May 3rd, 1998

General POV

“Ughhh, my head,” Trey groaned, waking with a massive headache. He looked around to see he was in the medical ward in the Tower. Desmond was in the bed beside him and also began waking up. Desmond was about to say something when Trey put his finger up, silencing him.

‘Talk in here otherwise, you’ll wake them.’ Trey said telepathically to Desmond. Gesturing to the girls sound asleep together on the couch nearby.

‘I’m sure Jarvis and Friday have already shown everyone footage of the battle. Any chance we can escape the Tower without getting a speech about how dangerous this is getting, etc.,’ Desmond suggested with a quiet laugh.

‘Doubtful, remember we’re the ones who made the system with safeguards to protect against someone like us from entering. How’s the arm, by the way?’ Trey asked. Desmond's arm was reattached but limp by the looks of it.

‘I can barely feel anything past my right shoulder. I’m sure it’ll be fine now that I’m up, and with you here to help, I should be fine in a couple of days. That’s not what’s hurting the most right now.’ Desmond sighed, looking out the window before continuing.

‘You know, even knowing how bad the odds were, I still thought..’ Desmond started to say.

‘That we actually had a shot of taking Superman down. We planned and prepped, and it did nothing to him. For God’s sake, we detonated a country-size big bang on his head, and it barely scratched him. I’m just as frustrated as you. If it had been Darkseid instead of Clark, we could have died. Along with everyone else we care about. Fuck, I hate being so weak.’ Trey grimaced.

‘You know what we have to do now, right?’ Desmond asked rhetorically with a level of seriousness he had never shown. Before Trey could answer, two small creatures leaped into his arms.

“Bro, you’re awake! You're finally awake!” Kyla called out as she wrapped her arms around her brother. V(Eevee) also exclaimed in joy, snuggling into his shoulder. Alexandra, who had also woken up, smiled at their little reunion.

“So what, I’m chop liver over here? Not happy to see me awake, too?” Desmond asked jokingly. The last person in the room responded to his question.

“We are all happy to see that you’re okay. You both gave us quite a scare when Sindbad(Magi) and Anakin(Star Wars) brought you back.” Jamie said, pulling Desmond into a tight hug and kissing him on the forehead. After holding him for a minute, she let go and unexpectedly flicked him hard in the head.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Flick!

“Oww, what the hell?” Desmond groaned, clutching his head. Jamie's flick really did hurt him as she had been following Tsunade training plan he had given her. Her strength was definitely superhuman at this point.

“You promised me you’d come back in one piece. When you came back you were in two pieces.” Jamie said early, calm Like that totally justified hitting him in the head. Everyone else chuckled at Jamie’s explanation.

‘Remind me never to save you again. It’s not worth it.’ Desmond complained to his brother telepathically.

‘I love you too, bro.’ Trey responded. They then shared a thought telepathically and came to a decision.

“Jamie, tell everyone to gather on the council. We have an announcement we want to make.” Trey declared.

GRUMBLE.

“On second thought, hold the meeting until midday.” Trey said with an embarrassed smile as he rushed towards the kitchen. Not eating for three days, it makes sense why he was hungry. The rest followed after him to enjoy their breakfast with him. While they had breakfast, they saw on TV a press conference about to begin with all the Heroes that helped during the attack, and Superman was going to address the public for the first time.

“I see you guys cured his mind-control. Was it Edgar or Eli?” Desmond asked, chewing on some bacon. Jamie poked his cheek.

“Don’t speak with food in your mouth. It was both, actually. It took them a whole day to remove all the crap Apokolips put in his mind. When they were done, Zio dropped him off at the Batcave. By the way, you should probably call your hero friends back. I’m sure they’ve been calling you non-stop.” Jamie informed him.

‘Jarvis, check my messages..’ Desmond called to his AI in his mind.

‘Sir, you have 124 new messages. Most are from Miss Danvers and Master Grayson. Trey has 40 from Miss Lane.’ Jarvis told him.

“Mom, you never told Aunite Lane we’re okay? She’s blowing up my phone.” Trey asked. Alexandra made an ‘oops, I forgot face.’

“With everything going on, it slipped my mind. I’ll call her after your father gets back.” Alexandra said.

“Where is he? I’m surprised he wasn’t here with everyone.” Trey questioned. Kyla then perked up and answered him with pride in her voice.

“When you returned hurt, Dad promised to help you next time. He’s been waking up early every morning to train. He usually comes back around lunchtime.” Kyla said with a smile. Trey smiled back, thinking about how hard his father must be working to get stronger. Thinking of him only made him sure of the decision he had come to earlier. Desmond then shared a look with him.

“Jamie, finish setting up the meeting for this afternoon. Trey and I have two stops to make before it starts.”

“I know I can’t stop you from going, but can you at least tell us where you are going?” Alexandra pleaded. She still had some lingering fear from the last time she let him out of her sight. Trey and Desmond both hugged her.

“Don’t worry, Mom, where we're going, nothing can harm either of us. I will go meet up with some old friends, and Trey will meet up with some villains. I promise it won’t be a fight, just a conversation.” Desmond promised her while Trey nodded. Soon after, they flew off to their respective meetings. Alexandra sighed, watching them leave. She then, similarly to her sons, made a decision. She grabbed the hands of Jamie and Kyla.

“We’ll train too. I refuse to be left behind again.” Alexandra announced. Jamie and Kyla grinned in agreement.

“Vee Vee!” V exclaimed even the family dog was in agreement about getting stronger to protect their loved ones.