2 Caped Baldy

Milton looked at the intruders in his house without any emotions showing on his face then walked to the fridge, took out a whole brisket, sat on the couch, coincidentally next to Superman, turned on the television and started watching while eating. The atmosphere was awkward for a while that the three just started to watch the anime with him. After the first two episodes, Milton realized the intruders were not gone.

"I thought I gave you a clear message I am not interested in whatever you want with me," Milton said, waking the three.

"Sorry, but we are not here to take no as an answer," Batman answered in his gruff voice.

"How about I kick you out then, will that suffice?" Milton asked, his mind considering doing just that.

"It won't stop us still," Superman answered then frowned a bit. "Have we met before?"

"We have, you saved me when General Zod was rampaging in Metropolis, thanks for that, by the way," Milton said, truly grateful because he was sure he would have died in that city if it were not for him.

"Then can you show him gratitude by listening to what we have to offer?" Batman asked. Milton sighed, wishing he had not reminded Superman of this.

"I give you an inch you take a mile, huh? Fine, what is it you want?" Milton asked. Batman smiled at that.

"We are hoping you would consider joining the Justice League," Batman said.

"What makes you think I want to join your book club?" Milton sighed. As if waiting for the question, Batman pressed a few buttons on his gauntlet and a Holo screen appeared above his hand. It was about how Milton stopped a huge ass Tsunami with just a single blow. The shockwave actually evaporated the huge waves for miles till the sea was calm.

"This is you stopping a tsunami. Unlike how others do it, you did it with a shockwave, setting a record in physical fitness to all the Leaguers. It would be an honor to accept you into the Justice League for there are bigger threats out there than just Tsunamis," Batman stated, his voice showing awe.

"I am honored to receive this invite but I am the kind who work alone," Milton tried to dissuade the man but they were persistent.

"Most of us work alone, a few exceptions like Batman have a few apprentices. The only time we work alone is when huge threats come to Earth that needs all of us working together," Wonder Woman spoke for the first time. Even though she had stayed in America for a few decades, her centuries living in the women island made sure she did not lose her accent.

"What danger do you currently want my help with?" Milton asked them. The two looked at Batman almost instinctually.

"Currently, none. But there are threats like Darkseid out there that are itching to come to Earth and stir hell. We are hoping you would help," Batman answered.

"Darkseid, the creepy big guy with his hands always behind his back? Yeah, he is a problem. I remember Superman bested him and with his intake of Sunlight after all that time, he can take him, right?"

"We don't want to take that to chance. Superman has become stronger, true, but that doesn't mean Darkseid isn't becoming stronger too," Batman answered, making Milton realize this is not the comics where everything would be fine after a good motivational speech.

"Alrighty then. How do we do this? Do I take an oath or something?" Milton asked.

"No, not right now. We will contact you tomorrow to the place you will go. From there, we will meet with you and you can take the oath in the presence of the other Leaguers," Batman said. "Before we go, what exactly is your power?"

"I just trained till my hair fell off," Milton answered, his eyes moistening at the mention of his hair falling off. The three Leaguers were surprised by his answer to say the least. Training till his hair fell off? What kind of training made his so strong and what kind of dedication did he have that his hair actually fell off? Batman was the first to recover and he awoke the others by clearing his throat.

"That is a surprise. We will see you tomorrow, Milton," Batman said then they all went away, Superman carrying Batman. Milton sighed loudly before closing the window and continued to watch his anime.

The following day, Milton received the coordinates of where he was supposed to go. When he arrived, he saw it was a junk yard with only one structure, the toilet. He sighed when he remembered the Justice League used boom tubes to move in and out of Watchtower and they were located in inconspicuous places, like the toilet in front of him. With a sigh, he got inside and waited. A camera lens suddenly appeared at the door then a light scanned him.

"Special allowanc granted, welcome to Watchtower, Caped Baldy," be heard a feminine computerized voice say. When he heard his hero name, Milton almost blew a gasket but reined himself before he destroyed the whole place. The door turned into a tube like thing with light rings all over it and then he disappeared only to appear in front of the Justice League who were seated, looking at him.

"Glad you could make it," Batman smiled at him.

"I want to know who decided to call me Caped Baldy," Milton hissed, making almost all the Leaguers shrink from fear. Batman frowned when he heard that.

"You do not know your hero name? The media have been using it for a long time now, we thought you were the one who came up with it,"

"The media? Was it Lois Lane? Cat Grant? Who? I will only throw them to the stratosphere, you don't need to worry about me maiming them," Milton said, a crazy glint in his eyes.

"If you don't like the name you can always pick a new one," Superman quickly said as if trying to divert Milton's attention from the giver of name and Milton knew who it was.

"Lois Lane, huh? She can consider herself lucky she's your friend. Yes, I also want to change my name," Milton said. The other Leaguers were quite surprised that such a powerful person was acting so eccentric over his hero name but then, that name was more of an insult than it was a name to bring hope to people. Batman nodded before he gave him the oath to say in order to signify he was joining the Justice League. When he was done, he decided that his new superhero name would be Apollyon. Everyone was taken back by that.

"Why that name?" Batman asked as Milton took his seat.

"Because I want to represent the dark abyss to every enemy of Earth there is out there," Milton answered. The rest were a little disturbed by this revelation but Batman ignored it.

"Let us first introduce ourselves. From my right, Superman, Wonder woman, The Flash, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, Cyborg, Black Canary, Plastic Man and Shazam. Now that you are a new member, you will get your identification number and your personal boom tube connection to the Watchtower and the rest of the world," Batman said.

"With that out of the window, first order of business. Me, Flash, Green Arrow and Aquaman are bringing our apprentices to our fold. We will be introducing them to the new member then reafirm them into the Watchtower system..."