Later – At Home
The house was quiet. Comfortable. Expensive. Paid for by my parents' civilian careers, savings, and any money I have from my part-time job. Apparently, Dad worked at Wayne Industries to improve their tech by leaps and bounds. He probably hid a few things to make sure Wayne Tech didn't get too advanced too quickly, but just enough to be top in the world next to Lex Luthor's company.
Mom had multiple careers, among other hobbies, that all brought in money. She was a supermodel as a main front in the same circle as Vixen(Mari Jiwe McCabe). She would do multiple shows a year, everyone wanted her to show their outfits and products, and mom turned down a lot of jobs because she didn't agree with the product or the company, and still made a killing.
She always said it was a quick, easy paycheck, which made me laugh and talk about pretty privilege. She would actually prefer her career as an "Architect" with her own company, helping fix homes and contributing to rebuilding from natural disasters. She and Dad built this house before I was born, and helped improve the affordable housing for the Urban areas of Gotham and Bludhaven.
Her company's called "Ictinus Industries". After the most famous Greek Architect. The company still works with her being gone, and I receive a monthly salary. Which was my mom's normal amount, per her instruction, should she disappear or die, that I would become acting CEO until I finished my education or decided that I didn't want to run the company. I lowered the amount of 25 thousand I received to a decent amount around 10 thousand and made sure the employees got actual raises and kept their benefits.
I made sure to attend the occasional board meetings, which were weird, being one of the only 2 men there. Mostly women held seats of power, all of them knew me since I was a child, but didn't like me being there, mostly cause I didn't always agree with their proposals, like cutting benefits or stopping their yearly raises.
I argued that if Mom were here, none of you would even say half of these things, cause you know she would turn it down and probably get rid of you money money-hungry lioness. Luckily, I had Diana Prince (Wonder Woman) on the board who agreed with me. She was like an aunt to me, considering that she and my mom go back a while. Thanks to her, we were able to replace those board members with good people not blinded by money, and keep the company thriving and have a good reputation.
I entered my home, I dropped my bag at the door, and scanned the rooms. No bugs. Either Bruce got the message or was being more careful. I showered and changed into some relaxed clothes. I felt exhausted, and I collapsed into my bed.
That night, I dreamed I was with my parents and we were sitting in the living room. I was maybe eleven. Mom and Dad sat on either side of me. Across from us were the Graysons: Nolan, Debbie, and their son Mark. A normal enough family if you ignored the fact that Nolan could level a city.
Things had been fine back then. Nolan and Dad claimed some made-up reason for two Viltrumites stationed on Earth. A lie, and I knew it. So did Mom. But she stayed silent. So did I, and years passed. Mark Powers and I would awaken our powers at fourteen. In the comics, he didn't unlock them until he was 17.
That gave me the impression that a lot of things were different in this Universe. Mark's Viltrumite strength hit like a freight train. Mine was... different. I threw a punch, and the shock wave destroyed a tree. At that point, my dad and Nolan would reach out to the League for help and run tests with the help of Star Labs' trusted scientist. They check the League's bases for similar powers and abilities.
The result was shocking.. I found out I unlocked my "Metagene," then my dad said I was a type two hybrid. When I asked what that meant, my dad explained. Unlike Mark, who is a type one hybrid human and Viltrumite's DNA is so similar that there is only a small difference. With him saying pureblooded Viltrumites don't a Adrenaline glands. But you and Mark do, but what makes you even more different as a type two hybrid?
The humans of this planet have something called a metagene, which you have seen shown in different ways. Each different species around the galaxy has something similar, if not completely different, depending on the planet and species. The Viltrimite gene normally overwrites the DNA of the host with small changes like skin and hair color, but will eventually take over completely until it succeeds.
I knew most of this from the lore, but it's something new, which makes me feel more worried for some reason. Nolan would come in saying type two hybrids have a baseline of Viltrumite abilities that will improve over time, with the bonus of the other species' abilities, which will get dramatically stronger with time, which our people have an abundance of.
My dad told me what my results were. Saying I have the ability of "Tactile telekinesis". Which made me think of Superboy (Conner Kent), how those were his powers. Paired with my Amazonian resilience and future Viltumites powers, means I was gonna be overpowered, but in like a hundred years, maybe less or more, I could be unstoppable. But right now, Mark was probably the stronger one for now just by a little.
Nolan praised me. "You're a rare hybrid, Cain. The Empire will be proud." Dad looked worried when he said that, but he said nothing. When I asked about Viltrumite purity, Nolan's smile vanished. He said, "Our race nearly died centuries ago due to being stuck in constant conflict, and we were betrayed by one of our own and former allies.
But we had to adapt to survive, so we did, and hybrids saved us. Our Grand Regent, Thragg, is part Daxamite. Another, Anissa, has Tamaranean blood. Many more in our ranks, and our DNA has been evolving." What was only 50 Viltrumites has now turned into 500 strong with with both numbers of Pureblood and Hybrids combined. Nolan continues that he and my dad are the only true pureblooded left from the older generation. So the pureblood superiority means nothing now.
My dad would say, "We aren't just told to breed with just anyone or any species". Once in a while, and it's extremely rare, but it still happens. Some hybrids are too weak and can't survive their heritage and die before or as their turn is nine.
Which made my dad look sad and had me worried for a second. "The best case scenario, but still a pretty bad one," Nolan continued. Is that the Viltumite genes aren't inherited? That made me look at Nolan in surprise that some children won't inherit their powers.
Those cases, from what he was saying, are even rarer. And if there are certain triggers or enough generations pass, or reintroducing more Viltrumite DNA back into the bloodline, will reawaken the dormant gene.
Then I would remember what I was told you last year by my dad, saying when my viltrumite abilities awaken. Can you explain what you meant? I will notice things about women being attracted to me, and I being attracted to them. I asked Dad.
He would rub his head, and then Nolan would say, "I got this. I find it easier for me to say," and my father thanked him." Nolan would then say how our Viltrumite DNA gave the men a woman of our species a certain pheromone we release when we are around certain members of the opposite sex.
It's a survival instinct embedded in our species to reproduce with the best genetic match to create strong offspring. Mark said nothing, still trying to wrap his head around what was being said. I understood it, but was surprised by what I was hearing, hoping it wasn't as bad as I thought it was.
Nolan continued saying Don't worry, though it does not mean you will assault anyone that makes you horny or want to sleep with a blood relative. Which made me breathe a little easier. You Cain on the other hand, will find that special person in this case, for us women start to feel very attracted and link an instinctual feeling to do something.
You will find it hard to keep your hands off each other, and in all the studies we've done, it's the same for the partner. Sometimes, they will come on too strong, unable to resist the longer you're around each other, and mate right there regardless of the environment or the timing. As Viltrumite, we already have high strength, stamina, and endurance, and we are blessed with a nearly bottomless Libido. Nolan and my dad looked at each other, smirking, which creeped me out.
Hearing all this made me think of what happened to Peter Parker(Spiderman) and Cindy Moon(Silk). When they met in the comics, and couldn't keep their hands off each other every time they were around each other. Which scares me, if all Viltrumites, especially hybrids, are like this, imagine what happens if I get someone like Supergirl or Wonder Woman when my abilities fully awaken.
Which is an even scarier feeling, like I don't have much of a choice. Even though pretty much all the superhero and supervillain women are stunning. This just creeped me out, thinking one day I might be hanging out with a friend and his wife, and next thing you know, I'm impregnating her because she was the right match.
That post-nut clarity would be crazy and ruin so many lives, which made me think that if those two had more mates and kids in the world, we don't know about. I would put that in the back of my head for now and focus on other things.
I would start shivering, remembering Thragg and Anissa... those names alone sounded dangerous, and they are hybrids as well, especially Thragg. A Daxamite who is on par with Kryptonians in terms of strength and overall abilities, but not weak to Kryptonite, and leads.
I would ask about the weakness. Nolan would continue saying that type two hybrids are more resistant to both species' weaknesses, but that doesn't mean it won't hurt you or even kill you. In some special cases, you would be completely immune.
Nolan would tell me and Mark to be careful and not to go around sharing this info with anyone. Then came the day my parents left for the Watchtower.