章 5: Chapter 5
Chapter 5:
Marcus was surprised when Supergirl and Miss Martian immediately made their way over towards him as soon as they entered the room...
They both sat down next to him and ignored the strange looks they were getting from their guardians. Kara sat on his right, and Megan on his left. He noticed the subtle grin his mother shot him along with his grandfather giving him a thumbs up.
He rolled his eyes, but inwardly he was smiling. While being supernaturally handsome might have caused a crazy girl to stalk him and put an actual bounty on his head, he couldn't say his looks didn't also come with their own benefits.
Kara spoke to him first. "So your name is Marcus? I'm Kara Zor-El. I'm from Krypton."
"And I'm M'gann M'orss! I'm from Mars. It's nice to meet you, Marcus! Call me Megan!"
"It's great to meet you both as well!" He replied while flashing both of them a smile.
"So, Marcus? What do you do for fun around here?" Kara asked. "Most of my time spent on Earth so far has been boring." She said that she was either stuck on her cousin's farm or practicing to control her new powers and wanted to have some fun.
"Well, if I'm blending in, and pretending to be a normal human, then I like to go to movies or parties." He'd only ever been to one party, but he didn't need to mention that part…
"Oh! I've seen parties on Earth TV! They look like so much fun!" Megan said excitedly.
"I never got to go to a lot of parties on Krypton. My parents were too overprotective of me…" Kara trailed off. "Is there anything else?" She asked.
"What I really like to do when I'm not pretending is to go flying." He added. The feeling of being able to soar through the sky and clouds with his own wings was exhilarating! He hadn't gotten to fly much since coming to Gotham. This city had cameras, or people with cameras, everywhere and he didn't want to risk being seen.
Kara and Megan nodded enthusiastically!
"I know right!" Kara said with a bright smile. "Flying is so amazing! I can't believe how powerful I am under a yellow sun! I have no idea why it was forbidden back on Krypton!?"
Marcus had some theories there, but without knowing the exact circumstances behind Krypton's destruction, he couldn't be sure. He also didn't want to mention any to her when its destruction was still fresh in her mind.
"Flying on my own is amazing, and flying on my Bioship is really fun too. It can easily fly into space on its own!" Megan added.
He was pretty jealous about that. He had forgotten that Megan literally had her own spaceship. "You should take us for a ride sometime. I've always wanted to go to space!" He said. He won't be able to survive in a vacuum on his own until he gets stronger. He needed 8 to 10 wings before he would be able to do that.
Megan smiled brightly at him. He also didn't miss the subtle smirk she sent to Kara. "I'd be happy to take you flying into space with me whenever you want!"
Kara pouted. "I also have my own spaceship. It got damaged landing here on Earth, but it shouldn't take me long to fix it. I'm sure it'll be much more comfortable than any other ship!" She was already planning to raid her cousin's fortress for parts to fix her ship. She'd make sure to only install two seats as well to avoid any unnecessary third wheels.
He did his best to pretend like he didn't notice the two jealous looks the girls kept sending each other…
He wasn't some stupid anime protagonist after all.
…
–Superman–
Superman now knew the reason Bruce demanded he come to his mansion immediately. Superman could admit that there weren't many things in his life at this point that could throw him for a loop. However, he certainly was never expecting to have breakfast with the Archangel Gabriel and a man claiming to be literally God. That had definitely thrown him for a loop. Especially because both of his parents raised him to be a steadfast Christian…
Superman did his best to ignore the fact that his younger cousin and John's niece were also blatantly flirting with the apparent grandson of God. What was worse, was how smooth the young man was in his responses to them. He had both girls blushing up a storm and it had only been a few minutes! Superman wished he was that smooth when he was their age…
Next to him, he could see John was massaging his head in a very human-like manner. It seemed he was embarrassed by the way his niece was acting as well. Superman saw John's eyes light up a few times towards M'Gann. He assumed John was sending her some telepathic messages of some kind…
John's niece quickly turned to him and stuck out her tongue before quickly turning back to Marcus.
"Teenagers…" John muttered quietly.
"So…you're… God? It's…um…nice to meet you, Sir?" Superman introduced himself awkwardly. What was he supposed to even say here!?
"And it is an honor to meet you Superman! I have been following your exploits and can say that you are a shining example to live up to! You could use a bit more free time for yourself though. It's OK to want to help others, but not so much that you don't get to enjoy your own life as well." Yahweh said to Superman. "That pretty much goes for all three of you actually."
Superman, Bruce and Manhunter all looked at each other awkwardly. They'd all been told that they spend too much time as heroes before…and now even God was telling them that. Maybe it was time they considered handing more work to the other heroes and easing back a bit. Batman had been talking about creating some kind of mini Justice League for the teenagers. The other heroes vetoed the idea, but Superman wondered if it shouldn't be revisited?
"So what exactly are you doing here…Yahweh?" Bruce asked bluntly. He was putting on a strong facade, but Superman could hear the Dark Knight's heart pounding in his chest from anxiety.
"Here? Nothing except enjoying this delicious meal Alfred prepared for us." Yahweh said as he pointed to the spread of food all along the table.
Alfred, standing off to the side, looked absolutely ecstatic when he heard that Yahweh enjoyed his cooking! He even had some tears forming in his eyes that everyone did their best to ignore.
"I was also visiting my family and decided to task Marcus with a small training mission of sorts." Yahweh added.
"A mission?" Bruce asked with a raised eyebrow. "Are you sure your grandson can handle going solo? He almost died to Lady Shiva."
"Wait, what!?" Superman exclaimed. "She was in Gotham? How did she even get out of prison without the League knowing!?" He asked. Wherever that assassin went, bodies always followed! Very few villains matched her kill count…
Bruce grimaced. "...We'll discuss her later." Bruce said to him before turning back to Yahweh and the Archangel Gabriel.
The Archangel Gabriel spoke up. Everyone's attention turned to her. Superman had to fight back a blush just looking at her. He knew he was in love with Lois, but Gabriel's sheer beauty was incredible! He wondered who Marcus's lucky father was to be with such a beautiful woman!?
"It's true that my Son hasn't quite grown into his full potential yet…but us holding him back will only continue to hinder him. I've had to pull him out of school for a few days anyway… for reasons. I think it will be good for him to get some experience. Also, he doesn't have to go alone. Those two girls seem to be pretty attached to him already. I think they can all be great friends! Why don't they go with him?" Gabriel suggested. She had absolutely NO ulterior motives, as a mother, by wanting to send two beautiful girls on a mission with her handsome, and single, son…
"You want Kara to go with him!?" Superman exclaimed. "She can barely control her strength! She'll end up hurting someone." Super said with no hesitation.
"And M'Gann is far too inexperienced with her Martian powers as well!" John added immediately afterwards.
…
Marcus's conversation with the two future heroines was interrupted by the outbursts of Superman and Martian Manhunter.
"She can barely control her strength! She'll end up hurting someone!"
"And M'Gann is far too inexperienced with her Martian powers as well!"
Kara and Megan both turned towards their 'guardians' and had different reactions. Megan frowned and was sad that her uncle didn't trust her.
Kara stood up from her seat and openly scowled. "Hmph!" She angrily marched out of the dining room, loudly slamming the door behind her!
Marcus stood up and followed after her. Megan came with him as well.
He followed Kara out of the mansion. She quickly made her way towards the edge of the property, where a small patch of forest was.
"Stupid Kal-El! Treating me like a toddler! I'm a grown woman who's supposed to be older than him! Stupid time travel bullshit!" Kara cursed as she paced back and forth by the treeline.
"Are you alright, Kara?" Marcus asked in concern.
Kara walked over towards one of the trees and kicked it in anger! The trunk immediately exploded into chunks of wood from the force of her kick. "Fuck!" Kara exclaimed, clearly startled by what just happened! "Stupid, Kal is right… I can't control my own strength." Kara lamented as she turned back towards Marcus.
He gave her a small smile. "You controlled it pretty well, I think. The tree only exploded. You didn't accidentally punt it into orbit." He added with a laugh.
Kara gave him a small smile. "I'm not that strong yet… Thanks for coming to check on me, Marcus. And you too, Martian girl…" Kara added as an afterthought.
Megan pouted. "I know what it's like to be looked down on too…"
"Whoa! Nice kick!" Dick Grayson's voice came from behind everyone. They all turned and noticed him.
"Where'd you come from, Dick?" Marcus asked.
"I followed you guys out here! I didn't want to be stuck there alone with all the adults. Also, Marcus, your grandpa makes me nervous…" Dick admitted.
Marcus nodded in understanding before turning back to Kara. He also looked at Megan. "So you're mad that Superman and Manhunter don't trust you both?"
"Damn right I am!" Kara exclaimed. "I've been on Earth all this time, but he's kept me locked away on that small farm!" She complained. She hated that boring place. Kal-El's human parents were nice, but they weren't going to replace her parents. Kara didn't like that they always tried to! Kara spoke all of this out loud to everyone.
"I'm sorry to hear all that. That sucks." Marcus said. "It's not like your a child."
"Exactly!" Kara exclaimed."Thanks…I think I just needed to vent a bit."
Marcus turned towards Megan next. She was being quiet.
Megan's green cheeks became–greener–upon noticing Marcus's stare. "Well…I do wish uncle John would trust me more. He hasn't let me go out on my own either since I've arrived on Earth." Megan admitted. She was feeling stifled lately, but she would take that over having to go back to Mars anyday. She never wanted to go back there.
Marcus nodded at them both in understanding. Part of the reason he left for the States was so that he wouldn't always have the Heavenly Faction breathing down his neck. It might not have gone perfectly, and he still needed his mom's help, but he had been able to spend two months on his own–minus his grandfather in his head.
"I might have a solution for you two, but I didn't get to ask. How old are you both?" Marcus asked. They looked to be around his age, but then again they were aliens so he didn't really know. In some universes, Kryptonians didn't even age under a yellow sun once they became adults.
"In Earth years, I would be 18." Kara said.
Megan looked a bit awkward at hearing his question. She shuffled in place for a second before answering. "Just so you know…we Martians develop slower than humans do. In Earth years…I'm 35." She looked at Marcus to see if he would be grossed out that she was flirting with him earlier with that age difference. She breathed a sigh of relief when he just smiled at her.
For Marcus, Megan's age wasn't even a blip. He'd been flirted with by Fallen Angels who were hundreds of years old whenever he had to visit the Grigori in the past…
"Just so you two know, here in the US, you're both considered adults. Neither of you have to actually listen to your guardians if you don't want to. Technically, they wouldn't even be considered your guardians at this point." Marcus explained. He found their dumbfounded looks afterwards to be funny.
"Really!?" Kara asked in surprise. "On Krypton, no one is considered an adult until they would be around 25 in Earth years! This is so much better!" Kara's mind was racing. She didn't have to stay on that boring Kansas farm if she didn't want to!? She was already planning on moving out immediately! …Although, where would she go? Kara shrugged, she'd figure that out later.
Megan was surprised to hear that information as well. She was a lot more knowledgeable about Earth TV than its actual laws. The fact that she didn't technically have to follow her Uncle J'onn around all the time, if she didn't want to, was a relief to know as well. She still liked spending time with her uncle, but he did have a lot of rules that clashed with her freer personality.
Dick frowned at where Marcus was going with this. "Are you sure it was a good idea to tell these two that, Marcus?" Dick whispered to him. He noticed the way both girls were now grinning to themselves mischievously. As someone who'd been raised by Batman, Dick wasn't sure if it was a good idea to let two powerful alien women roam around unsupervised…
Marcus nodded. "It's not fair for them to be treated like children or prisoners." He explained. "It's also not legal." He added, knowing that Batman and Robin actually respected the law for some reason...
Dick grimaced but he had to agree with Marcus there.
"So what was that training mission that G–your grandpa wanted to send you on?" Megan asked Marcus. Dick and Kara were interested in knowing as well.
"Oh, that?" Marcus rubbed his hand through his blond locks. He knew he probably shouldn't tell them any information on God almost dying or the Eldritch monstrosities. "He wanted me to check up on some other worlds for him. Some weird spatial stuff, that's hard to explain, happened and those worlds got cut off from him…" Marcus trailed off. Even that didn't sound great from his perspective. "They will also be great places to train myself as well." He added.
"He got cut off?" Dick asked. "So he's not all powerful?"
"All powerful depends on your viewpoint, I suppose." Marcus answered. "Can he create worlds, life and even revive the dead? Yes, he can do all that… to a point. Is he omnipotent and omnipresent in every universe? …No."
Dick turned to Megan and Kara and was about to ask them "if they could believe what they were hearing!?" He then remembered that they were both aliens and probably weren't believers in the first place… He hoped that information never got out to the general public or it could cause a religious upheaval…
"Other universes?" Kara asked. "We experimented a bit with those on Krypton. It then became forbidden research for some reason. Is something wrong with the other worlds you'll be going to?" She asked in concern for Marcus. She'd finally met a decent guy on this hick planet, and she didn't want anything bad to happen to him. She knew she was crushing hard on him, but she couldn't help it. She'd found that Kryptonians were better looking than most humans, but even then she'd never seen someone like Marcus back on Krypton.
Megan was also concerned for Marcus when she heard Kara's question. "I heard your mom suggest we could go with you? I'm pretty strong and Kara is a Kryptonian. You should let us come." Megan requested. It could be a genuine adventure just like some of her favorite TV shows. Megan hoped that the genre ended up being Action/Romance as well…
"Yeah! Let's go now! When we come back, that'll prove to Kal that I'm perfectly capable of being on my own!" Kara declared with a fistpump!
"What!? We can't just go to another universe without telling anybody! That's a terrible plan!" Dick exclaimed. 'What were these three thinking!?'
Kara glanced down at Dick. "We? …Sorry, short stack. You're not invited." She said bluntly. She wanted to go on a Date–er–mission with Marcus alone. She already knew they'd probably take the Martian girl as well, so Kara wasn't letting the little teenager come as a fourth wheel!
Dick sputtered in indignation. "Y–You!" He pointed at Kara in annoyance before turning to Marcus. "You're not just gonna leave me out because I'm a kid are you?" Dick asked him. Now that he suddenly wasn't invited, he wanted to go!
Marcus thought about it for a second. On one hand, it was a dick move to not take Dick with them–no pun intended. On the other hand, Marcus didn't particularly want to take responsibility for a 13 year old if anything happened to Dick. For all Marcus knew, they could be traveling to a zombie universe or something similar. Marcus, Kara, and Megan would all be fine in that instance, but Dick as a regular human would not be…
"Sorry, Dick." Marcus said. "I'll think about taking you along next time, but for now I don't know what to expect."
Dick stomped his foot on the ground and scowled. "Lame!" Dick yelled. "I'm telling Batman!" He turned around and started running back towards the mansion.
Marcus watched him leave, and promised in his head that he would make it up to the kid later. Marcus didn't want to be responsible for him at this time though.
"Alright then!" Kara ran forwards and latched herself onto Marcus's arm! She shot a grin at Megan as she did so… "Let's go before Kal comes and tries to stop us!" She declared while pointing forwards!
Megan glared at Kara jumping on Marcus. "How are we supposed to get there anyway? Can I bring my bioship?" She asked.
Marcus explained. "I can basically just open a portal directly to where I want to go. This power was gifted to me by my mom recently, and it's sort of instinctive. Grandfather was the one who told me where to go though. This was supposed to be a world very similar to our own Earth in the past. Except there was no Magic, Atlanteans, or anything Supernatural at all really." He said what he knew, which wasn't much. "Also, I'm not strong enough to open a portal big enough for a whole spaceship currently." He apologized.
Megan nodded. "That's ok. I'll just send my ship a telepathic message that I'll be back later." Megan said. Her eyes glowed green as she did just that.
"Uh oh. The kid just reached the mansion. We gotta go!" Kara exclaimed! Her super hearing heard him reach the front door of his mansion. He had been putting the whole way there out loud.
Marcus closed his eyes and focused inside himself. He honed in on the power that was recently granted to him. He pulled on his mother's feather and willed it to open a pathway.
BOOM!
A glowing golden portal appeared directly in front of Marcus! It was a swirling vortex of power that he instinctively knew he wouldn't understand for a long time. All he knew was that it worked.
Kara let go of Marcus and cheered. "Let's go!" She didn't even hesitate and hopped through the golden portal immediately! Marcus was a bit taken aback by her enthusiasm. He figured she must have been really pent up for some excitement…
Before Marcus followed after her, he pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to his mom. He also decided to send one to Artemis as well. It was short and just told her he wouldn't be attending school for the next few days while "some things got sorted out." With that done, he slipped his phone back into his pocket and stepped through his portal as well.
…
–Gabriel–
Gabriel was proud of her son! The pretty blonde alien girl was upset and her son didn't hesitate to go after her. She smiled to herself, knowing that she had raised her son correctly. 'He's such a wonderful gentleman!'
"I'm sorry about Kara making a scene there everyone. She's been moody lately. She doesn't know just how strong she is and that she could hurt someone if she isn't careful." Superman said and Gabriel sighed in her head. He might be a great hero and a selfless man, but he wasn't turning out to be the best mentor. Neither was the Martian sitting next to him.
Gabriel could have given Superman and the Martian Manhunter some advice on the subject of proper parenting, but why would she? The further they pushed those two girls away, the more they just pushed them right into her son's waiting arms!
Gabriel giggled quietly.
Gabriel truly did love her son! When he was younger and realized what world he had been born into, he declared he wanted a harem! He quickly took back his words, when he realized such a thing was embarrassing to say out loud, but Gabriel never forgot! If her son wanted a harem full of beautiful girls, then she might as well help him! Of course, as his mother she would make sure to keep the riff raff away from him. That's why she'd put each girl through a few tests to make sure they were worthy of being with HER son!
BEEP! BEEP!
And speaking of, Gabriel reached into her toga's pocket–yes it had pockets–and pulled out her phone. Xenovia had sent her a message. A very long and detailed message…
Gabriel scrolled through it at super speed.
'Let's see, here…' Gabriel read through. 'Xenovia met with Lex… blah blah blah. He did the DNA test. He's pissed that his son was kept from him blah blah blah… Oh! There it is!' Gabriel smiled as she read. 'Lex was also furious that his son had a bounty on his head! From a family that made all their money through obvious organized crime as well.' Gabriel nodded when she finished reading. The message ended with Xenovia assuring Gabriel that Lex was going to personally go after the Winston family for daring to go after a Luthor–even if they didn't know it. 'He demands to meet his son as soon as possible.' Was the last thing she read. She'd have Marcus officially meet his father when he returned from his trip stronger and more mature.
Gabriel sent Xenovia a message that simply said "good job!" No doubt the obsessive girl would hound her later about finally being able to join her son's harem…
BANG!
The door to the dining room slammed open. Yahweh was in the middle of answering some of the Heroes questions, about the wider supernatural world, when Dick Grayson stormed in. The young man looked very annoyed.
Gabriel noticed her father gave her a mischievous grin and a wink. He vanished from his chair in small wisps of golden light while everyone was distracted…
…
"Are you alright, Dick?" Bruced asked.
"No!" Dick replied. "Stupid Marcus, and the other two, ditched me to go have an adventure by themselves!"
"...What?" Bruce asked with a deadpan expression.
Superman stood up from his seat with a look of concern. "What are you talking about, son?"
"Marcus and the girls are going to another universe!" Dick stated.
All three of the heroes' eyes widened at Dick's proclamation. Bruce immediately turned towards his two guests. "Gabriel, care to explain this?" He asked…Bruce then noticed that Gabriel…and Yahweh…were both gone. 'Huh? So that's what that feels like.' Bruce thought with a smirk. Usually it was him mysteriously vanishing on people. He couldn't help but let out a small chuckle.
Superman and Manhunter both rushed past Dick and out of the dining room.
"This has been quite an odd turn of events, Master Bruce. Also–erh–Yahweh left you a letter, Sir." Alfred set and he handed Bruce a slip of paper. Bruce raised an eyebrow as he opened it and started reading.
…
–Artemis–
Artemis woke up with a throbbing headache. It had been a while since she'd been drugged with anything that powerful. Pretty much, ever since her dad walked out of her life and stopped the brutal training he put her and her sister through.
She noticed she was on her living room couch. What was surprising was that she didn't wake up alone. Her mother and Jade were sitting at the dining room table. The two of them were eating breakfast and acting like nothing was wrong!
"What the fuck, Jade!?" Artemis yelled as she walked over while clutching her head. "You drugged me!"
"It's Cheshire, Artemis. We went over this last night." Her sister said nonchalantly as she sipped some morning coffee.
"What happened to Marcus!?" Artemis demanded to know!
Cheshire gave her sister a grin.
Their mother spoke up. "Artemis…there's a video on the internet. It features your father…and Marcus. Very handsome boy by the way. I approve." Her mother nodded.
Artemis's eyes widened! A video with both of them? Did her bastard father hurt him!? Artemis would kill him if he did!
Cheshire saw Artemis getting herself all worked up again in her own head. She sighed as she handed her phone to her little sister. The video was already cued up. She had watched the video eight times herself and laughed every time. She might be forced to work with her old man, on occasion, but she still hated the guy just as much as the other women in the family! "Take a look for yourself."
Artemis played the video. She had no idea what to suspect when it started. She saw her father in his villain costume confronting Marcus. Her father was demanding that Marcus surrender to him! That's when the video took an unexpected turn! Instead of being afraid of him, Marcus, and even all the nearby spectators, started laughing at Sportsmaster! Her father took it personally and then attacked Marcus with lethal force! Only to fail and end up getting taken down in a single punch! Artemis was shocked as the video ended. She wanted to watch it another time but her sister snatched her phone back.
"Yep! Your boyfriend is in the wind and dad's street cred has taken a massive hit. I doubt anyone will want to hire him again in the future." Cheshire said with a small laugh.
"And what happened to Marcus after?" Artemis asked again.
Cheshire shrugged. "Who knows? He certainly hasn't been caught yet."
Artemis was thankful to hear that at least. She hoped Marcus was ok wherever he was.
…
"So this is another universe?" Marcus asked out loud as he looked around. "I was expecting things to be a lot different than this." They'd found themselves in a modern looking city.
"We're in New York!" Megan said cheerfully. She always wanted to visit this city! A bunch of her favorite Earth TV shows took place here! "I read a bunch of the nearby human's minds! They have Superheroes, too, in this world!" Megan exclaimed.
"Really?" Kara asked. "Are they aliens like us then? Because, Marcus said this world had no supernatural elements?"
Marcus was also surprised to hear that. Superheros in New York? They weren't in Marvel were they!?
WOOSH!
Marcus looked up and his eyes widened. A man just flew over them at incredibly high speeds!
"Wow! It's Homelander!"
"He's so cool! The leader of the Seven!"
"The greatest hero in the world!"
People nearby cheered in excitement just from seeing that hero fly by.
"Wow…" Kara commented. "That guy is just as popular as my cousin is in Metropolis."
"That's Homlander. The leader of this world's version of the Justice League. They call themselves The Seven." Megan said as she gleaned more information from the minds of people nearby. "They're apparently some amazing heroes that keep the world safe from evil! They even have their own movies!"
"So this world developed its own superheroes even after being cut off from Heaven?" Marcus muttered. "This world seems to be doing alright then…"
"So what do we do now?" Kara asked them both. "We can't go back! We just got here!"
"We wouldn't be able to anyway." Marcus said. He felt the feather's power, inside of him, go into some sort of 'cooldown.' He felt like it could be days–maybe longer–before they could travel back. He wasn't expecting for that to happen.
Megan was looking antsy next to them. Marcus could tell that she wanted to take in the city's sites judging by how excited she was looking at everything.
"Well, we're here. We might as well explore a bit. Maybe we'll meet some of this world's heroes up close?" Marcus said.
XXX
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