[Samael]
Samael grunted, lifting the machine on his back. The equipment in the room wasn't able to satisfy him anymore, and somehow Batman knew about this and brought in a machine that Superman used to use. Batman told him that Superman gave it to him, but the Man of Steel didn't say anything about him. Still, he appreciated it, since the man couldn't have given him anything at all.
Most of the time, nobody came here, with only Wally coming to push his speed to the limit. He felt the machine's weight kept decreasing, and he kept having to turn up the weight. His theory was proven right; he had adaptive powers.
Overall, his abilities continued to improve, and he was now stronger than he had been a month ago. Although that didn't mean smooth sailing, he had to control his abilities whenever they became too strong.
Samael theorised that with the help of his adaptation, he would gain full Kryptonian powers and more. Sweat dripped from his face, splashing the floor, and he tried to increase the weight only to hear a beep. The machine reached the max weight, and with a sigh, took it off. He felt the machine power down and set it down.
He walked over to the towel rack and grabbed a towel, rubbing the sweat off his face. Samael left the gym and walked over to the showers. He turned on the knob and felt the water rain on him. The water soothed him, as it always did.
Sadly, he didn't want to stay for long and quickly turned off the knob, leaving the showers. He entered his room and put on his suit, and over it, wore black jeans and a Led Zeppelin hoodie.
Samael made his way to the Zeta-tube and selected a location in Metropolis. "Recognized: Nova A-04." He entered the Zeta-tube and felt himself being transported to another smaller spot. He was in a red telephone booth, located under a bridge.
He opened the door and looked around, the buildings never failing to amaze him.'Nothing can ever compare to this in my past.' He thought walking through the park, looking at the hot dog carts, before grimacing at the sight of the Chicago hot dog.
Compared to New York, Metropolis really was the city of tomorrow.
Samael exited the park and walked through the crowded street, spotting a Jitters packed to the brim with people. Samael walked towards the café. The smell of the coffee's aroma entered his nose, and it sent a shiver down his back.
Thankfully, he didn't. "Hi, what can I get you?" The girl who worked there looked to be in her 20s, asked him with a practiced smile. "Umm." He browsed the menu and just settled on the classic. "Give a cold Flash latte." She nodded.
"That'll be five dollars." He took out the special card from Batman and tapped the machine.
"Thank you." He nodded at her and, after a minute, took his coffee. The place was full, and there didn't look to be any seats available. He did spot an empty seat, but a man was seated at the table, looking to be writing something on his laptop.
He walked up to the man and tapped him on the back. "Excuse me, you mind if...." The man who turned to look at him wasn't just any stranger. It was a man who looked eerily similar to him that you could mistake them for father and son. It was Superman.
They stared at each other awkwardly, neither saying anything. The man looked like he wanted to say something, but Samael decided to speak first. "Uh, I'll just look for another table."
"What? Uh, no, no. Here, you can sit, please." Superman quickly spoke up. Samael reluctantly took the offered seat, staring at the man awkwardly. They sat quietly for a few minutes, neither speaking at all.
"So..." Samael broke the silence. "I didn't think to find you here." Clark looked confused at that. "What do you mean?" Clark asked him nervously.
Samael stared at the man seriously; the earlier awkwardness wasn't anywhere to be seen. "Let's not pretend to not know each other," He leaned closer to the man. "Superman." Clark's nervous act disappeared, and the man's slouch straightened.
"How did you know who I am? Did Batman tell you?" The way Clark spoke wasn't cold, but neither was it the warmth he was known for.
Samael shook his head, smiling at the man. "It was easy. I just saw you on the news, and since I look exactly like you, I connected the dots." Not true, but he couldn't exactly say he knew who the man was because of a cartoon. Clark nodded at his answer, taking a sip from his coffee.
"How are you enjoying Metropolis so far?" Clark asked him, closing the laptop and giving him his full attention. Samael leaned back on the chair, gazing at the city outside. "It's beautiful. I can see why you protect it."
Clark showed a shadow of a smile. "I try my best." Samael nodded and took a big gulp of his coffee. "So, let me get this straight. You write news articles about Superman, praising the man for his heroic acts, but the entire time you're praising yourself." He asked Clark, raising an eyebrow at the man.
Clark pointed at him."Hey, sometimes it's nice to appreciate yourself." Samael chuckled at his comment.
The previous aura of indifference the man had disappeared, and what shone through was a normal man, one that was the real Clark, not the Symbol that was Superman or the mild-mannered man that was Clark Kent.
"Breaking News. A major accident occurred on a bridge where it was reported that the road had destabilised. Authorities have blocked off all entryways, but reports indicate that there are still people on the bridge." He recognised the bridge and an image of a scene popped up in his mind. People inside the cafe looked at the TV, talking to each other about it before going back to their conversations. It irked him, but it made sense since Superman always took care of stuff like this.
He turned to look at Clark, who had already packed his stuff. He got off and took a big gulp of his coffee. "Do you have your suit?" Samael asked.
The man lowered his collar slightly, showing the blue of his suit. "Always, you?" He lowered his hoodie. "Let's go." They left the cafe quickly and entered the alley, changing into their suits in a flash.
He held his clothes in his hand and noticed Superman holding a bag towards him. "I'll get these back to you today." Samael put it into the bag, and Superman quickly took off into the sky, a sonic boom following behind him. He leapt onto the building and ran before jumping to the bridge's location. The air whipped past his face, his hair flowing behind him.
The bridge soon came into view, and he spotted multiple people in their cars unable to move because they were on the verge of falling. He landed just outside the bridge and sped over. A car with a man inside was about to fall off. He grabbed the car's rear and pulled it to safety.
The man got out of the car, breathing heavily. "Thank you." The man said. "You're welcome." Samael grabbed the man and sped him back to the bridge's entry. He saved the other people and sped them back, one he had to run with the car above him since it had a family inside. His ears picked up the sound of screaming, and he looked over, seeing a school bus about to fall over.
He ran over, grabbed the bus just as it was about to fall, and lifted it with ease. The kids inside the bus looked at him in awe, with some taking pictures. H smiled and gave them a small wave.
Superman landed near him, looking around. The man then turned towards him, his face stern."Good job with rescuing the people, Nova. I stabilised the bridge, so it should be safe for the authorities to enter." Superman said, and although his face was stern, his eyes seemed to show a bit of satisfaction.
"It was no problem." Samael replied.
"Superman. Wait, Arrow. Slow down. What's attacking?" Superman said, his hand on his comms. Samael listened in on the conversation. "It's some Robot! It was able to copy Canary's powers." Green Arrow yelled. Ah, he remembered Amazo, a robot that copied the heroes' powers, but also their weaknesses.
"No, I'm available. Coordinates?" Superman said. "Acknowledged, on my way." Superman looked at him. "Sorry. Duty calls." Samael quickly spoke up before the man could leave.
"Listen, if this Robot can copy powers, then it most likely also has that person's weakness." Samael explained Superman. Superman's eyes widened. "You were listening to that?" Superman asked him.
"Yeah." Samael replied bluntly. Superman didn't seem to know how respond, but eventually said something. "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." Superman said, and levitated off the ground and flew away.
Samael looked at him until he was gone. He wanted to fly, and he was envious of the people who could. The weightlessness seemed so majestic, like you were leaving mortally and ascending into heaven.
Running over to the bridge's entrance, and spotted a cop. The cop noticed him and stood straighter. "It's safe to enter now." Samael walked away before the cop could answer and jumped, landing on a nearby tower.
He spotted Wayne Tower and looked at the top floor. And standing near the window was Bruce Wayne, looking at him with narrowed eyes before walking away. "Heh." He chuckled to himself and continued jumping, stopping any crime that came his way.
'I should build a police radio. No, I can even do better than that. What don't I build it into the suit, while also making myself invisible to cameras, and even spotify. Hell, why not make it into a super phone at this point?' The idea was appealing, and he would start working on it tomorrow.
Suddenly, his eyes started to itch, and no matter how many times he rubbed them, it wouldn't go away. 'What the hell is up with my eyes?' He rubbed them even more, but it didn't go away. 'I should go back to the cave, rest up a bit.'
He jumped over to a nearby Zeta-tube and quickly selected Mount Justice. "Recognised: Nova, A-04." He walked out of the Zeta-tube and instantly spotted his friends, playing air hockey, from what he could tell.
"Sam! Where were you?" Megan asked him. "Metropolis." Samael said simply, walking past them.
"Ready for training, everyone?" He turned, seeing Martian Manhunter and Black Canary. He picked up on her jacket's ripped state. "Black Canary! Uncle J'onn!" M'gann exclaimed, hugging her Uncle.
"M'gann, I was in the neighbourhood, so I thought I'd see how you are adjusting." Manhunter said. "I'm fine. Learning new things here and there." M'gann said. "That is good." Manhunter said with a smile on his face. Samael turned to leave for the bathroom.
Black Canary's voice rang out. "Samael, why don't you stick around. Class is in session." He turned to look at her and shook his head. "Maybe next time, I don't feel so good." She nodded her head in understanding and turned back to the rest of the team.
Entering the bathroom, he looked at himself in the mirror and noticed that his eyes looked fine, as though nothing was happening to him. "Ugh." At this point, it felt like he was scratching himself.
All of a sudden, his eyes started turning a red tint. And at that moment, all he wanted to do was slap himself. He felt the heat around his eyes, and a red laser left his eyes, burning a hole through the wall. "Ahhh!" Samael instinctively placed his hands on, but that only made it split up into smaller lasers, burning holes into more stuff.
It felt raw and uncontrollable, but he wasn't going to let that stop him. He imagined a dial in his mind and mentally lowered the power to zero. Thankfully, this seemed to do the trick, and Samael felt his vision return to normal; the red tint faded into nothingness.
He breathed in and out, more from the shock of it all than being tired. He took in the sight of the destroyed bathroom, and only one word came to mind. "Fuck."
'Sam, we've got a situation.' Megan spoke to him in his mind, her voice soft. He sped in, seeing everybody together. 'We have a mission?' Samael asked mentally. 'We do. I'll send you the details.' Megan said, and the mission orders and details came to him. 'Thanks.' He felt her appreciation before it cut off.
[Later]
He and the tea were hidden behind the trees, wearing biker clothes. Samael kept his eyes on the disassembled AMAZO as it was pushed into the truck. Their mission was to deliver the real Amazo, and the other truck was a decoy. Since he couldn't fly, he was given a motorcycle to use, and though he was never a motorcyclist, he had to admire the beauty of the ride and its tech.
All of a sudden, he felt as though he was being watched, and looked around until he spotted the source. Superman was standing on the other side, looking at him. When Superman realised he'd been spotted, he promptly turned away.
"You're good to go." Batman's voice came through the comms. He and the team revved their engine and drove behind the truck heading to the STAR Lab facility in Manhattan, and soon separated into different lanes. He was paired with Robin, while the rest of the team followed the other truck.
He kept his eyes trained on the road, keeping his hand steady as he drove. For a while, none of them said anything, but it seems Robin became bored with the quietness.
Robin came closer to him and spoke loudly. "If dislike is the opposite of like. Then is disaster the opposite of aster?" Samael gave the kid a side eye, amused.
"Why do you love butchering the English language? Is this some hobby or pastime that you love to do?" And though his response was dry, he did find it amusing whenever Robin did turn a normal word into something else.
Robin's response was to laugh. So far, the drive was quiet, with only music of Michal Jackson's smooth criminal playing. He hummed along to the song, occasionally looking for any sign of the monkey attack.
His ears picked out the sound of rustling, and turning off the music, he looked at where the noise was coming from, and coming out from the corn fields was a group of robotic monkeys that started attacking the cargo.
With a sigh, he took off his helmet and started using his heat vision to destroy the monkeys. "Whoa! Since when can you do that?!" Samael heard Robin exclaim, shock evident in his voice.
"Since today." He turned on the motorcycle's battle mode and autopilot and jumped, landing on top of the truck.
He kicked the ones hanging onto the truck, destroying them with ease. Some tried lasering him, destroying his helmet, which made him throw it away. He lasered the ones trying to open the driver's door, destroying all of them with precise shots.
Samael looked to his right and saw more monkeys emerge, and used his heat vision before they could touch the truck. But for everyone he took out, two more took their place.
The monkeys started coming in droves, attacking him all at once. Samael felt them crawl over his body, trying to injure him, but to no avail. His vision was covered by the metallic bodies of the monkeys. He closed his eyes and opened them up, his heat vision destroying them.
He saw the monkeys turning to shreds, the motorcycle's bullets destroying the remaining monkeys. Samael kicked one who tried to escape, his face scowling at the sight of the monkey. "Piece of shit monkeys!" Samael spat out the words.
Aqualad's voice came through the comms, and it sounded grave. "Aqualad to Robin and Nova. I'm afraid that we have lost the package." Aqualad's voice.
"Do you know where they went?" Samael asked, his bike connecting itself. "Not yet, but Kid Flash is trying to follow after them. Ensure you deliver your package and then regroup with us. " Aqualad said.
"Great. Now we don't know where they went." Samael heard Kid Flash bemoan. He looked to see Robin looking at the destroyed monkey. "Before we do that, I think there is a way we can track them." Robin opened up the monkey's back, connecting his cable into the slot.
"We haven't gotten word that the decoy trucks are being attacked. So, how did they know to target ours? The parts have a GPS." As Robin explained, Samael walked closer to see the location of the monkeys. "They're going to.... Gotham City." Robin said quietly.
"That far south? Miss Martian and I won't be able to get there in time. I'll tell Kid their location. Make sure to deliver the package safely." Aqualad said sternly. "Yeah, just make sure to get back the other parts." Samael replied and drove ahead to the truck driver's window, giving the man a thumbs-up.
He turned on the music again, this time playing Stairway to Heaven. The road was quiet this time, and no robotic monkeys attacked them this time. An hour passed and tall buildings started appearing in the distance.
Entering the city, he took in the sights, pedestrians walking around, going to work or some other place. They stopped at a red light, the cars on the other side of the rode driving away.
Turing his head, he spotted a little kid staring at him in awe. Samael gave the kid a wave, which made him smile. The stoplight turned green and they drove off.
STAR Labs soon came into view, and after stopping at the gate, were allowed entry.
The garage was filled with security, and at the front stood a short man in a lab coat, his long hair flowing freely. Samael brought his bike to a stop beside him and dismounted. The man gave a quick signal for the guards to secure the package, then turned to face Robin and Samael with a wide grin.
"Yo! Big thanks for delivering this. Heard about the attack that happened and worried that this stuff would've fallen into the bad guys' hands, again. Bummer about the other parts, but I guess you got your other guys on it?" The man asked at the end.
"Our team is doing their best to retrieve the other package, so you don't have to worry, Dr...?" Samael said, looking at the man expectantly.
"Cisco, no need to call me Doctor." Cisco stuck out his hand for them to shake, which Samael and Robin did. He looked at the scientist with slight familiarity.
"Anyways, I wish I could stay and talk, but I'll need to make sure this gets taken care of." Cisco shook Robin's hand before walking away. Samael looked at the man in confusion. 'Wasn't this the guy who helped Flash in his show?' Samael looked at the man's retreating form and shook his head. He leaned on the bike and radioed Aqualad.
"Aqualad, this is Nova. The package is secure and was delivered to its destination. How's it going on your end?" Samael waited for a reply, but got no response. "Aqualad, do you copy?
Finally, the comms came on and the sound of noise came from the background."Nova, we've found out that the person behind this was indeed Professor Ivo, we'd appreciate if you came. Track our location." That was all Aqualad said before turning off the comms. He looked at Robin, and the Boy Wonder used his Hologram to look for their teammates location. "Send me the location, I'll find them." Samael said.
"Got it." Robin quickly typed on the Hologram, and he felt his phone buzz. Taking it out, he opened the message and saw that the other location was near Gotham. It looked to be moving at the same time.
"Link up the bike and take it with you." Robin gave a quick nod, and Samael bolted out of the building.
The moment he hit the street, he kicked into overdrive, legs pumping harder than ever, and the world around him blurred as he pushed himself to limit. Although, that seemed to be increasing even now.
Soon, he left the city behind and hit the open road. Samael poured all his strength into his legs and launched himself higher than ever before. The ground shrank beneath him, buildings giving way to a patchwork of green and gray, until the clouds were almost within reach.
Samael felt gravity pulling him back down, with the wind roaring in his ears. The ground rushed up to meet him and he landed with a boom, the ground beneath him was cracked. He jumped once again and this time it felt as though he was flying. He laughed out loud and yelled. "WOOOOOO!"
As he jumped, he felt a something different. For a single moment, he truly felt as though he was flying. The ground below him didn't look to getting closer and he thought he was flying. That didn't turn out to be the case as he felt himself one again falling down.
He saw the tall gothic buildings of Gotham draw nearer, and decide to run the rest of the way. Checking the GPS, he saw that they were still moving, probably on the train. He sped over there, running near the train tracks.
The sound of a moving train assaulted his ears and he looked to see it in front of him. He touched the back of the train cart and jumped on top of it. He kept moving along until he came to a ripped cart. Hopping inside, and on the floor were broken monkeys. More than what he fought a while ago.
He heard the sound of banging and ran towards it. He broke through the carts, tearing them into pieces. His teammates weren't just fighting a monkey anymore. What was there was a huge gorilla, bigger than a silverback.
'What? This wasn't in canon.' The massive gorilla smacked wally to the side, knocking the speedster to the floor. He looked around for Ivo, but didn't spot him. 'Great.' Samael thought, and ran at the gorilla, punching it in the center.
It roared in pain, but he didn't let up. Grabbing it by its arm, he tore it off easily, exposing the wires. A wave of water connected to the broken arm and the machine was electrocuted. It's roars filled the cart before its head exploded.
He looked in front of him and saw a battered Aqualad standing there, breathing heavily. "What the hell happened to you guys?" Samael asked him, walking up to the downed Wally. He pushed the speedster and heard him groan.
"Don't wake me up mom." Wally groaned out. "When we discovered it was Professor Ivo, we were unprepared for the amount of monkeys he's built." Aqualad said tiredly, leaning on the wall.
"Huh. Where's Miss Martian?" Samael asked, looking around and saw she wasn't in the room.
"She went after Ivo at the front of the train." Just as Aqualad spoke, the train started slowing down and soon came to a halt. Miss Martian entered the cart, and floating next to her was Professor Ivo. She dropped him on the floor like a sack of potatoes.
"Huh, you got him." Samael looked surprised and kicked the villain onto his back. "OW!" Ivo yelled in pain.
"I'll contact the league. Miss Martian take the package and deliver it to STAR Labs. Nova, go with her as back up." Aqualad ordered.
"Alright." Samael told Aqualad. Miss Martian floated back to the previous cart and levitated the container keeping Amazo's parts.
"Let's go." Samael told Miss Martian and yelped when he felt himself get lifted of the ground. He heard Miss Martian giggle slightly, and felt his face flush slightly.
They were soon in the air, heading towards Manhattan. It was night time, the wind whipping his hair. None of them spoke, with Miss Martian being tired and him not in the mood, but it was peaceful.
'Kinda wish I can play Lego Batman.' He thought passingly, and looked at the moon.
[Mount Justice]
Samael half-listened to Aqualad giving the report. He wanted to sleep, but he kept wondering about his adaptability. 'I wonder how it works? So far, it seems to just keep improving my base abilities or unlocking my Kryptonian powers, but how fast can I adapt? Or if I can unlock my powers even faster? I'm sure I can even adapt to Kryptonite when I come in contact with it. Hmm, I need to test this.' He thought.
Batman's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Complications come with this job, but your ability to handle them has impressed some in the league." Batman's eyes lingered on him when he said that, causing him to straighten his posture.
Did he mean Superman? Even if Samael didn't really care to fight for the man's respect or even love, it still made him slightly happy that if Superman himself felt impressed by him, then he was doing something right. Hell, if he made Batman impressed then that was a whole other thing, but he was sure he still had ways to go to make the Dark Knight impressed.
A sudden memory struck him, and all he wanted to was bang his head on a wall. Superboy had a mental command implanted in his head that made him complacent and follow people's orders. One that was for Lex Luthor to control him. His thought of asking Martian Manhunter, but he still didn't trust the man. Plus, he didn't know if he could see his other memories.
Maybe he can ask Megan for help? Although he wasn't sure if she still good at removing or entering commands.
'If anyone knew of my memories then I'll be in big trouble. Fuck. What can I do? Don't have anyone I can trust and I can rely on my adaptation to protect my mind.' It was a dilemma that he didn't have a solution for, yet.
They were dismissed and he walked back to his room, practically jumping onto the bed. He closed his eyes and slept.