Eduard was lying on a pile of snow looking up at the sky while being bathed in sunshine; it had been a few days since Eduard had become really famous by recording an extremely tumultuous night, the repercussions weren't exactly what was expected, but they were still good results, even if they didn't please Eduard since he ended up being seen as a hero even if he didn't identify himself or want to be one. Of course, there were many people and media outlets who denigrated his image and considered him a threat, but with the recordings he managed to win over the public, so who cares? The other good news would be that the government has drastically reduced its search for him and only organizations like SHIELD or people like Lex Luthor and Batman have continued to look for him and have actually increased their efforts, not that he cares.
[Will you continue to avoid talking about it?]
- ...
[Sigh...]
Eduard ignored Cortana and just stayed silent as he remembered how embarrassed he was when he arrived at school and saw everyone watching his video and commenting on it, especially when some people started giving him strange names that he didn't want to remember, anyway, he'd been avoiding school ever since and even his mother had fought with him about it, and if it hadn't been for his literally perfect grades he would have been forced to go to school.
[You know that today is your last day off, regardless of how perfect your grades are, right?]
- I know!
[What made you so angry? You're not the kind of person who cares about nicknames].
Eduard remained silent as he thought about how to answer Cortana's question since even, he didn't know exactly why it bothered him so much.
- Honestly? I don't know... It just bothers me to be called a hero, it kind of puts pressure on me that I definitely don't need in my life... - Eduard replied and sighed again, looking up at the sky. He knew he shouldn't mind, but at the same time he didn't want the stigma of being a hero sticking to him since he knew that the more people trusted or magnified his image, the harder it would be for him, after all, the greater the height, the greater the fall, right? This idea worried him as he didn't want to worry about people's expectations of his actions, nor did he want people to get the wrong idea that he was going to run around solving every little problem in the world.
[You don't have to worry about that Ed, people have seen exactly how you act so their expectations will be based on that!]
- I'd rather not have to worry about their expectations...
[That's impossible, when you decided not to hide it, became essentially impossible Ed...]
- Sigh... - Eduard didn't reply and just sighed as he knew she was right again. Staying silent for a few more moments, he ended up with an idea that might help a little in diverting attention and that definitely wouldn't irritate his sister who had been very worried about her "image". - Hey Cortana!
[Uh?]
- Do you think the attention would wane if another "hero" appeared now?
[I think so..., But from the data we have both from your memories and from the data collected from the network, it's going to take a while for the heroes to appear...]
- I think we can bring it forward a bit, for at least one of them! - A smile appeared on Eduard's face as he continued. - Of course, he needs to be someone popular for that too!
(A/N: I'll take advantage of a comment that suggested I improve the image of the protagonist rescuing Captain America).
Eduard got up and stretched, and after removing the snow from his "heroic uniform" he walked slowly to the edge of Everest, watching he saw some people climbing the famous Mount Everest as well as some animals, looking beyond he could even see several people laughing at the foot of the mountain while taking pictures and chatting.
[I think you'd better leave, it won't be long before you reach the top].
- I know, I got up just because I heard them so close. - Eduard stretched and floated without caring about the people who might see him; flying slowly so as not to cause an unintentional avalanche, Eduard continued gliding above the clouds until he reached the edge of the continent and found the ocean.
- Cortana, would you like to hunt a very old popsicle with me? - Eduard asked with a silly smile on his face, putting aside his irritation.
[Of course, why not? But what do you mean by an old popsicle?]
- I mean it literally of course!
[Humpf! ᕙ (⇀‸↼‶) ᕗ]
- Pfft! Ahaha! - Arthur had some more fun moment with Cortana before getting ready to dive into the ocean and "swim" towards the North Atlantic Ocean where he was pretty sure Captain America had crashed, logically it would be much easier if he knew where he had been found, but unfortunately he was a simple fan who only watched the movies and read few of the comics, and even this little information was only not forgotten due to his new race that gave him a simply perfect memory.
Eduard dived deep into the ocean in search of Steve Rogers, swimming at a speed that would make an Atlantean look like a snail, and he could say that because he had already passed several of them while inspecting this entire region in minutes, and that speed was still him holding back as there would be really serious consequences if he simply accelerated to the limit and swam in several directions so as always he deliberately limited himself and continued the search for a long time, focusing mainly on colder areas as the only clue from the scene would be that he had literally turned into an ice cube.
[What exactly are we looking for?]
'You've probably guessed it by now, Cortana.
[Yes, but I want you to tell me!]
'Right... I'm looking for Steve Rogers!'
[So, you're really going to save a war hero who should be dead so that people stop seeing you as a hero?]
'Obviously I'm not going to broadcast that!'
[You should, you know your sister would kill you if she knew you did something so "good" for your image and didn't let her use it...]
'...'
Eduard was silent for a few moments as he imagined his sister finding out about this in the future and just imagining this scenario was enough to make the most powerful teenager on the planet at the moment shudder; comparing how annoying his sister could be with how annoying it was for him to be called a hero Eduard made his choice without much consideration and told Cortana to record everything with her eyes and simply send it to his sister, he even told her to edit whatever she wanted so he wouldn't have to follow any of Barbara's stupid scripts.
[Can't we do this live? We agreed to do it this way so there wouldn't be too much room to besmirch your image with slander].
'We're not going to do anything except save someone Cortana, we don't need to act like I'm fighting Darkseid and need an explanation for massive infrastructure damage or something.'
[That someone you're looking for is CAPTAIN AMERICA! We both know that finding him would cause huge problems, especially presenting him to the public!]
'That's true, but it's the government's problem, not mine! As for problems like whether I knew he was alive or where he was? Just to show that I was having fun on a dive, in fact I'll even swim slower and interact with some animals to make it look like a documentary that only I can do and out of nowhere BAM! We find the frozen old man and pull him out of the sea, but before that I'd better find him and then do this little role-play, what do you think? Is that enough for you to let me find Marvel's premium popsicle in advance?'
[Do as you wish! ಠ_ಠ]
Eduard spent hours wandering until he ended up in the Arctic Ocean while following some currents, he even had a few "fights" with Atlanteans who simply attacked him when he passed through certain territories, not that he minded, as long as he wasn't using his special weapons he might as well not even bother fighting back, and that's what he did as he just kept moving forward while checking several different currents that led him to where he was now, the place where he found parts of the ship with like Captain America himself frozen.
'Finally!'
[...Great! Congratulations...]
'How exciting...'
[That's the best you're going to get! Q(Ò_ÓQ)]
'...'
'Whatever'
Eduard found a random shore and simply dived in while swimming at a more normal speed to be able to interact with everything around him, he interacted with everything he could find from beautiful or strangely shaped rocks to a pair of orcas that actually attacked him the moment they met, not that it mattered he actually found it funny behavior since he dealt with it in a simple way; after almost thirty minutes had passed Eduard finally reached the remains of the ship that had been brought and went down to explore.
(A/N: I don't really remember if the captain was with some of the remains of the ship in the movie or even in the comics, but it makes sense to me that he was and I don't think it's relevant enough to research).
Eduard navigated through the wreckage until he found Captain America's "corpse", at which point he paused as if surprised, and even though his expression didn't change it doesn't matter since he's just showing his vision; after several seconds of standing there feigning shock he simply lifted the body encased in ice and flew upwards at moderate speed, reaching the surface he stood silently for a while looking at the frozen man as if pondering something, and this time he really was.
'I don't think I should just hand him over frozen...'
[You're right, the Shield will find him anyway, so let him have a bit of freedom at first].
'The problem is that I can't just cure him and say "Goodbye" as soon as he opens his eyes...'
[Give him some money and leave him in New York].
'I don't think that's enough for someone to adapt, Cortana...'
[It certainly isn't, but we know that what you want is for him to attract attention, what better way for him to make the news if he's in Time Square dressed like that after you've published your video?]
'...'
Eduard thought for a while longer before simply discarding his morals and deciding to hand the captain over on a silver platter to the press; it's not as if he's really going to screw over the old hero anyway, and between putting up with this annoying fame or throwing the ball to the captain he decided very quickly which action to take. As for him not understanding what's going on or not being able to adapt? That's not for Fury to deal with, since the one-eyed man would want to use him as the "first avenger" he should at least pay for his accommodation and help him out, right?
Having made his decision Eduard decided to just use his heat vision and a little magic to melt the ice and warm up the frozen old man, it only took a few moments and then Captain America was thawed out, and even though he was very pale it was possible to see his chest start to rise and fall on its own after a few seconds thanks to the magic; of course Eduard couldn't say he used magic so he would pretend it was all him.
- Incredible! This old man really is alive... - After this Eduard approached and seemed to pause and ponder before remembering that he had already used it in public and allowed it to leak out so without caring he just muttered. - Laeh!
After he exclaimed Esteve Rogers who had slept for the last few decades simply stood up while looking around in despair and confusion, this lasted several seconds before his gaze landed on Eduard and observing how he was dressed he immediately went on guard. - Who are you? Where am I? - He was so disoriented that he even forgot to ask about the status of his mission, not that it mattered in the end.
- I haven't chosen a name for the job yet... When I've decided, I'll let you know "Captain America", but where is it? I honestly don't know, but it doesn't matter, I'm taking you to the city now! - Eduard simply said this and sent the video to his sister while he decided to answer the man's questions a little more seriously before taking him away.
(A/N: Well, I know I didn't post anything the week before last and I know I'm only posting one chapter again..., BUT I promise to regulate this from now on or at least let you know in advance; I've been having some stomach problems and so I couldn't write...)