Beyond the Limit (DC)

The rest of the night passed without incident—just food, conversation, and laughter.

There was definitely something going on between M'gann and Conner, and Joseph noticed the subtle tension between Wally and Artemis too.

Wally, in particular, had changed—for the better. Normally, he'd be awkwardly trying to flirt with M'gann, oblivious to her obvious crush on Conner. Maybe getting faster had smoothed out some of his insecurities. He wasn't flirting with every girl in the room anymore.

Joseph was curious when Wally and Artemis grew interested in each other; perhaps it was when the Team found themselves lost and amnesiac in the Bialyan desert a few days ago.

Enough about them. Joseph turned his attention to his girlfriend.

Kori was chatting with Rachel. The younger girl was still reserved—antisocial even—but was offering Kori a few quiet responses. It made sense. She'd only known everyone for a few days. Hopefully, being around other powered kids would help draw her out of her shell in time.

Meanwhile, Kaldur kept throwing him the occasional glance. Joseph wasn't sure what it meant. He'd ask him later.

Strangely, no one had asked about what he'd been doing in the Gobi Desert or where he'd been the past two weeks. Whether they assumed he'd been working with the League or were consciously avoiding the topic, he didn't know.

Not that he planned on telling them.

Letting them know about his brief stint as a thief was one thing. What he'd done recently? That was different. Aside from Kori—and maybe Wally, who had confided in him before—he wasn't particularly close to the others.

They struck him as the type who'd fixate on the fact that he'd killed someone. If it came up, he'd just say he'd been working with a U.S. agency—ARGUS—and that everything else was classified.

"Wanna try my chicken parmesan?" Kori asked, holding out a forkful of pasta near his face.

He smiled and took the bite.

It was good to be back.

**

| Gotham City - September 10

Everyone had parted ways and Joseph had returned to his apartment where he changed into his pyjamas before sleeping.

He'd found that he didn't need to sleep necessarily but doing so always rested his mind. Maybe the human mind was not meant to be constantly active.

He slept like a stone.

Until a voice spoke in his head in the morning.

//I have completed the adaptation process, sir.//

Joseph's eyes snapped open. He could already feel it—his body felt denser, stronger, like every cell was humming.

'Give me the rundown.'

//I have bypassed the previous nanite generation's limit on quantity. You may now will nanites to generate outside your body at will. Unlike Silver Swan's system, which relied on metabolic ATP, yours draws energy from the Nova Force. Given your physiology's unique ability to metabolize Nova Force, you can produce unlimited nanites—so long as you have energy to sustain it.

I can now regenerate any of your body parts, should they be lost.

Additionally, your base strength and durability have doubled. You now possess a sonic scream capable of shattering steel. I have also gained mechanokinesis.//

Nice.

As he suspected—he'd gained everything Silver Swan had, and then some.

Joseph flexed his hand, concentrating. The nanites responded immediately. Before, they'd felt like a second skin. Now, they were practically a part of his nervous system. Not mental like the Nth metal—this was biological. Reflexive.

He commanded the nanites outward.

They poured from his pores like liquid mercury, swiftly coating his body in seamless armor. A full-body second skin.

He chuckled. "If I make a silver surfboard, Marvel might sue."

Silver didn't feel like his color. He willed the nanites black.

Joseph walked to the bathroom door and turned the knob—only for it to come off in his hand like a toy. Too much strength. And the door was poor quality.

"Gotta work on that," he muttered. "Might be time for a new place."

He tossed the knob and entered the bathroom again, now fully encased in living armor. Even his eyelids were covered but with a white film, yet he could see clearly.

He looked like a walking shadow.

"Nice work, Nova."

//My pleasure, sir.

There is one further improvement I can make. If the Nth metal can be broken into particles each a nanometer in size, I could bond the Nth metal with the nanites. This would significantly enhance your durability—and allow you to internalize the Nth metal into your body. Unfortunately, I currently lack the capability to manipulate the nanites into particles that small.//

Joseph's gaze drifted to the gold, 3-cubic-foot block of Nth metal resting in the corner of his living room. He could shape it like liquid, yes, but breaking it down into nanoparticles? That was beyond him.

On his own.

But not impossible. He knew someone who could do it.

His mentor—Captain Atom.

"Guess it's time to pay the guy a visit. But first…"

He walked into his bedroom and picked up his LexCorp laptop. Black nanites crawled out from his fingertips, enveloping the device. When they withdrew, the laptop felt noticeably lighter.

He repeated the process with his phone and Justice League communicator. Once done, he tossed all three into the trash. He wouldn't need them anymore.

"Nova, give me a heads-up display—include a minimap with a compass. I want the ability to see and hear comms, and text or call with my mind."

He couldn't stop the giddy smile that stretched across his face as the HUD flickered into existence. A translucent minimap appeared in the top-left of his vision, while a panel of communication options expanded in the top-right when focused on.

Good.

Joseph scrolled through a flood of missed calls and unread emails—from friends, Selina, and Mr. Jack at Bell Studios. He'd get back to them all soon.

But first, Joseph focused his mind on the comm panel and sent a message to Captain Atom.

"Nova, play Teenage Dream."

//Playing Teenage Dream by Katy Perry from LexCorp Music.//

Perfect.