| Metropolis - November 4
Hours later, Joseph sat with Kori at the table, the two of them quietly eating breakfast.
Jason stepped out of his room, already dressed for school—
when Cassandra appeared right in his blind spot.
"Boo!"
Jason jumped back several steps. "Cass! Come on!"
Cassandra just laughed.
Before, she'd been subtle about scaring him. Now that they were comfortable with each other, she didn't even try to hide it—she just laughed right in his face.
Jason, noticing Joseph and Kori were clearly entertained, stomped over to them, annoyed.
"I've been hearing things at school," he said, crossing his arms, "but now I believe it. You guys aren't normal."
Joseph raised a brow.
"Cass is definitely some kind of ninja. Sebas is way too robotic to be a normal person. Teekl is a demon cat from hell. You"—he pointed at Joseph—"grew a beard and long hair overnight. What's with the green contacts, anyway? Not gonna lie, they look weird. The beard especially; it makes you look homeless. Cut it off."
Joseph smirked. If you'd never been called gay or homeless while looking handsome, were you even good-looking?
As for the change in his eye color, he was still getting used to it. His gaze definitely felt more intense and alluring. Or maybe that was just his narcissism speaking.
"And your hot girlfriend…" Jason continued, voice rising, "is Starfire!?"
Silence.
Joseph blinked.
How did he figure that out?
Between the celebrity paradox, most people assuming heroes didn't have civilian identities, and subtle behavioral differences, it was almost impossible to identify someone like that.
It was the same reason Superman could walk around as Clark Kent without anyone noticing—even his closest friends.
Plus, when she is using her abilities as Starfire, her hair seems to glow and react like fire compared to her normal red hair, further separating the two identities.
Joseph chuckled, trying to play it off. "She gets that a lot. No way you actually think she's—"
"The whites of her eyes are literally light green!"
Jason pointed accusingly.
Kori froze, clearly caught red-handed. She hadn't used the advanced contacts Batman gave her, nor had she activated her Nanode to project a human sclera over her eyes.
With a quick thought, her eyes shifted to human.
"No," she said smoothly. "I just have green eyes."
Jason stared at her.
"What?! You changed it just now. I saw it! I swear I'm not crazy!"
Kori glanced at Joseph with an apologetic smile.
She was definitely not a morning person.
"Jason, calm down," Joseph said with a sigh.
Jason blinked, then narrowed his eyes.
"Wait. If Starfire is your girlfriend… don't tell me…"
"I can explain."
"You're cucking Nova?!" Jason yelled. "Oh my god, we're so screwed if he finds out. Nova never loses a fight!"
"Language," Sebas Tian said calmly from the side.
"No way," Cass giggled. "Jason said the f-word. And what's cucking?"
"Nothing you need to know, Cass," Joseph said quickly, shooting Jason a look. "And no one is cucking anyone."
"No, really, what's cucking?" Cass insisted.
Before the conversation could spiral further, Klarion—or Teekl as he was known in his cat form—lunged at her, claws out.
Cass dodged effortlessly and immediately retaliated by tickling the cat.
Teekl squirmed in protest.
Joseph watched the exchange carefully.
It's probably fine if they're just playing, he thought. But the second Klarion tries anything… he's going right back into the Chaos Nth realm.
At least Cass was distracted.
Jason, meanwhile, had gone quiet.
Then his eyes widened.
"No… wait…"
Joseph felt it coming.
"Don't—"
"You're Nova?!" Jason blurted out. "That's—okay, that's actually insane."
He started pacing.
"Wait, that explains everything. Only billionaires can afford to beat up criminals for fun. Don't tell me Bruce Wayne is Batman and Oliver Queen is Green Arrow."
Kori choked on her cereal.
Jason snapped his fingers.
"No way. The conspiracy theories online are real. Rich people get bored, so they go around fighting the poor for entertainment. Michael Holt is probably Mr. Terrific. Blue Beetle disappeared the same day Ted Kord died. Veronica Cale is Black Canary. Maxwell Lord is Booster Gold."
He paused, grinning.
"I'm a fucking genius."
He had been bang on—
and then completely lost it.
"Language!" Sebas repeated.
**
After finally getting Jason to calm down, Joseph decided it was easier to just come clean.
Adding memories to children posed little risk. Removing them, however, was another story. Their minds were still developing—tampering too much could cause problems later.
Besides, Cassandra likely already suspected it.
He had literally implanted knowledge of English and Mandarin into her mind, removed every scar from her body, and repaired her throat and vocal cords so she could speak again.
Cass had been trained as an assassin. She understood secrecy. She would keep it.
Jason, on the other hand…
That was riskier.
If he let something slip—intentionally or not—it could put him in danger.
So Joseph quietly placed a spell on him, one that would compel him to never reveal anything to unauthorized people. He didn't need to channel through the Nth bands anymore—his Nova Force alone was enough. No incantations, no gestures.
Effortless.
"Sebas is really an android?" Jason asked, eyes wide. "And Cass escaped from some secret organization of evil ninjas? I knew it." He straightened. "I promise I'll keep your secret forever. But… can you give me powers too?"
Joseph shook his head. "Sorry, Jason. I'm not Batman or Green Arrow. I'm not going to train kids and send them out to fight dangerous criminals. My responsibility is to keep you safe."
"Oh, come on!" Jason groaned. "I'm the only normal one here. It's not fair!"
"Being normal when everyone else isn't means you're not normal," Kori said with a small smile. "And Cass is just trained in martial arts. If you want, I can train you too."
"Thanks, Joseph's superhero hot girlfriend—"
"My name is Kori."
"Right. Kori." Jason shrugged. "But I feel like I should get something more. What if bad guys find out who you are and come after us?"
"That's what Sebas is for," Joseph said calmly. "Trust me—he's far more capable than he looks. He's already stopped several attempts on your life."
Jason blinked, slowly turning to look at the android butler whose right arm shifted into a laser cannon as a demonstration.
"…Okay. That's actually insane."
Then his eyes lit up again.
"But since you guys have connections… can I meet Robin? Or Batman? I'll even settle for Arsenal."
Oof. Roy would not appreciate being the third option.
He smiled anyway. "Maybe one day. For now, get in the car. Sebas is driving you to school."
"Aww, come on…" Jason muttered as he headed for the door. "I had so many ideas too. I was gonna call myself something cool like Wingman… or Outlaw… or Red Hood…"
Cass suddenly popped out from around the corner—victorious from her play fight with Klarion—and sprinted toward the door.
Kori moved faster.
She flew forward, blocking the exit, and scooped Cass into a tight hug.
"Come on, Kori!" Cass said reluctantly, even though Joseph could tell she secretly enjoyed it.
"See you guys later!" Kori finally said before finally letting her go.
**
With the kids off to school…
Joseph turned to her.
"So… was Jason right? Should I get a haircut?"
"I think you look good with the long hair," Kori replied.
Joseph groaned. "You're just saying that because you're my girlfriend. You'd say the same thing if I went bald."
"Don't even think about going bald," Kori said seriously. Good thing he'd met her after his hair grew back from being burnt while he rescued kids from a building set on fire by Firefly.
Then she softened, drifting closer as her fingers ran through his beard.
"I mean it. I like it. My father…" Her expression tightened slightly. "He had a beard just like yours. Same color, too. Komand'r and I used to braid it when we were younger."
Noticing the shift in her mood, Joseph gently pulled her onto his lap as he sat on the couch, wrapping his arms around her. She rested her head against his shoulder.
"You know," he said quietly, "if you ever want to go back, we could. We're strong enough to overthrow the entire system."
"I know," Kori replied softly. "But from what the Green Lanterns told me, the Citadel controls every planet in the Vega system now. Even Euphorix fell."
She shook her head.
"If we liberate Tamaran, it wouldn't end there. It would draw the full attention of a rising intergalactic empire. My presence alone could spark rebellion—and a lot of unnecessary bloodshed."
She paused.
"With Komand'r set to become the Czar's future wife… it might be better if I stay away."
Her voice softened further.
"I miss my parents. But maybe it's better if they forget me. Earth is my home now. I have a new family here."
They looked at each other, their faces slowly drawing closer—
—and then a loud retching noise shattered the moment.
Joseph sighed and casually fired a concussive Nova Force blast.
Klarion wailed and bolted out of the living room.
Kori shook her head with a small smile, well aware of the cat's true identity. Then she ran her hand along Joseph's beard again.
"…Actually," she said thoughtfully, "I changed my mind. It's a little scratchy."
A soft blue aura shimmered—
—and the beard vanished.
Kori leaned in, brushing her cheek against his smooth chin.
"Much better."
Joseph laughed as they shifted, lying sideways on the couch together.
"Even if you don't want to go back to Tamaran," he said, "I want to learn everything about it. You've put so much effort into understanding Earth."
He smiled.
"How about you join me in the Dream State and show me Tamaran from your memories? You can finally meet Nova too."
Kori's eyes lit up.
"I'd love that."