Work Book 2

"What happened? You were in there for a few minutes." Legend asked warily, keeping his hand up as we emerged from the portal.

Lucy held up a finger. "Sun, you explain. Gonna be busy." She uncorked the bottle of wine and started drinking from it. Well, more chugging than drinking. Can't blame her. It is the cure for her brain damage, at least if Zagreus was telling the truth. I wouldn't want to hold off on that either.

So I turned to Legend and shrugged. "Time's a variable. We were in there for about half a day. Kind of lucky, because if we took too long we wouldn't be coming back at all. We were brought in rather quickly."

Legend nodded slowly. "The Butcher?"

I shook my head. "They're gone. Not coming back, either. Their shades are in the Underworld. Along with... I'm not sure what, but their source of powers. They're dead too." I tapped the side of my head. "Just me up here. Challenger's got no powers now, either. Aside from super-drinking, I guess."

Legend's eyes widened slightly behind his mask. Then he pursed his lips. "You realize I can't just take your word for it?" He looked to Lucy, who had already gone through half the bottle. "Uh... what's going on?"

I sighed. "Medicine, basically. Just in wine form. Otherwise Challenger was going to die from having her power ripped out. I also figured you couldn't take our word for it. Not sure how we can prove that the Butcher's gone, but it is."

Legend slowly dropped his hand. "I have some ideas about that. Will you come with me?"

I grimaced. "Long as we don't end up in the Birdcage. I'm less concerned for myself than Challenger."

He nodded. "Understandable."

There was the sound of breaking glass as Challenger dropped the bottle. She took a moment to lick her lips, then giggled. "First of all, that was doog... I mean... good. Wine. Yes, wine. Thart was amazing. Secondly... I'm going to regret that in about ten minutes."

Legend seemed somewhat bewildered.

I winced. "I don't suppose you have a teleporter on hand? Challenger might get a bit carsick."

He shook his head. "Not on this short notice, and it'd probably end up terribly anyway." He sighed. "Right. We'll head to New York. I'll have to make some calls, sort things out."

Lucy let out a belch. "Yeah.. Going to regret that real soon." She clamped her hands around my body and rested her head on my shoulder. "Mm. You're snuggly."

I sighed. "I'm going to need you to let go if I'm going to fly us back. You can nap in the truck."

"Don't wanna. You're warm."

I wonder if Superman ever had to deal with something like this?

Right, yes he did. That crazy queen from Almerac. At least Lucy wasn't that bad.

Maybe.

----------

In an interrogation room in the New York Protectorate, Lucy and I sat. Well, I sat. Lucy was on my lap, giggling as she cuddled into my neck. She still stank of wine despite it being some twenty-four hours later.

I suppose that's what happens when you get godly wine and chug it down. Most people would just get sick, but apparently Dionysus decided just how long you had a good time without so much of a mess. At least unless he hated you. Then the party would be short, but the hangover would last months.

It took a few hours before the door swung open, and Director Wilkins walked in. He gave me a gentle smile. "Sunstorm. It's good to see you again."

I lifted an eyebrow. "It's good to get a warm welcome. Not worried about us being the Butcher?"

He chuckled. "One of the things we keep on the down-low is the existence of certain Thinkers. We have one who can see powers. They're pretty useful for weeding out the actual parahumans from the deluded and insane. Usually an actual power is pretty obvious, less so with Tinkers and Thinkers. Having a detecting Thinker here's been helpful." Wilkins crossed his arms, letting out another soft laugh. "Hell of a mess."

I shrugged helplessly.

Lucy murmured as she dozed on my lap. "Shucks. Just blad it's blone."

I blinked as I tried to parse that. "Sure you don't want to sleep through this, Challenger?"

She let out a hum of contentment, gnawing on my shoulder. Go figure, she was a really cuddly drunk.

Wilkins looked amused. "Not the usual side effect of medicine, last time I checked."

I sighed. "I've seen worse, just hope it works right. So what's happening now?"

Wilkins nodded, taking a moment to fold his arms. "Like I said, it's a mess. The Birdcage order has been rescinded. Attorney-General MacIntosh is under an investigation. It's not likely he'll be removed for this, though. Most likely his authority over the PRT and Protectorate is going to be limited or removed, so the Chief-Director would answer directly to the President."

I grimaced. "Not exactly good consolation. I get why everyone involved was afraid of me going nuts, but it still sucks being on the receiving end of it. We managed to handle it, which I couldn't have done if I'd been stuck in the Birdcage for some shit some maniac did before I arrived. If it had gone just for Challenger and not both of us, what would have happened?"

Lucy muttered into the crook of my neck. "Furkging glurk quinn."

Wilkins took a moment to think about it. "Odds are she'd have been sent into the Cage. No way out after that. With the Butcher contained, it'd have been considered a political win. At least until the Butcher got to the worst inmate."

I nodded. "Best case in there, Challenger would be trapped with the worst people around. More likely, she'd have been killed, reduced to a screaming voice inside someone else's head, and be trapped in a hell twice over. Forever. I heard their voices, Director. I have some small idea of what it'd have been like, and I was lucky enough that I could have handled the problem on my own. Challenger would have been damned because someone else got afraid, and if I didn't remember the portal to Hades there would have been no way out."

Lucy made a murmur of agreement. Though it could have been contentment as she slobbered all over my shoulder. Whatever. Brain damage, healing, and so on. Though now that I think of it this is probably the first time brain damage was healed with alcohol.

Director Wilkins nodded, a sigh escaping his lips. "There's going to be some problems. You two committed a few crimes while going on your little excursion. A fair bit of it can be smoothed over, mitigating circumstances... but we still need to tell the public something about what happened. We can't just tell the public that you got rid of the Butcher by dropping them off in Hell."

I shrugged. "We tell the truth, just not the whole truth. There was a previously-unknown aspect of my powers that let me burn out the Butchers. Unfortunately, since I was linked to Challenger at the time, I burned out her powers, too. You said you had a Thinker who can see powers, you got pre-cogs, too?"

Wilkins nodded slowly. "I see where you're going. Ask them if the Butcher will pop up again. They're likely to say no. We get all the info we can and send that out. Not everybody is going to buy that, though."

I shook my head. "Maybe not everybody, but enough. Look, I'm used to people not trusting me. I make shit first impressions no matter what I do. Keep the official line long enough, do what we can to squash the worst of the naysayers, and ignore the conspiracy theorists. Or encourage them to... say the Earth is flat, too. Something. No matter what we do there's going to be people who are afraid of me. It's justified, considering the things I can do and what I look like. But there's ways to handle it. Eventually concerns about the Butcher are going to be gone. There's always something else. Sadly."

Wilkins nodded again, his lips turning to a frown. "True. Always something else coming. What's your plan on your careers?" He looked to Lucy. "Without powers, I suppose you could join the PRT as a Trooper, but it's no Protectorate leadership."

Lucy just blearily opened her eye, gave Wilkins the finger, then closed it.

I chuckled. "I think we're just going to have to stop and think about it, Director."

Wilkins looked to me, a frown on his lips. "What's your plan, Sunstorm?"

I was silent for a moment as I figured out how to word my thoughts. "I made a mistake, when I was here before, Director. Understandable, perhaps, but it was still a mistake. I joined your organization due to the great first impression Legend gave me. You and yours did very well in easing me in, and it was nice and helpful for me to check things out. But the mistake I made was in thinking the Protectorate was like the Justice League. It isn't. Being under oversight does seem like a good idea, but Challenger and I just got bitten by the fact that politicians and idiots with an agenda can make a knee jerk decision and fuck everything up."

Wilkins nodded slowly. "I get it's hard considering what's happened. I'm glad things did work out for you two. Still, without oversight, the Protectorate would be attacked by those same politicians. It's the most successful and largest heroic organization on the planet. It's needed for the Endbringers, and for handling those threats that an independent can't handle on their own."

I shook my head. "Not disputing it does good, Director. I just... I don't think I can work for you, or this government, all after this. I need time to think things through."

He sighed. "I can't blame you there. We are trying to handle the worst of it, and we're clearing the issues, but there's always something."

I nodded. "Always is. The League's gone through the same kind of problem before, mind you. It's just... the Protectorate isn't the League, which screwed me up. I acted like it was, assumed it was like it enough, but it's plain it isn't. The League never would have allowed a hero to go into something like the Birdcage without exploring other options. Especially when it comes to something like the Butcher. The PRT did. Even if the order was rescinded after the fact, Challenger and I still would have been in there. I need to consider my options a lot more carefully, now."

Wilkins nodded, taking a moment to straighten his shirt. "I hope, whatever happens, we'll get to be on good terms at least?"

I smiled gently. "Got no beef with anyone in the organization. I just... I can't go back to how things were before this shit. Besides... the paperwork's been the worst part of the job."

Wilkins let out a bark of laughter at that.

----------

The next day had me spending most of it keeping Lucy's hair back as she knelt over the toilet.

I'm not going to go into much detail, but suffice to say even godly wine carried the entire experience, hangover and all. Lucy was very unhappy.

----------

It was snowing on January 28th, and the two of us were feeling a bit better. New York was peaceful. Even parahuman criminals usually didn't want to freeze during the night, I suppose. It was cold, but the air was calm, and the smell of sea salt was almost pleasant. I say almost because despite that, New York still smelled of the unpleasantness that any large city had.

So Lucy and I spent the evening on the rooftop of the New York Protectorate HQ. It was only a few short months ago I stood here alone, practicing with my fire. So much had happened since...

"So..." Lucy spoke softly.

"Yeah." I sighed. "I got no idea where to start."

Lucy shrugged. "One kind of weird-ass shit, plus a lot of other kinds of weird-ass shit. We're here, alive, free of the Butcher. Things are a legal mess. I'm out of a job, because I haven't got any powers and all I've got is an insane story. The talking heads in the comfy seats don't believe our reports, but the results are there anyway." She gave me a wry smile. "And we need to talk about us a bit."

I nodded. "I saw your most vulnerable moments." I let out a chuckle. "Funny to think I can throw buildings around but you're stronger than me. At least up here." I tapped the side of my head.

Lucy laughed. "I think you're selling yourself short, Tracy. Still, I am pretty badass, aren't I?" She ran her fingers through her hair, preening before me. It looked ridiculous, but I enjoyed her antics anyway.

I grinned as I shook my head. "Yeah. You held yourself together better than I did. Glad things worked. Just... what do you want to do?"

She smirked. "Wouldn't mind a snuggle. Since I'm not your boss anymore, and all that." Turning serious, she sighed. "I would like to know more about where you came from, get some context for the stuff I saw in your head. I also want answers as to what the fuck was attached to my head. I mean, right now I'm pretty sure we know more than anybody, and I just know jack and shit."

I nodded. "Powers don't normally look like that, act, like that. They're normally things you can just do, gained through knowledge, or built in some way. Those... things Hades ripped out. They remind me of some creatures, but the ones I know about didn't act like that. They just wanted to corrupt and eat everything."

"Freaky shit." Lucy nodded. "Look, whatever the source, I'm tangled up in this stuff now. Even if I don't have to stick around and go off, pull out my bank account and retire on a farmstead somewhere, I don't want to do that. I don't care if I don't have powers anymore. It's going to make shit harder, but I'd rather dig into this shit and find out than just live not knowing."

"So you want to stick with me, huh?" I chuckled.

Lucy shrugged. "Yup. Also you're going to need support. Not sure how much I can help, but even as strong as you are... I think you're going to need points of contact to help you stay grounded. Maybe especially so. My powers made me more than I was, more than human, but not that much more. You, on the other hand... you're on another level entirely. Being separate from people isn't a good thing, but that's even harder for you than most. Since you can't exactly take your mask off."

I felt that. It wasn't quite the yawning chasm of despair I felt in Hades' throne room, but it was at least a bubbling brook of sadness. I missed Ginger, and Maria. I even missed Gary, even if he was too fond of throwing lightning bolts around.

"Hey," Lucy spoke softly. "You okay?"

I shook my head. "Just miss my friends. There's probably a way for me to get back, but it's... I don't even know where to start. There isn't exactly an open portal to Olympus around, and even if there was, getting to and beating up Zeus is way easier said than done. Also the other Olympians would object to me doing that, because he's their bulwark against other pantheons. So I'm... stuck. I'll keep looking for ways, but I just might be stuck here for the long haul."

Lucy had a small, sad smile on her lips. "That does suck. Nothing stops you from making a life here, you know. I, for one, wouldn't mind you sticking around." She made a show of looking me up and down. "Give me a chance to ogle you some more, too."

I let out a laugh. "Are you trying to flirt with me, or just cheer me up?"

"Both. Is it working?" Lucy said with a grin.

I just laughed. Then I stopped as I saw a light beam into the sky, apparently from a searchlight, casting on the clouds. Out of sheer habit I looked up at it and my breath caught.

"Holy shit." I breathed out, not quite believing my eyes. The hazy symbol outlined in the clouds. I wasn't a hundred percent certain I was seeing what I thought I was seeing, but I couldn't let the possibility slip through my fingers.

Lucy looked up and frowned. "What?"

I shook my head. "We've got to go, right now." I scooped Lucy up in my arms and took off the rooftop, flying upward. Just high enough to figure out the source of the beam. I looked down over the city, seeing it was coming from the coast, south of the city. Deep in the docks on the river, feeding into the harbor.

"Whoa! Sun, what the hell is going on!?" She yelled even as she wrapped her arm around the back of my head to better steady herself.

My voice was thick with hope. "If I'm right, someone I know is trying to get my attention."

I followed the light beaming into the sky, keeping my gaze locked on its source as I flew down. The falling snow made it easy to see the path.

Finally the pair of us landed on a dock next to a large, rusting warehouse. The spotlight shining into the sky was mounted on the back of a black pickup truck. The truck itself might have been mundane, once, but it had wires and armor plating all over its surface, articulated joints showing it would be quite simple to just seal the vehicle up.

A man wearing a black trenchcoat was in the back, shining the spotlight into the sky. When I landed and deposited Lucy, he took a look at the pair of us. Half of his face was scarred, waxy from burns. His right eye was seared shut, and his hair was white with either age or stress. He was missing his right forearm, yet he still moved with a grace most people would kill to have a fraction of.

Still, he shut down the spotlight, and my heart thudded as I could see the symbol clearly.

Stepping off the back of the truck, he spoke with a deep, harsh voice. "Sunstorm. Justice League member 21290. Trained by Superman. Leader of the Misfits, a junior team. Including Blackwing, Bitterleaf, and Stormlord."

Pulling his left hand out of his pocket, he held up a weapon I would have recognized anywhere. A shuriken that was sharpened into the shape of a bat. The same symbol that was on the spotlight. A symbol everyone in Gotham knew, a symbol that criminals dreaded.

"We need to talk." Batman spoke.

Lucy looked back and forth between us. "Excuse me... what the fuck is going on?"

Batman looked to her, then to me. "How much does she know?"

I shook my head. "Not everything, but more than anybody else." I grimaced. "Look, I agree we need to talk, but out here isn't a good idea. Your stunt with the signal is going to get someone's attention, even if it isn't something most people around here would know."

"Had to get your attention somehow." He grunted. "My more subtle methods didn't seem to work."

Wait, what? What the hell did I miss?

Batman shook his head, looking tired. He looked to Lucy, then nodded to the truck. "Get in. I have a more secure location." Without another word, he vaulted off the back of the truck and got into the driver's seat.

Lucy looked to me. "I believe there's an echo here because what the fuck is going on?"

I winced. "Sorry. He's one of the founders of the Justice League. Batman, who has one hell of a reputation back home. We need to get details from him. He's a good guy, Challenger. Even if he is a bit... abrupt. He looks like he's been through hell."

Lucy snorted. "We just got back from hell." Still, she went to the passenger side and got in. I followed, which ended up squeezing Lucy between me and Batman in the driver's seat.

The armor panels all over the truck slid in place over the windows. Screens lit up, showing the surroundings outside, at such a high fidelity I could hardly believe it was a screen at all.

Lucy looked to Batman. "I can't believe this is street legal. How do you not get pulled over?"

"Holograms." He grunted. "It looks normal outside." He started driving, just a picture-perfect driver. New York traffic wasn't fun at the best of times, but in the middle of the night it was somewhat tolerable.

I couldn't help but try to look at his face. I'd never seen Batman without a mask before, and now he seemed familiar... but the burns and scars all over the right side of his face prevented me from actually remembering just where I'd seen him before.

Right... none of my business. He looked like he'd been through hell, and whoever he was before, it doesn't really matter now.

"Oh no." Lucy muttered.

I looked at her in askance. "What's the problem?"

"He's driving us toward New Jersey."

Batman let out a grunt. It might have been amusement. Maybe.

----------

Nearly an hour later, Batman pulled into an old, obviously defunct garage. Sulli was hanging on the sign, the rest of the sign illegible from rust and dirt.

The three of us got out. I took a moment to stretch, Then I tilted my head as I heard something, very faint. Music, something from the eighties. Definite rock, but I couldn't place the song.

Batman grumbled as he strode forward, opening the rusted door. Once he did the music blared out, I caught a glimpse of a thin, young figure using a welding torch on a husk of a car. Angrily, he stepped into the garage and sought out the radio and shut if off, nearly stabbing it with his finger.

"Hey!" The figure yelled, shutting off the welder and yanking off her welding mask. "What's the big... oh. Right." She was pretty, but had yet to fill out into the kind of beauty an adult would have. No older than sixteen or seventeen.

"Sherrel, we are trying to be quiet." He growled.

"Sorry boss. The music helps with... right." The newly-named Sherrel said. She looked between Lucy and I, her blue bloodshot eyes widening. "Holy shit. Got her in. That was pretty quick."

Batman nodded, then turned to me. "A lot has been happening. You've been here longer than I have. How much do you know about your own arrival here?"

I shook my head. "Not a whole lot. Apparently Zeus is responsible for it, but I don't know anything more than that. Last thing I remember before waking up here was..." I stopped and thought about it. It was rather frustrating, a fair bit of it was in fragments. "I don't remember exactly the location, but it wasn't on Earth. I want to say New Genesis, but that doesn't feel right."

"Whoa, time out." Lucy said, waving her hands. "You're talking about another planet?"

I grimaced as I looked to her. "Sort of, but no. New Genesis is on a different level of existence. Sort of like how Hades, and his Underworld, is. In one way it's right here, less than an electron's width away, but you can't get there by walking. If our level of reality is on the ground floor of a building, then Hades is in the basement, while New Genesis is in the attic."

Batman grunted. "Not correct, but it would take far too long to explain the differences. Good enough for now. What do you know about the Nexus?"

I winced. "Not enough. I know it exists, because Brainiac was throwing everything he could at us to get at it. It's supposedly the center of the multiverse, a way to get around to alternate timelines."

Batman nodded. "It's more than that. A lot more. In the Nexus it's possible to reach important points in history, change possibilities. When we... rather, when the League managed to defeat Brainiac's pimary avatar that he intended to use to take over the Nexus, the version of Luthor from the future entered it. I followed. He attempted to alter history to his advantage, while I countered it." He took a moment to stroke his fingers through his hair, grimacing. "Been in there nearly twenty years. Luthor, any version of Luthor, is stubborn, obsessed with defeating Superman, and advancing his own power."

I snorted. "Sounds like Luthor. How did you end up here?"

Batman shook his head. "Something entered and disrupted the Nexus. It pushed me out, and I was forced to abandon it before it killed me. The disruption cast me out of the realities I'm familiar with. Found myself on this world in Cairo, near where Khandaq is in our world. I suspect it's due to the location being a point of dimensional weakness."

I nodded. "Figured something similar. Found myself near where the Fortress is supposed to be. If it's due to dimensional weakpoints then I probably showed up there because of the Phantom Zone Projector. We've also got a spot in Brockton Bay... where Gotham is supposed to be, here. The portal closed, though, it just dropped off some cell phones. Only lasting one was Themyscira."

Lucy snorted. "Right, the portal to Hades. Saw enough in your head to know that. Only that thing stays open, even if Themi... Themys... Amazon island that's supposed to be around it isn't there."

Sherrel laughed, her voice a bit hoarse. "Amazon island? What, was it supposed to be populated be women only? A great big d..." She looked to Batman, who had a disapproving scowl. "Lady-land?" She finished, obviously changing what she would have said.

I nodded. "Yup. An island full of women blessed by the gods of Olympus. All strong, ageless and beautiful. Great warriors, too."

Sherrel snorted. "Sounds a bit boring. Give me a wild guy and a muscle car any day."

Batman didn't respond, though I'd imagine anyone else would be rolling his eyes.

I turned back to him. "Why did you end up here? I mean, the multiverse is supposed to be huge, right? Ending up on any random Earth I can see being likely, especially if we're falling through dimensional weakpoints. But that might explain one event, not two, and especially not at least four or five or however many others."

Batman shook his head. "Something about this world is making it act like the bottom of a gravity well. It's almost as if there's a Nexus here, or at the least an abundance of portals. The more portals there are, the more likely it is something lost in the void between realities is going to be attracted to that world."

Lucy folded her arms. "Looks like we'll have to talk to Haywire. If we can even find the guy."

Batman nodded, a grimace on his scarred face. "We have another problem. If the use of portals is what's attracting people and items here, then we might have larger concerns."

"How so?" I spoke, tilting my head.

He let out a sigh. "I don't have enough data for a conclusion, but I do have a hypothesis. You and I both have something in common. Our existence is due to paradox. My own past was erased due to my actions and the actions of Luthor. Your powers are a result of that same act. In the Nexus I saw a lot of alternate timelines, many of which were unstable due to existing because of paradox events. I suspect it may be easier for things, or people, who aren't supposed to exist to get dislodged from their timelines. And if this world is acting as the bottom of an attractive gravity well, they're more likely to end up here."

I winced. "I ended up here because of Zeus, according to Hades. So what, he... just threw me out of the universe at random, and ended up here because it's basically the sidewalk?"

Lucy sounded amused. "So my world was turned into the multiverse's trash heap. Sounds about right."

Sherrel just looked between us. "Right. Whatever. I'm going to go back to work."

"Sherrel." Batman spoke sharply.

She whirled on him. "What!? I'm going to do it without the music!... oh. Right." Her voice softened. "Thanks boss."

In his single hand, Batman was holding out a pair of headphones.

----------

In what had once been the office for this old garage, Batman had a map of the world laid out on the manager's desk. "Counting our own entry into this universe, I've managed to track down four incursion points with three more possible ones. Egypt, Ellesmere Island, Themyscira, and Brockton Bay are confirmed. The three possibilities I want to keep an eye on are Kansas City, Philadelphia and..." He grimaced. "Groom Lake, Nevada. The last is a military facility, it's not going to be simple to get even a small amount of intel on."

Lucy folded her arms, her voice filled with curiosity. "Why those three?"

I chuckled. "Two of them are close to prominent heroes, who have some dimensional effects going on. Kansas City back home has a twin, Central City, and that's the home of the Flash. Some villains have tried to delete him from history by messing with his past. It's made Central City somewhat unstable in the last few years, every now and again we send new heroes there to take down the Paradox Reapers that spawn as a result."

Lucy looked between us, confusion on her face. "The what now?"

Batman nodded slowly. "Beings from outside our universe. They're attracted to the energy that's liberated as a result of a paradoxical event existing in the timeline."

I went into the explanation I heard a long time ago, from the Flash himself. "Say you go back in time and prevent your parents from meeting. Now if you've gone to a different universe, no problem. But if you're in your own, you suddenly have a paradox. Because now your parents won't meet, won't have you, and you can't go back and do it. But you did. So you have to exist to do it, and by doing it you won't exist."

Lucy thought that over. "Hang on, I've seen that movie. You just vanish if you can't get your parents together at their high school dance. Two, that makes my head hurt."

Batman grunted. "Time travel is almost as bad as magic."

I shrugged. "Probably. Now you've got this situation where this impossible event's happening, happened, and the paradox unleashes a lot of energy. Enough to do more impossible things. Like, for example, empower someone to be able to run faster than light. That's the Flash. The problem is the existence of someone who is at the heart of a paradox like that has an unstable existence. If the events that made them like that change, the paradox collapses, and it might not resolve in a good way. They could vanish into nothingness, as expected. Or they could open a dimensional rift, spilling other creatures that shouldn't exist into our timeline. Those are Paradox Reapers. Back home new heroes are often tasked with cleaning those up, because they're a nuisance ever since 2011."

Lucy pinched the bridge of her nose. "You're talking like something eleven years in the future is in the past and it's driving me nuts."

I laughed, giving Lucy's shoulder a gentle pat. "It's annoying, trust me."

"Main concern." Batman grunted. "If beings or objects that shouldn't exist are the ones more likely to get dislodged from our timelines and end up in this... very different timeline, unfortunately that leaves a lot of possibilities that could be very dangerous to the people here. Philadelphia is close to Fawcett City, and Groom Lake... it's Area 51 in our world. Shazam's abilities I don't know enough about, but it might trigger another incident. And Area 51 was the target of Vandal Savage's forces when he attempted stealing technology from our time to bring back to 1945. It caused a lot of paradox rifts in the area."

I nodded quickly. "So something might show up from there, here. I'm sure the military would be pretty confused if a bunch of Kryptonite got dropped into their laps."

Lucy put her hand up. "Or a flying saucer. Since aliens are a big thing on your world. I saw enough in your head, Sun."

"More importantly, we need to be ready." Batman spoke quietly. "I let loose a signal that Exobytes would have picked up. If anyone else with an active Exobyte comes through, they'll go to a meeting site I've set up." He looked to me. "It should have been something you'd have investigated."

I chuckled nervously, scratching at the back of my neck. "Yeah... mine's off. Probably fried. I'm doing everything on manual. Been having to work through it for months."

He was silent for a moment. "Interesting. If the hosts could be disabled with a shutdown code or a singular method, they wouldn't be of much use. By forcing the data backward and recreating the basis of the original hosts in the new ones, they'd still be capable even with the Exobyte offline or destroyed. Clever. I suspected, but wasn't certain."

"Luthor's programming?" I asked. "Sounds like him."

"Have I done something to offend you?" Luthor asked as I watched him work to open one of the passages through the Fortress of Solitude. His massive powered armor suit whirred and hummed as he moved, projecting holographic screens in front of his eyes. The others on my team kept watch for more Brainiac robots. Though Stormlord seemed to be a hard counter, with his lightning. At least against the fodder robots.

"Kinda." I replied. "You are the asshole who ruined my life."

Luthor let out a chuckle. "I assume you mean the other one, the one from the future. I certainly haven't met you before. I'd have remembered a demon wearing that symbol." He spoke with distaste. "I assure you I have had nothing to do with your troubles."

Blackwing rolled back and forth on her feet, using a radar attached to her gauntlet to keep an eye on things. "Heads up. We've got one signal in the next room."

"Just one?" Stormlord spoke with a grin, putting his hammer on his shoulder. "Should be easy."

Bitterleaf rolled her eyes, grimacing as she flicked a red strand of hair out of her eyes. "Don't jinx us." Vines extended from her hands, flowers sprouting along their lengths, and filling the cold room with warmth and the pleasant smell of summer fields. "It's probably a big bot."

Luthor muttered. "It'll be a moment before I have this open."

I folded my arms. "Mind if I pick your brain in the meantime?"

"I suppose you'll annoy me until you get your answers regardless." He said grumpily, his suit working with an amazing amount of grace, considering it must have weighed a literal ton.

I spoke, trying my best to keep my voice steady. "Would there be any way to change the program's expression that an Exobyte forces on someone?"

Luthor paused for a moment. "I'm not the one who programmed them. So I can't give you a definite answer. It's unlikely, however. You might be able to discover tricks and options with your powers even the original templates can't do, but once grafted the powers belong to the host. The Exobyte simply acts as an assist afterward. They're stolen Brainiac technology, that's the only way they'd be useful after spreading them. The programs would be locked out for anyone except the host, and nobody... not even myself, would be capable of altering them once bonded. If my other self had left a backdoor into their programming, it would be much simpler for Brainiac to coopt them."

At my silence, he went back to work. "Now if you're done whining... we'll be in shortly."

Ten seconds later, the doorway opened with the grinding sound of crystals sliding against each other.

"Oh shit." Blackwing spoke.

Bizarro floated toward us, his deep echoing voice empty of emotion. "Bizzaro hate Brainiac."

"Hmph. It appears I get to kill one Kryptonian today." Luthor spoke as he powered up his suit.

Then it descended into a chaotic melee from there.

I shook my head. "Had a chance to pick his brain a bit. Just confirming that hypothesis."

Lucy spoke quietly. "That's why I couldn't use your powers, huh? Different source." She quirked her lip. "Don't suppose you've got a spare?"

Batman tilted his head. "Your file says you have powers."

Lucy shook her head. "Lost em. It had to go, otherwise Hades wasn't going to let me leave. Something about how my power was alive and learning while it was in his realm."

Batman's single eye focused on Lucy. "Alive? Did you see what they looked like?"

I nodded. "They were all different, but... shifting masses of crystal, flowing and changing all the time in weird ways. Tentacles made of tesseracts."

Lucy chimed in. "Fuckin' weird. When the Butchers were removed from us, it's like their shades were made of the stuff. While we were in Hades our heads glowed with the same kinda thing, just not as pronounced."

Batman stroked his chin. "Interesting. If your description is accurate, something like that is what pushed me out of the Nexus."

I grimaced. "Sounds like we really need to reestablish contact with home. If a bunch of powers here can go there, who knows what'll happen?"

"Agreed." He nodded. "Easier said than done. We still need to keep an eye out for more incursions."

"Why's that?" Lucy asked.

"I wasn't alone in the Nexus." Batman spoke with a low growl.

It clicked. "Luthor. The other Luthor. He'd see this world as a whole new playground."

"How bad is this Luthor guy?" Lucy looked between us, puzzlement in her tone.

I winced. "Narcissistic, psychopathic, brilliant, and most importantly, competent. Lex Luthor has no superpowers, but he's been able to make them with various methods. He's created technology that's comparable to things used by species that have travelled space for millennia. If he didn't have such a fixation on beating Superman, he would be one of the greatest inventors in history. If not the greatest."

"And of course he's a villain." Lucy said, shaking her head. "Why is that always the case? Right." She looked to Batman. "I want to help. Powers or no. Not sure what I can do without them, but I'm not going to just sit by."

The slightest hint of a smile crept up on Batman's damaged lips. "There are methods, even without powers. I can teach you some of what I know." He looked to me. "Your immediate plans?"

I shrugged. "Build a little house outside of Brockton. Might as well, already own the land. And prepare. Behemoth is due next, and I need to get as strong as I can before he emerges. The Endbringers are tearing this world apart, a piece at a time. I have to try to stop them."

Lucy snickered. "Looks like we're going to both be training. Though I think you're going to need some really big weights to get anything out of it. Maybe you can ask someone to haul some cargo ships around, since you need way over a million pounds just to get a workout."

Right. Crap.

While you might expect the first thing I might do would be simply go out and start lifting the heaviest thing I could find, that wasn't the best idea. At least not right at the moment.

For one thing, I had to work on more than just strength. Behemoth has strength aplenty, and defense even greater, at least according to the Protectorate files. While being able to hit him with a very heavy building would no doubt do some damage, but Behemoth had been hit with worse. They'd hit him with a nuke in 1995, in Moscow, and he was still around. Moscow not so much.

More importantly, Leviathan was fast. Fast enough to look like the Flash, at least to the crude 90's cameras that managed to capture the Endbringer in motion. His speed was frightening, and that was on top of the crashing water tearing buildings, and people, apart.

So while Lucy was running through a snowy obstacle course behind the old garage, I was sitting behind a table playing solitaire.

While I had speed, I didn't have the reflexes to go with that speed. Not right now, anyway. I was fairly sure I could train it up, but without the Byte helping, I had to figure it out rather than just flick a mental switch and catch bullets. Any old idiot can go fast, it takes a certain kind of idiot to do things fast.

Wait, that came out wrong.

Nevermind.

So I shuffled the cards, laid them out on the table, arranging them into the appropriate rows. Hit the stopwatch, then started playing.

Slap, slap, slap. Move here, fit that. Find the king, make the stack...

When I was done, I hit the stopwatch. Grimaced. One minute thirty. Normal people could be that good. Granted they had to be pretty good at the game to get a time that low, but it was doable. I needed to be able to think faster. It could make the difference in a combat situation. Hell, Lucy knew that, and had been quite effective just by being slightly better than the best athlete with that as her primary power.

Right now I wouldn't have a chance of keeping up with even a moderate speedster. Sure I didn't expect to be able to beat the Flash, but it would be nice to at least be as good as before I arrived here. Nobody could keep up with the Flash, anyway. Only ones who could try were those with the same powerset.

I looked up as Sherrel crossed my field of vision. She went through the makeshift kitchen at the back of the garage and flitted about, making herself a sandwich. Once she did, she sat down across from me with a bottle of juice, a ham sandwich, and a look of sheer tired confusion.

"The hell you doing? So fuckin bored you're playing cards with yourself?" She muttered as she took a bite, chewing as she looked at me expectantly.

I hummed thoughtfully. "Trying to train how fast I can think. While I'm faster than bullets, at least most of them, I'm going to need to be faster than that if I'm going to try and take on the Endbringers."

She let out a snort. "You can't kill them. I don't care where you're from. They've been trying to kill the gruesome twosome with everything they've got for damned near a decade. They just keep coming back. And I don't see how playing cards is going to help."

I shook my head. "I can move at supersonic speeds. I need to be able to think at the same kind of speeds. I was able to before, and I need to be able to again. Just to be able to keep up. It's not just moving fast, it's thinking fast."

Sherrel nodded slowly at that. "So I guess just throwing balls at you wouldn't help much?" She tilted her head, then smirked.

I looked up from my cards. "What?"

She chuckled. "Just thinking about blasting things out of an air cannon. Lethal potatoes. Kinda fun."

I thought about that for a second. "Not a bad idea for a middle-level training tool. Messy, though."

Sherrel's lips quirked with amusement. "A lot of fun, like I said."

We sat in companionable silence as I reshuffled the deck, then reset for the next game. She munched on her sandwich as she watched me play another round, while I concentrated on going as fast as I could. Not just fast but accurate, which is important.

One minute twenty seconds.

One minute nine seconds.

One minute one second.

Fifty-six seconds.

Sherrel's eyes were a little wide after that round. "Your hands were blurring toward the end there."

I nodded as I took a moment to stretch, cracking my fingers. "Yeah. Good. Just means I'm on the right track. I get good enough at it, I should be able to step things up. Maybe actually catch some bullets."

"Or potatoes." She wryly remarked. "Never seen someone just train up superpowers before. Can everyone back where you come from do that?"

I shook my head. "No. Some people have various gifts. You can train to get really good at something, hone your powers if you have them, but nobody gets superspeed just by running a lot. Some get lucky. Some unlucky. Powers-wise, I'm in good shape, got the potential to hang with the biggest names back home. The price, though..." I tapped my left horn. "Stuck looking like this. No ordinary life. Back there my only friends were other heroes. Kinda cut down on the social stuff."

Sherrel was just silent as she munched on her sandwich.

I went through another two rounds. Forty-nine seconds. Forty-one... though that one I cut short when I realized it was an unwinnable round without cheating.

Sherrel spoke. "Hey, uh... what do you know about the boss?"

I looked up. "Batman? Not a whole lot. One of my friends back home was trained by him... or rather a counterpart. He's a good man, though. Or at least he tries to be. There's been rumors about him terrorizing criminals for a long time."

She let out a tiny laugh. "No, not that. Just wondered if he was gay, or something. He never looked at me like that. I thought all guys would. Every guy I knew before him has. I'm just waiting for... for this one tiny good thing I've got here going horribly wrong."

I smiled gently. "I can't tell you for sure, but I am pretty sure that he wouldn't. The Batman I know wouldn't want to do anything like that. He wouldn't want to take advantage of someone. It's just not in him." I grimaced. "I don't know him that well, so I can't give definite answers. I can say I think he's someone who knows what it's like to get hurt, so he does what he can to keep the same thing from happening to someone else."

Sherrel nodded slowly, thoughtfully. Wordlessly, she got up and went back into the garage. A moment later music started playing.

Well shit. Feels like I just stepped on a landmine. Socially, that is. Actually stepping on a landmine wouldn't hurt as much.

----------

We arrived back in Brockton Bay the week afterward. As it was the beginning of February, there was still plenty of snow on the ground, though the city's more temperate climate meant it was never as terrible or deep as some places I could think of.

Still, it didn't make things any more pleasant as I spent the day of the 3rd lifting ships out of the Boat Graveyard and bringing them toward the area around the Albert. The Dockworkers were hard at work around that monstrosity of a ship, large sections of it already cut away and dismantled, though it would probably take a long time to dismantle the whole thing.

"Just set it down right there." Danny Hebert spoke, pointing to an empty spot. I dutifully set down the hundred ton ship in its spot, making sure it wouldn't move from where I put it. At least not very easily.

He spoke with a look of pride on his face. "I'm glad to see you back and helping." He held out his hand.

I dusted off mine before I shook his hand, chuckling. "Glad to be able to help." I gestured over to the other Dockworkers, who were keeping their distance and busily working. "I gotta ask one thing, though."

Danny pushed his glasses back up his nose. "Go ahead."

"Why aren't you afraid of me?"

He chuckled. "The whole Butcher thing?" At my nod, he explained. "Butcher's been a problem since the mid-Eighties. It didn't really matter who the host was, they tended to act in the same sort of way." He gestured towards the ships. "No Butcher would be caught dead being helpful to anybody other than the Teeth. If you were the Butcher, you'd be having a party here, and probably kidnapping some of us for the fun of it. Along with some other rather horrid stuff I really don't want to mention."

I gave him a grin. "My ears aren't that delicate."

Danny returned my grin. "Yeah, but my mind is. They weren't the worst problem this city had, but they were bad enough. Thankfully things are getting better around here. Still going to be a lot of hard work, but there's a shot now."

I nodded slowly. 'Glad to be of help. Still, considering... you're not worried about me?"

He chuckled. "Nope. Butcher being gone is good. Now it's still going to take a while before most people aren't worried about you playing the long game, but I'm fine with you." His face softened slightly. "You saved my neighbor and her little girl. One of my daughter's friends is still alive because of you. It's the least I can do to give you the benefit of the doubt." His lips quirked in amusement. "Though if you start wearing leather and skulls, I'm going to change my opinion real quick."

I barked out a laugh. "Fair enough. What's the next one?"

"Right..." Pulling his notepad out of his pocket, Danny went down the list. "Next big one is the Trieste, she weighs in at 80,000 tons. Nowhere near as much as the Albert, and she's not filled with water, but she's big and so needs a fair bit of space. It should be placed at section thirteen, so it'll be easier for the heavy equipment to get at it."

I nodded with a smile. "On it. Besides, I need the workout."

Moving that ship took a fair bit of effort, though thankfully it wasn't anywhere near as straining as the Albert. I ended up with a pleasant burn rather than just wanting to curl up into a bed afterward.

Guess I'm just going to have to find some hundred thousand ton rocks to benchpress. In the meantime, it felt good to just be able to help.

----------

"So this is it, huh?" Lucy said as she looked around my little parcel of land. "Not much to look at. Plenty of potential, though."

I nodded, making a grand gesture. "There I shall place my mansion. Well, more like a bungalow. Going to also have to either make a water collection system or dig a decent well."

"Not like you don't have the money." Lucy noted. "In the meantime... are you seriously going to sleep out of a camper?"

"Can't stay at base, Lucy." I gently reminded her. "Since we've both quit, and all that."

She lifted an eyebrow. "I do have an apartment, and a spare room. You could bunk with me for a while."

I sighed. "No secret identity, remember? If I'm flitting in and out of your apartment, the bad guys will know exactly where to find me. More importantly, that will put you and our neighbors at risk."

Lucy opened her mouth, then closed it. "Right, I was about to say 'Who would be stupid enough to attack a hero in their own home?' but, well..."

"Nazis." We chorused.

I chuckled. "Besides, I can get a nice thing for temporary shelter. Going to have to be winterized for out here, but that's no big deal." I strode over to the cliff face that marked the halfway point of my property. "I figure I plunk it here, get to enjoy the view while the house gets built."

"Have a nice little campfire over there." Lucy nodded, gesturing grandly. "Lots of rock, so it should be fairly safe. And because you get around by flying, you don't need to worry about parking spaces."

"I'll still want a few. For visitors, if nothing else." I grinned. "Can't be lugging people along all the time."

Lucy laughed. "Not like I'd mind. Still, could be awkward." She shook her head. "Still, you got a place for tonight, at least?"

I sighed. "Figured I'd get a hotel room, now that things are a bit more calm. Our new friends need a bit more setup than we do, anyway."

Lucy nodded. "Right. We'll use my apartment tonight. You can get a camper tomorrow, and we'll figure things out from there."

----------

Lucy's apartment was spacious, though obviously not that well-lived in. Most of the food she had was canned goods and frozen stuff, due to her job. Her former job, anyway.

So we had a meal of stew and rice. It turned out quite all right, though that was mainly due to preparing it with the stovetop rather than the microwave. Always did make things taste a lot better.

As we were finishing, Lucy looked up at me. "So... can we talk about something, Tracy?"

I nodded, a slight smile on my lips. "Considering the shit we've been through, I've got a few guesses."

"You know I'm attracted to you." Lucy spoke softly, a small smile on her lips. "Moreso since the whole shared burden of the Butcher thing."

I laughed. "Just glad it's over with. Not that I minded hearing your thoughts, but the others... yeah. That was awful."

"Heard yours too." Lucy said dryly. "Yours weren't so bad. And they were right about something. You're a big softy. Despite the whole 'stupidly strong Brute' thing. I... I just want to know if you think we could be a thing? Now that we're not stapled together at the head, and all that. I'm not going to lie, you're physically beautiful, even with the whole demon thing. But it's more than that, now, especially since I know the person underneath a bit more."

I couldn't help but blush a bit. "I think you're great, too. You're strong, clever... you held it together even better than I did, during all that." I gave her an amused look. "You're absolutely shameless, which is a bit endearing. Most people are afraid of me, but not you. It's... it's been nice. It's just... I haven't considered a deeper relationship with very many people ever since the horns thing."

Lucy nodded. "I can get why. Saw your dreams, saw some of your memories. You've had a few friends, but you were a lot more social before your powers."

I swallowed. "And you had things pretty good before yours. I just... I've had flings, but nothing more than that. Usually kept busy. And then there was the general chaos going on. Just being able to sit and breathe for a bit is a dubious luxury."

Lucy got out of her chair and strode around the table. She gave me a saucy grin. "Well, I'm known for a somewhat different kind of chaos. We don't have to jump in a hundred percent serious right now if you don't want to. How about we just... see how it goes?"

A smile lifted my lips. "Was this the whole reason you wanted me back at your apartment?"

Her grin widened. "Not the whole reason, but a good one, I think. How about it, though?"

I ducked my head. "I'm willing to give it a shot."

Lucy seated herself on my lap. Carefully, to keep from smacking her forehead against my horns, she dipped her head down and kissed my lips.

My hands, and wings, wrapped around her as I kissed her in return. She tasted of the dinner we just shared, but also pleasant. Her warmth was welcome... especially since I'd been rather touch-starved for so long. It really has been too long since I... since I had more than just a bit of lust, but some actual intimacy.

When the kiss ended, and she let out a breath, I couldn't help but laugh. "Uhm... just to warn you. If I get four eyes, it's okay. It just means I'm really into it."

Lucy grinned crookedly. "Oooh. A challenge, then. Glad to know if I'm doing well." She then leaned in for a longer kiss, holding onto my horns for leverage.

"So that whole four-eye thing?" Lucy asked the next morning, as she dug into her breakfast of pancakes. She was wearing her bathrobe, which looked very fluffy. I was a bit jealous of it, actually, considering I would end up destroying such a lovely piece of clothing if I tried to wear it as intended.

I drank some tea, feeling very relaxed. I had nothing but towels on, mostly due to the fact I had trouble with ordinary shirts. I needed backless everything, which was a serious pain. My armor was a bit messy and needed some cleaning, anyway. "Hmm? What about it?"

Lucy gave me a grin, shaking her head. "That was kinda freaky, weirdly sexy, and I'm damned glad for the warning. Because otherwise that would have been a terrifying moment last night. What gives?"

I drank deeply, taking the moment to consider what to say. "Right. They manifest when I'm either very mad or very... uh, heated up, if you get it. You know a fair bit. They're... they're at least part of one of the sources of my powers. You remember how Hades called me a 'succubus of Trigon'?"

She nodded slowly. "Right. I was a bit distracted by the whole Butcher thing at the time, but right. That whole banishment thing. Goes a bit over my head."

I refilled my cup, looking Lucy in the eye. "Well, Trigon's a demon lord. Horribly powerful, horrible being, and so on. He's got four eyes, and so do all of his descendants when they're deep into their power. The..." I debated whether to tell her everything or not. There were advantages and disadvantages either way. If I told her, she could tell others, or have the information extracted. I don't know if mind-readers are a thing on this world, but it was possible.

On the other... we'd been through hell together. Well, the Underworld, at least.

I huffed as I came to a decision. "I'm not going to tell you everything, as it might be dangerous and the fewer people who know, the better. You can't tell someone anything you don't know."

She nodded, a soft smile on her lips. "I was Protectorate leader here. I get it. Tell me what you can."

I sighed as I took a moment, scratching my forehead. "Right. So Trigon's got a bunch of kids, and a lot of demons he's crafted. Or maybe that his kids have crafted. Or had. Somehow. I never got the details there. Part of the thing that gave me my powers, the Exobyte, got a template either from one of his kids, or one of the succubi serving those kids. That would be bad enough, but I also got at least some of the Kryptonian package. The greatest hero of my world, Superman, is fully Kryptonian."

Lucy's eye went distant. "Right. That dream." She furrowed her brow. "Wait, I thought he's supposed to be an alien?"

I chuckled. "Yeah, he is. Looks human, though. Or maybe humans look like Kryptonians, because they were using plasma guns while we were still in trees. Anyway... I'm fairly sure my Byte got me a hybrid template between one of Trigon's demons and primarily from a Kryptonian. I say primarily because I used to be able to do things other League members could do, too. Wonder Woman has a Lasso of Truth, and I used to be able to make one. Along with a shield made out of hard light. That stuff, though, was handled by my Byte. I don't know how to make those without it again."

Lucy nodded slowly. "I'll take your word for it. You did mention you were having trouble before. So it's busted, huh?"

I grimaced. "Probably. It's not like I can get to it, or give it a reboot. Besides, I'm adjusting. It took a while, and it'll take longer, I'm not as strong as Superman is, but I'm almost as tough and I don't have his weaknesses. I've got a few of my own, mind you, but the things that would stop him wouldn't stop me. The reverse is true, too. There's things that would stop me that wouldn't stop him."

"So the whole demon thing...?"

I shrugged. "The Lex Luthor who programmed them came from the same future the Batman we know did. The Luthor I talked to, same guy, but earlier in the timeline, said it was likely a result of mixing and matching templates. If they just made a million Kryptonians, then they'd all share the same weaknesses, and it would be easier to create countermeasures that would work on all. By spreading out the templates and mixing them randomly, there was a chance of getting something new that would be harder to counter. I just drew a bit of bad luck. Though some had it worse. Least I'm not a cat."

Lucy let out a laugh. "You're kidding."

"I wish I was." I gave her a wry smile. "One of the guys I knew when I was a barista got that template. He was stuck as a cat-boy afterward. Yeah he got superspeed too, but it really messed up his life. Steve ended up with a successful business as a courier, but he used to be quite the womanizer. Not so much afterward. At least not with the kind of girl he wanted to be with."

Lucy shook her head, taking a sip of her coffee afterward. "So what happened after that?"

I gave her a fond smile. "Well to Steve, not much more I know of. For me... I joined the League after Superman saved me from doing something extremely stupid. Been kept busy since." I made a helpless shrug, the towel slipping down my shoulders somewhat with the motion. "I haven't had the time, or the... well, ability to get together with anyone on a serious basis since. Trigon's demons aren't exactly welcomed in a lot of places. I got around it a bit by wearing armor with Superman's symbol on it."

Lucy tilted her head. "The 'S' thing? Why's that such a big deal? It's a little lame for a symbol, but it stands for Superman, right?"

I felt scandalized. Yes, Lucy had the excuse of being from a world where he, and his impact, hadn't existed, but it still felt wrong. "I'm not sure how I can explain it. On... on my world, you can go anywhere, and show that symbol, and they'll know what it means. It stands for hope. You know when someone shows up wearing that symbol, they are there to help. One very smart man made a power armor suit with that symbol when Superman was apparently killed, to honor the hero and stand for his ideals. It's his family crest on Krypton, but on my world it means so much more."

She frowned a little, taking a moment to take a bite of pancake. A bit of syrup trailed down her chin. "I'd have thought the first thing you'd do after getting set up is make your new suit like your old one. As much as you could, anyway."

I shook my head. "Materials aren't available here, so having things be replaceable was the best option. Besides, the symbol doesn't mean anything to anybody here. Figured I'd go with something a bit more practical."

Lucy nodded. "Understandable. Still, a bit of a shame. Your memories were really... colorful." She tilted her head with a smirk. "Some of the bits about the Amazons were interesting."

Feeling impulsive, I finished off my tea and set the cup down on the table. Circling around it, I went over to Lucy and tilted her head up, licking the trail of syrup off her chin.

She let out a huff of amusement. "Keep that up, and we're not going to be leaving for a while yet."

"I don't see the problem with that. Besides, I should show you some of what they showed me." I spoke, letting the towel slip completely off my shoulders.

Lucy snickered. "You really are a succubus." She didn't object as I let the other towels drop off me, either.

----------

I had a large, stupid grin on my face as I flew over Brockton Bay. Without the resources of the Protectorate, it was harder for me to know and reach a trouble spot with efficiency. So I was doing things the old fashioned way. Though I kept having to keep myself in the here and now, because I felt so very light today.

The February air was cold. I didn't care. Ice crashed into the harbor. I didn't give a crap. People milled about below. I gave smiles and waves to those who looked and pointed at me, but my mind felt like it was wrapped in warm fuzz. I felt like I could dance on air. Well, I could before, but that's not the point!

Oh, I still had problems. Quite a lot of them. I was still stuck on a world not my own, I had to prepare for the next Endbringer attack, and I had to file a whole bunch of paperwork for the short but lively crime spree Lucy and I did to get rid of the Butcher. But being with someone, on a more than just physical level, felt amazing. Though the physical stuff was nice too.

I'd had flings, of course. Both men and women. One didn't spend much time on Themyscira without getting into certain 'celebrations' with the Amazons. At least for the women. While the restrictions on men had been relaxed in recent times, with every Amazon being the reincarnation of a woman who had been murdered by a man, a lot of them held a grudge. Even if they couldn't quite remember why.

There were exceptions, of course. For those Amazons, though, they had to be really impressed by a man to be willing to open up.

But an actual deeper relationship? Someone who could see past my skin and accept me anyway? That was something I'd almost given up on. It felt... it felt warm, right in my chest, and I wanted the moment to last forever. I wanted this day to be my eternal now. Nothing more to worry about, no looming threats, no worries. Just to be able to enjoy the moment, and look forward to spending more time with the someone who wanted nothing more than to spend time with me.

But I had things to do. A camper to buy. Paperwork to fill out. Pay the fines for theft, replacing locks, and for the drachmas we used. Nothing too terribly extensive, and mitigating circumstances counted for a lot. Apparently having power and money both contributed to reducing these issues to a minor problem rather than a life-derailing stay in prison, and all that. Even if it was likely that Lucy and my own crimes would have likely ended up with community service rather than something more substantial.

I didn't like that a whole lot, mind you. It reminded me of how often Bald Asshole managed to slip through the cracks, before the chaos of the Brainiac invasion happened anyway. At the same time I couldn't dismiss the fact that being hit with a prison sentence wouldn't help anybody. I could restrain myself, and had little to worry about in a prison yard outside of the Birdcage, but it still rankled. I know I'd be less willing to listen to excuses if I was hearing them from someone else instead of having experienced them.

Yes there were extenuating circumstances, which always should be taken into account. This is just one of those things I didn't have a good answer for. At least in this case, I could do things to make up for the damage I caused. It would be fairly simple to replace stolen goods, pay the value for the drachmas, and the value of the truck I stole. It's a fair bit harder to replace a life, and I'm glad it didn't come to that.

Flying over the Boardwalk, I slowed as I spotted two familiar figures. Nighthawk in his full armor. With his helmet on, he looked a bit like a ground-bound Hawkman, in a beautiful blue and silver.

At his side was another cape, with a orange and red costume, in the pattern of flames. His helmet was concealing his features, but I could see under the bulk of the costume he was reedy, thin. The two were talking with a group of tourists, from the look of them. They had old-style cameras hanging around their necks, anyway, and some were always taking pictures.

I slowly drifted down for a landing in front of the pair, though some distance away. I smiled as they perked up, giving me a wave, and I walked over.

"Nighthawk, it's good to see you." I gave the Ward a smile.

"Likewise, Sunstorm." He returned, a smile in his voice, if not on visibly on his lips. With his fully-concealing armor and helmet, however, that wasn't a surprise. "Catching the sights?"

I grinned. "Just keeping an eye out for trouble, and it seemed you have a bit right here."

The flame-cape spoke quietly. "Ju-just doing a little meet and greet." He held out his hand. "Firestreak. I'm n-new."

A wide, understanding smile crossed my lips as I shook his hand. For a moment, his power flared, and both of us were covered in flames. They cut out after a second, allowing the chilly February air catch me once again, but it confirmed it to me. My smile broadened. "It's good to meet you, Firestreak. They treating you well?"

He nodded rapidly. "Th-things are good. G-getting bett-ter at the time. Thank you."

You're very welcome, Trevor. I'd ask more personal questions, but here and now isn't the time. Not with a crowd.

"Excuse me, Sunstorm?" Another voice cut in. I turned to look to one of the tourists, a younger redheaded man, holding out a pen and paper. "You mind if I get your autograph? My little brother's a fan. Carrying those ships made a big impression on him."

I smiled broadly, taking the pad, and signed. "Of course, no problem."

As if that opened the floodgates, suddenly I was surrounded by pens, paper, and eager voices.

I may have made a mistake, here. Still, I had some time.

----------

"You're late." Batman growled in his office as I walked in.

"Met someone I helped before. Had to catch up a bit, then got delayed." I nodded as I set down a duffel bag filled with the materials he'd requested I buy.

Still in the dilapidated garage in New Jersey, Batman seemed to be a bit more settled in than before. The vehicle Sherrel was working on was a bit more complete. It looked like an armored tank if it somehow had a baby with a sportscar, with the huge wheels and armored windows. The thing looked like it probably could take a rocket and come out of it without much trouble. Maybe just one rocket, though.

Batman opened the bag and started rummaging through it, the motions somewhat awkward with one hand. He pulled out computer parts, steel piping, plastic cases. Most of it bought from a thrift store.

I tilted my head. "What did you want this stuff for, anyway?"

He paused for a moment, then glared at me through his single eye. "I'm tired of being handicapped. So I'm making a prosthetic."

I nodded in understanding. "Guessing it's going to be a bit better than a wooden hand. I'd help but I'm no tech expert."

He grunted. "The design is difficult with these substandard materials, but I'll be more easily able to upgrade once I have two functioning hands." Batman glanced at me. "There's a fair bit to work on. I'm going to be counting on you for the larger issues. You're not Kal, but you are the closest thing this world has. I can't afford to go public, not until I have some idea of where Luthor is. If I ended up here, it's very likely he is here too."

I shook my head. "They do have the Protectorate, and their original team. Just the Endbringers are tough enough I think even we would have had problems with them. At least before the Bytes were spread out everywhere."

"We'd have found a way, we've handled worse than them before." He spoke. "We always did." Then, as if all the energy flowed out of him, he sat back down in his rickety old creaking chair. "We always did." He said faintly. The words to finish the sentence were unspoken, but I got it.

We always did, until we couldn't.

At that moment, it felt like a veil over my eyes dropped. This wasn't simply Batman, the legend of Gotham. Not the terror of criminals the world over, not the man behind the League. Not the genius who could keep up with physical gods through wits, cunning, and some smaller power he'd never told anyone about.

No, this Batman was a tired old man, fighting long past his prime, who had lost everyone and everything he'd ever cared about. One of the last remnants of a deleted timeline, and only keeping himself going because he knew the other remnant would do so much worse if allowed to run free.

"I'm sorry." I said softly.

He grunted, but seemed to get at least some of his energy back. He emptied the bag on the desk, leaving a pile of parts in place.

"If you want to talk about it?" I tried.

"No." He said sharply as he sorted through the materials, putting them into some kind of order.

Right. Ask a stupid question.

I cleared my throat. "So if you're going to be laying low, why the Batmobile?" I nodded back toward the open garage.

Batman grunted. "Better to have and not need, rather than need and not have. There is going to be a point where I step out of the shadows. But not now, and not until the time is right. Or if it's necessary. It's going to take time to get a decent intelligence apparatus going, anyway."

I nodded. "Right. There's no real way of knowing where Luthor may turn up. Or if he already has and is doing the same thing, laying low."

Batman paused for a moment, then his lip twitched. "Luthor wouldn't, not for long anyway. It doesn't fit his profile. He wouldn't just want to be changing things for his benefit, he'll want to be seen doing it." His single eye focused on my two. "The only problem is with Luthor, the first we might hear about it is when the damage is done. He has a talent for having the first sign of a plan in motion being a mushroom cloud."

"All the more reason to keep an eye out." I agreed. "In the meantime we have a lot to do. I have to prep for Behemoth. He's due next, at least if they keep to the same pattern."

Batman nodded. "I've been analyzing their attack patterns. Both Endbringers show up with little warning, but enough time to rally defenders, set up a fight. Not much time, I'll grant, but some. It indicates to me there's a purpose at work that's beyond simple destruction."

I folded my arms. "I arrived here when Leviathan was attacking Kyushu. Japan's devastated and they're going to be working on the problems from that for years, if not decades. And you're saying it's secondary?"

Batman nodded again, a slight hint of a snarl on his damaged lips. "If the goal was simple destruction, Behemoth could emerge right from under his target. Instead he emerges some distance away and walks toward it, destroying everything in his path. Leviathan's tsunamis build up in strength over time, while he fights the defenders in the middle of whatever his target city is. I need more data to build confidence, but... I think they're not just randomly picking places to attack. They're targeted very carefully to cause maximum chaos in the region with the least amount of effort. New villains often crop up in their wake, while the heroes get killed during the defense efforts. Promising heroes get snuffed out before their potential can be realized. Vital infrastructure destroyed. Entire regions rendered uninhabitable for decades. It puts pressure on other regions, forces small-scale wars to erupt as desperate people go to places that don't want them."

He paused to look me in the eye. "If you still plan on going to oppose them, be careful. The pattern hints at an intelligence beyond what their appearance might lead you to believe. Up and coming heroes often die against them. Even Kal isn't unbeatable. I saw that happen."

"Against Doomsday." I nodded, my voice thick as I remembered the day we all thought the monster had killed my mentor. It seemed like an unfathomable thought, to face a world without Superman.

Only this world didn't have a Superman. It had parallels, most notably in Scion, but while people worshipped him, Scion didn't lead by example or try to inspire people to be better. If he was trying to do that, he was very bad at it.

"No. Not against Doomsday." Batman grunted as he turned his attention back to the pile of materials.

Having run out of things to say, I just nodded and left, leaving him to it. I still had a lot to do, myself. I'd have to do a lot more than play card games and lift heavy things if I wanted to try and stop the Endbringers.

This world needed a Superman. Unfortunately, all it had was a knock-off.

I just hoped it'd be enough. I just hoped I'd be enough.