit reason he could think off to kindly decline, Madison pulled him close and answered for the both of them.

"Yep, we are!" she said, smiling mischievously at Matthew who suddenly had a lump on his throat as she whispered "I'm gonna need pry whatever it is that is going on between you and Eve, Matt. Mark my words"

***

° Beckwell Community Center

Eve, Madison, and Matthew arrived in front of the community center after a taxi ride over. Matthew was silent the entire way as both girls chatted, avoiding Madison's prying eyes and Eve's awkward stares long enough to finally breathe a sigh of relief as they stood at the entrance.

"You know" Madison said "I've never been to a community center before"

"Me too" Eve said as she looked at the people going in and out through the doors "My parents are kinda strict with me going anywhere interesting and I didn't have the time until recently"

Matthew looked at them both and gestured for the door "Shall we? Or do we need to call Amber first?"

Both girls looked at him with barely hidden surprises.

"What?" Matthew said.

"You have her number? How?" Eve asked.

"I cooked her some good food when she came by the house and we became friends, so I naturally asked for it" Matthew said dismissively.

"Damn. Since when were you so smooth?" Madison asked with a sly grin.

"I thought he was always like this. At least when I met him" Eve chimed in.

Madison scoffed "Eve. You wouldn't believe how naive my boy here was 4 years ago"

"Okay, enough with the backhanded compliments, Madison, and let's just get this evening underway. I'm eager to learn some recipes tonight" Matthew said as he opened the doors and gestured for the girls to go first.

Madison looked approvingly at the gesture and sashed inside while Eve giggled and gave him a wink. Shaking his head, Matthew followed behind them, sending Mark a text that he arrived first to boast.

They were guided through the kitchen area, where Amber was already in her apron and helping out when they arrived.

"Amber?" Eve called out as they walked in.

"Hey everyone! You made it" Amber said as she gave the girls a hug while only shaking Matthew's hand.

"Come on, I'll show you guys around" Amber said as she walked to guide them around the kitchen, the modest space was small but had the proper equipment to cook and serve large portions well enough.

"It's nothing fancy, but it's healthy" Amber said after the short introductions.

"Hey, my parents cook exclusively with a microwave. This looks like a dream" Eve said reassuringly.

"My mom usually leaves early for work but she does leave some home cooked meals for me" Madison chimed in.

Matthew stayed quite but nodded his approval at what he saw, "Mark here yet?"

"No" Amber crossed her arms in annoyance "Please tell him he's got about 15 minutes until his ass is on the curb, permanently"

Matthew cringed and pulled out his phone "Will do. Excuse me a bit"

Amber nodded and motioned the girls to follow her to the wash area for cleaning and putting on their aprons while Matthew stepped to a corner to give his brother a call.

But Mark didn't answer.

He gave it a good few tries, but each time was the same. He grew a bit concerned and remembered the dinner conversation just last night, about some Harlem thug he wanted to help out. Matthew wondered if that was why he couldn't reach his brother at all.

Madison poked her head from the kitchen and got his attention "Hey, Amber says the kitchen needs another cook. One of the guys scheduled to come called in sick and they couldn't find any other replacement. Do you want it?"

Matthew put his phone away and nodded "I'll be right there"

Madison smiled widely "Great! And I have the perfect apron for you"

A few minute later and Matthew was seasoning a mostly filled wok filled with vegetables and bits of meat wearing a thin red and yellow apron with a distinct S symbol over his clothes.

Madison slammed an empty pot next to him and gave his wok a good sniff "Wow, that smells really nice"

"Thanks. It's a little recipe I use for left overs. Would've been better with rice instead of veggies though" Matthew said "But we make due with what's on hand"

"Still though. I like it already" Madison said, taking a spoonful and tasting it for herself.

As she enjoyed the taste with an exaggerating moan that made Matthew shiver and cringe at the same time, Matthew's phone rang off from an incoming call.

Matthew pulled it out and saw that it was Robot calling him. He wondered what could make the machine man call him this late in the evening.

"Sorry, Mads. Have to take this. You can turn off the stove and serve it now, it's already done" he said.

"You got it, chef!" Madison said with a smile and another mouthful of the food.

Matthew had only just put on his phone when Robot's words made him freeze.

[Invincible is down. The Team is barely holding on. We need back up, now!]