Chapter 95 : Broken down

[Author note : A new week has come and gone and a new chapter is to be read. As always, you can visit my Patréon page to read ahead, other stories and support my work. Search for Cathbel on Patréon (e instead of é).

Comments, stones and reviews are also very welcome ! Enjoy !]

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Ned was once again plunged in darkness, left alone with his thoughts. Since he was able to at least think, it meant his phylactery, as well as his cognitive unit were still somewhat intact. He just… lost everything else. None of his sensors were functioning, and he couldn't receive any data from his limbs. Meaning that his body was broken.

« Oh, well… » He thought to himself.

He wasn't sure if detonating his sonic weapon in a massive burst of sound had any effect on Harvest. The only thing he knew was that it did a number of Lucio's body… He'd have to build him a new one, it seems. Yet another item to add to his growing list of things to do !

That is… if Harvest decided not to finish him off. He wondered how everyone would react seeing his body, seemingly organic, exploded in thousands of mechanical (and magical) parts. If the villain was the one to get out of this fight victorious, no doubt he would finish on some cold metal table to be poked and prodded, studied until they found out everything about him. If he had any magicals on his side, his very existence was at risk. If they did not… Well, he risked another thing. To live the remainder of his days, which might be eternal for all he knew, shelved somewhere as an unknown oddity. Or his phylactery could also be broken in parts in the study…

Not very favorable outcomes for him.

Still, Ned hoped. From what he could glimpse of the fights around him, the 'good guys' were winning. Hopefully, none of the kids would die. Artemis was supposed to die a martyr's death that would fuel the Teen Titans' outrage, and force them to team up with the Lost Legion. Maybe his apparent death would serve a similar purpose. Although, since Harvest and his team had come to the battlefield, they'd already banded against the madman.

He really wished to see what was happening here, right about now. Being left alone with his thoughts was… kind of boring. Especially when he couldn't do anything. Ned never liked being idle, because it was time wasted in his opinion. What he spent lazing around doing nothing or daydreaming, he could use it creating something instead, or writing up and drawing plans.

That's when it happened ! Suddenly, as if he was just opening his eyes, or rather, a screen was lit up, he could see again ! Obviously, his sight was on ground level, since his body could no longer bear his own weight. His vision was also blurry at first, until he managed to adjust it. And he noticed something odd…

First, the mental commands sent to adjust his sight felt somewhat different. Ned wouldn't be able to put it into words but… While before, it was almost seamless, as if it was his very own body. Now, for some reason it took some effort.

Once his vision cleared, he noticed something else in the distance. It took him a while to process for several reasons. First, since it was exactly him, he was seeing, he didn't connect it. And then, what he was seeing and processing was so odd, such an incomprehensible sight that he just couldn't compute.

It was Lucio's body, lying there, eyes opened and in pieces. The eyes were staring vacantly in his general direction, from a torn head with tubes and wires coming out of the neck area. From what he could tell, the head was actually the only thing to come out of the explosion (mostly) in one piece.

But, if his head was over there… How was he able to see ? Ned's gears started to turn quickly. Now that he paid attention, it felt like his phylactery and his sight weren't connected exactly. Which was obvious, given the fact that his body was in his line of sight, much too far. The informations sent by whatever he was using to see travelled through some kind of wireless network. Or… A form of technopathy ?

Perhaps Winston had managed to engrave some enchantments directly onto the phylactery to give him such abilities ? Ned inwardly shook his head… That couldn't be it or his son would have told him about it.

No matter. The truth behind this mystery could wait for him to unravel it. Right now, in this rather dangerous and tense situation, he should rather focus on making sure his phylactery was safe. So, he willed himself to 'close his eyes' and suddenly, his connection to the optical sensors was cut. With his mind, he tried to reach out and connect to whatever he could around him.

Instantly, he found that his body wasn't completely broken. Some functions still remained. His feet and skates were still operable… But that was about it. And they were completely disconnected from his body, now. He could make them work well enough… But without sight, it was much harder. And it would probably look like a certain pirate clown…

He reconnected his sight, found a prosthetic arm and started to make its hand crawl forward like Thing (if an arm had been attached). More and more he started to connect to things. He didn't know what they were, but his mind unconsciously understood their functions. Soon, his own thoughts and sense of self kind of fell away as all around his lying bodies, mechanical parts started to come to life, hovering and floating, as if animated by an outside mystical force. They rearranged themselves, assembling over and around Lucio's body, with the still working parts of the latter's body joining. Soon, the phylactery was held inside a new body. A mismatched and a little horrifying, barely deserving the name of humanoid, but a body nonetheless.

Unfortunately for the former squib, it didn't have much in the way of fighting capabilities. But at least, he could flee now if it came down to it.

« Now… » A distorted, cold robotic voice spoke up. « … Let's take a better look around. »

What he saw wasn't what he expected. The fight was over. Perhaps for a while now… Or perhaps it had just ended. Harvest had disappeared. The Titans, Lost Legion and the Overwatch siblings had all gathered and were now standing a little far away from him. They seemed to be weary, wounded, dirty with tears in their clothes. And yet, they seemed to be getting ready for another fight.

Apart from one, maybe. Winston was eyeing him intently while muttering stuff he couldn't make out… He just had to adjust his auditive sensors… And done !

« … Unknown using psionic abilities revolving around technology. Maybe… But, no. The elemental forces couldn't manifest so blatantly without a focus for their powers. Father's body… Was used. No way ! »

Ned continued to study his surroundings. Except for the 'good guys', he couldn't see many people awake (or alive). Either the rest of them fled, or they were all lying on the battlefield strewn around like so many corpses after a bloody battle. He didn't see Wilson or Fairchild, nor Ridge. He could have missed the first two (though that was doubtful considering his analytical abilities), but Ridge was difficult to miss. An orange-skinned humanoid lizard, even if he'd been knocked out… Yeah, he would be easy to distinguish !

Curious, he asked :

« Harvest… Where is he ? »

Winston returned his question with a question of his own :

« Father… Is that really you ? » There was a strange mix of emotion in that voice. A sad hope, disbelief and wariness. So, his earlier assumption was correct : Winston had no idea about his technopathy.

« Yes, Winston. It's me. I had no idea I could do this, but… Well, it'll surely come in handy ! »

And indeed, it would ! He couldn't wait to find out the application of such powers and train it. As a Tech Spirit, his cognitive capabilities were close to a supercomputer's. Now that he discovered this… power of unknown origin, he was giddy at the idea of exploring it. Could he perhaps control several bodies ? Or something other than a humanoid-looking one ? Why limit himself with four limbs ? Why not four arms or a hundred ? Could he build a giant mecha and pilot it like he did his armors or Lucio's body ?

If he could, a smile would have stretched his face so much as to split it in two almost. Mel, with a similar display of conflicting emotion answered with a choking voice :

« After the blast… Well, we don't know where he's gone. Est-ce vraiment toi, Papa ? » (Is that really you, dad ?) She shook her head, her rifle held tightly and half pointed at the ground, but close enough that she could raise it in a second and aim at him.

« Again : Yeah ! Even my firstborn can't recognize her own father ? » Ned said with a joking tone that wasn't very amusing given its robotic inflections. « So, the fight is over, then… We'll all be able to go home. »