Hughie and Annie made sure to put enough distance from the Flash museum as possible. Annie held his hand as they walked away. However, this did little to calm Hughie's nerves. His time spent in the museum had shown him just how out of his depth they were. He remembered reading an exhibit about how The Flash once ran across the globe in a single second. He wanted to believe that was propaganda, but everything else in the museum caused doubts. His mind went back to A-Train. If everything about how fast The Flash was true, then A-Train looked like a snail next to him. As enjoyable as it would be to see A-Train's ego crumble, it only further emphasized staying away from them.

"You think they got him?" Annie asked him.

"What?" Hughie said upon having his train of thought broken. "I don't know maybe he's on the plane right now, and it's flying." Hughie told her. "Like that should be a universal constant, right?"

"Hopefully." She said before checking her phone.

"Fuck!" She yelled out in public.

Hughie turned towards her, and she showed him his screen. A news article read:

"Other Earth Fugitive Marvin T. Milk Apprehended in Star City"

Hughie read the article despite how horrified he felt at the moment he kept reading it.

"They're taking him to the same place Frenchie and Kimiko are." Hughie said. "They might be putting him into some place called Arkham Asylum." He added.

"They can't just throw him into a mental institution." Annie said.

Their thoughts drifted to Sage Groves. Was this the reason why supervillains were so prevalent here?

Just then, a yellow and red blur appeared before them again. It was Kid Flash.

"Anna January and Hugh Campbell, right?" He asked them.

Both paused as if they felt their hearts stop for a second. Annie instinctively fired a blast at him, but moved out of the way before she even fired. As they both felt someone incessantly tap their shoulders the moment, she fired. Annie began to build up energy in her hands and turned around to fire a blast. Only this time, someone was behind them, but it was Wonder Girl, not Kid Flash. The blast did little to faze her.

"If you're looking for real criminals, try looking at Vought." Annie told them.

"We'll get there when we do." Wonder Girl told her. "I have to say, it's unfortunate you started to run with a bad crowd. We saw your record and would have loved to work with you." She added.

"Trust us, lady. It's for your own good." Kid Flash told them. "The League and the Titans, we have experience with this sort of thing."

Annie closed her eyes, slowly charging her powers. Before opening them, she managed to blind them. Wonder Girl dropped her lasso, allowing the couple to free themselves. Escaping through the sewers.

Wonder Girl and Kid Flash recovered.

"I'll find them." Bart said.

"No, let them go." Martian Manhunter's voice echoed through their minds.

"J'onn?! What are you doing?" Cassie questioned.

"We need them to gather in one place to survey them. So far, three are in Gotham. All we need is for their leader to meet with them." Martian Manhunter told them.

"So we just let them run free?" Wonder Girl asked.

"Of the group, those two are the least destructive." J'onn reassured her.

"He brings up a good point. I mean, you brought up that she could have been with us." Kid Flash said.

"Fine. Tim, Steph, and the other members of his family can handle this." Wonder Girl said.

"Wait, are the other team in the tower?" Wonder Girl said.

"Yes, why do you ask?" Martian Manhunter asked.

"Conner called me not long ago. Some kid with Kryptonian powers ended up in the Kent Farm." Cassie said.

"But get this, when they asked him about stuff like Krypton he said the kid had no idea what they were talking about." Bart cut her off.

"Their counterpart for Superman mentioned he had a son who disappeared." Martian Manhunter said.

"Looks like he's been found." Kid Flash said.

"Thank you, I will bring this up immediately." Martian Manhunter said.

Wonder Girl looked to Kid Flash.

"Did you put those trackers that Tim gave us, on them?" She asked him, quietly.

"Sure did." Kid Flash said.

Billy looked at the Daily Planet building from what he had heard, this was the city's premiere news network. This meant he could at least get an idea about Superman. If they were going to go after his crew, then he would go after them. Becca followed him. He walked up to the front desk and showed them his FBI badge.

"FBI, I have some questions for your staff." He told the lady.

"Top floor." She told him.

Billy and Becca went to the nearest elevator and went up to the top floor. On the way, a fit man with a mustache entered and flashed a flirtatious smile at Becca, but one dirty look from Billy made him step off to the closest floor. They stepped out of the door and saw the newsroom. The sound of phones going off mixed with the discussions of those in the office. Billy walked around the room, and noticed one of the names for the cubicles. The names read "Clark Kent" and "Lois Lane-Kent". He remembered the name of the latter on the article about Superman.

The walls of the Daily Planet behind Lois Lane-Kent's desk displayed a series of articles about Superman. One of the articles presented the headline "Who is the fastest man alive?" The picture presented Superman and the Flash ready for a race. Behind the Flash, a woman identical to Becca was among the crowd, except her hair was blonde.

"She looks just like me," Becca said. "She's wearing a badge. That's who the cop thought I was."

"Look at these other pictures," Billy said mockingly. A headline read "I spent the night with Superman." and there were several pictures of Superman rescuing this Lois Lane woman from a series of unlikely scenarios. "Looks like we found Superman's misses. Wanna bet all these savings are excuses for her to get some cock of steel?"

"She's married." Becca said, presenting a picture of her wedding on her desk. She was in her wedding dress. The groom was a tall man wearing a kippah with a silly smile and very thick round glasses. He appeared out of place next to her. Billy gave a wicked smile and said.

"I bet the boy scout cares." In a tone of sarcasm.

"What are you doing?" Lois asked. There she was, Daily Planet's top reporter. She looked elegant and wore a purple blazer and white skirt. The colors matched her well.

"FBI, ma'am." Billy said, flashing his badge. "You know my- - Colleague."

"Patty Spivot, Central City PD." Lois said and looked puzzled at Billy. "Don't I know you from somewhere?"

"I'm not from here."

"Obviously," Lois sat down and invited the Butchers to do the same. "So, agent, how can I help you?"

"My office is trying to build an investigation about the other Earth's disappearances. I just came from Central City trying to gather information for us."

"These things are a bit above the FBI's rank."

"Please, you sound so confident in the Justice League. What makes you think they handle the situation and the FBI can't?"

"They have large crews, specialists, and experience."

"And we don't?" Billy asked, half-ironic but seriously questioning.

"They also have a giant space base and teleporters worldwide. You sound like the General, he doesn't like giving the whole job to superheroes either. But Bruce Wayne's budget for Batman Inc. is much higher than the FBI's. They save the whole world and sometimes the whole universe a few times."

"And the millions they make while doing is just an extra."

Lois looked confused. The idea of superheroes being money cows for corporations was obvious for Butcher, but that wasn't his reality. Eventually, Lois laughed at him.

"Come on, how much do you think they really keep? Every Superman cartoon, clothing, and toy is turned into profit for charity. They could probably make a lot more and surpass every company in the world, but you know Superman and the League prefer to watch us."

"From their giant base in the sky full of supes who can break the planet with a sneeze."

"Your point?"

"Who watches them?"

The TV behind Lois broadcasted news from Smallville. A few farmers witnessed Superboy and a kid with similar powers fighting a shark-like meta-human. The description of the kid was clear to Becca. That was Ryan. Becca pulled Billy's arm.

"We gotta go, thank you." She told Lois as they left.

Leaving the room, Billy bumps against Clark Kent. The clumsy reporter towers over Billy, but his size only makes him clumsier.

"Oh, sorry, sir." Clark told him.

"That's my husband." Lois said.

Butcher takes one look at him and a look at one of the pictures of Lois in Superman's arm.

"Nice bloke you have here." Billy said with a grin.

When the Butchers left, Lois followed her husband to the Daily Planet's nearest empty room. Once there, Clark fixed his posture, which made him even taller. The expression on his face changed. He was suddenly comfortable.

"He said he was FBI." Lois said. "He was full of shit."

"Language," Clark answered as he touched his earpiece. "Superman to Watchtower, I got an eye on William Butcher and an unknown woman who looks too much like Patty Spivot."

"Let them go." Batman's voice answered.

"That's supposed to be J'onn's frequency."

"They're going to Gotham. That's where the rest of them are. We can get them all at once." Batman said.

They had only left the building when Becca stopped.

"Billy, I'm sorry, but I can't go with you." Becca told her husband.

Billy looked at his wife, ultimately hurt by her statement.

"They have my son." She told him.

"He'll kill you." Butcher told her.

"Not in front of Ryan, and he knows it." Becca said. "I'm giving myself to the Justice League." She added.

"You can't trust them." Butcher warned her. He wanted to bring up the last time she trusted one of them, but he knew that would make things worse.

"It's worth the chance." Becca said. "Your friends need you, and you know it." Becca said.

Butcher was silent for a moment.

"I'll come back for you soon." He said before kissing her one last time.

He walked to the bus station, wiping away tears.

Becca walked back inside, wiping away her tears as well.

"Are you alright?" Someone asked her. She recognized the voice as belonging to Clark Kent.

"I'm fine, Mr. Kent." She told him.

"You can call me Clark." He told her with a friendly smile.

"You and your wife are close with Superman, right?" She asked.

"Yes, I am." Clark replied.

"Do you know how to contact him?" She asked.

"Why yes, I do." Clark replied.

"I'd like for you to set up a meeting between us." Becca told him.

"When?" Clark asked.

"Give me your cellphone number, I'll call you." She told him.

Clark obliged.

"I have to go now." Clark said before walking out the door.

Jonathan held the tractor up while his grandfather fixed its engine, Conner nailed the fence on the ground with his own hands when they noticed Homelander and Superman arriving. Homelander landed loudly, hitting the ground, meanwhile, Superman did it gracefully as a regular human step, accompanied by the Batplane landing. Ryan sat alone looking up when he saw Homelander coming towards him with a smile and open arms.

"Ryan, I came to take you back home." Ryan didn't answer immediately. He took a minute before telling Homelander, almost crying.

"Is my mom here too?"

"Son, did something happen?"

Conner put the wood down and told them.

"There's something you should see."

In the barn, Conner presents the body of a shark monster cut in half with laser vision.

"It's the Shark. He's one of the Green Lantern's enemies, supposed to be at Belle Reve. The kid did it."

"Ryan did this?" Questioned Homelander sounding proud.

"The Shark, I read about him, was a regular animal until he was affected by radiation and turned into a monster." Batman said. "He could speak, think, feel. He was a sentient being. Now he's dead."

"It wasn't his fault." Explained Superboy. "We were fighting, he came so close to Ryan he got scared and used his heat-vision on him."

"Laser-vision." Corrected Homelander. "We call it laser-vision in… 'Our Earth'."

"Well, mister, at least he's not that strong, thankfully."

"What?" Homelander asked sounding genuinely surprised.

"He accidentally hit me with the vision, I thought he was Kryptonian but he didn't hurt me at all."

Batman notices Homelander's ego bruises. His jaw was clenched as he tried to hide his displeasure upon hearing that.

"Who are you?"

"That's Superboy." Said Superman. "He's my son, the other is Kon-El, my brother."

"Oh, great! How old is he?" Answered Homelander, trying to sound friendly.

"Eleven years old." Superman replied.

"Well, Ryan is eight, he sure got lucky. At eleven, he'll probably be able to hurt even me."

"Not as complicated as you may think." Said a youthful voice from the top of the barn. Robin jumps out of there and lands on the ground gliding with his cape. "It came to my attention that your universe lacks bigger threats, makes me wonder how tough you really are."

Homelander's expression soured.

"Robin, that's enough." Said Batman.

"Wow, you do have a lot of kids walking around. You're not a bit young to carry so many explosives, blades, and… Whatever are these other things in your belt. Wait, what's that under the ground?"

Batman and Superman both looked confused as Superman asked.

"Can you see under the lead?"

"Yep, x-ray vision. You don't?" Proudly asked Homelander.

"He does." Interrupted Batman. "We just didn't expect you'd have all the exact powers as a Kryptonian, that's all."

"A Kryptonian?"

"I come from planet Krypton. All Kryptonians have these powers under a yellow sun."

"Neato." Homelander looks under the ground and realizes he can't see through the spaceship. He walked out of the barn trying to process the information.

Homelander went inside the farmhouse, to find Ryan lying on the couch, crying the names of the American states. Homelander went in his direction.

"Hey, buddy, we're in a different universe, just like in a comic book. Isn't that exciting?"

He said, trying to cheer up Ryan, no response. Ryan then says.

"I'm sorry."

"No, no, no, he attacked you. You shouldn't be sorry."

"I just… saw him and didn't think he could talk, or think. I thought he was just a monster, and I couldn't control myself." He admitted.

"Yeah, things in this place are weird like that. I remember the first time I used my laser vision on somebody."

"Probably saved the day."

"It was my babysitter. I lost control. Nobody knew I had laser vision, not even myself, I felt terrible. I didn't want to do it. All those people feared me, thinking I was a monster and I believed them."

"What did you do?"

Homelander went to sit next to Ryan.

"I hid, made a hole on the floor with my hands, and stood there crying my little eyes out."

"You cried?" Asked Ryan confused.

"Yes." He answered honestly and then proceeded to justify it. "I-I'm a man, so not in a long while. But who knows maybe next time you'll do it by will, use your powers as you wish, maybe we'll do it together."

"Look, I know you want me to be like you, be like… Be like Superboy, but I'm not."

"Son, I didn't just wake up one day and fly out the door. It's not how it works, I had to learn. I didn't have anyone to teach because of the doctors… The people who raised me, were scared of me after the babysitter incident, so they kept their distance. Well, you don't have to go through any of that. Superboy didn't because he had Superman. Now you have me. I'll teach you."

"Really?"

"I love you." Ryan gets closer, and Homelander puts his arm around his son. "You're going home now."

They both get up and see an elderly couple going inside the house. One of them is the old man Homelander saw fixing the tractor.

"You're going already?" Asked the woman. "You can stay for dinner."

"Oh, no." Answered Homelander, trying to sound polite. "We don't want things to get awkward."

"We had people from the future, magicians, many, many aliens, and you wouldn't be the first visitors from a different universe to have dinner with us."

The old man explained, and Homelander replied.

"Do you work for the Justice League on this farm?" He asked.

"Oh, nothing like that." Said the old woman. "We're Superman's parents..…"

"No names." Interrupted both Batman and Robin simultaneously, who somehow went unnoticed in the room by everybody in there.

"... I think we're just Superman's parents for you." Finished Martha.

"Wow, a whole alien family. Where I'm from, nobody would believe me."

"We're not aliens, son. We just happened to raise one." Said Jonathan.

Martha took a framed photo from the table in front of the couch.

"When we found the ship, he was so alone, nobody in the world to take care of him, now he takes care of the entire world." Martha Kent said, pride evident in her voice.

Homelander saw the photo. It was Superman as a child, looking very much like Superboy, except he couldn't be older than five in the photo. He was in a younger Martha's arms, both smiling. Homelander could not contain the jealousy on his face, yet, only Batman and Robin took notice. Homelander took a long breath and told Ryan.

"Time to go."

"His reaction was anything, but humble, father." Robin told Batman through his earpiece. "It reeked of envy and other insecurities."

It was late at night in the other universe. Batman was presently in the apartment of a former Senior Vice President of Hero Management. Robin was at the Red River Institute.

"I know." Batman replied.

"I suppose the both of you are having doubts about this Homelander's character?" Alfred spoke up. Alfred was presently in the Batcave.

"Have you found anything?" Batman questioned him.

"No, it looks like they were quite thorough with deleting digital and physical information." Damian replied. "Likely after you met with them." He added.

"From what I can see, most of the information that's been deleted appears to start from the year 1987." Oracle said.

"I can attest to Oracle's claim. Of the previous decades, they were much more focused on the 1980s and early 90s." Damian brought up.

"It's a start." Batman said.

Batman looked around the apartment. The resident was clearly rushed out of the house. As most of his clothing was still there. Far too much food was still left in the house. As well as, some drugs.

"If they can be scared, then they can be beaten," Batman replied. It was there that he noticed a display case. Inside was a green military-Esque superhero costume with a shield next to it. Batman used a lockpick to open the case. He picked up the shield. It was heavier than he imagined. He estimated that it weighed a little over six hundred pounds. Most human beings would be unable to lift it, but the man holding it now could lift nearly twice that amount.

"Looking to add another souvenir to your collection, sir?" Alfred asked.

"No, looks like I found might have found something interesting." Batman replied.

"Robin, return to the Batcave. We're done here." He said.

Batman pressed a different button that brought him to the Batcave. He entered the portal and was back in the Batcave with the shield in hand. Robin was already there.

He dropped it on the examination table. The noise startled the colony of bats in the cave. It echoed with the sounds of squeaking and wings flapping.

"Oh yes, it was too quiet in here. Thank you, sir." Alfred said.

"They'll settle down." He said pulling off his cowl before starting to use these instruments.

"The readings indicate this shield has been around since the forties." Batman said. "Oracle crossreference this with what you found from Vought's database."

"Already done. The fingerprints are a match with what I found regarding Soldier Boy. There's only so much I can do while operating on our world." She said.

"All the more impressive, Barbara." Batman complimented.

"Indeed, you've done remarkably, Miss. Gordon." Alfred told her.

"Thanks, by the way. Hugh Campbell and Anna January's flight will arrive in Gotham within the hour. Billy Butcher's bus just reached the station." Oracle informed.

"Good." Batman said.

"I still think you're giving these outlaws too much credit Father." Damian told his father.

"Butcher's ruthless and driven by hatred. He'll likely transfer that hatred onto us." Batman told his son. "He will likely drag innocent lives for the sake of vendetta." He admonished.

"Then, why Gotham, sir?" Alfred said. "I never thought you would want someone like that in Gotham City."

"We're better off with all of them in one place. By now, they might have an idea of what the League is capable of." Batman told Alfred. "Dick would have apprehended the Frenchman and Miyashiro if not for Croc. With all of us, it's not a matter of if it's when." Batman said.

Alright, here we are. The beginning of the Superman-Homelander rivalry is here. With the Boys now nearly going to Gotham City. I should mention that I will be going to Yellowstone tomorrow and will be there up until Wednesday. The internet can be spotty there, so I might not be able to write the next chapter until Thursday. Until then, take care.