| Washington D.C. - July 27
Kori leaned against the window frame of her apartment, a smile playing on her lips as she looked up at Joseph in his Nova suit. The soft glow from the city lights reflected off his suit, making the gold elements of his suit shimmer.
"You look ready to fly off and save the world," she teased.
Joseph smirked behind his helmet. "Just heading home. World-saving's tomorrow."
Kori flew outside, closer to him. "Thank you for tonight. It was nice."
Then, without hesitation, leaned forward, lifted his helmet, and kissed him.
She flew back, her gaze soft. "Fly safe, Nova."
Joseph gave her a small salute before launching into the night sky.
**
| Maryland - July 27
"Yahoo!" Joseph shouted, exhilaration ringing in his voice as he looped through the sky, still happy from Kori's kiss. The sensation of flight, the wind rushing past him, the sheer freedom—it never got old.
He'd flown to D.C. earlier for the date, kept the suit at Kori's apartment while he switched to civilian clothes, then donned it again when it was time to leave. Now, he was heading back to Gotham, preferring the open sky over Zeta-tubes. Teleportation still made him a bit uncomfortable due to the events that led him to the arena.
His Nova Sense pinged—something, someone, was approaching at high speed. He tensed. First Captain Atom and Wotan, then Shrapnel. Now, what, a dinosaur? Did villains have some kind of alert system to ambush him whenever he took a joy flight?
An orange, pterodactyl-like creature was barreling toward him, its silver talons gleaming under the sun.
Nova sighed. He was too high off love to be really mad at the interruption. He shot forward, fists crackling with golden Nova Force. His instincts, honed through months of fighting in the arena and battling AI Nova's avatar in the Dream State kicked in. That AI had fused every martial art on Earth into one seamless fighting style, and while Joseph had yet to beat it, the experience had sharpened his ability to read opponents in combat. Even aerial combat.
Effortlessly, he dodged the incoming talons and countered with a sharp right hook to the creature's midsection. It reeled back, wings flapping erratically.
Another punch. Then another.
Nova's blows landed in rapid succession, keeping the creature off balance. Disoriented, it spiraled through the air, unable to stabilize its flight. Then, just as it stopped flapping and began plummeting toward the ground, Joseph caught it with an uppercut, sending it soaring higher.
He cocked his fist back for another strike when—
"Wait!" the creature yelled, voice rough but unmistakably human.
Joseph hesitated, surprised—not just that it could talk, but that it had actually asked him to stop.
"I'll talk, okay? Damn. Just stop punching me for a second."
Nova hovered mid-air, arms crossed, debating whether to humor the guy or knock him out and be done with it. Probably the good mood talking, but he relented.
"Alright, start talking."
The creature exhaled in relief, rubbing its bruised ribs. "Meta/Tech Corporation made me do it. My name is William Kavanagh. I was a criminal, had nothing to lose, so I signed up for their genetic experiments. Next thing I know, I wake up looking like this. Then rumors start spreading that the company got bought out by some French guy. Next thing I know, my supervisors tell me to attack you. I mean, bro, I love you, but I didn't really have a choice. Look at me. You think I can get a regular job like this?"
Nova processed that. The guy had just tried to claw him to death, and now he was dumping his tragic backstory and snitching on his bosses? He couldn't tell if the criminal was smart or dumb.
"Uh-huh. Anything else you wanna confess before I haul you to prison? You do realize I can match your talons to the marks left at multiple robbery scenes in Chicago, right?"
The hybrid sighed, rubbing his head. "Yeah… old habits die hard. Just wanted to see if I still had it with my new body. Anyway, I heard rumors the French guy started gathering others like me in the Netherworld."
That got Nova's attention. The Netherworld was a slum in Chicago, now infamous for being a haven for impoverished metahumans who had nowhere else to go. If someone was collecting failed experiments there, it meant trouble.
"Noted. Thanks for the info. I've got connections in the Justice League—I'll see if they can reverse what happened to you. But you're still getting locked up."
"As long as you don't hit me again. Seriously, you hit like a truck."
Nova smirked. "Next time stay down. Now hold tight, I need to make a call. Don't try to run. I guarantee you, I'm faster."
He flew a few feet away and activated his comm. He would've asked Dizzy to look into it but she had left him a message saying she was done working with him a few days earlier. He was sure she was not coerced or killed as they had developed safeguards for such scenarios which were not activated. Maybe she had gotten tired of the violence and ran. He couldn't fault her for that.
So he settled for his second best option.
"Carla, I need you to investigate a company for me. Name's Meta/Tech. Find out everything you can."