And so, came the next day, and Cherry was eating her breakfast a bit quickly this morning so she could hurry up onto school.
"Slow down, Cherry; you'll get a tummy ache." Michelle said.
"Sorry, Mom," Cherry said. "I'm just excited about helping with the play as assistant director to the drama teacher."
"I think they'd like it if you slowed down with your breakfast." Michelle said.
Cherry soon tried to slow down with eating, but then stared at the clock to make sure she wouldn't be late.
"You won't be late." Michelle told her.
Cherry sighed as she then ate normally until she was done. "You're coming to the play, right?" she then asked.
"Of course we're coming, Cherry!" Michelle smiled. "We wouldn't miss it for the world."
"Thanks." Cherry sighed.
Michelle soon hugged her, kissing her cheek and went to go to work. "I'll see you at dinner." she then told her daughter with a wave.
Cherry then continued to eat her breakfast before finishing, putting her dishes in the dishwasher and grabbed her backpack to get to school while her mother went to work for the day.
And where Cherry wasn't the only one on her way to school. Atticus and Mo soon woke up and went to get themselves to school. Patch soon came out to go an join Atticus.
"Who's going to keep Mark company?" Patch asked.
"Mom said she would." Atticus replied.
"Cool." Patch smiled.
They soon went to go off to school as Mark looked out the window.
"Alright, Mark, you can help me run errands in town today." Emily smiled once they were home alone.
"Great." Mark smiled back.
"This'll also help you get to know the neighborhood better." Emily smiled as she put on her coat, took out her purse, and came to take Mark out to the car.
"Great." Mark smiled as he was about to fly off.
"Whoa! Wait!" Emily told him with a nervous smile. "I thought we could ride in my car."
"Oh, okay." Mark said.
Emily smiled, patting the front passenger seat. Mark soon came in, buckling his seat-belt.
"Don't worry, you'll get used to this eventually," Emily smiled. "You can live normally like Clark Kent, then once we get you settled, live a double life like Superman."
"Great," Mark smiled. "Although I'll have to be sure to go for a car that doesn't tilt slightly due to my size."
"Heh... We'll get to work on that eventually, I promise you." Emily smiled back as she began to pull out of the driveway to take him to her daily errands while everyone else was in school/work.
"So, what kind of errands do we have to do?" Mark asked.
"Well, I gotta pick up some groceries, then I have to go to the bookstore for a little while, but if you want, there's a local gym you can work-out in and I'll go in for my hair appointment." Emily replied.
"A work-out gym sounds good to me." Mark smiled as he flexed his roght arm.
"All right," Emily smiled. "I'll drop you off at the gym while I go into the beauty salon. No offense, but I don't think you would enjoy that as much as me."
"Eh, probably not." Mark replied bashfully as he was a guy and all.
"So then it's agreed." Emily smiled.
Mark smiled back. They soon rode off together downtown to bond a bit, like family members for right now. And while they did that Atticus told the Humane 7 about Mark.
"So, let me get this straight..." Sci-Twi said to Atticus. "Your old enemy from a previous visit to Metropolis is back, and even though he nearly killed you and Superman, he's back, and wants to be friends?"
"Yes!" Atticus replied before clearing his throat. "I know it sounds risky, but I know I can trust him."
"How can you be sure?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"He thought Drell was an enemy that was trying to attack Atticus," Patch pointed out. "I saw the whole thing while they were wrestling."
"That was an accident though," Atticus then said. "We can trust Mark now."
"Mark?" The girls asked.
"That's... What we're calling him now." Atticus replied.
"Let's give him a 'Welcome to Town' Party!" Pinkie Pie suggested.
"I'd agree, but I doubt he's ever experienced a good surprise or knows what a party is." Mo said.
"Awww..." Pinkie Pie pouted.
"It was a good try." Applejack soothed.
"Maybe after we shown him what a party is like." Atticus added.
Pinkie Pie smiled hopefully to that.
"Well, uh, if you say he's nice, then I trust you, Atticus." Fluttershy smiled.
"I think we have experience in meeting someone who was once bad, but now wants to be friends." Sunset added.
"And Rarity, I was hoping that you could possibly work with Mo and make him a superhero suit," Atticus said. "I mean, if you have time."
"Hmm... Let's see... I'll need some color palettes, his measurements, and some preferences." Rarity smiled.
"Shouldn't be a problem." Mo added.
"Well, he should be with my mom right about now doing errands, so how about after school, I bring him over to your place, Rarity, and we can get started?" Atticus suggested.
"Hmm... That should be just fine," Rarity smiled. "My parents should be home so they can keep Sweetie Belle busy and I won't have to babysit."
"Great." Atticus smiled back.
"I suppose I could pencil him in," Rarity smiled, putting that in her date book. "I'll meet you there."
"Meet you at your place." Atticus smiled back.
They soon went off to their first classes.
Cherry was shown to be in the school auditorium, making sure everything was set up properly. She then smiled as everything on the stage was in place. "Perfect."
"Cherry, come to class." Atticus said, passing by as he knew she would be there.
"In a minute, Atticus," Cherry said. "I just wanna make sure everything is ready for rehearsal."
"Okay, but don't be late." Atticus told her.
"I'll be fine." Cherry replied.
Atticus sighed and soon walked off to class. However, Cherry was still in the room after the bell rang.
"This is going to be my best accomplishment ever!" Cherry beamed to herself in excitement.
"May I help you?" A male voice asked.
"Eek!" Cherry yelped nervously before smiling. "Uh, sorry, sir, I just wanna make sure the school play is set."
"Oh, it will," The male voice told her. "I suggest you hurry on up to class."
"Hm... I don't recognize you... Where's the drama teacher?" Cherry asked.
"Oh, don't worry about that, you head on to class, and I'll see you shortly." The man told her.
Cherry shrugged to that and soon went on her way to class.
"This play will be one no one will ever forget." The man smirked.
Cherry shook a chill down her spine. "Why don't I like how he said that?" she asked herself before coming to class.
For today, classes were mostly normal for everybody. It was a bit of a surprise as nothing magical happened.
Ms. Magrooney and Drell were soon cleaning up the gym after the students went to the locker room.
"Uh, hi, guys," Atticus said to the gym teachers. "Do you think you have an opening for a gym teacher's assistant or anything?"
"Why?" Drell smirked.
"Erm... I might know someone who wants a job." Atticus replied.
"Could it possibly be Mark?" Drell asked.
Atticus grinned bashfully.
"We'll talk about it." Drell told him.
"Thank you!" Atticus beamed.
"How strong is this Mark guy? A gym teacher's assistant or anyone who works in the gym for that matter, needs to be strong." Ms. Magrooney said.
"Does being about as strong as Superman count?" Atticus asked nervously through his teeth.
"That counts." Ms. Magrooney said.
"Trust me, he's pretty good," Atticus replied. "I mean, he lost to me, obviously, but I promise. He won't hurt anyone, try to destroy anyone, or kill anyone."
"We'll talk about it, but that sounds good." Ms. Magrooney told him.
"Great." Atticus smiled.
"Now, could you do us both a favor?" Drell asked.
"Yeah?" Atticus replied.
"TAKE A SHOWER ALREADY!" Drell told him.
"Oh, right." Atticus smiled sheepishly before to do just that.
"Whatya think?" Drell asked Ms. Magrooney.
"A super-villain as a gym teacher's assistant? I dunno..." Ms. Magrooney replied.
"What about a former super-villain?" Drell asked.
"I guess if he could prove himself," Ms. Magrooney replied. "I know you've met him yourself, but I think I should see what he can do before we hire him right away."
"Hmm... Shall we see how he's doing with my crystal ball?" Drell asked as he showed her his crystal ball.
"Well... All right..." Ms. Magrooney replied.
The two looked around and soon went into the office room since the students were showering and going to their next classes.
"Now let's see what Mark is doing right now." Drell said as he used his crystal ball to take a look at where Mark was.
Ms. Magrooney nodded. Emily took Mark to the grocery store, looking over her list and Mark helped her get some of the food, adding to the cart when she asked for them.
"He seems to be helping Emily with groceries." Drell said.
"Helpful... That's good." Ms. Magrooney replied.
Emily grunted, and jumped up a bit, unable to reach a top shelf in an aisle that she needed. Mark saw that and soon walked over, getting a pack of paper towels and handed it to Emily with a smile.
"Phew! Thank you." Emily smiled.
"No problem." Mark smiled back.
The two soon walked off together while grocery shopping.
"Is that Emily Fudo?" A female voice smirked, showing a woman who looked like Cassandra's friend, Margo.
"Hi, Shannon." Emily mumbled out, a little annoyed as she continued to shop with Mark.
"Enemy of yours, I take it?" Mark guessed.
"Sort of..." Emily pouted.
"My, my, aren't you a handsome man?" Another woman smirked towards Mark.
"Hey, Alexandra." Emily sighed.
"Emily, have we gotten everything off the list?" Mark asked as he ignored Alexandra.
"Hmm... I think that's about it..." Emily said, checking her list a bit.
"Where's Patrick?" Shannon smirked.
"Oh, you two are about as worse as your daughters," Emily complained to them. "Let's see... Yep! We're good to go, Mark."
"Great, now we can go to the check-out." Mark said.
"Yes... It was nice seeing you girls, but we gotta go..." Emily told Shannon and Alexandra before bolting off. "Ugh... No wonder the kids always complain about Tiffany and Margo with their mothers being bigger pains in the butt whenever I go out to run errands."
"I can tell with their behaviors." Mark said.
Eventually, Mark and Emily made it to the check-out and Emily crossed groceries off her list.
"Hmm... He IS pretty helpful." Ms. Magrooney said to Drell.
"Of course he is," Drell smirked boastfully. "I knew it all along."
They soon saw robbers going inside to rob money from the cashiers.
"Oh, my goodness!" Ms. Magrooney gasped.
The cashier smiled to Emily before gasping and freezing up.
"All right, don't try anything funny!" The robber glared.
"Now this should show his hero side." Drell said.
"Hm..." Ms. Magrooney paused for a moment.
"Empty the cash register before I empty your LIFESPAN." The robber glared at the cashier.
The cashier soon shakily began to do just that.
"I think you should leave." Mark glared firmly.
"WHAT?!" The robber glared.
"You heard me." Mark glared back firmly.
"Are you a fool?!" The robber glared.
"No, but I believe you are if you're trying to hurt innocent people!" Mark glared back.
"Oh, really?" The robber glared back.
Mark soon came up in front of Emily.
"M-Mark, you don't have to do this." Emily whispered nervously.
"I can't just stand by and watch." Mark whispered back.
Emily gulped a bit nervously. The robber soon began to shoot at Mark who then glared, swiping the gun out of his hands and soon turned it into a knot before tossing it aside.
"What the...?" The robber muttered.
Drell soon used his magic to make the robber and everyone else who saw that see it differently of how Mark handled the bullets and gun as a normal human.
"Drell...?" Ms. Magrooney called.
"I'm not doing anything... This is called misdirection..." Drell replied innocently. "Besides, it's better that they don't know about his true strength."
"So, that spell will only effect the robber?" Ms. Magrooney asked.
"Yeah, that way Nuclear Man can show his power, and that guy gets locked up for both being a criminal AND a kook!" Drell smirked with an aside glance.
The robber was too perplexed at what happened that the police arrived before he could react. Mark came to see Emily and the cashier, both looked relived that no one was hurt.
"Did anyone else see that?!" The robber cried out.
"See what?" One of the customers asked.
"That guy! He just twisted my gun and bounced off those bullets!" The robber cried out. "Like he's Superman or something!"
"...I don't remember that." The cashier narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"Yeah, all we remember is that Mark dodged the bullets and kicked your gun out of your hand." Emily said.
"HE TWISTED THAT GUN! I SAW HIM!" The robber complained.
"Come on, buddy, time to go downtown." One cop told him.
"But he really did it!" The robber told him.
The cops looked annoyed as they sent the robber to the backseat of their car to go off.
Drell chuckled to himself, crossing his arms. "Dodged a bullet~"
After the robber was sent to jail and paying for groceries, Emily and Mark left to get the groceries home before getting to the last part of the errand list.
"Okay, Mark, I gotta get my hair done," Emily smiled to Mark. "Luckily the gym and the salon aren't too far away from each other."
"Have fun, Emily." Mark smiled back.
"You know, you're like a brother to me," Emily replied. "It's pretty nice since I was very close with my sister when we were younger."
"I've never had a brother or sister, but if I did, you'd be like a sister to me." Mark smiled.
"That would be nice," Emily giggled a bit. "Okay, I'll see you in about an hour."
"See you later then." Mark said as he went to check out the gym.
Emily smiled and then went into the hair salon to get her hair styled while she was in town. Mark soon went into the gym and saw what would be a strong man's paradise. The other men there, along with some women, began to work out.
"Ah... The gym..." Drell beamed to himself. "So glad I got to make my own gym in The Other Realm for my time off of work."
"I know." Mrs. Magrooney said.
Mark began to make his way to the dumbbells.
"I think I'll go down there and keep him company." Drell said, standing up.
"I think you need to stay here for a bit." Ms. Magrooney said, putting her hand on his shoulder.
Drell stuck his tongue out when she wasn't looking before sitting back down. Mark smiled as he soon came to try his hand at the dumbbells. One of the workers at the gym soon noticed Mark at the dumbbells and decided to see if he could help.
"Um... Hey, buddy?" The worker smiled to Mark. "You must be new around here."
"How much can you lift?" The worker asked.
"Oh, uh, probably enough..." Mark chuckled so that he wouldn't come off as strange with the truth.
"Let's start you off with 50 pounds." The worker said.
"All right." Mark replied.
The worker then set out some 50 pound dumbbells for him to start out with since he was new to the gym, but it was an easy start for him. The worker smiled to Mark.
"Maybe he can be a new buddy for you." Ms. Magrooney smirked to Drell.
"I'd love that." Drell smirked back.
As Mark and the worker worked out together, they became fast friends.
"Nice." The worker smiled.
"Heh, thanks." Mark smiled back.
"I'm Conner." The worker introduced as he held hid right hand out to Mark.
"Hi, Conner," Mark smiled, shaking hands with the worker. "My name's Mark."
"Ooh, that's quite a grip you got there." Conner said, feeling his strong grip.
"Thanks, I work out a lot." Mark said with a lie.
Drell and Ms. Magrooney soon looked to each other.
"Well, I think he can be an assistant gym teacher in the future." Ms. Magrooney soon said.
"Oh, come on; he's perfect, especially in the strength department." Drell told her as he flexed his right arm.
"Yes, that's true..." Ms. Magrooney rolled her eyes a bit from that. "You may be right."
"Ah, ah, I'm ALWAYS right," Drell corrected with a smirk. "So, whatya think?"
"I dunno... A gym teacher's assistant for both of us?" Ms. Magrooney asked him.
"You realize he has super-speed, right?" Drell asked.
"I just mean for both of us since we're both here," Ms. Magrooney told him. "We both kinda run the gym for the students since boys and girls are split up in high school."
"Oh, right." Drell smiled sheepishly.
"I'll think about it, Drell," Ms. Magrooney said. "He does seem promising though."
"I thought so." Drell agreed.
They soon went off to get ready for the next gym class.