Chapters "It can lead to other dimensions?" Spike blinked as Twilight fiddled with the mirror. They stood in the Library of the castle with Starlight helping her out. As the girls worked Spike was busy staring at his reflection. He looked... human? Well kinda. He had peach skin, green hair and eyes but his teeth were still sharp like a carnivores and his ears were pretty pointy so not exactly human. The human him mimicked his movements. Mirror him was a lot smaller, like way back before he hit his growth spurt.
Spike was a good 10 feet long now, and as tall as Celestia. He was still just a rookie dragon but it had been a few decades since he turned a hundred, and thereby entered his teens. His muzzle has grown longer. As had his twin whiskers / feelers just under his nose. He'd really grown into his Eastern dragon features... but mirror him was soft and cute still. Not at all like the powerful dragon he had grown into.
He still looked very young in the mirror. Was this what he really was? Obviously not a human but just a little kid... Twilight, Starlight, and all his pony friends where in their early hundreds to but they were respectable young adults now... where he was still just a barely teenage kid...
He shook his head, banishing the thoughts and focused on what Twilight was trying to tell him, "You mean besides a high school?"
Twilight rolled her eyes, "Well the mirror works by punching a stable hole in between worlds. Theoretically it can lead to others,"
"Nothing theoretical about it," Starlight grinned, "We've been channel surfing all night. We still can't create a stable wormhole to send matter from one dimension into another but have been able to make observations of other dimensions,"
"The Key," Twilight informed as she walked away from the mirror, "Is setting up an Anchor in the other dimension. A tangible place to permanently link the Mirror," she made a few last minutes scribbles to a scroll on the table as she looked at the dozen or so open books around it, "I think this world is as good as any to test the Theory on," Twilight gave a sly smile at Spike, "I think you'll like it,"
"I'm not going to turn into a dog again, Am I?" Spike scrunched up his nose in disgust.
Twilight snickered, "No, that is what you'll look like. A Meta Human child, a rather cute one at that," she insisted, "Although you are pretty short for your age. You look more like a ten year old then a teenager,"
Spike chose to ignore that comment. He knew he was short for his age. No reason a human him shouldn't match that, "Meta Human?" Spike blinked.
"From what we've observed," Twilight smiled, "Meta Humans are a category of humanoid sub species of this world. You're going to love it, Spike. I just know it. This world seems to be made especially for you!" She clapped her hooves together, "I just need to set up the anchor. It will require a lot of power but if done right..." she trailed off and floated the scroll over to Starlight, "Here's the spell. I spent all night working on it. I'll need your help to cast it,"
"Sure," Starlight grinned, quickly scanning the document and easily memorizing it, "... you sure this will work?"
"Of course not," Twilight cheerfully declared, "That's why we're going to test it. This should set the link but I'm not sure if it will really open the portal. We'll have to channel a good bit of power through the spell to force the barrier between worlds to open,"
Twilight explained as she guided Starlight to the far side of the library, next to the bookshelves. Then she trotted over to the other side of the room.
"Spike, get away from the mirror and find something to hold onto, just in case,"
Spike nodded and skipped over to the center of the room, curling his tail around the leg of a table for extra security. It was a crystal table that was growing out of the ground so odds are it was pretty sturdy.
"Ready Starlight?" Twilight called, grinning eagerly.
"Yep," Starlight lit up her horn.
The two each sent a single blast at the mirror and groaned in disappointment as nothing happened. Spike let go of the table and walked a little closer. He stopped as he saw a spark around the mirror. Little sparks began to go off, then more and more, until finally a vortex erupted from the mirror itself.
The mirror began sucking in everything, Books flew into the portal as both ponies grabbed hold of the shelves. Spike, having nothing to grab, screamed as his feet were picked off the floor and he flew towards the mirror.
"SPIKE!" Twilight gasped seeing the boy flying helplessly towards the Mirror. She quickly let go of the shelf and spread her wings, channeling her magic, she tried to fly straight at the young dragon. Her horn kept sparking but couldn't grab hold of the boy. The out of control magic of the mirror made it hard to focus on her own.
She flew as fast as she could towards the little dragon but seconds before she could grab him he was sucked through the portal. It instantly closed and... shattered.
Twilight landed in front of it staring dumbfounded at the broken shards of glass. Papers began to settle at the abruptness of which the portal closed. Slowly tears formed in her eyes as her mind ran through a thousand silent thoughts. The most obvious one being the void that hit her as the realization came into focus... Spike... was gone... and there was no way to get him back.
Spike screamed as he tumbled through the void. The lack of gravity combined with the various flips he was doing was really turning his stomach. He had to choke back the urge to puke a number of times.
He could feel his body morph and twist. It felt like every inch of him fell asleep and was tingling all over. His claws slowly turned to hands and his scales turned to skin. His bones reshaped themselves, becoming far less curved. Even his organs moved around and changed.
Suddenly the portal tossed him out and he couldn't help but wish gravity was still absent. All too suddenly he found himself falling towards a big city street from 30 stories up.
He screamed as he covered his eyes. Panic sending his body into overdrive as he willed himself to safety. He felt his bones twist and bend, well, his muscles grew all over again. The sensation was so weird but it felt kinda... good. His whole body was warm, burning as pleasantly as his internal flame.
He felt himself hit the ground a second later, it hadn't looked that close, and although it stung he wasn't actually hurt.
Opening his eyes he saw claws, he could have sworn they were human hands a second ago. Looking around he saw the world was much smaller then it had been moments ago. Standing up he realized he was as tall as the 30 story buildings. Turning around his tail accidentally whipped into a building. He gasped as he could hear a thousand different screams as it began to topple over. THERE WERE PONIES IN THERE!
He quickly grabbed it and set the building down gently on it's side. Humans, not ponies, began pouring out of it, screaming and panicking. Most of them had either brown skin or a variation of peach with pretty tame colors. They weren't nearly as colorful or varied as the humans from Canterlot high. They did, however, have cars like Canterlot High. Spike knew this because several of them kept crashing into his feet and piled over each other and his toes.
Spike was doing his best to be careful as he tried to walk away from the buildings and cars but he kept accidentally stepping on things. It was better to step on things them the humans after all.
"Hold it right there!" A voice called out to him, one that could be heard over the mass hysteria.
Spike hesitantly turned his head to look at it, grabbing his tail and hugging it to prevent himself from breaking anything else.
Floating there, in a blue and red jumpsuit, was, "Super Stallion!" Spike gasped. He looked like a human version of the-the very first Comic book hero!
The floating human blinked at him, not expecting such a young voice from the large beast. Truthfully he wasn't expecting a voice at all.
Spike's face heated up as he started at humaniod Super Stallion. That's when Spike realized he, himself, had wings. They popped out at full length from his excitement and sliced through more buildings. Spike gasped and began panicking again as he tried to pull them back in without toppling the buildings they were embedded into.
"Calm down," said human Super Stallion, "Just calm down, take calming breaths,"
Spike did as he was told, forcing himself to be calm. Suddenly his body burst into green flames. Before he realized what was going on his body morphed with the help of the fire. Suddenly he was on the ground with hands that had a severe lack of scales. He was tinny again, the size of a human child.
Super Stallion gently flew down and landed in front of him.
"What's happening?" Spike gaped at him
"It's going to be okay," the hero insisted.
That's when it clicked... hero, a real life Superhero... no wonder Twilight thought he'd love it here.
"Twilight?" Spike muttered as another realization hit him. He frantically looked around and kept calling her name, "Twilight!?"
"Twilight?" Super Stallion blinked
"My big sister," Spike explained looking around before once again calling, "Twilight!?"
"No one else came through the portal with you," Said Super Stallion, "If you'll come with me we'll help you the best we can,"
"We?" Spike tried to choke back his panic.
"The Justice League,"
"Since when can Super Stallion fly?" Spike asked as the human flew him over to the hall of justice.
"That's 'Superman'," Said Super Stallion, well not really Super Stallion apparently. Even his name was the human version of the comic book character.
"I thought you just jumped around everywhere?" Spike rephrased his question.
"That was my predecessor from the Golden Age, when Superheroes first appeared," explained Super...man. The name wasn't as cool as Super Stallion. Who didn't love alliteration? "he's retired now,"
"What about Kent Nelson? Doctor Fate would never retire," Spike spoke adamantly.
Superman gave a light chuckled, "Sad to say he's retired to," he tried his best not to full out laugh at the childish pout on the boy's face, "People get old. However much we might want to we can't be young forever,"
"Dragons can!" Spike was adamant.
"What's that?" Superman raised an eyebrow.
"I'm a dragon,"
"A... dragon?" Wonder Woman eyed as the Justice League watched the child on the view screen.
Batman, Superman, Martian Manhunter, Cyborg, Green Lantern Hal Jordan, Flash, Captain Marvel, stood with her. There were other League members, but these were the only ones present. They all just watched the boy laying on the floor in one of the waiting rooms playing with superhero action figures. Reporters were on the other side of the glass taking pictures of the child as he innocently played, unaware of them. The League set this up deliberately so the media wouldn't write the boy off as a super villain but rather just another meta child having difficulty controlling his powers (and the league taking responsibility for him as they tended to do for such children).
Superman had managed to find some golden age hero figures in the gift shop for the boy. Wayne Enterprises, Batman's company, sold a bunch of superhero merchandise through one of it's many departments. Most of the profits went to funding the Justice League. As The Hall of Justice was basically an amusement park they sold a lot of the merchandise here and even had a Factory floor using Star Trek style matter converters to ship out merchandise across the planet. All the Heroes got royalties for their merch but most of it went to the League itself.
"More like Homo Draco," Captain Marvel shrugged. He seemed to just know everything there was when it came to magic, "They are a type of Meta Human evolved from dragons," he explained, "Highly magical beings, breaths fire, minor shape shifting abilities (so long as it's dragon related), lifespan worth a few thousand years, thick skin, teeth strong enough to bite through Diamonds, but more closely related to humans then the magical beast,"
Cyborg added, "His body is filled with the markers of inter dimensional travel. I'd even say this wasn't the first alternate reality he's been to. The transport he used seemed to have readjusted his body to better fit with our universes laws"
Captain Marvel nodded, "Dragons went extincted a long time ago in our dimension, although we get a few pouring in from others now and then. Homo Draco is what replaced our natural dragons but they are an endangered species thanks to knights hunting them for sport during the dark ages. There are only a few thousand of them left,"
Martian Manhunter shrugged, "The transport he used seems to have decided they are close enough,"
Superman sighed, "Apparently we are just comic book characters in his world, and not even that. His comics focus on the first generation of Heroes that appeared during World War 2. He doesn't know anything about our generation,"
"Which is probably for the best," Batman reminded, "We have enough trouble with alternate realities where we're comic book characters. Too much guessing when it comes to what's real and what could become real. Not to mention the pesky fact they know all our secret identities,"
"He says," Superman continued, "That he doesn't expect to stay here long, the portal should open up again in exactly 30 nights. He just wants to enjoy his time here until he has to go back"
Green Lantern finally spoke, "What do we do with him until then? He did just destroy a few city blocks by taking a stroll. Not to mention he looks barely out of diapers. We can't just leave this kid to his own devices until his ride gets here,"
Batman grunted, as if it was obvious, "Titans Tower, Nightwing has been using his trust fund to finance a private institution for Meta Human children. An old acquaintance of his, Starfire, runs it for him."
Cyborg blinked, "What like a superhero school?"
"Not exactly," Batman explained, "There aren't many teenage Meta humans. The 'school' has less then 10 students so far. They are training to learn to control their powers but the goal is not so that they can use them for us. Rather so that they can one day function through society without accidently demolishing city blocks,"
Superman sighed, "Superboy is there..." and all his colleagues nodded but made no comment. That was an uncomfortable enough topic and they had too much on their plate to open that can of worms.
Green Lantern still looked concerned but on a different issue then the obvious, "I hope that isn't all they are learning,"
Batman reassured, "Starfire makes sure they keep up with their academics through state funded online courses. The same ones home schooled children take. According to Robin... Nightwing," Batman corrected himself.
Flash snickered, "Still not used to baby boy's grown-up name?"
Batman just glared, "Starfire is rather strick about their grades. The way Nightwing tells it anything lower then a B results in firm punishment,"
Flash snickered, "Yeah, Wally is often complaining about his poor little bottom whenever she catches him goofing off during 'study time'. Tamaranians sure are strict for being so happy go lucky. That school is probably the best thing that ever happened for him. My little nephew is far too smart for his own good. Hell, he even recreated the accident that gave me my super speed. He's a genius but his old school didn’t really know how to cope with him. Working at his own pace beside kids just as weird as him has been much better for him,"
Captain Marvel looked considerate, "But... they aren't heroes,"
Flash scoffed, "Not everyone is as crazy as Batsy. Regardless what my nephew thought when he nearly killed himself to gain my powers, I'm not letting him follow me around on patrol. He's just a kid. They're all just kids,"
Both Cyborg and Superman shot Captain Marvel uncomfortable looks. For his part, Captain Marvel fidgeted on the spot.
Batman spoke up, "Many children did not have the 'happy go lucky' childhoods you imagine. Nightwing would have gone out on his own. All trying to stop him would have done would make it so he didn't go to me when he was in over his head. By allowing him on patrol I set up rules and restrictions, made it so he understood what he was getting into. I trained him relentlessly long before I let him out with me and he still refused to back down. That kind of determination can't be stopped. If I hadn't done what I did he would have died from his own stupidity a long time ago,"
Flash rolled his eyes, "Well Wally isn't like that. It's just a game to him,"
"He poured dangerous chemicals all over his body before strapping himself to an electric chair. Let's not forget the months of research he must have done to get the chemicals, dosage, and exact wattage right that not even you're sure about... does that sound like someone who thinks of this as 'a game'. He's probably already been out there on his own without you,"
Wonder Woman sighed, "This is not the time for this. Nor is a family matter any of our concern to begin with,"
Batman looked at her a moment before scoffing, "I'm just trying to prevent a tragedy,"
"Don't bother," Flash glared, "Wally is fine,"
Martian Manhunter spoke up, "As interesting as this subject is it is obviously going no where. The more immediate problem is, what do we do with this one?" he nodded at the screen with the dragon child.
Batman scoffed, "I thought we settled that a long time ago," meaning he made a decision already, and no one argued with Batman. "We're sending him to the Titans,"
Spike didn't bat an eye as he walked through the portal. He was used to teleportation spells, why would a bit of tech that can do the same thing frighten him. Superman had gone with the boy through the zeta tube. He was the one who found him after all. He felt it was his responsibility to get him comfortable. An orange girl in her early 20s was standing next to a control panel in a futuristic room but Spike didn't even seem to understand that any of that was strange. He didn't even seem to comprehend that orange women with pure green eyes without a hint of white were not the norm.
"Hello Spike," Smiled the young woman.
Spike smiled right back, "Hey,"
"Starfire," Superman got her attention. He held up a few shopping bags and passed it over to her, "Just a few clothes and toys we let him pick out at the Hall of Justice,"
She looked at the 20-something bags in Superman's arms and rolled her eyes as she took them, "Let me guess. They're all Batman related,"
Superman chuckled, "Actually they are mostly Golden Age based. We don't exist in his universe and the Justice Society only exist in Comic books,"
"Oh," Starfire snickered, "One of those, eh? Always fun,"
"Anyway, I should get going. Need to help repair the damage this little guy caused," Superman ruffled Spike's hair. It was an odd sensation. Little strands of fur moving about instead of the single piece flexible fin he used to have.
Starfire gave him an almost begging look, "Won't you say hi to Conner before you go,"
Superman suddenly went rigid, "Sorry but-"
"He's been asking about you. He was really excited when Batman told us you were coming,"
Superman groaned, "Of course he did. Look I-"
"With respect, you're the closest thing he has to a father-"
"But I'm not his father!" Superman snapped, "And people should stop encouraging him to think of me like that! You're doing more harm then good by offering the kid more then I can give him,"
Spike looked up at him, a weird expression on his face.
Superman felt obligated to explain, "Conner is a clone made from a combination of my DNA and my arch nemesis, Lex Luthor. The League rescued him from a bad place some months ago and brought him here,"
Spike continued to stare at him, analyzing him.
"He's a good kid but he's not 'my' kid," Superman insisted, "Genetics aside, I'm not his dad,"
"..." Spike just continued to stare before finally saying "You are nothing like Super Stallion,"
Superman visiblely flinched, "Sorry I couldn't live up to your expectations," before abruptly activing the Zeta tube and leaving.
Spike looked at him all but run away. Then, when he was gone, the young dragon looked at Starfire, "Are all heroes like that?"
Starfire sighed. She probably shouldn't have brought Conner up to Superman around the new kid, especially when he wasn't even a proper resident of their universe and thereby no doubt got a bad impression of the lot of them, but the man was leaving anyway. She couldn't just let him go though, not without trying. Conner was going to be heart broken as it was.
"Come on," Starfire said to the new boy, purposefully ignoring his question, "Let's get you settled in,"
Spike sat in his new room. It was even bigger then his chambers at the castle. When he first opened the door he was greeted by a large sitting area. There was a couch and lots of comfy chairs facing a large flat screen TV with a round coffee table in the middle of the area. There were about a dozen empty bookshelves along the back wall, on either side of a sliding glass door. Further to the left of the long room was a sleeping area with a huge bed. The bed had two rows of drawers built into the box frame and a series of cubbies as the headboard and shelves above that.
Even with all this stuff the room was far too big for it to look crowded. In fact it looked almost empty in comparison. Still he didn't know what to do in this room.
Superman got him a bunch of comic books but he couldn't read them. They were written in some bizarre language. It was disappointing as Tartarus to learn just because they spoke the same language didn't mean they had the same alphabet. Their letters were all weird looking symbols. Ponies wrote in a bunch of looping squiggles that all connected throughout the sentence. It was that way because ponies had to write well holding the quil in their mouth. Too bad, it would have been cool to read the adventures of a humanoid Super Stallion.
"You're seriously telling me you come from a land of horses," The green skinned girl squealed with delight. Her name was M'gann. Starfire asked her to help Spike unpack so the 20 something year old woman could comfort Conner.
"No," Spike answered her question well looking down at the comic book he couldn't read, before putting it in one of the bookshelves on the wall. "They're ponies," he corrected.
"Aren't ponies just horses?" M'gann blinked. She had studied all of Earth's animals in depth before coming here and she could have sworn ponies were just younger horses.
"They are about as different from horses as Humans are from Apes," Spike shrugged. He did spend a month at a time trapped in a School during other inter dimensional visits. It was impossible not to learn a few things about humans (like what a TV was).
"Oh!" M'Gann grinned as it clicked, "So they evolved from horses," she giggled, "That's amazing. A whole universe were intelligent lifeforms evolved from Equines. Darwin would have a field day,"
"Who?" Spike blinked as he shoved his underwear into a drawer of his bed. He didn't really understand the purpose to such things but Superman insisted they were important. He doubted he'd actually wear them though. Seemed like unnecessary layers. He was used to walking around naked all the time but he got from the other human dimension that that was considered taboo. Didn't make much sense but whatever. It couldn't hurt him to wear something everyday. Better then polishing his scales every morning after his shower.
"Darwin," M'Gann explained, "He was a human who lived a long time ago, laid down the groundwork to their modern understanding of evolution. If you're going to stay on this planet you should learn it's history,"
"I won't be here that long," Spike shrugged.
"Still human culture is just amazing," M'Gann gushed, "I've been obsessed with their television programs ever since I was a little girl back on Mars,"
"Is that a country?" Spike absentmindedly asked, "The last human dimension I went to didn't have a global government for the species. Really weird considering Equestria did that a thousand years ago when we were still in medieval times. Even now Humans have so much more amazing technology but their still so violent to each other,"
"Well," M'Gann felt she should address the culture clash before answering the question, "Humans don't have a united world but they do have the United Nations were countries try to talk out their problems and set ground rules,"
"Well that's something at least," Spike shrugged.
"And as for Mars that's actually a completely different planet. We have a united government there to,"
"Humans colonized other worlds here!? I know they were talking about it in Canterlot High but they were decades away from trying it," even though Equus did that over a century ago. It was still impressive to hear a race without magic could do it.
M'Gann just groaned, "No Spike, humans haven't colonized a different planet. I'm not human. I just moved down here when my parents died to be with my uncle J'onn, he's the Martian Manhunter in the Justice League,"
"... you're... an alien?" Spike awed before eying her suspiciously, "You don't look like an alien,"
"Humans don't have green skin," She smiled.
"They don't?" Spike blinked, "They did in the other dimension I went to. Well some did. Like Ponies they could be any color in the rainbow. Some even are Rainbow colored,"
M'Gann giggled, "Sorry Spike here most humans are kind of variations on brown or peach colors,"
"Sounds boring," Spike scrunched up his nose, "How do you tell any of them apart?"
"Facial features, voice, height but I can understand those not being key things some races look for when recognizing friends. All Martians look almost exactly alike as we're an asexual species. We tell each other apart by telepathy. All minds have a different feel to them so-"
"Asexual?" Spike blinked, he didn't even know what sex was. How does she expect him to know what Asexual meant?
Stupid overprotective Twilight insisted that, despite being a century old, he didn't need to know. Yeah he was a kid by dragon standards but he was raised by ponies! There was this big conspiracy in ponyville to keep Spike 'innocent', or rather ''ignorant' of the secrets of the world, and all his Extranet devices had parental controls on them he just couldn't figure out how to get around.
Celestia was no help. Being an immortal being herself, she didn't thing Spike should know anything like that until he was at least a millennium old. A BUCKING MILLENNIUM! He couldn't even Google the answer because of stupid parental blocks!
"That means they only have one parent. Martians couple for emotional connections not physical,"
"Physical?" Spike tilted his head.
Oh gods! This child was trapping her into having 'The Talk'. Martians weren't even built that way! They shouldn't have to explain what sex was to children, "You're mommy can explain that when you get back,"
Spike pouted, "Celestia says I don't have to worry about that for another thousand years and it's like the one thing my bookworm sister refuses to tell me,"
M'Gann yelped, "Well I'm not going to tell you either so stop asking!"
The little boy pouted.
The door suddenly opened and M'Gann couldn't help sighing with relief, "Oh thank the maker,"
A green boy grinned, "Pretty much the usual reaction when I enter a room," the boy hopped on over. He was only a couple years older then Spike appeared but at least he knew what sex was.
"Oh stop it Gar," M'Gann rolled her eyes and sighed with exacerbation. She looked at the younger boy and explained, "This is Garfield,"
"The papers call me," He suddenly turned into a kangaroo and did a pose, "Beast Boy," he jumped up and quickly changed into a bird before flying over and landing on M'Gann's shoulder as a squirrel.
Spike awed, "Wow you're almost as good at that as a Changeling,"
"Almost!" Squirrel Gar looked insulted even though he didn’t know what a Changeling was.
"Well when they shape-shift they aren't still green," Spike grinned as the older boy huffed, "Are you a Martian to?"
Before Beast Boy could answer M'Gann explained, "No but he gets his powers from us. My uncle gave him a blood transfusion when he was 7 and it altered his body,"
"Yep," Gar smiled, "Now I'm green with pointy ears and sharp teeth. At least I'm not dead. I used to live in the middle of no where with my mom. The Justice League ended up battling a giant monster there and I got hurt in the cross fire. This was before the league had their teleporters so they couldn't get me to a hospital. Manhunter turned his blood type to match mine and gave me a transfusion. Saved my life and gave me superpowers. Not as many as Martians have, I just got their shape shifting and even then I can only turn into animals and they're all green to," the boy shrugged, "Still pretty awesome,"
"I bet," Spike smiled, "all I can do is breath fire... and turn into a giant dragon but that's new... well I guess not but I've never been able to control that,"
M'Gann smiled as she laid a gentle not hoof on his shoulder, "Starfire will teach you control," she patted him, "Now come on, we're done here. Let me show you around,"
Hal Jordan and John Stewart stood in the dark room, just staring at the 14 year old Latino boy. Two big time Green Lanterns right here in front of him. This would be awesome if it wasn't so terrifying. The boy had just been flying around minding his own business when an unbreakable green cage suddenly appeared around him. The Lanterns used their energy constructs to trap him and then dragged him to this place, forcing the helmet off his head.
Mister Jordan was doing most of the talking for them, "Sam Alexander, son of legendary outlaw Peter Quill AKA Star Lord. A man known as both a pirate and folk hero in many parts of the Galaxy. Saved a few planets, even the whole galaxy a few times, then robbed the Nova corp of one of their most powerful weapons,"
Mister Stewart put the Nova helmet on the table, all dramatic like, well Hal continued, "He reprogrammed it. These things aren't supposed to be passed down through the generations. Normally it wouldn't matter you're the kid of a Nova, you still couldn't use it. True they are programmed to respond to an officer's DNA but if something happens to that officer they reprogram the helmet and give it to someone who is qualified. It wouldn't just work for the guy's kid just cause they share a few chromosomes.
"But you see, and we can't figure out how he did it, Star Lord somehow altered the programming. He completely changed how the thing is supposed to work. He outright gutted it and rewrote everything. We can't even change it back because it no longer recognizes our authority. We understand Star Lord stole this thing before you were even born, and must have been working on it ever since, but this is a master piece of programming ingenuity. Even my Power Ring can't hack into it.
"Now it only responds to Peter Quill... and his genetic descendants. That means you... and your children and grandchildren and great grandchildren and so on. Seems your dad had hoped to keep it in the family... We, of course, found him eventually as it's not possible to hide forever from the Guardians.
"Due to his contributions to galactic peace The Guardians were lenient. He was placed in an Interstellar prison where he was going to spend the rest of his life. Between you and me that probably wouldn't have stuck. He's kind of a big name in the galaxy and they probably would have let him out in exchange for handling the next big crisis and make us Green Lanterns look all kinds of bad all over again. Besides we never did recovered the helmet," He put his hand on the helmet, and gave it a few pats. "But it is curious that a few months after he was arrested an unidentified Nova agent broke him out of prison.
"Now after over a decade in hiding he's back doing his outlaw thing with his old crew, and dodging all of Nova corp with surprising ease. I hear he's as big a pain in the ass as he was in the old days, that was a little before my time mind you but I hear it was glorious... As for this little helmet, put it on and it generates an advanced battle suit. Must make you feel like Iron man on steroids. I bet you could even take on that new Hulk Buster he built?
"You know most Green Lanterns actually start their career in Nova. Helmets like this are reserved only for high ranking special forces officers. Nova isn't just a police force, it's an inter galactic MILITARY police force. Using this helmet isn't just impersonating an officer levels of bad. It's treason kid. They shoot people for this,"
Sam's eyes widened, "Sh-shoot! You're the GOOD GUYS! You wouldn't kill a kid!"
"Which is why you are insanely lucky I got to you first," Jordan informed, "I have a proposal for you and I think you are going to like it. I have a lot of respect for your dad and the things he's done for this galaxy. So I will allow him free range in my sector of space. Green Lanterns are pretty much space sheriffs. This entire Star Cluster is under my jurisdiction. When I say something the Nova Corp has to listen. As this solar system is considered high risk John was brought in to give it special attention but it's still part of my jurisdiction since it's in my cluster, get it?
"You agree to my terms and not only will I let you keep the helmet but Peter Quill can move about as he pleases. If I catch him committing a crime in my territory I will of course stop him, but I won't take him away from you again. I'll take back whatever merchandise he stole and let him go on his way, provided he doesn't kill anyone... I'll let your dad come home, son,"
"... What do I have to do?"
One Year Later
Sam hovered in the training room as he shot lasers from his hands at the targets. The holograms were so densely layered by light they could actually withstand the blast. He grinned as he flew around a large T-Rex, blasting the light construct to hell.
His older brother, by adoption, stretched out his vine like arms to entangle the monster, "I am Groot," said the walking tree.
He cheated a bit to understand him. His helmet translating the surprisingly complex dialogue. The big tree was apparently voicing his displeasure with Sam's show boating... using colorful words Sam would be skinned alive for saying.
Their little sister Kaelynn, biologically related to Sam not the tree, was armed with a plasma rocket launcher and shot at the dinosaurs head. She was wearing similar gear to their father. She had on a Space pirate cloak with rocket boots and even her helmet was modeled after their Dad's.
Star Lord was standing to the side watching them. A bipedal racoon was standing next to him as well as a green lady and a gray hulk of a guy with red stripes on his skin. Mom looked nervous as she watched them train.
"You're spawn are growing into fine warriors Quill," Said the gray man to Sam's father.
"Thanks Drax," Smiled Dad, "But I don't think I can take credit for that,"
"If we are so great," Sam couldn't resist asking, "How about you let us help on your next job?" truthfully his family were more mercenaries then pirates, although they did tiptoe in the gray area and occasionally did steal things.
Drax proud smile vanished, "You are apprenticing under some of the finest champions your world has to offer. Trust their judgement when they say you are not ready,"
Sam sighed, "Yes sir,"
"And this is the training area," Sam turned his head at the sudden sound but unfortunately that meant taking his eyes off the construct. It snapped it's tail at him, hitting him with full force and sending him crashing too the ground. Groots vines broke apart and his little sister got stepped on.
"Session Failed," said the computer and the dinosaur disappeared.
Growling Sam took off his Nova helmet and glared at the intruders, "Thanks a lot!" he snapped at M'Gann, "I nearly cleared level ten! Dammit that was the last of those stupid lizards!"
"Sorry Sam," M'Gann blushed, "I'm just showing the new kid around," she nodded at a little boy with a green monkey on his shoulders, Gar.
Sam rolled his eyes and put his helmet back on, the slender body armor regenerating itself around him, "Well they've seen it, now scram!" It was a bit of an unwritten rule M'Gann just broke. All the kids barely ever got to see their families so when parents showed up the other kids tried to stay out of their way.
"Sam!" Mom scolded, "None of your teenage angst. Now apologize,"
Sam groaned but said with a blush, that was thankfully hidden by the helmet, "Sorry M'Gann,"
M'Gann blushed in turn, "Don't worry about it. I hadn't realized you were in here. Have fun," thankfully she quickly shepherd the little kids away.
Spike blushed as his stomach loudly growled. M'Gann unfortunately heard it and giggled, "Let's stop for lunch," before directing them to the kitchen.
There was a young teenage girl sitting in there, reading from a floating book as she ate, just like Twilight did. Spike instantly felt comfortable with her just for that fact.
The little dragon pranced over and sat in front of her, wearing a goofy smile.
The teen's eyes slowly wandered away from her book to the green haired little boy.
"Are you an alien to?" Spike grinned, referring to her gray skin.
M'Gann face palmed, "Spike, it is rude to ask questions like that,"
Raven, however, chose to answer. She spoke in a bored tone, "No, I'm part demon,"
Spike blinked, "What kind of demon?"
Raven blinked, a bit surprised by the question.
"Well you got your Yokai," Spike began listing, "Those guys are more chaotic then evil so they would be the best option. But then you got things like fiends which go around eating peoples souls. And of course sin demons that the human bible talks about. Those guys just love corrupting souls and conquering planets,"
Well M'Gann groaned at Spike's careless words the other girl gave a rare smile, "You know a lot about demons,"
"My big sister taught me about all kinds of magical creatures," proudly declared Spike, "She's a real egghead but some of her lessons were actually pretty cool,"
Raven put her book down, "You're a dragon, right?"
Spike gaped, "How can you tell? I don't even have scales right now,"
Revan smiled, "My mother taught me a bit about magical creatures to. She wanted to make sure I didn't make the same mistakes she did," her voice got low, clearly trying to scare the child, "She joined a cult when she was younger and they used her as the offering to a sin demon,"
Spike, however, awed. A simple "Wow," from the boy caused her to full out smile.
Revan leaned back in her chair, "After mom learned of this school for freaks she thought it be a good place for me to learn control over my dark magic,"
Spike whistled.
Revan continued to smile, "So what's your story?"
"I'm from an alternate dimension where the primary intelligent lifeforms evolved from horses,"
Raven looked over at M'Gann who nodded. Then she looked back at the dragon boy, "That sounds like hell,"
"Ponies often break into song and constantly save the world through 'Friendship Speeches'," Spike grinned
"Definitely hell," Insisted Raven.
Spike snickered, "Solar Spike," he extended his not-claw. The teen looked at him curious a moment so Spike insisted, "Yes that is my real name. Not my fault humans use gibberish for their names,"
The teen chuckled and finally took the little hand, "Rachel Roth, but my friends call me Raven,"
Conner sighed with relief as he finally got away from Starfire. He knew she meant well but she treated him like a freaking toddler. Okay so technically he was only 4 months old but he had the body and mind of a teenager, not to mention the education of a college professor.
Well kinda, some stuff like word problems he had trouble with. He was taken out of his tank too early so the evil corporation of mad scientists who made him didn't have time to download how to really apply the things he knew, like math. However he was learning thanks to Starfire and those online courses. Most of it was ridiculously easy but some of it was actually helpful. It explained the few things he didn't understand.
Starfire had him start on kindergarten courses, which his new friends explained to him was "super" embarrassing. He quickly realised that the other teens didn't like when they had to study at their computers so he pretended to hate it to... although honestly he kinda liked learning just what all the stuff he knew meant.
He was accelerating quickly thanks to knowing most of it. Working at his own pace meant he was now working on 6th grade material, and it was finally starting to get hard. He'd be starting high school level stuff soon and finally be caught up with his friends...
He was just trying to focus on anything that wasn't Superman. Unfortunately it wasn't working. He was still depressed and more then a little pissed. Everyone kept telling him that Superman would come to his senses. That he was a good man and that after he gets over the shock he'll accept the boy... When the boy finally became aware in his little test tube everything about him was defined by Superman.
He remembered the people who made him, just building up when he would finally get to met Superman. The boy was meant to replace him if the man ever fell. To be his heir... his progeny... his peace of mind to know the world would always be safe, and to bring order to it all. Basicly they were completely insane mad scientists... but Conner didn't know that back then. When they talked he listened. He believed them... he waited his whole life to meet Superman.
The man of steel was his idol, a literal god to him. Guess if Superman was a god that would make Superboy a demigod if greek mythology was to be believed... and like all demigods he was shunned by his father until he have need of him.
Superman hadn't even been the one to name him, Batman did, after one of his martial arts masters. Batman said the guy was rough with one of the biggest chips on his shoulders he'd ever seen, but it was just to cover up the fact he was a big softy.
A lot of people thought Batman was scary but he was actually pretty nice, really strict but still nice. Conner didn't tell anyone but he was kinda hoping, if Superman never took him in, then Batman would. Maybe even make him the next Robin?... he didn't tell anyone because it was purely a selfish thought that would be insensitive to ask. Conner had trouble understanding what was appropriate, given he didn't have much experience interacting with people, but even he knew THAT was too much.
Batman was still grieving from the loss of Tim Drake, and Jason Todd before him. Both of them had their lives destroyed by the Joker. Todd was beaten to death years ago... he got off easy. Well Drake... was tortured to the point of insanity then reprogrammed to be the Joker's own personal weapon. The real tragedy was Drake had a moment of self awareness and killed the Joker... only to become the new Joker. It was all so messed up. It had been 5 years and Batman hadn't taken another Robin since. He used to give the particularly traumatized orphans a home, since he was orphaned at a young age himself through watching his parents murdered in front of him. He gave them a home and a purpose but he hadn't since Tim Drake.
The thing was... no one knew Conner knew. The scientists that made him figured out a few of the heroes secret identities and uploaded detailed information about their entire lives in his head. He knew everything about Batman, billionaire and renown playboy / humanitarian Bruce Wayne, and many others of the Justice League and other hero teams... but not Superman.
It was hard too identify who Superman was. Every picture of him was blurry on account of him constantly vibrating his body. Well his eyes were so hypnotic and unnaturally blue people who saw him in person couldn't see the rest of his face.
Then there was the fact superman was always on patrol no matter what time of day or where on the planet. The mad Scientist thought he might not have a secret identity. That he was Superman all the time. They tracked him to a secret alien base on the north pole and figured he must live there. Their understanding of Conner suggested Superman didn't need money for the necessities of life and likely found entertainment through the base if he needed that.
Conner didn't need to eat, surviving on the nutrients found in sun light like a plant but more efficiently. He didn't need water or even oxygen because of it. The only thing he did need was 3 hours of sleep a night to be fully rested, and that was only because the longer he went without sunlight the more energy he burned without replenishing it. Sleep offered his body a chance to use less of the solar radiation his cells stored up. The solar radiation redirected by the moon at night really wasn't enough to stimulate him.
The whole reason Camdus, the corporation of mad scientists, physically aged and locked his body at 16 was because it was the most active period of his species' life for using Solar radiation. He burned through it faster then superman but theoretically he could unleash it at greater levels once he mastered his powers. He would never he as physically strong as superman but he could manipulate his other powers better... in theory.
In practice he didn't have any of Superman's powers outside tactile telekinesis. Superman used it to flew and catch people / things when they fell without damaging them. Starfire had taught Conner how to use it for unleasing a telekinetic blast, how to push people away from him, and even how to mimic Superman's physical powers (his strength, speed, and invulnerability) by layering his body in a force field and guiding it with his mind. He could even pick stuff up without touching it so long as it was within a few feet of him. He couldn't fly yet but Starfire promised he'd get it.
The reason Conner's other powers hadn't kicked in yet was because he didn't have enough exposure to the sun. He needed to live on Midgard longer for that and they would come with time. He might not age in a traditional sense but his powers still needed to grow up.
"Conner?" Peter gave an obviously forced smile as the clone walked in into the lounge, "How you doing?"
Great, everyone was treating him as if he was this fragile little thing. As if he wasn't having a bad enough day.
Peter was sitting at one of the couches in the common room with Gar, M'Gann, Jaime, Zatana, and Wally. They were all around the new kid, who had green hair and pointy ears.
Peter nodded at the new kid, "This is Spike. I was just telling him how I got my powers,"
Conner rolled his eyes, "He got bit by a bug,"
"A Radioactive / geneticly mutated spider , thank you very much," Peter insisted.
Spike just stared at him, clearly not believing him, most people don't, but then the new kid said something that indicated the face he was making was for something else, "Aren't you supposed to be a girl?"
"A Girl!?" In that moment Peter's adolescent voice certainly pitched like a girl's.
"Spider-Mare, the biggest Marvel superhero and one of the first," Spike began listing things, "Wears red and blue spandex with a spider logo. A legit genius who built her own web shooters,"
Beast Boy started laughing uncontrollable, "Dude! You're totally a girl in his universe!"
M'Gann brought up the obvious, "I thought you just knew Golden age heroes?"
"Spider-Mare is a Golden age hero," Spike insisted.
Conner informed, "Alternate dimensions often differ in both subtle and extreme ways. It is perfectly possible that Peter was born here decades after his introduction to Spike's universe,"
"NERD!" Gar loudly declared, like he did whenever Conner said something scientific. Oddly Peter whacked him upside his head. Conner was learning this kind of behavior was normal among teenagers.
Unfortunately Spike had to break the merriment with a careless question, "What you doing here? Shouldn't you be protecting New York and sneaking all the hero stuff around Aunt May?"
The room grew gravely quiet until Peter got the will to answer, "My aunt... died... a few months ago,"
Spike's eyes grew wide.
"It was my fault," Peter confessed, "One of my Super villain's found out who I was and came to my apartment... anyway I was living on the street for a couple weeks doing the hero thing but Iron Man found me. He had been my mentor for the past year after finding out who I was, well how young I was I guess... I figured he was just being over protective when he warned me away from Meta Human fights... I always got in trouble with him for that... He said I wasn't ready for the collateral damage and I didn't understand what he meant... Anyway he legally adopted me and dropped me off here at Super School-"
Conner absent-mindedly interrupted, "I thought we were called Titan's Academy ?"
M'Gann sighed, "Not now Conner,"
Peter, on the other hand, lightly smiled before continuing with his story, "Iron Man tends to drop by a couple times a week and he even takes me back to Avenger's Tower on the weekends. It's pretty cool having all the Avengers as aunts and uncles,"
"So..." Spike gaped as he tried to find a sensitive way to ask his question, "You're not a hero anymore?"
Peter gave the boy a calculating look before straight up lying, "No... I'm not,"
Jaime spoke up to distract the little boy from asking any more questions, "What about me? Am I a comic book?"
Spike blushed, "errr I don't know... who are you?"
Jaime huffed, "Blue Scarab! Ward to the Blue Beetle and Booster Gold!"
"Oooooh," Spike snapped his not claws, "Yeah I heard of the Blue Beetle, Dan Garrett!"
Jaime groaned, "That was the first Blue Beetle. The Scarab on my back doesn't work for my mentor. He's more of a Batman type, using fancy tech to fight crime,"
"Batman?" Spike tilted his head.
"Never mind," Jaime groaned. "Anyway, I was basicly a street urchin until this thing," pointing at a large Scarab on his back, "latched itself to me. Next thing I know I'm not only adopted by filthy rich superheroes but they send me to this school. Unfortunately the Scarab kinda has a mind of it's own and I have a lot of trouble controlling it,"
Wally rolled his eyes, "The thing tries to kill someone at least once a week,"
Spike looked over at the quiet girl, "What's your story?"
Zatana shrugged, "My dad is a stage magician with actual magic powers. He sent me to this school so I can learn to control my magic in a safe environment," she shrugged.
"She's the most normal out of all of us," Gar teased.
M'Gann teased back on Zatana's behalf, "She still kicks your butt during training,"
Author's Note
The beginning of this chapter is repurposed from an abandoned fic I wrote on Fanfiction.net
I know Peter Quill Isn't Sam's father in the comics but when I first started reading Nova that's what I thought. Since it shows scenes with the Guardians of the Galaxy, and I had just watched the movie, I thought Star Lord stole a Nova Helmet and changed his name to hide from them. That when he disappeared it was because he was found by basicly the space police and arrested. I know that isn't the case now but still it was my first impression of the comic and the initial reason why I liked it so much. Even when I learned my theory was wrong I had grown to love the series so much that I kept reading. Think of this fic as AU for Kid Nova where he is Star Lord's son.
As for Raven, yes her mom is still alive and Azorath is still standing. She hasn't summoned Trigon yet, just heard stories about him. I have plans later down the road for that.
Superboy Conner is based off a combination of the Young Justice Cartoon and his early comics, when his only power really was Tactile Telekinesis that he could use in different ways.
Author's Note
Edit:
Ch3: Bad News All Around
"Moons," Cyborg muttered as he worked in his lab in the Watch Tower, a large Space Station that orbited the planet.
Batman stood behind him, hovering over shoulders, as per usual. Superman and Wonder Woman stood present, just listening. The big three, or rather the Trinity as the press called them, always involves themselves in everything. They were the founding members of the Justice League after all, and tended to micromanage everyone else.
Captain Marvel stood off to the side in case his knowledge of magic was needed. That knowledge seemed to come in handy as the "man" looked at the screen with concern.
Wonder Woman, however, wasn't following "What's that?"
Cyborg sighed, "Our little dragon said moons, not nights, and I think I know why. I was able to trace his home dimension through the scar tissue the portal left in our universe. The result is far more troubling the expected.
"Our dimensional frequencies are so vastly different that time doesn't even progress the same way. A year in our dimension is 365 days... theirs is exactly 1095. There days are even 6 hours longer then our own. We shouldn't have ever been able to interact with such vastly different laws of physics and dimensional frequencies. Honestly, the kid should have died the second he entered our dimension. Whatever he used to break through the dimensional barrier instinctually altered his body to match our laws.
"Our knowledge of dimensional travel is too limited to safely get him back there and according to the kid the portal won't open up naturally until 30 weeks... which vary between 10 and 12 days and are based on their lunar cycles... fast moon. Anyway that is not a big deal to him as a hundred moons make up one of his years however that is over 3.6 of our own and his body ages by our laws now... If we leave it to his people he'll go from a bouncing 10 year old to a teenager before they get him back.
"They can't get him back," Captain Marvel looked grave before pointing at the readings on the screen, "You see that scar tissue you used to trace to his home dimension,"
Cyborg just raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, it's a common side effect of inter dimensional travel,"
"Not for magical portals. That closes the portal completely after opening it. it's much safer then using machines. The frequency of this portal suggest it's a magical one, which mean it shouldn't have left scar tissue... like you said, our dimensions are vastly different. Only an enchanted item could open a portal like this... and it wouldn't be able to handle the strain,"
Superman looked worried, "What are you saying?"
Marvel sighed, "They can't open the portal on their end again... there probably isn't a portal at all anymore. It's not years before they can get to us. They will never be able to reach us... the kid is stuck here, permanently,"
Batman pressed, "Isn't it possible they have another portal. They did build this one after all,"
Captain Marvel shook his head, "An enchanted item which tunes someone to fit the universal norms of even violently different dimensions? That would take centuries to enchant. Just making one would take several generations of master wizard after master wizard working on it. It's purely theoretical in our dimension because no one actually has the means to build one. The very fact they could build ONE is incredibly. I can't imagine two being found in the same dimension,"
Wonder Woman sighed, pinching her nose, well Cyborg stated, "As I said earlier we don't have the means to send the kid back ourselves. Our universes are too different and he is tuned to our laws now. We send him back, he will die. It could take decades before I could build something to compensate for that but I could never turn him back into his original species. That's speaking optimisticly, most likely I would have to work on this my whole life and never actually do it. I have other projects and responsibilities. I don't have the time or resources to dedicate too such a project.
"Our dimensions are just too different. The fact they sent him here safely at all, even if it did turn into a one way trip, is incredible..."
Wonder woman just stared a moment before looking at the rest of the trinity, "Maybe we should start considering candidates for a permanent guardianship over the boy,"
Superman thought, "We would need one who is as long lived as the kid and familiar with magic,"
Captain Marvel groaned and the Trinity looked at him, "I know a guy but you might not go for it... he's kinda... a reformed villain,"
"No," Batman glared, correctly guessing who he was talking about.
Captain Marvel pressed, "He is skilled in the mystic art and can teach the boy a lot about himself. Let's not forget he did help resurrect trillions of lives during the Infinity War. He might not be totally trust worthy but he is a hero now,"
"Yes now," Batman glared, "Did you forget the Battle of New York,"
"I wasn't even alive back then," Marvel muttered.
Superman agreed, "That was 20 years ago. The first Robin hadn't even dawned his cape yet. I believe in giving second chances and he's more then earned his. Besides, he is living in Norway now, with the rest of the Asgardian refugees. Thor says he's been a big help there, acting as second in command and handling the day to day dealings of that floating city of theirs,"
Captain Marvel added, "A lot of Homo Draco, and other magical beings, have moved into New Asgard to. It might help the political side of things if the royal family took in one as their ward,"
Batman shook his head, "I can't believe we're discussing this,"
Superman insisted, "He's a good choice,"
Batman growled, "Bloody Loki,"
The next morning, when Starfire got the call, she honestly didn't know how to handle it. How do you explain to a little boy that he can never go home again. And Loki, Loki of all people, was being made his guardian. How did they figure the "god" of mischief could look after a child? True he would only see the boy on the weekends and holidays but he would be a big influence on the kid.
She sighed as she walked down the hall to Spike's room. She stopped short when she hurt crying.
Could the boy already know? She thought well hovering just outside his door. How could he? No one else in the tower knew and he was too excited and bouncy on his arrival to know then. Was he just homesick? Her news certainly wouldn't help that.
Sighing, she knocked on the door, "Spike?" she called, but got no answer, "Spike, I'm coming in," she waited a moment before opening the door. She found the little boy sitting on his bed crying his eyes out. She calmly walked over and sat down. With a gentle hand on his knee she asked, "What's wrong?"
He pointed at a scroll on his bed. It looked to be somekind of old parchment. Picking it up she raised an eyebrow at all the scribbles written in neatly spaced lines.
"What is this?" She asked.
"R-right," Spike choked back his sobs, "I (sniff) I can't read your gibberish... how could you understand Equestrian..." The boy trailed off as he gently took the parchment from her.
Starfire tried to contain her shock. The boy couldn't READ!?! Why was she just hearing about this now!? Was it that the boy spoke such perfect English everyone assumed they shared the same written language?
"It's a letter.." Spike forced himself to speak so Starfire pushed back her shock and listened. The boy looked at the letter, as if willing the words to change, "From my mom... I got it this morning,"
Starfire gulped, "How?"
Spike shrugged, just as he managed to compose himself "Mom taught me a spell to send and receive letters with my dragon fire... still works, even across dimensions,"
"I see... what does the letter say?"
Spike looked like he was about to fall into a new batch of tears but managed to soldier on, "That... that I can never go home... the mirror broke almost instantly... she... she's sending me this letter hoping I can answer... so she knows I'm alive... they're not sure if I actually made it to the other side,"
"Have you answered?"
Spike shook his head, "no,"
"Come on, let's get to your desk and write a letter," Starfire insisted, "I'm sure your mom would be relieved to know you're alive and safe,"
Spike nodded and was about to get up when something clicked in his head, "You knew?" He whispered before shouting, "You KNEW!?"
"Not until this morning," Starfire assured, "The Justice League spent all night trying to figure out how to send you back when they discovered... that the portal you used to get here was most likely destroyed. Unfortunately... we just don't have the means to send you back ourselves either. I actually came in here this morning to tell you. The good news is your safe, and healthy, and you can still write letters to your mom apparently... who I bet would really love a letter right now,"
Spike let his anger melt away at her explanation, "Yeah..." he hesitately crawled out of bed, still clutching the letter, "You..." he tried to gather his thoughts, "You sure you can't send me back yourself. This letter got here so maybe..." he trailed off, but still daring to dream.
"Sending a little letter between dimensions is one thing but no living creature could survive the trip," Starfire explained, "And honestly after we send your mom a letter we need to make sure it is having no adverse effects on you or our dimension... I'm sorry Spike but you're going to have to ask your mom not to send anymore until we get this stuff checked out but she deserves to know you're alive,"
Spike looked like he might cry all over again, "So this might be my last letter to my mom,"
"Make it count, but don't take too long because she's waiting,"
Spike nodded, dedicated to writing the fastest and greatest letter ever written.
The Stallion stood tall looking into the mirror, and smiled. Constantly swirling energy danced like living water. It might not be as advanced as Starswirls, but it did the trick... and it was all his, no one else knew of it. How could they? This was his life's work.
No pony thought a simple Earth Pony could become a master enchanter. They saw his runes, his potions, and even the magical artifacts he crafted with his own hooves and dared to laugh at him. All because he couldn't cast a spell without them.
He was the greatest enchanter in the history of any world. Greater even then Starswirl! What took that relic a lifetime took him only a couple hundred years!
... and what else could one who has been shunned and mocked his whole life become... if not the greatest villain ever imagined.
"Bad Horse, I take it?" A man spoke from behind him, "The fabled 'Thoroughbred of Sin'... I admit... I wasn't expecting you to be a literal horse,"
"Yes you were," Bad Horse scoffed at the bold human in a nice suit, "You're too well connected to think anything else," On cue three badly beaten men were dragged into the room by guards, "I don't appreciate being spied on," explained the horse.
The Stallion held up a seed in his hoof. It slowly opened up until vines suddenly shot out of it and pierced through the men. They screamed as the vines twisted and continued to grow inside them, forcing their way out through new holes they made. Once the screaming stopped the Stallion through the seed to the side.
The nicely dressed man didn't even bat an eye, just pointed at the center man with weeds growing out his belly, "That one wasn't mine," he calmly informed.
Bad Horse shrugged, "Can never be too careful. Now then, since we got the unpleasantness out of the way we can proceed to business. I take it there was a reason you were spying on me?"
"Just curious about the competition," The nicely dressed man shrugged as his eyes turned to the portal, "A talking horse taking over all crime in his, and all surrounding, states is bound to turn some heads,"
"Indeed," Bad Horse acknowledged.
"I was wondering, if you would be interested in helping me with a little... a little project. A Mister Slade Wilson has discovered a very lucrative opportunity,"
Bad Horse scoffed, "Deathstroke? We have butted heads a few times ourselves. May I ask what has all my rivals coming together?"
"Just an opportunity to embarrass the Justice League well turning out a nice profit. Have you heard of Titans Academy? In particular, it's newest member?"
"And why, exactly, did you think I would be interested in an apprentice," Loki rolled his eyes as he walked the streets of New Asgard, a floating city in the skies of Norway.
Captain Marvel had requested an audience and, as the successor to the Grand Wizard Shazam, Loki felt obligated to grant it to him.
Loki actually liked to keep active in magical circles of this world. Hell the entire reason he tried to conquer this planet, so long ago, was because of the sheer magical potential of it's population. They were ignorant but they had the raw ability and just required the opportunity for a proper education.
The various "Superpowers" this race was evolving into, combined with their magical potential, made them extremely desirable to galactic tyrants like himself, formerly of course. The idea being, conquer them before they became a threat, and then use them to conquer others... Loki wasn't... entirely proud of that chapter of his life... people like that were the reason this system had it's own personal Green Lantern.
Still, he found he actually enjoyed speaking with the magic users of this world. They might be more on the primitive side of the evolutionary scale, but they made up for that in raw power and ingenuity. Human ambition was something he whole heartedly admired. It had led to them defeating gods like himself (alright so he was just a demigod but still an impressive feat for a mortal race).
They came up with ways of crafting magic not even the greatest Asgardian mages thought of. It was hard not to enjoy getting in an academic debate with them, and he loved all to hell when he was asked to consult on their magical endeavors. After all, for all their ingenuity, he still understood the laws of the universe far better then they did.
The man child beside Loki shrugged, "He'd be more of a ward then an apprentice," not answering the demigod's question. It might have been just a result of Captain Marvel being clumsy with his conversation skills. He was still young after all. He might be imbued with vast knowledge of magic, but he was still just a boy.
"That sounds even less appealing," Loki scuffed, walking a little faster and hoping the mortal would take the hint. If this was all the young wizard wanted his help with then he shouldn't waste his time, "I can have the boy put into one of our orphanages if Midgardians lack the means to handle a dragon spawn,"
"He's not any ordinary dragon," Captain Marvel gave his goofy grin, as if he had a secret, "He's kinda... Purple,"
Loki immediately stopped and turned to face the man child, "Spyro has been orphaned?... Again!?"
Captain Marvel laughed, "Nope. We got ourselves a new one,"
Loki just stared at him like he was an idiot, "A purple dragon can only be born once every ten generations, and we already got him,"
"Kid's from another dimension," The man child shrugged.
Loki stared, and slowly smiled. A purple dragon? They were the pinnacle of power. They weren't limited to only one transformation. They could turn into any type of dragon, of any shape or size! They could manipulate all magical elements, even channel magic itself in it's rawest, most brutal, form. If Loki had to have an apprentice, that would be worthy of him.
"Maybe you can see why we can't trust him to just anybody," Captain Marvel smiled, "If this kid fell into the wrong hands, it be pretty devastating for our world, maybe even the galaxy,"
Loki frowned, "Since when am I the right hands?"
The man child continued to smile, and with a shrug answered, "Since you started asking questions like that. It took some convincing, but the League agreed. You're the best guy to look after the kid. It won't be year round. Just on the weekends and holidays. Until then he will be attending a boarding school for meta humans. The League was pretty insistent on that,"
"They want to limit my access to him?" Loki guessed.
"More like want to make sure the kid grows up with a healthy attitude and outlook of the world. The whole point of the school is too make sure super powered kids don't turn into villains. Most of the League don't even want them to join us, even when they grow up. They want them to live normal lives and forget the hero gig,"
"Champions lose much in their quest," Loki reminded, "They see the worst of Sapient nature. Most of your League long for a normal life. They romanticize it. You'll understand, when you're older,"
"I'm NOT a child!" Captain Marvel snapped defensively.
Loki rolled his eyes and wacked the man child upside the head, "You're 12. Don't let your disguise delude even your senses,"
The boy blushed, "It's not a disguise, just... what I turn into when I use my powers," he shrugged.
"Really now? And it has nothing to do with the fact the Justice League would kick you out and ship you off to this school if they-"
Captain Marvel quickly interrupted, "They do know... well some of them..." he looked uncertain until blurting out, "Superman knows! If the others found out I'm sure he'd stand up for me!" the boy insisted.
"Then why keep it a secret at all?" Loki pressed.
The man child squirmed, "Well... it's embarrassing, is all. Both Superman and Cyborg have been treating me different ever since they found out. I'm nearly as powerful as Superman!" When Loki stared, laughing, Captain Marvel defended, "I totally kick his butt in training!"
Loki laughed harder at that, "Superman has a weakness to magic and is constantly holding himself back. Trust me kid, if it wasn't for that you wouldn't stand a chance against him,"
The boy just pouted.
"Let's move past your delusions of grandeur, shall we?" Loki teased, "Tell me more about my new ward,"
Spike sneezed, all over the pizza the group was about to munch on.
"Damnit!" Gar yelled, "Now it has lizard cooties!"
Spike nervously laughed, "Sorry,"
Luckily Starfire came to the rescue, "I can just make another from the matter converter," she informed as she got up, taking the sneeze pizza with her.
"Got to love Kryptonian tech," Peter grinned.