Chapter 86: School Closed
A.T.C. Towers, Harlem, New York
Alfred had been superseding his programming and function at an alarming rate. Cole was getting excited because he thought of Ultron and J.A.R.V.I.S. It also made him feel about Brainiac, that Persona would be a godsend in the Marvel world.
The opened blinds allowed the morning light to pour into his penthouse suite, and sounds soon followed as the T.V. turned on. He vaguely heard about the weather but tuned it out as he lay there.
As he did every morning, Cole did simple exercises. He had learned that system, or was it his mutation? Whatever, he was getting sidetracked. He had noticed that the day after an arduous workout caused noticeable physical changes.
He decided to take public transport today. He liked it; Anne didn't care for it; she had gotten quite fixated on using the cars that came with the A.T.C. Towers.
'Someone had to use them.' He hedged but had the illuminating idea that he quickly ran through his artificial intelligence.
He had a fleet of luxury cars in the underground parking lot. The idea of having something that wasn't being used didn't sit right with him.
'Plausible. Do you want to have a certain restriction on usage?' Asked Alfred.
He pondered momentarily and decided against anything too predatory. "Add it to the contract. Cars can be used Monday through Friday. Restrict sub-basement three to only those under the system contract." He replied.
Subbasement three had vehicles that weren't of this world or altered somehow. He knew they were registered under his company, but he still didn't want people to associate his company with an armored military, at least not yet; he still was angling for a defense contract, which was still some ways from being fruitful.
"Ms Hammers has been trying to obtain a meeting with you, sir."
"I don't want anything to do with the teacher and staff of Midtown High. If she wants a business deal, she can talk to my teams that are in place."
He had stated he would remain in the shadows and allow others to lead his business, but that idea had been struck down simply because he was the best one available; the future may hold some changes, but who better than him, as long as he accumulated mote Personas he could separate himself from the running and set up his alt to do it, technically, it'll be him. Still, he won't be bothered in his regular life.
Jeremy York would remain his standard Persona. Jason Todd will always be associated with Ted Hood; he was sure organizations were tearing through hundreds of gigabytes of data to establish who and where he came from.
The mutants, or X-men, whatever they identified as, we know his closeness to Jason Todd. Even if that was a dead end, Jean and Professor X had already gleaned his first name. Only Xavier knew that Jeremy York was a mutant and Jason Todd was another mask he wore.
The question was, how long would Xavier be out? He wasn't sure if his abilities could keep them man locked down. Cole had sent the man consciousness across the Astral Plane and sundered his connection to his vessel. It was nasty work, but what he had planned for Cole was far worse.
"Updated on Ms. Bloom?" Cole queried.
"Sir, Dr. Mishimoto has been doing what he can with the technology, but he isn't a doctor. He also wants to meet with you later this week."
"Hmm. Wait. Isn't he inside the towers?"
"He's busy with his work and wanted to make sure he scheduled in time to update you," Alfred replied deadpan.
"School has been canceled, sir. You can sleep in some more." Cole laughed out loud.
"Something happened," he raised a question.
"I'm compiling data now, sir." He nodded. That meant something occurred that made Alfred put in some effort to gain access, too. He was still hesitant to breach the school mainframe, afraid that the future leader of the Fantastic Four would discover him or any of the other shareholders who no doubt monitored the school.
He felt awkward returning to his everyday life. How did others cope? He had all these powers at his fingertips and had to hide, at least partially. His masks were there for a reason, after all.
The rush of adrenaline that came from fighting supernatural foes was addictive. It was surreal and vexing to carry on with normal activities or as usual as someone like him could make it.
Tony Stark's reveal sounded more intelligent as he went on. Should he attempt? No. He couldn't unmask Red Hood as Jeremy York. If that day happened, he would have to be in a position of overwhelming strength.
Having more time on his hands, the teenager returned to his exercise, only this time, he delved into the system store and purchased more items to measure his attributes correctly.
He was aware of his Class 50 rating. He wasn't sure, but from his estimation, Luke Cage was close to that. The man hadn't shown any skill in using it; casually walking up on Rhino was wild. He still remembered the vicious backhand Rhino had handed out.
Rhino was Class 100, a base Hulk or a Ben Grimm level. He was sure others were there, too, like Titania. She was a villain he wanted on his side and was quite active in Los Angeles. He guessed the bouncer's life was dull, and she started ripping vault doors off banks; by his data, she was carving a way toward New York City.
Superman's Fortress of Solitude features exercise equipment designed to challenge even his super-powerful body. Cole had spent nearly one million on dedicated equipment, including his three locations. The Iceberg Lounge was still his residence, and he would pay attention to the place; he was still determining what he would use it on if he got another token.
Upon exiting the luxurious shower, a ping emanated from the room. He walked over and put in the earpiece, not forgetting his glasses; the enchantment on them was still a mystery to him; outside of allowing him to take the form of his Persona, it also made him hard to recognize. How? Magic fuckery and a lot of system mojo his brain couldn't rationalize.
Cole dried his hair. His dreadlocks had grown considerably with his persona acclimation, each altering his prime body somehow. Mammoth had given him bulk; where ripcord muscles were before now, they were pronounced muscles of a man, a teen who visited the gym. His pectorals and biceps were quite eye-catching. He stood at Six foot one and nearing two hundred and twenty-five pounds. How would this fly? Simple, puberty fucking around.
An assortment of reports flashed across the air. The Mission in Jurez had yet to go as planned. Originally, A.T.C. was on standby. If anything, Cole was being proactive with events he knew of and knew about beforehand. He couldn't catch everything, but he still wanted to nudge things in a particular way.
His end goal was still safeguarding the world so that he could live as peacefully as possible. He was becoming jealous of the blissful, carrying on aware that the universe was massive and Earth was a focal point in events that would wipe out most iteration and life in the universe.
He plopped back into his California King bed, oddly reminiscent of his old room and ratty mattress in the attic. It had been a part of his life, and it had been home that he had accepted.
Cole blinked as Jeremy's old life bled through; he had been associating himself with his past life, which helped assuage the relics of his predecessor.
He wondered how Mother Carmichael was doing. She, his legal guardian and custodian of his inheritance, hadn't had it well. Cole's inheritance was being plundered and mismanaged, details Alfred and Legal had been able to retrieve.