AN: Hello everybody, I'm here with another chapter for all my beautiful people out there. You guys seriously loved the first two chapters, over 1500 views, 102 follows, 89 favorites and ten reviews. Can I just say how thankful I am for you all? I never expected my writing to get this much positive attention, I've always believed I was pretty average so far as storytelling went but your support has been phenomenal beyond measure. I couldn't write without you guys, seriously.
Now onto the future. If you guys keep up the support then I will endeavor to release a chapter every Friday from here on, if I get it done early and decide you guys deserve some lovin' I'll upload it early or if I'm feeling especially motivated from your support I might even manage two chapters a week.
Draco0905: I'm going to be honest man I hadn't even considered the picture angle, that was a good catch. Not going to edit it because I feel like the newspaper portrays the message I wanted it to well enough. I really appreciate you taking the time to write that out though and thank you for your support! :)
KRPrime: I'm sorry that it not being in the crossovers bothers you friend. I thought about putting it into the Superman crossover section but the only thing that's coming over is John's body and I couldn't justify it to myself. Thank you for your review and I hope you enjoy this chapter too!
Thxndergod: Lol. No other stories as of yet but maybe in the future? Thanks for reading and reviewing.
ChronoMitsurugi: I was very tempted to have John kill off Fatty as well but it just wouldn't have allowed the plot to progress the way I wanted it to, you'll see what I mean a bit in this chapter. The first two deaths can be written off as accidents but the third would have been deliberate. Appreciate your review fren!
PegasiJake: Thank you :)
Sebine: Is bitchy a compliment? If so I appreciate it!
Guest: This chapter is dedicated to you buddy, I'm really glad you enjoyed the first two so much and I hope to live up to how you feel about my earlier writing!
Without any further stalling I wish you all a very merry Christmas and I'll see you later, hope you enjoy this chapter as much as the other two. If so why not give me a review? It helps me to write faster and stay motivated!
John walked into the diner with a hum as he bobbed his head to the Abba song being played three streets down. All commotion within the diner stopped as he entered. He stopped humming and glanced around at the few dozen diner's that were staring at him in a mixture of worry and fascination.
"Don't worry everybody, just here for some pancakes." He placed his hands on his hips and smiled at them in what he hoped with a reassuring manner. "Fighting crime works up an appetite!"
That garnered a few light chuckles and the noise slowly went back to normal albeit with many an interested glance at his caped figure. John rubbed the back of his head as he fought off the urge to cringe at the attention.
Unfortunately for the blue clad man he couldn't find any open retail stores. God grant him strength, John hadn't even been able to spot a Walmart. That in addition to the five or so pedestrians who'd taken pictures of him as he flew around convinced him that it just wasn't worth the effort to be inconspicuous.
His face was already out there and he was hungry damnit. John considered it a blessing that the smell of this Ma and Pa diner had smacked him in the face a quarter mile away. With a renewed hum of purpose he stepped up to the counter and favored the wide-eyed teenage girl at the counter with a smile. Her name tag enlightened him to her name, Cassie.
"Booth for one please." John requested with strained politeness as the blonde girl continued to stare at him blankly. "Hey, did you hear me?"
Luckily for his rapidly crumbling patience an older woman shuffled the blonde girl away and favored him with a bright smile. "Booth for one, right this way sir!"
With a quiet prayer of thanks the newly made Man of Steel followed her to his booth in a quiet corner of the restaurant. John decided that he would give his waitress a large tip, situational awareness such as this deserved a reward. And breakfast was on the drug dealer anyway.
He settled into his seat with a sigh of relief. The caped man hadn't found a chance to settle down since his awakening on the docks. John turned tired eyes to his waitress, she was pretty for an older lady. All laugh lines and gentle graying hair.
"What would you like to drink hun?" The woman, Janet according to her name tag, asked him. "We have Coke products or coffee."
Just the thought of coffee made him feel more awake. "The latter please, black."
"I can definitely do that for you sweetheart." The motherly woman beamed. "Do you know what you want to eat yet or should I come back?"
"I'll take whatever your special of the day is. Double the sides." He nodded back thankfully.
Janet collected his menu with a delighted smile. "Whatever you want hun. We'll feed you right, let me just say how thankful my husband and I are that you boys and girls are out there looking out for our community. Hero's really just don't get the support they deserve you know?"
"Well please pass on my thanks for your continued support." John replied with his go to line when people thanked him for his military service. "We couldn't do this without men and women like you behind us to protect."
The woman's smile brightened even further and she made a barely audible squeeing noise in the back of her throat as she strutted back to the kitchen where she began loudly relaying his words to the kitchen.
The caped man grimaced as the far too peppy woman disappeared. He had to make a conscious effort to block out her gushing before they gave him a migraine again. This whole super hearing thing was turning out to be more of a negative than a plus so far.
Stuck in his own thoughts he missed the person walking up to his table all the way until they sat down across from him and startled him from his rumination. The man who sat down was just as eye-catching as John himself.
An elastic red racing costume with stripes down his sides met in a V shape on his chest. The difference between the two costumed men was most obvious in their stature, John was a goliath at just under six and a half feet tall whereas the man who reminded him of the flash was of an average height. Likely around 5 and a half feet tall.
The second difference lay in their faces, John's was exposed to the world and this stranger's was hidden behind a mask leaving only his mouth visible. This did however reveal another power that he had inherited from Kal-El, he could see through the mask with ease and idly noted the man's brown eyes and hair the color of mud.
"You look tired, friend." The red clad man smiled easily at the larger man. "Long night?"
John didn't reply immediately and stared at his uninvited booth buddy warily. This wasn't the type of encounter he'd experienced before, even if you were wearing what amounted to a fantastic cosplay. People usually didn't harass others at restaurants. After a few long moments he replied. "Something like that pal, can I help you?"
The Flash wannabe made a tsk noise and stretched his hand out towards John. "Where are my manners? You can call me Velocity. I'm a hero with the local protectorate."
The blue clad man frowned at the intruder for another moment before the urge to be polite won over his irritation, he gave the man a handshake just firm enough to make his displeasure known. "You may call me Superman. Considering the fact you ambushed me I'm guessing we have business?"
Velocity shook his abused hand out with a light grimace and raised his other in the universal gesture of surrender. "I come in peace Superman, I'm very sorry for blindsiding you like this at breakfast but you're a difficult man to pin down, even for someone as fast as me."
John leaned back into his chair and crossed his arms with an even more pronounced frown, so far as first meetings go this one was up there for one of the worst. He was tempted to simply walk out right now but the little voice in his head was telling John that he was being unreasonable. He exhaled slowly and nodded to the shorter man to proceed.
Velocity was quick on the uptake and flashed Superman a thankful smile. "We've been following you since you saved that woman at the docks around midnight, I want to be upfront and let you know that the higher ups are not at all thrilled about the deaths."
"I didn't kill them on purpose, the techniques I used weren't meant to be lethal." John interrupted the scarlet dressed man and firmly pressed his finger into the table for emphasis. "And since we're being upfront I will return the favor, I do not at all appreciate you coming in here unannounced after admitting to stalking me all night, especially when you could have simply spoken to me an hour ago when I was handing over a drug dealer to the police."
"Again I apologize for my rudeness but we didn't know if we would have another chance to speak with you." Velocity gave him a what can you do gesture. "We wanted to speak with you earlier but there was a robbery on 8th Street that required our presence. As for you killing those men we are willing to put it down as self defense with the testimony of Ashley Graham."
John's response was interrupted by Janet bringing his plate of food and coffee out. The woman to her credit only spared Velocity a single glance as she set his breakfast down with a flourish. He had no problems admitting that his attention was completely taken up by the food, the smell of the eggs and bacon were heaven to his superior sense of smell.
"Give me a holler if you need anything else alright honey?" The graying woman flashed the caped man a smile. "Here's the check for when you're done."
The Man of Steel was already reaching for the bacon as he returned her smile with a nod of thanks. "I appreciate it ma'am, thank you for the food."
"Of course dear." With her part said Janet made her way to a couple waiting to be seated.
With that interaction done John turned back to his guest who was waiting patiently for his reply. "Do you mind if I eat while we talk?"
"Go ahead Superman. I'm the one interrupting and being rude here." Velocity gave him a joking grin as John started digging in. "The PRT will be covering your meal."
John closed his eyes in bliss and savored the taste of his bacon. It tasted gloriously enough that he had half a thought of possessing super taste as well. He did not however allow it to distract his mind from the conversation. It was beginning to sound like this PRT was some form of Avengers Initiative. That he apparently had never heard of.
He opened his crystal blue eyes and favored Velocity with a piercing look. "What do you want? You've spent the last five minutes setting me a pretty scene with your words but I'm getting tired of you dancing around the point."
Don't toy with me
The red clad man exhaled quietly and leaned forward in an attempt to establish rapport. "We want you to work with us, Superman. I saw what you did to those men, from what Ashley Graham testified and the report of Officer Lewis and what I've seen so far I think you could be an asset, you're obviously a recent trigger who wants to do good and you've adapted quickly to your powers. Going from accidental killing to arresting that drug dealer without a scratch is beyond admirable for an Alexandria package."
John set down his silverware with a confused noise as he finished the food. "Alexandria package?"
"Powers that follow the trend of invincibility, flight and super strength." Velocity clarified. "With how fast and hard you plowed into that first guy we concluded you had a decent brute rating. The flight was pretty obvious."
The Man of Steel brushed it off and rolled his eyes as he sipped at his coffee. "Fine whatever. So you want me to join your club. How would that benefit me?"
"The Protectorate is a government sanctioned hero organization, this means that we receive a great deal of funding for projects, insurance, salaries, dental, 401k." The red man offered. "My favorite part is the team aspect, having someone you trust to watch your back is wonderful. Additionally you would receive training with your powers and aid to put you where you need to be to do the most good."
Superman finished off his coffee with a long drag and leaned back with a sigh as he rolled the pitch around in his head. To anyone unfamiliar with the government this would sound like the dream job. But before he'd arrived in this shithole town in this unfamiliar body John had worked for the Federal Government his entire adult life.
"Would that be before or after I sold my soul?" He mused aloud then continued before Velocity could speak. "I know this government song and dance routine by heart. I'm not interested in the restrictions that come with it. Power such as mine should never be under the control of a central authority."
Velocity blinked at him in surprise. "I understand not being fond of the government but I assure you the restrictions would be minimal and we can help you do some serious good in the world Superman. Just because the PRT is an alphabet agency doesn't mean everyone in it is evil."
"I'm a libertarian. From my point of view the Jedi are evil." John laughed lightly at his confused look. "Shitty joke. To clarify I don't mind working with you guys around town but I have no intention of joining your superhero club. Does that suffice?"
The shorter man visibly considered this for several moments before nodding his approval. "I think we can work with that. The Director's primary intention with setting this up was to figure out if you were going to be a villain or not."
"Nah. I couldn't be a villain." John admitted as he thought about the Joker. "My conscience would make me feel too bad about it, not to mention the edgy costumes just aren't me."
Velocity smiled in good humor and offered the taller hero a business card. "Well I'm glad to hear that. If you ever change your mind give me a call alright?"
John hummed in agreement and accepted the card. He stood up and after counting out the money he left his waitress a generous tip. Janet's discretion and the good food more than made up for the ambush. Velocity stood up with him and they made their way out the front door together.
Before they could go their separate ways the red clad man stopped John with a hand on his shoulder. "Oh and Superman, if you kill anybody else that doesn't have a kill order there will not be anymore forgiveness, nothing else will be brushed under the rug."
"Oh?" He replied with a raised eyebrow.
Velocity gave him an easy smile. "Unfortunately freedom from restrictions does not mean freedom from consequences my libertarian friend."
"You got that off of some podcast." John accused the smaller man with an amused look.
"Guilty as charged." The scarlet hero chuckled and patted his companions shoulder. "Have a good day Big Blue."
The Man of Steel gave Velocity a wave as he took off the ground in a slow float. "You as well."
Superman floated his way above the buildings and watched as Velocity sped off quickly. He crossed his arms with a frown as he watched the speedster zip around town like an ant on speed.
Shit gets crazier by the minute John reflected to himself as he lazily cruised around the Brockton bay skyline. So to reiterate there was a wannabe Avengers slash Justice League with enough power to ignore a technical double homicide just because they wanted his body. At least one other person in the world had powers similar to him ala Alexandria Package.
"I wonder if there are other Kryptonians here. I can't be the only one right? " John was surprised by how lonely he felt. There was a large disconnect in his mind between what had happened today and the reality of yesterday. Even with that mental separation he couldn't stop the pang of sorrow as he thought about the family he would likely not be seeing for a while if ever again.
I don't want to be alone
He floated there for a long time as he grappled with his emotions, leaving everything and everyone he had ever known wasn't easy even when you do so willingly. Having no choice in the matter only compounded the feeling of isolation and he hadn't even been here for a full day yet.
"Be cool if Kara was here too." He mused as he floated higher. John must've been a thousand feet up by now. It was rather awe inspiring to simply stare down at everyone as they lived their lives on the ground. He felt bad for them, he'd only been able to fly for about twelve hours and he already knew he was addicted.
"Who's Kara?" A young female voice spoke up behind John causing him to snap his attention around. His eyes landed on a pretty blonde girl wearing simple jeans and a white T-Shirt that said 'I'm super!' in black lettering. This would have been completely normal if they weren't literally a thousand feet into the air. "Is she your girlfriend?"
John's mouth dropped open in astonishment for the moment it took for his brain to reboot and register the girl's question. "...No. She's my cousin in a way."
"How can she only be your cousin in a way?" The blonde girl squinted her blue eyes in confusion as she floated uncomfortably close to him. "She either is or she isn't."
When she finished speaking the girl was floating at eye level with John and she was close enough that he actually leaned back a bit as the obvious teenager inspected him with a critical eye.
After several uninterrupted moments in which she kept attempting to get closer and he attempted to weave away unsuccessfully John finally had enough and held out his hand to stop the girl's advance with an aggrieved expression. "Look, can I help you or are you just here to harass me?"
The blonde teenager gave him a befuddled look in return before the light of realization appeared in her blue eyes. "Oh yeah my bad. I saw you up here during lunch and I was just wondering why you've been hovering over my school all afternoon."
"All afternoon?" Now it was John's turn to be befuddled, had he really spent hours up here? "I'm just hanging out to be honest, I wasn't trying to worry you so I'm sorry if it came off that way."
The girl scoffed at that and puffed up pridefully. "I wasn't worried. Just needed to find out if I had to kick your ass to the curb."
He laughed. John couldn't help it. That statement was just so ridiculous coming from a girl that couldn't weigh more than a hundred and twenty pounds soaking wet, especially considering the person being threatened was the brick shithouse known as Superman.
"Stop laughing at me!" She demanded furiously. "I really will kick your ass. I don't care that you're another flier or how hot you are!"
This only made him laugh harder. It took him a few moments but John managed to strangle it down to a chuckle here and there. This was a good thing because the blonde was pouting in what she probably thought was a stern expression but lacked the impact needed.
With a teasing smile John introduced himself. "Well I apologize for dragging you out of school for nothing, Supergirl. I'm a hero. My name is Superman and I just got here."
"It's Glory Girl or if that doesn't work you can call me Victoria." She shot back with her hands on her hips, the ego was strong with this one it seemed. "Why don't you wear a mask?"
"Why don't you?" He returned fire and copied her pose with a raised eyebrow. "And you can call me John."
The stare off lasted for a fair bit longer than it probably should have considering he was a grown man having an ego match with a girl that didn't look a day past seventeen in the middle of the sky, but he never really subscribed to acting mature just because society expected him to anyways.
Finally John decided to break the eye laser war before he accidentally shot actual lasers at the girl. "Look Victoria, lets just call it a truce alright? I didn't mean any harm and I doubt you came up here looking for a fight straight out of math class."
"History actually." Victoria visibly considered his offer of peace before accepting grudgingly. "And fine, truce. Though on the condition that we spar someday, you look strong!"
"Cross my heart, just come find me later and we can beat the hell out of each other." He promised and made an exaggerated x over his chest. "Just look for the cape."
With his peace said they shook hands and separated without another word. John watched Victoria all the way back to her school, once she entered the building he broke down into uncontrollable and very unmanly giggles of delight.
"I'm just going to keep the fact that she shares the title Glory Girl with my favorite porn star to myself." He continued laughing to himself in the sky.
His joy was short-lived as the sound of a robbery blasted through his sensitive ears from the other side of Brockton Bay. John pulled out his kitty phone in bemusement and checked the time. He groaned in true suffering as it only read 1:32 PM.
"Less than a day and I fucking hate this place. Why me?" He moaned in annoyance. This did not however stop John from giggling about Glory Girl the Porn Hero all the way up until he handed the robbers over to the police.