I glanced at the ones that had gathered around at the unnecessary U-shaped table. Some more heroes had arrived after they were informed that Giblet had returned with his 'brother' no less.
They were quickly informed by the system as soon as he took that entrance which would signify his appearance with company and the moment, they knew I was his 'brother', they rushed here. Evidently, my arrival was important information for them as I imagined he had to mention me if they were to help him on his mission to find me. Now that I was 'found', they were pretty stoked for him.
It was actually quite wholesome to see how happy they were for him, so I didn't just come out and rain on their parade before Giblet's theory was disproven. "Man, I have heard so much about you already! We heard that you are... a Saiyan." Shazam said.
"What? Obviously." What kind of statement was that? Fortunately, Wonder Woman was there for the rescue and began to explain.
"He means Giblet had described your past on your planet and how you fought together. It painted a colorful picture, and we are just curious to interact with another of his kind."
"Yeah, that sounded way better than what I said." Shazam chuckled slightly awkwardly, the fact that he was the only one chuckling made it even more so.
"Hopefully, you heard nothing bad." I was met with a short but rather telling chuckle and a 'You have no idea' from Shazam before Superman coughed.
"It was interesting, to say the least."
"Right… Anyway, I assume you have some type of wormhole machine to send me back, so if you could just, you know, open a gate and let me get to my universe. It would be much appreciated."
"Leaving so early already? You have just got here!" Shazam exclaimed disappointedly while the others looked suspicious as to why I would leave already.
"Why do you think we have such a machine?" Batman asked with narrowed eyes. Yeah, all the founders had arrived quite quickly already. Aquaman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Superman, and Wonder Woman. Pretty basic lineup. Not easily able to distinguish them from any other known series where they formed like this.
Of course, the fact that someone like Black Canary, Green Arrow, and Red Tornado were here as well as a few others, made me quite certain that this was the Justice League of Young Justice or at least that was the only other series I knew. Perhaps it was just another universe entirely. From what I could tell, they were already quite experienced. They weren't founded yesterday, that was for sure, at least there were a bunch of members gathered. The founding years have clearly passed.
"The fact that Giblet said that you helped him search for me? Look, just scan my clothes' frequency or whatever and send me off to my universe. I'm sure you would rather not have someone like me around."
"Someone like you?" Green Arrow asked.
"Yeah, you know someone who can blow up planets when they throw a tantrum." Why did they look shocked at that statement?
"It won't be that easy." Giblet kindly supplied and from the look of it, he was serious, so I held up an arm with my index finger pointing at the ceiling. The next moment, the league members sitting around the table were visibly alarmed, but more importantly, were shone upon by a warm orange glow.
"Is- is that a sun?" Green Arrow exclaimed. I turned away from them and looked at the miniature sun that hovered above my finger before I pushed more energy into it. The little sun was bursting with ki, and I could feel the power radiate from it. It grew until it was the size of a small car, hovering above us. Although it was this close, it didn't produce any heat just a gentle warmth.
"So, this can't blow up a planet?" I asked with a raised eyebrow to which Giblet just shook his head.
"No, perhaps a city at most, but certainly not a planet. Not even a small one like Earth." He sat in his seat quite relaxed as if he knew that I wouldn't put his words to the test. Pretty confident despite the fact that he obviously didn't know me, or should I rather say didn't know the me now? Of course, I wasn't that stupid, though it gave me a good indication of how strong I was in this universe.
If that wasn't enough energy to destroy a planet then it would indeed be difficult to blow up a planet with a tantrum. A rage-induced legendary Super Saiyan though was another thing entirely. I just shrugged and let the sun dissipate. "Either way, the point still stands. I will be out of your hair, and I can go after my own duties."
"What's the rush?" Batman asked as if he wanted me to stay here, though I was pretty sure he just wanted to know my reasoning which was fair if one considered my reunion with my 'brother', I guess.
"I have a few girlfriends in my universe that would worry about me, and I would rather not disappear after I had almost died and vanished a month ago."
The first time, I saw Giblet rather baffled at what I said. "You have a girlfriend...? Wait, girlfriends as multiple?" Really, that was the thing that got such a big reaction from him? What about me almost dying?
"Yeah? ...Oh shit, that reminds me, my second anniversary with Kara is coming soon. I still have to get her some..." The others looked at each other as if they were unable to grasp what I said. It kind of made me wonder what they expected from me in the first place.
"Congratulations?" Giblet said a bit unsure. To which I nodded and thanked him. He seemed rather conflicted about the news.
"Alright, so what about my return?"
Giblet sighed. "I will bring you back tomorrow." He glanced at Batman, who nodded affirmatively. "We just need some time to prepare the gate to bring us to the edge. Afterward, I will guide you where I picked you up as best as I can."
"Great. Good talk... so where is your cafeteria?" I asked, making the entire table stunned for a moment before finally smiling in amusement as if I had just made an inside joke. Too bad I wasn't in it.
"Before that, we had some questions," Superman interjected with a smile more relaxed, but still somewhat tense. I probably shouldn't have created a little sun that could have blown this entire space station to kingdom come.
"And you want to do it here?" I asked as I glanced around the room, my view swept over the present heroes before it shifted towards the planet through the window over my shoulder. I looked around, inspecting the rather simple, and let's say functional room.
"If you are uncomfortable here, we can change it to another."
"Naw, it's fine." After I said that Wonder Woman approached me with her lasso in hand. I couldn't help but roll my eyes. "Geez. Right off the bat?" Wonder Woman looked surprised, which was understandable since they didn't really know my background or what I knew and didn't. They just had the information that Giblet revealed about old me, so not much to derive from, other than that I shouldn't know too much about them.
"It seems like you are familiar with the lasso of truth?"
"More than you can imagine," I told her before taking the lasso into my hands and feeling the compulsion to say the truth. Her movement stopped before she nodded. There were some whispers from a few other members, but I ignored them and made a gesture to tell them to go on with their interrogation. "Keep it short."
"Who are you? Are you really Giblet's brother?" Wonder Woman then began her questions without hesitation as if they all knew who would ask what questions. Seemed like they had already discussed what to ask beforehand.
"I'm Shallot, the brother of Giblet." Of course, I had a Saiyan brother called Giblet. If it was this one though was up for debate.
"Why have you come here? Do you have any intention to cause harm to the people of Earth or the Earth itself?"
"No. I was brought here by Giblet and have not come here with any intentions to cause harm. I just want to return before it turns into a panicked mess because of my sudden disappearance." Superman nodded satisfied with my answers. Batman didn't show it and he didn't say anything, though I could guess why He wasn't the one asking the questions.
Since they seemed satisfied with just these questions confirming that I didn't come here with any hidden intentions or by pretending to be someone I was not, I let go of the lasso and stood up to stretch my back. "Alright, I will stay the night, but first food."
...
Giblet watched as his brother devoured mountains of food with a passion. At least, that had stayed the same about him, the monstrous appetite and love for food. Not to the degree where that was all he was thinking about, but certainly made him see a glimpse of what his brother used to be.
Giblet then heard someone approach him from behind him. "Do you think he is your brother?" Batman said as they stood a bit further away from the eating competition that Flash, Shazam, and Shallot were holding. The other heroes were still here, but they only wanted to get a feel for his brother and would be gone to their cities soon enough.
"You heard what he said under the influence of the lasso." Giblet crossed his arms as he continue to watch the exchange.
"No method is 100 percent certain. Besides his answer 'I'm Shallot, the brother of Giblet.', wasn't worded normally."
"Yeah, I guess he isn't sure yet that I am his brother because of his modified memories. I know he is. It's just… I have to convince him to get his memories back."
"Convince him? He doesn't want to?" Giblet pinched the bridge of his nose at Batman's question.
"It's a long story."
"Hmm. What if he doesn't have any other memories?"
Was this Shallot his brother? That crystal was a good indication of which time he was from or at least that he had been contacted by Zahha. It was also pretty sure evidence since Zahha came from a universe that had been previously erased from any timeline by the Omni King, Zeno, so the possibility that this Shallot was his brother was almost a sure thing.
However, even if he hadn't had the crystal, he would have just assumed that it was lost when their realities clashed. No, that wasn't what had convinced him. The moment he saw him, he just knew it had to be him. After all, "My instincts have guided me to him just before they found and possibly killed him. I knew he would be in danger and that I needed to be there."
Perhaps attacking him after exchanging a few words was a bit much, but he had been just too excited to see him, coupled with him saying that he didn't believe he was his brother, he wanted to fight him and show him that it was truly him. The fact that the fight probably accelerated his discovery by them made it an unnecessary close call. "I can feel it, he is my brother. It's just that a lot must have happened, and he changed so much. It's just strange to see him act so differently. Just simply what he does now... I would have never imagined that he would pay attention to our conversation despite eating."
"...He seems rather adamant about leaving," Batman said as he squinted at Shallot only to realize that he indeed was paying attention to them. Although most would have missed the cues Batman gave, he looked uncomfortable being paid attention to. Perhaps it was because he had painted the wrong image of his brother to them. A brute Saiyan that would act before thinking and if he thought then about food.
Now, he had his guard up at all times, while paying attention to anyone in the room. How they physically positioned themselves toward him. Not to mention the things he talked about. He chose his words carefully when answering their questions.
Giblet nodded at Batman's words. Shallot wanting to leave didn't seem to do much with him, though clearly, his greeting hadn't made any good first impressions. "It's not a problem that he wants to leave, it's a problem because he doesn't want to leave..."
He didn't want to explain to Batman about Shallot's unwillingness to return to their reality. Giblet then pushed himself off the wall and headed towards the table where a bunch of empty dishes was already piling up. "Hey brother, do you want to see our training room?"
Shallot turned around and looked at him with widened eyes as if he said some magic words to excite him. He nodded and stood up, surprising him as food seemed to be the only point of interest to him up to now. "Hell, yeah!" The enthusiastic response was a clear difference from the casual and neutral words he used beforehand.
With a plate of chicken wings in hand, he stood up and looked at him expectantly. "What are you waiting for? Lead the way!" Giblet couldn't help but grin at the enthusiasm.
"I will be skipping this round of exercise. If you excuse me. It was a pleasure Shallot." Red Tornado's robotic voice sounded out before he and a few other heroes excused themselves as well. Giblet assumed that they just wanted to welcome him with a few words and get a feel for him. They must be now eager to go back to protect their cities.
Of course, Wonder Woman, Black Canary, Superman, Batman, Green Arrow, Flash, and Shazam seemed more eager to watch or even participate in a sparring session. After we arrived in the training hall, Shallot wasn't bothered by the spectators and just ignored them almost entirely to inspect the room. Of course, he had handed Giblet the now half-empty plate with wings for keepsake.
Giblet explained a few details about what conditions one could set to determine the winner and the light projections for combat. This room was the only one Giblet knew like the back of his hand. Despite having outgrown its use if he went full out, it was quite fun to play around with it. He liked it, but it seemed that Shallot seemed a bit disappointed.
Shallot stood in the middle. "Anyone up for the task?" He challenged the spectators, making them look at each other. They had rarely sparred with Giblet, so they knew what a Saiyan was capable of.
After a moment, Black Canary stepped up before positioning herself in front of him. They stood a few feet away and assumed a stance. Without exchanging any more words, Black Canary stepped closer and threw a kick at Shallot's head. Shallot weaved underneath it and punched at her chin. She blocked it with an elbow. The power behind it made her skid over the ground before coming to a stop 3 meters away.
"You pack a punch." She said before sprinting at Shallot again, trying to overwhelm him with a boxing combination before getting low. Her leg made a half circle, trying to sweep away his feet. Shallot jumped over her kick and retaliated with a stomp to her face. He stopped just before it connected. He flipped and landed lightly and soundlessly on his feet again.
Black Canary was still in her sweeping position before breathing out heavily. "Thanks for not actually hitting me." Shallot held out a hand and pulled her to her feet.
"No worries. Want to have a go again?" He asked as he jumped lightly on his feet, shifting his feet and balance. She shook her head, clearly understanding that she wouldn't be able to make Shallot show any of his actual powers or even skill.
Even if someone deliberately moved slower or in their case used less ki, the perception they had were always at the peak of each ki level. Seeing her refusal, Shallot turned to the others in the crowd. Honestly, during Giblet's welcoming battle Shallot's transformation had dominated the impression he made on him, so he didn't expect him to be that restrained with Black Canary.
It was for that reason he had been ready to intervene at any moment. Of course, as the heroes they were, the ones spectating this little tame exchange had been ready to step in as well.
Weirdly enough even Flash was hyper-focused on the battle between Shallot and Black Canary, despite that he was usually uninterested in these sessions or was joking around. They were all rather tense. It kind of reminded Giblet of the times when he had talked about the times he and his brother played together.
Though clearly, his brother wasn't playing as rough as he used to. Even the fact that he opted to dodge instead of tanking whatever a human threw at him was a bit of a weird sight to see. It really made it sink in how little he knew of what Shallot had gone through during the few years they were separated. He even had a girlfriend, multiple at that! And he as his brother hadn't even met them! Who knew if they wanted to take advantage of his dumb, now smarter, brother?!
"Anyone else?" He called out. Superman stepped up and walked towards the center. Shallot widened his stance slightly and turned his body. It almost looked like a stance that he had seen humans use in their martial art called take-one-down or something like that. Heavy usage of fast kicks was all that he remembered of the style.
After the start of the fight was announced. Superman pushed off the ground to close the distance, but as soon as he did Shallot was already stepping forward. In a little burst, his speed accelerated. His foot whipped up, striking Superman on the chin. Superman's grimaced slightly, having to take a few steps back to regain his bearings.
Shallot didn't seem so lenient towards him as he was to Black Canary. The moment Superman backed away, Shallot was already on him and kicked out again. This time Superman blocked high and was pushed back for a meter before letting his body carry into the air.
He then stopped and then flew at his Saiyan opponent. With a backflip, Shallot kicked Superman, kicking him up the air. Shallot stopped mid-backflip only to push off the ground to a double kick into the Kryptonian's back, sending him further up.
After that Shallot didn't pursue him and just let his opponent fall to the ground. Superman coughed slightly before groaning as he propped himself on his elbows to look at his opponent. "You alright?" Shallot asked giving him a hand to help him up.
Superman placed a hand on his lower back. "Yeah. Would have appreciated a more lenient approach though."
"I figured you could endure some punishment. Besides you guys heal way faster than humans. A broken cheekbone would suck as a human." Giblet thought about his first encounter with a human. He had hospitalized the guy with a slap, so he could understand where the restraint came from.
"I guess you are right. Still not a fan of being beaten up." Superman said good-humoredly. Giblet had rarely seen Superman spar. It was probably because he didn't have any reason or the will to. He was getting his exercise with the numerous battles he had or at least that was the reason he had given as to why he had declined Giblet's offers for a sparring session.
It was for this reason that it was quite surprising to see Superman step up to spar with his brother. "Alright." Although they looked ready to continue their fight, Giblet clapped once to interrupt them and gain the attention of the people inside the room. "Let's end it here for today. I have a place on this planet, so you can stay there for tonight."
Shallot rotated his shoulder, clearly just having warmed up. Superman also looked willing to continue. He was already thinking about how to convince them to stop for today. However, contrary to his imagination Shallot just walked past him, while snatching the plate out of his hands and into the hallway before shouting at him. "What are you waiting for? A written invitation?"
He couldn't help but scratch his head as he thought about the battle, they had with each other before coming here. There was no doubt in his mind that Shallot would just escalate the sparring sessions like he had done when he gave him a brotherly reunion fight. Not to mention, how he had directly jumped to the strongest transformation to fight him. Having him take it easy even against Superman, who could take a much better beating wasn't what he had expected, especially when said sparring partner was obviously willing to fight more seriously.
With a shrug of his shoulders, Giblet decided not to question Shallot less he really had to drag some of them out on a stretcher like he had imagined this session to go. So, with some relief, he walked side-by-side with his brother.
The Justice League seemed to be confused as well and gave him some questioning looks. Batman was the first of them to recover, followed by the other founding members before the entire group walked to catch up to him.
"It seemed like you know a thing or two about Kryptonians?" Batman asked his brother as they continued their way to the exit. His question made Shallot glance at him before nodding.
"I am married- I mean, I am in a relationship with one, after all. His cousin." He pointed with his thumb at Superman, whose eyes widened at the news of him having relatives left and before he was able to ask about it, Shallot held up his hands. "Not your cousin obviously. Just a cousin of another parallel universe."
"I... I have a cousin?" Shallot raised an eyebrow at the question.
"Never checked the ruins of your planet and its twin planet?" Superman shook his head slowly. "What about the Phantom Zone? That's the place I know your cousin usually strands and is trapped in after the destruction of your home planet."
"The Phantom Zone? What is that? Where is it?" Superman asked rather worriedly but also a bit defensively and unsure.
"Don't know. I know it's a place without time and space and the Kryptonians had used it to put their prisoners inside. Probably need magic to get there or something. I am not too sure about the specifics. Just ask your fortress robot."
"…Wait. How do you know all this?"
"You've been listening? I came from another universe..." He then pointed at his chest. "...and I am a founding member as well."
"A founding- of the Justice League?" Giblet asked surprised at the news.
"Yeah, aren't you?" Shallot asked this as if that would have been a given. Giblet shook his head. He had been there when these weird creatures had attacked, but he had made it clear from the start that he wouldn't be helping them build this organization or wanted any decision rights about it.
"I had no intention other than provide help the few times I was here."
"He is more of a part-timer," Flash interjected. "You are saying that you are a full-fledged member? Isn't it kind of... boring for you?" Flash's eyes switched between the two of them.
Shallot ignored the speedster and looked at Giblet. "Damn. You are worse than me and I thought I was neglectful. To your point, I don't do street stuff. World-ending threats are where my money is. Kind of interesting how one planet has so many ways to destroy itself." His first sentence made Giblet question whether he was actually the unthoughtful brute between the two.
Batman narrowed his eyes at him. "So, you helped the Justice League with the Appellaxians and then joined them?" Shallot looked back at him and instead of answering the man, he just snorted before taking another bite from his wings.
"How many years have you been on Earth?" Shallot just shook his head, seemingly a bit annoyed. "Maybe you could give us a helping hand by cross-referencing-"
"Jesus-" Batman's eyes narrowed a smidgen at the sudden exasperation from Shallot. "I am not going to tell you any details and yes, that includes the composition of my team and what events we have experienced."
"You were inclined to give us information about Superman's cousin. Your information might be important to save many lives-"
"A lapse of judgment. I will tell you more if our sides agree to an information exchange."
Batman snorted with a shadow of a smirk on his face. "What are you afraid of? It's just-" Suddenly a tail whipped out, sharply cutting through the air in front of Batman's face. Giblet wasn't sure whether Batman just couldn't react to it or he simply chose not to as he stood his ground still with the most mocking expression he had ever seen Batman have.
Shallot slowly turned around and at this moment, it felt like a fight might just break out between the Justice League and Shallot. Giblet wasn't sure if he would like to have to choose a side. His brother stretched out and placed his index and middle finger on Batman's chest.
"I know what you are doing. You don't have to worry that I am going berserk if some human provokes me. Those fools aren't worth my time. However, you guys are different. I might have to actually worry about you guys as a threat to my world, so don't push it with your teasing, otherwise..."
He didn't finish his words as the threat was clear. His pupils turned green and just stared at Batman until the man took a step back. After seeing that Shallot turned around and continued to walk down the hallway again. "It's always him doing this shit." He mumbled. It was loud enough for them to hear his words rather clearly.
Giblet nodded at them before following his brother. Surprisingly Shallot knew the way out. He wasn't sure whether it was because the layout of their Watchtower was the same or if he had remembered the way toward the exit. Both could be the case as he could hardly recognize his brother.
Didn't he mention that he was 15 since entering his universe? When he had seen some people having a similar haircut as him pretending to throw ki beams at him, he got to know from Superman that younger humans were rather impressionable. Perhaps Saiyans were the same? Did he spend too long on Earth and as a result became a Saiyan that actually thought things through when it didn't come to food, and fights?
Shallot then stood in the hangar looking at the gate, waiting for something to happen until Giblet realized what he was waiting for. "We are not using this exit."
"Which one theaaan-" He shouted as Giblet teleported them to the house on his island. "What the fuck? That feels really weird."
"I will show you how to teleport another time. There is just a little problem that I wanted to mention without the others listening in." He stared at him with a frown on his face, clearly knowing that he wouldn't like what he had to say.
"I don't know how to find your universe."
"...Just have the Justice League build something to detect my frequency and then-"
"I would have found you a lot sooner if that was the case. This part of the universe had been a mess since the clash of realities. Not to mention, a few of their minions lurking there to search for us, so there is no reliable and safe way to find where I picked you up, especially since it's changing all the time."
"Urgh, don't tell me-"
"It might just take us a day or months until we find your universe. Don't worry we will find it before they arrive. I have already seen them through Chronoa's barrier and they will take some time until they get through."