Chapter 96 : Confessions

[Author note : Hey, guys ! If you want to read ahead, or read Marvel : the Author, my other fan-fic, feel free to visit my Patréon page. Search for Cathbel on the Patréon website (e instead of é). I'll also welcome any ideas, constructive criticisms and comments.

And of course, to those of you who only read here, please leave a comment, a review or a stone ! Thank you and enjoy !]

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The aftermath of the battle was dealt with mostly by Robin and the Lost Legion, who were the only ones with true experience in being superheroes. The others, especially Kid Flash, Bunker and Solstice, were too green. As for Cassie and Skitter… Well, they weren't exactly interested. Wonder Girl was more interested in causing pain to her opponents to alleviate or forget whatever weighed on her at all times. Her constant anger was simply too much for it not to make sense.

As for Skitter, AKA Celine Patterson, didn't pay much attention to things normal humans were interested in. So dealing with wannabe villains, traumatized people or the escapees whose allegiances and goals were to be determined… It flew right over her head ! It was all they could do to prevent the insectoid predator from munching on the fallen…

That being said, Robin's involvement also generated its fair share of tension. To the Legionnaires, and frankly, to most people beside, Robin was just a kid. Fighting such a battle, much less dealing with the fallout, wasn't something he should be doing. Some tried to be gentle about keeping him at a distance, while others (Timberwolf, especially) weren't so tactful. Still, Robin wouldn't let that stop him in any way. As Batman's partner, the incarnation of tenacity and stubbornness, he inherited more than his skills from him.

Ned didn't participate simply because of the fact that they were all wary of him. It seemed his show of power when he reformed himself a usable body had made more than one of them uneasy. That, or the discovery that Lucio was, in fact, just a robot (in their minds)… Ned wasn't sure what was worse for them. Perhaps by association, Mel, Winston, Symmetra and Sombra were now looked upon with similar suspicions. Oh ! Also, he hadn't been exactly forthcoming about who he really was. But since they had no way of knowing that he was actually Edgar Stark, this wasn't their problem with him.

Now hours later, the different teams decided to meet up to hash out a few things. The main topic of the discussion was, of course, Ned, and whether or not he was a threat to the world. When the question was asked, after a lot of back and forth, the former squib had this to say :

« Undoubtedly, I am a threat ! »

Obviously, this all sent them on guard and Sombra face-palmed. She had a good idea why Ned was saying this, but saying it like this only heightened their wariness and created misunderstandings.

« You happy, Ned ? When you say shit like that, it's normal for people not to trust you. »

« Ahem… » Winston fake-coughed.

« What ? Oh, his name ? I think he was planning to tell them about his identity, unless he wanted to stay a cryptic ass… Right ? »

Ned felt a little ashamed as being remonstrated like this by his daughter.

« Yeah… » He turned, his new and temporary body scanning the crowd of allies gathered here. « I am… or rather, I was Edgar Stark. My body has been taken over by the elemental force of the Metal and only my mind has been saved by Sombra and Winston. Now, my consciousness is stored… » He opened the chest area where the Phylactery was hidden : « …right here. As for why I said that I'm a danger. It's actually because of my body. »

Kid Flash interjected :

« Wait up ! Stop, stop, stop ! Time out ! » He gestured wildly to punctuate his request. « You saying you're the guy who saved us ? Ned ? Hardass, secretive Ned ? Work ditcing Ned ? »

« Hey, I resent that ! I only ditched training you guys… And Mel and Winston were there to pick up the slack. »

« So, you did ditch it… » Winston muttered in confirmation.

Ned's robot body shrugged, a gesture made somewhat strange by his appearance.

« Yeah… I don't know if it was the Rithm's influence or just my own personality, but I preferred spending my time working on my technomancy than anything else. Even dealing with the consequences of my coming out as Silver Lad, I found too bothersome. Then again, even now, I think it is. Bothersome, I mean… As for training you guys ? »

Ned decided to let the question hang without answering. Even now, the idea didn't appeal to him in the slightest. Making sure that a bunch of teenagers were battle-ready… Not his idea of a good time. Especially since they were at this age that they were just out of childhood, but you couldn't exactly consider them adults. Their bodies were going through changes that wreaked havoc on their internal chemistry and made them emotional time bomb. Often, they were entitled, and insisted to be treated as adults… until it didn't suit them anymore.

No, really… Just the idea was giving him shivers. If Ned had a human body, no doubt that's what he'd do, right now !

« Okay~…» Kid Flash rolled his eyes. « Whatever ! But let me see if I'm getting this right… » He started counting on his fingers, while making a very conscious effort to talk slowly, probably to not throw off those that weren't speedsters (which was basically everyone). The tech spirits wouldn't have trouble following his train of thoughts, but he didn't know that. « So, you're a ghost trapped in some kind of new age crystal. Your body was taken over, Exorcist-style, by some kind of Metal parasite… That's a danger how ? »

« Okay, first : I wasn't taken over by a parasite. At least, not in the way you think. The Metal, also called the Rithm, is one of the many elemental forces existing in our world. It is both the realm and the element of technology and sentient computer programs. As for why it is dangerous… The elemental forces all aim to wipe out each other so that their own realm prevail. And my body, who's now a champion for the Metal, will be used to carry their will. »

« So, what ? » Solstice asked, a little anxious. « He'll wipe out humanity ? Or something ? »

« … Or something. » Champion-Ned had a different goal altogether. Before Sombra managed to copy his consciousness, he was the one being taken over. So he knew what his plan was. And it wasn't just dominion over the earth. It wanted to rule everything ! Establish itself over the other realms to lead them in a cold, calculated and efficient way. So that no force ever really prevailed over the other. He… It wanted to end all conflict.

Although that might sound like a good thing, the methods he was planning to use… made him shudder just thinking about them. It also made an odd sort of sense. Only a cold, logical machine like a computer could truly take on such a task as to unite not only humans, but also animals, plants, minerals, sea life, microbes, etc…

« Alright… Looks like you don't want to tell us… » Superboy commented, arms crossed and a frown on his face. « Any idea where your possessed body is ? »

« Yes, but it serves no purpose to tell you this. Humans aren't capable of going where Champion-Ned is. It's both a physical place and a mystical realm. The Metal controls everything over there. Besides, as long as he's there, he's no threat. It's when he leaves… that's the moment we should worry about. »

Robin finally decided to speak up. He had stayed silent ever since Ned's admittance to being a threat. And now, showcasing a level of distrust and paranoia his mentor would be proud of, the sidekick asked :

« What guarantee do we have that you are not, yourself, an agent of this… Metal ? You admitted to being a threat. You don't want to tell us where your body is. Also, despite your evasiveness, it seems to me as if you have a pretty good idea about what your body's up to… And yet, you fail to mention it. Why ? »

Ned glared at Robin in silence. Not out of anger or any resentful feelings. His points were very valid and if he hadn't pointed them out, he probably wouldn't have noticed himself. So much for being a tech spirit ! He thought he wouldn't miss anything and could process thoughts and ideas at the speed of light… Obviously, the former was untrue.

So, he took the time to process. It didn't take all that long, but the silence seemed to stretch and become heavy. When he talked, Ned's tone, despite the robotic intonation, sounded thoughtful.

« You are right, Robin… I am secretive. I am sorry. As soon as the Metal finished taking over my body, it teleported to their center of power in the Arctic circle. Apparently, there is a facility over there consisting of millions of servers and machines. His goals are… basically, world domination. But not just the run-off-the-mill kind of domination. It's not just humans he wants to rule over. He wants to organize and plan the world so that no one force gets the upper hand over the other. A perfect order… As for why I hesitated to tell you guys. I'm afraid of what'll happen to my body. Even though I'm like this now, I'm still hoping to have a flesh and blood body at the end of this whole ordeal… Preferably my own ! »