Chapter 54 : The shield
[Author note : Hi guys and gals ! If you're interested in reading more, you can visit my Patréon page (e instead of é, and look for Cathbel). Also, don't hesitate to leave a comment or review ! I read it all ! Enjoy ]
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Giddy after an earlier, most vocal outburst of joy, Ned picked up the completed shield after the enchantments had settled. The last part, in particular, had been much more trouble than he thought. Learning the techniques and putting them to practice, he knew that would take a long time (and it did !), but enchanting the metal… He thought it'd be easier. And yet, the time he worked on forging the shield was actually much shorter compared to the time he spent enchanting it !
They just wouldn't take and this frustrated him sometime. Especially given the fact that he had gotten a call from Winston the day before telling him that the children were becoming more and more antsy… He hypothesized that they would soon do something rash. Like taking the fight to N.O.W.H.E.R.E. without planning.
The little army was indeed quite powerful in their own right. However, they lacked training, discipline and restraint. They just… didn't seem to care. Neither for the lives of their enemies or their own. Ned figured it was this vaunted feeling of invincibility all teenagers seemed to have at some point. Or, they could just be stupid…
In any case, Ned needed to get back to them sooner rather than later. He doubted he'd be able to do anything where Mel and Winston both failed. But perhaps, his mere presence… Ned shook his head. This thought was needlessly arrogant and egocentric. He didn't know where it came from. For a moment there, he really thought himself superior to them. He smiled wryly, reminding himself that without his armor or his technomancy, he was just a human lambda. Granted, he possessed quite the intellect, but intelligence in the face of preternatural powers, didn't do much good.
That said, his children would probably do anything to prevent any harm from coming to him, even if he lost his armor or was unable to use it.
So, the shield was ready now… Shaped in the form of a satelitte dish directly inspired from the emblematic shield of the star-sprangled man, its color was golden, though very little of it was used in its conception. Yet, it was far more valuable than if it had been forged from a pure gold ingot. After all, it was supposed to be, not only indestructible, but also protect him from all manner of curses. Moreover, perhaps the best function was…
« Fuse. » Ned uttered aloud.
As the word left his lips, the shield seemed to melt in his hands. Despite that, Ned didn't panic ; on the contrary, a satisfied smile stretched his lips. As his clothes were gradually replaced by the golden shine, Ned observed the phenomenon with the same wonder he felt for magic ever since he found out about it. Soon, he was covered head to toe in a form-fitting golden and tacky suit. Kind of like the one underneath Samus Aran's armor, but covering his head as well. In fact, only his eyes could be seen glancing and observing every inch of his body.
« My movements… As if I didn't wear anything. The protection… can't really be tested right now. And that goes double for the protective spells woven inside. The last thing to test is whether or not I can still use my armor with this… undersuit ? »
The idea behind the shield, now a suit, was to protect himself even if his armor was inoperable. After Metallo struck him down (and almost out), Ned had discovered (or re-discovered) how squishy he was in the face of super-powered threats. Sure, his suit was amazing and packed a punch. However, no matter how much his enchantments were awesome, they folded pretty quickly in the face of true power.
Superman could fold him in two with his pinky. Circe could strip him to his underwear (just for fun) before turning him into an Beastman. Luthor's tech might be superior to his… Darkseid ? Let's not even talk about him or any of the truly God-level figure of the DC-verse. They could probably burst him into atom before he could formulate the thought : 'Oh, shit !'
This protective suit made out of the Divine alloy on the other hand, was a step towards Ned finally becoming a true powerhouse. Now, even if Superman suddenly decided to kill him for some reason, he would be able to take on quite a beating before finally dying. Unfortunately, he couldn't do anything against the Man of Steel, of course ; after all, it was just for added protection.
Suddenly pumping his arms in the air, Ned yelled :
« Eighth Metal, baby ! Woohoo~ ! »
After a few moments more spent celebrating, Ned nodded to himself with a small smile hidden by the golden substance covering his face.
« Form. » He ordered the almost-sentient metal in order for it to melt from his body, leaving place to his clothes and reforming into its shield shape. Ned continued to play a few more times before he was satisfied. That's when he was interrupted by the rumbling voice of his teacher, like the earth shaking or the beginning of a volcanic eruption.
« I see that you have finally succeeded… Congratulations are in order. » A frightening smile akin to a shark's stretched the deformed face of Hephaestus, the smithing God. It was frightening only because of how alien the god looked, not because of any other ill feelings between them. In fact, Ned knew that he was his favorite student, even though he rarely showed it, for the simple fact that he was neither a half-blood, and thus, had nothing to do with his family, nor a wizard. Hephaestus saw him much like he was, a broken person… Or rather, he understood that it was the perception other people had of Ned, like Ned's family. And Hephaestus'…
« To be honest, I didn't think that you would… I've never heard of any mortal capable of such a feat. Truth be told, even amongst the Gods, only a handful can create, shape and craft Eighth Metal. You might be the first mortal smith who can work with the Divine alloy… »
Ned raised one eyebrow, a sly smile on his lips :
« You had doubts ? I didn't ! »
This wasn't true ; Ned often felt quite despondent in his failures. After all, given his pride in his mind and his ability to learn new things, failing so many times was… something new to him. And unwelcome ! Frustration, despair, depression, anger… His mind had experienced quite the varied range of emotion during his apprenticeship, sometimes going up and down like a roller coaster.
The thing was, forging Eighth Metal wasn't just about being good at smithing, nor the act itself. There was a reason it was called a Divine alloy. And Hephaestus knew that : you needed to instill a spark of the divine into your creation. Something mortals like Ned seldom had. However, he knew from his knowledge of the comics and the existence of Hephaestus himself to teach him, that Gods existed. And not just the Presence, or the Greek Pantheon. Roman, scandinavian, celtic… So, he assumed that the Earth itself and everything on it could hold a spark of the divine, like the Animists thought. The trick was to harness it… A trick he had a great deal of trouble in doing. Even now that he knew how to do it, he doubted that he would be able to make a great deal of the Metal in a short time.
So, inwardly he decided to slowly upgrade his armors by incorporating the metal first in the smaller and more sensitive parts of his armor's hardware. It would take time, of course, since he had to find out how to make the Goblin Silver, the Eighth Metal and his technomancy work together.
As Ned lost himself in his thoughts again, Hephaestus was considering the boy he had taken as an apprentice… In God-time, it hadn't been that long. Normally, even the most dedicated student would need a lifetime or thereabout before managing to even craft a nugget of Divine metal. Ned had managed it in a few years… And the most impressive and perhaps frightening ? He didn't know how the mortal managed it, but he instilled his own divine spark to craft the shield. As the God of Smiths, it was easy for him to determine something like this. What he couldn't determine was how it was possible. This spark in humans… In anything living, really… It wasn't meant to be used. Not without grave consequences. And yet, somehow, the boy managed it and he didn't appear to have suffered any side-effects. To say the god was intrigued would be an understatement.
Meanwhile, Ned was still lost in his thoughts. From the forging of his shield, to the theory behind the alloy, he jumped back to his impending confrontation with N.O.W.H.E.R.E. and from there, to one of their weapon… Or rather, a person : the Superboy. And then, he recalled the blood and tissue samples he acquired during their 'fight'. The smile stretched his lips once more.