Chapter 6
C 6
Marcus, Kara and Megan were all currently sitting in a small Cafe going over what they knew about this place so far. Marcus took a sip of his coffee as he listened to Megan give everyone a run down on what she'd learned from skimming people's minds.
"So to summarize, this world is protected by Supes who battle against crime. Oddly there are no Supervillains though…" Marcus said. That was pretty strange. What was the point of Superheroes without any villains?
"The Justice League, in this world, is called the Seven and they're led by a man named Homelander, who is basically a blond version of my cousin?" Kara asked for confirmation.
Megan nodded as she sipped her own coffee. "MMmm! That's good! We don't have coffee on Mars! I always saw it on TV and wanted to try some!" She set her cup down on the small table between the three of them. "Yeah, the Seven are basically the Justice League here, except they only fight common criminals because there are no Supervillains. Also they don't have a no kill rule…they actually seem to go out of their way to kill villains sometimes. No one in the media seems to care though."
Marcus wasn't sure to feel about that. "On one hand, I've never been a fan of the Justice League's no killing rule. I feel like some villains just plain need to be put down. On the other hand, I don't agree that every criminal deserves to die. What about someone who just steals food for their family because they can't afford it?" Marcus asked. Marcus had his own moral code. Most exorcists or people raised like one, in his case, did. After all the crazy things he'd seen–stray devils, vampires, ghouls, wicked oni, and even more–he knew the world wasn't black and white!
…Unless he literally ended up in a world that was black and white at some point…
Megan frowned. Growing up on Mars, with her true skin color, made life incredibly hard for her and her brother. They would frequently have to steal food themselves just to survive… She didn't think that desperate humans deserved to die either.
As for Kara, Krypton didn't exactly have much crime, and people never went hungry because robots farmed all their food. Kara was, therefore, surprised at finding out that some people couldn't even afford food on Earth. This Earth or the other one.
A waitress walked up to their table, pausing their conversation. "Can I get you anything else? Anything at all?" Her eyes were intensely focused solely on Marcus as she asked the question. Marcus did his best to not look uncomfortable. The waitress was blatantly licking her lips as she stared at him…
In fact, pretty much everyone in the Cafe had been staring at the three of them since they entered. Marcus and Kara were both gorgeous blondes and Megan was also very cute and had interesting green skin. There had been multiple whispers all around about the three of them being obvious Supes… Marcus didn't bother correcting anyone because they weren't exactly wrong.
Kara and Megan both scoffed at the waitress trying to make a move on Marcus. "We're good here thank you!" Kara said as she pulled out a $20 bill and handed it to the waitress. She then made a shooing motion at the woman.
The waitress scowled jealousy at Kara before heading back to the kitchen.
Figuring they were done with all the inquisitive stares they were receiving, the three of them headed back outside into the city. They had arrived on this world around noon and it was now almost 3 in the afternoon.
"We're going to have to think about where we're going to sleep tonight." Marcus said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. Checking inside, he found that he had around $250 in cash.
Kara had only been given $100, by Kal-El earlier, and she'd just used $20 to pay for their snacks and drinks.
Megan had no money on her at all…
They were technically in a different universe so Marcus's credit cards obviously didn't work. All in total they had under $400. Enough to get a hotel room for a night or two, but not much else.
"How expensive is lodging in this city?" Kara asked.
"About $200 dollars a night…" Marcus replied.
Kara blanched. "Oh my Rao… Are you kidding me!? How does anyone live on this planet!? Food and lodging were free on Krypton for all citizens!" She exclaimed while stomping her foot angrily.
CRACK!
The concrete underneath her cracked loudly. People walking nearby paused and stared at the unusually strong girl.
"I'm sorry…" Kara apologized with a small blush. Most of the people walking by shrugged and moved on.
…
Most people were used to Supes in the city at this point. Megan standing next to Kara also cemented the fact that she was one as well. They moved along, but one man was staring at the group of three with stars in his eyes. He couldn't believe his luck! Where had these three young talents been!?
The young man with his golden blond hair and brilliant green eyes put every male model he'd ever seen to shame. He was an absolute teenage heart throb!
The blond girl next to him had a perfect figure and a beautiful heart-shaped face! Her looks were perfect and then she had one of the most desirable Supe powers there was… Super Strength! He wondered if he was looking at the next Queen Maeve!?
And then there was the green skinned girl! Her figure was also a perfect hourglass and her skin made her look enticingly exotic!
"You three! Wait up, please!" The man called out as he chased after the three walking down the sidewalk.
…
Marcus turned around and saw a man wearing a typical business suit running up to them. The man reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a business card. He hastily shoved it into Marcus's hands.
"Thanks for stopping. My name is Ryan Danvers. I'm a talent scout for Vought! You three are absolutely perfect! Are you currently in a contract with any other heroes company!?" The talent scout asked excitedly.
Marcus scratched his cheek and awkwardly looked at his two companions. Both girls gave him a shrug. He looked back to the supposed talent scout. "Um…no?" He said questioningly. "We are not."
A bright smile lit up on the man's face! "That's great! I'll tell you now that all three of you have exactly what it takes to be amazing upcoming heroes! Your looks are absolutely perfect!" He said.
"O–our looks?" Megan asked, pointing at herself.
The agent's head nodded up and down rapidly. "That's right! You especially, green girl! There aren't enough exotic female Supes right now and there's a big market for that kind of thing." He explained.
"Exotic!?" Megan exclaimed. She didn't know if she should be flattered or offended…
"Wait," Kara cut in. "You don't care about our powers?" She asked.
The agent shook his head. "Not really." He leaned in and whispered to them. "To be honest, most Supes' powers aren't even that useful. Even the newest upcoming member of the Seven, Starlight, isn't that impressive." The agent had read up on her. She was hired as a pretty face and her sparkly electricity powers looked flashy on TV.
"Huh?" Marcus said curiously. Wasn't that something… The Superhero business in this world really was a business apparently.
"Do we get paid?" Kara asked bluntly. Megan gave her an incredulous look and Kara shrugged. "We're broke right now." She said out loud.
Marcus sighed… He'd need to teach Kara about human negotiations. The first rule of business…never admit you're broke.
The Agent smiled widely! "Of course you'll get paid! And if you don't have a place to stay, I'm sure Vought will be more than happy to work something out for you three!" He said.
"Ok." Marcus replied and the two girls also nodded. He needed to investigate this world anyway. What better way than from the inside. It would also help to be completely broke and homeless as he did so…
"Alright! Vought tower is only a few blocks from here! I promise that you'll be amazed. You might even get lucky and meet a member of the Seven…unless it's Starlight." The man said quietly at the end. Most people at Vought didn't think she would be sticking around very long.
…
–Madelyn Stillwell–
Madelyn Stillwell was sitting in her office talking to the latest member of 'HER' new Superhero team.
"It's such an honor to be able to join the Seven!" Annie January, otherwise known as Starlight, said enthusiastically. She had a bright smile on her face. "It's been my dream since I was a little girl."
Madelyn thought this naive country girl was going to get eaten alive. She put on a fake smile though. "And the Seven is so glad to have such an amazing hero like you join them! The team is just so excited to meet you!" Madylen lied her ass off with practiced ease. She knew for a fact no one on the team could give a fuck…
Starlight grinned happily. "Really!? I can't wait to meet them as well and–"
Knock Knock Knock!
Starlight was cut off as there was some very enthusiastic knocking coming from her office door. Madelyn thanked the stars that someone had come to save her from having to speak with this 'naive dumb blonde' any longer! "Come in!" She called out.
A man she vaguely recognized walked into the room. She remembered him being one of her talent scouts. Madylyn figured that he must have discovered someone pretty impressive due to the wide grin on his face.
"Miss Stilwell! Hello, it's Ryan Danvers, ma'am."
"Of course, Ryan Come in! Have you met Starlight? Starlight, this is Ryan. One of our best talent scouts." Madelyn said.
Ryan was so excited that he didn't even notice Starlight was originally in the room. "Yeah, great to meet you Starbright." He said with a half-hearted glance before turning back to his boss and grinning!
"It's Starlight…" Starlight gaped at being so easily dismissed. She'd never met such a rude man! He didn't even get her name right!
He ignored her and kept talking to Madelyn. "Holy shit on a Tuesday, Mam! I hit the motherfucking jackpot! Three Supes! All ridiculously good looking! AND they all have insane powers! All three of them are going to be the next generation of the Seven! I absolutely guarantee it! You're not going to believe them! We might even have the next Homelander in the building!" He rambled enthusiastically. He couldn't believe the powers those three displayed when they went through the routine tests!
Madelyn didn't know how to respond to all that. 'The next Homelander?' She certainly hoped not. One psychotic invincible manchild was already incredibly difficult to deal with. She figured that she should at least go and take a look though. She didn't think she'd ever seen any of her talent scouts so excited before.
"The next me, huh? Well, isn't that something…" A head peeked around the corner of her office door. Just the man she was thinking about was standing there. Madelyn could immediately tell that he was not happy at hearing what her talent scout said. Madelyn sighed… Ryan was a dead man for sure. Looks like she'd need to find a replacement for him soon.
"Homelander! Oh my gosh!" Starlight said enthusiastically.
Madelyn put on her rehearsed loving smile. "Hi, Homelander. I was just heading down to the testing room to meet Vought's potential recruits that RYAN here found. Would you like to come with?" She asked. She specifically placed emphasis on Ryan's name to make sure Homelander knew that she would never think about replacing him! "You should come to Starlight." Madelyn added as an afterthought.
Homelander was doing his best not to smash everything in sight. He smiled brightly at Starlight who was currently fangirling at him. "I would love to come. Always good to meet the next generation of heroes!"
….
Marcus, Kara and Megan were standing around an empty Vought training room awkwardly. Despite only originally caring about their looks, the agent said he still had to see a bit of what they could do with their powers. When they showed him, the man was utterly shocked.
Ryan was even blown away by Marcus, who was arguably the current weakest of the three of them at the moment.
"He's been gone a couple minutes? You think he's coming back?" Megan asked jokingly.
"I think he was just freaked out by the amazing abilities Kara displayed. She lifted over 100 tons on that industrial weight press over there." Marcus said.
"Hmph! That'll show him that I'm more than just a pretty face!" Kara said with a pout that Marcus thought was cute.
"Me too!" Megan added.
Marcus saw the perfect opportunity for some teasing. "Awe, but I happen to like both of your pretty faces."
Kara sputtered. "What!?"
Megan squeaked. "You do!?"
Marcus grinned at her reaction. He found that he really liked teasing these two future heroines. He liked Kara's and Megan's reactions a lot more than a certain blue haired girl he'd grown up with in the vatican. If he tried teasing her, she would immediately jump on him and proclaim that they should have babies together! It's not that Marcus didn't think Xenovia was hot, because she definitely was. He just didn't want to be a dad before he even officially hit twenty years old…
Kara was blushing. "You can't just say something like that out of the blue!"
"…You don't care that I'm…green?" Megan asked him.
Marcus shook his head. "I wouldn't care whatever color you were, Megan. Green, white, or bright pink even! I would like you just the same."
Megan's eyes widened when Marcus casually skipped over the color white. It hadn't quite clicked for her until just now. 'She wasn't on Mars anymore…' She was on Earth. A different Earth, currently, but still! Megan realized that humans wouldn't actually care what color her true skin color was. To them, she was just going to be another Martian.
Kara noticed Megan's surprise at Marcus's response. She wondered what that was about? Krypton didn't have the concept of racism so she was completely clueless as to why Megan would even mention her green skin. She'd ask the other girl about it later.
The three of them spent the next few minutes just chatting while they waited for the guy who ran out on them to return.
After a bit of time, the door to the training room flew wide open and the talent scout had returned. They all noticed that he wasn't alone. There were three other people with him. Two of them were even wearing Superhero costumes. Marcus and Kara didn't recognize either of them though. Only Megan, who had skimmed some people's thoughts, could recognize Homelander. Even then, she didn't know much else about the man. Her reaction to his presence wasn't much different from her two new friends.
"You three! You'll never believe who wants to see what you all can do in person! Look! It's Homelander!" Ryan said enthusiastically.
Homelander smiled at the three young adults and was waiting for them to start gushing over him like all youths their ages did. Weirdly, for him, it never came.
"Cool…" Marcus said. "It's nice to meet you, Homelander." He said casually. He then turned to the other Supe. "And you as well…um…"
"Starlight!" She answered for him with a grin. "The newest member of The Seven!" She put her hands to her hips and stood proud. This was a classic hero stance that her mother had her practice for hours.
"Right on…" Marcus trailed off. This was the girl that the talent scout was bad mouthing earlier as nothing but a pretty face. Marcus would withhold his judgment for now.
Madelyn Stillwell sighed at the awkward atmosphere in the room. She walked forward to greet the three youths. Honestly, she was a bit taken aback by all their appearances. The young man might be one of the most handsome guys she'd ever seen in this business. Dozens of ideas on how to market him were already flowing through her head. The other two girls were also very pretty as well.
"Nice to meet you all. I'm Madelyn Stillwell. One of the top executives here at Vought. I'm also currently in charge of marketing for our biggest heroes. So who are you and what can you do?" She decided to get right to the point.
"Yes." Homelander decided to cut in and stepped forward. He was still in a bad mood. "I even heard mention that one of you might be my successor!" He claimed with fake enthusiasm and a very forced smile.
Marcus was surprised to hear Homelander's words but he incorrectly assumed the reason why. Unlike the Superman of their universe, this one seemed to age. He was supposedly pushing 40 already. It only made sense to Marcus that he would probably be looking for a successor for himself.
He was obviously unaware that Homelander was the type of man who would never give up his power and would kill anyone who seemed like they could surpass him…
"You're probably talking about Kara here." Marcus said and pointed to the blonde. "She is pretty amazing! And Megan is too!"
Kara blushed at Marcus's praise. "I'm not that amazing…" Megan had a similar reaction.
Madelyn and Homelander were doing their best not to gag at these obvious teenage crushes.
"So Kara, Megan and…?" Starlight asked his name.
He flashed her a smile. "I'm Marcus. Nice to meet you once again Starlight."
"Oh, N-nice to meet you too…" Starlight replied with a small blush as well. They didn't make boys like this one back in her Hometown! The guy she went to Homecoming with looked like a troll in comparison.
…
Homelander wanted to punch the 'blond little bastard' in the face. He was stealing all of the attention of all the women in the room! Even his precious Madelyn was staring at the brat like she was looking at gold! He took a deep breath to calm himself!
…
Madelyn cleared her throat. "OK, then you three. Let's see what you can all do. Why don't we start with you Kara?"
"Sure thing?" Kara replied. "You want me to start with the industrial weight machine over there again?" Kara asked. It was basically a hydraulic press that pressed down on whoever was standing under it with a specific amount of simulated weight.
"That would be great." Madelyn said.
Homelander himself walked over to the machine as Kara stepped underneath it and placed her hands upward on the metal. "OK, how much weight do you want?" He asked with a hint of sarcasm. "200 pounds? 300?" Her body didn't exactly look like it could handle a ton of weight.
"We can start with 200 tons." Kara replied. "I tried 150 earlier and it was still a bit too light for me."
Everyone in the room except for Marcus, Megan and Ryan blanched.
"200…tons…" Madylen muttered out. This girl was just kidding,right!? That was almost half of Homelanders max weight! She turned towards Ryan and he was giving Madelyn a smug look. It was then why she realized why he had been so excited when he barged into her office earlier! She realized the girl wasn't joking at all.
Homelander entered the number onto the panel in front of him. He was expecting this girl to get turned into paste. That didnt happen…
The hydrologic press slammed down with a crushing force that would kill anyone else. Kara caught it easily though. She held it up with only a small strain in her muscles.
"Are you alright, Kara?" Marcus asked. He was pretty amazed. He could only lift about 1 ton right now with only his two wings. Megan had only been able to lift around half that.
"Yeah!" She replied. "I could probably even do 300 tons, but then I would be struggling. 200 is a good start!" Kara said. A moment later, the machine turned off and the crushing weight over her disappeared.
Madelyn was doing her best to keep the small smile on her face from turning into a massive grin! 'Holy shit!' They might have just found the next Homelander after all! 300 tons was insane! "Do you have any other powers, Kara?" Madelyn asked hopefully.
Kara nodded and a second later she started levitating off of the floor. "Yes! I have super strength and can fly." In a blur of motion Kara vanished and appeared across the room. The only person who's eyes could track her was Homelander. "I also have super speed and durability." She continued. Kara's eyes then started to glow red and she turned to look at a nearby training dummy! A red laser blasted out from each of her eyes and left deep burns on the dummy! "And I have heat vision…and X-ray vision." She mumbled out that last part quietly while only glancing at Marcus a tiny bit.
She hadn't peaked at him! …OK, she had. But just a little bit! She liked what she saw…
…
–Homelander–
Homelander felt like his brain needed a reboot. 'All of his powers…' This girl had all of his powers! How was that possible!? Homelander figured that should only be possible if Kara was his daughter or something. Which of course was completely crazy. He never had any kids… Did he?
…He paused.
Homelander paused at the thought before looking at Kara more closely. She had blonde hair '…like him.' She had bright blue eyes '…also like him.'
Homelander realized that this girl had all of his powers. His eyes widened as he came to an incorrect realization. He had been with A LOT of women over the years after all… And he never used protection because he thought he was sterile. Clearly he was wrong. He had a daughter…
He had a daughter!
HE HAD A DAUGHTER!
A genuine wide smile broke out on Homelander's face! His dismissive attitude completely vanished. "That was absolutely amazing, Kara! Truly an impressive display! You're going to be an amazing hero!" He said to the girl he now wholeheartedly believed was his long lost daughter.
This was the happiest that Homelander had been in a long time!
…
Kara was taken aback by Homelander's sudden enthusiasm towards her, but she still thanked him politely for his praise before walking back towards her friends.
Madelyn watched Kara put on that display and she felt herself panicking inside! 'Vought has fucked up big time!' Homelander didn't just have one secret child, but two!
"How old are you, Kara?" Madelyn asked.
"I'm 18." Kara said her age in Earth Years.
Madelyn grit her teeth. 'Somehow Vought had missed this girl for 18 years!?' Someone was getting fired over that. Madelyn desperately hoped it wouldn't be her. She already knew that Stan Edgar was going to be furious.
Madelyn took a calming breath before turning to Marcus and Megan. "Why don't you go next Megan? What are your powers? Is your green skin natural?"
Megan bit her lip before turning to Marcus and Kara hesitantly. She turned back to Madelyn, and to Marcus and Kara's surprise, her green skin disappeared and was replaced with a pale white. "No…this is actually my natural skin color." She said.
Part of Megan was still waiting for that hatred that came with being a White Martian to appear from Marcus or Kara, but to Megan's surprise, neither of them, or anyone in the room cared that she was now white.
"You know," The talent agent said. "I think you look better with that ghostly pale skin. It's even more exotic than the green! Albinos are really in right now! Your approval numbers could be big!"
Megan didn't care about that guy's opinion. She turned towards Marcus hesitantly.
Marcus could tell that she was looking for approval, of some kind, from him. His meta knowledge, of DC in general, allowed him to know that she was really a White Martian and that they were treated very badly on Mars. "You can be any color you want, Megan. I do think you look pretty hot as an Albino though." He said with a laugh and Megan playfully punched his shoulder with a big smile on her face.
That was all the confirmation Megan needed. White Martians, like her, could live on Earth and face no scrutiny for their color!
"Is that all you can do?" Madelyn asked, a bit unimpressed.
Megan shook her head before she too started to levitate off the floor. She then put on a display of her own amazing powers. Flight, invisibility, telekinesis, and shape-shifting. She kept her telepathy a secret for now.
Needless to say, everyone in the room was once again blown away by her abilities.
"Hah! She's like translucent, but better!" Homelander said with a laugh. He was already wondering if he should just get rid of The Deep and Translucent and replace them with HIS daughter and her friend.
"Wow…" Madelyn said as she once again had to recollect herself. That was another unbelievable display of abilities. Once again, she was frantically wondering how Vought missed out on such a talented girl? Her gaze turned to the boy last. Would he have amazing abilities as well?
"I guess I'm up then?" Marcus said. He stepped away from Megan and Kara.
"So what can you do, kid?" Homelander asked begrudgingly. Judging by the way HIS daughter was fawning over Marcus, Homelander figured he should be at least a bit impressive as well…
Marcus stepped forward to the center of the room. Two beautiful Angelic Wings burst out from behind him. He started levitating off of the ground without needing to flap them. He then held up his hand a golden Lightspear formed in his hand. He hurled it forward towards one of the training dummies and it punched a burning hold directly through it.
Homelander let out a whistle as he looked at the training dummy. It had a large hole in its torse that was producing searing heat. Homelander could feel the heat coming off that spear. It was like a real life lightsaber.
'Those looks and those wings!' Madelyn was incredibly excited! Supes were always marketed as the chosen children of God…and now they had one actually that looked the part. 'LITERALLY!' Madelyn knew that Vought had struck utter gold with all three of them! Marcus alone should be enough to get Madelyn out of trouble for not knowing about Kara, as well.
Marcus landed back onto the floor and Megan and Kara rushed over to him.
"Your wings are so beautiful, Marcus!" Kara said. His wings were way more beautiful than the wings of the Thanagarians that she learned about in her schooling on Krypton.
"Can I touch them?" Megan asked.
Marcus shrugged. "Sure."
Megan smiled and her hands immediately started stroking his wings. He did his best not to shiver. It felt a bit strange, but nice. He jumped slightly when he felt another pair of hands on him. Kara had unashamedly joined in and was also rubbing his feathers.
"Wow! They are so soft and warm!" Kara said.
"They're so fluffy!" Megan added.
Starlight also wanted to touch his wings, but she held herself back from asking. That wouldn't be very professional now that she was a member of the Seven. Plus, she didn't personally know Marcus. She figured that he and the other two girls had probably been friends for years judging by how they all acted so close. Little did she know that it had actually been less than a day since they'd all met…
"Okay, enough wing rubbing!" Homelander yelled in irritation and broke the three teens up. He didn't like how HIS daughter was so close to a boy already. He'd only known he was a father for a few minutes and he was already feeling overprotective! 'At least the boy she liked was a somewhat impressive Supe…' He thought begrudgingly.
Megan and Kara both realized they were rubbing Marcus's wings in front of a bunch of people. They backed away from him and blushed.
Marcus's wings retracted into his back and he also remembered that most Angels or Fallen Angels are only supposed to let their "lovers" touch their wings. They were considered sacred for their race after all. He laughed. What just happened would have been considered very scandalous up in Heaven.
"OK, then!" Madelyn said loudly, drawing everyone's attention. "Vought is prepared to offer, each of you three, a very generous contract if you sign with us! On top of that, I can personally guarantee future entrees into the Seven whenever any future spots pop up!" Madelyn added.
Starlight gasped at that offer!
Madelyn knew that she could technically not promise that, but they're abilities were so amazing that she doubted anyone would argue with her later. Marcus or Kara could be the next face of Vought's heroes in the future.
"I guess we'll sign on then." Marcus replied. This would take care of their money and housing problems for now. He'd also be able to get an insider look at working for Vought by joining up with them for a while. 'Besides, Vought was just some regular American corporation at the end of the day. What was the worst that they could really be up to?' Marcus thought.
XXX
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