章 4: Act 1.4
Brayden sat within his room. It hadn't been long since he beat the brakes out of Superboy. At least two days had past and since then he has ignored everyone for the time being. He was fiddling with his guitar, changing the pitch every now and again. The door to his room was closed but not locked like it should have been. He didn't hate Superboy nor any of the heroes, in fact he admired their willingness to do what they did. He hated that he lost what semblance of control he had over his life. The feeling of having been changed, mutilated, and made into something else entirely. Closing his eyes, Brayden let one hand caress the neck of his guitar before finding the right pitch. That was when his fingers moved across the strings, playing a few notes. He was trying to take his mind off of what he did for a time. To at least try to feel normal while he still could. Little did he know, he had someone listening in on him as his mouth opened to sing.
"Will someone tell me, please just tell me..
Just how it's meant to be..
What do I have inside? A monster a
I should hide?
I feel I'm breaking, breaking down in a world not meant for me..
And yet your smile remains..
So blind to all my pain...
There's nothing left, so I hold my breath..
I'm broken anyway..
No way that I'll be unraveled by the..
Truth I can't erase..
Freeze...
So breakable, unbreakable..
Psychotic, unshakeable..
It won't be long, I'll find you soon...
I stand in a world that's so twisted up and shaken!
Invisible in this form I've taken!
Don't search for me 'cause i don't want to be found!
Don't look upon me!
While living in a world of another's virtue!
It isn't in my nature to try and hurt you!
Remember the light!
That used to shine in me!!!
So bright and vividly!!"
Catching his breath, Brayden didn't hear his door opening. He simply continued to play as he got into the song more. His voice going off with what he felt at this very moment with the lyrics.
"Spreading so endlessly..
The solitude engulfing me..
The memories back from a time of innocence of my mind...
I cannot move!
I cannot move!
I cannot move!
I cannot move!
I cannot move!
I cannot move now!!
Unraveling the world!!!"
Brayden then began playing much more intense notes from his guitar, his fingers moving precisely and passionately as he worked the instrument. Once he got all the notes that he wanted, he breathed in, then breathed out to sing one more time.
"Here's who I am now..
The old me is gone now..
The lines start to blur..
Till they fade away to nothing now...
So breakable, unbreakable..
So shakeable, unshakeable..
I swear that I will not corrupt you!
I stand in a world that's so twisted up and shaken!
Invisible in this form I've taken!
Don't search for me 'cause I don't want to be found!
Don't look upon me!
My solitude's a cage that I can't dismantle!
I'm begging you before my fate unravels!
Just please remember!
The light that shone in me!!
Vivid and so brightly!!
Just don't forget me!
Just don't forget me!
Just don't forget me!
Just don't forget me!!
This change that I've gone through has left me paralyzed!
I cannot turn back from this lonely paradise!
Remember the light!
That use to shine in me!!
So tell me now..
Just tell me now..
What do I have inside? A monster I should hide?"
When he finished those last notes and lyrics left his mouth, Brayden panted softly from the passion that he put in that song. He held his guitar firmly for a moment, then let his grip ease off of it as he set it behind omhim on the bed. Leaning forward, Brayden put his face into his hands and let out a sigh. That was when he heard a voice speak to him, that being Wondergirl's.
"What did you mean when you said, just don't forget me?"
She asked in a soft tone, gaining Brayden's attention. He removed his face from his hands and looked up to find her leaning against the doorframe with a small smile on her face. He returned the smile before looking to the floor once more.
"Don't forget about who I used to be." He clarified.
"Which was?"
"A normal guy who skipped out on high-school and am too old to try and go back. Most likely lost his job after two years of no show, and probably lost my changes with a girl I was crushing on."
"Oh..."
Wondergirl said nothing after that. She had no way to understand his current predicament. With an inhale and exhale, she moved off of the doorframe and approached him. She seated herself beside him and let out a deep breath.
"How is he recovering?" Brayden questioned, referring to Superboy's current condition.
"He's just about healed up, though I think that you broke more than bone." Wondergirl answered and watched as Brayden glanced at her, confused. "His pride."
"Oh..."
The two remained silent for a few moments, mulling over what they should say over the other. That was when Wondergirl pursed her lips and placed a hand onto Brayden's arm.
"Brayden, I can't say that I understand what you're feeling right now. I just know that you're not a bad person. I mean, you came back to help us take down Desmond. You're a great singer and an amazing guitarist. I don't care whoever tells you that you're a monster. You're still a human being in my eyes. So before you lose that light that shined in you, hold onto it a bit longer for me. Please?"
Wondergirl said, comforting Brayden before he fully turned his head to her. She was casually dressed, though more like if she was part of a football team. She had on a black tight fitting tank top, blue skinny jeans, a pair of running shoes, and her silver chrome bracers. Her black hair was tied up in a ponytail at the moment, showing off her beautiful face. Brayden couldn't help but smile at her, before placing his own hand onto hers.
"I'll try." He stated.
"Good..", She said softly, "By the way, my name's Donna if you were ever wondering about that."
"You'd tell me your secret identity?"
"I told you my first name, and there's alot of Donna's in the world, Brayden. You're gonna have to work to get my last name."
After speaking her piece, Donna stood up from Braydens' bed and held out a hand to him.
"Come, I'm not just here to talk with you. Batman wants to have a word with you.."
Brayden nodded, knowing that the Dark Knight was going to give him quite the lecture. A part of him felt that he deserved it, another part felt that being scolded by Batman was terrifying. Despite his powers, Batman still gave him the creeps. He wasn't even sure if the Dark Knight had powers or not.
Taking Donna's hand, she pulled him to his feet to meet with the Dark Knight. Brayden already knew that Batman had a few choice words for him.
<Ten Minutes Later>
Standing before the Dark Knight was Brayden who had his head lowered. Batman hadn't even said a word yet, and already the silence was getting to Brayden. The two were inside the main area where the Zetatubes were. On the floor, there were still some evidence of Brayden and Superboy's fight. Despite the repairs done to the room. Batman had his arms folded over his chest like a disappointed father. After another long moment of silence, he spoke.
"You lost control." Batman scolded.
"Yes." Brayden replied.
"Why?"
"I got angry."
"That was obvious, why did you get angry?"
"I...don't want to talk about it."
"The more I know, the better that we can work-"
"I said that I don't want to talk about it."
Brayden's interruption of Batman's sentence got the Dark Knight to narrow his eyes on him. He said nothing for a few seconds before he spoke once more like a doting father.
"Your mother...", Batman deduced, "The recordings from the camera showed Superboy taunting you. You reacted to none of his taunts except when he spoke of your mother..."
Brayden balled his fist up, halting himself from reacting to Batman's words. He lifted his head and locked his eyes onto Batman. He gave the Dark Knight a warning glare, but the Caped Crusader continued regardless of the glare.
"I've investigated the orphanage that you were admitted to, Brayden. I know why you reacted to your mother being talked about. Susan Liu did left you at the steps of the orphanage when you were still ten years old, and disappeared from your life. You had tried to find her when you were seventeen but-"
"SHUT UP!"
Brayden gritted his teeth, enraged. Azure blue lightning erupted from him as he took a step forward. Instead of being startled by Braydens' outburst, Batman stood firm without even a single flinch. He said nothing for a moment as Brayden glared into his eyes.
"I can't say that I know what it's like to not know what a parents' love is like Brayden," Batman said in a more comforting tone, "What I can say is that I know what being an orphan is like. Feeling like you're all alone, like nobody is going to help you. As if the world is against you, and you have no way of moving forward in life. I know that pain.."
Those words took Brayden aback, his anger subsiding as he stared into Batmans' cowl with widened eyes. The lightning that had enveloped him dissipated, leaving an emotional looking Brayden now. This gave Batman the queue to keep speaking.
"I got past that because of those around me, people who I care for. I know that you care for someone, Billy Batson if my investigation is right."
"Billy?", Brayden called, "Is he-"
"He's no longer in the orphanage that you use to stay in, he's been adopted and living a good life."
A deep sigh left Brayden as he nodded and turned sideways to Batman. He took a few moments to himself, relieved that his friend was alive and well. Then he turned his head to look at Batman, who was still staring at him.
"Batman, I'm sorry that I lost control...I-" Brayden began to apologize.
"I didn't come here to hear you apologize, i came here to confirm that you knew whg you lost control." Batman interrupted.
"Why is that important?"
"So you know not to do it again. Brayden, knowing your limits is good, knowing how not to lose control is better. You are by far the strongest young adult here. We've barely scratched the surface as to what you are capable of. You are a literal walking conductor for particles and electrons. If you are not careful, you could do more than just kill someone. Be mindful of what makes you upset, and what makes your powers work. The more you know, the more we know. Dismissed."
Batman turned, and began to head for the Zetatubes to leave. Brayden stared after him, watching him leave him there. His mind revolved around what Batman said about being an orphan. For some reason, Batman seemed like the type who had been an orphan. After watching Batman leave, Brayden turned and was about to head back to his room. His mind circulating on how best he was going to figure out what all he could do. That was when he heard the Mount Justice's caretaker speak through an intercom to him, Red Tornado.
"Brayden Liu, I see that you are still here, good."The Android commented, "The team requires your assistance. They are battling an android like myself and would need your aid you finish them."
"W-what?", Brayden questioned, confused, "But why me? Why can't you help them?"
"If I solve all of their problems, then they will have learned nothing. But if you wish to reconcile with Superboy, then this may be a chance for you."
Brayden was about to retort about how little control that he had, then held his tongue. This could he a chance for him to see what he could do. Then, he closed his eyes, contemplating if it was the right thing to do. That was when he remembered Batman's words about how he got past his loneliness in life, the Dark Knight weirdly enough had others around him to support him.
Opening his eyes and letting out a deep breath, Brayden slowly nodded to himself before speaking.
"Alright, I'll help."
Brayden then began running out of the room. His feet moving as fast as he could to the nearest exit. As he ran, he found himself moving faster than he normally could run. He was just about on par with Kid Flash's speed. Noticing this, he made sure to watch for the door to open before he could run into it like back in Cadmus. Once the door opened for him, Brayden stared up at the sky and thought about the night that he first flew in the air. He had no control over how to steer himself or keep himself from crashing into anything. So he simply decided to stop thinking about it.
'Maybe my powers don't have to he about what I feel in the moment...just what my instincts can guide them into doing.' Brayden thought to himself.
He began to focus, letting his body move on its own. He crouched down, bending his knees outwards. Azure blue lightning surrounded him once again. This time, it gave off a crackling sound as if he were a bolt of lightning. The ground beneath him bended and burned from the intensity of the electrons and particles coming off of him. When Brayden opened his eyes, he sprung forth into the air, his ascent giving off the sound a thunderclap. Soaring into the clouds overhead, Brayden felt weightless. For a moment, he felt as if he were on cloud nine from the amount of adrenaline rushing through his veins. Right before he could ascend any more, he felt gravity pull him back down. He held his arms forward, his hands balling up into fists. It just felt right, how he was moving, how he felt, the wind pushing against him. His arms outstretched forward the way they were actually helped him steer himself. He was descending downwards towards Happy Harbor's docks. It was where he could see a good amount of smoke from how high he was.
Brayden was coming in like a meteorite, the particles and electrons around him continuing to erupt from him. It wouldn't be long before he finally arrived in the next moment, his two fists collided with a robotic being that looked oddly like Red Tornado. Though they were taller, buffer, had a red and black color palette, and for some reason had a scarf around their neck. Brayden's attack sent the android flying into the water like a rock across a pond. He still floated in the air as the group of young heroes who saw his arrival stared wide-eyed up at him. He descended to the ground, and turned to them with a small smile.
"Hey guys..." Brayden greeted.
"Hey?!", Kid Flash called, "Dude since when could you fly!?"
"Since like now? Well technically i could fly I just didn't-"
Before they could converse more, the group turned to hear the sound of the water parting. The green skinned girl immediately had her eyes light up green, her name being M'gann
'Brayden, can you hear me?' She called through his mind.
'Whoa!', He thought back, 'You can do that? That's so cool!'
'Brayden, you just came in like a flipping meteor, and you think a mind link is cool!?' Robin thought.
'Can we focus boys?', Donna berated, 'Alright, what's the plan, M'gann?'
'Well I was going to disguise myself as Red Torndao and trick Twister into letting his guard down.', M'gann thought quickly, 'But since Brayden's here, he can do the heavy lifting.'
'The what now?' Brayden thought in question.
'She means you can fight Twister head first better than us, now go!' Robin explained.
Without another word, Brayden narrowed his eyes and then soared forth towards the ascending android. He sent a straight punch right into the androids chrome dome, sending it flying up into the air like a ragdoll. When it caught itself, it began to use its powers to conjure a thunder cloud.
"I do not know who you are, but you have just gained full attention!" Twister spouted, then fired a bolt of lightning at Brayden. He instinctively dodged, then flew up towards the stationary android. Twister continued fire bolt after bolt of lightning at Brayden, until one eventually hit him square in the chest. It sent him back, falling to the ground out of control. However, Brayden caught himself then flew after Twister once more. When the android fired a bolt of lightning at him this time, Brayden gritted his teeth and held his fists up. He let out a howl of pain as the bolt of lightning collided with them, but instead of being pushed back, he pushed forward.
"No..." Twister said in disbelief.
Brayden continued to ascend right up to Twister, then used both of his outstretched fists to knock the android out of the air. As soon as Twister hit the ground, the rest of the young heroes teamed up on him. Robin hurled several of his Birdarangs at the android, exploding it in a ball of fire. Kid Flash ran by, grabbing it by the leg and pulled it around. M'gann then used her telekinetic powers to lift up Twister just in time for Donna to come in with a clothesline aimed for the androids' right arm. When M'gann released it, Superboy came rocketing up and caught Twister in the air. Before the two fell, the Boy of Steel sent a devasting fist into the androids' left arm. Then he tore it off before they both hit the ground. Lastly was Aqualad, who came in with twin water blades. He sliced right through the androids' armored legs, finally ridding it of all its limbs. Brayden came descending down, stumbling a bit since he didn't have the whole aspect of flight down pat yet.
Twister was now surrounded by the group before its chassis opened to reveal a frail man inside. He looked up at all of them in fear, before speaking with a worried tone.
"F-foul! I call foul!"
M'gann after hearing those words, used her telekinesis to lift up a nearby Boulder. Aqualad tried to stop her, but it was too late as she released it to crush the man inside. Braydens' eyes widened in shock, he felt like he was going to puke. His stomach churned up as everyone else got ready to scolded M'ganna for killing someone.
"I thought you said that you trusted me.", M'gann said with a smirk, then removed the boulder to reveal that the man was also an android, "That's why I couldn't read his mind."
Now, knowing why she did it, a sigh of relief left Brayden as he got his breathing under control. He watched as Kid Flash picked up the androids' eyeball, and almost felt himself about to puke again.
"Why?" Superboy questioned, his gaze being pointed at Brayden now.
"Why what?" Brayden inquired.
"Why did you come to help us? You said it yourself, you aren't gonna be doing what we're doing, so why come here to help us?"
"Well that's easy to answer...because I felt like it."
"Wha-"
"Basically, I did it because I could because I wanted to. I don't wanna be what Cadmus wanted me to be. And I don't feel like I'm cut out for the whole superhero thing. But coming to help my friends who could use a hand? Yeah...that I can do just fine."
When he finished speaking, Brayden found Wondergirl walking up to him. She gave him a soft smile before placing a kiss on his cheek. That made his eyes blink twice before staring at her with wide eyes.
"Thanks for coming to help us." She thanked.
"Hey, how come he gets a kiss on the cheek and I don't!?" Kid Flash exclaimed.
"Because Brayden here isn't actively trying to flirt with me with the worst game ever."
"Wow...way to hurt his ego." Robin sneered.
While the others conversed with one another, Superboy walked up to Brayden. The two stared at one another for a moment, neither speaking a single word. Then Superboy said something that Brayden wasn't expecting him to say.
"Sorry for talking bad about your mom."
Brayden stared at Superboy for a moment, then gave him a slight smile before speaking as well.
"Don't be, I got over her a long time ago. I wasn't mad about you talking about her, I was made because you thought I wanted to go home to her. I'm an orphan."
Those words made Superboy widen with realization. Then with a slow nod, he gave Brayden a playful smirk.
"I'm gonna want a rematch at some point, you know?" Superboy challenged.
"Fine by me, just don't cry when you lose again." Brayden challenged back.
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