Genesis 1.10d

– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –

He choked on nothing, the air driven violently from his lungs as his shield shattered into motes of blue light. Zeke's eyes opened wide, his pupils contristicting to pinpricks as he was lifted off his feet by the resulting shockwave, the raw force of it enough to send him flying back into the grass, the boy letting out silent gasps as he tumbled head over heels across the plain.

What little breath he managed to draw left the boy's lungs in a sudden rush as he came to a relatively pleasant stop against the ground, his face pressed up against a mound of soft dirt and grass.

-10

-6

-4

-2

Ability Gained!

Resistance: Electricity Lv 5

Harmless Electrocution.

Reduce all electrical damage from attacks less than 100% of your health.

Increases 2% by level. (10%) Resistance: Blunt Force Lvl Up!

4→9 + 2 VIT

"…What?" Zeke gripped the grass, fingers clawing desperately into dirt as he tried to catch his breath, his gasps for air barely audible themselves. Pulling himself up to all fours, the boy found himself retching violently, spitting out a thick clod of grass and dirt as he devolved into a coughing fit.

Recovering enough to wipe his mouth, he took in a shuddering breath before asking once more, "...what?"

Shatters if more than 20% of MP is drained by a single blow. Negative Trait Acquired!

Mana Backlash (Minor)

Why can't I hold all this mana?

Severe overuse of your existing reserves has hampered your spiritual control, temporarily damaging your ability to restore and control your mana.

Base Mana Recovery restricted by 50%

Mana Awareness restricted by 50%

Length: 25 Hours

"Oh…"

Eyes blinking rapidly, he tried to lift his head but quickly gave up as his sore muscles protested even that little movement. He knew without even checking that he was out of mana completely, the four-digit number in blue that had popped into his mind's eye just moments ago adding an entirely new context to the mental sluggishness he was feeling right now.

Considering what those red numbers meant, he doubted his health was all that far behind. "That's… that's… just not good."

His head dropped back onto the ground, bruised and beaten body begging him to just stay down. I'm done. I'm done. We're done.

The teen didn't want to admit it, but there was nothing else to do, especially with Superboy down. Twister won. The mental announcement came with a quiet acceptance of what Zeke expected was coming next from the villain and he quickly shut his eyes, just wishing for it to be over quickly.

"Superboy? Kaldur?" Zeke blinked as the high-pitched voice hit his ears, his exhausted mind drawing a blank before he heard his own name. "Zeke?!"

M'gann? Zeke's eyes widened as he raised his head, spotting the Martian girl flying backwards over to him, one hand creating a ripple in the air that he took to be a shield of her own, what with the way that Twister's winds seemed to scatter against it. As she flew back, she quickly picked up the other two named boys in the tow of her telekinesis.

"M'gann! You have to move! Twister's gonna…" Zeke paused mid-sentence as he glanced up to see the villain in question still hanging in the air as lightning crackled around him. Almost lazily, Twister raised a hand, sending more blasts of wind and spinning currents to assault M'gann's shield instead of bringing down another lightning bolt.

Why is he going easy like this? He's just taking his time. The youngest team member glanced up again, lifting his upper body off the ground as something began to occur to him. It's like he's stalling or… waiting... for something or...

Oh. Zeke blinked, suddenly snapping his attention back to Miss Martian. Her red eyes widened as the boy laying on the ground began to laugh to himself for seemingly no reason at all.

+1 INT

Whether it was the sudden trauma or the slight tingle from the miniscule traces of electricity that his shield couldn't block, Zeke couldn't really say what the cause was for the metaphorical light bulb that went off in his head. Head trauma or not, what he did know for certain was that he did have an idea. Hopefully, it wasn't as insane as he throught.

The boy shook his head as his laughter died down to a slightly eager smile before turning to look the Martian girl right in the eyes. "M'gann, can you link our minds together? All of us, Robin and Kid Flash too, like the way you did before?"

The girl seemed to freeze in mid-air, opening her mouth to say something only for Zeke to pre-empt her refusal, shaking his head as he spoke. "M'gann, you have to do it! We can't afford for you to say no right now!"

The girl flinched at his tone, before letting out a hesitant "A… Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"Okay, then!" M'gann's eyes narrowed for an instant as she glanced away from Zeke, one hand still forming a deflective shield around her and the three boys, before turning back to him with an unsure smile on her face. "All done."

"Good." Zeke nodded, the movement somewhat jittery as he tried to pull himself together. "All I need you to do now is to keep Twister distracted. Keep a shield up, throw branches, dirt, grass… trees, if you can. Just keep him focused for a few minutes. Can you do that, M'gann?"

She nodded quickly, drifting away from Zeke as she cast a glance up at Twister. "No problem."

"Great. Now," Zeke paused for a moment as he gestured towards Superboy and Aqualad with his chin, "drop 'em."

The Martian let the two boys she held fall to the ground, both of them still unconscious, and Zeke let out an exhausted sigh. Picking himself up from the ground with a few shaky steps, the teen took a moment to focus and let out a powerful scream inside his own head. [WAKE UP!]

The mental shout was met with several loud gasps of shock and fear as Superboy, Aqualad and Kid Flash came to life, all of them and Robin clutching their heads as their gasps turned into groans of pain.

[Zeke? What?] Robin's voice rang in his head. [M'gann! Why'd you… do this again?]

[No time for questions!] Ignoring the Boy Wonder, Zeke thought hard in the direction of the Atlantean still clutching his head on the ground. [Aqualad! You need to get up! Now! Before Twister makes another move!"]

Aqualad rushed to his feet at Zeke's words, glancing back in confusion at the smaller boy and then shooting a worried look up at Twister as he took several cautious steps back. He glanced back down again, a confused expression on his face as he looked at Zeke before turning into a far more terse one as his gaze snapped to the Martian. [M'gann, what did we tell you ab-]

[No time, Kaldur!] Zeke thought to him, cutting him off as the dark-skinned Atlantean flinching once again at the sound of Zeke's voice in his head. The younger boy didn't hesitate, quickly continuing with what he had been saying. [We need M'gann to do this right now. We have to work together against Twister!]

Superboy rose to his feet, a scowl on his face as he rounded on the rest of the team, gaze flicking between M'gann and Zeke. "You're in my head? I told you to stay out of my head!i"

[Conner! There is a bad guy literally hanging over our heads! Not the time.] Zeke shouted back at Superboy, the mental admonishment seeming to have much more power than simple words as Superboy actually stumbled back, the clone shaking his head furiously.

Seemingly unwilling to listen, the clone faced Zeke with gritted teeth as both hands formed into fists at his sides.

Zeke let out an audible sigh, dropping his head down to his chest before raising it again to glance at Superboy. [Look, big guy, Not. The. Time. Okay? The four of us need to move now. Like over to those trees right by Robin and Kid Flash so Twister can't get to us. M'gann's gonna cover our backs, right?] He directed the last part towards their resident telepath, hoping she was ready for whatever distraction she had planned.

[Get ready to move, guys!] M'gann's voice rang out in their heads for the second time today, Superboy letting out another pained grunt in response.

The Martian raised another hand into the air and for a single moment, nothing happened. Zeke tilted his head upwards, wondering what M'gann was referring to with a confused expression on his face, only for his eyes to suddenly widen as the ground in front of M'gann exploded outwards, scattering a spray of dust outwards like a shockwave.

"Holy-" The word slipped from his mouth, Zeke dropping the mental broadcast for a moment as thick, fist-sized chunks of soil and grass rose up from the ground and shot towards Twister rapidly, each one flying up into the air as if launched from a sequence of cannons.

The robotic villain reacted as quickly as he had before, bursts of wind spiralling from him to defend from Miss Martian's attacks. Ironically, that only served to help M'gann's distracting, the robot's whirlwinds forcing the scattering the soil-based projectiles. As the compacted balls quickly lost cohesion, the air filled with thick particles of dust, Twister's own actions creating an effective smokescreen for the team.

Miss Martian's mental voice sounded out again, catching their attention. [Guys, run!]

Already expecting something like this, Zeke jumped on the opportunity and quickly spun on his heels, heading directly towards the retreating forms of Robin and Kid Flash. Stumbling slightly with his first few steps, the thirteen-year-old blinked as the world began to tilt around him, his head doing a remarkably accurate impression of a bobblehead doll as he tried to recover his balance.

-2

"Ugh…"Falling to the ground, Zeke let out a sharp grunt as he held his arms out in front of him to break his fall. Rolling over onto his back with another grunt, the young man glanced up and raised his head to stare at his two approaching teammates as they only just now began to move. Biting down the slight annoyance Zeke could feel at his own inability to contribute, he gave the both of them a weak smile.

"...A little help?"

(HP: 18/125)

– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –

-2

"Ughh!"

The grunt of pain left Zeke's mouth as he hit the ground rather roughly, a result of Superboy opening his arms and letting go of him without warning. He glanced up, shooting the tall boy another weak smile as the clone stared down at him impassively. Grabbing hold of a tree for balance, Zeke pulled himself to his feet and nodded at the half-Kryptonian. [Thanks for the help, Conner.]

He didn't have to fake the sincerity in his voice, actually appreciative that Superboy carried him all this way into the treeline instead of just pulling him to his feet and leaving him on his own. Granted, he would likely have been more appreciative if he hadn't been dropped on the floor like a bag of trash but... Eh, you get what you get.

Robin raised an eyebrow at Zeke, something that the other boy didn't miss, only to shake his head and glance over at Aqualad with a slight frown on his face. [So, what's the plan? M'gann can't hold Twister off forever.]

Wind howled above their heads, the leaves around them whistling and rustling as Twister's whirlwinds tore across the plains. Neither of them knew how M'gann was doing out there but as she hadn't called for backup yet, they had to assume she was holding her own defensively for now.

The dark-skinned Atlantean frowned as well, arms folded over his chest. [I have no plan. With Twister's attacks and M'gann's mistake towards Mister Twister's true identity, I have not been able to devote focus to any sort of plan.]

"So, no plan." Superboy grimaced again, hands balled into fists at his side. "Then what are we doing here?"

Wincing slightly at the reminder that they were on a strict time limit, Zeke let out a sigh and took a few shaky steps forward. [I kind of have something. A plan, I mean.]

Aqualad shook his head for a quick moment, fixing Zeke with a slight glare as he glanced downwards. [Now is not the time for uncertainty, not with a powerful villain after us. Now, do you have a plan or not?]

Zeke fought back the urge to wince again, his hands balling at his sides as he raised them up to his chest. [Look,] Zeke began, glancing around at the boys in turn, [I don't know what you want me to say but it's not a whole plan. It kinda needs input from you guys.]

Robin leaned forward, the boy's frown slowly inching further downwards into full scowl. [How much of a plan are we talking about here?]

Zeke's response was a unsure shrug, the teen chewing on his bloody lip as he tried to recall the plan that had come to him in what he could only call a fit of hysteria. After a moment, he raised an eyebrow and thought back, [It's pretty bare bones, kinda. Maybe one-fifth of a plan. One-fourth if I push it.]

"That's it?" Wally threw his hands into the air, letting out a slight scoff as he did so. "We can't work with a fourth of a plan. I can't believe M'gann's out there buying time for this. Twister could be about to kill her or something!"

The youngest of them stopped chewing his lip, the taste of blood filling his mouth again from a freshly opened scab, and shook his head fiercely. "I… I don't think so." He said out loud this time, the words lacking the confidence speaking in his own head seemed to allow him.

Robin's eyebrows seemed to jump up at this, the boy taking a step closer to Zeke. "What makes you so sure?"

"Look," Zeke turned his gaze to Robin, pausing as he tried to gather his thoughts for a moment, "look, Twister said he was looking to fight a member of the Justice League and the guy figured trashing a power plant would catch their attention so…"

"I get it," Robin interrupted, holding up his palm as Zeke clammed up. "You think Twister's trying to stall until a League member shows up."

"More than that, actually," Zeke replied. "I'm pretty sure that he's fighting us because he figures that seeing us in danger will draw our mentors out. Because of that, he's going easy on us so we don't get hurt too bad." The last few words were followed by a steady nod from Robin, the other boys seeming to take his words into consideration.

Aqualad's frown deepened at Zeke's words, the Atlantean stepping forward like Robin. "You can't be sure of this."

The young teen blinked, confused as to exactly what Kaldur meant. "What…"

Aqualad gave a terse shake of his head, arms still folded tightly across his chest. "You cannot be sure of that possibility, Ezekiel. If Twister truly had attracting League attention above all else as his primary goal, killing us would be the ideal motivator for the League to take action."

"No, I…" Zeke's mouth opened up slightly more as he cut himself off, the shorter boy spluttering confusedly for a moment before looking back at Kaldur. "No, it's just that… Look, with how Twister wasn't even putting up much of a fight before, I really don't think he's gonna go out to kill a bunch of sideki-"

Zeke paused, blinking as Wally shot him a glare. What was that for?

Before Zeke could vocalize the question, Kaldur nodded his head and spoke up. "You raise a good point. Please, continue."

Zeke paused to bite his lip, teeth still working at the healing scab as he glanced quickly between Kid Flash and Aqualad. "Look, Twister went from dropping several lightning bolts in a row to two blasts at Superboy, and then one right on top of us. I'm not saying that he's not willing to… you know, kill us, considering I had to pull that shield thing out of nowhere to save our respective bacons, but what I amsaying is that Twister's not really going to bring his A game. At least, not yet."

"That shield thing..." Robin cocked his head over at Zeke again, a single eyebrow raised. Even behind the dark sunglasses, the other boy got the impression that Robin was doing his very best impression of a Batglare. "How did you do that anyway? What exactly can you do?"

Aqualad, Superboy and Kid Flash tossed confused looks between the two thirteen-year-olds, all three of them having been out of it during Zeke's unveiling of his brand-new skill.

The question and attention forced a wince from Zeke as he tried to think of what to say. "I… I… Look, I don't know if you could tell but I'm kinda new at this." Kid Flash and Robin nodded absentmindedly, agreeing with his description. "All I know is that there's all this energy inside me. I thought it could only do one or two things. Turns out, it can do other stuff."

"I don't know," Wally replied, shrugging. "Energy blasts and shields sounds like a lot more than just 'other stuff.'"

"I guess," Zeke let out a tired breath, "but can we please focus here? I mean, before Twister fries us six ways to Sunday."

His attempt to get the planning back on track was undercut as the rushing wind intensified, entire branches now trembling as Twister's whirlwinds tugged at them from this far away. What sounded like a massive weight hitting the ground sounded off from where they had left M'gann and Zeke couldn't help but realize how similar the sound was to what Miss Martian had done to create a smokescreen out of soil particles just minutes ago.

"Nggh!" Superboy brought their attention back, all the boys taking an instinctive step back as the clone turned and swung his fist wildly into the nearest tree. Zeke was entirely unable to hide a full-body flinch as a good chunk of the tree's side essentially exploded under the force of Superboy's sloppy strike, sawdust, bark and wood chips quickly caught up by the wind. For a single moment, there was silence in the clearing, the only noise being the background din of rushing wind, shaking leaves, and what sounded like a small earthquake.

Then Superboy whirled around, an open scowl on his face. "You're talking about focusing like we even have a plan in the first place!" the clone shouted, pointing a sawdust-covered finger at Zeke. "M'gann can't even fight and you want her to take down Twister! You call that a plan?"

Zeke flinched again, taking in a slight breath as Superboy rounded on him with a level of anger that the thirteen-year-old couldn't help but feel was unnecessary. "Th-th… that…" He shook his head as he found himself unable to get the words out, quickly deciding on something else.

Focusing, he stared Superboy directly in the eyes, doing his best to ignore the small part of his brain telling him this was a bad idea. [I didn't ask her to take Twister down, Conner!]

Superboy let out a slight grunt, the other members of the team wincing slightly, as Zeke mentally shouted back at him. Compared to speaking out loud, it was far easier to speak confidently in his own head, with almost no fear over tripping over one's words.

Bolstered by the other boy's reactions, Zeke continued. [All she's doing is distracting him because powers make her the best person on this team for that. What are you gonna do if you run out there again? Take another lightning bolt to the face?]

Zeke felt a slight twinge of regret as Superboy flinched again, the younger boy guessing that the action had a lot more to do with what he had said than his method of communication. Lowering his mental voice, Zeke continued. [The only way we're gonna get anything done here is if we work together.]

Nodding his head slowly, Zeke turned to glance at the rest of his team, landing on Superboy once again. [Okay, Conner?]

The taller boy didn't give much of a sign that he accepted Zeke's words. If anything, his slightly narrowed eyes and crossed arms said the opposite but Aqualad didn't seem to care much about that, stepping forward again. "Agreed. Zeke, your plan?"

"Again, thirty percent of a plan." When Robin made a motion for him to hurry up, Zeke let out a slight sigh and decided to go for it. "Okay, I already told M'gann her part and she's doing it right now. All defense and distraction. I figured Wally could run fast in a circle and make some whirlwinds to keep Twister off balance too. For me?"

Zeke made a slight hedging noise and shrugged his shoulders, unsure of what to say. "I'm kind of tapped out right now, but I'll be good for a little in a few minutes."

"Eh, I can work with that," Wally replied, nodding in Zeke's general direction.

"And as for me?" Aqualad asked, an eyebrow raised as he took a slight step forward. "Robin? Superboy? What part do we play?"

Zeke shook his head slightly, scratching the back of his neck nervously. "Honestly, I… I don't know. I figured you three could come up with something better than I could."

"I got plenty of birdarangs left and a couple flash grenades." Robin nodded, mouth turning up into a smirk. "I'll figure something out."

"I am running low on available water but…" Aqualad frowned, obviously not as confident as the Boy Wonder, but still continued regardless, "... I will manage what I have." The two shared a look and nodded, before turning to Superboy as they waited for him to say something.

The clone's scowl deepened and he remained quiet for a few moments until...

"I can hit him."

"What?" Zeke winced as the word left his mouth rather loudly, the other boys having enough self-control not to blurt out the first thing on their lips. In a quieter voice, Zeke spoke up again. "Uh, sorry, I mean… what?"

Superboy tilted his head up slightly as he shot an annoyed look over at Zeke, jaw set hard. "I can hit Twister."

"Uh, no offense, Supey, but," Kid Flash raised a finger, "haven't you tried that? Like, a lot."

"...Yes." Superboy let out a slight grunt with the word, his crossed arms tightening as he leaned back against the damaged tree. Despite his shirt being absolutely coated with sawdust, he didn't seem to mind much.

"It didn't work then," Robin cut in. "Don't see it working now."

Superboy shook his head, obviously about to say something else when Zeke stepped up, raising a hand to ward off any outburst from the Kryptonian. "Hold up… I think I have an idea." The shorter boy quirked his head upwards, staring at Superboy intently. "Trees… you can throw trees at Twister!"

Superboy pulled a face, confusion written all over his expression. "Trees?"

Caught up with the idea running through his mind, Zeke just nodded his head rapidly. "Yeah, and… and Kaldur!" The young hero in question raised an eyebrow as Zeke pointed a finger at him, as if silently asking what he wanted. "You can do water blasts, right?"

It was not really a question in the operative sense, what with Zeke knowing very well that the Atlantean could do all sorts of stuff with water. Regardless, the upwards shift of his voice near the end of the statement made it far more like a question than he had intended.

"Yes, I can." The dark-skinned teen nodded as he spoke, pulling his water bearers from his back in one motion. "However, without a larger source of water, they will be lacking in strength."

"Eh," Zeke shook his head absentmindedly, chewing on his lip as he continued to think. "Doesn't really matter. As long as they're in play, y'know. Either way, with M'gann and Wally running distraction and defense, Robin with the explosives, and Superboy throwing trees to bring down Twister with heavy hits, all the bases should be covered, either way. Right?" After a moment of silence and shared looks between the other boys, Zeke's earnest smile faded ever so slightly.

"R-right?"

Kaldur nodded slowly, expression nearly as imperceptible as it usually was. "I… I believe that could work. All we can do is attempt it."

Robin and Wally smirked at Kaldur's words, glancing at each other. The redhead pulled his goggles down, smirk widening into a grin as he spoke up. "Let's do this!" With that, the speedster took off towards the sounds of a fight.

"Now, we gotta go make sure Wally doesn't do anything dumb… again." Robin rolled his eyes, quickly taking off after Wally's blurring form. Kaldur and Superboy began to do the same, with Kaldur in the lead, only to stop as the both of them realized that Zeke was still standing in the same place, one hand resting on a tree for support.

"Ezekiel." Kaldur's voice caught his attention, Zeke raising his head to stare into a set of questioning green eyes. "Is something wrong?"

Zeke nodded his head slowly, still feeling the drain on his health even as it slowly trickled back up. The aches and pains all over his body hadn't yet disappeared, although they had lessened somewhat. "N-not really. Just kinda… drained. Energy's kinda low. Just go on without me."

"You're sure?" Superboy grunted, the sound leaving Zeke confused as to what he meant with it.

With a muttered "Inventory", Zeke's outstretched arm disappeared up to the elbow, pulling his hand out of the invisible hole in space a moment later. "Yeah. I'll…" He gave Superboy and Kaldur a slight nod, waving them off with a hand holding a sugar-filled beverage. "I'll meet you guys in a little."

Superboy and Aqualad shared a glance before looking back at Zeke with firm expressions. Nodding at him, they quickly turned and followed in the same direction that Kid Flash and Robin had headed towards just seconds ago.

Finally alone, Zeke glanced at the can in his hands and pulled back the tab with one hand, raising it to his lips a moment later.

Soder-Cola Extreme!(Cherry)

From the parent company WHAK, Soder-Cola Extreme is peddled as an energy drink variant of the standard Soder-Cola despite bearing no real differences other than containing more calories, sugar and caffeine. Due to being the first drink of it's type to make it big and the addictive effects of caffeine, Soder-Cola remains America's most popular soft drink despite being lacking the nutritional quality of its eternal competitor, Zesti Cola.

+ 25 to Max Mana Capacity (Non-Stackable)

+ 12 to Mana Recovery Rate for 5 minutes

It had to be said that being without mana was a novel experience for Zeke and not at all a pleasant one. He hadn't realized it before now but the feeling of mana inside him was almost like that of oxygen, the energy pooled inside him so non-intrusive that he almost didn't realize it was there when he didn't pay attention to it. When it was gone, though…

Well, that was a different story entirely.

Much like being unable to breathe due to a lack of oxygen, having no mana inside him left the thirteen-year old rather light-headed and sluggish. Having lost his balance after only a few steps just a minute or two ago, Zeke didn't really want to test how persistent that feeling of vertigo could be. Granted, it wasn't anywhere near as bad as the bone-dead exhaustion that always popped up everytime his Willpower dropped to nothing, but when you considered the fact that Zeke was damn near paralyzed when he used all his will, it wasn't saying much.

Tilting his head back, Zeke took a long pull from the can, the aluminum squealing slightly as he began to crush it in his eagerness. It took about five seconds for Zeke to empty the can, a slight shudder rolling down his back as the last drops of cherry-flavored cola hit his tongue.

He took in a sharp breath, inhaling deeply as a jolt of energy rushed through him. The can fell from his grip, clattering against the forest floor as he shook his head, eyes opening wide. Zeke stared down at his chest, blinking several times as he suddenly became aware of a soft pulsing underneath his skin that had not been there just moments ago.

The boy took in another hissing breath, hands clenching at his sides repeatedly. Oh yeah… that's the stuff.

HP: 42/110 [125]

(+ 11 HP/min)

Mana: 29/90 [115]

(+ 13 Mana/min)

Will: 105/105

(+ 6 Will/min)

[Kalteen Weight Gain Bar]

(+15 HP for 5 minutes) (Non-Stackable)

( +10 HP regen for 5 minutes)

(+5 Will regen for 5 minutes)

[Soder Cola Extreme]

(+25 Mana) (Non-Stackable)

( +12 Mana regen for 5 minutes)

He could feel it again.

The blue.

The familiar pool of energy slowly began to trickle throughout Zeke's body, his arms and legs tingling as if they had just fallen blinked again, opening his eyes wide once more as he let out a shiver.

God, He shivered once more, shaking his arms out as he brought both his hands closer to his face, it's like injecting coffee right into my veins.

Face tight with concentration, Zeke held one palm upwards and stared at it. As the seconds crawled by, his palm slowly lit up with a cobalt glow as he did his best to call on his mana. Focusing the pulsing energy into his palm, the light grew brighter as the energy he held began to take on a rough spherical shape, held together by only his concentration and given form from what he last remembered of holding it.

The drain on his reserves was noticeable but Zeke did his best to ignore it, knowing he would regain it back in a few short seconds.

So, this is a Mana Burst. Zeke raised his right hand higher and stared at the wildly shifting ball of energy in his palm, the rough sphere glowing brighter in places as the surface shifted and bubbled wildly under his gaze, desperate for the chance to release its energy in a tightly packed explosion. Looks cool, but it's super weak.

Zeke tilted his head as he continued staring at it, his gaze not losing the slightest modicum of intensity but instead gaining a note of curiosity. He glanced down at his other hand, eyes narrowing again. His left hand lit up with blue, an identical sphere of mana forming there in seconds as Zeke let out a grimace, redoubling his focus as he tried to keep the both of them stable.

Hazel eyes snapped back and forth between the both of them, a slight confusion taking away from the intensity of his gaze. Now, what am I supposed to do I do with these?

The question was one that Zeke felt had to be answered if he was going to go back out there and face Twister with the rest of the team. Going out there with nothing to bring to the fight would be just as bad as hiding in the woods until the Team beat the villain. In fact, it would probably be even worse, considering that he'd just be a liability to the rest of them.

Seriously, though, he thought to himself as he glanced down at his glowing hands, how am I supposed to help out with these?

Mana Burst Lvl Up!

2→4

– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –

"Wow… I really should have waited a little more."

It had already been a few minutes since the rest of the team had ran out to face Twister, leaving Zeke in the forest to brainstorm. Well, that and slowly wait for his mana and health to recover to usable levels.

Really, coming up with an idea for what to do with his Mana Bursts had only taken him about half a minute tops. While he wasn't even sure it would even work correctly, what with several of his experiments being little more than explosive failures, he at least had a general idea of what to do. Deciding to wait some more time for his health and mana to rise back up had just been an excuse to avoid heading back out.

He had managed to keep hoping in the idea that the team would somehow manage to defeat Twister before he could get back out into the fight. Cowardly as that may have been, Zeke had a good reason for trying to stall. In short, he doubted that his assistance would be of any help in turning the tables at all. Giving his team some space to do their thing just seemed like a smart idea. Really, Zeke liked to think of it as just being realistically cautious of the dangers supervillain antics posed to his well-being.

However, he couldn't exactly hold on to that tired excuse for long when Robin and Wally kept sending him mental messages asking him where he was, what was he doing, and when was he going to get back out to help them.

Even when Zeke had answered; he was in the forest, working on something to use against Twister, and that he would be right back out when his energy got to a certain level, neither of his two teammates were satisfied with his responses.

With the constant bugging from The Boy Wonder and Flash Jr, Zeke decided to just head out anyway and began running out of the woods in a full sprint, bright gold energy surrounding his legs and filling him with vibrant energy as he drew on his [Power Sprint] skill. As soon as he breached the tree line, the golden glow around his lower body vanished immediately, the boy's eyes widening in surprise

First things first, he was forced to vault over the thick trunk of a downed tree, the thing somehow lodged across two other trees in exactly the same spot Superboy had carried him through when they entered the woods. The other clues that the tree didn't belong there was the chunk of fresh soil still attached to what remained of the thing's roots, that in addition to the thick ditch the tree rested in reminding Zeke that he had recommended Superboy to hurl trees around.

In fact, it wasn't the only one of it's kind around. Zeke could make out several other thick trunks lying scattered around the field, ripped from the ground as if by the whims of some angry god. Or an angsty demigod.

Always one to dwell on the worst, Zeke couldn't withhold a shudder as he wondered what would be left of himself after getting hit by an errant tree thrown by Superboy, of all people. Chunky salsa, probably.

While he had hoped that his teammates would be able to beat Twister what with the Boy of Steel and Batman Jr on the team, his hopes hadn't exactly been sky-high, considering how tough Twister was. The guy could change the weather and shoot lightning bolts, for god's sakes. Lightning bolts that could also explode, which really didn't make much sense in hindsight because of the fact that lightning shouldn't… well, explode.

As odd as that part of Twister's powers was, Zeke couldn't find it in him to focus on that right now, his attention locked directly onto his teammates and their ensuing fight. Seriously, I could have just waited a few more minutes.

The sound of rushing wind drowned out most sound, especially as far away as he was from the team, but he could still see everything well enough. The team seemed to be doing well enough against Twister from where Zeke was standing, but he didn't want to make a judgement just yet.

Kid Flash was barely visible to Zeke as a blur that flitted in and out of the villain's attacks, the speedster disappearing almost entirely to Zeke's vision as he zoomed closer to the villain in a sudden burst of speed before dashing away just as quickly, entirely avoiding several small tornadoes the villain had sent his way.

A small tornado of his own began to form in the speedster's wake, the current doing its own part in keeping Twister on the back foot. The fact that Twister was struggling to do so much as touch him with one of his wind blasts told Zeke that the speedster was doing just fine.

Okay, just gotta make my way over there.

"[Power Sprint!]" With a determined shout, Zeke started to run, arms swinging by his side as he quickly made his way over to the Martian before Twister could focus his attention on him again.

Power Sprint Lvl Up!

8→9

M'gann stood several dozen meters away from Zeke's current position, directly facing Twister as she stood firmly against the villain's attacks. One green hand remained held above her, the outline of some sort of telekinetic shield visible as Twister's whirlwinds impacted against it. With her other hand, she seemed to be directing a hail of rocks and dirt at the strafing villain, the volley not doing much more than distracting the robot. Well, that and dirtying his chassis.

Behind M'gann were several wide pillars of compacted dirt and rock, not much taller than the girl's waist height. Judging by the masses of dirt clustered around them and the various gaping pits in the ground where there were no longer any grass, it was obvious to Zeke that M'gann had done some serious landscaping.

Those things over there… He shot a frown over at the pillars as he ran towards them, eyes narrowing as he raised his arms over his face to protect himself from the wind that managed to reach him even this far. What are those even f-

The question died in his head as Zeke spotted Robin rise from a crouch behind one of the walls and dart to another one, scant moments before a blast of air larger than he was slammed into the wall he had just hid behind, scattering it. The Boy Wonder's mouth opened, shouting something at M'gann that was quickly drowned out by the gale-force winds.

He seemed to realize the pointlessness of that, shaking his head before shooting a focused glance at M'gann. His mental communication didn't go unnoticed as M'gann nodded back, turning back to face Twister with a frown.

Hurling himself forward, Zeke dived behind an open pillar the moment Robin hurled a series of birdarangs at Twister, M'gann catching the projectiles in her telekinesis and sending them up with the rest of her volley.

[Zeke!] Robin's voice rang out in his head, the other thirteen year old glancing over at him with a slight smile on his face. [Finally! We've been wondering where you were… again.]

[Yeah, you were super vague.] Wally chimed in, a slightly strained tone present in the speedster's mental voice. [Kinda thought you ran, to be honest.]

The boy in the blue and white jumpsuit frowned, wincing at Wally and Robin's words before shaking his head. [Sorry about that. I had to heal up. Didn't want to risk it.] Zeke raised his eyebrows a moment later, glancing around the field in search of a familiar red shield. [Hey, where's Superboy?] Realizing that he wasn't the only one missing, he quickly added as an afterthought, [And Kaldur too?]

[The tree thing didn't really work out,] Wally responded, strain still present in his voice. [so Kaldur and Supey are trying something else out.]

Zeke blinked. [But… where'd they go?]

[Not important right now.] Robin sniped, tossing another set of birdarangs at the robot. [Focus on the robot.]

Zeke couldn't help but disagree, his mouth falling open slightly as he let out a confused splutter. [Not important? They're two of the toughest guys on the team! How's that not important?]

Robin shot him a look that Zeke couldn't quite decipher due to the sunglasses, but he had an unexplainable feeling that the Boy Wonder was rolling his eyes at him. Shaking his head, Robin turned back to face Twister, hurling something over the pillar with a slight grunt. Several small and black spheres flew from Robin's hand, the objects gaining speed and height as they shot on a direct path to Twister.

Caught up in M'gann's telekinesis along with an incredible amount of small rocks, the pellets detonated in a powerful explosion, turning the stones into buckshot and obscuring Twister in a powerful smokescreen.

"Holy…" Zeke's eyes widened, surprise etched on his face as he turned to face Robin. [Do you think that did it?]

Robin shook his head, not even bothering to turn to look at Zeke.

The Boy Wonder was proven right as the dust cleared moments later, Zeke's hopes falling as he spotted Twister hanging in the air, far lower than he had been previously but relatively unharmed. The slightest of dents were visible on the villain's armor-plated form, somewhat hidden by the large amount of dirt that M'gann had put serious effort into layering on him. The red and black portions of his body were almost impossible to make out over the carpet of brown, though, leaving his color scheme looking radically different and muted compared to the bright colors he sported just minutes ago.

"I. Have. Had. ENOUGH!" Letting out a synthesized scream of frustration, Twister thrust his oversized hands out to his sides, a burst of wind shooting from him in an omnidirectional wave. The dust and soot coating his chassis was immediately sent flying away from the sheer force of the wind, leaving Twister somewhat clean but showing far more damage than he was before with parts of his chest plating heavily dented. "I tire of your unending interruptions! No fight is worth this!"

The aerokinetic raised his hands in the air again as he began to ascend, the clouds slowly beginning to darken above him.

"You children are a distraction I can no longer tolerate!"

No. No. No. Zeke's eyes widened once more, the boy pulling himself up to his feet and backpedaling away from Twister as the wind began to pick up again, whirlwinds disappearing to be replaced by a wide-range stream of roaring wind. Not this. Not again. [Robin! Wally! M'gann!]

[What?], three mental voices responded in unison, the surround sound experience causing Zeke to flinch slightly, the boy stepping back out of surprise as opposed to any pain.

[Twister!] Zeke replied, the single word popping into his head before anything else.

[Really?] Kid Flash retorted, appearing by Robin's side in a blur. [No shit, Sherlock.]

[i mean,] he began again, shooting Kid Flash a glare. [He's gonna drop another lightning bolt on us!]

[Again,] Kid Flash shot back, already backpedaling away from the pillars M'gann had created as shelter from Twister's winds, Robin fast on his heels and M'gann following from behind still keeping her barrier steady. [We can see that. Got any real news for us, or are we just gonna get a play-by-play of the action?

Robin shot Kid Flash a warning look as Zeke's expression soured further before glancing back at Zeke. [Look, Zeke, we've been waiting for you because we needed something to distract Twister with. Superboy and Aqualad are busy working on something but they need a clear shot. I'm out of flashbangs and explosives and M'gann's got her own thing going on]

The other young teen blinked, unsure of how to respond. After a few moments, he finally responded with, [What do you mean by distract?]

[Something big, something bright, something loud. Doesn't really matter. Any ideas?]

Miss Martian finally turned to face them, shooting the three boys a worried look. [I don't have anything like that. All I can do is try and keep a barrier up right now until Superboy and Aqualad come back with something I can use.]

Zeke didn't say anything, hands at his sides as he slowly began to form a set of mana bursts. He faced his teammates and shook his head. [I don't think I can hit all three but I maybe kinda sorta have an idea. It's a long shot, though.]

[What?] Kid Flash came to a quick halt, jerking his head to the side to glance at Zeke. [Why is that a problem? Just do it already!]

Without saying another word, Zeke just nodded in response to Robin's words and held out both of his arms in front of him, both Robin and Kid Flash's mouths opening slightly as they caught sight of what he held.

Zeke assumed Miss Martian would have done the same if her back wasn't turned to the three of them, utterly focused on maintaining her telekinetic barrier at the expense of all else. Regardless, they were certainly a sight, the twin spheres of mana as unstable as they were bright in his hands. Shaking his head as he stared up at Mister Twister, Zeke found himself frowning again, his teeth gritted in concentration. This better work.

His attention focused on nothing but the volatile sources of energy in his hands, Zeke let out a breath through his nose and quickly brought both his palms together, nearly slamming them into one another. The second the both of the spheres came into contact, Zeke let out a slight grunt and jerked as his arms began to shudder violently.

Come on. Hold it. Hold it. Just like the last few times he had tried to do… whatever this was, he was forced in a struggle with what was literally his own energy, the spheres refusing to merge like he wanted them to.

Zeke glanced up once more, the rumbling in the sky drawing his attention away from his current task for a moment. Lightning began to crackle amidst the slowly encroaching clouds, Twister's hands still raised up as he prepared to conduct the finished product downwards.

Come on. Come on.

Mana Burst Lvl Up!

4→5

Awareness: Mana Lvl Up!

14→15

His palms slowly inched closer together, the pressure in his hands progressively easing until Zeke's eyes widened as he finally found himself cupping the energy within both hands. What looked like gouts of jagged blue flame seemed to be bursting from the gaps between Zeke's fingers, likely to burn something if it had any actual heat to it.

Luckily for Zeke, it didn't burn nearly that hot, feeling roughly the same temperature as his own skin as he held the volatile ball n balloon between his palms. Fiery or not, he couldn't deny that it looked awesome.

A smile spread on the young sidekick's face, the expression widening as he glanced up at Twister once more and raised his hands. Before he could release the prepared blast, though, another set of familiar blue lettering appeared in his field of vision.

Special Skill Creation Failed!

What? No! Zeke's jaw opened slightly, his eyes widening as he tried to understand why this wasn't working. Unlike the last few times when these exact words had appeared in front of him, he had finally managed to bring the two spheres together without both of them exploding apart in his hands. This doesn't make sense! I have it under c- oh, no.

No. Not again, come on! Zeke grimaced as his hands began to shake again, the trembling spreading all the way to his upper arms as he struggled to hold his hands up towards Twister. I gotta do this now! Teeth gritted, Zeke opened his palms like the mouth of a clam and released the volatile ball of energy with a loud scream of "HAAAA!"

A roiling ball of blue energy shot from his palms like a cannonball, tearing through the sky on a direct path to Twister with a noise like a mixture of rushing wind and an oddly low-pitched keening sound.

Mana Burst Lvl Up!

5→6

Twister moved to lower his hands, the clouds quickly losing the spark of lightning as he did so. Even still, the robot wasn't fast enough to block Zeke's attack. The basketball-sized blast struck the villain directly in the face, detonating in a bright flash of cobalt light that almost hurt to look at but still brought a smile to Zeke's face.

The audible shout from Twister was music to his ears, the sight of the robot's head actually jerking backwards from the force of the hit even more exciting. The excitement didn't last all that long, though, Zeke's smile fading almost immediately as Twister turned to face him.

"You." The amount of annoyance the android managed to lace into a single word was impressive, leaving Zeke with a pit in his stomach as he realized he was now under personal scrutiny from this bad guy for the second time. "Yet again, you've personally managed to annoy me solely by how ineffectual you've proven to be."

You know, for a highly advanced technological feat of engineering, he sure talks like he belongs in the 18th century, Zeke couldn't help but muse to himself, the traitorous thought actually bringing a slight smile to his face. Why would anyone even program that?

"Consider this... " A burst of lightning, much smaller than the ones Twister had summoned previously, crackled in the dark cloud above the android's head. Twister raised his hand again and below, four pairs of eyes widened in unison. "...a final lesson."

Son of a... Zeke shook his head furiously, thrusting his own hand in the air to match the aerokinetic. This is really gonna suck!

"Mana Sh-"

The boy's shout was interrupted by another, a loud and guttural grunt that seemed to echo across the plain. His eyes widened, accompanied by a full-body flinch. What the-

Before Zeke could even finish the thought, the sound of a thunderous impact followed by tearing and screeching metal forced itself into his eardrums, Twister's voice joining into the din as the villain let out a furious scream.

"MY ARM!"

His arm? Zeke's eyes shot up, widening even further as he saw the mess that was once Twister's right side rendered into nothing but sparking metal and a flailing blue tube expelling some viscous, similarly-colored liquid. His arm! What… How… Wait! Can he feel pain? Why would anyone even program that? That's like a massive design flaw in a rob-

Zeke shook his head as he found himself going down another tangent. How did he even lose his-

[M'gann, send it back!] Robin's voice rang out once again in his head, interrupting Zeke's train of thought and forcing him to tear his attention away from Twister as the android shook unsteadily in the air, suddenly quiet even with his massive injury. [Send it back at him now!]

Zeke shot Robin a glance, confusion clear on his face. [Send what?]

Robin smirked, the expression looking just as devious as the Boy Wonder probably expected it to be. The boy in sunglasses pointed up in the air, his arm at an angle rather far from where Twister hung in the air. [That.]

Zeke followed Robin's arm and found himself taking a step back, his mouth opening slightly as he stared at something else hanging in the air other than Twister. A tree?

A tree, it was.

The thing hung in the air imposingly; long, thick, all of it's branches stripped off and one end sharpened to an intimidatingly deadly point with several mechanical bits hanging off of it. At one point, it was probably a newly maturing tree with centuries of life ahead of it.

At one point.

Now, though, it was nothing but a weapon held up in the air by a telekinetic, green-skinned teenage girl. Zeke gulped unconsciously at the sight in front of him, taking another step back as M'gann stepped forward with both hands raised. Where did that thing even come from?

[Take him down, M'gann!] Wally's voice cut in, his excitement as obvious as if he had shouted the words at the top of his lungs.

Zeke glanced over at Robin quickly, a question on his face and on his mind. [Where did that come from?]

Robin tilted his head slightly, a smirk still on his face. [I told you. Aqualad and Superboy were busy.]

Twister struggled to regain his balance in mid-air, his propulsion abilities obviously shot with one arm being entirely gone, and M'gann stepped forward to face Twister as the three boys watched her. Back straight, she brought her fingers together into two fists and, with a grunt of effort, the Martian brought her hands down.

The tree hurled itself through the sky point-first, the air actually displacing around it as it flew directly towards the robot. "No!" Twister, in an act of self-preservation, shot a blast of wind from his remaining hand to propel himself away."No! I will not be defeated by children!"

He wasn't fast enough.

The sound from before repeated itself, a dull impact immediately followed by the screech of tearing metal as the tree trunk wrenched Twister's leg from his body. The limb fell to the ground several dozen meters away followed by the tree itself, a new ditch formed in seconds as it tore through the grassland.

Before Twister could even react to his second missing limb, what looked like a long blue rope lashed around the villain's mid-section, a vicious tug on the oddly flowing cord pulling Twister closer to the ground.

Zeke blinked, taking a step back out of shock. [Kaldur?]

The Atlantean didn't bother responding to the boy as he held on tightly to the water construct in his grip, his muscles bulging as the tattoos on his arm glowed bright. "Superboy!" Aqualad screamed with a grunt, eyes close as he desperately held on to the water whip in his hands. "Now!"

With a roar, the tall teenager burst from the tree line out of nowhere, hurtling through the air on a direct arc towards Twister. He collided into Twister with a thunderous noise, Superboy's fist ripping through the villain's chassis without much trouble as he landed blow after blow on him with one hand, the other gripping tightly to the android.

"Are you kidding m-"

The water rope dissolved, falling from Twister's body into mundane water once more as Superboy drove his hand through his neck, forcing the robot's words to cut away into a drone of static and sparks.

Zeke could only blink, mouth falling open again. Holy…

Letting out another guttural roar, Superboy slammed a fist directly into the android's head, the strike sending the body part airborne with another ungodly screech of metal. Without pause, he followed the first with another heavy handed blow directly to what remained of Twister's chestplate, knocking more parts off of him. Superboy's other hand dug into the robot's shoulder and the clone jerked his arms, sending the broken robot on a direct path to the ground, trailing smoke, sparks and blue liquid as he fell.

Twister slammed down with a thunderous crash, metallic body battered and unmoving. For a moment, none of them said anything, as if waiting for the other shoe to drop.

That other shoe came in the form of Superboy as the clone hit the ground feet first, a small crater forming around him while the ground shook to announce his landing. Pulling himself up to his full height, Superboy rolled his shoulders, muscles prominently on display as he shot the team an actual smile.

"I think we're done here."

+ 750 XP

Mission Success!

Mission "A Rude Windstorm" Completed

+ 1250 XP

+ 5 Stat Points

+ 4 Resistance: Blunt Force

+ 1 VIT Level Up x 3!

You are now Level 4.

+ 6 Stat Points. Vitality Trait Lost: Malnutrition

Strength Perk Gained: Hard Hitter

Speed Perk Gained: Reactive Reflexes

Vitality Perk Gained: Quick Healer

Yes. Yes. Zeke fought the urge to shudder as he felt a tingle pass through his body, a general sense of weakness he hadn't even noticed fading as he continued to stand there. Something… He didn't know what but something seemed to be filling his muscles, almost revitalizing them with every single breath that passed through his lungs. He blinked back up at the words, unable to hide the smile on his face as he saw the words 'Malnutrition' fade before his eyes. All my yes.

"Yeah, Superboy's right." He nodded slowly, taking one step closer to Superboy as the clone cracked his knuckles and surveyed his handiwork in Twister's smoking form. "We're definitely done here."

– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –

To Zeke's chagrin, they were definitely not done there.

After Aqualad and Robin had conferred with Red Tornado, basically describing everything that had gone down with as much clinical detachment he expected from someone like Aqualad and Batman's partner, their robotic den mother had instructed them to recover Twister's remains and bring them to the cave for analysis and archiving.

The problem was, thanks to the vigorous methods applied in defeating Twister, he wasn't exactly in one neat and tidy piece for them to just pick up. In short, searching through the forest and combing through grass in search of robot body parts for the better part of two hours was not Zeke's idea of a fun time.

After they finished and Wally had picked up one of Twister's fingers as a souvenir, M'gann did the brunt of the work with her telekinesis and lifted all of Twister's remains and loaded them onto her ship.

An hour or so later, Zeke found himself lying on a rather long couch in the cave's living room, doing nothing but nursing a bottle of water as he stared at the television screen in front of him with a dull expression on his face.

Superboy sat at the end of the couch, inches away from Zeke's bare feet, arms crossed as he stared at the screen as well. It was odd how focused the clone was in the show, really. Even the credits seemed to hold his attention, but then again, Zeke assumed that he hadn't had much experience to television or popular culture, in general.

As the episode came to an end, Zeke put the volume on the tv down with one hand holding the remote and turned to Superboy. "So, Big Guy, you liking the show so far?"

"No," The clone looked over at Zeke, turning his whole body as he stared down at the smaller boy.

"Oh", Zeke blinked. "Uh, so… you wanna try something else, then?"

"No. I want to know something first."

What now? Despite his disinclination at being the focus of Superboy's ire, Zeke chose to stare back up at the taller boy. "If it's about the show's plot," Zeke began, raising his palms, "I really can't explain it better than the title. Digital Monst-"

"No." Superboy cut in again, unfolding his arms. "It's not about the show."

"Okay… well, uh, if It's not about the show," Zeke cut back in, tapping his finger on the remote, "can't it wait? I can't exactly pause this and I really want to see how it's different from what I remember." At this, Superboy shot him a look, really not doing much more than narrowing his eyes at the younger boy.

Regardless, Zeke got the hint and quickly shut his mouth.

For several long moments, Zeke found himself being stared down by Superboy for several long moments, the silence starting to get to him before the half-Kryptonian spoke up again. "...Why do you keep calling me Conner?"

What? Zeke's face turned down into a frown for a quick instant as he heard the question before his eyes slowly began to widen. "Oh. I…" He gave a slight shake of his head, unsure where to begin. Seriously, I don't even know what I'm supposed to say to that. How do I explain to someone what their name is?

Glancing back up at Superboy, the smaller boy couldn't help but ask, "No offense, but are you gonna try and hit me again? 'Cause last time I brought this up, you weren't all that happy to have this conversation."

Superboy didn't say anything in return. To be honest, he didn't really need to. The impressive glower got his message across just fine.

Zeke flinched, letting out a slight hum as he tried to decode what that glare could possibly mean for his well-being. Just say something. If he lunges, you run and scream for M'gann like your life depends on it. Taking in another breath, Zeke opened his mouth.

"No problem. Here's me talking," he added the last few words in an undertone, murmuring them more than anything else.

"Okay, I don't know if anyone told you but I'm not from here." He pulled a face as he gave Superboy a bit of a shrug. "Like, I'm not from this… universe, right? So, seeing as I'm from a different universe with a different Earth and all that, there's bound to be different people too, right?"

Superboy nodded slowly, waiting patiently for Zeke to continue.

"So, there are different versions of tons of people. Like, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, you name it." Zeke paused, scratching the back of his neck as he prepared to continue on to the part he suspected Superboy might have a problem with. "Basically, there was a hero in my universe named Superboy that looked just like you, same shirt and everything."

Superboy glanced down at his black and red shirt, a hand absentmindedly pawing at the shield on his torso even as he raised his head back up. He continued to stare at Zeke, the smaller boy taking that as his cue to keep talking.

"Ok, and, uh… well, that Superboy was named Conner. Conner Kent." The emphasis on the last word was purposeful, Zeke trying to see whether he crossed any sort of line with mentioning anything related to Superman's secret identity. When Superboy just blinked at him, Zeke blinked back in slight confusion, wondering what that meant. So, either he doesn't know Superman's secret identity or he knows but he doesn't care that I know it?

Zeke blinked again, shaking his head as he did so. Either way, it's weird.

"Anyway, uh, yeah, Conner was his Earth name and his Kryptonian name was Kon-El." He let out a sigh as he finished speaking, wondering if Superboy would accept that much. "That answer your question?"

Superboy nodded silently. The silence between them held for a few more seconds until Superboy broke it again. "...What was he like?"

Zeke held back a groan, glancing back over at Superboy as he asked him a question. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"The me you knew." Superboy fixed him with an intense stare, blue eyes piercing into hazel. "What was he like?"

Cheese and rice. Holding back a sigh, Zeke sat up and faced Superboy, trying to figure out the best way to word what was on his mind. "Well… I didn't exactly know him, per se. At best, I knew of him. You could say that I was somewhat of a fan of his."

The slightest hint of confusion crossed Superboy's features. "You hugged me when you first saw me."

"Yeah, that… that was a thing, wasn't it?" Zeke grimaced, nodding slightly in acceptance of Superboy's point. "I was something of a big fan of Superboy, yeah. I had shirts, shoes, hoodies, hats, backpacks, pins…" Note to self: Hook this Superboy up with a merchandising manager or something.

"Yeah, anyway, Superb…" Zeke paused, glancing over at the Superboy in front of him for a moment before shaking his head. "Conner was a big hero and I think a lot of people loved him for it. Not just me. Sure, he wasn't as well known as Superman but he was still super popular." He stared up at the half-Kryptonian as he finished. "That answer your question, Supey? Supey?"

Zeke blinked as he watched the clone, Superboy seemingly lost in thought as he stared off into space. As Zeke continued to look on, the dour expression on Superboy's face shifted upwards slightly and Superboy spoke up, at first just muttering to himself.

"...Kon-El. Konel, Kon-er, Connor, Conner. Conner… heh." Zeke blinked as Superboy actually smiled, the sides of his mouth curving upwards in earnest as he repeated the name for the third time. "Conner… I like it."

"That's… that's good." Zeke blinked again, nodding along dumbly as he realized something very important. Holy crap on a cracker, I just named Superboy. Shaking his head, he brought his attention back to the situation in front of him, glancing over in the direction Robin, Kid Flash Miss Martian and Aqualad had headed down, all of them having expressed interest in hitting the showers. "So… you want to get back to Digimon or you wanna see what else is on?"

Conner was quiet again for a few seconds.

"Digimon…" He shifted in his seat, a slight smile on his face as he turned back to face the TV. "I like Matt."

"...Same here." A similar smile grew on Zeke's face as he pressed the topmost volume button on the remote, the theme song filling the room again. This is nice.

Really, there was so much more to do and so much more on his mind, things relating to who Twister actually was or why someone would build an aerokinetic robot and just set them loose to fight the Justice League or, more importantly, why his attempts to make a new skill kept failing when he could do it just fine on accident.

The boy shrugged and settled deeper back against the couch in a position that should have been uncomfortable but somehow wasn't, deciding to let those questions settle for now. After all, it wasn't like he didn't have tomorrow to figure out at least the last question, right?

Glancing over at Superboy, Zeke nodded to himself. Yeah, that's a problem for tomorrow.

– o – o – o – o – o – o – o – Spoiler: STATUS Ezekiel Patrick Armstrong Age: 13 Level 4 Experience 275/1500 Health 410/410 Mana 115/115 Willpower 125/125 STR 25 SPD 31 VIT 27 INT 19 WIS 9 CHA 11 Stat Points: 13 Cash: $375

Traits

Bright Kid: While you're no genius or some prodigy, you're obviously brighter than most kids. By the time you're an adult, however, no one will care. (Before the age of 18: +75% to INT gain and +25% to speed of learning Mana-based skills/abilities)

Mana Backlash (Minor)

Why can't I hold all this mana?Severe overuse of your existing reserves has hampered your spiritual control, temporarily damaging your ability to restore and control your mana.

Base Mana Recovery restricted by 50%

Mana Awareness restricted by 50%

Length: 25 Hours

Perks:

Hard Hitter

Bare knuckle boxer.

All unarmed strikes deliver 25% more knockback force but no additional damage.

Quick Healer

Don't worry, it won't scar.

You heal rather fast, at a rate of a tenth of your VIT every fifteen seconds.

Reactive Reflexes

Gotta be quicker than that.

When attempting to dodge an attack, your reflexes ability is 10% more effective.

Skills

Mana Burst Lv 6

Pew-pew! Pew-pew-pew!

A hastily-formed burst of energy with an unspecified nature.

Max Damage: 10% of INT x Skill Level

Minimum Cost: 5 Mana

Mana Shield Lv 1

Shields at 20% and holding!

A protective construct formed from the desire for protection and made from an energy of an unspecified nature. Drains 1 MP for every point of damage blocked. Shatters if more than 20% of MP is drained by a single blow. Ignores damage up to 1% of INT x VIT x Skill Level.

Minimum Cost: 5 Mana

Observe Lv. 9

Kinda like a scouter, but less cool somehow.

Allows you to view the status or qualities of anyone or anything, allowing you to learn information about them.

Cost: 1 MP

Power Sprint Lv 9

You'll never be the Flash relying on this alone. Still, we've all gotta start somewhere.

While active, your running speed increases by 5% per level. (45%)

Cost: 1 Will/s

Power Strike Lv 3

Not exactly a heavy hitter quite yet.

Increases the STR value and knockback of your physical strikes by 10% per level. (30%)

Cost: 5 Will

Abilities

Gamer's Body Lv. MAX

Allows your body to exist in a similar standard to that of a video game character.

Sleeping restores HP, MP, Will and removes most negative status effects. Health, Will, and Mana regenerate at a base of 1 point every 30 seconds. Food and drink items can accelerate recovery.

Gamer's Mind Lv. MAX

Allows your mind to exist in a similar standard to that of a video game character.

Grants immunity to mental status effects, emotional trauma and severely damaging emotional states. Grants immunity to forceful/unwanted mental intrusion.

Acrobatics Lv 1

Basically a flip kick, but without the kick part.

An ability that enables you to pull off backflips, frontflips and any manner of jumping-based ground-movement technique with greater ease.

Awareness: Mana Lv 15

Mana, magic energy, magicka, prana, ether, spirit energy, magatsuhi or even chakra… Call it what you want. It's all the same in the end.

You have gained awareness of Mana, the spiritual energy found within the human mind and soul. Gaining awareness of your magical energy has given you some semblance of control over it.

Awareness: Willpower Lv 5

Willpower, ki, chi, qi, stamina, aura, mantra, physical energy, life energy, od, or even hamon… Call it what you want. It's all the same in the end.

You have gained awareness of your Willpower, the physical energy found within all living organisms. Gaining awareness of your physical energy has given you some semblance of control over it.

Basic Martial Arts Lv 3

Heroes prefer fists. Apparently, so do sidekicks.

This ability measures your skill and intuition in bare-handed combat, allowing for rapid growth and adaptation in martial arts.

Breathing Control Lv 7

Batman can breathe in space. Why can't you?

The ability to use oxygen efficiently, enabling you to hold your breath for extended periods of time. Increases by 1 minute every level. (7 minutes)

Meditation Lv 5

When the mind is enlightened, the spirit is freed and the body matters not.

The ability to train your mind in order to achieve a state of oneness with your spiritual essence and life force, as well your mind and body.

Reflexes Lv 2

DODGE!

Decreases innate reaction time and increases innate perception speed by 10% per level. (20%)

Resistance: Blunt Force Lv 18

A little pain never hurt anyone.

Reduce all blunt force damage from attacks less than 100% of your health. Increases 1% by level. (18%)

Resistance: Blunt Force Lv 13

A little pain never hurt anyone.

Reduce all blunt force damage from attacks less than 100% of your health. Increases 1% by level. (13%)

Resistance: Electricity Lv 5

Harmless Electrocution.

Reduce all electrical damage from attacks less than 100% of your health.

Increases 2% by level. (10%)