TW: Bigotry from well... I'll give you three guesses from who. Nothing too overt I hope, but there is a chance you might recognize a certain falsified theory. I do not condone those beliefs whatsoever.
TW: Implications of sexual assault. I hope that I managed to delve into and as gently that I could.
It was starting to get dark in Metropolis. She stood on the rooftop of the Daily Planet. According to Lois, that would be the best place to wait.
She readied herself when he saw him lower himself gently.
"My friends Lois and Clark told me you wished to speak with us." Superman told her.
"Yes, they did." Becca told him tensely.
Superman took notice of her unease judging from his expression. She took a step back, Becca didn't know if he was as bad as Homelander or not, that was a huge risk."They told me you're not Patty Spivot. Is that correct?" He asked her.
"Yes. My name is Rebecca Saunders Butcher." She told him.
Superman seemed surprised by this as his eyes opened.
"When I was in your world, I read that you were dead." Superman told her.
"It's a lie. All of it." She told him. "I… don't really want to talk about it now."
Superman took note of this but decided against pushing further.
"I see." He replied. "Is there a reason why you wanted to speak with me?"
"My son, Ryan." She told him.
"Ryan's you son?!" Superman asked.
"Yes. Where is he?" Becca asked.
"He's… with his father." Superman told her, with a degree of hesitancy in his tone.
Clark's hesitance was proven right as Becca's expression instantly turned to one of anger.
"You fucking did what?!" Becca yelled. "Where are they?!" She demanded.
"At the Watchtower." Superman told her. "I suppose you would like me to take you there?" He asked.
"Yes! Yes, I fucking would like to go there!" Becca told him.
Superman hovered down beside her.
"Superman to Watchtower, bring me and the woman with me to the Watchtower." He commed someone.
A blue light enveloped them, and in an instant, they were at the Watchtower. Becca pushed aside her feelings of wonder and marched.
"I can take you over to them." Superman said.
Billy Butcher strolled into the Royal Hotel lobby towards the blue-haired receptionist with a tattoo on her neck reading a magazine. Butcher pressed the bell and the receptionist gave a look at the grinning man.
"Hello, love," Butcher said. "I'd like to check in the room next to the crazy french bastard who checked in last night." The woman gave Butcher the key and asked for his signature to which Butcher signed "Mike Hunt"
"Good day."
As he walked up the stairs Butcher took note of the graffiti. The most notable was behind him.
It was spray painted in green and looked like a review that read:
"No mints on the pillows."
The review was half-a-star with it being "signed" by someone called "The Joker".
Butcher remembered hearing the name when he first entered the city. By the sounds of it, he must have been a real psycho.
Inside his room, Frenchie spoke with Hughie on the phone. Hughie was calling from a phone booth after his cell phone battery died. A group of street artists performed behind him.
"I'm just having a hard time finding this hotel. I've been asking people saying it's the place the Joker attacked but apparently that narrows it down very, very, little." Hughie told him.
"Petit Hughie, you just have to find your way through Gotham, this is a magical place where anything can happen, that means you can find us."
"Uhm…? Thanks, I'll have that in mind as I read the map."
The door was knocked and Kimiko opened it for Butcher to come in. Butcher dropped his bag on the bed and took a look around the hotel.
"Half of the rooms destroyed, a warning telling guests the radiation levels here are safe, destroyed walls, and the smell of burning corpses. Are all hotels in Cuntland this cozy?" He asked.
"Non, this used to be a fancy place before the Joker." Frenchie said.
"I heard about him. I prefer not to be on the same planet, much less the same city as him so let's go get MM so we can leave, shall we?" Butcher told him.
"Where's Becca?" Frenchie asked.
"Don't worry about her." Butcher said bitterly. "Hughie's here?"
"I got Petit Hughie on the phone." Frenchie said.
"Hey, Butcher." Hughie said from the speakerphone.
"Nice to hear from ya, lad. Starlight there too?"
"Yeah, we're coming to the hotel. We had some trouble with the Teen Titans who are sort of the Teenage Kix from here but we got away." Hughie told him.
"They're not as tough they say?" Butcher asked, with a slightly noticeable amount of concern being evident.
"Actually they are. Really tough. Wonder Girl tanked one of Annie's energy blasts." Hughie said, confused. "They got us for a moment but we escaped and ran from them but they didn't come after us or anything. It was weird."
A realization came across Butcher's face, he looked at Frenchie.
"You took notes on the news about MM?" Butcher asked very seriously.
"They reported everything, his cell, his location, the routine, all easy."
"Too easy. Hughie, don't you fucking come here."
"Why?"
"It's a trap, they want us to break MM out, odds are the cunts put a tracker on you and Starlight."
"Why would they do this whole plan instead of just arresting Petit Hughie and Starlight?"
"Because they think we're fucking stupid and they can lead all of us to trap. But we're not stupid." Butcher said, looking at a pile of chemicals and explosives Frenchie had stashed.
"You wouldn't believe the black market this city has." Frenchie said.
"Hughie, get these trackers out and keep them somewhere safe. Let's get the Boys together and show what we can really do." Butcher told him.
"Do you want us to destroy them once we find them?" Hughie asked.
A mischievous grin started to form on Butcher's face.
"No, hold onto them. I'll tell you what to do with them." He told them.
Annie and Hughie stood in the toilet stall in the restroom of a nearby clothing store. They had to flip a coin for which room to enter. Hughie didn't want to get caught in the women's restroom while Annie didn't want to strip in the men's restroom. The coin flip favored the men's restroom, so they entered. They both stripped down to their undergarments. While they were no strangers to seeing one another in the nude, they figured it would be better that search would be the last resort. The two were looking over every inch of their clothing.
"They didn't bug my pants." Hughie told her. "What about you?" He asked.
"No, that was one of the first places I checked," Annie told him.
"So, what a lovely city so far." Hughie sarcastically commented.
"Yeah, I love how our hotel wasn't the only one attacked by the same psychotic clown." She said putting both hands in her socks.
"I bet this place gives the mean streets of Des Moines a run for their money." Hughie said grinning.
Annie stifled back a giggle. "I think this city has nothing, but mean streets."
She reached around in her shoes and felt something metallic in the right one. She pinched it and pulled it out. It was small, made of metal, and it had circuitry on it.
"You think this is the bug?" She asked.
Hughie turned and his expression was one of relief.
"Where did you find it?" He asked.
"Check inside your shoes." Annie told Hughie.
Hughie reached around his shoes and pulled out the tracker in his left shoe, proudly showing it to her.
Just then, they heard someone pounding on the door.
"Hey you two, go fuck somewhere else! I need to drop one now!" A man's voice called out.
They both put their clothes back on sans their shoes and walked to get some new shoes.
Stan Edgar stood on the podium having just called an emergency meeting with the media. Beforehand, he had ordered the deletion of several incriminating documents about Vought. Homelander, Queen Maeve, Stormfront, and Black Noir were behind him.
"We here at Vought International would like to announce we have entered a new partnership with the Justice League." Edgar announced.
"We have entered a new frontier of other Earths." Edgar continued. "We hope that the people of our world are returned to us and them as well."
As Edgar gave his speech to the crowd, Homelander's mind was occupied. Despite his superhearing, he could barely heard what was going on. Ryan was with him now, yet he still felt resentful by what he saw on that farm. Superman's backstory was eerily similar to the one Vought had given him. A loving family on a fertile farm, rather than apathetic scientists and suits in a sterile lab. It wasn't fair to Homelander. He should have had that instead of goddamn alien. He was broken out of his thoughts when he felt Stormfront nudge him.
"Homelander come to the podium." Edgar called him.
Homelander walked up to the podium.
"Yes thank you, Stan." Homelander said. "The Seven are looking forward to working alongside the League. Like Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Batman, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, and… Superman." He struggled to get that last name out of his mouth while trying to hide his resentment.
He walked away from the podium suddenly, Ashley followed him as he left.
"What was that?" Ashley asked. "We had a whole speech prepared."
"Not now, Ashley." Homelander said angrily and Ashley immediately stopped following him.
Hiding in a secluded room, Homelander tried to process his emotions, but only barely.
Stormfront went up to him.
"What is with you? You got Ryan back, his slut mother is gone." She told him.
"I saw his house, where he grew up." Homelander told him.
"Whose house?" She asked.
"Superman's." He said. "He grew up on a farm, with a loving couple as his parents, and they showed me photos of them when he was a kid." Homelander added.
"So?" Stormfront asked.
"You don't know, do you? What it's like to be raised in a lab? When they give you some bullshit backstory and you see a fucking alien, of all things, actually get to have it." He told her, mildly angered.
Stormfront stepped back.
"What that you're upset that E.T. was raised by some backwater hicks." Stormfront said. "Why should you care about that now. You were born better than him, I know it." She added.
"You have no fucking idea do you?" He questioned.
"I grew up poor because our country was stabbed in the back a year before I was even born. My childhood was not ideal, but once Frederick gifted me, I knew that would never happen again." She said. "You have the key to our future."
"You're right I shouldn't." Homelander said.
"So what am I looking at?" Flash asked looking at the shield Batman placed on their table.
"This belonged to Soldier Boy. Vought's original premiere hero." Batman told him.
"What does this have to do with what's going on?" Flash asked.
"I read that he died in 1984 trying to stop a nuclear meltdown in Ohio." Green Lantern said.
"Yes, and his shield was supposedly destroyed along with him. Yet I found this at the apartment of Vought's former Senior Vice President of Hero Management known as the Legend. He left it there after leaving in a hurry right when Vought cleaned their archives. Do you believe that was how Soldier Boy died?" Batman asked.
"No, not really." Green Lantern told him. "What does that have to do with this shield? It could be a replica." He added.
"I read that Soldier Boy only used a six hundred pound shield when out on duty. It was difficult for Vought's workers to make more than one with the right materials." Batman said. "So they opted to make cheaper ones for publicity stunts." He added.
He dropped some photos on the table showcasing children next to Soldier Boy managing to lift his shield.
"You think Vought got rid of him for some reason?" Wonder Woman asked.
"Yes, they seem to be protective of what they did in the Eighties. We should find out more about what they did during that decade." Batman told them.
"I suppose you want this to be kept hidden from Vought when we negotiate." Martian Manhunter said.
"You read my mind." Batman dryly commented.
Just then they heard the door to their meeting room open up behind him. Batman turned around and saw that it was Superman.
"You're late." He told him.
"Sorry, I had to fulfill an obligation to a friend." Superman said.
Batman nodded, to anyone else outside the room Superman saying the word "friend" was innocuous. To those inside the room that meant two names "Lois Lane" and "Clark Kent".
"Which one of you sanctimonious pricks gave my son to that piece of shit and that bitch?!" Becca's voice demanded, marching up to them.
The League sat silent as Becca glared at them.
"This is Becca Butcher." Superman told them.
"Wife of William Butcher, looks like Vought lied about her being dead." Batman said.
"Yeah, no fucking shit sherlock. Where did you put my son?" She told him.
"Ryan is your son?" Aquaman questioned.
"Yes, he is." She told them.
"We'd like to apologize." Wonder Woman spoke up. "We had no idea that you were alive and in our world."
"All I heard, was that he was with someone who looked like Patty Spivot." Flash said. "She's still in Central City, I checked."
Becca remained silent.
"We understand your anger, but would you tell us why you don't want Ryan with Homelander?" Wonder Woman asked.
"I… can't…" Becca told her. She could not tell a group of strangers what happened.
"You are among friends." Wonder Woman told her.
"I don't even know you, hell you're going after my husband. I know you arrested one of his friends." Becca said.
"I'm sorry to tell you this, but your husband has proven himself to be a threat to himself and others." Batman replied. "It's safer that he's apprehended on our world. We have no intention of handing him and his allies to Vought." He added.
Becca tried to find a counterargument. As much as she hated to admit it, he raised a point.
"I know, god I know." Becca admitted.
"We're not going to hurt you," Superman told her. "We just want to help."
"You sure this is the place?" Butcher asked Frenchie. Hughie and Annie had arrived at the hotel not long ago after finding the trackers.
"Oui." Frenchie said. "It's being held up by a supervillain known as the Cluemaster."
"We're actually going to raid a supervillain's hideout?" Hughie asked. "I mean we all saw the hotel, so we should all know what the criminals of this place are capable of."
"The Joker he is a-list here. Cluemaster he is c-list. I've heard he is often made fun of stealing the trademark of another a-lister known as The Riddler." Frenchie told Hughie.
"I'm surprised he didn't get sued for gimmick infringement." Annie said.
"I heard that Riddler attached a bomb to his chest and forced Batman to drive around the city solving his riddles all while Cluemaster was in his car's trunk. Apparently, Riddler was stealing something related to Baseball." Frenchie said.
Annie and Hughie looked at one another in confusion.
"Right, so we just go in and get information, so we can get Mother's Milk out." Butcher said.
Butcher kicked down the door. There were two armed thugs standing guard outside.
"Lads! Lads! Take it easy, we just want to speak with your boss." Butcher told them his hands up in the air.
"Who are you?" One of them asked.
"Just a concerned friend, now how about you lower your guns and let me in." Butcher asked.
"Are you a cop?" The other asked.
Butcher rolled his eyes.
"What do you think?" He asked rhetorically.
"Alright, hey boss some Australian guy and his friends want to speak with you." They said.
"Tell them to get out, I'm busy." A voice on the other side of the door said.
"Sorry, buddy you're out of luck."
"Alright then." Butcher said undeterred. He turned to Annie.
"Your up, Tinkerbell." He told her.
Annie rolled her eyes at his comment.
"Now she can stay." One of the guards catcalled.
Annie put her hands out front and shot two blasts. Each hitting both guards. One was knocked back into the wall. The other burst through the door.
It was there that they saw the Cluemaster. He was wearing a red and yellow bodysuit. On his face was a yellow mask that covered his mouth and nose. His hair was blonde and in a ponytail.
"What the shit?" Cluemaster said upon seeing this.
Kimiko charged him and tackled him on the floor.
"Hey! Hey! Get your hands off me!" He ordered.
Butcher walked up to the Cluemaster.
"You must be, the Cluemaster." Butcher said a smile on his face.
"Yeah and who are you supposed to be?" Arthur asked.
"Butcher, you see I'm looking to break my friend out of Police custody." Butcher told him. "His name is Marvin T. Milk. You've heard of him?"
"No am I supposed to care?" Cluemaster asked.
Butcher sighed and looked at Kimiko.
"Break a rip." He ordered.
"What?" Cluemaster asked.
Kimiko pinched one of his lower right ribs. Cluemaster screamed in pain.
"Fuck! Yeah, I've heard of him!" He told Butcher.
"Good! Now you're going to help us free him." Butcher said.
"Sure! I've got the schematics of the place! You should be able to get your friend out!" He told them.
"Good boy. What supes will be there?" Butcher asked.
"Soups?" Arthur asked, sounding amused.
Butcher grimaced in annoyance and slapped Brown across the face.
"Will any of Batman's or members of the League be there?" Butcher questioned him.
"No, I haven't heard. Apparently, they thought that would mean overkill. Hell, with everything I've heard going on they'd probably be too busy." Cluemaster said.
"Busy with what?" Hughie asked.
"Well, the big names of the Gotham Underworld have taken an interest in your world." Cluemaster said.
This caught Butcher's attention.
"Interested in what?" He asked.
"Come on man you want me to get on their radar." Cluemaster begged. "I haven't even heard much about it." He added.
Butcher grabbed out his crowbar and hit Cluemaster in the stomach. Kimiko let him drop on the floor.
"You're already on my radar. Now if you don't tell me in the next minute, I will stick this up your bum." Butcher threatened.
"Okay! Okay! Some sort of designer drug from what I've heard. It's called "Compound V". You ever heard of it?" He asked.
Butcher and the rest stood silent.
"Can't say I have." Butcher lied. "Now tell me how they plan to capture us."
"Your friend's not in a cell. There's a bunch of cops waiting there from what I've heard. They even listed a bunch of bullshit facts about guard duties and routines." Brown said. "He's on the fourth floor, not fifth." He added
"Thank you, now was that so very hard." Butcher said.
Stan Edgar, the Seven, and Ashley Barrett were invited back to the Justice League's satellite. They figured that it was to discuss the terms of their arrangement. Homelander casually strolled over to where they were told the meeting room was. When the door opened they saw the League gathered at the opposite end of the table. It was there Edgar noticed something wrong, there was a look of suspicion among them. Even among the more stoic members of the League like Batman and Martian Manhunter. All of it appeared to be directed at Homelander.
"So what are your terms?" Homelander asked.
"Before, we begin. We would like to ask you one question from you, Homelander." Martian Manhunter spoke up.
"Sure." Homelander said.
"Who is Ryan's mother?" the Martian inquired.
Homelander was taken aback. Edgar paused, he knew what this meant. He had hoped that Homelander was capable of lying his way out of this.
"Her name was Rebecca Butcher." He told them. "She used to be Vought's Senior Director of Digital Marketing." Homelander added.
"The wife of William Butcher." Batman said.
"Oh, so you've heard about William and his friends." Homelander said. "Neat."
"Why were you with a married woman?" Aquaman asked.
"Woah, what is this about? Are you accusing me of being a homewrecker?" Homelander asked, his tone indicating annoyance.
"That depends unless you answer the question." Martian Manhunter told him.
"If you must know, Butcher was abusive to her. I mean you've probably heard what he did to Translucent last year." Homelander said. "I told him not to hurt her and after a while, one thing led to another. I'm willing to admit I should have not gotten too close to her after that."
"She ran away with Ryan before her husband found out. Ryan was raised isolated from the world so much he didn't even know there was a world, poor thing." Stormfront said.
The League remained stone-faced.
"I'm afraid we'll need proof." Martian Manhunter said.
"What do you need proof for?" Homelander asked."I'm the Homelander and I'm telling you."
"I can confirm that Rebecca came to us when she found out she was pregnant with Homelander's child." Edgar spoke up. "We thought it would sully his image if he had a child out of wedlock. The boy's mother he refers to is his guardian to which he is unaware at the moment."
"I'm afraid that testimony is not concrete enough." J'onn said. "We have the means of getting the truth, Diana." He beckoned.
Diana stood up and took out her lasso.
"Woah, are you threatening Homelander?" Stormfront asked walking up to them. "Is this how you treat those who won't play along with you? What kind of Justice is that?"
"No, anyone who touches my lasso will be compelled to tell the truth." Wonder Woman informed.
"What?! Come on that's ridiculous." Homelander said feigning a confident smile. "I'm not really comfortable talking about it as much as I love my son."
"Then touch it." Flash said.
"How do we know if this thing even fucking works? Ashley, you test it." He told her.
"What?" Ashley asked.
Homelander went up to her and whispered in her ear: "Touch the fucking rope."
Ashley nervously went up to the rope.
"What is your name?" Diana asked.
"Ashley Barrett." Ashley replied.
"What is your job title at Vought?"
"Senior Vice President of Hero Management."
"What's your most embarrassing secret?" Stormfront spoke up, a smug grin on her face.
"I recently bought a Homelander dildo and strap-on." Ashley spoke up. Her embarrassment was evident after saying that.
Vought's side was silent upon hearing that. Homelander and Stormfront's eyes opened up in shock before turning into one of barely contained fear.
"Okay, look at what you've done." Homelander said trying to divert the subject. All of a sudden the meeting room was enveloped by a green construct from Green Lantern's ring. Stormfront shot John Stewart a very hateful look, but he seemed unbothered.
"Just touch the lasso." Green Lantern ordered.
"You are aware that if you use that on Homelander by force that would count as assault," Edgar said. "If you are willing to do so, know that our deal is off."
"Stan's right." Superman said getting up from his chair. "We can't force a confession from Homelander or the rest."
This seemed to put Homelander and Stormfront at ease.
"You can all leave." Superman said. "We'll bring up our terms tomorrow."
With that said, they left.
"I didn't know that a rope could scare you so much." Maeve told him.
Homelander glared at her while Stormfront mouthed something. She couldn't hear it, but could tell it started with a "d". She had a likely assumption of what Stormfront called her, but was unwilling to retaliate.
Stan, however, was silent as he realized something. They must have figured out the truth regarding Ryan's origins. It was now a matter of time until they would act upon it and there was nothing he could do.
When they left, Superman turned towards a door. Outstepped Becca.
"Is there anything you'd like to tell us?" Superman asked.
Becca touched the rope and told them everything.
The incident between the Riddler and Cluemaster was based off of Detective Comics #705-707.