Chapter 24 : I am...

[Author note : Here's what you were waiting for... I~rooooon Lad~!. *Cough, cough* Sorry about that ! I want to update you to the fact that I have reached the 10+ chapters available on Patréon (counting the 2 stories). I need to edit the benefits and stuff but... Yeah. Unless I have a sudden series of flashes of inspiration, I won't be able to maintain this rate of writing and posting after next week.

If you're interested in my stories or want to encourage me, please check out my Patréon : https://www.patréon.com/user?u=66371596 (replace the é by a normal e) or look for Cathbel on their website

KoSP : 6 advanced chapters

The Squib who became Iron Lad... In DC : 9 advanced chapters

AoH : Prologue + 6 chapters (exclusive)

MoH : 8 chapters (Exclusive)

VOG : 6 chapters (exclusive)

Enjoy and please tell me what you think of it !]

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Ned was taking a break from hammering Eighth metal for a while, wiping his sweat out of the forge, taking some 'fresh' air when his phone rang. Taking it out from his pocket, he frowned seeing the red blinking lights. Out loud, he said :

« What's happening, Symmetra ? »

When it became clear that Mel was increasingly becoming more interested in vigilantism, and less about being Ned's assistant, he created Symmetra. More than his assistant however, Symmetra had become in charge of the Stark's home : making sure his ongoing projects were going smoothly when he focused on other things, reviewing his code, designs and specs of his equipment, keeping an eye on his family and, of course, security.

She was just alerting him of a problem with the house's wards.

« From what I can infer, the aurors are raiding the house. At the moment, they are still trying to break the wards. » Symmetra answered in her soothing but clear voice, with a noticeable Indian accent. « How should we respond ? »

« The aurors… Why ? »

« Your father's is currently in their custody in an interrogation room. I assume they have connected a few dots… They know who you are. Or at least, they have strong suspicions. »

Ned's frown increased. Although it wasn't unexpected, he would have preferred it come a little later, or never. At this point, the young squib wasn't confident in facing the full brunt of Wizarding law. MACUSA was slightly better and less corrupted than the British Wizarding world but it faced a similar problem : traditions were prevalent, foremost even. They didn't like it when someone rocked the boat and Ned ? Well, he'd been rocking the boat for a while now, with his ideas, his products.

They'd only accepted the sale of his product here because he'd been able to export it and sell it in other countries. Countries the authorities here considered more backward. It was a matter of pride, really…

However, it was one thing to sell something inspired from the no-maj and another for a magical to flaunt their powers in the no-maj world… They could argue that he was risking the Statute by simply operating as Silver Lad. Moreover, if the no-maj government noticed that a magical was a vigilante… The tenuous and strained relationship they'd finally started developing in the last few decades would be in jeopardy.

Unlike in the UK, the magical community in the US had lived hidden from everyone : the common folks, the rich and poor, the followers and leaders. None of them had any idea because MACUSA worked really hard on keeping their existence a secret. The appearance of Grindelwald, and his involvement in the Second World War had changed that. In fact, it had forced that change. Witches and wizards had to be sent on the front against the forces of the Dark Lord. And later, the genie couldn't be put back into the bottle. And so, a select few in the no-maj government had come to learn of the secret.

In fact, Ned wouldn't be surprised to learn that an intelligence division had been formed to treat, contain and study the events happening in and because of the magical world. Something like MIA or MID, perhaps…

And if a magical decided that the law didn't apply to him, because he thought himself sneaky or smart enough… No doubt neither MACUSA nor the no-majs would like that. If one did, others would too !

Still, Ned wasn't willing to back down without a fight !

« Implement the Safehouse protocol ! Nobody's getting in that house ! Also, activate the emergency portkey for dad and Susan. Is mom in the house ? »

« Yes, she is. She is getting quite frantic, frankly. »

« Reassure her as best you can, please. » He shook his head and told her : « Better yet, connect me to the house ! »

« Connecting… »

Suddenly, he heard his mom's shuffling and her worried voice :

« …I supposed to do ? How's Ed supposed to get home with the aurors posted outside this way ? What about Susan and Ned ? »

« I'm okay, mom. »

« Ned ? Where are you ? »

« I'm in Sicily… Kind of. Don't worry about dad and Susan. They should be arriving safely home in a little while. You should… Ahem. You should close the curtains. »

« Why ? » Even though he couldn't see her face, he could imagine his mother's half closing her eyes in suspicion.

« Well, as soon as they're here, Symmetra will start to implement the Safehouse protocol. It's a… How to say it ? Basically, it'll cut the house off from the rest of the world, sending it to its own pocket space. »

« That's… crazy ! It's impossible. »

« Actually, it's not. It's based on how the fidelius charm works, hiding things from other people. Without the need for a secret keeper. It works but a little differently than it's supposed to. Looking out when it's in place would be a little disorienting… I guess. »

« You guess ? »

« Look, mom ! Just trust me, okay ? You, dad and Sue'll be okay. »

A short silence, then his mom asked :

« What about you ? »

« I still haven't finished my apprenticeship here, but I'll see if I can put it on hold to deal with this… MACUSA will not get their hands on my work ! And they certainly won't be sending any of us to prison or Azkaban. » Ned looked in the direction of the forge, the frown still marring his face in worry. « Mom, listen ! I'll talk to you later, okay ? For now, keep calm, and prepare to explain the situation to dad and Sue. Later ! »

« The call is over, Ned. What are you planning to do ? »

« Thanks, Symmetra. » He paused, trying to find an answer. « Something… crazy. »

* * * * *

The MACUSA lobby was enormous. Ceilings so high you could practically not see it. On two sides of the room, facing each other, were elevators to take visitors, workers and anyone who needed to go on a different floor. Hanging in the middle, a clock-like enchanted object indicated the magical exposure threat level. Currently, the needle was hovering between the green and orange, meaning the threat was there, but not exactly high.

People were coming and going on the ground floor. All very busy, with all kinds of magical people : witches, wizards, goblins, pukwudgies, a couple of centaurs. All were going about their business until they all stopped to look up. There, floating above the Salem memorial was someone wearing a suit of armor that had quickly become famous because of his involvement in a conflict across the Atlantic, as well as the invasion of Metropolis. The Silver Lad, in his now almost iconic suit of armor. A protection, a weapon and at this very moment, floating in silence, as if waiting for something or as a threat, people didn't know.

In fact, most people didn't really think of it : they were just surprised. Only a couple of aurors on duty in the lobby had reacted with one taking out his phone to call for reinforcement, while the other was aiming his wand at the Lad and ordering him to land.

Slowly and without sudden movement, Silver Lad descended and landed with a metallic thump on the marble floor, echoing rather loudly in the sudden silence. Almost as if he was unbothered by the wand pointed at him, he calmly spoke :

« I hear you've been looking for me. So… Here I am ! »

* * * * *

The newsroom of the Daily Planet was usually a busy place. People answering their phones, running about making copies or talking to their coworkers, fetching coffee or simply reading, writing notes or working on their articles. But that all stopped when an impressionable young red-head, a photographer exclaimed :

« That's… Silver Lad ! »

Indeed, floating right outside in the air, almost casually like he was standing on solid ground, a man in a silver and blue high-tech armor was there. He seemed to be looking or scanning the newsroom, looking for someone.

The red head walked to the window and opened it, excitedly asking while everyone watched :

« Silver Lad ! Big fan, man ! I'm Jimmy. Jimmy Olsen. Hm… What are you doing here, man ? »

Behind his face plate, Ned smiled. Even after almost two decades living in this world, it still felt both weird and awesome to meet characters he'd only thought were fictional. Jimmy Olsen, with his many iterations, was someone Ned liked. For all intents and purposes, he was a normal guy. In a world of Gods and overpowered aliens, he was an ordinary man. And yet, perhaps because of how ordinary he was, he was a very important character. He anchored Clark Kent, tying him or rather linking him, like many others did, to a normal reality. A world of mortals, of mortality.

« Hello, Jimmy Olsen. I was hoping to give an interview with one or two of your reporters. Are Lois Lane and Clark Kent here by any chance ? »

« Uh… Sure, they are. » Jimmy looked back inside the room to see the two aforementioned reporters coming closer. « What is the interview gonna be about ? Also… Can I take pictures ? »

« Yes, you can. It'll be… About my identity… »

* * * * *

The Silver Lad was standing in the interrogation room, almost towering above the other occupants, if it weren't for a very tall and beefy middle-aged man. Seeing him, people wouldn't think he was a wizard.

« Why don't you take a seat, young Stark ? »

Casually, the man answered :

« 'cause the chair wouldn't support my weight. Anyway, I'm not really here to humor you guys. I just came to warn you. »

« Warn us ? » His partner, the African-American parroted. « Warn us about what ? »

« What I've been warning everyone about since a few years now… The Statute's reaching its expiration date. »

The older man scoffed :

« With people like you, flaunting magic around and in front of cameras, that's for sure ! »

Silver Lad raised an armored finger :

« One : I'm not flaunting any magic. At least, the no-majs don't think I do. What they're seeing is very advanced technology. Do you happen to know the writer Arthur C. Clark ? » Faced with silence, he continued : « I suppose not… After all, he's only a no-maj. Why would you care learning about the people you're trying to hide things from, right ? » He shook his head with his shoulders slightly slumped. « One thing he wrote has become a famous quote of his : 'Any sufficiently advanced technology is undistinguishable from magic' so… Maybe, if they consider my armor advanced enough, they'd consider it magic. However, that's not something they haven't seen. Steel's armor, Brainiac'd drones and his spaceship… My armor, in comparison to the last two in particular, is not that advanced. I'm not the threat to the Statute. »

« So what ? If you're not the threat, what is ? »

« Nothing that wasn't already said in the interview : the exponential increase in the no-maj population compared to our own, as well as their technological improvements that are dwarfing any contingencies we might have in place or will put in place. »

« That still doesn't change the fact that you, acting like a vigilante out there, makes you a liability. You're still a threat to the Statute. »

« No, I'm not. What I am… is the bridge that will link our two societies together ! » After a short pause, he added : « Or, I can also be the person that will bring our people to a safer place… »

* * * * *

After Silver Lad's declaration, the room had turned noisy. People were talking about the reasons why he'd do this, who he might be, asking all kinds of questions in the hope of writing the article that would, no doubt, become a scoop.

Lois Lane and Clark Kent on the other hand, seemed rather calm in comparison. Not that it bothered Ned. Clark was level-headed : he had to be. Otherwise, an outburst from him could easily break a desk, a door, or worse. As for Lois, it wasn't her first rodeo. Superman was, after all, her first interview with a… well, super.

The two, along with Jimmy, led Ned to an empty room for the interview. Once he was there and Jimmy was in position to snap his photos, Ned stood apart. He faced them and commanded mentally for his face-plate to retract.

As his young face, with his blue eyes and short brown curly hair, came into view, he declared :

« My name's Edgar Stark and… I am Silver Lad ! »

* * * * *

After he said his piece, Silver Lad bid the aurors goodbye and started walking toward the door.

« Where do you think you're going ? » The middle-aged caucasian man asked vigorously.

« Oh ! » Silver Lad exclaimed. « I might have forgotten to mention… I'm not really here. »

As soon as the words were said, the face-plate rose up revealing… an empty armor. With a mock salute, Ned's voice said :

« Bye-bye, now ! » And the armor was portkeyed away.