1.17 Homecoming Part 5

“Damn you!” yells Derrick.

“I really don’t care anymore,” replies Allison, not even bothering to spare her brother a glance.

I am well and truly fed up of that brat. Why on Earth should I give a damn about him when I find battle harden supervillains on a regular basis?

Allison hears footsteps on the stairs and her mother yelling as their parents come to tell her off for “bullying” her younger stepbrother again.

No, not my mother and our parents, his mother and his parents. My dad is dead and I haven’t had my mum for a long time. For far too long.

With a weary sigh, Allison spins her chair around to face the doorway of her bedroom, where Derrick is standing by it.

Despite being in a three bedroom house, her parents share one of the two largest rooms, Derrick gets the other large room while Nathan gets the smaller bedroom. Allison on the other hand, has to put up with a small office on the top floor that has seen been converted into a bedroom.

Allison restrains herself from growling as she spots the balding black hair of her stepfather coming up the stairs.

Simon Davis. That snivelling moron who always caters to his spoiled brat of a son.

“Allison,” says Simon sharply in an angry voice, “What have you done this time?”

“Nothing,” replies Allison in a dry drawl as she knows her words won’t be believed as they always aren’t, “Derrick is just being a brat as usual, but as usual, you won’t believe me and punish me anyway.”

“Allison Ryder!” shouts Simon, “Don’t you dare take that tone-”

“Why not?” demands Allison, “All you ever do is treat me like dirt.”

“Young lady, if you’re going to live under my roof, you will have to abide by my rules and you will respect me as your father-” Simon starts to lecture only to falter as Allison begins to laugh.

Respect him? Hell no. As for abiding by his rules? Why? I’m a freaking superhero and a member of the Guardsmen, the world’s most famous team of vigilantes. I publically flout the law so why should I have to follow his dumb rules? I don’t have to a thing that this piece of scum tells me to and he is physically incapable of making me do so.

“I am so not respecting you,” says Allison through her laughter, “And if I have to follow your stupid rules to live under your roof, then I am not going to live under your roof.”

“How dare you!” yells Simon, “And where exactly will you go?”

My quarters in our base. Legacy and Scott won’t mind the company.

“I’ll manage,” replies Allison with a shrug as she begins pack a bag, “I have friends who are willing to support me.”

Ain’t that the truth.

“I’ll report you to the police as a runaway,” threatens Simon as Allison packs her most sentimental items into her bag.

Anything else other than the emotionally valuable stuff is replaceable.

“And I’ll tell them why I left,” counters Allison, “And then you’ll have to explain how you been treating me.”

As Allison finishes packing the most important things into her bag, she turns her wheelchair around once again. Not to her surprise, she sees Simon blocking the doorway with the rest of her ‘family’ in the hallway.

Is he seriously going to try and stop me? Me, the...oh right, I’m just a crippled helpless girl in a wheelchair to him. Idiot has no idea about what he’s got coming.

“Out of the way,” says Allison casually as she wheels herself towards the door.

“No,” replies Simon bluntly as he crosses his arms.

After deciding the pros and cons of arguing with him versus forcing her way out, Allison decides to simply go with the latter.

Speeding her wheelchair forward, Allison swings a gentle punch into Simon’s gut. Unfortunately for the grown man, Allison has B Class super strength and a gentle punch from her drops him to his knees.

Lightly grasping Simon’s shoulder, Allison casually shoves her stepfather to one side into the wall.

“Get out of my way,” Allison tells the rest of her family as a dazed Simon slumps and she continues to wheel forward.

After seeing what happened to Simon, her former mother and two stepbrothers all get out of her way and Allison is uncontested as she leaves the house.

As she wheels herself out of the front garden, Allison lets out a bark of laughter.

I am finally free! Man, this feels good. How could I have left it for so long? No longer having to put up with the abuse and having to pretend that those worthless excuses for human beings are my family.

But now what? Where do I go? Do I just discard my secret identity or do I cling onto what remains of my old life?

The former is seems interesting, just fully devoting myself to being Defender. I could even help others in my situation using my fame as a respected superhero. I mean, Legacy, Scott and Jaylyn are all fine without having secret identities to live and maintain.

That said, I do like my life. I enjoy school, get good grades and have friends. Do I just give all of that up so easily? I mean, the only parts of my life that I hate is my ‘family’ and my wheelchair. The wheelchair is just there as a cover now and I don’t have to live with those horrible pieces of scum anyone.

Oh, what to decide? Become Defender full time or keep on living my old life without my family?

As she goes down the street, Allison makes her decision and pulls out her phone.

1.17 Homecoming Part 4

Hmm. Do I tell him the truth or do I come up with some lie?

The truth is going to come out sooner or later.

We might as well get over with now then. Especially when we are friendly territory.

“An AI,” answers Leo, “Sentinel was my first creation. You see, I accidentally created her the day I got my powers.”

“An AI...” repeats Scott.

“Yes, an A-” confirms Leo, only to be the one that is interrupted this time.

“A freaking AI!” yells Scott, “Are you insane!”

I suppose somebody was going to react like this eventually.

“That is debatable,” replies Leo calmly.

“Take this seriously!” snarls Scott as he leaps to his feet, “Do you have any idea how dangerous an AI is? It needs to be taken into the procession of-”

Just who hell does this guy thing he is?

No one gets to threaten Jaylyn or any of our loved ones!

With an angry growl, Leo steps towards Scott, his hands clenched into tight fists.

“No,” says Leo bluntly.

“You don’t understand the situation-urrg,” Scott starts to reply before his voice chokes off.

 Leo has summoned Reinkal to his right hand and has the halberd aimed at Scott, the blade crackling with what little charge it has remaining.

“You do not get to just come into my home and threaten my family,” states Leo bluntly, his rage barely restrained even with the aid of all five Companions.

I don’t freaking care about the consequences, I will kill him if he dares to harm our loved ones.

“You cannot threaten a law enforcement official,” says Special Agent Layman as he steps forward so he is between Leo and Secretary Scott, “Stand d-”

Leo doesn’t give the DSA agent time to even finish his sentence as he leaps into action. Leo slash Nolan across the chest, leaving a deep gashes he as he darts forward and yanks the agent’s handgun out of its holster with his left hand.

Leo aims his new gun at Nolan’s knee even as he prepares to stab the agent through the chest with Reinkal. But before Leo can continue his attack, Nolan flickers and the DSA agent vanish from view.

Leo halts as he attempts to figure out what happened.

Oh yeah, superpowered Mum.

You’re darn right son.

Mum? What are you doing in my head?

Telling you to stop this nonsense.

He threatened Jaylyn!

Who are you?

That would be Burning Heart. I am White Tea by the way.

Wait, you have two Companions?

Five actually. I’m Vigilant Lion.

Enduring Iron.

Joyous Star.

Wow. You have a lot of voices in your head Leo.

Hence why we said that our sanity was debatable.

We?

As you gathered, we aren’t exactly normal Companions. Rather than being separate beings, we are more sub-personalities of Leo.

It is true that they are different to me.

And who might you be?

Danica Geary’s Companion, Faye Kitty.

Well, that explains some things.

I beg your pardon Leo?

Never mind, let’s get back to dealing with Secretary Scott.

Kicking his Mum out of his mind, Leo focuses his attention back on Scott.

“What did you-” Scott starts to ask before Leo’s Mum cuts in.

“I’ll bring him and the others back once this is all sorted,” explains Mum in a sing song voice.

Scott glares at her, but turns back to Leo as Leo clears his throat loudly.

“Just to clear some things up,” starts Leo as he aims Reinkal at Scott, “Sentinel may have been an accidental creation, but my darling Jaylyn considers me to be her father and in the first few months, I have accepted her as my daughter. Admittedly it was with some reluctance, but that doesn’t change that fact that if anybody goes after her or any of my loved ones, I will use everything in my power to stop them. Everything. And I don’t just refer to my superpowers when I say I’ll do anything in power to protect the ones I love. I have an army, I have a nuclear arsenal and I have the ability to produce anything I else I will need. So believe me when I say that if I have to, I will take on the US government if I have to and I will win.”

Once again, Leo and Scott stare at each other.

“You may leave my house now,” says Leo’s Mum casually as she stands up and walks over to Leo, placing a hand on her son’s shoulder, “Secretary Robert Scott, you have outstayed your welcome.”

With an absolutely furious look on his face, Scott sharply turns and strides out the room.

This will have long term consequences.

Then we will weather them. He should not have threaten our family.

Leo and his Mum are both still as they wait until they hear the opening and slamming shut of the front door as Secretary Scott exits the house.

Whilst his Mum relaxes, Leo remains alert, processing the potential outcomes of this conflict.

Scott will not just let this go. He will have his vengeance. Of the other big threats, I have faced, the DSA will be the worse. The Harbingers are, well the Harbingers and won’t specifically target us. We sent the Slaughter Seven fleeing with their tails between the legs. Darkness is... downright reasonable when I think about. Pragmatic and not just about to get into a long and tedious war with the Guardsmen out of pride and petty vengeance. Secretary Scott on the other hand, I can totally see him doing that. Man, I feel tired all of a sudden.

But Leo is jolted out of his thoughts as his Mum speaks.

“So Leonard Orrell Geary,” says his Mum in that deceptively uninterested voice that mothers’ have, “You have a daughter?”

Leo’s face flushes red.

1.17 Homecoming Part 3

“I’m so glad that you are home safe and sound,” cries Leo’s Mum as she lightens her grip on him.

I am so not telling her or anyone else outside of the Guardsmen that I lost my lower left arm fighting Apocalypse.

It would worry her unnecessarily.

Still, it might get reported in the news. We weren’t exactly able to keep that secret in the battle against the Harbinger.

Darn.

“That goes for both of us son,” agrees his Dad as he joins their hug.

The hug lasts for several seconds before Leo pries himself loose of his parents.

We got to deal with the DSA in our house and we can spend more time with Mum and Dad later.

Something we need to do with all of our family.

Yeah....

“Secretary Scott,” says Leo as he acknowledges the very politically powerful man.

When it comes to dealing with parahumans in America, Scott’s brother is unchallenged by any legal authority.

He is not someone that you want to make an enemy of.

Neither are we.

 “Leonard Orrell Geary,” says Scott back, “Feel free to take a seat.”

“I’ll stand,” replies Leo as he leans against the wall.

There is a couple second of silence as Leo and Scott stare each other down whilst nobody else in the room sure about what to do.

Eventually the uneasy silence is broken as Leo’s parents sit back down.

“Given your past actions and intelligence, let us not beat around the bush,” says Scott bluntly, “You are Gears, the leader of the vigilante group known as the Guardsmen.”

“That I am,” confirms Leo, not bothering to deny it.

What good would it possible accomplish at this stage?

“You’re not going try to deny it?” inquires Scott with a raised eyebrow.

“What would be the point?” retorts Leo, “As you said, let us not beat around the bush.”

“As you wish,” says Scott, “As I’m sure you are aware, vigilante actions are illegal and the US government takes the necessary actions to eliminate them and deal with the perpetrators. As of such, now that we know what you have been up to-”

“No,” says Leo firmly.

Scott seems surprised for a moment before recovering.

“You don’t seem to understand the situation,” says Scott as he glares daggers at Leo, “We know who are and-”

“You do realise revealing secret identities like that would be a violation of the Code,” points out Leo, referring to the Cape and Cowl Code of Conduct that is used by the majority of parahumans in the more civilised countries of the world.

I owe Darkness for enforcing that.

We’ll call it even then.

“Like that matters,” replies Scott as he glowers at Leo, “It is my duty to keep America safe from parahumans and I will do whatever is necessary to fulfil that duty. The Department of Superhuman Affairs and I shall not allow a vigilante group as dangerous as the Guardsmen is go about uncontested. Especially when it is within our power to stop their leader.”

Is he serious?

Does he really believe he can best us?

To the surprise of those around him, Leo laughs.

“What’s so funny?” asks Scott, genuinely confused by Leo’s laughter.

“How can you believe that you can beat me?” Leo asks back.

“Well,” starts Scott, “I have the backing of the entire US government.”

That is pretty significant.

Except they won’t devote much of it towards taking us down.

“And that matters how?” inquires Leo in a falsely polite tone.

“Do you really believe you and your little gang of vigilantes can take on the US military?” demands Scott, his anger starting to creep into his voice.

Can we? Of course we can.

And who exactly does he think he is calling the Guardsmen a little gang?

“Yes because contrary to what you might believe, the Guardsmen are not just a bunch of vigilantes,” replies Leo, “I have plans for taking on the US of A.”

“You won’t have time to set them in motion,” snarls Scott, dropping all pretences of being civil.

“I don’t need to,” chuckles Leo, “Sentinel has already begun them. Right now, the Guardsmen have over one hundred automated combat drones, each one capable of taking on a B Class parahuman. By the time the military has mustered a force and sent it over here, we can easily crush it.”

“You really believe you can go to war with the United States of America?” demands Scott.

“Why yes, I do,” retorts Leo, “In case you haven’t noticed, the Guardsmen crush everything that they go up against. Darkness is taking over the criminal underworld and is on the verge of creating a global crime empire. And yet he doesn’t dare face the Guardsmen to the point of abandoning all operations in our territory. And what about Aquiline and the Slaughter Seven? Scourge of America and completely unbeatable. At least until he came back up north. And then what happened? The Guardsmen massacred the Seven and their lackeys. And let’s not forget about the Dozen Harbingers of the End Times. They are unstoppable monsters that terrorise the entire planet. And only times they have actually been defeated is when they went up against the Guardsmen. Both Armageddon and Apocalypse are defeated on the first day that they appeared because of the actions of a Guardsman.”

I might be exaggerating a few things there.

He doesn’t need to know that.

Darn right.

Scott still looks furious, but he seems to have decided to drop this approach.

“Fine,” says Scott, spitting out the word, “Let’s move onto something else. Who or what is Sentinel?”

1.17 Homecoming Part 2

This is so surreal.

Leo walks down his street as he has done countless times before on his way home. A journey he has made who knows how many times before, but this time feels and is completely different.

I don’t feel like I’m going home, but rather into another battle.

Leo tenses at the sight of the DSA van parked outside his house. He has spotted another down the street and three others nearby already on his walk home, but to have one just outside his house like that...well, it really hits things home for him.

After all, it is one thing to know what has happened on an intellectual level, but a completely different thing to see it in practice.

I wonder how they will play it off. Having so many DSA vans here isn’t exactly discrete and people will notice they are at my house.

I don’t think they will publically reveal your identity as Gears. That would be a blatant declaration of war against us.

More likely they will claim it is to do with Mum and our new twin sister. Even if it to do with us.

It probably does have something to do with Mum and Belinda.

The DSA agent, a tall man with a black jacket with DSA on it, outside his house says something into his radio as Leo turns into the front garden of his house.

Am I walking into trouble unprepared? I don’t have any equipment on me except for these sunglasses. And all they do if provide a HUD.

We weren’t expected such heavy DSA presence at our home.

And with our new prosthetic arm, it isn’t like we don’t have any our equipment. Jaylyn went all out went she designed and constructed it.

Any it isn’t like we’ll be on our own. If it came to a fight, I’m certain Mum would support us. And I’m sure Belinda will as well.

Walking past the DSA agent, Leo opens the unlocked door and walks in. The hallway is empty except for a woman in a stereotypical black suit and glasses standing by the living room door. A single glance at her reveals to Leo that the Hispanic woman is an Aphrodite.

Further information appears on the HUD that his sunglasses provide, identifying her as DSA Special Agent Arcelia Vicario. A parahuman, Arcelia is B Class Aphrodite and B Class energy negator.

She could be troublesome.

Not really, Our Bellator rating is pretty much on par with her Aphrodite rating.

And her energy negation is ineffective against us. With our combat skills and experience, we can take her. She hasn’t been through as nearly as much as we have.

And that’s not even taking into account our new arm.

“Greetings Mr Geary,” says Arcelia as Leo closes the front door behind him, “Your parents and Secretary Scott are waiting in the living room.”

“Thank you for the information Agent Vicario,” replies Leo as he walks towards the living room door.

Not a normal human would notice it, but with his enhanced reflexes, Leo spots surprise briefly appear on Arcelia’s face as Leo addresses her by name before disappearing in less than a split-second.

I’m sure that caught her off guard.

Don’t let them know that you know information more than you need to.

Don’t worry, I know that.

Not looking at Arcelia as he walks past the DSA agent, Leo enters the living room. In the corner is another DSA agent in a black suit, a tough looking lean man with a good muscular structure and cropped black hair.

DSA Special Agent Nolan Layman. An A+ Class Bellator and adapts to current opponents with more opponents resulting in faster adaptation.

He will be a problem.

Yeah. If it does come to a fight, we’ll have to take him down hard and fast before it gets prolonged.

Even if it means killing him?

Even if it means killing him.

Sitting on an armchair is Secretary Scott of the DSA. A former military man like his brother, he still has a good physique with rugged features. His age is showing as the short brown hair is interlaced with plenty of grey.

So that is Scott’s brother. I can see the resemblance.

Especially if that clean shaven face had a grey beard and more wrinkles.

Ha. Yeah, I could totally see that.

But it is the two people sitting on the couch that draw Leo’s attention the most and he is most looking forward to seeing.

“Mum, Dad,” breathes Leo as he focuses his full attention on his parents.

His Dad is the same as ever. A tall, fit man with broad shoulders and short brown hair and blue eyes similar to Leo’s own. There was a reason he could past off the stellar physique his Bellator Enhancement gave him as something he had naturally.

The woman sitting next to his Dad is completely unrecognisable to Leo, but he knows she is his Mum even before his HUD tells him so.

While she might look completely, it has to be Mum. She fits the description of her new appearance and who else could it be?

Yet it is a shame to be unable to recognise our mother.

I don’t want to dwell on that...

His Mum is tall at six foot and as Jaylyn informed him, has the features of an anime character over those of a real person. Her hair is long and pink while her eyes are rainbow coloured. His Mum has a ridiculous figure with what have to be at least F-Cup breasts.

Wouldn’t it be nice to meet a female parahuman who doesn’t have big breasts? Something is wrong with your life when you have enough experience to identify cup size of a girl’s boobs at a single glance.

As for her inhuman features, Leo’s Mum has a pair of pink cat ears on the top of her head in addition to a pink furred cat tail poking out of the back of her tan skirt. She is also wearing a low cut white tank top, but Leo can tell that is only because of the need to have space for the two pairs of glistening golden fairy wings.

Or at least I hope it. I really hope that Mum isn’t going to dressing so exposed from now on.

“Oh Leo!” cries his Mum as leaps from the couch, reacting faster than anybody else in the room.

She disappears in a flash of gold glitter before reappearing in another flash of gold glitter in front of Leo. As Leo processes the fact, his Mum embraces him in a strong hug.

And Leo just embraces her back.

1.17 Homecoming Part 1

“Welcome back Father,” says Jaylyn in her new voice, still a feminine computerised voice as always, as Gears enters the base via elevator, “May I ask why you have come here first?”

“Is that a joke?” asks Gears as he looks upwards despite Jaylyn not having a physical form.

Does she seriously think I am going to go home to my family in this state?

She is just a little girl.

An AI.

But still just a little kid.

Gears looks down at himself. His armour is still a mess from the fight with Apocalypse and he has yet to have an opportunity to change into anything else. That said, he has been able to patch it up a bit.

The Norwegian locals, including the government authorities, were willing to help him out a bit. Even by respecting his desire to keep his identity secret since the US government wasn’t requesting they arrest him or uncover his true identity.

Ragnar healed up his left arm, but it is still missing from the elbow. A few spare pieces from folks here and there helped patch the damage on his armour temporarily so it was functional once again.

“No,” replies Jaylyn bluntly.

I wonder who she got that from? Me or Legacy. Perhaps Scott?

“I need time to tidy up and get my affairs in order,” says Gears as he strides towards his lab, “I want to be on top of things when I approach the DSA. Especially since they know my secret identity now.”

“But don’t you want to meet your new twin sister?” insists Jaylyn.

“What is she like?” inquires Gears, curious about his alternate that was summoned.

I’m going to take Jaylyn calling her my new twin sister as a good sign.

Jaylyn wouldn’t refer to her that way if she didn’t like her.

“Well,” replies Jaylyn, sounding excited, “Her name is Belinda Oriana Geary or Bel for short. She is a female version of you who is an only child and is a substitute sister to the Joan in her world. In her world, there are far less parahumans and they are weaker than those in our world on average. She is an Aphrodite like you, but is also Bellator that is stronger than A+ Class. Otherwise she is an A Class Energy Projector with white energy. At least as far as she has revealed to the government. Privately, she has told me that she also has psionic fields that grant super strength, nigh invulnerability, telekinesis and psionic blasts. She also has a few other minor and passive powers that aren’t really noticeable. Since arriving in our dimension, Aunt Bel has been spending most of her time with Mother.”

“Thanks for the info darling,” says Leo, taking in that information as he removes his helmet, “Do you have prosthetic arm ready for me yet?”

“Yes Father,” replies Jaylyn, “I have been working on it ever since you lost your arm. It is ready to place on your arm just as soon as you make the necessary upgrades to your flesh at the end of your left arm to support it.”

Huh. It has only just hit me that I’m going to be a cyborg now.

It could be worse.

And is being a cyborg any worse than being a parahuman?

I suppose it isn’t. Actually, I find the idea of being a cyborg kind of cool

“Let’s get this over and done with as soon as possible,” says Leo with some weariness, “I want to get home and see my family. It has definitely been too long since I’ve seen Mum, Dad, Tan-Mum! I forgot see manifested. Damn it! What sort of parahuman is she Jaylyn?”

“Grandma Danica is an A+ Class Abnormal taking the form of what can be describe as an Aphrodite Anime Cat-Girl Fairy,” answers Jaylyn, “She can open portals to other dimensions, has nigh invulnerability, telekinesis, white energy projection and tinkering at high levels. She also has lower level telepathy and appears to have various powers at D Class levels. She also emits a fear aura, but is able to control and tone it down. Grandma Danica’s mentality appears to be normal, but I have detected that she is much more whimsical and humorous like a fairy. However, it appears to be benevolent in nature and she does not enjoy the pain and suffering of others.”

Nothing too bad. It could have been much worse.

Let us be thankful that it isn’t.

Still, Mum is kinda of overpowered and those powers aren’t exactly related.

We can look into that at later date.

“Okay, now what are the DSA doing?” asks Leo.

Depending what they decide to do, the Department of Superhuman Affairs could be a serious problem.

They have legal and official authority in the affairs of parahumans that is effectively uncontested.

And the backing of the United States government. I don’t fancy our chances against the entire US of A.

Actually we might have a decent chance. If we have some time to prepare that is.

Yes, Legacy and Sentinel would stand with us. Scott and Cain would both back up Legacy and Allison would support us.

We have a good amount of weaponry and equipment stockpiled and we can easily produce more. And our tech level is serious above that the US government even with all of their tinkers and gadgeteers.

And if we can produce warbots under the command of Jaylyn to fill out our numbers...

With some artificial intelligence of their own in case Jaylyn’s control is disrupted.

They have lots of powerful parahumans.

So? We have weaponry that is more than capable of killing an A+ parahuman with nigh invulnerability. Plus we can always hire some mercs or villains if we needed to.

And Legacy and Jaylyn are practically unkillable in the long term. And they would never stop fighting even if the rest of us were slain.

Interlude - Belinda

Belinda Oriana Geary hesitates as she waits by the door of her alternate’s bedroom, unwilling to go out into the corridor just yet.

This version of Earth is just so strange. And yet it is very similar and I almost forget where I am. But then something majorly different just comes along and reminds me of my situation.

We’ll work through this.

Yeah, we will. But this world will take some getting used to. They have only had powers here for six months and there is at least over a hundred thousand parahumans since then while our world had them for over two years and there wasn’t even twenty thousand yet. And there is at least five hundred A Class parahumans in this world while ours had less than twenty total.

We’ll have to get used to no longer being one of the most powerful people in the world.

I wonder when my alternate will get back.

Leo you mean?

Yeah, Leonard Orrell Geary. I wonder what he is like? I hope he is like me, but considering the major differences in our lives...we can’t be certain he will be like us at all. For starters he is a boy and has two younger siblings while we are, were, an only child. Plus he has Joan as a girlfriend rather than as the sister that we never had.

He is a good person like you are and he also choose to become a hero to do the right thing just as you did. Just ask Joan, she is coming to see us right now.

It isn’t Joan, just her alternate.

“May I come in?” asks this world’s Joan as she pushes the door wide open and strides in.

“You’re supposed to wait for a response for coming in,” replies Belinda as Joan hops down on the bed.

“I know,” answers Joan with a shameless smile.

Well, at least she is like our Joan.

I suppose.

“Come and sit next to me,” says Joan as she pats bed next to her.

Why not?

Doing as the alternate Joan says, Belinda plops herself down next to the smaller girl.

“So what do you want?” asks Belinda as she looks down at the smaller girl.

“Well, first I want to tell you that I think you’re beautiful,” replies Joan, causing Belinda to flush red in response, “I know you’re an Aphrodite, but just look at yourself.”

Now feeling both pleased and self-conscious at the compliment, Belinda looks down at herself.

Joan does have a point. I am very beautiful, beyond the point that a normal person could naturally hope to reach.

Her long, sleek blonde hair is draped over her large breasts with her cleavage exposed by the tightly fitting white t-shirt. Belinda looks past her breasts at her denim skinny jeans covering her legs.

I have long and pretty hair, an excellent hourglass figure and perfect features. I supposes I am beautiful. At least by my own definitions

“But what I don’t get is why you’re an Aphrodite rather than a Bellator,” continues Joan.

“What?” replies Belinda, confused by what Joan just asked her.

“Well, Leo is a very practical and pragmatic person hence why his Enhanced rating is a Bellator,” explains Joan, “You on the other hand are an Aphrodite, which applies when people care more about looks.”

“Well, while I’m a tomboy at heart, I still like to be a girly girl,” replies Belinda, “I suppose that is why I am an Aphrodite. That said, I am also partially Bellator as my Enhanced body puts my physique at C+ Class plus levels.”

“Really?” says Joan, sounding like she only half-believes what she is being told, “Well, I suppose there are weirder things than having a mega-hybrid superpower. That said, I’m certain that are some supers already with powers like that.”

“Yeah,” agrees Belinda absentmindedly.

“Hey Bel,” says Joan suddenly, getting that cheeky look on her face that Belinda wouldn’t recognise anywhere.

At least some things are same in this universe.

Joan reaches forward with her hand towards Belinda’s chest. And while she spots it easily with her increased reaction times and perception and could easily block the relatively slow motion with her superior reflexes, Belinda lets it happen.

My Joan did this plenty of times as well.

Joan’s hand squeezes Belinda’s breast and Belinda, deciding to have a bit of fun herself, quickly grabs Joan at inhuman speeds and thrusts her head towards her breast. As her head is buried in Belinda’s breasts, Joan lets out a yelp that is muffled by the mounds of flesh.

As she lets go of Joan, Belinda starts to laugh and as soon as she has pulled her head back, Joan joins her.

This Joan is going to be just fine.

See? Look on the bright sight of things Belinda.

As their laugh dies down after a minute or so, Belinda pulls Joan into a hug and Joan hugs her back.

“Thank you for being here for me,” whispers Belinda into Joan’s ear.

“No problem,” replies Joan, “Leo has always been there for me and you’re basically Leo if he had been born a girl. How big are they anyway?”

“So you think of me as female version of Leo?” inquires Belinda, genuinely curious about this matter, “Oh, the girls are F cups.”

“Wow,” mutters Joan before answering Belinda’s question, “Well, yeah. Of course I do. I mean, I wouldn’t have done that to anybody else. I haven’t done it with my own family, with Allison it would be to awkward and it would just be plain weird to do it to Legacy.”

“Legacy?” repeats Belinda.

I have never heard of that girl before.

And such a strange name.

“Guardian,” replies Joan with a shrug, “Half-alien mutant super soldier superhero with no memories of her past and my best friend. But we can talk about her later. I want to show you something first.”

“Sure,” replies Belinda, intrigued by whatever Joan wishes to show her.

Aren’t you bothered by whom or rather what Legacy is?

Not at the moment. Besides, she is Joan’s best friend so we don’t need to worry about her.

Joan pulls out a smartphone and holds the screen in front of Belinda.

Don’t react to this and keep it quiet.

This is the only secret I haven’t spilled today and probably the most important.

Okay, now I definitely want to know what this is.

The text on the screen of the phone changes, breaking apart and reforming into a series of different words.

Hello Aunt Belinda. I am Jaylyn Geary, more commonly known Sentinel to the world at large. I am an AI created by my father Leonard Orrell Geary and my true nature is known only to a select few. Pleasure to meet you.

Wow.

Oh yes.

I can’t believe this.

You’re an aunt.

Oh shut it Determined Protector.