บท 308: Rebuilding and Recovery #308
Two weeks later
East End
"I see you're working hard already..." I remarked, smiling and ignoring the strange looks the construction workers and engineers gave me as I approached Barbara Gordon.
It's been a while since the invasion, and the planet was recovering from the devastation wrought by Darkseid and his minions at an impressive pace.
Half of the city of Metropolis was already looking as good as new, and it was the focal point of the battle, but that was thanks to Lex Luthor and the money he sank into rebuilding the city.
Other cities weren't so fortunate but were recovering at their own pace, albeit more slowly. Luckily, humans were nothing if not persistent and capable of learning, though forgetful more often than not.
The invasion lit a fire under everyone's asses, serving as a wake-up call for many people, evidenced by how peaceful the past several weeks were. I was under no illusion the peace would last long, but I still took it as a sign for better days, and many shared that sentiment.
Still, while most of the world was busy rebuilding itself, Gotham flourished under my direction as I resumed my many projects to improve the city and make it a better place to live.
Protecting the city from the invasion and beating the crap out of Darkseid had earned me no small amount of favor and influence with the people of the government.
Naturally, being the opportunistic guy I was, I took full advantage of the situation as I applied for and secured various contracts and licenses that the government would not have approved otherwise.
Supplying the police force with equipment, keeping the defense system I built around Gotham, and using my machines to patrol the city and keep the peace, I gained those exclusive rights and even more through a bit of string pulling and maneuvering here and there.
I now had the necessary tools and power to turn Gotham into the perfect city I envisioned, and that's what I intended to do. The rest of the planet will follow once they see the results, but that's for the future.
"Well, someone has to," The redhead replied, raising an eyebrow as she turned to me. "Besides, I pay myself more than enough to make up for it," She jokingly added with a shrug.
"As you should," I replied with a chuckle. "I'm very pleased with the work you've done so far... maybe you should consider giving yourself a raise," I added, getting an eye roll from the redhead for my effort.
"You're about to throw more work my way, aren't you...?" Barbara said with a knowing look. "No need to butter me up. Just lay it out on me," She jokingly added with a light chuckle.
"Hence the suggested raise..." I replied with a bitter smile. "In any case, this is not the place to discuss it, and you'll need to meet the people you'll be working with..." I added, causing the redhead to tilt her head in confusion.
"You'll understand soon enough..." I said as I raised my arm to check the time. "I'll pick you up when in five hours, so finish up here and get ready..." I concluded as I turned back to the redhead.
"Well, alright..." Barbara said with a nod. "I just hope you don't suddenly teleport me to a room full of ex-villains like you did last time..." She blankly added, earning a guilty look from me as I chuckled.
"Rest assured. There will be no teleportation this time around..." I said as I awkwardly scratched my head. "Anyway... I still have some work to do until then, so I'll see you in a couple of hours..." I concluded, promptly teleporting away without waiting for a reply.
...
"So... how do you like the fit so far...?" I asked, pacing around Deadshot and giving his brand-new suit an inspecting look. "It should be just perfect--" I added, pausing as I adjusted one of the shoulder blades, which was slightly slanted by a fraction of a micrometer.
Naturally, I didn't spend the past weeks working on my plans as I sank many hours into my workroom and created various tools and weapons, some of which were for my personal use while others were for my employees and equipment for the GCPD.
Deadshot, Harley, and Lady Vic were some of the most dangerous humans to walk god's green and blue earth, but they were still humans, just as susceptible to stabby and smashy things as the average Joe.
I couldn't have my employees die to gunshot and stab wounds on the job like some peasants, so here were are, trying out the new suit I developed for their use.
"It feels like a second skin..." Deadshot calmly replied as he stretched his arms and moved his fingers. "But I'll have to test its performance before I make the final judgment..." He added with a shrug.
"Fine, then let's start with the defensive capabilities..." I said as I stepped back and retrieved a shotgun from my inventory, promptly blasting the mercenary in the midsection before he could process the situation.
"Son of a--" And that was all Deadshot could say before the buckshot hit him in the chest and cut him off mid-sentence. Unsurprisingly (to me), the mercenary didn't even stagger back, never mind receive an injury.
"Theoretically, the suit should protect you from a ballistic missile, but I don't want to wreck my lab, so you might as well take my word for it," I said, instantly snapping the mercenary out of his daze as he stopped feeling his midsection in search of a wound that wasn't there and turned to glare at me.
"Moving on to utility..." I said, chuckling as I accessed the suit's controls and activated the deployable helmet, which instantly covered his face and the glare alongside it. "First of all, the helmet comes with night visions, heat vision, X-ray visions, and every other type of vision you could think of..." I explained, activating each function as I spoke it, which seemed to dizzy the mercenary.
"I'm sure you can figure it out once you read the manual..." I went on as I reverted the vision to default. "Besides the lenses, the helmet is as durable as the remainder of the suit..." I went on as I raised the shotgun and prepared to shoot him in the face, only to stop as he growled at me.
"Ahem... anyway, the helmet also comes with a gas mask that will filter out the nastiest of gaseous poisons and a respirator..." I went on as I put away the shotgun, much to Deadhsot's relief.
"Other utility functions include thrusters capable of short bursts of flights for improved mobility, activated adhesive boots, quick hack tool..." I said, counting out several more functions before stopping. "... and the best part is that you could control everything with your mind thanks to my Neuro-Link technology..." I concluded.
"I can get used to this..." Deadshot said in a satisfied tone, having taken the time to try out every function I had mentioned. "What about the suit's firepower?" He asked, sounding slightly excited as he turned to me.
"First, there's the usual, what with two fully automatic pistols, a sawed-off shotgun, and a sniper rifle, all fully customized to ensure the maximum range and power while keeping recoil to negligible levers by me..." I replied, gesturing to the various guns attached to the suit.
"Then there's the extra kick you'd need against metahumans, such as the shoulder-mounted missile launcher, the ionized knife, wrist-mounted gravity projectile launcher..." I concluded.
"Gravity projectiles? As in the experimental rifle's gravity projectiles...?" Deadshot asked, his confusion audible in his voice as he raised his arm to check out the wrist-mounted gun.
"Yes, but before you get excited..." I said, raising my hand. "You only get one gravity projectile per deployment, and you need to get my permission before you use it..." I added, shaking my head.
"And I suppose the crazy broads will get the same gear... so that makes three gravity projectiles per joint deployment..." Deadshot said after a momentary pause as he seemed to process my words, and I merely nodded.
"I can live with that..." Deadshot said with a satisfied nod after seeing me nod. "So... you've got somewhere I can take this baby for a test ride...?" He asked, the faintest hints of excitement audible in his tone.
"I was actually hoping you'd ask," I said with a grin as I put my hands on Deadshot's shoulder and teleported us into a spacious, empty space just below my hideout. "Welcome to the Danger Room..." I went on, spreading my arms as the room turned into a street of a ruined city.
The Danger Room was something I'd been itching to create for a while now, but I never had the time or the proper tools to do it, but it all changed after the invasion.
Not only did I get a considerable boost to my power, but I also had more free time since Barbara Gordon took care of my day-to-day tasks, giving me everything I needed to create the Danger Room.
The Danger Room operated on a simple principle: machines capable of transforming intangible light particles (photons) into solid matter and projecting them into any form or shape I could envision.
Under normal circumstances, I couldn't build such elaborate machines and create the necessary space to house the Danger Room under my hideout in as little as two weeks, but I didn't have to work out the principles from scratch.
Being the uninspired, lazy guy that I was, I stole the idea from The X-men comics, and I had a Mother Box loaded with alien technology and a power ring to assist me, so I managed to do it in time.
"Danger room...?" Deadshot muttered with a frown. "Then judging by that name... am I right to assume these things are dangerous...?" He added, gesturing toward the various humanoid machines crawling for every nook and cranny in the street.
"Very much so..." I said with a shrug. "You should fight like your life is on the line... 'cause, you know, it kind of is..." " I said as I stepped away from the mercenary and teleported away.
...
Hurrying toward the agreed-upon spot, Barbara couldn't help but sigh as she looked at her watch and realized she was late. Under ordinary circumstances, most people wouldn't consider one minute as late.
However, with a boss like Grayson, the redhead's circumstances were everything but ordinary. The young man didn't mind the slight delay, but she knew about his habit of arriving at the exact promised time and how much he valued his time.
"Sorry about the delay..." Barbara said as she approached the young man with an apologetic expression, getting his attention. "I got a call from my dad..." She added, shaking her head.
"Just because I can arrive precisely at the agreed-upon time because of my unique abilities doesn't mean I expect everyone to do the same..." The young man, Grayson, replied with a chuckle as he pushed himself away from the wall he was leaning on.
"Waiting a minute or two never killed anyone..." He went, not sounding upset much to the redhead's relief. "Now, I know you don't enjoy teleportation, but what about flight...?" He added as he raised his fist, showcasing the green power ring on his finger.
"Flight sounds good..." Barbara said, and Grayson instantly activated the power ring as soon as she finished speaking, wrapping her entire body in a transparent film of green energy.
"Then you might want to close your eyes..." Grayson calmly said, his words causing the redhead to panic, but he quickly took the air and dragged her along before she could voice her concerns.
Gritting her teeth, Barbara instantly obliged as she felt her feet leave the asphalt, and it only took a fraction of a second before she felt the solid ground beneath her.
Feeling disoriented, Barbara reached for her forehead. She slowly opened her eyes and found herself inside an empty restaurant. "Are you sure you didn't just teleport me again...?" She asked, shooting the young man a resentful look.
"Very. Light-speed flight and teleportation feel pretty much the same on short distances..." Grayson replied, shrugging his shoulders and the words of the redhead.
"Then what was the point...?" Barbara said, heaving a sigh of annoyance, to which Grayson responded with a shrug. "Never mind... so what are we doing here...?" She asked, pausing as she heard footsteps behind her.
"To discuss the future... mine-- to be more specific..." Came a feminine voice from behind the redhead's back, causing her to turn around and promptly freeze as she saw and recognized the speaker.
"Po-Poison Ivy?!" Barbara exclaimed in shock, her eyes widening as she locked gazes with her fellow redhead. "What are you doing here?!" She asked, her body tensing as she prepared to fight.
"As I've said... to discuss the future..." Poison Ivy replied with a friendly smile. "And I go by Pamela Isley these days, so I'd appreciate it if you used my real name from now on..." She added as she extended her hand toward Barbara, expecting a handshake.
Barbara alternated her gaze between Pamela's face and her extended hand before turning to Grayson with a confused expression. "What's going on here...?" She asked, sounding genuinely puzzled.
"I promised I'd help Pamela change her public image and help integrate her back into society..." Grayson replied with a nonchalant shrug. "And we're here to discuss how to get that done..." He added with a smile, earning a nod from Pamela.
"But... but she's Poison Ivy, a notorious terrorist..." Barbara said with a frown, sounding unconvinced. "You can't possibly trust her enough to help her that much..." She added, firmly shaking her head.
"I used to think so too..." Said another feminine voice as a woman dressed in a tight orange suit with metallic plates covering her shoulder and a similarly colored mask walked up to Barbara from behind.
"Then I sat down and chatted with Pamela... now I think she can do a lot of good for the world if we let her..." The woman added as she nodded at Grayson and Pamela in greeting.
"You're Manhunter, the vigilante for Los Angeles, aren't you...?" Barbara asked with a frown as she instantly recognized the woman, causing the latter to smile.
"For the duration of this meeting, I'll be Katherine Spencer... Whitlock Industries' legal advisor..." The woman, Katherine, said as she removed her mask and revealed her face.
"Well, now that the introductions are out of the way..." Grayson said as he cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "I'll leave you girls to figure it out..." He added, causing the three women to frown.
"With the power and tools under my company's disposal, I'm sure you three brilliant women such as yourselves will accomplish anything," He went on, going heavy on the flattery.
"Until then, I still have work to do, so do excuse me..."
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