The rest of the day went by pretty normally. Now, me, Yolanda, Ava, Courtney, and Cindy were on our way to the base, packed into my car, vibing like a superhero Uber.
And of course, we were talking the entire ride.
"So let me get this straight," Yolanda said, leaning forward a bit from the passenger seat, "Franklin has an alien watch from another multiverse, that lets him transform into a dozen different aliens with wild abilities and a built-in alien Google. Ava's getting a mystical tiger necklace with actual powers. Courtney's walking around with a magical staff that's probably also a particle cannon. And Cindy is genetically enhanced. Meanwhile... I just randomly grew fur and claws because my genes decided to wake up one night?"
"That pretty much covers it," I nodded. "Oh, and I forgot. Your godfather's got mystical powers too. Apparently he's got nine lives, but I don't know how many are left. Also slowed aging, so he might secretly be, like, a hundred."
"…The fuck," Yolanda said, blinking. "Out of everyone here, my powers almost sound normal."
"She's not wrong," Cindy shrugged. "Mutants are technically the next stage of human evolution, so it makes sense."
"But let's be honest, out of all of us, Franklin's powers are the weirdest," Courtney said, half-laughing. "Like, the guy gets a universal alien smartwatch that's basically a Swiss Army knife of DNA."
"Yeah, I saw that message from the watch's creator," Yolanda added. "How the hell did all those aliens fit in something smaller than a donut?"
"And let's not forget the names," Ava smirked. "Half of them sound like rejected wrestlers."
"Whoa whoa whoa," I said, keeping one hand on the wheel, "my names are not weird or dumb."
"Forearms," Ava deadpanned.
"It's a cool name! And it tells you exactly what the alien is about!" I defended.
Courtney chimed in, "Also, been meaning to ask, do you have to shout their names out loud when you transform, or are you doing it willingly?"
"Willingly," I said proudly.
"...Why?" she asked.
"It strikes fear into my enemies."
"Sure it does," Ava said, completely unconvinced.
"Just wait," I grinned. "One day, the name Omni will inspire fear in villains everywhere!"
They all burst into laughter.
"Yeah," Yolanda chuckled, "fear from second-hand embarrassment."
"I hate all of you," I said, dramatically offended.
"No you don't," Cindy said from the back seat, grinning.
"...Yeah, you're right," I muttered, smiling despite myself as we turned onto the road that led to the base.
We finally arrived at the base, and I was pretty excited to show Yolanda around. But the second we stepped in, we were hit with a surprise. Hector and Ted were already there. Not super weird—they pop in a lot. But what was weird? Soledad was there too.
Ever since Ted joined our tiny superhero group, she hadn't really needed to show up much. Ted surprisingly knew a lot about patching people up. Probably from being punched in the face so many times.
"Hey guys," I said, spotting them. "I guess you got my text."
I had texted Ted and Hector last night after talking to Yolanda. Let them know she knew about me, and everyone else too.
"Oh yeah," Ted said, cracking his knuckles and giving me that father-meets-boyfriend look. "We got the text."
"So, Franklin, Ava, Yolanda," Soledad said as she calmly read through a medical kit, which immediately raised red flags. "Anything… interesting happen lately?"
"Yolanda has powers," I said quickly. "She's a mutant."
"Interesting," Soledad said, raising an eyebrow. "Anything else about you three we should know?"
I noticed Hector was already wearing his White Tiger necklace. My brain started putting things together… and then it clicked.
"Wait, you guys know, don't you?" I asked slowly.
"You mean the fact that I saw you kiss Yolanda when you picked her up this morning," Ted said, crossing his arms, "or the fact that Hector saw Ava kiss you too when you stopped by her place?"
I blinked. "Wait, you were at Yolanda's house this morning?"
"Of course I was. Where do you think I've been staying the past few days?" Ted said casually.
Yeah… that would've been useful information to have.
I sighed, scratching the back of my head. "Okay, well… we were going to tell everyone together, but since you three already know… yeah. Me, Ava, and Yolanda, we're dating."
Soledad didn't even blink. "Mmhm. I'll go get more ice packs."
"Oh come on, it's not that dramatic," I said.
Ted cracked his knuckles again.
"…Okay maybe it is," I muttered.
"Kid, I'm gonna break every single bone in your body," Ted said.
"Whoa, whoa—come on, man, it's not like that!" I said, backing up a little.
"It's not like that? 'Cause it looks exactly like you're dating my god-niece and my goddaughter… at the same damn time."
"…Okay, it's a little like that," I admitted, holding up my hands. "But it's all consensual! We all agreed to it. Nobody's being played."
"To be clear," Yolanda chimed in, "me and Ava aren't dating each other. We're both just dating Ed."
"And Ed's dating both of us," Ava added cheerfully.
I slowly turned to them. "I love you both, but I don't think that clarification is helping my situation."
"It's really not," Hector said, stepping forward. "Now get in the ring."
"Oh, come on, Hector, Ted, can we please not go straight to violence? Let's sit down, talk it out like emotionally intelligent, mature adults."
"I'd rather just fight you," Ted cut in flatly.
Before I could argue any more, my computer blared with a sharp alarm. I darted over to check it, praying it was just a low-level alert.
"Is it another invasion?" Ava asked.
"Another what?" Yolanda said, looking between us.
"Oh right," Cindy said casually. "We kind of forgot to mention that an invasion happened a couple days ago. Franklin, Ted, and Hector went to help other heroes stop it."
"A couple days ago? Why didn't I see it on the news?" Yolanda asked.
"Because it was top secret," Courtney said. "Plus, it happened out in the middle of nowhere."
"It's not another invasion," I said, eyes scanning the screen. "It's the Justice League. They're getting beat badly. The threat's a robot named Amazo… and it's copying all their powers."
Everyone immediately went quiet.
"I need to go help them," I said, already moving toward the teleporter.
"And leave us to explain this whole 'throuple situation' to your future in-laws?" Ava asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Please and thank you," I said, flashing a grin.
Yolanda stepped forward and touched my arm. "Just be safe. Don't get hurt."
I gave her a wink. "Trust me, baby, you're about to learn it takes a lot more than some knockoff robot to hurt me."
I kissed them both, activated my armor, and stepped into the teleporter—ready to face Amazo and whatever else was waiting on the other side.
I appeared on a rooftop in Metropolis, looking down at the chaos below. Members of the Justice League were in the middle of a full-on brawl with a massive, heavily armored robot, Amazo.
I saw Superman, Flash, Batman, Wonder Woman, Black Canary, Green Arrow, and Martian Manhunter all taking hits and dishing them back. But this thing was tanking everything.
Time to join the party.
I activated the Omnitrix and slammed down the dial, yeah, I know I could just think of the alien with Master Control, but there's something satisfying about the old-school slam.
"Psycho Ranger."
My body was engulfed in light, transforming into a sleek, corrupted-looking armored form — like a dark, twisted Power Ranger. But I could feel it: this wasn't armor. The suit was just a shell. I was pure energy underneath.
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I jumped off the roof, summoned an energy blade mid-air, and landed hard behind Amazo. With one clean strike, I slashed across its back — sparks flying. It staggered. I didn't stop. I channeled raw energy into my core and blasted it point-blank, sending it flying into the side of a building.
"Omni?" Black Canary called out, stunned.
I turned to them with a little wave. "Hey, saw you could use a hand, and figured it was a good excuse to escape an awkward conversation."
"You need to leave. Now." Batman said sharply.
I tilted my head. "What? I just got here."
"That thing can copy powers," he said. "Including yours."
Just then, Amazo pulled itself out of the rubble and turned its glowing red eyes toward me. It extended its arms, clearly trying to scan.
"Analyzing target… ERROR. Hero: Omni. Powers: Uncopyable."
The whole League paused.
"…What?" Flash said.
"You heard it right," I said, cracking my knuckles. "I'm the one thing this robot can't rip off."
Even Batman looked thrown off. "Impossible."
"Tell that to your copy machine." I formed another energy blade and pointed it at Amazo.
"Let's see what happens when it fights someone it can't mimic."'
Amazo's eyes flared red. I knew exactly what that meant.
"Laser eyes," I muttered, already leaping into the air.
The crimson beams sliced through where I'd just been. I landed behind the robot and didn't hesitate, I slashed at its back multiple times, energy blades carving into its frame. It spun around fast, faster than I expected. I ducked low and swept in, slicing at its leg. Sparks flew.
I went in for another strike, but its body shimmered.
It turned intangible.
"Oh, come on," I barely got the words out before it solidified again and punched me square in the face, sending me flying back and skidding across the pavement.
I groaned and rolled back to my feet.
It was already charging at me, jets blazing.
But before it could close the distance, Superman came in like a meteor and punched it right in the jaw. The force knocked it sideways, and I wasn't about to waste the opening.
I launched a barrage of energy blasts, rapid-fire, but they barely made a dent. It tanked through all of them, walking right toward me like a machine Terminator on a mission.
"…Okay, is it just me, or is this thing only coming for me now?" I asked, forming two glowing energy swords and readying myself.
"You're the biggest threat here," Batman said from behind me, voice steady and low. "It can't copy your powers, it sees you as the outlier."
"Lucky me," I muttered.
Amazo swung. I blocked it with one sword, parried with the other. Every time it threw a punch, I deflected. And every time it slipped up, I slashed into its armor chest, arms, shoulders, you name it. It was like dancing with a tank.
But then it adapted.
Its speed jumped, and before I could react, it landed a brutal hit to my side and sent me crashing into a nearby building. I groaned, shaking dust off as I stood up again.
The thing was relentless. It ignored Black Canary's sonic scream and Green Arrow's explosive arrows like they were mosquito bites, pushing forward—still coming for me.
"Okay," I muttered, cracking my neck. "Robot's got tunnel vision. Guess I gotta show it why that's a mistake."
I slammed the Omnitrix dial on my chest and shouted:
A burst of green light exploded from my body as I transformed, muscles bulging, armor gleaming emerald, looking like a fusion between Star Platinum and a living energy reactor.
"Brilliant Stars!"
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I cracked my knuckles. "Okay, big guy… let's see how many punches you can take."
I flew straight at Amazo, reeling back a fist.
"ORA ORA ORA! ORA ORA ORA! ORA ORA ORA!!"
Punch after punch rained down on the robot like a hurricane of green fury. Every hit landed harder than the last, dents turned into cracks, cracks turned into fractures.
The machine tried to counter, but I was faster. Stronger. Meaner.
"ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!!"
My fists became a blur, a glowing green wall of strikes.
"ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORA!!"
The air shook. The pavement split. Sparks and shards of Amazo's armor flew everywhere. Then I reeled back one final time.
"ORA!!"
A powerful uppercut connected, Amazo's head rocketed off like a missile, spiraling through the air before crashing down blocks away.
Smoke drifted from my knuckles.
"Told you," I said, brushing imaginary dust off my shoulder. "It was a mistake."
The League and I regrouped near the wreckage of Amazo.
"Okay, that was impressive," Flash said, a big grin on his face.
"Thanks," I replied. "I don't use that alien often, but man, he's always fun."
"Why couldn't Amazo copy your powers?" Batman asked, staring at me like he was trying to crack a code just by looking.
I shrugged. "No clue. I'm just glad he couldn't."
I reverted to my regular form.
"How exactly do your powers work? Is it the armor? And if so, where did you get it?" Batman pressed.
I gave him a look. "That's a very personal question, and we're not that close, Bats. So… no."
Flash zipped to my side, throwing an arm around my shoulder. "Don't take it personally. Batman's just naturally nosy when it comes to powered people."
What no one seemed to notice, or maybe they just didn't react, was that for a split second, my Omnitrix glowed yellow.
That wasn't nothing.
I knew what that color meant. It usually popped up when scanning a viable DNA source. And Flash? He's not an alien. But… he is a metahuman. I've always had this theory: if a human's DNA is different enough, the Omnitrix might still register it. Mutants, metas, maybe even magically augmented people.
"Let's keep personal questions off the table," I said casually. "I mean, I'm not asking how you fund all your toys, Batman."
There was a pause. Green Arrow snorted.
"Touché," Batman muttered.
"Okay, but real talk, what awkward situation were you talking about earlier?" Flash asked.
I scratched the back of my neck. "… Well, believe it or not, I've got two girlfriends now. And today, one's dad and the other's godfather found out. They were about to tag-team my spine into the floor."
"You can't be serious." Green Arrow blinked.
"I wish I was joking," I said. "Didn't even know they liked me. Apparently, they'd been crushing on me since we were kids, but they never said anything. I guess I missed all the 'signals.'"
"Oof. Been there." Flash winced. "Wish I had advice, but that's uncharted territory for me."
"I have," Green Arrow said with a smirk.
"Oh, really?" Black Canary raised an eyebrow.
"I— I was not." Ollie backpedaled immediately.
She crossed her arms.
"Mm-hmm."
The rest of us couldn't help but laugh.