Bab 10: Chapter 10
Chapter 10:
Marcus stood on top of a dilapidated roof and looked around the rundown warehouse district. "So this is the place? A-Train runs through here everyday?"
Megan nodded at him. "Yep, the route A-Train has been running every day has him coming right through this warehouse district. It's mostly deserted, the perfect place to ambush him." She explained.
Kara was hovering a few meters off the roof next to them. "So, how do we do this? Isn't A-Train supposed to be ridiculously fast? Even faster than Homelander on the ground?" Kara asked. That meant that he was even faster than she was. It grated on her pride, but Homelander, the knock off version of her cousin, who had been training her for the past 2 weeks, was still faster and stronger than she was.
"Yes, but he's also an idiot. Pretty much every single Supe in this world is actually. They've never had any real villains to fight against. None of them ever have their guard up." Megan explained to Kara.
"At least that's something…" Kara replied wistfully.
Marcus found it ironic that a world technically run by an evil Corporation from the shadows was more peaceful than their own home world. Although, it was clear to see that that piece wouldn't last forever. Megan had told him the thoughts of many of the higher-ups in Vought. Stan Edgar had entire teams of psychologists analyzing Homelanders every action. Every single one of them had the exact same opinion, that Homelander was going to snap one day, and his snap was going to be incredibly violent and bloody.
Possibly even apocalyptic…
Marcus didn't want this world to turn into its own version of Injustice. In order to stop it, he knew that he would have to be the one to defeat Homelander one day in the future. That day wasn't going to be today, but it would come.
…
The three of them were waiting on top of the roof of one of the warehouses for their target to arrive. A-Train ran the same route multiple times a week. "I can feel someone approaching very fast!" Megan called out. She couldn't read the minds of Supes, but they still had their own psychic signatures she could detect.
A cloud of dust kicked up a kilometer out. A-Train was speeding towards them faster than regular human eyes could track. Luckily for them, he didn't seem to be moving even close to his top speed. He rarely ever did, according to the information they had about him. It put a lot of strain on his heart.
Marcus had trouble keeping a grin off of his face. There was something about super powered combat that just seemed to always excite him! "Alright, let's do this!" A golden lightspear formed in his hand. With his full strength, he reeled back, and hurled it directly in front of A-Train's path. The lightspear hurtled downwards and embedded itself halfway into the ground.
The Speedster slammed on his heels in surprise. A-Train came to a quick stop and hastily looked around. He looked up and spotted Marcus, Megan, and Kara on a warehouse roof. "Fuck! Stormfront was right, you three little shits are traitors!"
"The Nazi bitch knows about us!?" Kara exclaimed in surprise. "How!?"
"Darn it, this could be a trap!" Megan said. She spread out her senses and tried her best to detect any other nearby Supes.
"It doesn't matter if it is," Marcus said, his enthusiasm fading as he released this situation could quickly go bad on them. "Let's get what we came here for and go. We'll return one day in the future to properly fix this world." He told his two girlfriends. They both nodded in determination.
Megan held her hand up in front of her. An invisible telekinetic blast was launched towards the Supe below.
A-Train could see a ripple in the air quickly approaching him. "You amateurs aren't catching me that easily!" He smirked and sped out of the way. The telekinetic blast hit the ground hard where he had been standing. It kicked up the dirt on the ground and created a temporary smokescreen. "Shit." A-Train cursed when he lost sight of the three of them from all the dust in the air.
Marcus flapped his wings and dove into the dust cloud below. Angels were naturally able to sense life forces around them, especially human life. He quickly located A-Train in the dust cloud and tried to tackle him.
"I don't think so!" A-Train sidestepped Marcus, but missed Kara flying up right behind him. She slammed into him hard and he was lifted off of his feet.
"Fuck you guys!" He yelled as he involuntarily flew through the air. His limbs were flailing around wildly. He slammed into the side of a building with a pained groan.
Before he could recover, Kara zipped over to him again and grabbed him. Knowing that he was dangerous on the ground, she immediately took to the air. Kara held A-Train upside down by his ankles.
"Fuck you! Let me down, bitch!" A-Train spat out while flailing his limbs.
CLANG!
"OW!" A-Train cried in pain after trying to punch Kara. He ended up breaking his own wrist.
Marcus hovered over to them. "Where's the Compound V?" He interrogated A-Train. "Tell us and we'll let you go."
A-Train looked hesitant to respond before he gave in. "Fine!" He spat out. "It's in my backpack, ok!? If you want to steal from Vought and Homelander that's your business. Just let me go!" A-Train whined.
Marcus yanked the backpack off of A-Train's back. He deposited the backpack with the Compound V directly into his magical storage space so they wouldn't lose it. "We got what we came for. You can let him go now." Marcus told Kara with a smirk.
Kara grinned back at him. She didn't like being called a "bitch" earlier…
"You got it!" Kara squeezed her hand, there was a loud snapping noise. She crushed A-Train's ankle before nonchalantly dropping him to the ground.
"Fuuuuck!" A-Train screamed in agony before he hit the ground hard. "You guys are so dead! We knew you wanted the Compound V! This was a trap. Fuck you all!" A-Train snarled in pain. He tried to stand on one foot and hobble away from the three of them.
"Time to go." Marcus said as he focused on creating a portal back home with his mother's power. If this was a trap, then he didn't want to stick around for it to be sprung.
"Oh no, they're here!" Megan exclaimed. "Cover Marcus, Kara! Give him time to open a portal!"
"I'm on it." Kara said as she hovered near Marcus defensively.
"You're not going anywhere!" A woman's voice echoed nearby.
CRACK!
Thunder boomed across the sky. A bolt of lightning flew down from above them and directly hit Kara. She let out a scream of shock and pain as she was blasted towards the dirt below.
"Kara!" Marcus called out to her, but she didn't respond! He looked up and saw Stormfront and Homelander slowly descending from the sky. He canceled the portal he was creating halfway. He couldn't leave without Kara.
"Did you have to zap my daughter with so much lightning, Stormfront?" Homelander whined. "She's on the ground twitching like she has cerebral palsy like some common normal. It's gross…"
Stormfront rolled her eyes. "Your little traitor of a daughter is fine. That much lightning will only stun her for a few minutes at most." Stormfront said to Homelander before turning to Marcus. "It's too bad, Marcus. You were such a perfect specimen! Just like Homelander, you're the pinnacle of the Aryan race! You were perfect, too bad you chose to go against Vought!" She said as her body started sparking with electricity.
Homelander's eyes turned red as he glared at Marcus and Megan. "You two corrupted my daughter into your weird relationship! Neither of you are good enough for her. After I kill you two, she will see that and thank me for it!"
Two red burning beams blasted forwards towards Megan first!
"Shit!" Marcus cursed! He quickly flew in front of her! He knew that Martian's were weak to heat, and a full powered heat vision blast could kill Megan.
Marcus circulated his Light Energy throughout his body to buff his endurance. Marcus threw his own arms forward protectively. The twin laser beams seared into his skin and he screamed in pain.
"No! Marcus!" Megan screamed his name. She knew he took that blow to protect her.
After a few seconds, Homelander stopped firing his laser eyes. He was surprised Marcus managed to survive. He let out a whistle. "Impressive, that's the first time someone has ever survived my eyes, you know."
Marcus grit his teeth and grimaced at the damage. His forearms were burnt black. Moving his arms felt like utter agony, but he wasn't going to go down here.
"How dare you!" Megan yelled from behind Marcus. She had been building up all of her Psychic Energy for one powerful attack. A massive invisible wave rippled forward and slammed into Homelander and Stormfront.
The female Supe ended up getting launched hundreds of meters backwards. Homelander was only barely moved backwards a few meters. His arms were casually crossed. He let out another whistle. "Not bad. I actually felt that hit…maybe."
"I used all of my power and it barely moved him…" Megan was in disbelief.
Marcus could hear Megan visibly panting behind him. He turned his head and smiled at her. He still had one trump card to play. "Don't worry Megan, I'll take care of this. Go check on Kara." He told her while projecting as much confidence as he could. Megan looked hesitant, but she flew downwards.
"Take care of it, huh?" Homelander was chuckling. "And how will you do that? You think you can take on me and Stormfront all by yourself?" As he asked that, Stormfront sped back over. She was sopping wet and scowling. Megan's telekinetic blast hand sent her hurling into the nearby ocean.
Marcus held his burnt right arm in front of himself. "Sacred Gear!" He called forth the True Longinus from where it dwelt inside his soul. Summoning it drained his Light Energy reserves quickly, but he knew that his normal Lightspears lacked the power to actually harm Homelander.
Homelander raised an eyebrow at the Golden Spear Marcus had pulled out of nowhere. "Neat trick, I'm sure you'd be popular at birthday parties. You think a spear of all things will hurt me, though? I've been hit by missles and walked away completely unharmed." Homelander bragged.
Stormfront was older than Homelander and had better instincts than he did. She actually felt a small sense of danger from the Spear in Marcus's hand, but she chose to not comment on it. Something about that Spear looked vaguely familiar to her. She might have seen it in an old book or something…
"Why don't you see for yourself." Marcus said. He grimaced as he pulled his injured arm back and hurled the True Longinus at Homelander with everything he had!
Homelander, in his hubris, decided to humor Marcus one last time. Before he finally killed the blond bastard who stole his daughter's heart of course. Homelander spread his arms wide as he hovered in the air. "Give it your best shot." He said cockily. He made no attempt to dodge the Spear as it hurtled through the air towards him. He fully expected it to harmlessly bounce off of his indestructible form.
PUCHI!
That did not happen…
The True Longinus struck true and impaled Homelander in his stomach. The spearpoint pierced his indestructible skin and sank a few inches deep. For the first time in a long time, Homelander had been injured, seriously injured.
"Fuuuuuuck!" The world's strongest Supe cried out in agony while clutching his stomach. "What the fuck!? How!?"
Stormfront's eyes widened in shock. "That's impossible!" She exclaimed as she witnessed the blood start to pour from Homelander's wound. "What is that weapon!?" She asked Marcus demandingly.
PUCHI!
There was another squelching noise as Marcus held out his hand again. The Golden Spear ripped itself out of Homelander's stomach and quickly flew itself back into Marcus's grasp. He spun it around as he caught it. "This? This is the True Longinus. The Spear of Destiny. The weapon that ended the life of Jesus Christ himself. It doesn't matter how tough Homelander is, before this Spear he is nothing but a regular human."
Stormfront's eyes honed in on the Golden Spear. Greed coursed through her as she started planning on how to acquire the legendary weapon for herself. Decades ago, The Third Reich had searched the world desperately for any hint of the Supernatural. Anything that would give them an edge in the second World War. They had unfortunately failed. They never found anything conclusive, and yet, here in front of her was living proof that what they had searched for actually existed.
Stormfront's eyes drifted from the Spear to the pair of white wings on Marcus's back. Realization dawned on her. 'Could it be…?' She now desperately wanted to know what kind of organization was backing Marcus.
"You little bastard! I'll kill you for that!" Homelander spat out hatefully. He was clutching his stomach firmly to staunch the flow of blood. He felt like that damn Spear had hit something important. He'd have to get it checked out later. For now, he wanted Marcus dead. Homelander's eyes turned red, his laser eyes activated and he started cauterizing his own stomach. It hurt like hell, but he needed to stop the bleeding!
Marcus saw Homelander healing himself and knew he couldn't miss the chance to finish the man off. It had been a miracle the man had willingly taken that first blow. Marcus lamented that he didn't go for the head. To be honest, he wasn't actually expecting Homelander to have gotten hit at all. He expected Homelander to dodge or try to catch the True Longinus, not take the blow like an arrogant idiot.
Marcus flapped his wings and raced forward. He tried to stab Homelander, who was too busy cauterizing his own wound to notice he was in danger again.
"I don't think so." Numerous thunder bolts sprang forth from Stormfront and blasted directly towards Marcus.
Marcus thrust the True Longinus in front of himself to act as a lighting rod. He had never used it like that before, but was pleasantly surprised when it worked. All of the lighting was directly absorbed by the spear itself. He continued flying forwards and tried to impale a shocked Stormfront next.
"Die!" Homelander screamed in rage. He had just finished temporarily stabilizing himself and lashed out at Marcus. He sped forwards and punched Marcus faster than the speed of sound.
A sonic boom echoed across the district as Marcus was blasted dowards. He slammed into the rusty metal roof of a random warehouse and ended up crashing through it. Debris crashed all around him as he hit the ground hard. The wind knocked clear out of him. 'Shit, that hurt a lot…' Marcus internally lamented. He didn't think he'd ever been hit that hard in his entire life. He wouldn't be surprised if his spine was fractured. 'Homelander is done playing around. That means I am as well.' Marcus thought in determination. He tried to pick himself up, but found that his arms could barely move at this point. Thankfully, Homelander hadn't hit either of his wings with that blow. Marcus shakily hovered off the floor and returned to the air.
He heard sounds of fighting as he emerged from the warehouse. He saw Kara was up again and she was currently engaging with Homelander in the air. They were moving so fast that he could hardly see them as they traded blows in the air.
A short distance away, he saw that Megan was fighting against Stormfront in the air as well. Megan was using her telekinesis to lob whatever she could find at Stormfront, while the Nazi repeatedly tried to fry Megan with lighting. Megan did not yet know how to faze shift, so she was doing her best to dodge. She simply wasn't fast enough though. A large bolt hit Megan's chest and she cried out in agony before she went limp in the air. Marcus zipped forward to catch her before she hit the ground.
Marcus held Megan close to his body with one arm while he pointed the Spear of Destiny at Stormfront. "You should just let us go. We can settle this another day." Marcus offered one last time.
Stormfront scoffed. "I don't think so. In fact, it's about time you surrender." She took a deep breath before she yelled loudly. "Deep! Get your useless ass out here, and bring out the hostage!"
'Hostage?' Marcus wondered.
Kara and Homelander's super hearing easily allowed them to both hear Stormfront as well even when they were both clashing at supersonic speeds.
"Hostage? You guys took a hostage?" Kara asked in surprise.
Homelander smirked at his daughter. "We found out about the other little spy of your group." He told her before he flew back over to regroup Stormfront.
Kara did the same and flew over to Marcus and Megan. "Is Megan ok?"
"I think so." Marcus replied. "She got hit by a lot of voltage though."
"Who would they even take as a hostage? We barely know anyone here?" Kara asked Marcus. He shrugged and told her that he didn't know.
Everybody looked down and saw the Deep slowly walking out of one of the scattered warehouses. Marcus's eyes narrowed when he noticed that Annie, AKA Starlight, was the hostage. The Deep was holding her unconscious body with a knife to her throat.
"Surrender…or I'll cut her throat." The Deep announced hesitantly. The glares he received from Marcus and Kara made him very uncomfortable.
Marcus scowled. Annie was the one friend he had made in this world. He wouldn't say they were best friends or anything since they hadn't known each other long, but they had hung out together a few mornings while jogging.
Homelander and Stormfront both looked smug when they noticed Marcus's hesitation. "Surrender and hand over the Spear. We'll let Starlight and you three live if you do." Stormfront said. Homelander nodded along with her in agreement.
Marcus obviously knew that they were both lying. But what was he supposed to do? The Deep had a knife next to Annie's throat. Marcus knew the Deep was a sniveling coward, but he was known to be loyal to Homelander.
"Well now, ain't this a right little pickle. You all got yourselves stuck in a little Mexican standoff." A man with a British accent emerged from a nearby building. He was wearing a dark trenchcoat and had a smug look on his face as walked towards the Deep and Annie. He was exuding confidence that Marcus rarely saw in ordinary humans.
"Who the hell are you?" Homelander eyed the newcomer warily.
The man pointed at himself. "Me? You can call me Butcher. Let's just say that I happen to be a bloke who solves problems. You're all caught up in a tiffy, and I just happen to have a solution that will make everyone happy."
"And what solution would that be?" Homelander asked.
Butcher grinned. "You let the little Starbitch go, and I'm gonna walk out of here peacefully with Romeo and his two juliettes over there." Butcher gestured to Marcus's group. "And if I don't, well let's just say Miss Madelyn Stillwell might not come into work tomorrow." Butcher said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his smartphone. He opened up a picture of Madelyn Stillwell tied up to a chair in her own home.
Homelander's eyes glowed red in rage. He was about to fry the arrogant man. "You dare threaten her!?"
Instead of being afraid for his life, Butcher simply smirked and pocketed his phone calmly. "You took a hostage, why can't anyone else? You hardly call that sportsman-like if the rules only apply to you after all?"
Homelander grit his teeth. "Let Starlight go Deep." He was regretting not having a member of the Seven guarding Madelyn at her home. Both Queen Maeve and Black Noir were guarding Stan Edgar in case Vought had more infiltrators.
"You got it, Homelander." The Deep said without question. He casually dropped Annie, her body slumped to the ground.
Marcus sighed in relief that the fighting seemed to be over. He gestured to Kara to fly down with him. They both landed next to Butcher. "Thanks for the assist."
"You can thank me later when your Albino girlfriend gives me, and my associates, all the goods on Vought. I want to know all of their dirty laundry." Butcher said while picking Annie up off the ground.
Stormfront and Homelander both heard his words as well. Homelander was still focused on Madelyn, but Stormfront could honestly care less about the woman. Stormfront was more focused on herself and what the implications of all her secrets being spilled would mean for her. Stormfront was well aware that Megan clearly knew Stormfront's real identity after reading Stan Edgar's mind. Stormfront knew that if her Nazi past was exposed to the world, she and Vought could be finished! Stormfront wouldn't allow that to happen! On top of that, the prize that the Nazi party had been searching decades for was right in front of her eyes. 'If Marcus truly was holding the Spear of Destiny, then I can't let such a prize slip away! Especially since it's a weapon that can actually injure Homlander if he ever goes rogue!' The immortal Nazi thought to herself. "No one is going anywhere!" She declared as lighting arced around her form. "You will all die here and now!" She threw her hands forward and prepared to fry the group of four.
"Well shit…" Butcher remarked next to Marcus.
Marcus watched the lightning once again build up in shock. Megan was in his arms unconscious and Annie was held in Butcher's arms, knocked out as well. They were no longer in a position to fight. He knew that he needed to do something to get everyone out of this situation. It was his fault they were all here in the first place after all. Both of his girlfriends might be currently more powerful than he was, but Marcus knew that he was still the leader. It was his job to make sure everyone got home safely!
"BALANCE BREAKER! SIT LUX AETERNA!"
A pillar of bright light erupted around Marcus and reached the sky, and beyond. Two additional sets of wings temporarily manifested on his back. Instead of being white and solid, they were golden and ethereal. Marcus felt warmth flood through him. His grandfather had left him three uses of his balance breaker and he'd just used one of them up. The horrible burns on his arms and the pain in his back disappeared, the Holy Power flowing through him easily healed such superficial injuries. Finally, the True Longinus in his hand had changed as well. Runic scriptures ran up and down its shaft, they were thrumming with pure power. This was a weapon meant to depose Gods…
Marcus had called upon his full power seconds before Stormfront released another surge of Lightning at them all. With one arm still holding Megan close to himself, Marcus pointed the glowing True Longinus at the oncoming surge of lightning. "Light Cannon!" A large beam of Holy Power blasted from his spear's tip. It momentarily clashed with the lightning before overpowering it completely.
Marcus's attack was nearly impossible to dodge, considering it literally moved at the speed of light. Stormfront let out a scream of agony as the burning light engulfed her! This attack was particularly devastating against those who were evil. Stormfront, as a Nazi who had killed many innocents over her lifetime, felt like her entire body was engulfed in fire.
"Stormfront!" Homelander could only voice his shock when the bright light faded away. The female member of The Seven started falling out of the air. Despite his injury he rushed and caught her. He gasped in horror at her disfigurement. Most of her skin and hair had been charred or burned away completely! He doubted that she would ever recover.
"You're next Homelander!" Marcus yelled out. He was already in the process of pointing his spear at the world's most powerful Supe.
Homelander gripped Stormfront close to himself and made the only smart move he could think of…
He ran…
Marcus and everyone else still conscious, watched in shock as Homelander rocketed into the sky and sped away as fast as he possibly could. In a only a few seconds, he was gone over the horizon.
"Did Homelander just run away…" The Deep asked next A-Train. He had been helping A-Train limp away from the fight.
"Fuck if I know, man. Let's just get out of here. My leg is killing me…"
"Ha! The bastard really isn't invincible! Way to go lad!" Butcher cheered up at Marcus. He never thought he'd see the day that Homelander fled with his tail between his legs.
Marcus let out a sigh of relief. His magical reserves were practically gone at this point. The truth was that he had actually been bluffing Homelander just now. He didn't actually have enough in him to use another Light Cannon and still be able to portal them all home afterwards. The two extra pairs of wings on his back faded away into motes of light as he slipped his Sacred Gear back inside his soul.
"Let's get out of here before they come back with reinforcements." Marcus said. The Seven were Voughts most famous heroes, but the mega corporation still had thousands of other heroes under their employment. They couldn't fight off numbers like that as they were.
"Well then, what are we waiting for then? Let's go." Butcher said while still holding Annie in his arms.
"Huh? Thanks for helping us, but why should we bring you…whoever you are?" Kara floated down and said to Butcher.
"Because you all still owe me some information. I ain't leaving until I get it." Butcher demanded. "Plus, I just made myself an enemy out of Homelander for you four. It better have been worth it!"
Marcus sighed. He didn't exactly trust this man, but the guy had come trying to help them…even if he had resorted to kidnapping Madelyn Stillwell. "You can come with us." Marcus told Butcher. "But you won't be able to return for about a week. There's a cool down time on my portals." Marcus didn't mention anything about them traveling to another Earth altogether. He'd let that one be a surprise.
Butcher didn't mind waiting. "I would have had to lie low regardless to let the heat on me and the Boys cool down." Butcher pulled out his phone and texted his crew to lay low for a few weeks. "Now let's get out of here before Vought sends some actual competent people after us all."
…
"And that's what happened." Marcus said to his mother…and father. He had just finished giving them the entire story of his two weeks on another Earth. They were currently all in a Penthouse hotel room that Lex had rented out. Kara was sitting next to Marcus, holding his hand, while Megan and Annie were asleep in a nearby room. Gabriel had healed their injuries.
"My baby boy has two girlfriends now! I'm so proud!" Gabriel cheered excitedly. She leapt up and hugged-tackled both Marcus and Kara. "Welcome to the family, Kara!"
"Ooof–thanks, Miss Gabriel." Kara said with a small grunt. She didn't expect Marcus's mom to be so strong, but then she remembered Gabriel was supposedly one of the strongest beings on the planet.
"I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that other worlds exist. I'm not particularly surprised you found an evil version of Superman though. I've never trusted him." Lex said to his son. He was still getting used to having a son…an actual heir to the Luthor legacy. His son, who was a genuine Nephilim as well. So many of Lex's plans were going to have to be changed now…
"So you're telling me that we're actually in another Universe! And you, this pretty bird here is supposed to be the Archangel Gabriel!?" Butcher said in disbelief.
"That's me!" Gabriel said cheerfully while still tightly hugging her son.
"And where the hell has God been while my own world has been going to shit!?" Butcher said angrily.
"Recovering from his injuries after Eldritch monsters tried to devour him and the multiverse." Marcus said after successfully prying his mother off of himself. He loved her dearly, but she tended to be very clingy if they tended to not see each other for more than a few days.
"Wait, what?" Lex asked. He had not heard this story yet. He looked at Gabriel. "You and I need to have a very in depth conversation later." He told her.
Gabriel laughed and winked at the man. "Hehe, kinky. I wouldn't mind giving Marcus a sibling though. I'd love to have a daughter this time!" She suggested teasingly, she wasn't serious.
"I'm in a committed relationship and that's not what I meant." Lex deadpanned at her.
"Huh… I wasn't expecting an answer like that. Then again, I was a fan of Lovecraft in my earlier days… Who knew Cthulhu was real…" Butcher commented with a far off look.
While the adults were talking, Kara turned to Marcus. "So what are you going to do now that you're back. Are you going to stay in Gotham?"
Marcus nodded. "I'm not being hunted anymore, but I'm not sure if I want to go back to school. I think I'll just get my diploma early. I'll use the extra time to get some training in. I need to get stronger." Marcus explained. After the adventure they just went on, he just didn't see himself going back to a regular school life anymore. "Of course, I also want to spend more time with you and Megan."
Kara smiled at Marcus. "That was a given, obviously. I've been doing some thinking of my own. After seeing the Justice League and the Seven, I'm not particularly impressed by either to be honest. I think we should form our own hero team!" Kara declared. According to the laws of Earth, she was an adult now and free to make her own decisions. She wasn't going to let her cousin Kal-El tell her how to live her life anymore. She wanted to move off of the farm and spend more time with her boyfriend.
XXX
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone