Happy Harbor
July 8, 9:14
"What?"
"Yes. Before anyone asks or gets any ideas, yes it is final. No, it is not because of anyone here or in the League. This is something that was always in the works. I was always gonna leave. It's just that recent events have accelerated my timeline and I feel this is the best time to do this."
"SP…" said Rob.
"What events?" Ron asked.
"Well, I took someone under my wing. The girl grew up with an abusive mom. I want to give her the life every child deserves. Plus, there's my partnership with STAR Labs on the Kobra-Venom issue, my company, and my girlfriend. Things between us have gotten serious. So yeah."
They took in my explanation with silence, their expression sullen but understanding.
"Come on," I tried to lift their spirits. "It's okay you guys. I'm not falling off the face of the planet or cutting you guys off. You can come see me anytime. I'll just not be part of the team or be doing costumed hero stuff anymore. I'll be protecting humanity another way."
"You've figured it out?" asked Rob.
I couldn't keep the smile off my face or out of my voice. "Yeah."
"Man, it's just… weird," said Wally. "I guess I thought… I don't even know."
Kaldur stepped forward and put a hand on the speedster's shoulder. "What my friend is trying to say is, we did not think of a future without you in the team."
"Yeah," Rob said and the others nodded.
"Don't worry. The team was always you guys," I looked at their faces, Dick, Wally, Kaldur, Roy, Ron and the new members, M'gann and Grace. "I was just an annoying tag along."
"Will we really see you around?" Ron asked.
"Yes," I said, a bit louder in case they didn't hear me the first time. "If you want, we can set a time and a date where we'll meet regularly."
Roy jumped on that. "Let's do that."
"Good. We'll keep in touch through the group chat," I said, waving my left wrist in the air to remind them of their own watches. "Now, for the parting gift."
All those I'd handed watches, the boys, Grace, and even M'gann when I met her over a week ago, received audible notifications from their own pieces that drew their attention.
"I'm leaving the Zephyr to you guys. We made it as a team transport, so it'll stay that way."
The boys gave me stunned looks.
"What! What about you?" Wally asked.
I smiled. "Already building a new one. Don't worry."
"Of course you are," Rob smiled and shook his head.
"What's a… Zephyr?" M'gann asked.
"What she said," Grace pointed at the martian.
"It's a plane. Our plane. Come, we'll show you," Wally said and took off.
"Sorry. He does that," Rob placated and went after him with the others. "You'll get used to it."
"You have a plane?" Grace damn near shouted before rounding on me. "Where's my car?"
Shit. I forgot.
"You didn't tell me what kind of car you wanted," I said. "But no worries, I'll give you a hundred thousand dollars. Should be enough to get you any car you want."
"Five."
"One. And I give it to your legal guardian—," I flashed her a smirk and turned to Wonder Woman,"—if you keep pushing for more."
Wonder Woman smiled and Grace grew worried, the dollar signs in her eyes disappearing as she shifted her gaze between me and the princess. "Fine! A hundred grand. I'll take it."
There was no way she'd get to spend the money as she saw fit if I gave it to Wonder Woman. And it wasn't a case of malice on the part of the heroine, just typical parent behaviour of securing large gifts responsibly for their kids.
"Grace!" Wally shouted after skidding to a stop. "Come on! We're about to fly."
"Okay, okay. I'm coming, sheesh."
Cursing under her breath when the young speedster vanished again, Grace took off after him with big, leaping steps.
Myself, including the rest of the adults present, watched her go until she was out of sight. We drew closer and Flash was the first to speak.
"So this is really it."
"Yeah," I exhaled. "It was a bit harder than I expected, but then again, what isn't."
"Nice going with the gift. Took their attention off your departure just for a little bit."
I smiled at the accusation, neither confirming nor denying it.
In a move that surprised me. Flash extended a hand forward, his expression unusually serious.
"Thank you for this," he started when I accepted his handshake. "For showing the kids being a hero is not all there is. Sometimes I fear that since they entered the life so young, it has become all they know. By telling them why you're leaving, they will now think about their own futures. Futures where they can have normal lives, or balance being a hero and having relationships outside of it."
"Like you guys," I said and swept my gaze across the red clad speedster himself, Wonder Woman, and Martian Manhunter. "Don't sell yourselves short. The kids look up to you guys and the rest of the Justice League. You guys were already showing them that before I came along. But I see what you're saying. Since I was officially one of them, it is more real now."
"Exactly."
I nodded at Flash's statement, the handshake long ended. "Thank you too, for saying that."
"You're welcome. If there's nothing else here, I'd like to run."
"Wait!" I stopped him. "One thing. What do you know about the Speed Force?"
"The what force?" Flash narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about?"
This would take longer than I expected. "Long story short. It's where speedsters like you draw their power. I wanted to speak to you about possible solutions regarding Wally's issue. But it seems you'll need a crash course yourself."
Flash closed his eyes and shook his head. "What? How?"
"Set a time and date. We'll go into this at length. Okay?"
With a deep inhale, Flash nodded. "Okay. I'll send you the details. Again, thank you."
He took off after that and left me alone with Wonder Woman and Manhunter.
"You asked for my assistance on a project," the martian said.
"Yes. You see, I have this device. It can amplify an individual's psychic abilities and possibly even grant some of these to those that do not have them. How far can you cast your psychic net?"
"I can encompass most cities with great effort."
"Hmm," I nodded, thinking of my version of Cerebro over this man's head. "Well, my device, if it works as intended, should greatly expand your range. Greatly. I'm talking the whole world."
Wonder Woman crossed her muscled arms. "What is the price a user must pay for gaining such power? In my experience, there is always a price."
"She is right," Manhunter continued. "Though I am worried about the potential such a device holds should it fall into the wrong hands."
"All valid points, but I think we're jumping the gun. I did ask for your assistance after all."
"You wish for me to test it?"
"In stages," I added hastily, in case they got more crazy ideas. "You're the most experienced psychic I know. Who better to use the device and ascertain how safe it is?"
"Why do you really want this?"
"Two reasons. One, The Light and their Kobra brute army. I for one I'm not comfortable sitting on my ass waiting for them to attack. We need to find them first and stop whatever plan they've concocted.
The second reason is Superboy. If we test the device and it works, I can use it to help him awaken his psychic powers, maybe even permanently. So what do you say? Can I count on you?"
"Hmm… I will assist you."
I restrained myself from pumping my fist, letting the mental rendition sate that need.
.
.
.
.
Providence
July 9, 7:33
Breakfast was a quick and silent affair.
There were few things better than toast with hot chocolate in the morning. Cassandra and I rightly proved the superiority of this combination when we both asked for round two.
Mike, fully enjoying his butler role, catered to us and even gave me a round three. It was the first morning in a long time where I didn't have to go to the cave.
The split with the team and the League fully set in and I took a minute during the meal to come to terms with it. Something I thought I'd already done.
Across the table from me, Cassandra wiped her lips and signed, "what are you thinking about?"
"Nothing. Just my old job. I quit yesterday," I signed and stood up. "Come on, let's get going."
"What did you do?" she asked.
"I'll tell you on the way," I said and went for the door. Before I left the house, I turned around, Mike was clearing the table and seemed to have anticipated my question.
"I'll meet you at the construction site."
"Hm. Okay."
Outside the beach house, I found Cassandra waiting near the garage. I thought I'd have gotten used to it by now, but the placid, almost dead expression she wore 24/7 still tickled my brain wrong.
It also didn't help that the only other emotion I'd seen her express was overwhelming hate.
Little girls, or even people of any age and in general, were not supposed to look that way, especially while wearing clothes with cute kittens printed all over.
Mike had gone all out fabricating Cassandra's clothes. The girl had nearly ran away from the incessant bombings of pink in the proposed wardrobe.
When given access to the fabricator, she fed it all the clothes and printed out black versions of them. That's where I stepped in and struck a compromise; black clothes with cute cats outlined with pink.
Out of the garage, we dragged two speeders out. A mini one for her and a regular sized one for me. We had a platform in the house, but I preferred the long rides, and so did she. The island breeze was mighty fine after a good meal.
Both of us got on our vehicles and with a few back and forth signs, we took off. Because I was answering her earlier question and indulging her desire to enjoy the ride, we took about thirty minutes to reach our destination; a massive warehouse.
Upon arrival, I was the only one who alighted. Ever since she rode on the speeder a week ago, she'd grown attached to it. She spent hours and hours just riding around on the island, sometimes stopping to rest or explore places she'd never been to.
After the second day, I outfitted the vehicle that she'd claimed with an improved scanner, a mini-fabricator and also gave her some strict rules along with the upgrades.
They basically amounted to making periodic check-ins and reporting any unusual encounter or findings. No location on the island was restricted to her, except for the secret cavern prison where her mother had been locked up.
But since she didn't know what had become of the woman, she'd never even think to look for her here. Not that she'd even come close to finding her or reaching the location. There were safeguards upon safeguards keeping anyone who wasn't me out.
At this point, only Boom or Hush tubes could breach my security. So on that front, I wasn't worried. Sandra Wu San was dead to her daughter, and she'd stay that way.
"Be careful out there," I signed. "Remember the rules. Have fun."
She simply nodded and turned the speeder around, blasting off to god knows where, a trail of dust and leaves left in her wake. I watched and waited until I couldn't see her anymore before making my way to the warehouse.
About a dozen security measures confirmed my identity and clearance level and I simply waltzed through the wall.
The scenery made a drastic shift. It went from the early morning sun and light mist, a nice environment worthy of a place in a nature documentary, to a noisy playground of metal and machinery.
Dubbilex and his people had outdone themselves with this facility, completing the over a kilometer long structure in just under a month and a half. They had the best possible resources and tools, no doubt, but their motivation was the deciding factor in the end.
It didn't escape mine or Mike's notice when they went above and beyond to get it done. In the spirit of paying for services rendered, they were rewarded with hefty bonuses, something that strengthened our partnership even more.
Stepping forward and eyeing the beginnings of the monstrosity being built, I stepped on an elevator and pushed a button. I ascended to the top railing, still at the very edge of the facility and got a good view of what was happening.
This whole place was basically a giant fabricator. Matter shaping beam emitters, hundreds of them, had been installed at appropriate points along the interior, all of them working hand in hand to construct SHIELD's first helicarrier.
Positioned at appropriate points, Zeta-Platforms received feedstock in large amounts, all of them processed from the landfill I purchased in Bludhaven.
From there, the genomorph workers would move the materials over to where they were needed with the tractor beam gloves, their actions guided by the duo of artificial intelligences supervising the building process.
Calling Cyberpunk A.I's problematic was an understatement. Their propensity to lose their digital minds like it was destined hadn't suddenly slipped mine. That's why a lot of work had gone into Foreman and Sophis.
Their source code looked nothing like their Cyberpunk counterparts partly in thanks to Miniaturization and Efficiency and what I'd gleaned from Mike's code. Unlike the eponymous A.I. however, they had no ability to grow beyond their roles.
We trained them with data gathered from various construction projects, including the Zephyr's. They had no connection to any other network apart from the one we'd deployed so they could provide periodic updates or request input on certain matters.
The helicarrier's construction had begun only two days ago, yet the skeleton of its lower half was about halfway done. At this rate, the two months estimate Mike gave me might just be true. Of course, this was just for the body to be complete.
The installation of the various control and power systems would have to be led by yours truly, and for a vehicle as large as this it would take more than a month of non-stop work. And I would frankly prefer doing that rather than standing here spectating.
Last month, a flood in Bangladesh destroyed over thirty villages, ruining homes and displacing thousands of families. About a dozen people went missing, and even more were injured. Some people even died, and that number would have entered double digits had the League not intervened.
In the end, entire farmlands were washed away, communication hubs couldn't withstand the torrents and left a multitude of people without the ability to contact their friends and family and even call for help.
The event itself and the little research I'd done into natural disasters had led to the decision that we needed a helicarrier asap. Its potential when it came to rescue and relief operations were too high to not explore.
Of course, its other role as a command center and bastion against any threats be they from the stars or from the Earth itself hadn't been forgotten. When the time came to face those things, it would answer the call as well.
For now, I could only wait and attend to other pressing matters. I needed to visit the construction site and talk to Mike about sending his army of robots here to join the effort.
Building the Triskelion could wait until we had more members to actually fill it. After that, my next stop would be Star City. SHIELD's first operatives were waiting on me to assign them their first mission.
Good times.
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