Chapter 10: Aftermath and The New Perk

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(Aden's P.O.V)

"I'm Superman's clone." 

The air chilled suddenly at the drop of Superboy's statement. Superman's face hardened in a way I hadn't seen before. Seems like Batman hadn't informed him of anything. Speaking of the Dark Knight, he did not look happy.  

"What. Happened?" 

He ground out. No one stepped up to talk. 

Robin finally sighed and started talking with the rest of us adding bits and pieces to the story. Batman looked at me strangely once he heard that I had used the Blockbuster formula but otherwise didn't comment. Some of the other League members did not look at me fondly. Oh boy, they probably think I'm a power hungry maniac now. That said, I wouldn't change a damn thing. I was itching to go and test out what I could do now.

After we finished, Batman held out a hand and Robin placed the Blockbuster formula on his palm. Batman then put the vial in his utility belt and the league members separated themselves from us to have a brief meeting. 

I looked at the others, we looked banged up due to the fight but we were all otherwise okay. It started out as a chuckle then I started laughing in happiness.

The others looked at me weirdly. 

"Hey, you okay man?" 

Kid Flash asked and I smiled at him. 

"Just happy that we're still alive. I mean, we beat that thing. We beat everything Cadmus had to offer and came out on top."

Robin smiled. 

"I forgot that this was your first time." 

Kid Flash whooshed next to me and draped his hand across my shoulder. 

"Yeah man. You were great. And you did make a tornado when the Genomorphs tried to overwhelm us!" I laughed as he reminded me of the time he had asked if I could create a tornado like Red Tornado. 

"You're pretty alright, new guy."

"Overwhelmed? Why is no one ever…" 

Robin started only to have Kid Flash cut him off. 

"No no no, no more whelmed stuff Rob." 

Aqualad patted me on the shoulder. 

"He's right. You handled yourself admirably. You're fit to be a hero Maelstrom."

I smiled, a feeling of giddiness overcoming me. I looked at Superboy who was scowling at Superman's direction and the glee diminished a little. I couldn't let Superman's relationship with what was virtually his son start off so rocky. Something had to be done. 

"Manhunter."  I mentally shouted. J'onn didn't react so I shouted even louder. "Manhunter!" 

"Yes, Maelstrom. How can I help you?" 

He finally answered. 

"J'onn could you please connect me to Superman?" 

J'onn was silent for a little while, probably questioning when he had turned into a phone. then… 

"Very Well."

The next voice I heard was from the man of steel. 

"Maelstrom?" 

He asked and I walked a little bit away from the others to stop any distractions. 

"First of all, I cannot begin to imagine what you're feeling right now. I know you're shocked and confused and many other conflicting feelings, that someone in your position would feel."

"Go on." 

Instead of replying I concentrated on relaying the memories of Superboy fighting with us. I felt the undertones of surprise, respect and a tiny touch of pride through our link but so was confusion, distrust and fear. 

"He fought against all he's ever known because he wanted to live up to your legacy. He wants to be like you. Superman is more than just a man. You represent truth, justice and compassion. Those values are what he admires in you. Someone like that, striving to earn your approval does not deserve a cold shoulder."

"What would you have me do! I never planned for any of this to happen!" 

The man of steel lost his nerve, showing just how much of an emotional turmoil he was in. But I knew I had him where I wanted. 

"Neither did he. Give him a chance and try to connect with him. He's your son whether you like it or not and right now, he'll need you the most. Do this so that you will not regret in the future when you try to be in his life."

"No you don't know what you're asking of me." 

I sighed. Why does he have to make all this so dramatic. 

"I'm asking you to stand above the negative emotions. Be compassionate. That's not too much to ask is it?

And with that I cut off the mental link. I was under no illusions that he would listen to me. But those words, he needed to hear them. Superman made his way to us and stopped before Superboy. He breathed out and a small smile appeared on his face. 

"I saw what you did, courtesy of Maelstrom. Good job." Superboy, hell even I was surprised. That's not what I was expecting.  

"Th…thank you." 

Superboy stammered out.

"You will be staying at Mount Justice with Maelstrom. I'll be coming over regularly to check on you before we figure anything else out." 

With that Superman nodded and looked at me from the corner of his eye as if to ask, 'satisfied?' I looked away, only now realizing that I had just lectured the man of steel.

Superboy turned his attention to me. 

"Thank you." 

He said sincerely. 

"Did we miss something?" 

Kid wondered while looking between us. Batman started walking towards us cutting off the discussion.  

"Despite the results, we are not happy." 

"You should have called!" 

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Flash butted in.

"You hacked into the Justice league systems and disobeyed a direct order to stay put." 

Batman continued. 

"That aside. Good work team. However, it goes without saying that you will not be doing this again."

Aqualad stepped forward 

"I'm sorry but we will." 

"Stand down Aqualad." 

Aquaman told his protege. 

"I'm sorry my King but no." 

I watched on as each member of the team stepped forward in determination, standing up to the Justice League. 

They all turned to look at me and I shrugged. 

" What they said." Batman's eyes narrowed at me but I ignored him turning to my teammates, "So what do you think we should call ourselves?"

(Sometime Later)

I made it out of the Zeta tube following Red Tornado. He hadn't said a word about the whole Cadmus debacle except for, "I am glad to see you're alright." Which was cool. Red Tornado wasn't a talker and I found that I was more than comfortable with that.

"Goodnight Tornado." 

I told him and left to show Superboy his room. The hallway was brightly lit as he and I walked on in silence. 

"Superman said you showed him what I did." 

He finally broke the comfortable silence. I hummed in confirmation. 

"I just showed him the truth. That you're more than a clone."

I watched him from the corner of my eyes. His face looked lost before it changed to one of determination. We didn't say anything else all the way. I showed him where the kitchen was, fully stocked pantry and all and then the rooms, promising him a tour around the whole base come morning. 

I told him to wait a little and left for my room. I came back with a few t shirts that were a size bigger than my actual size and a few pairs of trousers. Superboy didn't have a change of clothes so I offered him a few of mine and made a note to go to town for some shopping tomorrow. 

I told him goodnight and left for my own room. Once inside I hit the shower and dried up. My eyes roamed over my body in the mirror and I did a spit take. I…had abs. I touched them a little and they felt hard. Like steel. My chest was much bigger and my arms…I flexed. 

"Holy shit. I'm ripped." 

It must have been the Blockbuster formula. Thinking about it, I was reminded of the talk I would soon have with Batman. I wasn't looking forward to that. 

Done with admiring my new body, I fell inside my sheets to sleep but a prompt from the system appeared before my eyes. I propped myself up and read it over.

(Congratulations. For participating in your first Superhero mission and not dying, you get…Chi Blocker Perk.) 

-Chi blocker- take down your enemies by targeting their chi points. 

I smiled. Information appeared in my head on the forms and where to target to block someone's chi. This new perk was very welcome. I wonder if it would work on Superhumans like Deathstroke or aliens like Superman. The short answer? Yes. As long as the target was biological then all I would need to do is hit their chi points and they would be helpless.

(The Next Morning)

"Red Tornado will be your supervisor, Black Canary will handle your training and I will deploy you on missions." 

Batman announced. We were all in the hall of Mount Justice. That is the team and the mentors and Black Canary. 

I tried my best not to stare at her but goddamn Canary was hot. Batman continued while my mind went off tangent into fantasies with Canary calling me dzaddy. What? I'm a fucking hormonal teenager, cut me some slack! 

"…the six of you will be that team." 

Batman finished.

"Wait six of us?" 

Robin asked in confusion and Batman gestured behind us at the pair coming out of the Zeta tube.  

"Team meet Miss Martian, Manhunter's protege. She will be part of you." 

A green skinned shy girl waved at us from Manhunter's side.

"Hello." 

Kid Flash draped a hand over Robin's shoulder and whispered,

"I'm loving this gig more and more." Then he turned to the new arrival. "Hi miss M. I'm Kid Flash, this is Robin, Aqualad, Superboy and Maelstrom." 

"Hi." I waved at her then turned my attention to Manhunter and raised an eyebrow. 

"She's your other student isn't she?" 

Manhunter smiled and nodded. Miss M must have felt the telepathic feedback as she turned to me and a second later, I heard her voice in my head.

"Hello, you're mind is very open telepathically." 

I frowned. 

"Is that a good thing…or?" 

"It is. Especially for someone who's not a telepath. It just means you can project your thoughts out to a telepath much easier. In addition, your mind is very flexible"

"It's nice to meet you Miss Martian. Excuse me guys." 

I spoke out loud and approached Batman, who was typing something on the hall's computer. I cleared my throat. 

"I'm guessing you want to talk?" 

He stopped what he was doing. 

"Yes."

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