Courtney Whitmore POV
Right now, my entire family, plus the stranger, was gathered in the living room.
Pat, Mom, and Mike were sitting on the couch, while Cindy and I stood across from them, flanking the stranger like we were part of some weird superhero court hearing.
"I'm really sorry," the stranger said quickly. "I didn't come here for a fight."
Cindy crossed her arms, giving her a glare sharp enough to cut glass. "Yeah, well, I guess you thought we'd be easy marks, huh? Thief."
"I'm not a thief!" the girl snapped back. "I was retrieving something that belongs to me!"
"Something that belongs to you? who you even are," I said.
She took a deep breath. "I'm Jennie-Lynn Hayden… I'm Green Lantern's daughter."
Cindy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. Like hell anyone's going to believe that."
"Language," Mom warned.
"Sorry, ma'am," Cindy muttered, still glaring.
"It's true," Jennie insisted. "My father's name was Alan Scott."
As soon as she said that, I noticed Pat's face change. Everyone else noticed it too.
"What?" Mom asked, looking between them.
Pat exhaled slowly. "Alan Scott… the Green Lantern. The first one. He was part of the original JSA."
All of us froze in shock.
Jennie had a confused face on. "My ring led me here, who are you, and why do you have my father Lantern?"
"My name is Pat Dugan, I was a bit of a friend of your father"
Her jaw dropped. "You're S.T.R.I.P.E. You're a legend!"
Pat blinked. "I am?"
"He is," me and Mike said.
Jennie smiled warmly. "You built the Star Rocket Racer, you're basically a mechanical genius, It's an honor to meet you, sir."
Pat chuckled awkwardly. "You can just call me Pat. And thank you. But now… Courtney, mind explaining how you healed so fast earlier?"
I blinked. "Wait, seriously? We're just gonna skip past the part where she blasted me into a wall?"
"Yeah!" Cindy said, pointing accusingly. "We're not just gonna pretend she didn't almost kill your daughter!"
Jennie's expression softened immediately. "I didn't mean to! I swear! I only boosted the blast a little when it didn't push her back, I didn't think it would actually hurt her. I'm so, so sorry."
Her voice sounded sincere enough that even I had to believe she didn't do it on purpose.
Cindy, on the other hand, wasn't as forgiving. "You can take that apology and shove it up your—"
"Cindy!" Mom and I said in unison.
She blinked innocently. "I was gonna say back!"
"Sure you were," I said, giving her a look.
Cindy just smirked. "You can't prove otherwise."
"I'll be honest," Mom said, arms crossed, "I'm still a little upset Jennie hurt you, Courtney. But we do need an explanation for how you healed so fast. And I'm pretty sure that's not one of the staff's abilities, because if it were, you wouldn't have been that injured months ago after fighting the Dragon King."
"Wait, you fought the Dragon King and lived?" Jennie asked, wide-eyed.
"Kind of," I said sheepishly. "I didn't do that much. It was mostly Cindy and Pat and I can explain why I heal fast, but you have to promise not to overreact or yell at us."
"You know," Cindy said suddenly, stretching her arms, "I'm feeling really tired. I think this conversation can totally happen in the morning. Let's all just go to bed."
She grabbed my hand and tried to drag me toward the stairs, but Mom's voice cut through the room like a whip.
"No! Explain. Now."
"Crap," Cindy muttered, releasing my hand and moving behind me for cover.
"Are you serious right now?" I asked over my shoulder.
"I'd rather not get yelled at by another parent figure, thank you. I've already got enough trauma for one lifetime," Cindy whispered.
I sighed. "Fine."
So, I explained everything, how, after I recovered, Cindy and I decided to try being superheroes on our own. How it didn't exactly go perfectly. How Franklin, Omni, found us, helped us get real training with White Tiger and Wildcat, and, well… how I ended up a Super Soldier thanks to his serum.
Pat blinked. "Wait a minute, Wildcat trained you? Ted Grant?"
"Yeah," I said, surprised. "You know him?"
"Know him?" Pat gave a short laugh. "Of course I do. He was part of the JSA, at least until he left before the team was wiped out."
Cindy tilted her head. "Then why didn't you ever mention him?"
Pat hesitated. "Because… we didn't exactly see eye to eye."
"Really? He's a tough teacher, sure, but he's actually a good guy," I said.
Pat's expression softened, but his tone stayed low. "Let's just say we have a rough history."
I wanted to press him, but this didn't feel like the right moment.
Mike, of course, chose that moment to jump in. "Hold up, you and Cindy got trained to be superheroes and didn't even invite me? I've been begging Dad to let me pilot the giant robot for months! And you've got a friend handing out Super Soldier Serum? Come on, where's the sibling love?"
Cindy tried not to laugh. "To be fair, I wanted to tell you about Franklin. But I also knew the second Mom or Pat put even a little pressure on you, you'd rat us out."
"That is so inaccurate!" Mike said, stepping forward dramatically. "I could totally lie to them!"
Mom arched an eyebrow. "Oh, really?"
Mike froze, then gave his best fake smile. "...No?"
Cindy just smirked, that mischievous, I-totally-set-him-up kind of grin.
"Cindy tried to steal Franklin from his girlfriends at one point," I said casually.
"What?!" Mom nearly shouted.
Cindy's smile vanished instantly.
"I'm sorry," Mike said, blinking. "Did you just say girlfriends, plural?"
"Yes," I said, trying not to laugh. "He has two girlfriends."
Mike leaned back, grinning. "Okay, yeah. That guy is definitely my hero."
Pat rubbed his temples. "Alright, enough. This has been a long and stressful night. I think we should all just get some sleep."
Mom nodded, but pointed at me. "Courtney, after school tomorrow, I want to meet this Franklin person."
"Yes, ma'am," I said with a groan. "He's gonna be so mad."
Cindy leaned close and whispered, "I would be too. His secret identity is barely a secret anymore."
Before I could respond, Mom turned to Jennie.
"Jennie, do you have anywhere to stay tonight?"
Jennie hesitated, looking down. "No, ma'am. I… ran away from one of my foster homes again. I don't think they'll let me back in this time. They'll probably just send me to juvie."
The room went quiet. My heart sank a little, and when I looked at Mom, she already knew what I was thinking.
"Then you can stay with us for now," Mom said gently.
Jennie blinked in surprise. "Oh, no, you don't have to do that."
Cindy waved a hand. "Don't even try to argue. This family's really good at taking in strays, or, in this case, kids with tragic backstories."
Jennie gave her a confused look. "Wait, what—?"
"You'll find out eventually," Cindy said, yawning. "And maybe I'll tell you my story later. But right now… I'm tired."
She stretched and started heading toward the stairs.
"Welcome to the madhouse," I told Jennie with a smile.
Jennie smiled back, just a little. "Thanks."
The Next Day
Franklin POV
It was early morning, and I decided to send one of my clones to school today. I earned a day off, multiverse-saving benefits, you know?
Right now, I was sitting in my room polishing Stormbreaker.
"You know," I said, looking at the massive ax, "I'd be mad too if I was used to slice through zombie. But you didn't have to shock me just because you want to be clean I was going to do that anyway."
Stormbreaker gave a sharp hum from where it was resting on my lap. Yeah, it could communicate, sort of. Ever since I claimed it from zombie Thor, we had a psychic link. And let me tell you, this weapon had attitude.
"Okay, okay, I'm done. Happy now?" I said.
It hummed again, almost smugly, before floating off my lap and settling in the corner of the room like a diva waiting for praise.
"Sure, I can make you a display case later," I sighed.
Another hum.
"You're welcome," I muttered, standing up.
I left my room and wandered into the living room, plopping down on the couch. For once, I was determined to relax, no magic training, no world-saving, no science projects. Just me, a couch, and some bad morning television.
"I deserve this," I said to no one in particular as I flipped through channels.
Then, I stopped. The news showed the Flash battling a group of his usual rogues, Captain Cold, Captain Boomerang, Heatwave, Mirror Master, and Trickster, tearing up Central City.
I leaned back. "He's got this. Totally fine. Doesn't need me. Nope. I'm just gonna… change the channel."
A moment of silence.
"…Screw it."
I stood up, grinning. "I did want to test out this new form anyway."
I activated the Omnitrix and slammed down the dial.
In a flash of green light, my body shifted. I grew taller, leaner, my suit turning sleek black and green with white lightning accents. My face was covered by a smooth mask, two glowing lightning bolt emblems on each side of my head.
"Blitz!"
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This form was my speedster mode, I created it after a little accidental DNA scan from the Flash. Turns out, I could copy powers from metahumans too. Lucky me.
In an instant, I dashed out of my apartment, green lightning tearing through the streets behind me. The world around me slowed to a crawl, every detail, every movement in perfect focus. It felt incredible.
I pushed harder. Boom! A sonic crack echoed behind me as I broke the sound barrier, lightning streaking across the city skyline.
"I could do this all day!" I shouted, laughing, right before a blue portal opened directly in front of me.
"Aw, come on!"
I tried to stop, but momentum carried me straight through it. My vision blurred, flashes of images flooded my mind: alternate Earths, my friends, people I didn't even recognize.
Then, suddenly, I was out. I burst out of the portal at full speed and skidded to a stop in Central City, but something was off.
It was nighttime.
Standing in front of me were the Flash, Reverse-Flash, and the rest of Team Flash, Iris, Cisco, Frost, Ralph, and… Nora.
I blinked, my brain catching up to my eyes. "What the hell?"
The Flash's eyes widened. "Omni?"
"Omni, the greatest hero ever," Reverse-Flash sneered, lightning flickering violently around him. "It'll be a pleasure killing you."
"Okay, first off, I don't even know what's going on," I said, cracking my neck. "Second, you think you can kill me? I literally just finished dealing with a whole zombie invasion. You'll be nothing compared to that mess."
I dashed forward, lightning crackling green behind me. Reverse-Flash charged too, red lightning tearing up the street. We both swung our fists and, BOOM!, our punches collided, sending a small shockwave that rippled across the ground.
I didn't stop there. I kept swinging, rapid punches, elbows, kicks, and he matched every single one, laughing like a maniac while sparks flew between us.
Then two streaks of yellow and purple lightning joined the fight, Flash and Nora. They sprinted in and unleashed twin bolts of electricity, blasting Reverse-Flash off his feet and sending him skidding across the asphalt.
The rest of Team Flash quickly regrouped beside us, Cisco with a breach portal ready, Frost's hands glowing ice-blue, Ralph stretching his arms, and Iris aiming what looked like a futuristic rifle.
"You're supposed to be on Mars helping the Martians rebuild after the war," Iris said, narrowing her eyes at Reverse-Flash. "But… thanks for helping us, Omni."
I blinked. "I'm sorry, I do what now?"
Everyone turned to stare at me. The confusion was mutual.
"Okay," I said, raising a hand, "just to clear the air, pretty sure I time-traveled into the future, so let's not spoil my life, okay? No spoilers. Let's just beat this guy down so I can get back to my own time."
Nora's eyes widened. "Oh, so that's what he meant."
"What who meant?" I asked.
"Not important!" she quickly said. "Let's take this guy down!"
Reverse-Flash suddenly bolted toward us again, his red lightning tearing up the ground. Cisco opened a portal in front of him, Reverse-Flash ran straight through it, but before he could exit, Cisco opened another one right in front of Frost.
She fired a massive blast of ice, and when he popped out the other side, it froze him mid-sprint. He tried to shake it off, but Iris shot him multiple times with her gun pushing him into another portal.
"Nice one!" I shouted.
Cisco wasn't done. He opened another breach right under Ralph's extended arm. Reverse-Flash dropped out of the portal, rand Ralph hit him with all his might shooting him up into the sky.
"Now!" Cisco yelled.
He opened one last portal in front of me, Flash, and Nora. We ran through it in unison, the tunnel around us glowing blue as lightning and energy streaked past.
We burst out the other side right in front of Reverse-Flash. He was just getting up, dazed. The three of us cocked our fists back at the same time.
"Lights out," I muttered.
We punched him together, my fist glowing green, Barry's glowing yellow, Nora's purple. The impact launched Reverse-Flash straight through a street sign and into the side of a building, cracking the wall from the force.
He slid to the ground, groaning.
I dusted off my hands. "And that's how we handle psychos with speed problems."
While Reverse-Flash was on the ground groaning, Nora blitzed over to him in a flash of red lightning. She grabbed him by the neck with one hand, the other hand vibrating violently.
"My father's legacy doesn't die today… it's yours," Nora said through gritted teeth.
"Nora, no!" both Iris and Barry screamed.
I was about to speed over to stop her, but before I could even blink, another figure appeared in front of her, stopping her cold. The new arrival looked exactly like me, same form, same lightning.
"Nora, don't," he said calmly. "He's not worth it."
She froze, wide-eyed. "Omni?"
"Yeah," Future Me said with a small smirk. "Believe it or not, I just remembered this is the time I went to the future."
"What!?" Nora's eyes widened, then suddenly her hand began to crack with glowing blue light. The glow spread rapidly across her arm.
"What's happening!?" Iris cried, rushing toward her.
"It's the timeline," Reverse-Flash said, slowly standing back up and brushing himself off. "The new timeline has set… which means the old one has to go. Meaning you, little runner, have to vanish."
He looked at her almost sadly. "To be honest… I almost didn't want to do it. But if it's you or me, well, I'll always choose me."
Cracks of blue energy spread across Nora's whole body now, pieces of light flickering off her like shards of glass. Barry grabbed her shoulders, desperate. Iris fell beside them, panicked.
"There's only one way you can save her, Flash," Reverse-Flash said, his tone oddly serious. "You have to take her into the Negative Speed Force. Fuse her with it permanently. That's the only way she survives… and I hope you do it."
Barry and Iris both looked up at him in disbelief.
Reverse-Flash's expression softened for a split second. "Because… in some twisted way… she taught me what it was like to have a daughter."
I clenched my fists. "Man, you are one crazy motherfucker."
He looked at me and smirked. "See you in the next Crisis, Omni." And with that, he sped off, vanishing in a streak of red lightning.
I glanced at my future self. "I'm not gonna like what that means later, am I?"
Future Me sighed. "No. You won't."
Iris turned back to Barry. "Barry, you have to take her, now!"
Barry nodded quickly. "Okay, okay, let's go, Nora"
"Don't," Future Me said firmly.
Everyone turned to look at him.
"If you fuse her with the Negative Speed Force, it'll twist her, fill her with hate. Let me help her. Let me fuse her with my Speed Force instead."
Iris's eyes filled with tears. "Please… help us."
Future Me nodded, stepping beside Nora as her body flickered with collapsing light.
"So that's what you meant," Nora said weakly, looking up at him. "When you said this was our second time meeting."
He smiled sadly. "Yeah. Time travel's a real pain sometimes."
They both took off together, two blurs of purple and green lightning streaking into the horizon.
The rest of us stood behind, watching them vanish, hoping for the best.
Third Person POV
Back in the Present Time
Four small meteors streaked across the bright blue sky, burning trails of fire as they hurtled toward Earth. Within seconds, they pierced through the clouds and came crashing down into an empty alleyway in New York City. The explosions were small, loud enough to shake the nearby trash cans, but quiet enough that no one on the busy streets noticed.
As the smoke cleared, the cracked meteor shells began to move.
From the first, a white, liquid-like slime oozed out, writhing like a living shadow in the sunlight. From the second, a deep crimson red substance followed, pulsing with strange energy. The third meteor split open to reveal a black symbiotic mass, slick and alive. And from the fourth emerged an orange slime, its surface bubbling like molten tar.
Each of the four alien organisms twitched, sensing the air, sensing life.
They didn't make a sound, but there was a hunger in their movements, a single shared instinct echoing between them all.
Find a host.
Without hesitation, the symbiotes split apart, crawling along the walls of the alleyway and slithering into the shadows. Each one moved in a different direction, toward the city's heart, its people, its chaos, each searching for the perfect body to bond with.
And as they disappeared into the maze of New York, the faint whispers of their alien minds echoed together in the dark.
"We are… hungry."