The Chimera

by DrWhoFan13

A man from our universe arrives with nothing but pajamas and a really advanced watch. Under the guidance of senior heroes and the friendships made with fellow sidekicks, he shall rise to become The Chimera. SI. Crossposted on AO3

13. Maternity

A/N: Apologies for the late update. Life Happened. Speaking of which, I'm taking a break from writing The Chimera until the beginning of Feburary '22. Posting will resume by March '22. I don't want to burn myself out from this fic.

Now onto reviews!

Starseedchild: Glad that you enjoyed it.

Diabolos Aides: You're welcome.

Death Fury: Thank you.

The Usual Training Spot

September 13, 2010 18:52 PST

I wake up, rubbing my head. What did I do last night? I'm not allowed to drink alcohol or use drugs, not that I care about doing the latter (the former is something to deal with once I turn 21 or find nonalcoholic substitutes once I figure out where to get some) so a sudden blackout period is cause for concern.

I push myself from the ground, and then I see it: A hunk of metal shaped like part of a cylinder, filled with neon green goop. Fuck me, I'm pregnant. Or rather, Frostmite is. How could I forget?!

I grab my phone, which Frostmite thankfully didn't eat and I open up the 'In The Know' Group Chat.

In The Know

Me: I'm pregnant!

The Flash: ...Hooray?

Me: Not hooray! Frostmite's a rampaging hormonal metal eating body jacking bastard until the pregnancy ends! Who's available to be assigned to keep track of me while I undergo Necrofriggian pregnancy?

Batman: Robin and Artemis will be available. Kid Flash has school, I'm planning for Miss Martian and Superboy to infiltrate Belle Reve and Aqualad will be spending some time at Atlantis. You will have to explain it to them though.

Green Lantern Charlie: I'm sorry, I must be misreading things. Did Chimera said he's fucking pregnant?!

Me: Yes, Yes I did. Speaking of which, I'm gonna need a pickup. Can't use the Omnitrix right now because it'll force me into Frostmite whether or not I select it, and I can't control Frostmite until the pregnancy is over. I'm at the usual training spot. Oh, and inform the public of it, please. I don't need to lose my reputation because of bizarre alien biology.

Batman: Catherine Colbert will be informing the general public of you losing control of Frostmite for the next few days tomorrow. You'll have to explain further to your press contact and the Team.

Me: Hooray, I have to explain things to the media. Whatever. I'll inform my press guy that Frostmite's pregnant after it happens so as to avoid getting the kids kidnapped and sold to the highest bidder.

Miss Martian: What I'd miss?

Me: Discussions about my pregnancy and events after it.

Miss Martian: Oh right, I forgot that was starting today.

Me: Same here.

Miss Martian: Now, what's this I hear about a mission?

Batman: I'll explain in the Mission room tomorrow.

All of a sudden, I see a green light floating overhead. My ride's here. The glowing green light descends, and I see Hal Jordan come down from the sky. "Rough night, huh?"

I sigh, putting my phone in my pocket. "You can say that again."

Hal grins. "Rough night, huh?"

I groan. "Oh god, it's the return of the dad jokes. Baker, I've heard enough from my actual dad, and he just used the same one over and over and over again."

Hal winces. "Yikes. What joke did he keep repeating?"

I wave off his concerns. "It doesn't matter. What matters is my sudden parenthood and the rampage that Frostmite will go on to fuel it."

"Yeah, that's something." Hal winces. "How did Ben Tennyson handle it?"

I snort. "Poorly. In all seriousness, he was thinking Big Chill- his name for Frostmite, I know, he wasn't particularly imaginative- was going to escape the Omnitrix based on past experiences with an alien with intangibilty. He roped in his girlfriend intentionally as well as his cousin and his ex arch-enemy turned best friend accidentally while trying to contain the damage with his girlfriend. They didn't discover Big Chill was pregnant until after the larvae formed into newly born Necrofriggians, so that should give you an idea of Ben's competency."

Hal looks at me. "Let me guess: His compentence depends on various unknown factors that changes every few days or so?"

I point finger guns at him. "Got it in one." One may argue, but it's true. Ben usually relied on the help of others despite possessing an Omnitrix, even with dozens of forms. Well, two Omnitrixes and an Ultimatrix. He irrepairly broke one by setting it to self-destruct (fortunately, it was the prototype, which was in the hands of Vilgax) and gave up the other in exchange for the actual Omnitrix.

Hal forms a bubble around us and flies us out of the general area. "So, do you want us-" 'Us' being the Green Lanterns- "to grab scrap metal and put it near the nest?"

I shrug. "Can't hurt to try. Now could you drop me off at the grocery store? I have a sudden pickle craving." Under my breath I whisper "Never really understood why pregnant women eat pickles until now."

Hal pretends to ignore the whispered words. "Sure thing. You got your wallet on you?"

I pat myself down and I see my RFID blocking wallet. Can't be too paranoid. "Yep."

Hal smirks and looks at me. "Relax. Everything's gonna be fine."

"I appreciate your help, but my anxiety doesn't go away that easily, Hal." I grumble.

Hal shrugs. "I know. I just thought I could try and help."

Eventually, he drops me off with a salute and says "Well, here you are sir. Toole and Sons Grocers." Ah, right, time to act like a normal citizen.

I nod. "Thank you, Green Lantern. You've been quite helpful to me today. How do you want me to repay you?"

"I don't need your money, sir. I'm well off as it is." Given Hal's job as a chief test pilot, he earns about $12,000 a month for a total of $144,000 annually. Combine that with his military benefits and the League financial stipend, and he genuinely is well off.

"If you insist." I nod my head before walking into the grocery store and I buy two jars of pickles. I pay the cashier, grab the bags containing my pickles and I walk to my home.

I put one of the jars away and I open the other, wondering if I should tell Jessica about the situation.

I shake my head. Best not to get her wrapped up in my world right now. She's got enough on her plate as it is. I'll tell her about the pregnancy later, as with everything else that involves the Chimera.

I eat pickles while going over how to explain my pregnancy to my press contact. I sigh. It's gonna be a rough few days for me. I'm gonna need time off to relax after this. Maybe a beach day would help.

Mount Justice

September 14th, 2010 15:35 EDT

I walk into the mission room in my civilian clothes, eating more pickles straight from the jar. I see The Team except for Wally already there, awaiting their missions from Batman, who has Superman next to him. Behind The Team is Martian Manhunter and Red Tornado, likely there to give moral support to their charges.

Batman, upon seeing me, says "Everyone's here. Good, now we can begin."

Dick pipes up. "Uh, Batman? KF's not here."

"Kid Flash is unsuited for either of the missions I'm about to give you. He will sit this briefing out." Batman replies.

"Underst-wait, missions?" Kaldur somehow manages to go from calm to bewildered in a few seconds, which is impressive since he doesn't change his tone of voice or facial expressions. "Please elaborate."

Batman growls. "Give me time. The first mission is for Miss Martian and Superboy. They are to infiltrate Belle Reve under the guise of Tommy and Tuppence Terror-" I try not to let confusion appear on my face. While I caught up on League files, the fact that this universe has original supervillains draws my attention. "- a pair of teenaged supervillains who have been sentenced to Belle Reve upon capture after they escaped the first time they were arrested.

You two are there to investigate Belle Reve. As you are all aware of, this past Fourth of July six ice villains staged simultaneous attacks on six different cities. Mr. Freeze, Icicles Senior and Junior, Killer Frost, Minister Blizzard and Captain Cold were all easily apprehended. Perhaps too easily. Cold, Icicle Senior and Frost were immediately sent to Belle Reve Penitentiary, a federal prison designed to house super-criminals. The 17-year-old Icicle Jr. was sent to a juvenile facility. Mr. Freeze, to his usual cell in Arkham Asylum. But Freeze petitioned the court to be declared legally sane and Junior sued to be tried as an adult. As a result, both await transport to Belle Reve, which seems to have been the goal all along. I'm sending the two of you in to find out why."

"Who inside the prison will know their true identities?" Kaldur asks.

"No one. We can't be certain the prison staff isn't compromised." Batman answers all too easily. The fact that Amanda fucking Waller- the warden - would most likely hold the two hostage to get one up the Justice League goes unsaid from me. Not sure if she would, but this is the woman who thinks it's acceptable that blowing up the heads of criminals to force them to work for her is a perfectly legitimate recruitment method.

After some more questions are asked and answered, Batman nods to me. "Now, for the second mission. This one is assigned to Robin and Artemis. Chimera, you have the floor."

I grumble, before I put the jar down, walk up next to Batman and I clasp my hands. "So, long story short: Frostmite is pregnant." I take a moment to savor the looks before continuing to make sure they can't ask any questions. "As a result, whenever I use the Omnitrix to transform, I will transform into Frostmite regardless of what I choose, and I will go onto a metal eating rampage until I finish giving birth, so I'm unable to be a hero right now. Your mission, if you choose to accept it-" I smirk at the reference "-is to stay at Coast City to keep an eye on both me and the city while I deal with the pregnancy. The only condition is that you have to take baby pictures. So, are you in or are you out?"

Dick looks at Artemis. "I don't know about you, but I'm in. I get to show a city what I'm made of and I get to crash at Chimera's place."

I sigh. "Unfortunately, I only have a bed for one person in my man cave so one of you might have to sleep on the couch."

"Shouldn't you have a guest room instead of a man cave?" Artemis asks, voicing the concerns of everyone in the room. It's a known fact among those in the League that I'm a bachelor who somehow ended up with a two bed and one and a half bath house.

"I have literally one friend outside of the superhero community, so I use the spare bedroom as a hybrid man cave and second bedroom for when I'm too tired to move more than a few feet or when I have the very rare guest over. I use the spare space to store my action figure collection of- you guessed it- The Chimera and his alien forms." God, I'm so vain at times. At least I can prevent it from hurting me.

Artemis blinks. "Okay, aside from that interesting factoid, I want in, but I'll have to see if I can join." Artemis tells me, with that last part being 'Let me ask my mom' in Artemis speak. "Your Chimera action figure collection is something I want to see."

I smirk. "Let me guess: It's because you can't believe that one of the most humble members of your team has a collection of his own merchandise."

Artemis falters. "Damn, how'd you guess?" she asks, ignoring the "Language!" from Superman and Batman.

"I didn't." The fact that Artemis is a low key boundary pusher helped, not to mention that given her background, her going over to friends' houses for sleepovers seemed unlikely until recently.

God, trauma fucks up people so much. Given what I heard about Paula Crock, she managed to limit how badly Sportsmaster 'trained' their kids. It wasn't until her arrest that the family became less of a family and more of a partially failed attempt at an assassin succession chain.

I'm honestly worried that The Team is Artemis's attempt at regaining the joys and thrills of childhood.

I stop the impulse to shake my head. We really need therapy. Well, more therapy, preferably from somebody who isn't biased towards superheroics. Or maybe that's my distaste of Black Canary's therapy sessions shining through. She always tried to solve my issues too quickly.

I clasp my hands. "Alright, go ahead and get about a week's worth of clothes and weapons. Just because I know all of the Green Lanterns does not mean that they're willing to fly over to your homes and get what you need. Once you do so, Zeta back here and we'll Zeta to my home."

"Lemme just dash to the batcave and get some spare birdarangs and smoke bombs." And with that, Dick punches in the Batcave code and Zetas out.

Artemis follows suit, punching the code for the Gotham alley Zeta tube. Ah, life. I wonder how my parents would react to me being The Chimera? Knowing them, they'll both be happy I'm getting out of the house on a daily basis, but disappointed that I do so to beat up criminals. And surprised that I'm pregnant.

Enough reminiscing. Kaldur walks up to me and asks "Ezekial, how exactly did you get pregnant?"

I smile. "Well, it's that time of the century for Necrofriggians. Every 80 years, Necrofriggians are overwhelmed by their reproduction instincts. To satisfy those urges, Necrofriggians go on a rampage to eat all the metal they can to build nests where they lay their embryos. Once done, the newly born Necrofriggians eat their nest before they fly to their home planet of Kylmyys- which doesn't really exist in this universe, but I've found a replacement planet in protected territory, so they should be safe." A pang of worry flows through me. Is this what a worried parent feels when they're concerned about their child? If so, then it explains a good chunk of my parents' behavior when I was growing up.

Not all of it, of course, but a good chunk of it.

"I see." Kaldur looks at me. "Have you taken measures to deal with the pregnancy? I cannot imagine the negative reaction the public has when you lose control."

I look at Kaldur like he's an idiot. "I checked when the pregnancy happens beforehand, informed the founding members of the League,-" and several others, but he doesn't need to know that, "-who got Catherine Colbert to make an announcement regarding it, had the Lanterns search junkyards for scrap metal so I would have a reliable metal supply that wouldn't cause thousands in property damage, and made the mission to make sure Frostmite wouldn't go too far. Say what you want about me, but I like to cover my bases."

Kaldur nods. "I see. A useful quality in this line of work. Moving on, what do you think about M'gann's and Connor's mission?" Kaldur asks.

I think about that for a bit. How do I express my concerns without tipping off my metaknowledge about Waller? Eventually, I get the words on what I want to say. "I'm worried. Worried that Connor and M'gann won't get anything, worried that they'll get caught, worried that something goes wrong somehow. It's Belle Reve, prison for the worst of the worst; whether they be humans with exceptional skill and connections to metahumans who could destroy an entire neighborhood. Not to mention, between Connor's rage issues and M'gann's naivety, chances are that they will get caught. More than once, and not all of them can be easily explained, if I'm being realistic."

Kaldur nods. "Understandable. With that sort of worry for our friends, you sound like you've been doing the job for years."

I chuckle. "What can I say? I'm a nerd. Superhero stuff is one of my special interests, even if I'm getting sick at how formulaic superhero media is back home. This? The whole espionage angle, the black ops team, that sorta stuff? It's all new to me. Even if it's wreaking havoc on my mental health- and of that, I have no doubt it'll happen sooner or later- black ops superhero teams aren't really something covered by my universe's media. Usually, the darkest they go is deconstruction that showcases the problems of superheroes."

Kaldur hums. "That sounds interesting."

"Oh, it is." I respond in kind. Watchmen was a riot.

We then discuss more about what superhero media was like back home, until I hear Recognizied: Robin, B-0-1, Artemis, B-0-8

I turn and I see Dick and Artemis in their civilian clothes holding several suitcases. "So, you're going to join me?" I ask.

"Yeah, B thought it would be a good idea for me to hang out with fellow heroes that aren't KF." Dick scratches the back of his head.

"Mom's happy that I'm finally going to spend some time at a friend's house." Artemis tells me. I decide not to question until she decides to open up about it, preferably in private. Which reminds me, I should tell her Dick knows who she is.

Or maybe not. Honestly, letting her know Dick knows might get him angry at me while not letting her know would probably get her angry at me if Dick knows I know and he tells her that.

Why must life be so complicated at times?

I clasp my hands. "Alright, let's go." With that done, I walk over to the Zeta tube, punch in the Coast City code, and motion for the two to enter. Once the two start walking into the tube, I walk in behind them.

Coast City Zeta Tube

September 14th, 2010 13:13 PDT

I wave my hands at the alley way. "Welcome to Coast City. Or probably welcome back for Robin. I'm not sure. Have you been here before?" Artemis and I turn our heads to him.

"Once, yeah. It was in civvies, though." He replies.

"Ah." Oh right, wasn't there a big Wayne Enterprises collaboration with Ferris Air two years ago? I wisely do not ask for elaboration on why they were here. The secret identities of the Bat Clan are some of the most guarded secret identities of the superhero community, on par with Superman's secret identity and my actual background.

"So, are we gonna head to your home?" Artemis asks.

"Sure. Follow me." And I begin the walk to my home, which is rather short if you ask me, but then again I've been doing it for months now.

Once we arrive at my home, I get my keys out and I open the door. "Welcome to Casa De Ezekial!

"The what?" Artemis asks incredulously. Oh you've got to be kidding me. How on earth did she never hear the word Casa in Gotham, a multicultural boiling pot so vast that there are ethnic neighborhoods.

"It's Spanish for 'House of Ezekial'." I replied.

"Since when you could speak Spanish?" Artemis asks.

I blink. "I don't 'speak' Spanish, I can 'get by' in Spanish. I took two years of Spanish in high school, but a combination of difficulty learning the language, a lack of real world practice and my own hangups pretty much makes me unable to hold whole conversations. The most beneficial skill I got from my two years of Spanish wasn't speaking decent Spanish, it was knowing how to manage… shall we say, difficult personalities." I grimace. The Spanish Group Project Incident was bad enough without superpowers, I do not want to imagine what the superhero equivalent would be.

Artemis blinks. "Why were there no real world practice opportunities?"

"Plague and a town where the main secondary language was definitely not Spanish." I tell her while smirking, knowing that refusing to elaborate will drive the two nuts. "Now are we going to discuss the finer details of my past or are we gonna go inside?"

Dick and Artemis look at each other. "Let's go inside, I guess."

And with that, I start the tour of my decently sized home. Which is quite nice if I do say so myself.

I open the door and my two house guests look somewhat accepting. The living room has two leather couches and a recliner, a coffee table with drawers, some bookshelves, and a decent entertainment system. The dining room/kitchen hybrid is mostly dominated by the kitchen with an island with the only hints of a dining room being a small round table capable of holding four people. Some sturdy wooden stairs in the middle of the room head upstairs, with a small office in the stairs. Behind the stairs are the doors to the porch/backyard, which is mostly plantlife with a shed.

Inside the shed is where I keep most of my tools, and is pretty much where I make prototypes for my tech startup company.

"So, what do you think?" I ask the two.

"Feels… homey." Artemis tells me. I silently nod. She's probably forgotten what a home is supposed to feel like.

"Most homes would feel homey to you given the whole thing with your dad." Dick replies, presumably thoughtless given Artemis tensing up and my glare. Dick wilters, and apologizes with a sincere "Sorry about that. I didn't think before I spoke.

"Apology accepted." Artemis responds.

Suddenly, I hear a beep from the Omnitrix. I check, and it's the 'imminent possession' alarm. "Fuck. I'm gonna be bodyjacked any minute now, and I haven't even told you what to do. Oh well, at least it's sooner than later. Robin, Artemis, can you change into your uniforms?"

"Yeah, but we can't without preserving our secret identities." D-Robin tells me.

I blink. "Right." I grab my phone and I text Robin and Artemis the address of a building. "I just texted you the address of where I change between identities. Tell the guy manning the cashier Chimera sent you for work, and he'll take you to a private part of the building. Don't ask me why he'll agree to letting two superheroes change in his store, I think he's the guard of one of Batman's Coast City fronts."

Artemis once again looks at me blankly, only for Robin's yell of "Come on!" to remind her what she's here for: keeping Frostmite under control. Artemis and Robin drop their luggage, grab the carrying case containing their costumes and gear, take out their phones and run.

Meanwhile, I walk outside to the backyard, check that nobody else is looking at my backyard (which they aren't, I'm the only person in the neighborhood who doesn't have a nine to five job, meaning I get up to eight hours of alone time in the neighborhood), and I push the core down anxiously. Suddenly, I feel my conscience ferment in warm, primordial blackness.

Coast City

September 14th, 2010 13:28 PDT

Robin's POV

Y'know, this wasn't how I imagined spending the last few days before school began. I was hoping to beat up some of the basic criminals, maybe one or two of Arkham's ever so slippery maximum security population, make plans for messing with Artemis, that sort of thing.

I was not expecting Chimera to come up to me and Artemis and tell us 'Hey I'm pregnant, can you guys help me?'

Of course he didn't say that exactly, but that's what I got from his little spiel back in the Mission Room.

The life of a hero gives you many interesting stories, but this one certainly tops the cake. After all, there's not a lot that can cover 'helping a male with his pregnancy'.

Judging by Artemis's stance (clenched hands, sweat, biting of lips, practice with bow), she's nervous about this. Understandable.

"Alright," I look at Artemis. "We're here to make sure this pregnancy ends in aster. Got any ideas?"

Artemis turns to me, panicked. "Got any- How am I supposed to have any ideas dealing with something outside of my comfort zone?!" She all but yells.

"Deep breaths, c'mon. Don't fail me now." Artemis takes deep breaths. "Good, now I want you to remember that Chimera's exact words were to deal with both him and the city. He said to keep an eye on both him and the city. Since he didn't tell us how to deal with Frostmite rampaging, I assume we're going to have to play keep away."

"Greaaaaat." Artemis drawls. "Where is he now?"

I type something into my wrist computer. Why aren't these commercial tech? Oh right, expenses in miniaturizing the tech and some of the components being limited.

A news feed pops up. "Found him. He's at Vicker and Baz, currently eating some guy's car."

"Let's go!" Artemis yells. She loads up her grappling arrow while I get out my grappling gun. We aim at a nearby rooftop, and we fire our grappling hooks before making our way to Vicker and Baz. Quite quickly, if I may add.

Vicker and Baz

September 14th, 2010 13:42 EDT

Artemis's POV

Fuck, fuck, FUCK, FUCK! This is not how I expected the last few days of summer to go! I was supposed to spend time with Mom to get supplies for Gotham Academy, spend time with Green Arrow and prepare myself for elitism and snobby teenagers, not Chimera being fucking pregnant and us having to watch over him while he goes on hormone fuelled rampages.

This has to be the single most weirdest thing to happen to me as a superhero ever, not just now, but in the future. Nothing can top this.

I take a deep breath. Right, just gotta do this well. I load up a rubber tipped arrow, aim it at Frostmite and I draw the bowstring. Despite the high pitched 'whooo' sound, I see Frostmite go pale and the arrow just flies through him, freezing as it does so.

Literally, what the fuck?! Oh, right. I shake my head. "Can't believe that I forgot that Frostmite can turn invisible."

"Intangible." Robin corrects me. "Invisible is when something can't be seen. Intangible is when something can't be touched."

I tsk. "Whatever." Didn't really need to know the difference, but 'The More You Know' and all that shit.

Frostmite looks at us, glares and tells us in a voice that doesn't even imply that Chimera's home, "Why are you fighting me? You know that I need metal to build my nest."

"You're causing thousands of dollars in property damage!" I shout back.

Frostmite stares at me like an idiot. "We Necrofriggians don't have a society. The way I see it, I'm eating scrap metal that nobody cares enough to bother salvaging for their own use."

And with that, Frostmite flies away. I should invest in something to get around town easier in both of my identities.

"After him!" Robin yells.

We run after Frostmite, and we reach the nest. It's a mess, to put it lightly. A half cylinder made of various metals that looks like they've been salvaged from everthing Frostmite could get his hands on. I think I see some copper, as well as zinc among others. A whole metal rainbow if you ask me.

I see Frostmite reguritating the metal he just ate and slapping it onto the rest of the nest, shaping it to his liking. What's interesting is that there's a scrap metal pile that Frostmite grabs from. A part of me looks on in interest as Frostmite gobbles up a small rusting license plate before vomiting it up. Eventually, I hear the Omnitrix beep, and I see Frostmite turn back to Chimera.

Chimera spits out some metal and grumbles something incoherent. He then looks around and sees us.

The Usual Training Spot Frostmite's Nest

September 14th, 2010 1?:? EDT

Ugh, why did I have to transform when I was just about to tell them the plans of attack? Oh well, the damage is done. On the bright side, I can see how Robin and Artemis react under sudden changes.

I check the time on the Omnitrix and I see it's three to two. Lovely.

Given their reactions, I see that Robin's a bit concerned while Artemis looks like she's recovering from a panic attack.

"What happened?" I ask the two.

"After you transformed, we ran to the store you told us and then tried to contain your rampage to no avail." Robin tells me.

"Did you try luring Frostmite to junkyards?" I ask and I see the two winces in place of a response. "So, no, no you didn't. I'm guessing you two were too busy panicking to think properly, even if Robin didn't show it." Seeing them clench up, I change my tone of voice from frustrated father to worried friend. "I know this whole mess is something new and unusual for you, but please at least try to remain calm during Frostmite's ramapages."

"Okay, we will." Artemis tells me in a confident tone.

"Thank Baker. Now the next rampage won't be for about eight hours, so we have enough time to set up the sleeping arrangements for the both of you."

Casa de Ezekial

September 14th, 2010 14:35 EDT

Artemis and Dick have finished unpacking what little clothes and gear they have, which is good for them since they're gonna be here for a few days until the pregnancy ends.

Though it does raise the question of how Dick's gonna keep his secret identity around Artemis. They're gonna go to the same school and chances are that Dick's already planning something to mess with Artemis down the line.

If he somehow manages to do so, great. Wally, Dick, M'gann and I can mess with the rest of the Team for months without anyone being the wiser. If he doesn't, then we'll get her to keep quiet. And get her to join in on messing with the uninformed, of course.

I check the time on the Omnitrix. Great. I need to do some of my homework for college. I get my laptop, turn it on and I open the browser, navigating to the student portal website and signing in.

Just as I move my mouse to the English 101 card, I see Dick come up to me. "So, whatcha doin'?"

"English for college. The essay I'm supposed to write about is difficult to put into two thousand words, but I'm trying my best. English is my best subject, but I prefer creative writing over academic writing. The acceptable language in academic writing is so dull, y'know?"

"I get where you're coming from." Dick says.

I hear the sound of feet hitting the floor and I see Artemis walk down the stairs. "Wow, you weren't kidding when you said you needed a spare bedroom for your merch. I think your bedroom's also your library if I'm correct?"

"You are correct. That's why I needed space. I buy a lot of books and I need many bookshelves to store every single one I have. I'm a bit of a bibliomaniac, I'll admit." I look over to my laptop. "So, is everything okay so far?"

"I don't have a problem right now, aside from sharing a room with Robin." Artemis tells me.

"Same here." Dick agrees.

I frown. "Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?" I don't really like having my friends feel uncomfortable.

Artemis waves me off. "No, it's fine. We're just a bit uncomfortable with the sleeping situation, but it's nothing we can't handle."

I look at Artemis, somewhat unconvinced. "Alright, if you're sure. Though I do have to ask; Robin, how are you going to keep your secret identity hidden from Artemis?"

Dick shrugs. "I asked Batman about this and he said that if I can't keep my secret identity from Artemis, then I should just let her know as an absolute last resort."

I blink. "That seems… oddly generous of the man." Granted, over the course of time, Batman has been flanderized into a hyperefficent paranoid vigilante. For him to decide that somebody knowing who Robin- and by extension, him- are under their masks is a major sign of trust on his part.

Admittedly, his major trust is the average person's 'I can trust you won't kill me willingly'.

"I know, right?," Dick asks rhetorically "He seems oddly insistent that Artemis might figure it out due to her interactions with my civilian identity."

I stroke my chin. "Why would he think that? The only place you'd be in your civilian identity with her willingly would be-" And all of a sudden it comes to me: Artemis and Robin go to Gotham Academy. I smirk, much to Artemis's confusion. "Ah, I see. Just don't make yourself obvious."

"You know me." Dick smirks.

"Yes, yes I do, Mr. 'I became Robin when I was eight because I wanted to bring my parents' killer to justice when the actual justice and child care systems failed me.'"

Shock crosses Dick's and Artemis's faces. "How do you know that? That's only accessible to those cleared for Batman's identity."

I put on my 'are you an idiot' look. "Clearance for which was given to me when I gave Batman verificable proof that I knew who he was under the mask by rationalizing that no sane parent would want their kid to be a vigilante at nine years old. Fortunately for you, Batman isn't sane." A bit of an exaggeration, I'll admit, but Batman did give me really high security clearance. One of the highest in the Team and the League, I'll admit, beaten only by League founders or their successors.

Dick and Artemis looked at each other before looking back at me. "Okay, you are really scary." Artemis compliments me.

I smirk. "Thank you! Though I believe that you'll take it back when I show that I have the potential to be much scarier."

Artemis asks. "How so?"

I take a deep breath. This could get long. "CheMystery is a walking chemoweapons factory, I'm still working on accessing Shockhenge's portal summoning and power bestowal abilities as well as refining his weather manipulation, I call Mindburner my last resort because my actual last resort aliens are locked, Overflow has absolute hydrokinesis without magic being involved, Brainstorm can manipulate neurons and with it the mind, Greenhouse can cause bonfires through plants and fire, and Solarion's a Kryptonian. And that's without all of the really dangerous forms." Huh. Shorter than I imagined it to be.

Artemis quivers in fear. "H-How dangerous?"

I shrug and nonchalantly state "Planetary destruction at a minimum. Really, you should be concerned at how dangerous I can become instead of how dangerous I am, because I am nowhere near my full potential."

Artemis and Dick look at me at horror. "I think I'm gonna go scream in a corner." Artemis says out loud to no one.

I take a look and I see Artemis bang her head on a corner before screaming. "Wow," I fake whisper to Dick, "Wait 'til she hears about how it's likely that in the future, I'm not gonna have a time limit on the Omnitrix and that I'll get a thought interface with that upgrade."

Artemis screams in horror again. God, I love messing with the deserving through my reputation. It's just so satisfying. Though I shouldn't do it with Artemis. It's not doing wonders with our friendship right now.

Marz Park

September 14th, 2010 19:42 EDT

Artemis's POV

Despite all of the horrifying revelations I learnt today, I decided to do another 'lure Frostmite' run with Zeke. Both Robin and I are in costume, waiting for Zeke- also in costume- to fire up the Omnitrix and get the show started.

Zeke looks around and addresses the crowd. "Alright, when I transform, I'm gonna lose control of Frostmite. So I need everyone aside from Robin and Artemis to back away from me. I'm not sure if Frostmite will phase through people nonlethally or will just attack on sight, hence the warning."

Miraculously, all of the civilians back away. Robin and I rev our motorized scooters and Zeke gently pushes the core of the Omnitrix down, turning into Frostmite. He opens his wings and starts to fly, but before he (they? I need to check on the proper pronouns) starts to get away, I yell "Hey, Frostmite! Follow us to a junkyard so you can eat properly salvaged metal that nobody else wants!"

We then drive to the junkyard and whaddya know, Frostmite's following us. Once we arrive, Frostmite looks around and starts eating all of the metal he can see before he/they flies away once again.

We follow Frostmite and we see him hurl up the molten metal onto the nest, shaping it with his bare hands. "So, how long will this last?" I ask the alien bodyjacking my friend hoping he'd (they?) answer.

Amazingly, Frostmite responds. "About eight more transformations, though they can't be back to back. There has to be an hour between them."

"Why?" Robin asks.

"Barring extraordinary circumstances, we DNA samples are not meant to take control of the user's body this way. As such, the Omnitrix is hardwired to prevent us from doing so with ease by limiting what we can do within the Omnitrix while we are sapient."

Robin frowns. "That sounds like you aren't sapient most of the time."

Frostmite frowns. "We aren't. We're just mindless samples for our host to control most of the time. Aside from Z'skay'r, but he was replaced with a unintelligent sample some decades prior."

"Who?" I ask. Chimera never mentioned a Zuhkare- I think that's how it's pronounced- before.

Frostmite, the big blue bug possessing my friend waves me away. "Not important. He's not in the Omnitrix databases anymore, so he's not gonna be a threat unless you stumble upon his original universe and resurrect him, though I doubt anybody would be willing to do so. Assuming somebody in this universe is able to do so, of course."

Frostmite continues vomiting metal and shaping it into a cylinder, until he detransforms and Chimera comes back. "So, how'd it go?" He asks

"We had a talk with Frostmite," I began. "He seemed like a dick, but he did say that you need about eight more transformations before you come to term, but they can't be back to back. You need to wait an hour before turning to Frostmite after the last time you do so."

"He also mentioned something about a Z'skay'r not being in the Omnitrix anymore." Robin finishes for me. Chimera sighs in relief, muttering "Thank you, random omnipotent bastard in charge of me for getting me an Omnitrix without Z'skay'r. "

He then looks at us. "You said that I have eight more transformations, correct?"

Robin nods. "Just about. Could be more, could be less."

Chimera strokes his chin. Must be a thinking habit. "Hmmmm. If my math is correct, then we should be finished tomorrow. Make sure you take photos, okay? I want to see my babies."

"Sure. We can do that." Robin says.

Frostmite's Nest

September 15th, 2010 16:42 EDT

Robin's POV

Artemis and I are at Frostmite's nest, ready to take pictures for Chimera. Frostmite themself is finishing up the final touches for the nest. After a few minutes, Frostmite turns to us. "Alright, the nest is ready. The larvae should be ready to be born any minute now."

I raise my eyebrow. "Really? Just like that?"

"Just like that. My larva grows in two days. Most of the nest is for their meal before they head to their home planet to continue their lives, never to see each other or myself ever again."

"Isn't it lonely for them?" Artemis asks.

"Humans", Frostmite scoffs. "Not all of the species in the Omnitrix have identical psychology to humanity. Appolexians are aggressive yet surprisingly good with kids, Incurseans are warmongers, Cerebrocrustaceans speak with the most complex words and sentences they know of and ramble on about their intelligence, and we Necrofriggians detest social contact with each other."

"Well, we have Superman and Martian Manhunter for examples of alien psychology." I weakly defend.

"Really?" If Frostmite had eyebrows, I was pretty sure he would raise one. "According to my host's memories, Superman was raised on this planet since birth and Martian Manhunter spent decades here. Do you really think that they would be considered of peak mental health among their species?" Frostmite condescendingly and rhetorically asks.

I whisper "He's got a point."

"Now, they're about to hatch," Frostmite continues. "Remember that you promised my human host baby pictures."

We get our cameras out and start taking pictures of fourteen blue orbs flying from the metal cylinder that slowly morph into miniature Frostmites, who look like what happens when you mix a puppy and Frostmite.

Not sure if I did their description justice, but I'm not entirely sure how to describe them.

As if this week wasn't surprising enough, John Stewart and Guy Gardner fly down. The kids hide behind Frostmite, chirping, but Frostmite turns to them and says "Follow them. They will take you to a home that's suited for you."

The kids follow the two Green Lanterns, and all that's left of what happened is the metal remnant of the nest.

With a flash of green light, Frostbite is replaced by Chimera, who starts jumping up and down. "Did you get the baby pictures? Did you?!"

"Yeah, we got them. Stop acting like Wally on a sugar rush and you'll get to see them." Artemis tells Chimera.

"Actually, Wally on a sugar rush is much worse." I 'helpfully' inform Artemis.

"...Do I even want to know?" She asks, resigned to whatever horror she'll hear about.

"Long story short, KF caused a lot of property damage and he's banned from every candy store in the twin cities as a result." I told her.

Artemis slumps her shoulders and sighs in relief. "Oh good, at least it's not as bad as the horror stories about Chimera's aliens."

"Eh, we can worry about the threats my aliens can pose to the world and beyond later. Send me the photos of my children and we're even." Chimera tells us.

Artemis and I text Chimera his baby photos, and he grabs his phone to look at them, squeeing as he does so. "Now," he says, "I have to do something very, very awkward."

"What?" Artemis asks. The pregnancy is over, so there shouldn't be any other issues

In a near-whisper, Chimera says "I have to inform the general public.

Artemis and I shudder. There's a reason why not a lot of the heroes deal with the press unless they have press contacts or through Catherine Colbert.

Mount Justice

September 16th, 2010 15:36 EDT

I walk into the mission room, and who do I see? M'gann and Connor, back from their infiltration of Belle Reve.

I take one look at their smiling faces and their holding hands and I go "I'm so happy for you."

"Happy for us, why exactly?" Connor asks.

"For realizing your romantic feelings and entering a relationship. I'm bad at social skills, yes, but unlike Wally, I'm not blind when it comes to romance."

"Oh." M'gann blushes, before asking with a smirk, "Thank you, Zeke. And since you're here, how did your pregnancy go?"

I glare at M'gann. ...Well played. M'gann smirks, having heard my mental message.

Out loud, I respond with "About as well as you can imagine when your body is being controlled to deliver the pregnancy, so I'm not too sure on the finer details. All I know is that Frostmite made a nest and ate metal to shape it into the nest. Fortunately, I have baby photos. Want to see?"

"Sure." Connor shrugs.

I unlock my phone and I open up the photo album, oh so cleverly titled 'Baby Pictures' before I hand it to Connor and M'gann.

Upon first sight, M'gann squees. "Oh…my…gods, they are so adorable!"

"I know, right? I'm glad I got those photos, since I can't remember giving birth to my fourteen bundles of joy."

"What are their names?" Connor asks.

I frown. "Ah right. Knew I forgot something. Necrofriggians don't name their children, they name themselves."

"That's cruel. What if they die before they get named?" M'gann asks.

"Then they're dead. Believe it or not, Necrofriggians only care about their own survival and what little culture they have. They don't care about others beyond mutual trades, ensuring their young are born and protecting their little culture.

"That's so cruel." M'gann laments.

"That's Necrofriggian life. Their home planet is in a perpetual ice age so cold that not a lot of species can survive without protective gear. But enough about depressing topics, how'd your mission go?"

M'gann and Connor shuffle their feet, a sure sign something went wrong. "It went okay. We got caught twice, but I was lucky enough that I was able to erase the memories before we got caught the first time."

The phrasing seems a bit odd. "And the second time?" I raise my eyebrow like Spock.

"I was frozen in a block of ice before I could erase the memories from everyone who witnessed me break my cover. Fortunately, I escaped and we managed to prevent a prison breakout."

I whistle. Or try to, so I instead say "Damn, I'm impressed. Despite the fact that the deck was rigged against you two, you managed to succeed."

"Thanks." Connor replies, tersely. Probably still worked up about how badly the mission went wrong, then.

Seeing that none of us have any sort of desire to continue the conversation, we part ways. Honestly, I'm glad that the Team took it well. I wonder how the villains are reacting to the news.

?

September 17th, 2010 07:37 EDT

Vandal Savage looks around the room, angrily aiming his eyes at the screens carrying the images of his fellow illuminaries. After a few seconds of doing so, he speaks up. "I'm sorry, did I hear you correctly, Luthor? One of Chimera's forms gave birth to fourteen children, and we couldn't get them because of random chance?"

Luthor sighs. "Unfortunately, yes. I did not have any satellites operating over Coast City at the time, and when I did find out that Chimera gave birth, it was after the fact. It is unlikely we are able to get the children due to the two lesser Lanterns guiding them to some unknown planet."

Savage sighs. "Unfortunate, but our inability to grab the children is more fortuitous than it appears. I have experience with being an angry parent, and it usually never ends well to the target of the anger. In other news, how did the prison break go?"

Lady Shiva responds. "Exactly as you expected. While the League managed to switch the Terror Twins for Miss Martian and Superboy, their infiltrators were not good enough at espionage work to keep up the ruse forever, slipping up at the end of their roles to play. While they still managed to stop the prison break, the primary goal of replacing the warden with our spy inside the staff was successful."

Vandal smirks. "Good. Everything's coming into fruition."

"Don't you mean 'I love it when a plan comes together'?!" Klarion yells.

Vandal frowns. "No. I do not. Anything else I should be aware of?"

Shiva frowns. Odd. "The League has somehow found out about Cassandra's existence and put her into the foster care system, where she was adopted by Bruce Wayne."

Savage strokes his chin. "Hmmm. That seems… intriguing. If they wanted to send a message, then the League would skip the foster care and have one of their donors adopt them or just vanish her off the face of the earth. Keep me updated on the situation. I feel as if it's not what it seems."

"Of course, master. Will we strike after Wayne?" Shiva asks, clearly angry at the loss of her pet project.

Savage smirks. "No. We wait and grab her stealthily. Knowing Batman, he likely will have Cassandra join him on his mission to fight crime. When that happens, we strike."

Shiva smirks. "And strike we shall."