4

They seemed to be taking it well.

"-and then the Amazons attacked DC with a deadly bee weapon."

Unfortunately, after I had covered the basics of DC comic books and their shared universe of stories, they didn't really say anything (probably digesting the information). Which prompted me to keep talking.

"-but Green Lantern decided that he needed all the power rings."

So I tried letting them know about the worst threats I could think of off the top of my head. And, given my own scatterbrained thoughts combined with normal comic weirdness, had resulted in what I had to assume sounded like the insane ramblings of a complete lunatic.

"-but the universe was saved, by the power of Queen!"

I tried to stop. I really did. But they just keep staring at me, so I just kept digging that hole deeper.

"-and then the world was wiped out by a virus, which somehow leads to an elderly Superman fighting twin clones of Hitler."

For the love of God, please stop me!

"Doomsday. Not even once-"

"That's enough." Batman finally said, and thankful I finally shut my trap.

The room was silent for several more seconds before someone spoke. "So, to sum up, you're saying that where you're from… we're characters?" Wonder Woman asked.

"Pretty much." I said. "Some of the most famous and well known characters in the world, point of fact. You people defined our superhero genre."

"Am I the only one who finds this a little farfetched?" Stewart asks as he looks around at everyone else in the room. "I mean, I know that such a thing is theoretically possible given the multiverse, but this…"

I shrugged. "Hey, you can use the lasso again if you want, but I swear I'm telling the truth."

"Be that as it may, I'm having some trouble with a few of the things you told us." Superman said evenly. "Most of it certainly hasn't happened in this world, and a good portion I find highly unlikely to ever happen."

"Yes, well, you have to understand that these stories have been going on in my world for upwards of 80 years." I replied. "Even ignoring that a sizable portion of that body of work is bound to be of poor quality, there's also the fact your 'universe' as been retconned and rebooted several times. And that's not even counting all of the parallel universes and Elseworld comics. I'll be the first to admit that a lot of what I know is useless."

Koriand'r then spoke up for the first time since I started my explanation. "These… stories of yours… am I in any of them?"

I turned to look at her, hesitating a bit. "Ah, yes." I said. "You're fairly prominent in a lot of them."

I didn't understand the look that crossed her face at that moment, but before I could say anything else Batman spoke up. "So how much do you know that you think will be useful?"

I looked back at him. "A lot of broad strokes and a number of small details. Like I said earlier this universe doesn't exactly match anything I know, so there's no guarantee that any of my knowledge is accurate." I gestured. "For example, I'm pretty sure that I know a good number of secret identities as those are fairly consistent, but there is a chance they could be different here."

"I hope I don't have to tell you that information about our identities is not to be told to anyone without explicit permission, even to other members of the League." Batman said with the hint of a growl.

I held up my hands placating. "Of course, of course. I won't tell anyone about that. Still, if even a little bit of this jumbled mess of knowledge floating around in my head is useful, if just one of these threats happens to show up… well, I felt you guys should know about it."

Wonder Woman smiled at me. "Well, I for one am glad you told us, even if the idea will take a bit of getting used to. I'm sure it would have been much easier for you to keep this a secret, but it's good to know that you value honesty so highly."

I folded my arms and drew back a little at the praise. "Ah, it's nothing. Just seemed like the right thing to do." I turned my attention back to Batman. "So, that's all my cards out on the table. Do you still want me to join this team?"

Batman stared at me blankly for several long seconds, an act I was coming to believe was a sign that he was thinking deeply but didn't want to stop potentially intimidating someone. Eventfully he said "While your knowledge is concerning and we will certainly go more in depth into it at a later date, the fact that there are fictitious writing about the League in a parallel universe are not all that surprising. My limited understanding of the Bleed is that things have a tendency to… well, bleed between universes, and perhaps that is the link that you followed to get here." He gestured. "As for yourself, the fact that you freely admitted this knowledge when you could have held it back tells me that you will not be an intentional danger to the team."

"Thank you… I think." I said.

He continued. "That said, we will still have to proceed with caution. If any supervillains find out about what you know, you and the team will undoubtedly targeted by them. For this reason, you are not to tell your teammates about your 'meta-knowledge'."

That caused me to still, and I couldn't keep the frown off my face as I said "Sir, you realize that flies in the face of the entire reason I told you this, don't you?"

"Yes." Batman freely admitted. "But that doesn't change the fact that members of the team are inexperienced and I am uncertain if they can keep a secret of this magnitude. And that is to say nothing about how they might respond to knowledge of their… alternate selves."

"Be that as it may, that knowledge could also save their lives." I pointed out.

"Or they could act rashly on it or trust it too much and it will get them killed." He said back, his tone unflinching.

The two of us stared at each other for several seconds as I mulled it over. As much as I didn't like it, he did have a bit of a point. Without knowing just who my teammates were and how well adjusted they were, they might not take to the information too well. Was there some sort of middle ground? Still frowning, I said. "I'm not holding back information, at least about the threats that we're facing at a given moment. If I think the situation warrants it, I'll tell them what I know, even if it makes no sense how I would know it. If they ask how I know, I'll refer them back to you."

Again I received the thousand-yard-bat-stare as he thought this over. Internally I was sweating bullets. Why in God's name am I trying to play hardball with Batman?! Where the hell is this coming from?! Before I could find the answer though, he spoke. "The responsibility falls on you. If I feel that you're revealing more information than necessary, you will stop. Failure to do so, or if your actions directly harm your teammates, it will result in your removal. Am I clear?" I nodded, figuring that this was the best deal I was going to get. "Good. We will have much to talk about, but I imagine that you both are tired. I'll show you where you can get cleaned up and get changed before we head to your new residence."

"We're not staying here? What about the ship I came in?" I asked.

"The Watchtower is League only, and the team has their own headquarters on Earth." He replied. "As for your vessel, there is no space or entrance at your headquarters that is prepared to handle it, so it will have to stay up here for now. I would prefer to keep it on the Watchtower indefinitely, but I imagine that someone of your abilities would like to make 'use' of it."

"Well, I'd prefer to keep the FTL capable space ship functional, but there is a lot of spare stuff in there that I think I could use."

He grunted. "One of the Green Lanterns shall do an inventory. If nothing is deemed too hazardous it will be brought down to you. The possibility of bringing down the entire ship will be discussed at a later date."

Wasn't sure I entirely liked that, but I couldn't really argue that I needed the whole space ship right that second. "Alright, fine."

"Good. I will meet you at the Watchtower control center in one hour." With that, well followed him out of the mess hall.

Koriand'r was silent the whole time.

--------------------​

The windows at the control center were huge. You might think you know what huge windows look like, but you don't. These things were literally the size of buildings, stretching upwards along the entire height of the monolith. Part of me wondered how that could possibly be considered structurally sound, but the rest of me was far too busy staring down at the Earth before me. I had always heard that astronauts had considered doing spacewalks in Earth's orbit to be the best moments of their lives. While looking down from a space station wasn't really the same thing, at that moment I could believe it.

In fact I had spent almost the whole of the past hour just staring at Earth. With my body I hadn't really felt the need to take a shower, and my body size and proportions had made finding clothes that fit impossible. I could have tried shifting into a form that would have worked, but to be honest my current armored humanoid form was ironically closer to human than any of my more direct attempts. As such, I just decided to forgo clothes completely and spend my time gazing at a planet from orbit.

It looks the same, I thought to myself as I saw the United States start to become visible. I'm not sure why I found that odd. I guess I figured that something that was not really my home shouldn't look so similar.

I almost didn't notice when someone joined me, and I turned my head to find Koriand'r looking down at the planet next to me. Looked like she had changed into a midriff-bearing tank top and shorts combination. I gave her a small smile. "Welp, that's Earth. Or at least an Earth."

She glanced at me before she looked back down. "It… looks like a lovely planet."

The smile slid off my face at that. Something was definitely bothering her, but I had no idea how to breach the topic. I wasn't great at this sort of thing at the best of times, and now… 'Hey is something bothering you, I mean, aside from being more or less exiled from your home?'

I was saved from making a choice as Batman arrived soon after. "Let's go. I've already informed your teammates that you will be arriving." And without another word he turned and started walking towards the far wall, which seemed to have several high tech archways imbedded in them.

As Koriand'r and I followed after, I asked "So, how are we getting down to Earth?"

"The League uses a teleportation system called Zeta Tubes. It allows connection between terminals on any point on the globe."

I felt a small amount of concern with that. "Wait, this doesn't dissemble us and put us back together on the other end, does it? Or just make copies of us and destroys the original?"

He cast a glance back at me before he reached a terminal and started typing. "No. Zeta Beams work in a similar manner to wormholes. Structure and continuity are kept intact. I doubt the League would use them if that was not the case." The archway in front of us started to make a large humming sound, and as I saw parts in the back start to spin up a golden light filled the entire apparatus. Without preamble Batman walked into the light and vanished.

Koriand'r and I glanced at each other before I took a deep breath and walked into the teleport, both giddy at how awesome this was and terrified that something would go horribly wrong. I touched the energy and-

"Recognized: Batman, 0-2. Recognized: Guest, D-0-1. Recognized: Guest, D-0-2."

The mechanical voice chimed for each of us as we stepped out of the golden light of the Zeta Tube and into a literally cavernous hall, where the earth-brown walls ached up a good 60 feet above our head, with a strange metal flat cone structure hanging from the ceiling in the middle. There were also two people standing in the center of the circular hall, but it took me a few moments to get my bearings. The sensation of being teleported was novel. It was very… tingly.

Batman snapped me out of my thoughts as he began to talk, not slowing his stride in the slightest. "This is Mount Justice, located in Happy Harbor, Rhode Island. It used to be the League headquarters until we moved to the Watchtower, and now it is the headquarters for your team. You two will be living here, along with two more your teammates."

"What about the others?" Koriand'r asked. "Why do they not live here as well? Also, how many of us will there be?"

"Including yourself, the team will number seven members. The remaining three have their own arrangements." We stopped in front of the pair of figures waiting for us . "Miss Martian, Superboy, this is Jacob and Koriand'r. They'll be joining the team."

I took a second to look over the two teens in front of me. Superboy was a tall, well-muscled youth in a black Superman tee-shirt and jeans, and his resemblance to Superman was obvious. His stance was very different from the older man's though. Superman had faced me with an open and friendly posture, but his was currently closed off with his arms folded over his chest, a slight frown on his face as he looked us over. Miss Martian on the other hand was almost the opposite; the girl regarded us with a pleasant, almost giddy smile, and I would have easily mistaken her for a normal red-headed teenager in a skirt and blouse if not for the fact that her skin was green.

Am I joining this world's Teen Titans? I thought to myself. After a beat I stepped in, holding my hand out to Superboy. "It's a pleasure to be working with you."

He seemed almost taken aback by the gesture, as if he wasn't sure I was being genuine or not. After a few seconds he took my hand. "Uh, thanks… I guess."

Miss Martian on the other hand extended her arm out towards me enthusiastically, fully extended. "Hi! My real name's M'gann M'orrz, but you can call me Megan." She said as I shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you, and I look forward to working with you too!"

My god this girl was adorably chipper.

Koriand'r seemed to snap out of whatever state she was in and catch some of the other girl's excitement as she said "I as well am excited to be fighting alongside you. May this company be righteous and victorious!"

Batman's grunt caught our attention. "I expect you to be settled in and ready soon, and when I give you orders I expect you to follow them. Am I understood?" We nodded, and without another word the man strode back to the Zeta Tube.

"He's a bit more… severe then I thought he'd be." I commented to no one in particular as he teleported out. I know Batman was supposed to be the super serious one of the League, but I thought… well, I only just met him. Maybe he has a 'less growly' mode for people he actually likes.

M'gann cringed a little before she said "Yeah, but Uncle J'onn says that's just the way he is, don't take it personally." She paused awkwardly for a moment before she changed the subject. "So! That's an interesting suit you're wearing. Did you make it yourself?"

I hid a grimace. "Ah, no, it's not a suit, it's just me. I was experimented on by aliens and this is the result."

She looked aghast at that. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to- I mean you look-, I've just never seen humans that look like you."

Koriand'r spoke up. "Actually, though he is human and I too was experimented on, I am not human to begin with. I am Tamaranian."

The poor girl somehow wilts further. "I- I'm sorry, I just assumed that because he's human and you looked human but – Hello Megan! – there are lots of things on this planet alone that look human but aren't and-"

"It is fine, it is fine." Koriand'r cut her off. "From what I have heard there is a surprising amount of physical similarities between many alien races in the galaxy." She pauses and titled her head. "Though I am curious why you would not think that yourself seeing as how 'human' you look as well."

The girl shifted and looked away. "Ah, well, Martians are shapeshifters, we don't normally look human. We don't look that different, though!" She insisted. Seeing an opportunity to once again change the subject, she carried on. "We can also use telekinesis and telepathy, like this."

All of a sudden I felt… something, like a light buzz going though me, and as soon as it started it stopped as M'gann gripped her head in pain. The other two stood up straighter and Superboy said "Wait, what do you mean telepathy?"

I kept my focus on the green girl. "Are you alright? What happened?"

"I…" M'gann started to say before she shook her head and started over. "I tried to speak to you telepathically, but I got some kind of feedback. Your brain is…" she trailed off, at a loss for words.

"Huh. To be honest I'm surprised that you got anything at all. I've been told I don't have a brain. My body's made entirely out of nanites."

"Wait, you're a machine? I thought you were human."

"Not exactly… it's complicated." I said. I really needed a term to describe what I was. I couldn't really say I was human, but I wasn't really a metahuman either. I'd have to think about it. "In short, I'm biomechanical."

"Oh! A bit like Martian technology!" She said, and I perked up as she explained. "All of Martian technology is biologically based. I actually have a bioship here with me." She paused. "But, all of our technology can accept and be controlled by telepathy. So, why can't I connect to you properly?"

"Most likely that I'm just 'incompatible' in my current configuration." I replied "Vacuum tube and transistor based computers are both Turing complete, but you're not going to get the two to communicate to each other directly without some specialized hardware." A thought occurred to me. "Say, your bioship has to have to physical part of it that works with your telepathy. One of my abilities is that I can copy technology that I consume. I don't want to harm your ship of course, but if you happen to have a spare telepathic ansible lying around…"

M'gann cupped her chin in thought. "Not as such, but bioships are capable of regeneration in case of damage, and their telepathic functions are a part of that. I'm not certain, but I may be able to coax her into growing what you need separately."

"I'm willing to try if you are."

She nodded before she started smiling again. "Anyway, I'm glad that you two are here. I only met the others once, so it's just been me and Superboy for now."

Koriand'r tilted her head at that. "If we are to fight as a group, should we not also live together?"

"I guess they do things differently here on Earth." M'gann said. "But then, the team only just formed, so maybe we'll come together after we start working. I, I've been learning cooking so that we can all eat together too!"

This caused the Tamaranian to perk up. "That is joyous news! Nothing brings people together like the prospect of a feast!"

M'gann was so encouraged by this that her feet left the ground a little as she smiled. "I can show you what I've done so far. I'm mean it's not much, and we are already past dinner, but I'm trying really hard because I haven't really gotten out much and it seems like a good way to make friends."

"Then we shall be the best of friends!" Koriand'r exclaimed and the two of them started to float away towards a nearby hallway, presumably towards the kitchen.

Me and Superboy watched them go before we cast sidelong glances at one another. "No offense, but it's going to take a little longer than that for us to become BFFs."

The teen snorted at that. "Whatever. See you around." He said before he wandered off. I stood there in the center of the cavernous hall, alone for the first time since I had started my escape. For a long moment I wondered what to do with myself.

That moment passed quickly though, and I started to move as there was something I realized I needed.

--------------------​

The reason that most pictures of space are so much more interesting and colorful than when you simply look up with a normal telescope is because a lot of them are long exposures with certain wavelength shown or removed. So even though the human eye can get a pretty view of the night sky, it is never quite as spectacular as people tended to think space looked. But as I stared up into the night from the top of the mountain with a sense of wonder, I could say that was no longer the case for me.

I had found my way outside because I had wanted to simply be out in nature after being cooped up inside for so long, but when I realized the hour and how clear the sky was I decided to climb the mountain. It was almost ridiculously easy for me to do so now, my ability to scale sheer walls combined with my new strength made short work of my ascent. And when I got up there and looked up at the heavens, I almost reflexively started to shift the spectrum my eyes could perceive wider, taking in more light and detail than I had before.

It was difficult to maintain at first, the sheer sensory overload almost driving me to my knees, but after some practice I got the hang of it. Adding infrared and ultraviolet light to my vision made the heavens seem to open up in a way I had never thought possible. It wasn't just beautiful, but also peaceful. So much so that I could spend the whole night up here, and let all of my worries fade away for just a while…

"There you are." A voice caused me to turn, and I saw Koriand'r floating through the air towards me. With my vision still altered, I got a spectacular view of how the energy flowed upwards and through her body, swirling in patterns and motes. I felt the disorientation start to get worse before I snapped it back to normal as she said "I had wondered where you had gone off to."

I paused before I answered "I just wanted to be outside." She nodded as she floated down next to me and… stood there. She looked like she wanted to say something, but wasn't sure what.

"What do you-"/"Why are you-"

We both stopped awkwardly and I gestured for her to talk. After a moment's pause she said "Did… you know who I was? When you meet me?"

Ah, this conversation, I thought. Well, I guess we were going to have to have it at some point. "I didn't know it was you until my eyes started working, but yeah. That was also the moment I knew what universe I was in. And…" I sighed. "I'm sorry about Komand'r. I was in shock from learning where I was and elbow deep in an alien computer, and didn't remember how that was going to go down until… Maybe if I had been faster it could have gone differently."

However, she shook her head. "My sister made her choice, and I am sure that our escape went as well as it could have." She looked back at me. "I wish to know what you know about me, about my future."

"That… might not be as useful as want. This universe isn't like the stories I've read, and I've said there are several different versions of those stories."

She hesitated before she said "And in how many of these stories do I get to return home?"

Argh, why did she have to ask me that. I really didn't want to give her the answer, but I won't do that to her. "…One that I know of. I think that the Citadel was either pushed back or wasn't the issue in that one." Of course the only time I saw you go back was when your sister tried to marry you to a slug man, but we'll deal with that when we get to it.

She looked at the ground and her fists clenched. I put my hands up. "Hey that doesn't mean anything. Your future's not set. You'll get through this."

"…if you say that your knowledge is unreliable, then how can you be sure about that?" I opened my mouth, but she continued. "What do you know about my past? How I ended up in that space station."

I hesitated. "Tamaran had been at war with the Citadel for about 100 years before your sister betrayed everyone. She gave them tactical knowledge that let them all but win the war. As part of the truce, your father handed you over to them. You were held by them for several years before-" I stopped before I started again. "Your sister ordered your execution, but then both of you ended up with the Psions. I can't remember if you were handed over or the Psions took you, but…"

She made a small sound. "That is accurate." The silence stretched between us for several seconds before she said very softly. "And… do you know what happened to me just before we were taken?"

My own fists clenched at my sides out of guilt as I looked away from her, useless as the gesture was with my blindsight. "Yes, and I shouldn't. I shouldn't know something like that without you telling me. It's not right."

She shifted her weight slightly before she said "I killed the ones responsible. That should be the end of it, I should be able to put it behind me." She didn't sound entirely certain of that. "I just… didn't think I would have to let anyone know about it so soon."

"If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine." I said. "I understand."

Koriand'r gave me a small nod before she said "But, it sounds like your knowledge is fairly accurate. So, if you say that things for me will be fine…" she trailed off.

I'm not good at conversations, as a general rule. I'm not good at feeling people out, knowing what to talk about and what not to. Its lead me to generally avoid talking to new people. But on the rare occasions when things get serious and someone opens up to me, though I may not know the perfect thing to say, I know how to talk from the heart.

"I don't need some stupid comic book to tell me anything about you." I said, catching her off guard. "You're not some ink on a page to me, so forget all that and I'll tell you what I do know. I know that you are the kind of woman who would try to save her sister, even after all of the horrible pain she caused you. I know that you put your trust in me and freed me when you could have left me behind. And I know that the first thing you did when you arrived on a new planet was decide to make it a better place."

I gave her a small smile. "I know that you're stronger than what happened to you. And no matter what happens, you're going to be spectacular."

She stared at me for a second before a beaming smile lit up her expression. "Thank you." She said quietly. We stood there in silence for a long while before her expression changed to one of concern. "And what about you?"

I arched an eyebrow at that. "What about me?"

"How are you adjusting to all this?"

I waved my hand dismissively. "Oh, it's fine. I mean, pretty big shock finding fiction not quite so fictional I guess, but I'm adapting."

"..are you sure? Because much of the time I see yourself you seem to be staring off at something, as if something is bothering you."

I shrugged and looked to the side. "That's just the way I am. You'll get used to it. I'm telling you I'm fine."

However, she moved closer and put her hand on my shoulder. "Only if you are certain…"

I started to feel my irritation spike at her insistence, and moved to bush her off, but my hand stopped when I saw the look she was giving me. I… argh, that's just cheating. I didn't really feel like talking about it, whether because I didn't think it was worth it or didn't see the point, but I couldn't exactly dismiss her after that. After a long moment I let out a sigh and said. "I can't sleep."

"Oh. Well, that is understandable considering how much you've been through recent-"

"No, I mean I literally can't sleep." I interrupted. "I didn't do it the whole time I was captured, even when I tried. I mean, I guess I always wanted to have to sleep less, but not at the cost of being unable to dream."

I started to pace away from her. "I can't really feel that much either, except for pain. It's all muted, or feels alien. I can't feel warm or cold. I can't taste anything either, so what's the point of food anymore? I don't seem to have my original brain, so I don't know if I'm actually the original Jacob Morgan or a copy that was uploaded to this new body. And to top it off I lost my fucking-!"

I cut myself off before I could start, and I looked out over the ocean. "I keep telling myself it'll be fine, they're just minor things I'll have to live with for now, they're not that bad compared to your new superpowers. But it's not working. I might be getting used to it, but part of me is scared what that means. What if the only way to cope with this is to lose my humanity bit by bit?"

A bitter laugh escaped my lips. "And yet that's still not the worst part. I don't know if I'll ever see my family, my home again. My parents, my brothers. I've tried to tell myself that it will all work out, but I'm not sure how." My mouth twisted a little and I gave Koriand'r a sidelong glance as she stepped next to me. "But then, you know exactly what I am talking about."

She didn't say anything, and I felt a little hollow as I muttered. "It's weird. I'm used to keeping to myself, but now that I'm here, it's the first time I feel truly alone."

"You are not alone!"

I almost jumped from the force of her voice, and I spun to face her. Her expression had changed to something far more determined as she stared back at me. "As you said, I know your loss! Our fates have intertwined, and you need not bear this alone! We have fought side by side and we shall do so again, against whatever storm may come!"

I had never had anyone talk to me so passionately before that moment, and though I was sure it was all in my mind, I felt a warmth pass through my chest at her words. My lips curved upwards, and I found my hand reaching out to her. "So, the two of us against the world, huh?"

She reached out in kind and took my hand. "If need be, we will stand together."

I looked up at the stars, then back to Kori, smiling fully for the first time in days. "Together it is then."