A/N: Seriously, this is the second time I have made gender errors in this story! In the last chapter Harry is now no longer the wife of Amara... but they are still married.
In other news... nobody asked for Barney to be dealt with... as a result he managed to escape and was last seen in Hollywood talking to some excited movie execs about his latest project where he plays an ancient dinosaur vampire that sparkles. They are talks with someone named Stewart to play his love interest.
"What the hell are you wearing?"
Kyla frowned as she looked down at the conservative yet classy dress she wore. "Clothes?"
"You look like Jackie Oh!" Lois said disgustedly.
Kyla rolled her eyes. "We have that photo shoot for Jonathan's campaign. The Campaign Manager, Sosnick, had these clothes sent over."
"Oh hell no. KAZEHANA!"
In short order Kyla was stripped naked by Lois and Kazehana before she was dressed in a knee-high denim skirt, a simple blouse and one of Dani's animal skin vests.
There had been a short argument over whether she should wear animal products but Kyla pointed out that the skin was from a deer they had shot for food. The deer wasn't shot just to get a fashionable top and there was no way any of them wanted to go vegetarian.
Due to the amount of non-magicals and people not in the know involved with the campaign, magic was not allowed at the farm. So they had to jump in one of the Castle's cars and drive over to the Kent Farm.
As they entered the madness that was a political campaign trying arrange a family shoot, Lois lost her rag.
"Where the hell is Snotstick?" She called out loudly.
"Sosnick." Kazehana whispered.
"Snotstick! Get your ass here front and centre!" Lois was not in the mood to listen to corrections or use people's real names… especially if they were so easy to mangle.
"Do you mind? We are trying to work here!" A snotty little man said irately as he marched up. Then he saw Kyla… after his beady eyes spent a little too long on Kazehana's chest. "Mrs. Kent, why are you not wearing the clothes we sent over?"
"I'll tell you why you seedy little idiot…" Lois said as she poked him in the chest.
On the other side of the room Clark was standing with his parents, Ryan, Chiho and Kusano, all of them dressed in their Sunday Best that they would never even dream of wearing to church.
"What are you smiling about?" Martha asked her eldest son.
"Just nice to not be the one on the end of Lois' finger." He said happily.
"At least you have a better nickname than that poor guy." Ryan grinned as Chiho and Kusano giggled.
"She does have a point though." Jonathan frowned. "This photo is supposed to represent who I am. I barely wear a suit to your company functions." He told Clark.
"Well you need to either go and save Snotstic- I mean Sosnick or you need to back Lois up." Martha instructed her husband. She tried not blush at her slip but wasn't helped by Kusano's giggling.
Twenty minutes later and the Kent family was dressed for farm work Ryan and Chiho sat either side of Kusano on the fence opposite the house with their backs to the house whilst Kyla stood between Clark and Martha and Jonathan stood on the far right.
Twenty minutes of watching the photographer stumble around to find footing that didn't land him in manure and they had a few pictures. Lois then ordered everyone who wasn't a Kent or a member of the Kent family off the property and told the family to continue doing their chores until she returned.
Lois then made a trip to Diana and the pair headed to Themiscyra.
"You can't honestly be trying to mug me?" Lex asked the man standing in front of him with a gun.
"Just give me your briefcase and no one gets hurt." The man said with a hint of nerves.
This might be because Mercy was staring at him from behind the sights of her own gun. And Miss Graves was not shaking or even blinking.
Lex slowly raised the briefcase and held it over his chest. "Just put the gun down and I will tell the police that you cooperated. Give them the names of the people who are paying you and a deal is possible."
"Working for?!" The man squeaked. "I'm just a small-time crook! This is just a mugging! Now hand over your briefcase."
*BANG*
*BANG*
*BANG*
The first shot hit the 'mugger' in the shoulder.
The second was an accidental discharge from the 'mugger's' gun that sent Lex flying backwards.
The third was from Mercy that took out the 'mugger's' other shoulder leaving him unable to pick himself or a weapon up.
"Mr. Luthor, are you ok?" Mercy asked as she quickly checked her boss and pulled out her phone.
"Just winded… and a possible concussion." Lex groaned as he sat up and pushed his briefcase off his chest.
Embedded in the surface of the briefcase was the bullet the 'mugger' had fired.
"Remind me to send Bruce a thank you gift for the briefcase."
"And an apology note for doubting him." Mercy smirked. Lex just glared at his incognito sister.
Lex would find himself confined to a hospital bed for observation over night whilst his wife sat invisibly by his side. There was a moment where Lex came close to committing violence when a very smug Bruce Wayne came in to pay his respects and check on his fellow billionaire.
Lex made a few vague threats about forgetting to look where he was flying next time they were in the field together. But he didn't mean it and that made Bruce even smugger.
It was actually a big step for Lex. Being seen visited by a truly concerned altruistic person like Bruce Wayne was a step towards being able to drop his evil persona completely. LuthorCorp was slowly but surely moving towards better projects that didn't pervert nature or prey on the innocent and gullible.
Neither Tess, Helen nor Lex were surprised to see many recognisable faces amongst the people walking around outside Lex's hospital room. Every ten minutes or so a candy striper or nurse would walk in and check on him. There was no way the Amazons or Sekirei were going to let anything happen to the adopted brother of their god and goddess.
Back at the castle the residents were ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the photos that had been taken. Lois and Diana stood proudly on either side of a blushing Amazon named Odele who had been instructed by her Princess to sneak around the farm with a camera and take candid shots of the Lord Regent's family as they spent their day.
There were pictures of Jonathan and Kyla baling hay together. Martha and Chiho feeding the smaller animals.
Ryan leading a laughing Kusano who was perched on a handsome horse.
And one of a very serene Clark Kent sitting on the fence of the farm soaking up the last rays of the sunset as Kyla stood next to him with her arm around his waist.
"You truly have an artist's eye, my daughter." Aphrodite said proudly as she stood and embraced the woman.
"Thank you goddess. I am truly blessed." She said with a bow as she was released.
"Did you enjoy your work?" Clark asked with a curious smile.
"Yes Lord Kal-El." She said quickly with a bright smile. "I was hoping I could get some copies to show my sisters."
"How would you like to be the official photographer for both the campaign and the Amazon Nation?" Clark asked.
"What you got percolating in your head, Smallville?" Lois asked with narrowed eyes.
"More and more the other countries of the world are hearing about Themiscyra. Most of the world can't go there as they will be killed on sight. But Odele could help bring some insight into the culture of the Amazons. It would also be nice to have a visual record of what happens. Something for possible future Amazons to see."
"Any released photos would need to be heavily vetted." Amara mused as she ran the idea through her head.
"Granted, I was thinking more along the lines of publicity shots that showed the Queen performing her duties." Clark explained. "But that is a discussion for later. Matsu, why don't you take Lois and Odele to Tokyo and get her the best photography equipment you can find? Then spend the rest of the day helping her learn how to use it."
"Any limit?" Matsu asked.
"Just make sure it is relevant." Homura said with a slight glare. She was often the calm voice of reason amongst Clark's Sekirei.
"Hey!"
"Why am I going?" Lois asked.
"Because you are my new Campaign Manager." Jonathan smirked.
"What about College?"
"Lois, you haven't paid attention to a single lecture since you started." Chloe said in exasperation. "You haven't completed a single assignment. You just aren't… I want to say mature enough but Jonathan did just give you a position of great maturity… why are you doing this again?" She asked Jonathan worriedly.
"Because she understands who I am, what I stand for and she has that spark and spunk that lets her get the job done."
"Kazehana, you might want to go with them to help get Odele some suitable outfits so she can blend in more easily." Homura suggested. The Amazon was currently dressed in the white Grecian style toga that they all seemed to favour.
"Come Lana, our fashion expertise is required." Kazehana said happily as she pulled the dark haired Amazon from the sofa.
"I'm a medical student!"
"You're the most fashionable medical student on campus." Chloe smirked. "The guys want you and the girls envy you."
"Actually they all look at you more than Lana." Uzume grinned. "All that blonde hair and western features. You're a novelty to them. Lana and Kyla can easily blend into a Tokyo crowd."
"You should see the looks Tsukiumi gets." Chiho laughed.
"What?!" The aforementioned Sekirei screeched. "What foul men are staring at me with their filthy monkey eyes?" She demanded.
"Ahem!"
Tsukiumi turned to see Jason coughing into his hand with a huge grin and nodding his head towards Jonathan.
Her eyes widened and she bowed so low so quickly that Jonathan and Martha were amazed that she didn't fall out of her top. "I did not mean you or Mother, Father." She said desperately.
"We know what you meant, Dear." Martha laughed. "Now get up and sit back down. I'm sure your sister Sekirei are watching out for you so you don't need to worry, just like you look out for them in America."
Tsukiumi scowled as she sat back down. "Yes, disgusting perverts. I still find it hard to believe that this town is American. When we are in the other cities the looks the monkey men send at Musubi and Kazehana are despicable. Fortunately there are plenty of fire hydrants for me to use to send them away."
"That was you?!" Chloe asked with a loud laugh. "Pauline has to take me off that story now. I was assigned to investigate why fire hydrants around the city were spontaneously exploding. How am I supposed to write that one up now I know it was the hot blonde alien with huge jugs?"
Strange thing about the Sekirei; it didn't matter what you called their breasts as long as you made it a compliment about their size.
So Tsukiumi was beaming proudly with her chest thrust out.
Which was making it hard for Yume to see Chloe as those 'huge jugs' were now blocking her view.
Christmas was a fairly routine event by now. The only difference was that decorations went up quicker due to magic.
People were proudly walking around with campaign buttons for Senator Jonathan Kent.
Lex enjoyed walking around with one too. He was getting a bit worried though as he was neck and neck with Jonathan in the polls and he really didn't want to be in politics this early. He wouldn't be able to help out in the field as much if the public was watching him even more closely than they did now.
Lex had had to do some quick clean ups for Jonathan's campaign. His campaign team had found a few skeletons that could damage the older man's run. Things like the adoption of Clark Kent. Most of this was already dealt with by Harry but there were a few documents lying around in government filing cabinets that needed shredding.
There was one event that gave everyone a good time.
Harry was standing on the platform as he usually did every Christmas Eve before they headed off to deliver children's presents.
"Lex, get up here. I can see where you are by the shine on your head."
Lex just rolled his eyes. He had come to terms with his folically challenged condition years ago. He knew Harry was being far from mean. He teleported up to the stage.
Harry placed a brotherly arm around the slightly taller man. "Our Lex here has valiantly been campaigning for State Senator… in the hopes that he doesn't win, to provide Jonathan with some decent competition.
"Unfortunately for Lex he has a good chance of winning." Harry smirked. "I believe, and I think you all do too, that this is a win-win situation for Kansas if either of them wins."
Lex looked horrified at the thought, much to the amusement of the town.
"Now, our Lex here has suffered a disfigurement from that original meteor shower all his life." Harry continued. "But it wasn't something we could fix because we couldn't explain the cure as: magic.
"But we have developed something new. Or rather, Lex has at LuthorCorp."
Lex looked at Harry curiously, he knew all of the current projects but none that would cure his baldness.
"Lex has been working on genetic manipulation, specifically fighting things like Alzhiemers and other problems."
This was a fairly top secret project. Genetic manipulation was still controversial. They had investigated using Lex as a test subject to try and fix his baldness but there was no evidence that his condition was genetic.
"Lex is probably thinking that this research wasn't capable of fixing him… he's right." Harry grinned at the man who glared back. "But it is an excuse we can use to give him back his hair and use as a cover… so…"
It was the strangest sensation as his scalp began to itch and tickle.
"No scratching." Harry ordered causing the crowd to laugh.
Slowly long, luxurious red hair began falling over his eyes.
It had been so long since he had hair he had almost forgotten what colour it was.
Then he noticed something else.
Something not on his head.
"Oh you utter bastard- OW!" Lex was torn between glaring at Harry and glaring at Miya and her ladle as the crowd laughed. Then he grinned. "That wasn't so bad with hair."
The crowd lost it as they began to fall into hysterical laughter. Christmas was one of the best times of year for the small American town. It was a time when they affirmed that they were more than a town, a mere collection of houses and dwellings… they were one big family.
Lex vanished of the stage as Harry just grinned at the now empty space. Miya stood there calmly in her long purple accented skirt and blouse with her ladle waiting as she eyed her husband warily.
The rest of the night went smoothly. Except where Lex had to steal his wife for grooming tips. He had begged Harry to fix his hair issues. He had been completely hairless for most of his life, whilst he appreciated the ability to have fashion choices for his head… he didn't appreciate the new mass between his legs.
It was a simple team consisting of Superman, Iron Man, Wonder Woman and the Green Lantern: John Stewart that descending into the depths of the ocean. The Navy had reported that one of their nuclear submarines had been attacked. The newly installed President of the United States, Jonathan Thorne, had personally sent out a request to Superman through the Japanese government for his aid.
So now they were heading for the coordinates of the submarines last known location. They were to rescue any survivors and neutralise the nuclear reactor. The reactor was Iron Man's job whilst survivors were the Green Lantern's. Superman and Wonder Woman would handle any heavy lifting, they wanted to see if they could retrieve the whole sub. It wouldn't be easy though due to the depth it had sunk.
"What the hell is this?!"
"What's the problem Iron Man?" Superman asked over the communicators.
"There is classified LuthorCorp tech in here. Stuff that should be locked away in a vault with LuthorCorp patents. There definitely shouldn't be a fully operational version of this thing installed on a sub." Iron Man said angrily.
"What sort of technology are we talking about?" The Green Lantern asked.
"It was code named 'Leviathan'. Designed to use sonics as a weapon in under water combat. It had devastating effects on the marine life and it was boxed up and put in storage just in case we found an environment to continue testing that wouldn't be affected by it."
"Who knew about it?" Superman asked.
"It was a joint venture with the Navy. They had access to the blueprints but they weren't supposed to keep copies. LuthorCorp help the patents."
There was a bolt of light that hit Superman in the back.
"Ambush!" Wonder Woman shouted as she conjured a spear and threw it at the advancing men on some sort of underwater vehicle like a jet ski.
"Those are Atlanteans." Superman frowned. "All of you back off." He ordered the team. He then placed himself between his friends and the Atlanteans. "Hold your fire. I am Kal-El, friend of King Orin and we come in peace."
"Hold your fire!" The leader ordered his men.
"I recognise you. The surface dweller who has visited the King. But I do not recognise your companions. Why are you here? This vessel attacked the people of Atlantis." The man indicated the submarine.
"They knew where Atlantis was?" Wonder Woman asked in shock. If the people of Man's World could find Atlantis how long would it be before they found Themiscyra?
"This is Wonder Woman, also known as Princess Diana of Themiscyra and wife of Harry Potter. With us are the Green Lantern, John Stewart and Iron Man, Lex Luthor. Both are defenders of the planet."
"Luthor?!" The Atlantean snarled. "The King mentioned that a man named Luthor was behind this weapon."
"I-" Iron Man was stopped by a raised hand from Superman.
"Iron Man had no idea his technology was here. As soon as he realised he explained what the technology did and that the weapon was decommissioned and never used."
"It was never actually built." Iron Man added. "All we had was a generator that was fired from a cave system on the coast line. We never developed a model for ships due to the fact that the generator was deemed too reckless."
"All we have is your word." The Atlantean said grimly. "For now you will have to come with us to answer to the King."
"He is not a member of your city." The Green Lantern stated authoritatively. "If you want to question him you will need to speak to the US Government."
"He committed an act of war. He will come with us." The Atlantean countered.
"Ancient laws prohibit me from allowing you to take kin of my brother-in-law and god." Wonder Woman said as she floated up next to Superman, her sword in hand.
"Go back to King Orin. Tell him who you encountered here and pass on my personal invitation to meet at my home. If he wishes, have him contact us and we will come to him." Superman instructed.
"My duty is clear. You will come with us."
Superman sighed. "Wonder Woman, Iron Man, leave now. Green Lantern, watch my back whilst I deal with the submarine and then return to base."
"I command you to surrender!" The Atlantean demanded as he levelled his weapon at the group.
But Wonder Woman and Iron Man had already vanished and the Green Lantern had erected a barrier between Superman and the Atlanteans.
Superman himself had swum to the submarine, closed his eyes and focused.
The Atlanteans were left staring at nothing.
"I trust you have a suitable explanation as to why you are harbouring the man who committed an act of war against the People of Atlantis?" King Orin asked grimly as Harry and Clark stood in front of him in his throne room.
"He is innocent." Harry gave a blatantly false smile. "Therefore, we are not 'harbouring the man who committed an act of war against the People of Atlantis'."
"It was his weapon that was used against us!" Orin argued angrily.
Harry wrinkled his nose in thought. "Did you know that the first magical users in this reality gained their abilities due to exposure to the advanced technology of the City of Atlantis?"
"What does this have to do with Luthor?"
"Over the subsequent years the magicals have committed crimes from murder to kidnapping to memory modification. Will Atlantis be handing over its king for trial?"
"Neither Atlantis nor myself have had any contact with the homo-magi since the city sank beneath the surface of the waves." Orin said dismissively.
"And LuthorCorp has had nothing to do with the Leviathan Program since they deemed it too dangerous nearly a year ago." Harry smirked.
"We have only his word for that." Orin countered.
"And we have only your word that you haven't been secretly ordering the homo-magi." Clark pointed out. "Luckily for you, Harry can tell when a person lies. Neither you nor Lex are lying. Your quarrel is not with Lex and LuthorCorp but with the US Navy.
"I strongly suggest you look to Lex as an ally in this or I will take offence at the fact that I was shot in the back by one of your men with no warning." Clark warned.
"An ally?"
"He has the names of all the people that knew about the Leviathan Project and had access to the plans."
"In the future, please make sure you investigate first before you start throwing around accusations." Harry said stiffly before he teleported himself and Clark out.
"Goddamned little bitch thinks she can get away with stuff like that." Lois muttered as they walked up the Kent driveway.
Kazehana instinctively flinched at Lois' curse. Miya was nowhere to be seen though.
"It has been all day since you dealt with the girl, Lois. Perhaps you should let it go?" Kazehana suggested.
"Like hell! I'll talk to Lex first, but if this keeps up I'm calling the cops on her."
Earlier that morning they had been at the Metropolis City Hall putting up flyers for Jonathan's campaign when they were confronted by a group of avid supporters of Lex who had begun pulling down the posters Lois had just put up. Lois had argued down Samantha Drake, the girl leading them, but it was clear it wasn't going to end there.
As they approached the barn they noticed some of the Amazon's along with Homura standing outside the barn whilst some vaguely familiar figures were bound and on their knees. Martha and Jonathan were surrounded by four separate Amazons whilst Chiho, Ryan and Kusano were being guarded by Jason and Earl.
"Drake? What the hell is she doing here?" Lois demanded as she saw the woman on her knees with her hands tied behind her back.
"She and her band of thugs tried to attack Jonathan." The head of Jonathan's protection detail, Anna, explained with a fairly smug look. Anna had been one of the Amazons who had wanted to work on the Kent farm from the beginning. She had confessed immediately to Queen Amara that she wanted to continue to protect the Lord Regent. She had never been happier about her decision than when she walked into the barn earlier and managed to provide back up for Jonathan.
Not that he wasn't holding his own. Jonathan's morning regiment still consisted of exercise and training with the Amazons on Themiscyra. As far as he was concerned, if he was to retain the title of Lord Regent he would earn it, and that meant spending time with the Amazons and being available to them.
"Sheriff on her way?" Lois asked.
"She is just arriving." Homura nodded to the car and prisoner transport coming up the drive.
Sheriff Allen hopped out of her car as four deputies exited the vehicles behind her.
"I assume you're gonna give me a stunning story about how Mr. Kent and yourself managed to subdue six assailants by yourself, Miss Anna?" The Sheriff said with a stony face, her eyes were all amusement.
"Jonathan Kent was quite capable of dealing with these children by himself." Anna smirked. "He had disarmed the youths with his staff and was adequately neutralising them. When I arrived I aided him in keeping them subdued."
"Staff?"
Anna pulled out a small circular disc that she held in the palm of her hand. "I believe you are familiar with the latest joint venture between MBI, LuthorCorp and Wayne Industries?"
Nancy definitely recognised the form of the new law enforcement equipment. She didn't know exactly how it worked but she knew that MBI had developed a tiny portal system that could extend the space between to points that were millimetres apart whilst LuthorCorp had produced a tiny power cell based on ARC reactor technology to power the tiny portals and Wayne Industries had designed what the fully extended product what would look like.
Her department were currently testing the nightstick version.
"Hidden talents there, Mr. Kent." Nancy called over to the very calm Senatorial Candidate dryly.
"My family are very insistent that I be able to defend myself." He called back.
Both he and Nancy were aware that he could have just stunned the lot of them with magic, but then they would have to obliviate them so they could stand trial.
"Do you want to tell me why you attacked Mr. Kent?" Nancy asked the group of kneeling thugs.
"They're nothing bu-"
"I'm asking them Miss Lane." Nancy glared at Lois… who glared right back.
"Lex is the one who deserves to be Senator. One day he will rule the world!"
"Sam! Shut the hell up!" One of the boys whispered angrily.
"Lex will get us out of this." She Samantha said dismissively.
"Anna, maybe you should send a team to check on Lex and… the others?" Lois suggested. "Tess and Helen." She added through a mental message.
Anna nodded and sent a look at one of her team of disguised Amazons. The woman quickly ran off into the house.
"NO!" Samantha shot to her feet and tried to ram the Sheriff only to be brought to the ground by a sweeping leg from Homura.
"Stay down girl." Homura ordered.
"I won't let you hurt Lex!" Sam said frantically.
"Austin, get this girl in the van." Sheriff Allen ordered her deputy.
Two deputies quickly moved forward whilst another two headed back to the van to open it.
Coming out of the house was Clark with his own bodyguards. All the others could see where several women and one man in black uniforms with swords. They all knew, though, that there were several Amazons nearby who were invisible. Clark could sense them even he couldn't see them.
"Sheriff." Clark said in greeting.
"Mr. Kent. Seems your father is beginning to get into as much trouble as you."
"Well I did have to learn from someone, Sheriff." Clark said with a straight face. "I guess I'm just not as good at hiding it as some people." He shot a fake look of disappointment at his father who just looked at him with a raised eyebrow and a slight smile.
"Mr. Luthor sir… there is a erm… man here to see you. He says he is the King of Atlantis."
Lex felt sorry for his secretary. She was a good girl recommended by Lois and Kazehana from their time at Met U. Her job was simply announcing visitors or turning them away. She handled the incoming phone calls and his basic calendar but any mail and correspondence was dealt with by a special mixed team of former bomb squad members and lawyers who made sure there were no nasty surprises going in and out of his office.
"I'll be right there Carly."
"Erm… yes sir."
He couldn't blame the girl for being unnerved, it was highly unusual for Lex to meet someone at her desk.
He stood up, put on his suit jacket and made his way to the double doors of his large office with Tess right behind him.
Opening the door he saw a tall blonde man in a suit with a red head in a form fitting green dress.
"Please, come in." Lex said quickly. "Carly, this is a secret meeting for the moment. I'll explain more later."
"Yes Mr. Luthor Sir." She said quickly. Lex had no doubt that the aloof manner of Aquaman had flustered her.
Lex turned around to see Orin looking at him suspiciously. "Am I to be expected to keep this meeting secret?"
"Not if you don't want to but I thought it would make a better impression if you were to approach me with the pomp and ceremony expected of someone of your esteem." Lex sighed as he led them to the couches that were at just in front of his desk. "The Alliance will respect you as long as you show them respect, but if you want the respect of the United Nations then you will need to rub their faces in the fact that you are a king. Otherwise they will attempt to tie you up in politics. As a king you can issue your commands on the spot and you can speak with certainty about certain things without needing to consult with advisors or peers."
Lex noticed Mera looking at Tess with a frown as she sat down next to him. "eeerrrMercy, you should introduce yourself." Lex said as the Fidelius prevented him from using Tess' real name in front of those who weren't in on the secret.
"My name is Tess Mercer, also known as Mercy Graves. I am Lex's sister and bodyguard." She said with a smile.
Orin breathed in sharply. "I recognise you now." He frowned. "This is the… enchantment that Harry Potter spoke of. The one that can hide a secret?"
Lex nodded seriously. "I am a married man, but there was a whole mess with a clone and my murder and whilst I am trying to undo the damage done by the clone, my wife and I need to keep our marriage a secret."
"None of this is relevant to why I am here." Orin declared dismissively. "Potter says you can prove you are not behind the attacks on Atlantis and the weapon that was used."
"I have proof that you probably won't accept like records, recordings and witness statements. The proof of my innocence comes from Harry Potter himself. He can tell if a person is lying by looking at their soul.
"No, I have the evidence you need to confront the United States Navy who stole the weapon designs and used it illegally."
Orin scrutinised the recently follically gifted redhead through narrowed eyes. "I will work with you for now, Luthor. But if I find you have lied-"
"Give it a rest." Tess sighed. "First of all, Lex isn't lying. Anyone or any proof saying otherwise will have been fabricated. Secondly, there is nothing you will be able to do if you believe that fabricated evidence. Lex was restored to life by Death himself as a gift to his brother. You mess with Lex and you will face the wrath of Lord Kal-El and Death himself. Not to mention the various other super-beings that support them both.
"So stop your pointless posturing and lets get down to business."
Mera was incensed. "How dare you speak to a King like that!"
"Perhaps you would prefer if I were to speak to him in that manner instead?"
Orin and Mera were on their feet instantly and in a defensive position as the young blonde woman in white flowing garments with an entourage of women holding swords and shields surrounded her.
"Who are you?" Mera asked angrily.
"The Queen of the Amazons." Amara said calmly as she took a seat next to Lex.
"And one of the wives of Lord Death." Tess added with a respectful nod to her Queen.
Mera instantly backed down. She remembered the huge dragon in her home and she had seen the feats of magic performed by Harry Potter… she was not going to annoy anyone connected that closely to Death.
"Now then, I believe that our best course of action is to provide you with the evidence from the submarine and then to arrange to confront the United States at the United Nations as soon as possible." Amara explained succinctly.
"WILSON!"
The residents of the castle awoke in their respective beds, looked towards the source of the angered shout and then rolled over and went back to sleep.
Except for a certain redheaded alien who took the early morning wake up as an opportunity to 'play' with her Ashikabi.
"Why the hell do you keep bugging me Wade? Harry's the one who keeps calling you in. GO BUG HIM!"
"Come on Logan, you know you miss me!" Wilson was posed at the foot of the large bed in his full uniform. He was going for seductive.
Logan and his girls considered it more suicidal.
Hibiki and Hikari were pissed and sending off little bolts of lightning that were dancing on their skin. They were covering their naked bodies with the blanket and glaring at him.
"Why are you here Wade?" Logan grumbled. It was bad enough that the bastard hadn't died after five thousand years but he also had magic thanks to Harry and an unhealthy obsession with annoying Logan.
"I found some details on that assassin." Deadpool said as he snapped to attention. "Reporting as ordered." He saluted.
"Harry is the one who wants the report. I want the bastard's head, so unless you have that… GO FIND HARRY!" Logan roared.
This was punctuated by to very thick bolts of lightning landing on Deadpool's chest just before he vanished.
"Alright Wade, you had your fun with Logan and paid the price. Tell us what you found out. Did you find Deadshot?" Harry asked as they were assembled with Martha and Jonathan in the Great Hall.
"Found him?" Deadpool asked offendedly. "I've got the sad excuse for an assassin locked in my trunk! Took me less than 36 hours to track the bastard down and six seconds to take him out."
"36 hours and six seconds?" Bruce Wayne asked sceptically.
"It would have taken less but I decided that as this one was for Harry I would put my all into it." The proud and striking pose Deadpool had assumed was enough to pull groans from the X-Men.
"What the hell did you do Wade?" Emma asked heatedly. This shocked the natives of the dimension as they had never seen the calm and collected woman angry before.
"In this world they call me: Deadshot!" He declared theatrically.
"You took over his place?" Chloe asked.
Deadpool's shoulders slumped in disappointment. "You got that too quick." He grumbled.
"But won't they know you aren't Deadshot just from how you sound, look and… act?" Lana asked.
He activated a button on his belt and an image of Deadshot appeared and melded to him. "I've been doin' this a long time little lady."
"This nut job can really maintain a serious act?" Lois scoffed.
"Despite his insanity he is a highly trained operative." Scott admitted reluctantly.
"So you know who assigned the hit on Mom?" Clark asked calmly.
"Saudi Arabia."
There was a short pause.
"The country?" Lois had to ask.
"Makes sense." Logan grunted. "The kid here is pissing off everyone from car manufacturers to oil tycoons. Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest oil exporters. The Portal Doors will destroy their economy."
"Only because they are stubborn idiots." Harry grumbled. "We had magic in my world and yours and we made sure that countries dependant on oil survived and flourished. The only people who suffered where the tycoons who spent all their money trying to kill us for stopping their income. If they had saved that money they would have been fine."
"Right up to the point where you abolished monetary bartering." Dani grinned.
"Can we just be clear about this, are you saying that the king of Saudi Arabia put the hit out or what?" Lorna asked Deadpool.
"The King with encouragement and threats from government and companies respectively."
Logan hated it when Deadpool acted serious. It put him on edge. But the truth was that Deadpool truly respected Harry and would do anything for him.
"Then I believe we shall soon have another member of the Alliance." Harry grinned maliciously. "Any volunteers for this mission?"
Dani and Deadpool's hands shot up.
"Maybe we should do this one more openly and by the law." Clark countered hesitantly.
"Awwww." Came the pitiful whines from the Dani and Deadpool.
"Look, if we keep replacing heads of countries behind the scenes then one day the public will figure it out and realise they've been conquered." Clark explained.
"Will they really care?" Kyla argued lightly. "If these countries are going to anything like North Korea, the Hidden City or Themiscyra then it will practically utopia."
"YES!" The combined response of everyone that had come from the X-Men's reality caused the natives to lean back in shock.
Harry just laughed. "Humans are irritable little creatures that enjoy complaining. The first thing the people did back in Scott's world when I said healthcare is free was protest tax rises.
"TAXES WERE BEING ABOLISHED!" Harry shouted with smile. "They didn't care that they were now getting 100% of their paycheque, they just wanted to complain."
"The other reason I thought we should be open about this is to dissuade anyone else from putting a hit on us." Clark added as the others tried to fathom why anyone would complain about free health care.
"When you say 'open', do you mean for us to take them to the UN or something?" Tess asked.
"God no!" Clark snorted. "I might be immortal but I have no intention of wasting years just trying to get people into court and wading through paperwork.
Xander and Harry were so proud. Neville fairly glum as he realised Clark was taking after their brother and not him. He felt he was failing as the big brother.
"Then how would you do it?" Laura asked.
"Something along the lines of Superman and the other heroes apprehending the King and his people whilst the Alliance secures the government." Clark shrugged.
"Which will inevitably start a war… on multiple fronts." Amara frowned.
"As much as I enjoy a good fight, I believe that at this point in time the world is too volatile to simply stand by whilst we invade." Brunhilde sighed.
"Don't worry Clark, eventually we'll get a good ol' fashioned war going for ya." Harry smiled broadly.
Over the next few days a stream of LMDs marched through the door between the realities. As they arrived they were programmed appropriately and remodelled. Logan and Emma made one team whilst Laura and Jean made the other. They started at the top with the King and his wife and began swapping them out. The King's wife was found to be innocent so they took her to Themiscyra where she would be assessed and the situation explained to her.
"Isn't this like cloning for Artificial Life Forms?" Chloe asked the Vision as he worked on programming another LMD in the lab.
"In what way?"
"Well, we all hated it when someone made a duplicate copy of Lex to replace him. There are moral and ethical issues from the point of view of humans. Do Artificial Life Forms look at LMDs in the same way?" She asked curiously.
The Vision gave a slight smile. He enjoyed teaching. "Although the moral and ethical implications are still there they are tempered by the purpose and motives for using the Life Model Decoys. We do not use them to simply destroy a person's life but ensure the safety and protection of others.
"Often they are used, as their name implies, as decoys. If Martha Kent was not as close to Harry as she is then we would consider replacing her with an LMD to protect her from more assassination attempts.
"As for the considerations of morals and ethics of using artificial bodies from the point of view of Artificial Life Forms: You need to consider that the average Artificial Life Form is simply the consciousness. The Programming if you will. As long as our identity and software is respected then the body we inhabit makes little difference to us. There are quite a few of us who have a range of bodies available for different circumstances."
"So… you are a bit like an energy being. You don't really need the body, like Clark seems to be."
"I can see what you are getting at and you are partially right. But although we do not need our own individual body we do need somewhere to reside. Just as humans need oxygen we need the equivalent of a circuit board."
Chloe looked at him with a shrewd smile. "Circuit board? You dumbed that down for the little primitive, didn't you?"
The Vision just laughed.
