บท 99: Chapter 99 : Renewed resolve
[Author note : Hey, guys ! The quality of the last chapter I wrote, chapter 109, is... unsatisfactory. I've posted it on my Patréon, but it makes me wonder if I should not put this story on hiatus for a while. Especially given the fact that I had a really difficult time writing it. The words just didn't come... Nothing's decided and I'll tell you guys if I do.
In the meantime, you can still and always visit my Patréon page - e instead of é - by searching for Cathbel on the website. Marvel - The author is progressing too. Probably not fast enough to readers, unfortunately... I know how we readers can be, after all. But it's one thing to read, and a whole other to write it. Anyways, check it, and everything else I posted on my Patréon out !
Also, don't forget to give a review, a comment or stones. It's always greatly appreciated ! Have a great read !]
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« And you're positive that this… is my little brother ? » Susan asked as she eyed Ned warily. He looked nothing like her brother after all. In fact, he didn't much look like a human being… Right now, he looked more like a golem he would have created but not finished. It didn't have skin, only silver and chrome all over, with a few dark spots resembling rubber or plastic.
His 'children' almost all looked humans, except for Bastion. Was there a reason why he couldn't make himself a body that imitated his own ? Even if he wasn't truly her brother, at least she could pretend, if only he looked the part…
Ned shrugged :
« That's the question, isn't it ? My mind is a copy of Edgar Stark's before he was completely taken over by a magical entity. Is the original Edgar Stark more real than me ? Can I even be considered to be him ? Those are the questions I often ask myself… »
Susan shook her head :
« Shut up ! I don't care about these questions… What I care about is that you don't look like yourself… Or a human, for that matter. Mel might be blue, but she looks like a bombshell of a woman. Symmetra's the same. And the new girl, too… Sombra was it ? Even Winston, who for some reason was modeled after a gorilla looks exactly like one… Is there a particular reason why you chose not to look… like a living being ? Don't get me wrong, the look Terminator is badass, but… a little unsettling. »
Over the long years he spent trying to educate his family, he finally managed to convert them into aficionados of movies. The fact that she made a reference… It felt like an achievement to Ned ! He could almost hear the victorious jingle music ringing in the background…
Still, her question deserved to be pondered over. It had been a few days since the Culling. Normally, it would have been ample time for him to repair or even finish up a new body for his children (or himself), especially since he had the designs saved on his computer and most of the parts needed to assemble them. Now, with the addition of his Technopathic abilities… Even a few days was overkill.
So… The question remained : Why hadn't he chosen a face for himself (at the very least) ? The answer ? It lied in the existential question he uttered to his sister. He wasn't sure whether or not he was Edgar Stark and if he wasn't, he simply had no idea what face he should have. In fact, if he wasn't truly a human being, should he even bother imitating them ?
And so, that's why until now, he hadn't bothered with making a body with his old face, or even one with a completely new identity that he could take on.
Susan had come back home for the extended week end. She had closed her shop and left a note for her clients that she'd be back on Wednesday after the holidays. And although she had been made aware of Ned's situation, this wasn't what she was expecting.
Then again… What was she supposed to expect ? Ned's life was completely crazy… In order to 'test his armors' (according to him, anyway), he meddled with a civil war in the UK involving a crazy Dark Lord and his even crazier followers. In their own country, he participated in the defense against an honest to Merlin alien invasion. In New York, he was turned into a Man-beast by an old goddess of magic… And now, his body was taken over and his mind had been copied onto some kind of magical crystal. Must be another Tuesday !
Still, it wasn't exactly easy to just accept the fact that this… was her little brother. Her own life, despite being slightly hectic ever since she started her business (inspired by Ned's enchanted clothes), was tame in comparison. All she had to deal with were her competitors cutting down their prices or visiting her shop incognito to steal her ideas. But the goblin silver thread and the small mana reactor patches powering the enchantments, those couldn't be copied easily. All they could copy were her designs. Her business and Ned's investments were safe in that regard. And thus, she was neither worried nor overly stressed out.
She really wondered how her brother could deal with it all. He might be intelligent (extremely so, according to him), he wasn't exactly what you'd call the picture of maturity and mental stability. Frankly, he always said that wizards and witches were nuts, especially the powerful ones, but he wasn't much better !
Just the idea of crime fighting… Susan often wondered if he wasn't under the effect of an overpowered confusion spell. That would explain why he'd do something so crazy ! Putting himself in danger like that, for complete strangers… Ned wasn't even doing it out of a sense of justice or anything like that. He did it to 'prepare' for the worst. Because according to him, they lived in a crazy world. Okay… But then, instead of risking his life, why not just create the ultimate bunker-like structure ? He managed to isolate their childhood home, protect it from the rest of the world by sending it into some kind of pocket dimension, didn't he ? Wasn't that enough ? If it wasn't, he should just continue to work in that field in order to increase the protections and stuff…
But, no~! He'd rather put himself on the front line, wearing untested technomancy against psychos and sociopaths, hardened criminals, dark lords and wizards, gods and aliens… No matter how she thought of it, it was beyond nuts !
And now, he didn't even have his own body… A robot-wearing crystal, that's all he was now. The way he behaved, he didn't even seem that phased about his situation. Though maybe he was more distraught than he showed…
« You're right, sis… I need to make myself a body. If only to show my face to the world. Even if Jasmine can take some of the workload, I can't dump it all on her. I've done it too much, already. Besides, when Metal-Ned will start his plan for world domination, I'll need an alibi. Silver Lad can't become a villain, or it would be bad for us all… »
« Wow ! Talking about yourself in the third person… I just knew it ! »
The robotic head tilted to the side :
« Knew what ? »
« That you're crazy, of course ! Have to be to lead your kind of life… »
Ned stilled and considered her words. She… wasn't wrong. Even with his knowledge of the world he was in, he doubted many people would make the choices he made, especially in his situation. Most other people, learning they were neither a wizard or a meta, wouldn't work on building enchanted armor. They wouldn't even consider taking on threats like Darkseid… Because those were the kind of threats he had in mind when he started it all.
Darkseid, the Crime Syndicate, the Anti-Monitor, the Third Army, the Guardians, Nekron and his Black Lanterns… Because he wanted to survive the events they would unleash upon their world, because he wanted to be relevant, he took the Tony Stark road. Hoping his technomancy would give him the edge he needed to be recognize like one of the greats. More than Batman, he wanted to stand shoulder to shoulder with people like Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, the Green Lanterns…
He only realized now, with his sister's words that there had been another road available for him to take. And yet… The more he thought about it, the more he knew his choice was the right one. Even if he managed to protect himself and his close ones, what use would it be if the world was burning all around ? If it was gone along with the rest of humanity ?
Even with the existence of capable heroes, perhaps because of it, he could not let the world undefended. After all, he more than anyone, knew how flawed the heroes truly were ! Just like he was… The Superman from the Injustice reality, the Batman-Who-Laughs… These two powerhouses, pillars of justice, turned dark and evil. Only two examples of how wrong things could turn out, and how he had to be involved.
And so, Ned decided to return to the world. Even without his body, with an artificial, fake body and identity. It didn't matter that he had doubts about who and what he was… It didn't change his purpose. He had to continue to learn, to invent and create. To improve himself and his equipment. Become better than he was before…
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