Adventures of Superguy

August 19, 2010 - Happy Harbor, RI

Mt. Justice

19:38:19

‘Initiate. Combat Training.’

Connor stepped into the Cave’s holographic ring and Kaldura approached from the opposite side. Both had their guards up as they slowly circled, spiraling closer as they each maneuvered for advantage. Off to one side stood Walli, M’gann and Apollo, observing and chatting quietly. They waited for the computer’s countdown as their eyes met. Kaldura gave him a tight smile that he returned. 

‘3.’

‘2.’

‘1.’

Before the computer finished intoning the last number, they charged one another and Connor led off with a chopping overhand right that Kaldura slipped with a duck to the side, and replied with a one-two combo that Connor caught on his guard. He had to lean way back to avoid the flying roundhouse kick that followed it as it swept in front of his face. It gave him a very up close view of the webbing between her toes and the clacking cowrie shell anklets she wore. 

As she landed after the missed kick, he took advantage of the distraction with another overhand haymaker. The Atlantean girl was tough and strong due to the density of her body, but not as tough and strong as he was. She had him beat in agility and skill, however, so he focused on where he had the advantage; power. This time, Kaldura hurled herself into a backflip to create distance and he was forced to pursue, wary of more fancy footwork. She threw a few side kicks as he came in but he slipped one and caught the other on his guard. Her foot thudded into his forearm with a meaty whack, and he felt the stinging impact. His reaction made her grin again, and he once more met it with his own.

I gotta admit, this is fun. Kaldura is the only one who can keep up with me in melee; Walli can outrun me but she can’t really hurt me unless she goes all out. Rikki can’t hurt me at all without weapons, even if she can dance around me and give me the rope-a-dope. And M’gann…

His gaze flitted to the Martian girl, chatting with Apollo who laughed at something she said. That made his eyes narrow, and he almost missed Kaldura’s next combination which culminated with her front flipping over him and kicking him in the back of the head, sending him stumbling forward. He recovered before he fell and ‘lost’, rubbing the back of his head and cursing his inattention. He tried focusing on the fight again, but now he was facing M’gann and Apollo, and his gaze was drawn to the green girl again.

M’gann was in her ‘civvies’, which for her meant she was still green but wearing her default clothes, a purple mini skirt and short sleeve jacket combo, with knee socks and a white shirt. She had one hand over her mouth while she giggled at something Apollo had said, one foot drawn up to rest on the toes. Their training sessions had exposed a weakness in her abilities; she was much less accomplished with shapeshifting and density control in combat. She had a tendency to panic when any of them closed the distance and got up close with her, forgetting to keep herself ultra dense or shifted into a more combat focused form. M’gann constantly fell back on her telekinesis, levitating herself away to create distance. It was the most ‘girlish’ reaction of any of his new friends, and Connor found it endearing.

She’s so- 

Desperately he tore his gaze away and back to Kaldura as she capitalized on his inattention and tried the leaping roundhouse kick again. This time he was too close to dodge and crossed his forearms to take it on them. The impact this time was bruising as Kaldura snapped her leg out at full extension and drove him back. His red hightop sneakers skidded across the ring with a shriek but he kept his balance. Focusing back on the match, he watched closely with an excitable anticipation as the Atlantean girl charged and shot for a takedown at his hips.

Connor ducked low, dropping his center of gravity as Kaldura smashed into him, shoulder to shoulder and grabbing him around the waist. She started to heave up, trying to lift him and break his footing, but he deftly hooked a foot behind her ankle and hurled her over his shoulder. She crashed to the deck a few yards behind him, and the computer gave its all too familiar bleat.

‘Fail. Aqualass.’

“YES!” Connor shouted in triumph as he threw up his hands. M’gann and Apollo politely clapped, but he saw Walli was eating a hot dog that he had no idea of the origin of. Kaldura sat up from where she had landed on her back, rubbing her shoulder, and he hurried over to help her up. She accepted a hand up ruefully, smiling still in defeat.

“I finally beat you! Fair and square.” Connor exulted, then realized his mistake as he pulled her to her feet. “I mean… good match.”

“It is alright, my friend. You have been working hard, with both the team and Wonder Woman. You earned your victory today, and you should enjoy it.” She laughed, accepting her loss magnanimously. 

Connor rubbed the back of his head, heat rising in his face, along with pride, as he dusted off his hands.

“Thanks. Wonder Woman taught me that.”

“Then it is good for you and the team that she offered to be your mentor.” Kaldura commented, and the heat in Connor’s face reached a true blush.

“Yeah. It sure is.” He said noncommittedly as he mentally reviewed their recent training sessions. As part of his training, she had encouraged him to further explore his ‘mind palace’ , the memory construct that Cadmus had built in his head with the aid of the G-Gnomes. She had been very eager to evaluate what he already ‘knew’ and was trained in, so she could focus their time on where he needed improvement. He had been doing so, and with Gizmo’s help, he had even figured out how to add ‘rooms’ to the mind palace, storing new memories in crystal clear definition. It wasn’t clear to him if this ability was a Kryptonian thing, or if it was an aspect solely of the G-Gnomes telepathic instruction.

He and Diana’s most recent session, where she had taught him that particular move, had been a particularly intense one and had ended with her pinning him down, face to face as they both panted from the exertion. It was a memory he found himself returning to, again and again. Especially the fiery look in Diana’s crystal blue eyes…

While he did so, he and Kaldura walked over to the others, fetching towels to dry themselves off after their spar. When he looked over to M’gann and Apollo, he thought he saw her looking at him, but she quickly turned back to Apollo as they laughed together again. His brow furrowed, but as he took a step towards them, Walli zipped over, still munching on her mystery hot dog.

“Mmh, smooth moves, hot stuff! You are getting better all the time.” Walli declared with a wink and emphasis on the ‘all’ part, and Connor laughed at her flirtatious antics. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Apollo cross his arms and go stone faced, and Connor could guess who his ire was directed at. Rolling his eyes he looked back at Walli and gestured for her to knock it off. She scoffed and rolled her own eyes before redirecting her attention to finishing her hot dog. They rejoined the team as M’gann and Apollo returned to their discussion of their upcoming plans.

“So my plan is to do a year at Gotham University, build up my CV and then apply to bigger schools. I got a free ride to GU, so as much as it stinks to be stuck in Gotham for another year, it will be a lot easier to get accepted somewhere else next year. Somewhere better.” Apollo was saying, and Connor’s ears perked up.

He hasn’t said much of anything about his real life. This is the first I’ve heard he’s from Gotham. Weird; pretty sure Roy Harper was from Star City…

The mysterious archer was still keeping to protocol, keeping his secret identity secret even from the team. But, like Rikki, he was still hanging the Cave out of costume, so they knew what he looked like. Apollo was clearly biracial, Asian and Caucasian, with a slight almond shape to his dark eyes and blonde hair, much poofier out of the tight ponytail he wore it in while in costume. He was about 5’ 7”, and whipcord lean, making him the shortest on the team next to M’gann, who he had a few inches on.  Having spent more time with Apollo, the other boy was clearly thawing from his earlier frostiness. Laughing and chatting with M’gann was a good sign; she was very easy to talk to.

“That’s so exciting! Are you going to live on campus for freshman year?” M’gann inquired, eyes sparkling as she breathlessly asked.

“Definitely. I can’t wait to get out of my dad’s apartment. But I’ll be back there like every day, anyway. He needs help… with stuff.” Apollo faltered as he spoke about his father. Connor wondered what that was about, but M’gann plowed ahead without stopping.

“That is my dream! A real Terran college experience! I’m only going to do community college courses here in Happy Harbor, while I stay in the Cave. Aunt J’oann doesn’t think I’m really up to living a secret identity full time just yet. She’s probably right, I keep forgetting whether I’m supposed to be M’gann or Megan.” She said with a laugh, and shape shifted to demonstrate. Her lime green skin turned the freckled pink of her human guise and back again.

“I can see how that would make it hard.” Walli added as the five converged, Kaldura still wiping sweat off her head as they circled around. “Well, I’ve already started at Stanford-”

“We know.” Came the chorus from the rest of the team, which made Walli screw her face up in consternation.

“Hey! There’s nothing wrong with being proud of the achievement.” She said in a huff.

“Yeah, but you don’t need to mention it every five minutes.” Apollo said with a hint of bitterness.

“Its my life, okay? Its where I am all day when I’m not here. So excuse me if it comes up in conversation.” Walli said defensively.

“Yeah, whatever.” Apollo replied, looking askance before his eyes drifted back to Connor. “Hey Connor, I have a joke for you!”

“Uh, okay?” Connor answered as his eyebrows rose.

“How do you know if a nerd got accepted into the Ivy Leagues?”

He could feel the incandescent anger radiating off of Walli but couldn’t stop himself from following the set up.

“I don’t know, how?’

“Just wait.” Apollo replied with a shit eating grin. “They’ll tell you.”

Connor snorted before realizing who he was standing next to, as the others laughed. Glancing at Walli, she mouthed ‘traitor’ at him, and he winced.

She DOES mention it. A lot…

A wave of anxiety rolled over him as the conversation turned to Kaldura and her collegiate plans, giving Connor a moment to agonize over something to say before the conversation inevitably turned to him. They were all so excited about their futures, and he would have to say…

What would he have to say?

The world became very far away, the conversation around him suddenly sounding like it was being conducted underwater and the pit of his stomach roiled. Once more, he felt the unreality of everything and everyone around him as he rapidly glanced between the rest of the team. Suddenly he doubted they were real, that he was really here, that this was all happening. This normal, everyday conversation between kids his age that he was suddenly a part of after he had given up on anything like it a long time ago.

The future. 

They were discussing their plans for the future. Like any high school graduates would, laying out their plans for college and careers, even if they were already superheroes. He’d had similar conversations with other friends, long ago. Talking excitedly or dejectedly about schools they did or didn’t get in to, what they were going to study, how many parties they were going to go to. But the conversation always turned the other way, and they turned to him, and their smiles fell as they realized. He had buried the sting deep down, learned to smile and make a joke about going into medicine. But it had hurt, and it hurt more and more as person after person had the same conversation with him; different on their end but the same on his. He had shut down, until people stopped talking about it with him.

He had never bothered applying anywhere, even when his mom had encouraged him to. He had gotten his GED early, at her insistence, just so he could say he had done it. She had brought him piles of application forms in his hospital room, a teary eyed hope in her eyes. Connor wasn’t sure if she had really believed he would beat the cancer again, or if she was just going through the motions and trying to give him the experience his friends were having, even if they both knew he’d never get a chance to fulfill it. 

The rest of the team weren’t so weighed down. They had ambitions for something beyond this colorful fantasy he was immersed in, and it all had suddenly become surreal and absurd. He grappled with this consuming anxiety, trying to batten it down and get a hold of himself. They were all looking at him, he was starting to sweat, he had to say something-

“Connor?” M’gann asked, apparently repeating herself as Connor tore himself out of his fugue state. 

“Uh, yeah. Sorry. Lost in my own head again.” He deflected, eyes darting around, until he heard the whoosh of the door at the top of the spiral staircase that ringed the Cave’s main Hall. Looking in that direction, he saw, blessedly, Black Canary coming down the stairs with a tablet in hand, a frown on her beautiful face. He seized upon the moment, thankful for the distraction.

“Black Canary! Hey, what’s up? Going somewhere? Got a mission?” Connor asked as he excitedly waved and walked over to the Blonde Bombshell, who seemed surprised to see them all there.

“Oh, hello everyone. Mission assignments are actually Batwoman’s responsibility.” She answered, looking up from her tablet.

“Well, Batwoman is in Gotham City with Robin doing the Dynamic Duo thing. But if there’s anything we can help you with, we’d be happy to. Right, guys?” Connor asked over his shoulder, and Aqualass nodded.

“If we can be of any assistance, we would like to be.” She added politely.

The rest of the present team nodded and murmured their assent. It had been a long day of training in various formats, and they were all intrigued by the possibility of a real mission.

Black Canary gave them an evaluating look, and then nodded. She punched in commands on her tablet, and flicked what was on it to the Cave’s holo projectors, bringing up a portrait of an old man, Caucasian, with thinning silver hair, a well lined face, wearing an old fashioned three piece suit and carrying a gold handled cane. Biographical data popped up in windows around the portrait.

“This is Kent Nelson, a friend of the family.” Black Canary explained, and Connor had to stop himself from gasping. “He is 106 years old, and a founding member of the Justice Society, the precursor to the Justice Guild.” 

She hit another command, and the portrait of the old man dissolved into one familiar to Connor; a gold helmeted figure in a dark blue body suit, with a wide and heavily decorated belt and mantle in matching gold. Gold boots and gauntlets completed the outfit, along with a high collared cape fastened at the collar. Beneath the blank faced golden helmet, piercing green eyes stared out from the eye holes.

“Dr. Fate…” Connor murmured, and Black Canary nodded.

“Of course.” Kaldura declared, punching a fist down into her open palm. “Nelson was Terra’s greatest sorcerer!”

“Oh please, more like Dr. Fake.” Walli said in a stage whisper to Connor, which drew everyone's attention. “Guy knows a little advanced science and gussies it up with some hocus pocus to scare the bad guys and impress the gals. Zatarra’s been doing the same act for years.” She said dismissively, and everyone continued to stare at her until Black Canary continued.

“Except we have a problem. Kent has been missing for 23 days.” Black Canary said grimly, and Connor’s mouth fell open.

That’s different. And bad. This Kent Nelson is old… really old. He can’t still be Dr. Fate, can he? And he’s been missing for more than three weeks…

“Kent has been retired for a long time, though he does like to keep his hand in whenever something mystical and dangerous pops up. He also has been keeping to himself for a long time, occasionally going on ‘walkabouts’ when the mood strikes him.” She explained, studiously ignoring any more doubts of Nelson’s mystical prowess from Walli. “But he is caretaker to the Helmet of Fate, the source of his mystical power.”

Once more, she ignored the loud scoff from Walli.

“Oh my gosh, he is just like the sorcerer-priests of Mars! I would be honored to help one of his lofty station!” M’gann declared, and Connor stared at her sudden glittering enthusiasm. 

I have no idea what that is. That is a new one. But let’s roll with it.

“Yeah,  yeah, me too! I’d love to meet an actual sorcerer.” Connor insisted, and in the silence afterward, Kaldura made a slight cough.

He turned to look at her sheepishly as she arched one brow at him, and he hurriedly covered for his faux paus. 

“I mean, besides Kaldura of course. Best graduate of the Conservatory of Sorcery I’ve ever met.

The Atlantean girl coughed again, even more pointedly and he winced.

“Uh, Aquawoman graduated from there too, huh?” He asked, dreading the answer.

“Yes.” 

“Okay… second best?” He asked tentatively, and that seemed to mollify Kaldura from his inadvertent insult to her queen. Connor swiftly pivoted back to Black Canary and clapped his hands.

“So! Mission! Find Kent Nelson, aka Dr. Fate! We’d love to. Where are we headed?” He asked with forced cheerfulness.

“Salem, Massachusetts.” She answered, and his face fell before his plastic smile reasserted itself.

At least its not Boston, though its a little too close for comfort…

Black Canary fished an old and ornate gold key out of her jacket and handed it to him. The teeth were complex and unlike anything he’d expect from such a classic key; they had strange hard angles and looking at them too closely kept showing him new facets of the teeth he hadn’t seen before.

“This should help; the key to the Tower of Fate.” She added, and he accepted it with the reverence he felt it was due. It was heavy and solid, but it didn’t feel particularly magical to him. Not that he knew what that felt like, but he gripped it tight and turned to the team.

“Shall we?”

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