Chapter 15 -[Children]
"No, reproduction is not always just to preserve a species, in humans it is more than that" Standing in my Galvan form I looked at Amazo who had touched on another topic that interested him "Organic life forms, especially humans, they reproduce hoping to have someone to inherit their traits and knowledge."
The conversations with him were always interesting, but he always needed all the intelligence I could show so that no one would get bored.
"I understand, they want to leave a record" nodding I noticed an incoming call so it was time to end the talk "Thank you for your time" Returning to my human form I finished the call.
"Omnaz here, what's wrong J'onn?" Quickly explaining the situation, I understood why he was calling me "I'll be there in minutes." I ended up transforming, leaving the tower and the city in a blue blur.
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Metropolis, minutes later…
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Arriving in the city it didn't take me more than a second to see the place of the problem, as well as Lantern stopping a bus in the air.
Arriving at Solomon Grundy I witnessed Vixen ram him through a truck towards a warehouse.
"-The woman has strength-" Approaching the place I changed shape at the exact moment Grundy came out with Vixen in his hand "Grundy!" Hearing his name, he turned around, receiving my blow in the face, jumping at the woman as he was thrown into the sky.
"Are you OK?" Helping Vixen I noticed that she looked at me cautiously, apparently the meeting in Africa was still fresh in her memory.
"...Yes, thanks for the help," nodding, we watched as Grundy was returned to the ground courtesy of Lantern who tried to hold him seconds before being sent flying by a shock wave. "I'm coming!" Watching her run, she directed me to Grundy.
"You and me Grundy, corpse vs corpse" Generating electricity in my gloves I ran towards him hoping that my form had the necessary resistance.
Running we both collided in the middle of the street, his two arms came down with force as he tried to crush me, his strength was greater so when I tried to hold them I ended up with one knee on the ground.
"-Well, in strength I don't win-" The bolts in my back generated lines of electricity seconds before a powerful current was generated and electrocuted him causing him to scream in pain "-But I'm not only strength-" Unfortunately the strength of Grundy not only seemed to have improved, but his stamina as well.
Without stopping growling, he kicked me hard, knocking me out of the air as I flew away from him. The blow had hurt me more than I thought, so I could only wait for the pain of my landing, which didn't happen because they stopped me in the air.
"Is everything okay Max?" Looking at Superman I let out a grunt of pain as he set me down on the ground.
"Grundy is stronger than before, this form is not the strongest but one blow is enough to hurt me" Superman looked at me for a few seconds analyzing my transformation, my body was very human, it was simply larger and gray in color, two generators came out of my back while two others were on my abdomen under the Omnitrix symbol.
"Okay, take a moment, I'll take care of it" Leaving he went out towards Grundy while I returned to my human form.
Managing to recover a few minutes later, I noticed how Superman flew over me so I knew I had to return to the fight.
"Well, let's use strength and technique" Transforming into Four Arms I went to the fight by jumping, arriving at the moment when Grundy sent Superman flying again.
Running towards him, I tried to take him by surprise, but I couldn't. He watched me arrive, but I couldn't stop my blow, which turned his face. Recovering, he attacked me. Deflecting the blow, we began to exchange attacks. He received all of them while I deflected his.
The same thing happened for a few seconds before to my surprise he stopped my arm and growled at me before squeezing it.
"-Good, also smarter-" Using my training I attacked his arm and face, making him let go, but not without preventing him from hurting my arm, leaving me with only three.
Dodging his attack I tried to defend myself, hoping that the others would soon join me.
"Grundy!" I recognized the voice that was shouting, turning slightly my four eyes narrowed slightly as I saw Shayera arrive, unfortunately, that was a mistake, Grundy sent me flying with a blow that made me cross a building before ending up in a parking lot losing consciousness after returning to my human form.
"Maxwell," feeling a touch on my face, I began to return to consciousness, finding Amazo in front of me, "You're alive."
"….A-Amazo, what happened to Grundy?" Helping me, he got up before answering me.
"My presence in the fight with the being called Grundy only endangered everyone, I retreated, but from what I can hear Shayera took care of the situation thanks to her weapon and her composition" That reminded me of the reason for my state.
"...Something you need to know, Amazo, is that humans are very spiteful" he nodded without saying anything while he seemed to see something in the distance.
"I can see, I must say goodbye, I will wait for our next talk" Without saying more he disappeared, leaving me in my thoughts before my communicator rang.
"Omnaz do you need help?" listening to Superman I only had one question.
"Is she there?" He hesitated for a second before answering affirmatively "I'm fine, I'll return to the Titan tower to receive medical attention, then we'll talk" Without waiting for a second I ended the call, I needed time to think about what would happen later.
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Jump City, a week later…
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"I already told you Superman, the fact that the majority of the members forgave Shayera does not force me to do so" Having a coffee in the middle of the city I could not allow myself to enjoy the morning because Superman had decided to talk early.
"I understand, but I only ask that you give her a chance, everyone deserves a second chance" Rolling my eyes I took a sip of my coffee before answering him.
"You understand, I don't forgive so easily-" we were interrupted while a hand rested on my shoulder and the city I knew changed completely, and not only because it was now night.
"I'm sorry for the surprise my friend" Hearing Paradox's voice I just let out a sigh knowing that I couldn't do anything else.
"Paradox...I'll just finish my coffee while you fill me in" Taking another drink I looked at him tiredly ignoring his smile.
"That's the spirit!" Watching him walk, I followed him out of the alley where we had appeared, noticing how similar the buildings were to Metropolis, only more advanced.
"A person messed with time the same way a child plays with a glass figurine, your teammates are already aware of the situation, I brought you to the future where they will eventually appear" Finishing my coffee I waited for him to continue, but when he didn't speak.
"…What else?" Taking out a piece of gum he spoke.
"That's all, I'm sure you'll know what to do, see you around" and without further ado he disappeared, leaving me in the future waiting for him to solve something that I had little information about.
A small explosion several blocks away was the best option for what to do next, transforming into XLR8 I disappeared from the place in a blue blur.
Appearing in the area I found myself in front of a burning building so transforming into Heatblast I began to absorb the flames until two voices caught my attention.
"It appeared faster than usual" The first voice sounded familiar, especially because of the subtle but noticeable growl I heard at the end.
"What do you think, the old man still has tricks!" the second voice sounded younger and somewhat enthusiastic.
Turning I found two young men, for some reason I thought I knew who each voice belonged to.
The one who had spoken first was the tallest, with a body built to fight face to face, he wore black pants, an open red jacket that left his arms and chest exposed, his black hair was cut completely the same as mine.
His partner was a much thinner boy, almost like a runner, he wore an orange jumpsuit with black lines, his blonde hair showed some orange highlights.
Something about both of them was very familiar to me, it was the same feeling that my corrupted version had caused me.
"...Do you know me?" My question surprised them slightly, the blonde boy came out of his surprise furious.
"Are you kidding, old man?!" To my surprise, the boy caught fire, bringing to my memory the image of a certain villainess.
"Calm down Jonathan...he seems to be serious" Well now I knew the name of the boy on fire.
"But it's him!... Is it true?" The black-haired man did not answer him, instead, he did something that caught my attention, he raised his face and sniffed.
"...Their smell is similar, but I detect a small difference, however, I don't know what it is" Surprising me even more, he began to transform in front of my eyes.
His already large body grew a few centimeters as did his muscles, a rusty orange coat grew all over his body while several changes occurred, leaving in front of me what I could swear was an Appoplexian with lion-like characteristics, especially the large black hair that covered his neck.
"We'll take him to the greenhouse to get answers." That decision seemed to excite Jonathan.
"Yes, that's why you're my favorite brother Sergei!" Without saying more he attacked me with two columns of flames, barely dodging them and I reacted to transform into Bigchill allowing Sergei to pierce me with his surprise attack.
"I need answers" blowing I froze him in the air in seconds enclosing him in a block of ice to focus on Jonathan.
Noticing that he was ready for another attack, I transformed again while pointing my hands at him, which now had four claw-shaped fingers.
Seeing the columns of fire, I do not hesitate to shoot two jets of pressurized water, intercepting the fire and creating a large smoke screen.
"...Sergei is right, you're not him, he would never make that mistake" Those words alarmed me so without stopping the water turned around at the same moment that an orange fist hit my face sending me flying into a building.
The force in the blow had been considerable, managing to turn me back into my human form, only my armor had saved me from receiving too much damage.
"T-These guys are strong" Coming out of the crater created by my fall I took a second to breathe "The boy's fire did not give in to Hazard and Sergei's resistance to cold is greater than Rath's."
Hearing a noise nearby I transformed again, I needed strength and endurance so Four Arms would do.
"You see, I was right, it's not him... but I think I have a theory, let's finish this" Listening to his brother Jonathan attacked me so opening my arms I clapped creating a wave of air that dispersed his flames while I lost my balance.
Waiting for the surprise attack, I stopped Sergei by the arm, hitting him against the ground, creating a small tremor.
"Well, I'll ask you to be a good kitten and give me some explanations" That seemed to have been a mistake because he just growled at me while he held my arm allowing me to see how his claws grew "-Like Rath-" a second later he bit my arm causing me to cry out in pain.
Freeing myself from the bite, he attacked my face, causing me to lose my balance momentarily due to the pain in my arm and its strength.
"Jonathan, now!" Taking one of my arms, I threw myself into the air where I found the blonde boy waiting for me with a large fireball that hit me directly in the face and my torso, returning me to the ground with force, creating a large crater.
Returning to my human form and barely conscious, I managed to hear one last sentence.
"Then I was right" Sergei returning to his human form was the last thing I saw before I fell unconscious.
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Sometime later…
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Coming back to consciousness the first thing I noticed was the softness of a bed, which surprised me as I was sure I would wake up in something less comfortable.
Getting out of bed I took a moment to inspect the room which was completely full of leaves and roots which gave me an idea of who they had taken me to plus Sergei had said something about a greenhouse.
"Pamela" I wasn't expecting any voice to answer me so I was scared when I heard someone behind me.
"You guessed it" Turning around I found myself looking at a woman who looked even more familiar than the two boys.
What caught my attention was her green hair and skin, a green very similar to Pamela's.
"…W-Who are you?" The familiarity in her brought back a memory that I didn't end up seeing, however, she just smiled at me calmly before raising her hand allowing a small but familiar black root to appear directly from her skin "-It can't be-".
"T-Thorn?" Her smile turned affectionate before she answered me.
"Hello Dad, it's a pleasure to meet you." Hearing that word from a young woman's mouth felt heavier than hearing it from a small plant, something she seemed to notice because her smile faded as she looked at me with slight concern. "Are you okay?"
"Y-Yes, give me...a s-second" I felt like I was going to faint again so I didn't stop her as she came over and helped me sit on the bed "-O-Ok, I'm almost t-twenty and I have a daughter of-" looking at her between breaths I spoke "-How old are you?"
"I'm thirty Dad, but thanks to the circumstances of my birth I stopped aging at twenty-five" ok it was worse, I was with my daughter who was older than me.
"O-Ok, okay, time travel, nothing that should alarm me" As I began to calm down I remembered something very important "-I helped Pamela recently with two seeds-" looking at her face I noticed that she smiled again "-You have sisters or brothers-".
"In fact, I have both, many women were interested in you" That was enough for me to lose the fight, while I was barely consumed by unconsciousness and heard her alarmed voice.
Someone's hands playing with my hair was the first thing I noticed as I woke up again, the second thing I noticed was that my head wasn't on a pillow, I could recognize the feeling of being on someone's thighs.
"Open your eyes Max" the voice was familiar so I opened my eyes hoping to see Pamela so she would confess that I had only dreamed.
"-Pamela...-" Opening my eyes I was surprised again because, although I was seeing Pamela's face, it was very different from how I remembered it "-Pamela?-".
The woman looked at me with a smile, she had the same red hair that I remembered, her face did not show any wrinkles, but somehow she looked more mature and her eyes looked at me with a peace that I had not seen before.
"Yes, it's me, Max, although of course with a few more years of beauty, don't you think?" Without being able to believe it, I just nodded slightly without stopping to look at her, which caused her to laugh lightly. "I didn't think you would stay silent."
"You just look...at peace" Raising an eyebrow she waited for me to continue "All the resentment and anger you projected disappeared. How?" Getting up from her legs she answered me as I got up from the bed of plants.
"All thanks to you, or your future self" Surprised that she knew what had happened I looked at her carefully "Don't be surprised, after thirty years few things surprise me, but come on you must meet some people" taking me by the hand she guided me to the place.
"Could you explain to me how it was thanks to my future self" Without looking at me she answered.
"Having the connection with the plant life of Swampfire you acted to help the planet, you reforested, you stopped illegal logging, in ten years you erased two hundred years of damage to plant life" Stopping in front of a door she looked at me with a smile "You gave peace, and our daughters" opening the door made me follow her.
The place was a large room with great amenities, however, it was not empty, five people were waiting for us because as soon as we entered they looked at us, Thorn being the only one I recognized.
"You already met our firstborn, but not our little ones, come girls introduce yourself to your young Father" listening to Pamela the other two girls in the room walking towards us.
"Hello Dad, I'm Hazel." The first to introduce herself was a young woman as unique as Thorn, but unlike her, her skin was hazel, as was her hair, and her smile was more relaxed.
"Hi Dad, I'm Rose!" The second girl was clearly the youngest and the one with the most bubbly personality because without hesitation she hugged me causing me to return the hug out of inertia, her skin like her sisters had an unusual color being light pink, although her hair was blonde.
"Calm down Rose, we don't want Dad to faint again" Hearing the amusement in Thorn's voice I looked at her with feigned annoyance causing her to laugh along with her sisters as Rose let go of me.
"Are you okay Max?" listening to Pamela I just looked at the three girls before smiling slightly.
"Yes, it's surprising, but it makes me happy to know that I'm a father." However, the two boys in the room who had never left my sight since I had entered raised questions in my mind: "They're not ours, right?"
My question seemed to bother Jonathan because in seconds his body began to fill with flames, only to be calmed by Pamela's cold voice.
"Kid, do I have to teach you manners again" The threat calmed him enough for him to turn off, but not so that he stopped looking at me with anger "Children, no Max, they are not my children, although they are yours" yes having fought with them I had that idea.
"Yes, I guessed after our meeting, although I'm not completely sure who their mothers are, I know that Sergei has Appoplexia DNA and Jonathan has Pyronite DNA, but nothing more" A laugh from Pamela made me see her with an arched eyebrow wondering what was so funny.
"My little Max, it's very simple, Sergei Tennyson is your son with Barbara Ann Minerva better known as Cheetah" Opening my eyes full of surprise I looked at the boy who was looking at me seriously and what seemed like pride.
"-B-But...we've only spoken twice-" I didn't understand how it was possible that she and I had fathered a child if we had barely spoken.
"Oh dear, then more surprising, Jonathan Tennyson is your son with Claire Selton, although you know her as Volcana" What the hell was going to happen to me in the future, I had only spoken with that woman for a few seconds months ago "Don't be surprised darling, She loves fire and what better than a walking volcano."
"-Ok, calm down Max, stay calm, don't get upset, you're just a father of five, with supervillain women-" It wasn't working, I felt like I would faint in seconds.
"In fact, we have two more siblings, a man and another woman" Listening to Sergei I looked with alarm at Pamela who was only looking at me with undisguised amusement.
"Calm down, let's let you explain it to you" Before I could ask what she meant a blue blur appeared in the room.
"Hello Pamela" the blur turned out to be XLR8 only slightly larger than I remembered "Children" Looking at our children his visor opened as soon as he looked at me "Hello Max."
"-Hey-" meeting my version of the future seemed more surprising than meeting my other versions.
The flash of transformation made me close my eyes for a second, as soon as I opened them I could see what I would be like in thirty years.
My black hair now showed the beginnings of gray, my face showed some wrinkles, especially near the eyes and lips, which told me that I smiled a lot.
My armor was very different, now it was much less bulky, the chest and legs were reinforced by barely visible plates that matched the military boots I wore, the thighs were only covered by a black cloth, the only part without armor were my shoulders and the upper part of my arms allowing me to see that I would gain a lot of muscle volume over the years and yet what caught my attention the most was the design of the Omnitrix.
Instead of covering my wrist, it now covered from the wrist to the middle of the arm, the palm of my hand was also covered by the metal, the symbol had grown which made me wonder what the new function was.
"It must all be shocking, right?" Even at over fifty years old I could hear the strength he maintained.
"-Very-" Smiling slightly my older self looked at Pamela with amusement before turning serious and looking at the two men who were looking at him warily.
"Don't think that the destruction you caused will be forgotten" Both became tense and ready to fight "You know it's neutral here, and I have more important things than putting up with your tantrum, Pamela, thank you for the warning, I'll be back later" surprised by the words. I looked at the two men, noticing how they were starting to get angry, something that my older self ignored as he said goodbye to Pamela and transformed into XLR8.
"Follow me" Without stopping to see the two men full of anger, I transformed into XLR8, noticing the difference in size more easily before following him as soon as it became clear after greeting my daughters and Pamela.
"I-I see that age...improved my s-speed" The effort necessary to follow him had tired me greatly.
"Hahaha, yes I'm sorry, I forgot that you are just entering your best years" Returning to his human form he looked at me so I imitated him "I must apologize for the behavior of our children, it seems that I was a bad father to them."
"I think the tantrum comment was more" Releasing a slight buzz he did not answer "Sergei commented that we have two other children."
"That's right, do you want it to be a surprise or told who they are?" Thinking about it for a second I asked him to tell me "Maxima achieved her goal about an heir the day we met her with Thundra, our son is called Maxwell like us, I call him Junior."
I remembered that, the trip to Almerac had not been a long time ago, however, something else returned to my memory.
"T-thundra too?" If the queen had gotten pregnant it meant that the Amazon the same "Wait! Does it mean that she is already pregnant!?" God was going to give me another panic attack.
"Calm down, it is of no use to you, Maxima took actions to get pregnant so, she must already be pregnant in your time if I remember correctly, as for Thundra she was not pregnant at that time ... although she is the mother of our last daughter and the youngest Lyra. "
"…." I could only look at nothing while the information was delivered to me, which did not last much "Sunny kill me, Diana would kill me!" "irresponsible!" Looking at the face I noticed that I only looked fun at a raised eyebrow.
"In fact, you will be the irresponsible," I was right, I was about to do it, I could not change the future that way, everything was about to happen.
"-Oode to Paradox-" Slightly resigned I released him as I moved away at the end of the ceiling while I massaged my face furiously.
"Quiet, everyone has grown up as good boys" Without being able to believe him I looked at him "Sergei and Jonathan are only in the phase where I think I was a horrible father for putting the world before them, they are good guys."
"They tried to kill me as soon as they saw me" walking until I was next to my side.
"I guess, you tried to turn off Jonathan's fire with water and facing Sergei with physical force" Nodding gave him the reason "If they defeated you for lack of information, Jonathan's fire cannot be defeated by the water, it can only be stopped by ice, freeze the flames "
"Sergei is more complicated, Cheetah's curse is magical, combined with the APPOPLEXIAN DNA resulting in a very powerful transformation.
"-Ok it is good to know in case they try to kill me again-" trying to get out of my mind what I knew now looked a little calmer "Well, I'm sure that Paradox did not bring me to the future for my form of parenting, you have some idea what the reason could be. "
"If I have an idea, lately I have detected timeline failures, I have managed to minimize the damage, but without stopping the origin my work will be in vain" A small alarm on his Omnitrix stopped us for a second while looking at a small hologram "I have things to attend, so I remember the others will arrive in two days, you want to help me while we are waiting for them. "
"It's not as if I could do something and seeing what you remember what happened means that everything would be fixed later" transforming into Xlr8 I looked at him "Come on, your guides" Smiling I transformed to run knowing that he would follow.
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That same night ...
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Located in an armchair with my future self, I tried to breathe calmly trying to recover after the most tired day in all my years as a hero.
"Take this" Opening my eyes I looked at the water bottle that offered me "This will help you a little."
Grateful, I took it, while I drank, I looked around the house where we were, it reminded me of mine in Jump City only more modern.
"... By the way, do you live in metropolis?" Looking at him as he seemed to be reviewing some things on some kind of tablet.
"Yes, I moved several years ago, the new generation of Titans keeps things calm in Jump City, and with what happened over the years moving here allowed me to be in the perfect center to go where everyone would need me" rising from the chair he walked to the window to see the city.
"... Is there still the league?" Not having an answer after several seconds I looked at him noticing that he continued with his work "Did you do something that you can't tell me?"
"The League exists, however, I am not an official part of it, I cannot tell you the reason, I know you understand it" Leaving the tablet he turned on the television, looking for a channel, he signaled me to see "although I can tell you that someone very stubborn is still fine. "
Surprised I looked at a very familiar face only slightly older, Bruce Wayne was giving a speech in Gotham, despite the years he still looked strong regardless of the gray hair that covered his hair.
"How is it possible that he looks so good? He must be about eighty years old." Looking at my older self, I noticed the small smile he was wearing. "It's your doing."
"That's right, it took me twenty years and many wounds received in his career, but Bruce accepted that the world needed his presence as much as possible, so a few moments with Clockwork and that's it" twenty years for Bruce to accept that gift, without a doubt. He was stubborn.
"Wait...he allowed us to go to Gotham to fight crime?" At my question, he laughed and it was no big deal.
"That's another great story, come let's eat and I'll tell you." Completely curious, I accepted his idea as we left his house.
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Two days later…
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"I understand Bruce, thanks for the warning, we will be there right away." Finishing throwing out the trash from our dinner, I noticed how my older self finished the call he had received. "Your friends arrived, right now they are at the League headquarters. We'll Find them in Gotham, we'll go right away, get ready, and don't forget anything." Nodding, I went to the guest room to put on my armor.
A few seconds later we were ready to leave so we both transformed into XLR8 leaving the place in the blink of an eye.
Thanks to the time with my future self I had managed to improve my speed while managing to maintain the speed of the older XLR8.
Following his pace, I noticed the building where we entered, noting that it was somewhat decayed on the outside, but the little I saw inside was in perfect condition, that is until I heard a familiar voice, only older.
"Someone else arrived at our time just a few days before" Turning around to the older Bruce I stood in front of him raising my visor to see him with my own eyes "Surprised?"
"I'm more surprised to see you smile" Returning to my human form I returned the smile before looking at the others "I'm glad to see you well and with company" Thanks to a little research I knew the three heroes who looked at me with surprise and some caution "Is something wrong?"
"They don't look at you like that because of you, but because of me" my older self returned to his human form surprising my friends with his appearance "The kids and I don't work well together."
"We're not children! And we don't work well with a known ally of villains" The armored Batman walked up to stand in front of him and pointed a finger at him, however, he was stopped by the older Bruce.
"Stop it, Terry, we have more serious problems" Looking at my old self I continued "You remember all this, something we should take into account" That seemed to surprise everyone except young Bruce.
"Everything will go as it should, however, Diana here" Walking over to her he handed her a bronze bracelet "Put it on please" Without a second's hesitation she did so causing a small green outline to cover her body.
"Something I should know" Without answering, he only raised three fingers before beginning to lower them, when under the last one Diana was surrounded by a white light seconds before the green outline appeared again.
"The person responsible for all this tried to disappear, Diana, he knows that she is a big problem, unfortunately for him, he is not the only one with knowledge about time" Walking to the computer he played a video which presented all the information they needed,
"His name is David Clinton, a small trinket thief in history, however, after his stay in the old West changed, before he tried not to damage the timeline, but now he doesn't care" showing a design of the belt the He took out a small disk that he gave to Batman "The belt allows him to escape from me, but with this they will be able to disable it."
"Time is running out, you must find out where he is, my young self and Wonder Woman must go with me, we must take care of Clinton's last move" At that moment the armored Batman interrupted him.
"How do we know it's not your trap" Before he could even continue Batman of my time stopped him.
"Stop it, we don't have time for this, if my older self trusts him it should be enough for you" That seemed to calm him down as he allowed us to go without further ado.
Following him, both Diana and I waited for an answer about what was to come as we left the headquarters.
"Clinton knows I couldn't stop him myself, and now with two of us next to Diana, there are only a few he can trust" I thought I knew who he was talking about.
"Don't tell me, Sergei and Jonnathan," he nodded, however, Diana was curious.
"Who are Sergei and Jonnathan?" Looking at her we responded at the same time.
"Our children," confused, looked at me for what I clarified.
"They are the children I will have in the future, they are not villains...but they have fatherly problems" Raising an eyebrow she seemed to understand.
"But they are not the only ones, with Diana present he will also bring someone else, my youngest daughter who very much wants to fight you Diana" Hearing that again I thought I knew who he was talking about.
"...You don't mean Lyra?" The small smile he showed me only caused me to let out a moan of pain because I knew what would happen as soon as Diana found out "Lyra is my daughter Diana" I didn't need to look at her to know that she was looking at me.
After a few minutes, we ended up in a small park where it seemed like the fight would be and so it was, a few seconds after our arrival two portals opened, from which Sergei and Jonnathan emerged.
From the second came a girl very similar to Thundra physically except for her bright red skin.
"Maxwell...whose daughter is Lyra?" I knew that Diana knew the answer, but apparently, she wanted me to give myself away, so with a sigh I answered her.
"-From Thundra-" My only response was her fingers cracking from the force of her fist when she closed it.
"It seems that we will have a second meeting, old man!" Looking at Jonnathan I could see the emotion that the fight caused him, at his side, Sergei only began to transform while Lyra looked at Diana.
"My queen, I feel lucky to prove myself in battle against you, I will try with all my might to win!" I now understood what my older self had said.
"Diana, don't hold back, she's strong, go with everything, believe me," finishing speaking he transformed into Bigchill which to my surprise was red with some yellow parts, unfortunately, I couldn't see him well because he attacked Jonnathan with one jump who was waiting for him wrapped in flames.
The sound of someone flying made me see how Lyra was chatting with Diana, causing her to skid a few meters, however, the sound of heavy footsteps made me see Sergei ready to impact me so I transformed due to inertia.
A few meters away from me I charged him, letting out a roar. Being in Rath form, I began to exchange several blows with him.
"LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING PUPPY, RATH WILL SHOW YOU WHO'S BOSS" Taking his face I gave him a headbutt which to my surprise hurt me while he just growled at me in annoyance.
"I'm ashamed to know that part of me descends from you." Taking my arm, he bent it, causing me to roar in pain before launching myself several meters, ending up knocking down a tree, recovering a few seconds later, I rubbed my arm with a smile.
"Rath is proud, Rath will not be able to defeat his cub" In a thought I transformed into Humungousaur to take the tree and use it as a weapon against Sergei who was about to attack me, sending him back.
Growing to my maximum size, I ran towards him, raising my arms to hit him, Sergei managed to dodge it at the last moment by counterattacking with two punches to my face, followed by a knee, managing to stun me despite my new resistance.
Demonstrating his strength, he grabbed me by the neck and threw me on my back for several meters. Jumping on me, he was about to continue attacking, however, I managed to defend myself with a punch that sent him flying.
"Remember, I need power, but without losing movement" Getting up I took a moment while I was on one knee trying to think of the correct way "There is one, I don't have much practice, but I think it would be the right one."
[T/N: USE VILGAX!!]
Seeing where Sergei had landed, I watched him get up without problems while he looked at me and let out a grunt of annoyance for a second before running ready to attack me.
As soon as he was a few meters away from me ready to attack my face I transformed, the blow I received simply made me retreat a few centimeters without causing me any pain.
"...I didn't think you would know that shape" Standing on my two legs I looked at my hands slightly, my attention was mainly taken by the cylinders filled with energy in my arms.
"I don't have much practice, but I remember my older self's advice on how to face you." Stopping from seeing my hands, I looked around trying to see the other fights, without being surprised my older self was several meters away in his human form holding Jonnathan by the neck, possibly unconscious.
The clash of blows in the distance told me that Diana wasn't finished yet so maybe I could see what Lyra was capable of if I hurried.
"I want to see what your sister is capable of, let's finish this" Looking at Sergei I was not surprised that he only growled at me without attacking me, knowing my new form meant that he knew what I was capable of "-Good-".
In one thought I appeared in front of him faster than he could react, so he couldn't stop me from grabbing him by the neck, much less from clearing him by holding him firmly.
Rising at high speed, I ignored the blows he was giving me, my strength and resistance was too much for him, but I didn't want to hurt him.
"I don't have complete control this way, so this is the best way to end this without you getting hurt" Without stopping flying I looked him in the eyes noticing the anger and helplessness he felt "...After all, you are my son".
In a matter of seconds, I reached a height close enough to my target because Sergei began to lose consciousness due to lack of air, remaining unconscious in my hand, throwing him over my shoulder I returned to the ground without putting myself at risk.
Returning to the park I left him calmly on the ground listening to the footsteps of my older self.
"You know of his existence for two days and you take care of him like I did when he was born" Looking at him I noticed that he was looking at both boys with pride "Come we are still far from the end of the battle between the Amazons."
Transforming into XLR8 he ran into the battle while I took off, in seconds we both arrived at the place at the same time watching the end of the fight carefully.
Diana was hurt which was surprising since I knew her resistance, but Lyra was even more hurt from the fight, one of her arms was hanging limp, possibly broken, her clothes were almost destroyed, and yet she looked at Diana with a calm smile.
"The legends don't give my Queen the credit she deserves!" getting ready to continue Lyra spat out some blood "It would be an honor to tell this battle at the banquet with my sisters!" With a powerful jump, she attacked Diana who only waited for her with her guard up.
Lyra tried to use her broken arm as a distraction hoping to surprise Diana, unfortunately for her her plan failed as she only had to slightly dodge the arm before stopping her blow and counterattacking with a punch to her abdomen, completely knocking her out.
"Come on, Lyra needs medical attention and you will return soon to your time" following him floating until he reached Diana who looked at Lyra with a smile "Diana, it's time for you to go back, but first" returning to his human form he looked at Lyra before to smile at Diana"Thank you for fulfilling her dream."
"It was a pleasure, Maxwell, you have an extraordinary daughter" A white glow surrounded us both so it was time to leave "Take care Max" She just disappeared, however, I didn't take advantage of it.
"Be better, be the best version of a Father you can be, because believe me I'm going to do it." Returning to my human form, I looked at myself with a smile before offering my hand, which he accepted with a smile.
"Don't worry, I'll do it and I know you will too" and with those last words I disappeared from the future, appearing in the same place where I had been before I left.
"Max!, is everything okay? Communication was lost for a moment!" Looking at the city I was protecting I only let out a light sigh before answering Superman.
"Everything's fine Superman...I just need time, we'll talk later" Accepting he ended the call while I was slightly lost in my thoughts, that was clear until my communicator rang again "Hello Diana, I know you want answers, you can come to see me at Titan Tower"
"I'll be right there," knowing that I had no choice but to be honest, I thanked her as she ended the call and began walking towards the tower. I would use the time I could to get there and think about everything I had seen in my future.
[T/N: OH SH*T! Why would Max need to come to the future and return two days before the rest of the league travels, what could be happening in the next few days. Guess we'll find out on a later date. If you like this chapter then leave a comment, write a review, and drop some stones. Check out the Patreon for the rest of the book, it's only $5.]
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