9 Chapter 9

9.

Two weeks after they started working with Stormfront…

"What a waste of two weeks…" Marcus lamented with a sigh. He plopped himself down onto the couch.

"It wasn't all bad." Kara said. "I, at least, got something out of all this!" Her training had come a long way.

Marcus, Megan and occasionally Kara–when she wasn't being hounded by Homelander–had spent the past two weeks shadowing Stormfront as they went up and down the East Coast.

Officially, they were hunting down the supervillain that attacked Marcus and then killed the beloved hero Translucent. Unofficially, they were just putting on a big facade for the public and media.

The three of them followed Stormfront around, and stayed in the background, as she went from town to town delivering speeches about how Vought would make sure to protect everyone from the evil supervillain. A camera crew had made sure to follow the four of them the entire time…

It wasn't hard to figure out that the task group Marcus, Megan and Kara had been forced to join didn't actually exist.

A couple hours after meeting with Stan Edgar, Megan informed Marcus of the truth. The supposed supervillain that he had fought was actually one of the Seven in disguise. Megan informed Marcus that Lamplighter doubled as Vought's assassin for hire. Many shareholders and executives had the hero on call. Whenever any of them had a mess they needed to clean up, they would call him in. It was pretty hard to investigate a crime scene when the only thing remaining were ashes after all.

Marcus was officially disgusted with this world at this point. His ability to travel dimensions had reset and he wanted to leave.

Kara and Megan didn't want to leave quite yet though. Despite having to put on the facade of being his long lost daughter, Kara said that Homelander was actually a pretty great teacher. She was getting a much better grasp on her powers.

Megan had also convinced him that he shouldn't leave without gaining what he came to this world for in the first place. He was supposed to use this world to get stronger. The only way Marcus could think of doing that in a short amount of time was getting his hands on some Compound V.

Because he was a Nephilim, Marcus suspected that the serum would be a lot safer for him to take than if an ordinary human took it. Even if he did end up developing any negative side effects, his mother could just remove them when he returned to his own world.

They just got back from touring the day before, and Megan had spent the time back at Vought HQ searching the minds of numerous Vought personnel to find a sample of Compound V for Marcus. When she searched the mind of a random member of the crime analysis department, she finally got a lead.

Another hero, A-Train, had been running samples of Compound V back and forth across the city almost every single day on a fixed schedule! He and Homelander were working on some type of secret project. The analysis worker at Vought found this out and decided to keep his mouth shut about it, lest Homelander vaporize him…

Too bad he didn't account for a mind reading Martian.

The group of three were currently in Kara's apartment, planning out their next move.

"So how are we going to ambush this Train guy?" Kara asked, she nonchalantly plopped herself right down on the couch next to Marcus and leaned into him.

The group of three had gotten a lot closer over the past week.

Ever since they found out they were in a pretty messed up world, they had all been staying in the same apartment every night in case they were attacked.

Marcus knew that kind of thinking was a bit paranoid, but then again, someone had gone and killed Translucent a week ago. The man had minor super strength, bullet proof skin, and invisibility. Marcus figured the only way the man could have been captured was if he was attacked when he was off guard.

It wasn't hard to find out that it wasn't Lamplighter who burned the guy alive. Lamplighter had a solid alibi at the time…at least according to the memories that Megan skimmed over.

"He's not as fast as the Flash, but he's currently faster than any of us can react to." Marcus said. He wrapped one of his arms around Kara's shoulder.

Megan pouted at how close Marcus and Kara were before she hopped onto the couch on his other side and also leaned into him. He wrapped his other arm around her shoulder next. She grinned.

The growing relationship he had with the two girls was a bit odd. They hadn't had the chance to go on any real dates yet, but the two girls apparently have been treating these past nights stuck in the small apartments together as such.

"He's been going to the same location every other day for the past week. Tomorrow, we just need to ambush him there and take the Compound V from him." Megan said. "I can trip him with my telekinesis and one of you two just needs to break one of his legs. If he can't run, then he's basically powerless!" Megan said a bit ruthlessly.

More than anyone else, Megan didn't have any pity for the heroes in this world. She had learned many dark things about them all from all the minds she'd read. She only shared a small portion of that with Marcus and Kara…

"That sounds like a solid plan. Before A-Train can call for help we'll already be back home." Marcus said.

Megan snuggled closer to Marcus. "Good! With that taken care of, I think I deserve a reward for all the work I put in getting that information!" She said cheerfully.

Marcus turned his head to face her. "What kind of reward would you like?" He asked.

Megan smiled. "This!" She leaned her head a few inches forward and kissed Marcus!

Marcus was surprised by her bold move! He quickly reciprocated her kiss though. This was the first kiss they had in their budding relationship.

Megan was ecstatic inside when Marcus started kissing her back. Her lips started moving against his own passionately. They sat there and kissed for a few minutes, lost in their own world.

"Eh-Em!" Kara cleared her throat in irritation on the other side of Marcus. She was annoyed at being ignored and left out!

He broke the kiss with Megan. Her pale face was flushed red and she was gazing at him in adoration. You're really amazing and so beautiful, Megan. I think Kara is feeling a bit left out though."

"Damn right I am!" Kara pouted. She grabbed the back of Marcus's head and turned him so that he was facing her. He noticed that she was blushing profusely!

Before she could change her mind, Kara leaned forward and started kissing Marcus just as passionately as Megan had been.

Marcus broke his kiss with Kara a minute later. "So I take it you two want to be my girlfriends?" He asked in amazement. He had seen this coming over, but was still amazed that it actually happened.

"Hmph! I'm already your girlfriend!" Kara stated leaving no room for argument.

"So am I!" Megan said! "Any girls that want to get with you will have to go through our approval first!"

…

–Starlight–

Starlight was sitting in her spot at the table of the Seven. The other members of the Seven were sitting in their own respective spots around her and they were all looking at Homelander.

"We've got some big problems here, guys. The Seven has officially become the Six. We have no idea who killed Translucent. And what's worse, is that little bastard who's two timing my daughter is now rising in the polls rapidly!" He grit his teeth.

"Wait? What was that last one? Marcus is two timing Kara?" Annie asked. She'd only met him a few times because of their busy schedules, but she didn't think he was the type of guy to do that.

Queen Marve snorted. "He's not two timing her, he's dating both girls at once, and they're apparently fine with it. The kid must be a real stud." She commented dryly.

"Dayum…That guy's living the dream…" The Deep muttered.

"Can we please just stick to finding out who killed Translucent. That seems like the more immediate problem." A-Train added.

Homelander glared at the three other Heroes. That was one of the first times Starlight ever saw the man truly angry. He was especially glaring at A-Train for dismissing his last point so casually. A-Train shrunk down in his seat under Homelander's glare.

Starlight decided to rescue him. "Why don't I talk to Marcus later. We're neighbors, and I can find out what's going on in that front." Starlight suggested to Homelander.

Homelander's glare disappeared and he smiled at her. "Good idea Starlight! I'd appreciate that a lot." His smile turned back into a small frown. "Just be sure not to fall into his clutches next and become his third girlfriend." He said seriously.

Starlight sputtered. "E-excuse me!?"

Their meeting was interrupted by the doors opening on the other side of the room.

Stan Edgar marched into the room followed by two women. One of the women Annie knew personally the other she had seen gaining recent traction in the Hero polls.

Homelander spread his arms wide and smiled at the group. "Stan! We don't usually see you coming all the way to this floor. You look upset. Did your stapler run empty? Come to borrow one of ours?" He joked.

Starlight cringed when his joke didn't land and no one laughed.

Edgar's frown didn't go away. He was flanked on one side by Madelyn and the other with the upcoming Heroine Stormfront. "This is no time for jokes. Today might be one of the darkest days for Vought in a long time." He said.

Starlight frowned. 'What now…' She lamented in her head.

Homelander also frowned. "What? Did the stocks crash? Did we find out who killed Translucent? "

"No, we're still working on that. What we did find out is that we've been infiltrated and compromised." Stan Edgar said.

Starlight blanched. 'More things going wrong?' She didn't expect so much drama immediately upon joining the Seven!

The other members of the Seven shifted uncomfortably in their seats.

"Infiltrated and compromised?" Homelander repeated questioningly.

Madelyn stepped forward. "That's right. We kind of expected something like this to occur when three young Supes with unbelievable powers randomly showed up on our doorstep. It was far too good to be true after all."

"Are you calling my daughter a traitor!?" Homelander grit his teeth.

"Yes." Madelyn replied bluntly, shocking all the heroes in the room. "We had no idea the depths of which those three could infiltrate us, especially in such a short amount of time."

"Marcus is a spy now too!?" Starlight asked in shock. 'A minute ago he was just a playboy and now he was a spy!?'

Storomfront nodded wistfully. "Yes...It's too bad. He was such a perfect specimen as well…" She lamented.

Starlight wondered what Stormfront meant by that. 'Was Stormfront interested in dating Marcus too?'

"...Whose Marcus?" The Deep asked randomly.

"The guy we were just talking about, you moron." Queen Maeve said with a sigh.

"Oh right…"

"Shut up Deep! No more questions from you." Homelander spat out.

"You got it, Homelander!" The Deep said with a smile.

"Tell us how my daughter is a traitor. You better have some pretty good evidence!" Homelander said threateningly.

Stormfront stepped forward. "While we were touring the East Coast, I happened to get a bug into Marcus's hotel room. He and his two girlfriends have been very naughty…" She noticed Homelander's frown, "...and not in the sexual way." She added. "They haven't been completely forthcoming with all of their abilities. At least, Megan and Marcus haven't."

Stan Edgar spoke next. Starlight noted that he looked visibly upset. That was unusual, the man rarely ever showed actual emotion. "Megan, the pale girl with red hair, has the ability to read minds from a distance." He said and everyone gasped. "She has deeply read my mind as well as Ms Stillwells. She now knows every single one of Vought's secrets." He explained while clenching his fist.

"Oh shit…" The Deep muttered. There was genuine fear in his eyes. "We have to kill them all immediately!" He said with no hesitation.

Starlight's eyes widened in shock at that declaration. 'Kill them!?' Starlight thought in shock. That was not how heroes were so supposed to operate! At worst, Megan should go to jail for corporate espionage.

"We're not killing my daughter!" Homelander shouted angrily. His eyes were glowing red as he glared at The Deep. Starlight held her breath, was Homelander about to kill the Deep!?

The Deep trembled in fear from Homelander's death stare. A smell of ammonia filled the room as everyone heard a dripping noise.

"Disgusting… He pissed himself." Queen Maeve said with a look of disgust.

"I'm sorry…" The Deep mumbled and slumped further down in his seat.

"Easy now, Homelander. Don't kill your colleague." Madelyn Stillwell said. She walked over to Homelander to calm him down. She started rubbing her hands up and down Homelander in a manner that Starlight thought was very inappropriate.

Homelander's red eyes turned human again and he apologized to Madelyn. He did not apologize to the Deep…

"We're not going to kill your daughter. Just the other two. It's clear that whatever organization raised your daughter has brainwashed her against us. We'll capture her alive and after she talks, we can start deprogrammingnher." She suggested.

Homelander smiled at the older woman. "Good, that's good. I'd be happy to rip off Marcus's head myself."

Madelyn turned her gaze towards Starlight and the other members of the Seven. "I trust that we will have all of your cooperation in this task?"

Maeve scoffed but nodded. "Fine… What's a little more blood on my hands anyway…".She said dismissively.

The Deep stopped trembling and nodded as well. "Just get them in the water and I'll drown them."

"I'll hit them so fast they won't see it coming." A-train added.

Starlight couldn't believe what she was hearing! 'Was this really the Seven and Vought!?' They were talking about casual murder like it was nothing! She couldn't believe that this was the true face of the Heroes she idolized!

"Good." Stan Edgar nodded at all the heroes who had casually agreed to premeditated murder. "We need this done as soon as possible. It just so happens that Stormfront has come up with a good plan to lure the three of them out of the city so the inevitable confrontation doesn't cause a scene. Also, Congratulations…Stormfront…you're now a member of the Seven." Stan added dismissively.

Stormfront didn't seem to mind his tone. She grinned. "Excellent, now this is what I'm thinking of doing…" Stormfront started explaining her plan. She wanted to use A-Train as bait and dangle something called Compound V in front of Marcus and the two girls.

Starlight didn't know what Compound V was, but it sounded important. Starlight listened to the whole plan and didn't know what to think afterwards. 'Yes, Marcus and his friends had apparently committed corporate espionage, but they were also apparently brainwashed since they were kids by some kind of organization.' She didn't think they deserved to die for that. She also couldn't believe that a public company like Vought would have any secrets worth killing over. Starlight decided that she was going to have to warn Marcus before it was too late. Maybe she would try contacting the FBI. She was a member of the Seven, they should listen to her…

She stood up from her seat to go and do that. Everyone else in the room seemed to be currently listening to Stormfront, Starlight chose to use this moment to escape unnoticed. Unfortunately, she didn't quite make it.

"Where are you going, Starlight?" Homelander singled her out. Everyone in the room stopped their conversation and looked at her.

"I was just going to the restroom." Starlight replied quickly, a little too quickly to sound genuine. She cursed at herself internally for that mess up.

"Is that so?" Homelander clearly didn't believe her. "Why not just go right here then. The Deep didn't seem to have a problem with it." He said with a cruel smile. He walked towards her and she gulped in trepidation. She used to look up to Homelander, she had a picture of him on her bedroom wall that used to make her feel safe. That wasn't the case anymore.

"That's ok. I don't think I have to go anymore…" Starlight said as she tried to make her way back to her seat.

"You know what I think? I think it's odd that those three showed up at Vought on the exact same day you joined the Seven." Homelander pointed out with an accusing tone. "Those three took all the spotlight off of you. I wonder if that was by design? Who knows what you could have been doing in this tower all this time, Starlight?"

Starlight's eyes widened in shock at Homelander's accusation. " WHAT!? That's crazy! I'm not some kind of spy!" She defended herself. She couldn't believe that she was suddenly being accused out of nowhere.

"Homelander, Starlight has been thoroughly vetted." Stan Edgar said calmly from across the table.

Starlight breathed a sigh of relief. Her relief disappeared when Homelander smirked at her menacingly. His eyes shifted slightly. She knew that meant he was using his X-ray vision.

"If that's true, and Starlight isn't a traitor as well, why is there a bug planted directly underneath where Starlight sits!" Homelander declared. Homelander zipped over to her side and reached underneath the table. When his hand came up, he was holding a listening device for everyone to see!

Negative reactions sprang up all around her!

"You bitch! I thought you were one of us!" A-Train spat at her.

"Damn! She's a spy! Good thing I didn't ask her out yet…" The Deep mumbled.

"Another race traitor…" Stormfront scowled.

"What!?" Starlight shrieked in surprise! "I didn't put that there!" She knew this situation looked incredibly bad for her. She turned around and tried to quickly escape. She only made it a few feet unfortunately.

"I don't think so, traitor." Homelander called out behind her.

His voice was the last thing she heard before her head exploded in pain and she blacked out.

…

–The Boys–

The group had been listening in to that entire meeting thanks to a bug that one of their members had planted in the room.

"Shit! They found our bug!" Mother's Milk cursed.

"And it seems like we just incriminated Starlight." Frenchie added with a shrug. "Oh well, too bad for her. She's a shitty Supe anyway."

"Hot damn! We just struck the gold mine of all gold mines!" Butcher declared. "Good work planting that bug, Hughie!"

"Thanks Butcher." Hughie said. "But what did we strike exactly?"

"Everything, Hughie! That Megan girl knows everything about Vought. Everything!" He repeated again in glee!

"With her knowledge, we could bring them down!" Frechie proclaimed with a grin. "Magnifique! This is stupendous news!"

"We have to get to those three before Vought does, or that information is gone forever!" Mother's Milk said. "What's the plan here, Butcher?"

Butcher grinned. "We don't need to get to them first, we just need to cause a bit of mayhem to distract Homelander. Without him, I doubt his daughter will end up losing to the other useless chuckle fucks in the Seven." Butcher was amazed that some organization had managed to abscond with Homelander's unknown daughter, and actually raised her as a secret weapon against Vought! Whoever they were, he tipped his hat to them.

"That's good, I like it. How will we distract Homelander though?" Frenchie asked.

Butcher grinned. "You just leave that to me." He had learned something else quite interesting these past few days thanks to that bug. Homelander had a sweet spot for a certain blonde milf at Vought. It wouldn't be hard to get to the woman and use her as a hostage.

…

–Alice–

SLAP!

Alice's face stung and tears formed in her eyes. "Daddy! Why did you hit me!" He had never hit her before in her entire life! Alice was in the middle of playing with her toys when her father suddenly called her to his office. The first thing that happened when she entered was that he slapped her!

"You stupid girl! You've ruined us! You've ruined the entire Winston family!" Her father was glaring at her with loathing and she was taken aback.

"What!? What did I do!?" Alice exclaimed in fright.

SLAP!

Her father slapped her other cheek next! "That PRETTY BOY that you said has no background has a huge background! He's the secret son of Lex Luthor, you ungrateful brat! Our family is ruined!"

Alice's tearful eyes widened in shock. 'Marcus was Lex Luthor's son!' For the first time in a long time, she felt genuine fear. "W-what's going to happen now?"

"Now we have to pack our bags and leave the country! As fast as possible. Luthor already gave the FBI, NSA and Justice League every single detail of our business. EVERYTHING!" He spat out.

'Leave the Country!' Alice thought in Panic. "But what about Mother!? You said you had a plan to help her escape soon." She asked.

Her father scoffed as he went over to his wall safe and started typing in his password. The small metal door swung open and a few dozen emergency passports along with a few million dollars in traceless cash were inside. "Your mother is now going to rot in prison forever because of you. I hope you're happy!" He spat out again.

Alice felt like her world was crumbling down! She had only lived in Gotham City her whole life. It was her home! It was where she was born. Where her mother was born and where she learned how to play with all of her toys! "...No." Alice said quietly. "I'm not going…" She reaffirmed a bit louder.

Her father was busy stuffing piles of money into a suitcase when he heard her. He spun around with a scowl. "Of course you're going! You still have some value to me after all! You're a beautiful girl of good stock and I'm sure a decent marriage to a wealthy foreigner can help save our family!"

Alice glared at her father. She couldn't believe that was all he saw her as. She thought that he loved her. She thought that he loved her mother…

'It was a lie…'

'It was a LIE.'

'IT WAS A LIE!'

Mr Winston slammed the suitcase shut with everything packed inside. "Go pack your emergency bag. We have to leave now. The guards will hold off the police and heroes for as long as possible but they are already on their way!"

Alice stood there motionless for a moment. She didn't respond to her father at all. Her eyes were staring at the floor as her thoughts started to spiral.

'Her daddy didn't love her.

'She didn't want to leave home!'

'She needed to see her Mommy!'

'Her Daddy didn't want her to see her Mommy!'

'This was all Marcus's fault!'

'It was Marcus's fault and that stupid SLUT Artemis too!'

He grew increasingly annoyed at her. "Alice! Snap out of it!"

SLAP!

He hit her again to try and wake her up. "Stop being so obstinate!"

Alice's eyes stirred and she looked up at her Daddy who was glaring at her. Her cheeks were stinging red but the pain had disappeared for some reason. She smiled at her Daddy brightly. "I loved you Daddy…"

"That's nice, Sweety. Now let's go and–Gaaaaaahhhh!" He was cut off and screamed in pain. He looked down and saw his daughter had stabbed him directly in the stomach with a knife! She must have hit something vital because he saw a lot of blood start to leak out of the wound! "A-alice…w-why?"

Alice yanked out the knife. Spurts of blood splashed out of the wound and fell on her. She smiled at the sight. Her Daddy collapsed backwards onto the floor. "You want to run away and you won't help me save Mommy. I'll get her out of Arkham myself! And then Mommy will help me punish Marcus and Artemis!" Alice said before she slammed the knife back down into her screaming father! She stabbed him over and over and over. Even after he had stopped moving she didn't let up for a full few minutes!

She was covered in blood but the bright smile never left her face. She picked up the suitcase full of money. She had never killed someone for money before. Her mom used to cut open her dolls and sell their parts for money. Alice felt closer to her mother than ever right now. "Hehehehe…I hope my Mommy will be proud of me. Maybe I should finally start my own business just like her?" Dollhouse struck terror into the people of Gotham. Alice wondered what her own new name should be?

"Hehehehe…I'm coming for you Marcus and Artemis…"

…

–Gabriel–

Gabriel was standing with Lex Luthor on the edge of the Winston property. They could hear gunfire coming from all around the property as the armed guards attempted to fight off the Justice League. They were obviously unsuccessful considering how many of the present heroes were bullet proof.

Lex was looking a bit uncomfortable next to her. "Relax, Lex. No stray bullets will hit you with me standing here."

He scoffed. That's not why I'm uncomfortable. I just don't like being this close to Superman."

Gabriel could see Superman, off in the distance, beating up a bunch of the armed guards. Even though they knew he was bulletproof, they always ended up trying to shoot him anyway. Gabriel could never understand that futility. She was surprised at how many guards the Winston family had though. There must have been a small army here! Hundreds of armed thugs were guarding the place. Not a single one of them threw down their weapons and surrendered either.

"Do the guards not care that they will be going to prison?" She asked. This was an official investigation now. The FBI was outside the gates, waiting for the Justice League to clear the place out so they could move in and apprehend the Winston family.

Lex shrugged. "Those guards were probably each promised a few million dollars to hold their ground. They know the Justice League doesn't kill either. They'll each get a few bruises–a few broken bones at worst. After a few years in prison, they can all retire in comfort with their money."

Gabriel scowled. She hated that kind of corruption. These guards were protecting the people who tried to hurt HER son. 'Their only reward should be a swift death!'

…Gabriel took a calming breath. That wasn't her anymore. She wasn't that type of Angel anymore. At one point she may have been Heaven's most effective soldier, and had the blood of tens of millions on her hands, but she had decided to move past all of that once she had her child.

As if noticing her discomfort, Lex patted her on the shoulder. "No need to worry. They went after my son as well. All of their bank accounts will be mysteriously closed down while they are in prison. When they get out, they will have nothing." He said cruelly.

Gabriel smiled. "Good. That's what they deserve!" She could see that the Justice League was just about done mopping up the resistance. The FBI was starting to push into the property and move towards the mansion.

She wanted to go take a look herself, but she felt a small disturbance next to her. Someone was breaching through the dimensions! Gabriel smiled brightly. "Marcus is coming back!" She said enthusiastically!

"He is?" Lex asked with a raised eyebrow. "When?"

"Right now!" She cheered.

Lex sputtered. "NOW!?" He could have used a bit more warning!

WOOSH!

The air kicked up around them as a golden portal manifested a few feet away from them. The first person to hop through was Kara. She looked to be slightly disheveled and her clothing had signs of burns on it. "That bastard! I'll beat him next time we fight!"

The next person that came through was a man that Gabriel didn't recognize.

He was a human wearing a black trench coat. "Bloody hell! That was a weird experience!" He said with a British accent. He quickly stood up and dusted himself off.

Finally three more people came through. Marcus stepped out of the portal and he was carrying an unconscious, and now white, Megan in one arm. In his other, he was holding a costumed woman she didn't recognize.

"M-mom!" Marcus asked in surprise when he saw her. "I'm glad you're here. Can you heal Megan and Annie? They both got hit pretty hard…" He said sadly. Marcus was also covered in burns and bruises he had clearly been put through the wringer.

Gabriel could also sense a lingering amount of Holy Energy surrounding him. 'He had been forced to use his Balance Breaker?' She thought. She wondered what kind of threat could push him that far. "Welcome back Marcus. Set them down right there and I'll heal them." She said.

"So this must be our son, Marcus. Nice to meet you, boy. I am your father, Lex Luthor." Lex walked over to Marcus and held out his hand. The two shook hands awkwardly…

Gabriel snickered at the gaping look of shock on Marcus's face. He had clearly just been through a lot and now he was meeting his father out of nowhere. She looked down at the two girls she needed to heal. They weren't hurt that bad. Megan was simply unconscious while Annie simply had a moderate concussion.

Kara walked over and sat down next to Marcus. Gabriel almost squealed in happiness when she saw Kara take Marcus's hand in her own. 'Her little boy had a girlfriend now! Maybe even three!?' She needed all of the details immediately! "So, what happened over there? Tell me everything!" Gabriel exclaimed.

Marcus was taken aback a bit by her enthusiasm. "Um…"

"Perhaps we can move this discussion to the Hotel that I've rented out for now. This is no place for such a discussion." Lex said while gesturing to the scenery. Dozens of government agents were still hovering nearby along with the Justice League itself.

Gabriel pouted. "Fine…"

XXX