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Torn Cape by gothicjedi666

X-overs & Boys Xover Rated: M, English, Adventure & Crime, Queen Maeve, Words: 65k+, Favs: 109, Follows: 117, Published: Sep 26, 2023

10Chapter 1

I used a CYOA to set myself up as a new hero in the world of The Boys or at least what passes for a hero in this world.

Commissioned by The Hero Named Villan.

Torn Cape

Part 1

Rooftop. New York City.

Even from up here, I could still hear the sirens as the emergency services sent out their forces to try to handle the damage I'd done to this city due to my rather energetic arrival.

The people of this city were lucky that the ROB who had set all of this up, after my sudden death, hadn't dropped me onto the city from orbit as that would have made much more of a devastating impact, and I might have even survived it.

As it was I'd wrecked some sort of apartment complex. I wouldn't say that I'd totally demolished it and I didn't think that I'd done too much harm to the locals upon my arrival when compared to what could have happened, yet I must have killed quite a few people.

I should feel bad about that, however, I couldn't bring myself to care much. I should be feeling a at least little guilty even if it wasn't really my fault. Had I been a better person then my crash landing on this world could have guided my future actions.

Perhaps I might have set out to become a real superhero, to make amends for the harm done to this city. Alas for the locals that just wasn't in my nature. I simply couldn't bring myself to care about the fates of total strangers.

Maybe this was due to me having become Half-Viltrumite thanks to me being able to set up my new life, or maybe I'd always been this way and now that I was a superior being, I just didn't have to pretend to have empathy towards people who I would never interact with.

Granted, I had chosen my method of arrival, with some encouragement, but I'd been under the impression it would be like time travel in the Terminator movies. That there would be a lot of flashy effects and I'd turn up naked, not that I'd destroy people's homes.

I'd managed to fly out of the crater that I'd made of some park after crashing through that block of apartments, hopefully, before anyone got a good look at me, and I was glad that it was nighttime.

Because of the darkness and the sheer speed of my arrival. No one should be able to pin the blame on me for the ROB's actions. The sudden storm that started with my arrival should have helped with that.

Before anyone could see me I'd flown off, rather slowly at first and then I'd found this rooftop to hang about on that gave me a great view of the city. I didn't yet know how to make use of my new powers so it was good that flying turned out to be so simple.

I would have been soaked to the bone right now if not for my Rider Belt which had deployed a set of armour for me, to keep the rain off. The suit also contained its own AI. Having my own version of Cortana would be a big help in the future.

While looking down at the streets below I saw one of the many advertisements. I could see that in this world Superheroes were everywhere, they were the new gods, revered by millions maybe billions of people, and no pantheon was more worshipped than The Seven.

They were the Justice League of this dimension, The Avengers, at least in the eyes of the naive, and they could have been a great threat to me if their hands weren't so bound by public opinion, as long as they cared about the opinions of the masses they little more than slaves of Vought.

As I began to formulate my plans for this world and for mw life, I quickly realised that I would need to become one of The Seven if I was going to rise to the top of this society. Something I had to do before I could begin to shape it.

Sure I could have become a real superhero, one outside of Vought's control, and served as an example of what a superhuman hero should be, but I'd already ruled that out since it wasn't in my nature to be so selfless.

Besides, as a superior being, I had every right to be adored as members of The Seven were. That a group of mere humans were considered to be so far above me rankled my pride. I wouldn't have minded so much if they were decent people. Okay, maybe Mavue wasn't that bad, and Starlight was simply naive, but the rest were only it for f and fortune.

I considered taking over directly using brute force, as there wasn't anything short of a nuclear strike that could threaten me, but that wouldn't work out well as I'd have no support or any way of actually ensuring the people were accepting me as their leader, other than simply killing anyone who didn't now before me.

No, I'd need to climb the social ladder, gather followers, become wealthy, obtain resources and then take over once I was ready to seize power.

Maybe if enough superhumans teamed up they could threaten me. Only that would never happen as they were divided by their own pettsues and without unifying none of them were strong enough to threaten me.

Homelander was the only superhuman who might be able to hurt me one one-on-one. Viltrumites were vulnerable to intense heat and he has hihadaser eyes, however, Homelander was merely a bully and wouldn't know how to handle someone whose abilities surpassed his own.

He might have a mental breakdown just from finding out that there was someone so much stronger than him in this world.

I'd slap him down if I needed to and if he went crazy before lashing out because he was no longer top dog, then I would be there to save everyone. If he could be made to serve me, then I might have some use for him.

My plans didn't end with me becoming the top dog in the superhero business. No, I was thinking of becoming something much grander. In time I would take over the entire world and rule, but since I could live for thousands of years there was no rush.

It wouldn't be easy. I'd have to win the respect of the people and become powerful in different ways. I'd need to master my powers without the guidance of a teacher, that would take time and effort.

In the short term, I would need to set myself up. I would need money, food, and a place to stay. Then I could think about getting myself a reputation as a superhero. While I had no intention of helping others out of some sense of civic duty, playing the role would be necessary for my plans.

"Cortana," I said to my suit's AI.

When working with the ROB to set all of this up there had been no question of who my AI would be and I knew from the start that having her on my side was vital to my plans. Aside from having someone who could gather and sort information for me, Cortana could easily hack the computers of this time. They were extremely primitive when compared to her.

"Yes, Boss," replied the AI.

Cortana's image could be seen by me since I was wearing my helmet and I could hear her voice in my ear.

"I need you to find someone for me," I told her.

Assuming that the ROB had been telling me the truth, then it had only been a week since A-Train, The Flash of The Seven, had run right threw Hughie's girlfriend. Because of this Hughie, one of the main characters, would meet Billy Butcher before long and that psychopath would drag poor Hughie down a dark path.

Not that the fate of a single human mattered to me, it was just that I'd rather not have Butcher's little group of terrorists getting in the way of my plans. Best to deal with them quickly so that I could focus on what mattered.

"I'm looking for a white male called Hughie" I informed Cortana "He works in an electronic store and lives here in New York".

That wasn't much to go on.

"He lives with his father, if that helps," I added "And he won't be a manager because I remember that his girlfriend was trying to get him to talk to his boss about a promotion".

Before long Cortana had a lot of information about Hughie Campbell for me to go over. She'd shown me some photos to narrow down the search as Hughie is a more common name than I'd thought.

After the death of his girlfriend Robin, Hughie joins The Boys in ordetongeance on superheroes and he becomes the love interest of Annie/Starlight. He also becomes increasingly savage due to Butcher's influence as the series progresses. He outright murders one of the Seven despite that superhuman having walked away without harming Hughie.

"I found him. He's employed at Bryman Audio" Cortana let me know "It's not that far from here".

She even hacked into the video footage for the store's security system for me. Now, I could see a very depressed Hughie Campell at work.

"Keep an eye on him I want to know the moment that a man called Willam Butcher makes contact with him" I ordered.

That wasn't something I needed to deal with right away and The Boys weren't the only issue I'd need to handle The ROB had given me the challenge of having to deal with some antagonists from other fictional universes.

My adversaries wouldn't simply be out to kill me, at least not all of them, as that wouldn't be much fun. They would want to foil my plans, challenge me, to give me obstacles that I would need to overcome. All for the amusement of the ROB who had set this up due to somehow having mishandled my soul, and to ensure that I didn't get bored in my new life.

"For now, I need somewhere to stay, and some sort of ID. I need to have been born in this world," I said "Cortana, can you help me with that".

The ROB had clearly altered her to look more appealing to me and the image she projected in my field of vision was distracting, to say the least.

"Boss, I'm a UNSC AI" she reminded me "The servers here might as well have no security at all. I could bring 21st-century life crashing down around us if that is what you want".

I wondered if she'd actually do that if I commanded her to. Not that I would since I wanted a world filled with modern comforts and a population that was easily controlled by social media.

"No need for that" I assured her "Just sort out some kind of ID for me and I'll need a lot of cash if I'm going to stay in a nice hotel for a while".

My thinking was that if I could throw enough money at someone they'd let me stay somewhere even without a passport or driver's licence to show them. I was British so I could pretend to be a tourist who had lost his personal effects.

"Give me a fake name and I can have you booked in for a luxury suite at the New York Ritz in mere moments," Cortana informed me.

Wow, she was good.

"Nolan Grayson will be my name," I told the AI.

Getting things in motion didn't take long.

"Find a few ATM ATMs I'll get you all the money you need" Cortana offered "Then you'll need to go pick up the driver's license that I just fabricated for you at the nearest DMV. It's closed so you'll need to break in. I'm also diverting some funds around on the web and creating a proper identity for you in this world".

I was very impressed by her work.

"You can do that?" I asked.

She seemed amused by my question.

"We're in New York in 2019," she pointed out "From here we're connected to the whole world. Creating the physical documentation was the hard part since I can't fabricate things for you directly. We will need our own base of operations for that".

The problem with setting up a base is the issue of there being no place on Earth I could go where the governments of the more advanced nations could not spy on me and I would need a secure location as a base.

It wasn't until I looked up into the night sky, and saw the clouds parting to show the moon, that an idea struck me. In his show, Invincible was able to fly to the moon, heck he'd hung out there and had a telepathic conversation with an alien. Therefore I should be able to fly to the moon and back without too much trouble.

"Cortana could you help me set up a base on the moon if I fly us there?" I wondered.

She took that query in stride.

"It depends on how much you can carry" she mused "And how long you last on the surface of the moon. We'll need to do some testing, but if you can fly that far and hang around for a while we could set up a base. We'll need some prefabricated buildings, and I can design those for you. We'll use a numberseveralnt companies to provide us with what we need".

Cortana showed me some diagrams.

"Setting up a moonbase is well within the capabilities of the people of this world the issue is that it would cost more than any country can afford to transport all the required materials to the moon," the AI told me "And it wouldn't be worth the expense. But you can just fly there and you should be able to set things up if I give you precise instructions".

If I had a base that no one else could reach, at least not without recreating the Apollo Programme, then I'd have a secure place to work from. I could imagine that from within that base, as long as I had the right equipment and supplies, Cortana could build me all sorts of things.

Once I had a better grasp of my powers, it might be possible for me to fly to other planets in this solar system, and to bash apart asteroids for raw materials.

"Get started on that" I instructed.

I'd need a proper home here in New York before I put much effort into a moonbase, and there was plenty of fun to be had here on Earth. So no rush.

Torn Cape

Part 2

Hotel. New York City.

Former Cerberus Operative, Miranda Lawson drank a glass of something expensive, that she'd gotten from the small bar in this rather costly suite, as she thought more about the extremely unexpected twist her life had suddenly taken.

From her perspective a few hours ago she'd died while trying to get her little sister away from their insane father.

Shepard had done his best to prevent the loss of life, as he always did, however, Miranda Lawson had died in her lover's arms, or should that be the arms of her former lover given that he had gone back to his asari partner.

Whatever, it had all been very romantic if you liked that sort of thing, and Ori's safety was what had mattered most of all.

Yet rather than simply fade away or end up in Hell, which Miranda admitted to herself was something she deserved given some of the things she'd done, the genetically engineered woman, had been offered a new chance at life by a very strange creature.

Miranda had been okay with dying, but she'd chosen to keep on living even if it meant starting over somewhere new as death was so final. As such, she'd found herself on some version of Earth in the early 21st Century.

There were worse periods and places she could have ended up in, it wasn't as primitive here as it could have been, but for a woman used to space travel and sharing the galaxy with alien races, this world seemed so backwards even if New York was nicer than some colonies she'd been forced to spend time in, and at least it smelt better than Omega.

The entity that had offered her a second chance wanted her to act as the enemy of another person who had also been offered a new life. She didn't have to kill this person, who she knew next to nothing about currently, but she and others had to be their enemy.

Miranda got the impression that this was all the amusement of some great power who must be bored of its existence, and while others might resent having their lives directed by some higher being, she was ready to play her part.

For all her intelligence and power she'd never been much of a leader, but give her a task, even one that seemed impossible, and she find somfoundy to carry out her mission.

She wondered about those other people who like herself wouldn't belong in this universe. Had they all chosen to come here rather than die?

They would not be allies of hers, not unless she made truces with them and they would all be in this for themselves. so they couldn't be trusted. As such, Miranda knew that she would have to take precautions and have plans ready for when she was betrayed. She would need to be prepared to betray others.

Miranda didn't have much of a choice in all this as the alternative was death and never getting to see her sister again. Oriana was still in a galaxy filled with Reapers and people who had worked for her father.

The entity who clearly getting something out of all of this, had promised Miranda that her sister would be brought here should her efforts prove entertaining. She didn't know if that was true, and she was willing to take the entity at its word since it had no reason to lie to her.

To carry out her objective, Miss Lawson knew she would need to be in a position of power to challenge someone who would prove a worthy enemy to her and in that she had a valuable ally.

EDI, or at least some version of her, had been installed into her Omni-tool, despite the device not having nearly enough processing power to run such a complex series of programs.

"Are you feeling well Operative Lawson?" asked the AI.

All things considered, she was feeling okay.

"I'm fine, EDI," she said as she addressed the hologram "I'm just thinking about what happens next".

With her own skills and a 23rd-century AI that had access to a vast amount of information, there wasn't much Miranda couldn't do as long as she made good plans. Defeating some unknown enemy was important, but there was so much more she could accomplish while here.

She'd studied history, she studied a lot of everything, so she knew that this time in human history was one when humanity needed to deal with many challenges it didn't seem willing to face.

In her time most industrial work took place in other parts of the solar system, and the resources brought in from off-world had been used to tackle poverty. Sure Earth in her time was far from perfect, but before the Reapers came the standard of living had been improving.

Thinking on it Miranda wondered if she could push this version of humanity into space. Without access to Element Zero, there would be no means of reaching other solar systems within a human lifetime, but there was a whole solar system out there ripe for exploration and terraforming was always a possibility.

Simply dumping the information on the Internet wouldn't work, that would cause a lot of problems, so she'd have to disseminate it carefully and use it to progress mankind's development during her own long lifetime. Thanks to her gene enhancements she still had a lot of life ahead of her, as long she didn't get murdered.

If she made herself very rich and powerful while doing that then it would just make it easier for her to be a good enemy for whoever it was she went up against.

She'd know who that was soon enough, as well as the identities of the others who would come here to challenge her. The higher power had given her the chance to settle in first, and some time to prepare. She intended to use that time well.

It was tempting to go off the grid, to disappear, so that she could strike from the shadows, but she'd never be able to stand such a life and it wouldn't allow her to make something of herself.

So she would let herself be seen. She'd become a public figure and invest in a great deal of security.

If she made herself valuable enough then no one from this world would want to hurt her and she'd find a way to deal with this enemy when she knew who and what they were. Then perhaps she could make a deal. Just because these other people were her enemies that didn't mean they had to slaughter each other. There were other ways to be an adversary and some wars were cold.

Miranda would need to negotiate from a position of strength and that meant becoming wealthy very quickly.

"EDI how is going acquiring me those credits?" she asked.

Miranda was still learning about this world, and she knew no matter what she ended up doing it would be easier if she had plenty of funding, and there were no banking VI in this world to prevent EDI from getting her those funds, or at least altering people to the tampering.

"Dollars, Operative Lawson" the AI corrected "And it has been simple to acquire the funds you desire".

There were plenty of wealthy old men to steal a little from. It all added up.

"I'll need to set myself somewhere permanent and secure," she told the AI.

She already had a new identity. Miranda had been born in Brisbane, Australia, in the year 2150, and it wasn't much work to alter her date of birth and to create the Lawson family, who according to this added bit of history, had been a wealthy and reclusive lot ever since the first European settlers had reached that country.

Miranda would need to have graduated from some business school if she was going to enter that arena. Altered records wouldn't be enough, she'd have to patent certain bits of technology and convince a few people that they had known her their entire lives.

The former Cerberus Operative wasn't worried about that. She performed long-term undercover missions before, this wouldn't be much different, and she'd never had an AI to help her before.

"I'll look into acquiring a suitable property," EDI informed.

This hotel suite was nice, but she would need a proper home and a private space for her work.

"Alright EDI," said Miranda "I'm going to get a few hours of sleep. I have a feeling that we'll be busy tomorrow".

The AI stopped projecting her hologram, but she didn't stop working, they both had a lot to do in this new world.

Streets. New York.

Jason Todd AKA The Red Hood, certainly felt as if a bomb had gone off, yet when he woke up he wasn't in that abandoned building in Crime Alley with rumble all around him, he wasn't in any kind of cell, nor was he again dead.

He'd escaped death for the second time, thanks to the invention of some higher power. Maybe the third time would be the charm. Not that he was eager to go find out.

Jason found that he was outside in a more well-lit area, and it was raining. He wasn't even in Gotham anymore, that city had a certain feel to it that Jason could feel the absence of whenever he left the city. If nothing else this place smelt a lot better.

The Red Hood then remembered. He'd blown himself up when Bruce had refused to do the right thing and finally end The Joker, so he'd decided to end them all in one big boom.

Looking back he wasn't quite sure what he'd been thinking when he set up. It would have made far more sense just to kill the clown in front of Bruce and then use the bomb as a diversion to escape, or better yet he should have just killed the Clown and had it out with Bruce.

Maybe his dip in Ra's Al Ghul's magic pit had messed with his mind. Thankfully he was thinking much more clearly now and starting to see the mistakes he'd made. This was good as Jason knew that he was going to need his wits as well as all of his skills if he was going to not only survive in this new world but prosper.

As Jason Todd found some shelter in yet another abandoned building, he wondered what exactly he was going to do with his new life. He couldn't go back to Gotham since he knew it didn't exist in this world and he had a job to do here.

He'd made a bargain and now he had another role to play. He needed to be an enemy of some other toy of that cosmic being. For this he would need all of his skills and tools, some minions wouldn't go amiss.

Bruce had trained him well, and Jason could acquire some new toys easily enough once he got his hands on the right materials. Even now he was far from helpless, but since he didn't yet know who or what he would be going up against he needed to be prepared for anything.

That would cost money, as would a proper place to stay, and thankfully he had a way of obtaining all the money he needed.

Sure he didn't know New York as he did Gotham, but Bruce had trained him very well, and he knew how to find crooks easily enough, he'd learned that they were similar in their actions no matter where you went.

First of all, he needed some weapons, and that could easily be sorted by breaking into the right place. Then he'd locate some street-level dealer before he began working his way up the food chain until he found the bosses.

The upper-level crook would tell him everything he needed to know before they died and Jason took over his operation. Red Hood knew how to make a man spell his secrets without things having to get too messy.

He'd done it before and he could do it again. He'd rise to the top of the criminal underworld and this time there would be no Batman to get in his way, and he doubted that the cops here would fair any better against him than those in Gotham.

Jason would need to take control of at least part of the drug trade to make sure he had plenty of income, and from there he could branch out, and offer protection against other gangs, as well as whatever capes they had in this world.

There would be heroes, there were those who felt they had the right to inflict their outdated morality upon others, who went around thinking that their actions made any difference in a world that needed someone to give it a proper cleaning up.

Todd knew that he'd have to move fast as before long the cosmic being would let him know who he was up against and they would know at least a little about him. So he'd needed a secure base and some security to start with.

That would have to wait a few hours. He'd had a very long day and he needed some sleep. Tomorrow he would begin to do what needed to be done.

Torn Cape.

Part 3.

Bryman Audio. New York City.

Once again I was hanging about on a rooftop and sadly the view wasn't very impressive from here as there were many taller buildings around. At least this time it wasn't raining.

As I stood and waited I once again wondered if I was going about this the right way. I'd selected a path for myself that would serve my needs, but I could still go another way. I could try to be the good guy even if this world wasn't built for them.

I could be the very thing that all those naive people thought Homelander was, a true hero, a Superman, someone that people could look up to and make people feel as if there was hope for the future.

Although I would never wear a cape I could still be a great hero. I could try to guide the other superhumans onto a better path.

With the technology Cortana had access to mankind could advance itself at a rapid pace. It would just have to be carefully managed and I felt certain that my AI companion could manage that while I saved kittens from trees or whatever.

Nope, I just couldn't summon any willingness to go do that. It would be a lie and I'd tire of it quickly as it wouldn't be any fun.

This was my new life, my second chance to find some sort of happiness, and I didn't owe it to anyone to spend time working in their interest.

"Vought International hosted its 2019 Shareholder event this week," said the news reporter as I watched her show via my helmet "In a public address The Deep of the Seven announced the retirement of Lamplighter and introduced their newest member Starlight".

Events were playing out as I'd known they would. Starlight had joined the Seven and become disillusioned with it very quickly thanks to The Deep.

Cortana was doing a great job of filtering out the unimportant information from the news channels, such as the endless adverts, to make sure that I only heard and saw the important stuff.

This meant I had plenty to think about as I stood on the roof of the electronic store and waited for the fun to begin.

I'd not been lazy while waiting for Billy Butcher to make contact with Hughie Campbell. By following the instructions of my AI I'd been able to set myself up in a Manhattan penthouse apartment and to ensure that I had all the right paperwork.

As soon as Translucent died, an event I planned to bring about a little sooner than in the show, The Seven were going to need a replacement. Invincible, or whatever it was the media labelled me, would become that replacement.

Soon I'd appear all over the city and start to save people. Cortana was already working on a program that should allow her to predict crises and crimes which I could respond to. Vought did something similar just with much more primitive methods.

It would be important to gather my own following online if I wanted to join The Seven. Which was where I needed to be in order to reach the heights I desired.

If nothing else it would be easier to slaughter all of The Seven if I knew when they would all be in one place. I didn't think it would be much of a fight if I took that course of action.

Although I did hope to subvert The Seven and Vought, to make use of the organisation so that it could serve my plans. I could bring it all crashing down later on if needs be.

Heck, I wouldn't even need to get my hands dirty as Cortana could destroy the company electronically with just an order from me. Destroy its stock and expose incriminating information to the world.

Once people got a look at me in action there was no way Vought would be willing to pass up on the chance to acquire a superhero whose powers would appear to be much like those of Homelander.

I would have to make sure not to look too powerful when performing my rescues as I didn't want that man-child to realise that I could surpass him, at least not yet.

Also, I need to be enticing to Vought without making myself look like too much of a threat to them. That was why I wouldn't wear my armour when saving people because if nothing else Vought would want to put me in a costume of their own design.

The armour disguised me and enhanced my abilities, so I wanted to keep its existence hidden as I did the existence of my weapons.

"Vought also premiered its plans for the future, in which a superhero will guard every city in America" reported the news anchor.

The pretty woman on the screen wasn't the only person with something important to tell me. As expected I now had information on my adversaries.

"For now, we have two opponents to worry about" Cortana let me know as she displayed some pictures "A man known as the Red Hood and a woman called Miranda Lawson. Do those names ring any bells, boss?".

They did and they were surprising choices. I wondered what the ROB had been thinking when he chose them.

"I know of them," I told my AI.

The Red Hood was a comic book character and he was a peak human anti-hero. Given his training he could be a threat to me as like his mentor he had the intelligence to find a person's weaknesses and the willingness to exploit that weakness.

Jason Todd wasn't his mentor's equal and he wouldn't have excess to Bruce Wayne's fortune, but I would be foolish to assume that this meant he couldn't a real threat as he was willing to use lethal force.

Not that he nor Miranda Lawson needed to kill me to be my enemy.

Thinking about it I quickly reasoned what the Red Hood would do. He had no allies to call upon and no flashy superpowers as such it would make sense for him to do here in New York what he did in the Gotham of his world.

Going up against me even was going to take more than a few toys and special training. While I'm no Omni-Man, and sure I might only be Half-Viltrumite, I knew that it takes a lot of sheer power to hurt us with mere brute force so I wasn't worried about physical attacks.

Aside from setting himself up as a crime lord, so that he would have access to plenty of money, and maybe some minions, I figured that Red Hood would take the time to study me, to suss out my weaknesses, which I did have.

Only when he was ready to defeat me utterly would he strike and he'd do so when I was expecting it. Assuming that he was mentally stable enough for such a plan.

I shared my musings with Cortana before I began thinking about the other person she had named.

Miranda Lawson was in my view a very odd choice for the ROB to choose as someone for me to go up against given she was someone from a very different setting than this one. However, she was a sort of spy and could be very dangerous.

She might be able to pass off her biotics as a superpower given to her by the use of Compound V but didn't think she'd come at me that way or try to join the Seven.

Miranda Lawson was not the hero of her story, that was Shepard, she was an administrator and sometimes an operative. So how would she transfer her skills so that she could become successful in this world?

I just couldn't see her trying to become a superhero. Was there anything like Cerberus here? Would she join up with some sort of intelligence organisation? Maybe go into business?

I wondered if she'd try to seduce me. I might let that happen since she was very attractive and I had been thinking about having a few children to help me rule. I'd have to be careful with them and not let them team up against me.

"Boss, something is happening" warned Cortana.

She showed me some CCTV footage of the door to the store opening on its own. Either a ghost was haunting the electronics store or someone invisible had just entered.

It would be Translucent, The Seven's invisible superhero, a power he possessed thanks to his carbon metamaterial skin that bends light, which also made him bulletproof.

He was a master of stealth, he could sneak anywhere and give bad guys the surprise of a lifetime. Given that he'd walked in the front door it seemed that he was not expecting trouble in dealing with Hughie.

"That's him," I said "Now we just need to wait for Billy Butcher to drive his car through the store's window".

This happened soon enough and I jumped down on the street as I grasped the handle of my darksaber.

I didn't really need a weapon and one came with my armour anyway, so buying a lightsaber hadn't been the best use of my points, yet I'd been unable to resist purchasing the weapon.

It did make for an interesting weapon of murder because no one else had one in this world, at least not yet, and the wounds it was able to make should baffle whoever did the autopsies.

Once I was inside the store I moved fast, killing Hughie Campbell before he could do whatever it was he did to disable Translucent. He was a mere human and the darksaber ended his lift with next to no effort by me.

Translucent, who was invisible and wrestling with the cockney punisher was tougher to kill. His strange skin actually resisted the energy blade.

Alas for him a lightsaber could defeat the blast doors on a starship so even the bulletproof skin of Translucent only slowed down the blade as I drove it through where I guessed his heart to be.

"What the fuck" Billy Butcher had time to say.

His head hit the floor before he could do more than stare at me while cursing, and his body joined it a moment later. With that, it was all over.

"Fuck you, canon timeline" I muttered.

I decided to take Translucent's body with me as I wouldn't mind having Vought waste some time looking for him. I could throw the corpse into space without much trouble.

"Boss, I can't find any trace of a Red Hood" I was told.

She wouldn't since Todd would be living off the grid and would know how to cover his tracks.

"Just tag any police reports involving harm done to criminals and go over them" I ordered "You'll find a pattern or at least an idea of what Todd is up to".

I'd look at them later.

"Oh, I found Miranda Lawson" reported Cortana.

She showed me a new image and a file as I took the air, letting my black armour blend me in with the night sky.

"A graduate of AIM Business School" I read out "The Australian Institute of Management Education and Training. Heiress of the Lawson family, and she's already opened up her own technology company".

She'd gotten that done fast. Something I commented on to Cortana.

"I think she has her an AI with her," said my digital companion.

Now that did surprise me.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

That was worrying. Cortana was advanced, but I didn't know how well she'd do against another of her kind.

"The AI she's teamed up with, it is very good at covering up its tracks" my companion let me know "I'd say it was designed for electronic warfare because I'm seeing some of the tricks I've used myself when I didn't want people to know they'd been hacked".

By now I'd stopped up in the air because I needed to think. I held onto the invisible corpse of Translucent as I hovered above the city.

"EDI," I said "She's an AI who works with Miranda Lawson in the Mass Effect series. She starts off as this electronic warfare AI for a warship and grows from there".

Having an AI partner was serving me very well, and Miranda Lawson was smarter than me. This made her much more dangerous than I'd originally thought.

"This EDI has been avoiding me, and she seems to know that I already exist" I was informed.

I looked over the file that Cortana had already put together for them.

"She has a house just outside of the city. I think we should go visit her" I said.

Since Miranda was the person I was supposed to PVPing against EDI shouldn't be an issue if I just went over to Lawson's place and crushed her skull. But that might not be the best idea as the ROB will simply send someone else.

I knew Miranda Lawson I was sure that I could handle her, so perhaps we could come to some sort of truce.

"Are you going to kill her?" asked a curious-sounding Cortana.

She wouldn't try to stop me or render any kind of judgement. That wasn't her purpose.

"We'll see how the night plays out" I answered.

First I needed to get rid of the corpse I was lugging around. Then I would go see Miss Lawson and decide what to do with her.

Torn Cape.

Part 4.

Private Residence. New York State.

Miranda Lawson couldn't help wondering if she was becoming like her father. She didn't need a home as large as this yet she'd brought it anyway when EDI had offered to quickly get her moved in.

Until now she'd actually preferred her living spaces to be much more basic and small because she liked to keep things orderly.

Now she had a mansion that she was never going to find the time to keep clean.

That meant having some staff who she would have to order about, as her father used to frequently when Miranda was going up.

She hoped that she would do so with more manners and a lot less shouting. As she'd gotten older she hated her father's yelling more and more. That man had always loved the sound of his own voice.

At least she could somewhat justify the house as a means to impress potential allies, and it was easier to keep her work private when the neighbours were miles away.

Despite that, she knew she could have settled for a nice apartment within the city and found ways to keep her activities hidden.

It might have even made things easier for her given how many meetings she would need to attend in the future as she entered the world of business.

Her father had always felt the need to show off, and to have the best, a big house, the newest aircar, and the perfect child.

If the old bastard hadn't been such a good businessman with an accountant who'd known how to get around quite a few tax laws, Henry Lawson would have ruined himself long before Miranda was even born.

As for the perfect child. He'd never gotten one of those despite how much time, credits and effort he'd poured into that project.

Even Miranda, who was as close as he'd gotten, hadn't measured up to his impossible standards. No matter how much she studied, trained and tried to please her father it had never been up.

She really hoped that she'd be a better parent when it was her turn, and while she hadn't planned to become one when first making her plans.

It did seem like the best way to handle this half-viltrumite who was calling himself Nolan Grayson, at least according to the file that EDI had been sent from somewhere.

Miranda Lawson didn't know what a viltrumite was, but given the context in the file, she figured that this Grayson was part alien, as silly as that sounded.

Even the asari didn't actually breed with other species despite what some idiots thought and yet breeding with someone with alien DNA looked like it would be a good way for Miranda to gain some control over this Grayson.

His file supported the idea that he could breed with a human and that he could control his own fertility because he'd chosen to be able to do that. This feature also removed any issues the woman might have with her pregnancy.

She didn't have much of a choice other than her sexuality as some sort of defence, and unless this Nolan was a complete monster he was unlikely to harm the mother of his child.

At least not while she was pregnant, and that would buy her some time because this Nolan Grayson was going to find her sooner or later. She'd not made any effort to hide.

Getting knocked up during a PVP was risky, however when compared to the Red Hood guy this Grayson seemed to be a much greater threat.

Perhaps she could get them to go up against each other if she played her cards right. From what she knew of this Red Hood he wouldn't be a threat to Grayson in a straight-up fight.

That combined with the fact that she was already thinking about how to use a child against his or her father, showed that in her case the apple really hadn't fallen far from the tree.

"Operative Lawson," said EDI as she projected her hologram "TSomething is headingthis way".

Miranda had been able to install a few sensors around the property. They were rather crude things compared to the technology she'd gotten to use as the leader of a Cerberus cell, but she had to make do with what she could fabricate with her omni-tool.

She watched via a camera as a man in normal-looking black clothes simply dropped down to the ground in front of her house as if he hadid not needo employ any kind of stealth.

From what Miranda had read on the file she'd been provided with he didn't need to worry much about anything short of a nuclear strike. If that had been an option she certainly was going to escalate things that far.

Grayson was powerful enough to fly through space, he had super strength and super durability. To make matters even better they were known to be a violent race. AlHoweverhe same could be said for humans.

If he was anything like that Homelander, and he was likely much more dangerous, then nothing she had would do more than annoy him. Any direct conflict was out of the question.

Good thing she'd slipped into some nightwear and Miranda was if nothing else something of an actress. So she made herself appear to be relaxed and poured a drink for herself along with her guest.

She considered using poison, but she had no idea what was lethal to a viltrumite, she knew how to kill humans that way, but she didn't know if they would work on a half-breed or even if he was half-human. Although his picture suggested he was.

He wasn't at all bad looking now that she'd some proper images to check out. Tall, dark-haired, and powerfully built. His fashion sense could use some work. Perhaps she could offer some tips.

She did feel an attraction to powerful men and he was supposed to be some sort of superhero, his superior genes mixed with her could make for an amazing child.

Cold-hearted of her to use a child that way, but seduction was her only option here. She needed to play for time and gain some sort of leverage over a man thwhoould kill with ease.

Well, at least she wasn't going to be bored, and she was doing this to survive, not because of her ego, unlike her father. She would treat her child right.

"EDI go dormant" she ordered.

"Logging you out Miss Lawson," said the helpful AI.

The doorbell rang and Miranda took a deep breath before she went to answer it. When she did she made sure she looked a lot more confident than she currently felt.

"Hello, Greyson" she greeted.

It took quite a bit of effort for him to look into her eyes and for once she wasn't offended or even annoyed that he was staring at her breasts, because it was a good sign. What if he'd been gay or into blondes?

"Lawson," he said.

There was no sense in having their discussion outside.

"Come on in" she invited.

She turned her back to him leaving herself vulnerable. Not that it mattered since she felt fairly certain that she could spend the clip in the pistol she'd been carrying when appeared in this world and that it wouldn't have made any kind of impact.

"You've done well for yourself" commented Nolan as he took the drink Miranda offered.

EDI had detected another AI poking about on the Internet. EDI had avoided that intelligence and Miranda knew that there was a chance this unknown AI was in league with Grayson, yet there was no reason to confirm anything by admitting she had help.

"I've infiltrated much more sophisticated societies," she said.

Nolan clearly knew something about her. Given that he could relax in her presence that meant he knew she wouldn't be stupid to directly attack him and that he likely had some knowledge of her skill set.

"I'd like to propose a deal" informed the former Cerberus Operative as they sat down.

If Grayson had been intending to outright kill her he'd have done it already of that she felt mostly certain.

"What kind of deal?" inquired the hybrid.

At least he was willing to hear her out.

"I don't want to die. Not again." admitted the genetically engineered woman "So I've decided to give you a reason not only to spare my life but to protect me".

He looked interested.

"I've seen your file" shared Miranda "So I know you can control your fertility and that you can breed with other races".

Grayson betrayed a little surprise. This made her realise that he might not have known that his adversaries would have access to that much information about him

It might also mean he'd not been as well briefed as her. She wondered if this was some attempt by the power who had set all this up to even things out just a little.

"So I want you to put a baby in me" the 22nd Century woman then said.

Grayson needed a moment before he could reply to that. He might have been expecting her to use sex as a tool, but clearly, he'd not thought that Miranda would suggest making a baby together. At least not so soon.

"Why would I give you a child who you could raise to hate me or even use against me?" he questioned.

So he wasn't an idiot. That was good she'd hate for her child to inherit their smarts from his or her father if he was a fool.

"Because that would take a couple of decades and I wouldn't cut you from access to your own child" she pointed "Besides if the entity who sent us here keeps sending more people after the both of us we might need each other's help".

Sometimes you had to make alliances with one enemy to defeat another one.

"Allowing me to be the mother of your child or even children, would motivate you to protect me," she said.

She figured that Grayson saw the logic in this.

"It might still end up with the two of us facing each other down," he said.

But that could take years, decades if she got pregnant a few times. Miranda was in this for the long haul, and not just for herself.

"I have perfect genes and I want the strongest man in this world to mix his genes with mine" she stated "And you can fuck me for fun if that is what you want. I wouldn't let any other man touch me, and I wouldn't expect you to limit yourself".

If Nolan was the jealous type she pitied any man who tried anything. Not that she couldn't handle the man of this world on her own and frankly she wasn't interested in any romantic relationships.

Falling in love with Shepard had been unexpected and wasn't likely to happen again. No one would have compared with John in any case.

"Generous terms" commented Grayson.

They had to be.

"I'm not stupid" pointed out Miranda "You basically a version of Superman who doesn't let antiqued morality chain him down".

The former Cerberus Operative stood up and let her nightgown drop to the floor to show the tasteful bra and panties she wore underneath. She didn't know Grayson's taste so she hoped this outfit worked.

"Grayson, I'm ready when you are" she declared.

She didn't want to give Grayson time to think too much about this offer. She wanted him to trust his male drive to reproduce with the best female on offer.

With a smirk he took up the offer and moved over to her, to grab her and start touching her. There was nothing romantic about this arrangement, yet she didn't mind the feel of his strong hands on her body.

From a practical point of view, Nolan was the best choice as a father to her offspring since he was powerful enough to protect them from almost anything, and if his abilities were hereditary as the file suggested they were, then their children would be superior to everyone else on the planet.

Miranda didn't think about this for much longer. Grayson seemed to know exactly what he was doing and while she attempted to take control of the action he was having none of that.

Like some sort of caveman, he began doing what he pleased to her. He ripped her expensive underwear, leaving her naked for his viewing pleasure.

This wasn't what she had planned. She'd want to take him to her bedroom, and then ride him to orgasm. She'd planned to use her words to flatter his male ego and to find out what words he liked to hear.

Yet there was something primal and enjoyable about letting this superior example of a male bend her over the arm of the couch before he began to undress.

He was going to fuck her and Miranda didn't doubt that despite her preference for controlling the action during intercourse, she was going to enjoy it.

She was wet for him, and even if becoming pregnant was part of her plans to survive, she found herself wanting this to happen.

Lawson didn't even mind that he spanked her arse a few times, after all, she wanted him to keep coming back for more, for him to desire her. So it was good to know what he liked to do to a woman.

To that end, she'd let him do what he wanted to her, and she wouldn't even have to pretend that she was enjoying it since his file suggested he'd take measures to make himself superior to other men in many ways.

He felt very good as he forced himself inside her perfect pussy, which she had used to get what she wanted from many a man and no doubt it would again.

Miranda really began to enjoy what was happening. She'd never had sex like this before. She'd never let herself simply take it. Apparently, she'd been missing out.

"Yes! Y-Yes, Fuck me! Please fuck me harder! Breed me! Knock me up!" she yelled.

She was going to be used by him, she was here to be fucked, to be impregnated, so all Miranda could do was be fucked.

Miranda quickly lost the power of speech as her body responded to what was happening to her. She wanted this man's babies to grow inside her. Her biology was demanding this of her.

Nolan had his hands on her hips so he could push her back into him as he forced his cock deeper inside her. He spoke to her and she made no effort to reply as the only thing that mattered to Miranda was that he cum inside her.

He did so when he wanted to, and when it happened it barely registered as Miranda had already orgasmed, and her brain had been flooded with endorphins.

As the night went on and Grayson fucked her a few more times before leaving some hours later because he had something else he wanted to go do.

That night, Miranda Lawson forgot her concerns about becoming more like her father, at least for a while.

Torn Cape.

Part 5.

Abandoned Building. New York City.

Serge or Frenchie as he was called was not someone who I had originally cared enough about to take out because with Billy Butcher there were no The Boys to get in my way.

Alas for poor Frenchie I'd come across him because among other things he was a weapons dealer and thanks to my AI I knew that the city's new crime lord was using money taken from the drug trade to purchase weapons.

Cortana hadn't been able to track down the Red Hood himself, he was off the grid and used to hiding, but she was able to work out some sort of pattern for his movements based on his interactions as other criminals weren't so careful about who they spoke to.

This had brought me to a boarded-up Tony Cicero's restaurant that really should have the police swarming given how many crooks I'd seen coming in and out of the place.

"You never take me anywhere nice" complained Cortana.

I rather liked having an AI companion with a sense of humour.

"We've been to the moon" I pointed out "Some women tend to think of it as romantic".

I'd needed to go there to find a suitable site for my moonbase. Cortana had ordered the creation of a few specialised prefab buildings from many different companies that I would later be able to move from Earth to its only natural satellite.

Before Cortana could finish pointing out that the moon was an airless lump of rock covered in craters and therefore not romantic, I spotted my target.

"Someone went to a lot of trouble to delete this guy's history" said Cortana "There's hardly anything in his CIA file and I can't find him at all in the police's database".

That made sense since The Boys had worked for someone high up in the CIA. I just couldn't recall who and it didn't much matter since if that organisation ever came after me I could dismantle it with the help of Cortana.

"Looks like they are having a meeting as expected," I said.

Not unexpected given that the Red Hood was known for organising criminals. He would offer them protection from the capes in exchange for part of their profits and access to certain resources.

That was why I'd not already killed Frenchie and his friends, as while it would be good to kill a man known for coming up with ways to defeat sups, he wasn't a big deal compared to the Red Hood.

Once it looked as if everyone who was coming to the meeting they were holding had arrived, I deployed my special armour that covered up the outfit that Cortana had sorted out for me by ordering parts from different companies all over the seaboard.

I didn't really need armour I just wanted an outfit that would stay together as I flew about and fought crime. It was very important that my two sets of armour remain separate as I didn't want anyone to associate Invincible with the guy who was going around butchering criminals.

It was part of my long-term plan for the public to see Invincible, a name that I had supplied to the media as a Superman-like figure and I didn't mind saving people as it was a good way to test my abilities.

"This is where the fun begins" I whispered.

I detached the darksaber from my belt and smiled because I knew that there was no chance of anyone figuring out that it was a type of lightsaber due to Lucus having never made the Star Wars movies.

The superhero genre had grown to dominate the film industry over the decades, starting at the end of World War Two until the point that by now the folks in Hollywood made little other than superhero movies.

As such Lucus had spent his career working on those kinds of films in more of a support role. Sad that no one in this world got to see Star Wars the original trilogy, but at least they were spared from the disappointment that the movie franchise became.

The guard at the door, who pretended to be someone just hanging around having a smoke was the first to die as I swooped down from above and almost bisected him. If not for the feature of lightsabers cauterising wounds then I would have made quite a mess.

I wasn't going to bother with stealth as I had the ability to overwhelm my targets with sheer force. With that in mind, I kicked down the door and headed into the boarded-up restaurant which was as expected filled with weapon dealers.

Because of this I suddenly had a lot of people reaching for the merchandise or guns they carried on their person. Not that it mattered I was on them before the shooting started and no bullet was going to do me any harm.

I simply ran forward and began cutting crooks down with my darksaber, I enjoyed this, the feeling of power, knowing that I could end so many dangerous men with such little effort.

There was a lot of screaming as I killed, I didn't even know if I managed to end Frenchie, who was a target of mine even if he wasn't a very important one.

Any concern I had over that man's fate became unimportant to me when I got hit by something with enough kick to it that I was made to stagger backwards and it left me feeling dizzy.

One weakness we Viltrumites have is our inner ear, which is delicately balanced and part of why we fly so well. Thousands of years of evolution and getting used to moving through a full 360 degrees of motion in the air has its drawbacks. Someone was exploiting this weakness.

As I'd known he would be The Red Hood was here. He'd come out of the kitchen with a grenade launcher that must be loaded with something very potent to have staggered me.

He fired again and again, each time causing me to be pushed back, and the next thing I knew the entire building was collapsing on top of me.

As I quickly dug my way out, I was surprised by what happened, the grenades hadn't done much to me, but the fact they had been more than annoyance meant that the Red Hood had been able to put together some sort of weapon that could at least slow me down.

At the very least he'd been able to buy himself enough time to get away and maybe saved some of his new minions who would now owe him.

"I'll start designing you a person shield" offered Cortana "Something that helps you handle concussive force".

While she did that I was going to go have a drink. I had a headache and I was in a foul mood. It didn't help that I had no idea if the Red Hood somehow knew about one of my few weaknesses or if he'd pulled out that trick because he knew he was dealing with someone with superpowers and screwing with my inner ear had been unintended.

"That would be helpful," I remarked.

I would have another chance to deal with the Red Hood. He was just a mortal man. I would find him and put my fist through his chest.

Vought Tower. New York City.

Stan Edgar and Madelyn Stillwell sat in Madelyn's office as they watched the video that had gotten the attention of many people around the world.

A new superhero was flying around the East Coast, waging a one-man war on criminals and saving people from their own stupidity. Compared to the heroes under the employ of Vought this new cape was very active and also very good at his job.

Not that either Stan or Madelyn cared that his new hero was going out of his way to keep causalities down and reduce property damage when possible. They only cared that this new superhuman wasn't under their control.

"He hasn't stopped to talk to the press much," said Madelyn "We know that he calls himself Invincible, but beyond that, we don't know much other than he's from across the pond".

Of course, she'd found Invinicible's public identity, he was no one special and seemed to have come into his powers recently. Nolan Grayson had inherited his wealth and done nothing with it.

"He's foreign?" asked Stan "So where did his parents get the Compound V from?".

Superheroes didn't just pop up they were manufactured.

"We have no idea" said Madelyn "It's possible that he doesn't even know the source of his powers and he appears to have no interest in discussing the matter when he does bother talking to people".

As Vought's Senior Vice President of Hero Management, it was Madelyn Stillwell's job to manage the world's greatest superhero team, The Seven.

It was also her job to ensure that they were profitable for the company to keep despite the trouble they could cause, to that end, she'd taken an interest in this Invincible.

Her ambitions went beyond merely having superheroes fighting crime on America's streets; she desired to put them in the military, through a multi-billion-dollar government contract, and this Invincible might be able to help her with that.

"I assume you want to bring him under our umbrella," said Stan "You don't need my blessing for that".

He was quite happy to let Madelyn handle the talent while he did the actual work of running Vought.

"I want to bring him into the Seven" stated the Vice President.

That did surprise the CEO of Vought International even if he barely expressed it.

"He's not even part of the company" Stan pointed out "We have entire lines of heroes ready to compete for a place in our flagship team".

This was an odd move, but Madelyn had her reasons.

"I think he might one day be a match for Homelander," said Madelyn "He flies, he's strong, he's fast, he's bulletproof and I think he's still discovering what it is he can do. I think this Invincible could help us keep Homelander in line".

Stan was willing to listen. It had always been a fear that Homelander would grow impossible to control if he ever stopped caring about the admiration of the masses. Thankfully the leader of the Seven was so eager for validation and affection that Madelyn was able to keep him on a leash.

"What if he is like Homelander?" enquired Stan.

She had already thought about that.

"Invincible is still flexing his muscles" she said "I think he's out there learning what he can do and isn't prepared for what it means to be a superhero. He could do with some guidance and I intend to offer that. If I can get to him before he's too certain of himself I think I can guide him in the right direction".

Stan smiled just a little. Madelyn had always been good at dealing with the talent.

"As long as they don't team up we can set them against each other if we have to" he mused.

Madelyn knew that there was no chance of Invincible and Homelander becoming friends as the current leader of The Seven was much like a dog. He wouldn't like having someone around who could challenge his dominance.

"And what if he's worse than Homelander" the CEO wondered.

Madelyn had already thought of that.

"Then we brand him as an enemy and set The Seven on him," she said "We have enough supes on the payroll to bury this Invincible in bodies if we need to".

Stan gave this some thought.

"It's not without risk, however, having someone to pit against Homelander could be useful" he reasoned "But if he isn't strong enough he might not be worth the investment. Still, we can risk anyone else getting their hands on a superhero that powerful".

He wasn't interested in how exactly Madelyn would get this all done and he could trust her to have already thought of the details. She wouldn't have asked him to come to his office if she didn't already have a well-thought-out plan of action for acquiring this Invincible.

"I assume you want Invincible to replace Translucent," said Stan "Is there still no trace of him?".

Madelyn knew that she could get the blame for this and it was part of why she wanted to get a new superhero on the team so quickly. Invincible was becoming a household name and people would forget all about Translucent as soon as she could dangle Invincible in front of them as a distraction.

"None at all" she replied "As far we can tell he isn't anywhere on Earth".

Given that he could turn invisible there wasn't much chance of ever finding Translucent if he didn't want to be found and he seemed to have figured out a way of removing his tracking chip.

"Pity," said Stan without any conviction "He's in violation of his contract so let's wash our hands of him".

Neither of them had ever liked Translucent as he was known to be a pervert.

"This Invincible he dresses like Soldier Boy" commented the CEO as he rewatched the video "But without the iconography".

Compared to what most superheroes wore the outfit was rather practical and sedate.

"My department thinks he's trying to project strength without coming off as overly hostile" the Vice President informed her superior "And he isn't American so he won't be wearing the red, white and blue".

They had entire teams of people who could come up with a new image so it wasn't important.

"He sees himself as a warrior, not a soldier," remarked Stan as he got up to leave "Something to keep in mind. Now if you'll excuse me I do have a meeting after what will sadly be a short lunch".

Madelyn stayed in her office and watched as Invincible tore the door of a van, pulled out the driver and then handed over the crook to the police before flying away.

The superhero didn't stick around to receive praise, or make any statements, he got the job done and then left. He was a very different kind of hero and she would have to figure Invincible out if she was going to get him into the Seven.

Torn Cape.

Part 6.

Penthouse Apartment. New York City.

"So I didn't even rate a visit from Madelyn Stillwell in person," I said as I answered the door of my penthouse apartment "Please come on in Miss Barret".

Thanks to Cortana I had this fancy apartment wired up. No one could get near the place without her knowing it so I'd know that Ashley Barrett was coming to meet me before she'd even entered the building.

This kind of security was required because I was sure that by now quite a few groups had figured out who Invincible was when he was at home. Once the general public found out I might have to move.

The woman I let into my apartment was someone I knew well enough as I'd studied the files my AI had gotten me about the people working at Vought.

Ashley Barret was Madelyn Stillwell's assistant and had been assigned to handle Starlight as she settled into the Seven. Given that Starlight had never fitted in with the Seven and never could have due to having morals, then Miss Barret had been doomed from the start.

"Thank you, Mr Grayson," she said choosing to ignore my first remark "Or can I call you Invincible".

I didn't care either way, neither of those names meant anything to me. If the ROB ever sent a magic user after me it would be wise to keep my real name hidden as some types of magic could make use of your real name.

"Call me Nolan" I offered.

While I was disappointed that I hadn't rated a home visit from someone more important there was no sense in acting rude.

"Can I get you something?" I asked.

She politely refused and followed me into the sitting area.

"So what does Vought want from me?" I inquired.

It had just struck her that she'd never introduced herself.

"How do you know I'm from Vought?" she asked.

"I knew who you were as soon as you entered the building" I admitted "I have wonderful security".

No need to go into the details. Not that she would have understood them. I didn't understand a lot of it.

"You are Ashley Barrett, you work in public relations for Vought and I'm a superhero," I said "It's not hard to guess why you are here. You've been sent to recruit me".

She pretended not to be upset that I had stolen her thunder. No doubt she'd thought that I would be amazed by her offer and grateful to her for coming here to offer it to me in person.

I was actually a little insulted that the leaders of Vought had sent a lackey, but I was doing my best not to show it.

I'd seen the show and read her file so I knew that Ashley Barret was not a good person, she would suck up to whoever had power and she'd be willing to stab me in the back in a second if it meant advancing her own position or simply maintaining what she had.

"As a matter of fact that is why I am here" stated the woman "You're trending hard right now and your public approval is through the roof. This is the time to capitalise on your success and jump right into The Seven".

She no doubt expected me to be shocked by this. However, I kept my cool.

"I'm not interested in making more money," I said "I have plenty so I don't need to capitalise on anything".

Once you had your penthouse apartment in Manhattan and enough money to never have to work a day in your life the desire to obtain more wealth seemed rather pointless.

I could always have Cortana get more money if I really wanted it. Perhaps my lack of interest had to do with the fact that I wasn't putting in any effort to obtain money.

"Money isn't everything," said the Vought representative.

Judging by the look she was giving me Ashley thought me to be a little unhinged.

"Vought can manage your career, we have the best lawyers in the world, we can protect you from any fallout" she was now saying "Then there's the chance to have your own movie trilogy, a TV series, and think of the merchandise. You could have a music career or have books written about you. Who wouldn't want that?".

They really should have sent Madelyn Stillwell in person or just had this fool invite me to meet with her.

Vought didn't want to come off as too eager and they were prepared for me to reject the offer since there had been no word online about Vought seeking a replacement for the invisible guy who vanished some time ago.

That or they wanted to make sure it was a done deal before making any declaration to the public. I would find out which before too long.

"I don't have a career" I pointed out "I'm just helping people out. I'm not an actor, nor am I musical and my life isn't something for people to find amusement in".

It was easy to forget just how shallow the heroes of this world could be. They could dominate the planet or act as the true guardians of this world, instead, they were too busy tweeting to bring about any real change.

"Be a good little minion and go back to Madelyn Stillwell" I ordered keeping up a somewhat friendly tone "Tell her to call me when she wants to take this seriously".

While it might make sense for me to simply take up the offer I knew that I needed to play hardball or Vought would spend the next month trying to screw me over with contracts. I was the desirable one, they needed to seduce me properly.

"What?" asked Ashely "You can't just refuse to join the Seven. There are plenty of people out there just waiting to enter the big leagues".

The idea that someone wouldn't jump through hoops like a trained dolphin just for the opportunity to join the Seven was an alien one to this poor excuse for a human being.

"Then you don't need to waste your time with me," I said.

The poor woman simply sat there looking not unlike a goldfish that had been left out of the water.

"Was there anything else?" I asked.

She managed to get herself together long enough to make her way out of the building.

"So do you think they'll send Homelander to intimidate you into joining?" I heard Cortana say.

If so that would only aid my plans as I could send him packing and that would make me even more attractive to Vought.

"I don't know" I replied "I suspect that when Barret reports to her boss that I didn't appear interested then Stillwell will invite me to meet with her personally".

That should have been their opening move. They should have tried to impress me with a tour of the tower. Did they not want me near Homelander this soon?

He was unstable and might find me threatening enough that he'd do something stupid if his handlers didn't manage him right.

"Until then we need to make sure that I remain beloved in the eyes of the public," I said.

Which meant going out there and stopping more criminals.

If I had the means I might even make a supervillain appear just so I could defeat them. The me who went around with my darksaber while wearing armour couldn't perform that role since that would require me to be in two places at once.

Besides only a few criminals had ever seen the guy and they had pictures to post online, nor did they wish to draw attention to themselves by telling everyone about the other me.

Red Hood couldn't play that role for me as he clearly didn't wish to work with me at all, and I'd knocked up Miranda so I didn't want her in any kind of danger.

So unless the ROB added another player to the mix I'd have to keep myself popular by helping people in danger. Which wasn't such a bad way to pass the time.

Thinking on Red Hood I realised that I should have hit those weapon merchants harder and faster. I need to get a better grasp of what it was I could do and maybe try to train myself.

I also needed to finish what I had started with those arms dealers. In the short term at least Miranda wasn't a threat as she wanted a cold war, however, I couldn't let Red Hood obtain too much in the way of resources, wealth and manpower.

Even with the help of an AI, there was still much for me to do. Cortana would find me my target once he poked his head up above whatever hole he was hiding in.

"Find me some people to help," I instructed Cortana.

With that, I went to get changed.

Vought Tower. New York City.

Madelyn Stillwell was not as alarmed as she might have been when she heard that Invincible had little or no interest in becoming one of the Seven.

It was surprising, but Madelyn had known that there was a chance that Barret would manage to screw things up. At least she could clean up this mess.

"There's no need to get upset, Ashley" she assured her assistant "Sometimes negotiations take time. He only refused our opening offer, and it was a rather vague offer"

The less experienced woman didn't see things that way. She was pacing and mumbling. Barret really needed to learn how to take these things in stride or she'd have a mental breakdown sometime in the next few years.

"Who refuses to join The Seven?" said Ashley "No one does that".

Stillwell had an answer to that question.

"Someone who either has no idea what he'd be passing up or someone who is playing hard to get," she said.

The Vice President unmuted the television and the two women watched as Invincible pulled off another daring rescue.

A house fire had gotten out of control, trapping a family on the top floor of an apartment block. Invincible had gone in and saved the family, much to the joy of the onlookers.

"He's going to be all over social media" stated Ashley "And we can't manage any of it because everyone knows he isn't one of ours".

Madelyn had dealt with superheroes who had been unwilling to make themselves an asset to Vought.

Only they had always been more low-level supes, a few of which had actually cared about helping their communities, even if such types were few and far between. She'd worn them down and gotten them under her thumb.

Offering more money was pointless. Invincible had more than enough, as such offering anything he could buy by himself was also a waste of time. She would have to offer this man things he couldn't get on his own.

If Invincible did for some reason actually care about people, or at least want people to think that he cared, then she could use that against him.

Many heroes openly supported worthy causes that actually did some good in the world, even if they existed to help save Vought a few million since they were all tax deductible.

Failing that there was always the promise of sex. Not with herself, but there were always desperate young women who would whore themselves out if meant they could hang on the arm of a rising star.

Young men could be controlled by Madelyn in many ways.

"Are you sure you even want this guy in The Seven?" asked Ahsley "We've been looking for ways to make the team more diverse and he's a white male".

Had they known that he was half-alien this wouldn't have been a concern. Although it certainly would have caused other issues.

"Invincible has something that matters more than diversity" answered Madelyn.

The less intelligent woman clearly didn't grasp what that was.

"He has power, Ashley" the smarter of the two women explained "That is what matters. We can't have someone with that kind of power just going around doing whatever he wants".

Having another woman on the team would have been great, or a man with some sort of ethnic background, and they could always make room if needs be. Not all of the Seven had powers that were flashy enough to impress the public.

"What the fuck is this?" a voice demanded.

Madelyn knew that her job had just become more complicated. Homelander must have found out about the attempt to recruit Invincible and how it had so far failed.

News got around this building fast and even without that Homelander had superhearing. It bothered her that he saw and heard so much.

"Who the hell does this guy think he is?" the leader of the Seven demanded to know.

Madelyn gestured for Ashley to leave. It would be better for her to handle him alone.

"If you are talking about Invincible then don't worry, I have it handled" she assured Homelander.

He wasn't soothed so easily.

"What, does he think he's too good for us?" the man in the cape asked.

Madelyn worked to hide her smile. It was good that Homelander felt a little threatened as long as he didn't actually do anything about it.

"Is he starting his own team?" was the next question.

That couldn't happen. Invincible was only able to act outside the law without Vought backing him because he was so well-liked. However, if he put a team together he'd been seen as too much of a threat by those in power.

"Invincible is just playing hard to get" Madelyn assured Homelander "He might have some idea of how much he is worth, so he can afford to make us dance to his tune for a while, but don't worry I'll seal the deal. I always do".

Homelander gave the matter a little thought.

"I can go and meet with him" he offered.

Madelyn wondered what the result of such a meeting would be. But she needed to get more of a measure of the man before she put up against Homelander.

If Invincible proved too difficult to bring under her control then perhaps she'd have Homelander deal with him before he became too strong.

"I'll take care of him" she promised "Don't I always".

For now, she needed to soothe Homelander and then set up a meeting with Nolan Grayson.

She was confident that she would find something that he wanted and once she knew what that was she could use it to guide this new superhero.

Torn Cape.

Part 7.

Mons Bradley. The Moon.

Thanks to the base that I was working on under Cortana's instruction I could now listen to news shows from Earth while on the Luna surface so I was keeping in touch with what was happening on the alternate version of my homeworld.

The prefab buildings I'd flown here and then set up were just the start I was now working on digging into the solid rock so that we could have all sorts of things stored here that would remain hidden underground.

Cortana wanted to be able to fabricate equipment for me, and I wanted somewhere to store anything I confiscated because if the ROB was going to be spending more people for me to fight in some sort of PVP they were bound to bring things with them that I wouldn't want to fall into the hands of the natives.

Just having access to Compound V had in many ways radically altered this world making it very different to my version of Earth even if many things were similar. This made it clear to me that I didn't want any of the major factions getting their hands on magical items or advanced tech.

I was taking a break from punching my way into a mountain on the moon that was about four kilometres high and had a thirty-kilometre diameter.

It was actually rather time-consuming work because I couldn't go full force with damaging the buildings that I'd set up and needed those intact because I could only go without oxygen for so long.

Sure I could fly back to Earth for a break, but it was best to stay up here and focus on my work. If I let myself get distracted I wouldn't get anything done.

I needed a base that no one on Earth could reach, at least not without putting a lot of funding into the space programme, and even if they did that I had plans to relocate to Mars once I had some way of carrying enough air with me.

"Minecraft makes this look so much easier than it really is" I commented.

Cortana was eager for me to keep working.

"Buck, up boss," she said "There are a lot of useful minerals here"

I envisioned having vast stores of gold hidden inside my base. My AI had different ideas.

"Here on the moon we will find vast amounts of iron, magnesium, calcium, aluminium, manganese and titanium" Cortana informed me "All of which are valuable resources for us if we want to build a proper base and start building some spacecraft".

Even Cortana couldn't build an FTL drive, but we could help mankind colonise the solar system.

"In your opinion has the appearance of Invincible played an important role in the sudden decreased of crime here in New York?" asked a voice.

Cortana was keeping me informed about how the public was seeing me. It was important for my plans that I remained well-liked by the sheeple.

"I would say yes" answered the government official who was speaking to some daytime radio host "Compared to most superheroes Invincible isn't wasting all his time peddling merchandise and attending movie premiers. He's out there helping people and making an effort to aid law enforcement without supplanting its authority".

There was a pause to let the listeners absorb those words.

"You make it sound as if the other heroes out there are lazy, at least when compared to Invincible," said the host.

I hadn't expected people to pay much attention to how much effort I was putting into my work.

"Aren't they?" questioned the guest "How many people do the heroes working for Vought actually save each month? I know the answer because I have access to police reports from all over this state and the numbers would surprise you. Even those heroes who actively patrol neighbourhoods don't save as many lives as you might think. Heck, some of those so-called heroes are the reason for 911 calls. Invincible goes out of his way to keep injuries and property damage to a minimum".

Impressive considering how new I was to my powers even if I did say so myself. Maybe the other supes had gotten lazy. They certainly did spend a lot of their time at events getting their photos taken rather than acting as if they were heroes.

I knew this, I just hadn't known that there were people who weren't happy about it, and I'd thought that the people in authority would be supporting this because it kept the supes too busy to cause any real problems for them. Such as fighting corruption.

"That's going make Vought even more eager to get their hands on you" commented Cortana "You're making their heroes look bad".

As I got back to work an image popped on my helmet that let me know Miranda Lawson was heading to my penthouse.

"What does she want?" I wondered.

Cortana didn't say anything she knew that question had been rhetorical. I knew that I would need to go and find out for myself so

I quickly flew back to Earth. Slowing down as I entered the atmosphere as I needed to worry about the intense heat caused by reentry.

The sonic boom caught up with me as I landed on the roof of my apartment building. Lucky for the people in New York I'd decreased my speed while some distance away so there was no damage done to the city and the boom sounded as if it came from far away.

Before going inside I took off my armour and let it return to the belt from where it had been deployed. When I got into my apartment Miranda Lawson was already sitting on my couch and had helped herself to something to drink. Non-alcoholic I hoped.

Upon seeing her I was reminded that Henry Lawson had designed his child to be genetically perfect, to be superior to every other human woman. She was stronger, faster, smarter, and apparently, sexier as well.

The outfit she wore, some sort of tailor-made business suit, was accentuating every curve of her body. Drawing attention to her large breasts and spankable ass.

She raised her head as I entered the room and smiled at me.

"I went to the doctor's office" she said rather than greet me "Well done, Daddy".

That was she pregnant didn't shock me as I decided that she would be allowed to be the mother of at least one of my children. I just hadn't thought she'd know for certain this soon as we'd not fucked that long ago.

"How did you get in here?" I asked.

Miranda smiled again.

"You're not the only one with an AI" she reminded "Your security is great, but it's not foolproof when your AI isn't heir to watch the system".

Cortana didn't say anything and neither did the AI that Miranda had with her. Which I assumed would be EDI.

"I thought we should celebrate so I brought some sushi" Miranda let me know.

She seemed very happy.

"Looking forward to becoming a mother?" I asked.

She stood up and took off her jacket. Letting me see that she'd undone a few buttons on her blouse.

"Things haven't been easy for me," she said "Before I died I was spending my time moving from safehouse to safehouse to avoid my old boss tracking me down".

Miranda moved closer to me.

"Then when the war started I was trying to dig up some old contacts to procure resources for the Crucible" she was now saying "Add to that all those meetings I had with Admiral Hackett who needed to go over everything I knew about Cerberus, and things got rather stressful for me".

She was telling me this so I would feel some sympathy for her. I did care since while I am a self-centred jerk I'm not incapable of feeling empathy for the people who are part of my life.

"Then I was searching the entire galaxy for Oriana. That led to a lot of messy business on Horizon" she added.

Horizon had been the location of a top-secret Cerberus base, a testing ground for technology meant to turn the indoctrinated slaves of the Reapers against their masters. I had no idea how that would have stopped the Reapers themselves since they were self-aware starships with a lot of weapons. They would have simply blasted the Cerberus base from orbit.

"Compared to that setting up my own business and becoming a mother doesn't seem so scary" she was now saying.

I was interested in hearing more.

"You're setting up your own business?" I asked.

Miranda was happy to tell me more.

"Cerberus Defence Contracts" she answered "Cerberus, the one I worked for, was originally supposed to be about defending mankind from a hostile galaxy. It only became about human domination later. I want my company to take up that role and to prepare mankind for the future".

Noble goals. I hoped that she stuck to them. My long-term projects should also benefit the human race.

"That leads me to my other reason to visit you" confessed Miranda and she undid her blouse and exposed her large breasts to my eyes "Grayson, I want you to join Cerberus and be a superhero mascot for my company".

Now this was a surprise.

"You know we are supposed to be enemies" I reminded her "I shouldn't be helping you with publicity".

Of course, she hadn't forgotten.

"You plan to join The Seven, I'm attempting to derail that plan by luring you over to Cerberus," she said as she took off her blouse "Although it could benefit you because if Vought heard that you were even thinking about working with me they'd be more eager than ever to get their hands on you. There is a small concern that they might target Cerberus, but it's more their style to throw money around to solve their problems".

Miranda's tits were an impossibly arousing sight, firm and gravity-defying, and her nipples were noticeable even through the material of her bra. She noticed my staring and the reaction her body was having to mine.

"Did I do that?" Miranda said as she smirked at me "The mighty Invincible isn't so hard to deal with".

In a few seconds, she had unzipped my trousers and freed my erection from its confines,

"Hard to imagine you managed to fit this bad boy inside me" she teased.

As her fingers wrapped around my shaft, she stroked the tip with her thumb. This made it tricky for me to focus on our discussion.

"I assume your plan is to trap me with some sort of contract so you can limit my rise" I reasoned "Maybe I'll even be around to protect you from Red Hood and whatever else the ROB throws at us. Is that the plan, Miss Lawson?".

She didn't verbally confirm or deny it. Instead, she went for a distraction.

"How do you want me?" she said.

I'd think more clearly after I'd fucked her.

"Up against the wall," I ordered.

She slowly walked over towards the adjoining wall, treating me to the sight of her firm ass swaying from side to side as she moved into position.

Miranda placed her hands on the wall and pushed her ass as she moved her legs apart. She clearly had no issue with letting me do what I wanted to her.

To start with I cupped her breasts from behind. As I squeezed her tits, she moaned with pleasure and I could tell that she was pushing into the wall.

Slowly, I slid my hands downwards, away from her breasts, so that I could remove the skirt that looked as if was something she'd wear to a business meeting if she wanted to distract any men in the room.

"Have you been showing people what is mine?" I wanted to know.

I enjoyed that little shiver of fear she displayed when I asked that. I wouldn't hurt my baby factory and she must believe I wouldn't or she wouldn't have requested that I get her pregnant, but she still feared my power.

"No," she said "Never. I promise. My body is yours, Nolan".

I enjoyed hearing that.

"Well I don't see my name on you" I joked.

Miranda made a sort of whimpering sound that was adorable.

"Let me sort that out. I'll fix it" she promised.

Once the skirt was done with I stopped to admire the underwear she'd worn for this encounter. A black thing that looked like I could floss with it.

She had clearly dressed with me in mind and she was willing to have sex with me so as to try to get me to do what she wanted. As such I didn't feel bad about using her.

"You came prepared" I commented.

She was more relaxed now.

"I always aim to impress, Grayson" she replied, craning her neck around to look at him "Do you like what you see?"

No heterosexual man could have resisted the sight. At least not in my opinion.

"What a silly question," I said.

I pulled down her panties until they were bunched around her ankles and then I got them off her. She was not going to get them back.

The former operative's ass was now on full display for my viewing pleasure as well as for touching. I squeezed her cheeks and slapped her ass quite a few times. I enjoyed how her backside got redder.

Miranda took it and made noises that suggested that she actually rather enjoyed the treatment. I rubbed her pussy for a little while to make sure of this. She was wet.

I undressed and while she turned her head to look at me she stayed in position. She understood that my commands were to be followed.

"So, Nolan," she said as she breathed in deep "Which hole do you want?".

Before long, I began pushing my cock into her waiting asshole. She was clearly eager to be fucked this way or she thought it would make me more accepting of her idea. Not that it mattered to me as I was going to fuck her arse and do it well.

"Fuck that's a big cock!" she yelled.

Her body tried to move away from me so I grabbed her hips and pulled her back. She kept her hands on the wall as I used her. It was a very good thing that I had no next-door neighbours since my home was at the top of the building. Anyone below me would just have to suffer the noise.