(New York City: Vought Tower - The Meeting Room)
The Seven - a team of 'heroes' which consisted of Homelander, Queen Maeve, Black Noir, A-Train, Translucent and The Deep - were all gathered at the Seven's round table with Madelyn Stillwell, watching news footage of the 'Mysterious Supe' that stopped a building fire and saved a family.
Homelander narrowed his eyes slightly as the Mystery Supe flew into the air and blew out the flames with a form of super breath, before flying off at a speed that not even he could achieve. "Do we have anything else on him?" He asked in a serious tone, not taking his eyes off the screen.
"No, we're completely in the dark on this man." Madelyn replied, glancing at an image of the Mystery Supe with narrowed eyes as well. "Even our best analyst couldn't find a thing on him, it's almost like...he appeared out of thin air." She added.
If there's one thing that Madelyn found really annoying, it was an unknown superhuman doing hero work and not working for Vought. Sure, it's not uncommon for a Supe to help someone or stop a criminal occasionally, but a Supe like this man, would raise Vought's stocks through the roof; that's what made Madelyn annoyed.
"So... He's unregistered? What's his name?" Queen Maeve asked, while also side-eyeing an image of the unknown Supe on the TV.
"He calls himself, Superman." Madelyn answered. Upon hearing that, Translucent scoffed.
"Superman? Really?" He said in a mocking tone, while rolling his eyes. "What kind of unoriginal name is that?"
"Probably thinks he's the hottest shit since sliced bread." A-Train stated, while glaring angrily at the so-called 'Superman'. Every news outlet on TV couldn't stop talking about the 'newest hero on the block' and it really irked Reggie. That should be the Seven, or more preferably him, on TV getting all the glory; not some wannabe Supe with a lame-ass name.
"Dude has women clamoring for him already." The Deep remarked with an annoyed expression, watching as a small group of women spoke to a reporter about how handsome 'Superman' was and cool his suit looked.
Off to the side, Maeve inwardly agreed with them. "I wonder if he's single?" She wondered, silently, clearly finding Superman very attractive.
Black Noir didn't have much of an opinion on 'Superman'...or anything to say for that matter. He seemed to be lost in his own little world.
Ignoring his fellow Seven members, Homelander finally turned away from the news and glanced at Madelyn. "What's the plan?" He asked.
"Nothing for now..." The Senior Vice President of Vought replied. "Until we know more about this Unknown Supe, Stan has ordered that we will leave him alone, but if one of you were to encounter 'Superman' by chance? Let him know that Vought would like a meeting."
With nothing else to say or add, the Seven's meeting about 'Superman' concluded, but not before Homelander sent one last glare at an image of the Man of Steel and left.
Am I in a different universe?" Clark wondered, worried and confused.
He was currently sitting at a cafe in Manhattan, New York and drinking a small coffee, while watching a news anchor speak about his heroic save from yesterday. Clark was used to getting media attention, both good and bad at times, but this...this was on another level and it was weird. They talked about Clark as if he were a lead actor for an blockbuster action movie. Not only that, but everyone kept asking if he was a part of some team called "The Seven", or related to a guy named Homelander.
All of those questions left Clark really confused, who was Homelander or The Seven? He needed answers and Clark was going to find them.
"Maybe, there's a library nearby." The Man of Steel thought as he finished off his coffee and tossed it into the trash can, then left a 20 bill on the table, before heading out. "If I'm in another universe, that could explain why there isn't a Metropolis or Gotham City when I searched around yesterday." He pondered.
Luckily, Clark had managed to find a decent set of civilian clothes from a Goodwill store in order to conceal his identity as he was sure people would have been hounding him crazily. He wore a jean jacket, a red baseball cap, a light gray t-shirt, blue jeans and a set of sneakers.
After getting directions from a kind pedestrian on the street, Clark had managed to find a library. Upon entering it, he sat down at the nearest computer that was open and began his search by typing in: "The Seven". What popped up was interesting, to say the least. Apparently, the Seven was a team of superheroes that operated within the United States. They were lead by a man named Homelander - who, according to the article that Clark read, was an alien from another world that crash landed on Earth as an infant and was raised by a human couple in a small town.
The Man of Steel was so surprised by how similar his backstory was to his own, but it feels too...fabricated and too contrived. As a journalist, Clark could tell the difference between a genuine story and a fake one; this biography practically paints Homelander as the All-American Hero and a god-like figure with zero faults.
Some people back home painted Clark in a similar light as well, but never to this extent, unlike Homelander - who also seemed to thrive off of the attention. Clark never enjoyed being worshipped as a god, he just wanted to help people and to be accepted.
"There's something off about him..." The Man of Steel muttered with a frown, while watching a video clip of Homelander smiling and giving a speech to a crowd. "I don't know what it is, but he's not right."
The other members that Clark looked up next were Queen Maeve, Black Noir, Translucent, The Deep and A-Train aka 'The Fastest Man Alive' - who's capable of reaching speeds in excess of 1,000 miles per hour. "He should meet Barry." Clark thought, referring to the famous Scarlet Speedster of Central City.
After looking through each of the Seven's biographies, the Man of Steel concluded that each one was contrived and fabricated as well. "But why?" Clark wondered. Maybe there was more going on than everyone knew? Were these heroes hiding something? Who was Vought?
Clark sighed, feeling a headache coming. He'll have to look into this matter later, right now he wants to find a way home. Clark shut the computer down, before heading out of the library. "I don't know how I'm going to get home, but I'll find a way." The Man of Steel said, determined. "In the meantime, I need to find a job."
After searching around Manhattan for nearly three hours, Clark has yet to find a place of employment. "Who'd knew finding a simple job in another universe would be just as hard as finding one back home." He said, letting out an annoyed sigh before sitting down on a bus bench. "Maybe I should head over to another state." Clark thought. "Perhaps, New Jersey or Massachusetts? There might be job offerings in either place."
The Man of Steel watched as several people passed him by, going about their afternoon, when suddenly his super hearing picked up the sounds of someone running at high speed. Curious, Clark turned his head towards the direction of the sound and, using his enhanced vision, he spotted a member of the Seven - A-Train, Clark recalled - sprinting like there was no tomorrow; barely dodging cars, people and other objects in his path.
The Man of Steel frowned as A-Train almost speed-blitzed through a trio of women and a passing garbage truck. "Something's definitely wrong with him..." He thought. "At that rate of speed, A-Train will destroy anyone in his path." Clark quickly looked ahead of the speedster and noticed a couple, a young man and a young woman, talking to each other - If A-Train didn't stop now, he'll kill one of them by accident.
Putting on a burst of speed himself, Clark ran across the street in a nearly invisible blur towards the couple and moved them out of the way in time just as A-Train slammed into him with a force that would've obliterated a normal person, but Clark wasn't exactly normal.
The Man of Steel was sent skidding back a few feet from the impact, but was otherwise unharmed. A-Train, however, was knocked out cold and laid unconscious on the pavement. Clark cringed at the speedster's state, before using his x-ray vision to check him for anymore injuries.
After checking A-Train over, Clark breathed a sigh of relief when he hadn't spotted any other injuries, aside from a wicked concussion and a bad bump on his head, but what caught his attention most was a strange blue substance flowing through A-Train's veins. The Man of Steel didn't have time ponder it though, when the young man that he saved spoke up.
"What the hell just happened?" He exclaimed in shock and confusion. His girlfriend looked equally stunned as well; one minute they were chatting, the next they were mysteriously moved from where they were standing and A-Train, one of the Seven, was laid out on the ground.
The Man of Steel was lost for words. "Umm, he fell...?" He replied, awkwardly. Clark inwardly scolded himself for such a lame and dopey excuse. The young couple looked at Clark, like he grew a second head, but before they could ask anything else, Clark took off into the air and flew away, leaving them even more stunned.
As Clark flew off elsewhere, A-Train started waking up and groaned. "Ugh, what hit me...?"
