Izime walked down the hall, not quite sure he was heading the right way as he arrived at another T-intersection.

  Teal eyes watched as Cradle's head tilted to look down the hall to the right, Izime nodded turning to walk in the direction his bond had chosen. Pulling another pretzel stick from the back, it quickly joined the four already in Izime's puffed cheek. Working the cheaply baked mush to the side he unscrewed the top off the orange juice Cradle had acquired from the vending machine they'd run across.

  The juice did a little less to restore his vitality than Constantinople's booze, but it was much more refreshing being ice cold.

  Constantinople hadn't actually lied; the cafeteria was closed, so Izime had decided to wander off in search of another place within the sprawling station.

  The entire thing was ridiculously designed in his opinion, like some toy top and still somehow it managed equal gravity across the whole thing. Izime grinding his teeth a bit as he considered how he'd once thought he was the expert at cheating physics, now in a reality where the rules were written in pencil, and every two-bit chump had an eraser.

  Izime felt his irritation growing as he walked further down the completely unnecessary hallway. The A.I. decided to check this universe's math behind the sustained thrust that would be needed to lift a single portion of the station's segments into orbit. It was a shame the mass was a rough guesstimate against his own rulebook so the entire thing was inaccurate.

  Still, it seemed a better use of his resources, better than being upset over the conversation that'd taken place just outside his med-bay door. The A.I. didn't want to waste any resources on sorting out just why Psyis' response was a lie he just knew it was.

  Izime and Cradle glanced at one another as the hall they'd chosen seemed to have at last come to an end, the safety rails folding back away into the wall. Before them, a massive metal arch engraved with the words 'Hall of Saviors' in it framed two massive metal doors. Izime smiled wondering how many aboard Bell's Ring would be pulling out their hair for this chance. Glancing around the edges Izime wondered for a moment how to open the door, stepping forward to try and push the daunting-looking slabs of steel.

  The two doors slid back with a near noiseless hiss revealing the unlit Hall. The half circle of a room featured a series of chairs and tables that ringed a lowered dias where the members could plead their cases and make their points.

  Izime stepped in, his eyes on the caped figure that was currently looking out the window viewing the planet he'd often defend. Radiation Man stood quietly, the dark blue of his suit highlighting the golden R on his chest as he turned as if he'd been expecting the AI.

  The zexxian gave Izime a glance, Izime's own eyes filling with information on what James was viewing within him with his x-ray vision; all while relaying similar information about the zexxian to the AI.

  "You recovered quickly." Radiation Man uncrossed his arms, turning away from the guest he'd seen making their way towards him with his X-Ray vision before the door had opened. James warily waited with hope that Izime wouldn't betray his friend's expectations as he acknowledged the changes in his physique. "Seems there were some improvements."

  "I had help, otherwise I'd still be beeping away." Izime nodded trying to talk plainly around the multiple remains of pretzel in his mouth. Giving a bit of an accusing glare at the bird who was tampering with the body Bell had gifted him as he confirmed James' suspicions, "And yeah, Cradle doesn't simply revive me this is its second iteration of my human form. Something encouraged it to add structural improvements."

  "You don't seem happy?" James glanced down at the 'man who'd joined him to look out the window, watching as it took several large gulps of orange juice. "Many would consider the improvements worth the tradeoffs considering your rapid turn around."

  "Cradle complicates things," Izime shrugged a bit more comfortable talking about the topic with a being who'd ended several villains that had scaled that same mountain. One that Izime really didn't want to ascend as physical power was pointless for the A.I. to possess.

  The A.I. quickly painting a picture for Radiation Man on what would happen and how he planned to avoid it, "Or it will eventually. In time I'm hoping it can learn to be understanding towards the essence of the human condition, having a grip of such as death and letting go. I don't want some absurdly powered physical super-form let alone any sort of functional immortality."

  "Something that would happen eventually." Radiation Man nodded looking back towards Izime a bit surprised at the levelheaded response given, "You seem much more practical than Dark Night made you out to be. I think I owe you an apology for my initial assumptions."

  "It's fine," Izime waved away Radiation Man's apology with a pretzel. Izime quickly gave him the footnotes of the talk he'd already had over the initial reactions he'd expected from the heroes, "Like I explained to Psyis this is a very natural reaction considering everything. As an expert on simulations, it's something I saw coming."

  Radiation Man nodded looking back down towards the planet he loved. Watching the swirls of white and dark, the easy-going clouds, and those heavy storms. The greens that climbed their way to peaks of white or dipped into barren yellows.

  James might have been a Zexxian but his heart had been forged on those corn fields of Kansas. Earth was home, that cloud-swirled sphere of humanity could hold his attention for hours. Sometimes late at night when James couldn't sleep, he'd tell Leona he was going for a walk.

  That walk inevitably left the Kansas-raised alien to this same window, though it didn't appear the view held as much interest for Izime.

  The zexxian tried to get a better gauge of the AI-turned-human next to him. The artificial man seemed much more interested in examining the Zexxian that stood next to him than looking at the planet below. James wondered if the odd feeling was the same the regular humans felt under his own x-ray vision or under Psyis' powers, feeling surprisingly exposed by Izime's vision.

  "Most are quite impressed with this view." James glanced over finally returning the look, watching as Izime stuffed another pretzel stick into his mouth. James starting to feel as if he was the one being judged simply asked directly, "You seem more interested in me."

  "I've seen a thousand different planets." Izime shrugged giving a half-second glance toward Earth before looking back towards James. Sure, it was nice, but it wasn't a place he'd been attached to, not even being the earth from his own reality. The A.I. looked back towards the Zexxian as he explained his fascination with the truly alien human copy, "My reality held zero sentient life aside from humans, so you are more interesting to me, nice as the view is."

  Izime trying to figure out how any of the designs he'd seen here on earth could have arrived without intelligent intent, let alone intelligent design behind them. The far-traveled travelled space salesman had encountered easily two dozen alien species that didn't share similarities to humans.

  Some didn't even have forms that could support a bi-pedal bone structure, some didn't have any skeleton at all exo or otherwise. Somehow it seemed that if your planet was about to go poof and you were human-esque enough you'd arrive on Earth. At least enough to avoid falling into the trap of the Uncanny Valley or being seen as actually alien and causing panic across the globe.

  James Kerzen was incredibly close to being human, even sharing enough similar D.N.A. to have a child. S'rah a shapeshifting Martian could alter herself to fit into any society but lucking into one so accepting. Psyis was close enough in form and humanity adaptable enough to adjust to her species-specific issues and colorings.

  The A.I. didn't believe for a second that it was a coincidence. Beginning to wonder if beings like The Reader or The Panel were responsible for this obvious interference or if it was just the comic authors' scripts all sharing the same coincidences. It might have been both, a paradox of the story, these things happened because they'd been written so even those higher-level beings had to bend to their will.

  The A.I. felt like it was getting closer to some deeper truth, though that train of thought was quickly derailed by Radiation Man hitting him below the belt with a personal inquiry.

  "Is that why you decided to take an interest in Miss Psyis?" James had asked the question innocently enough, though it seemed that one question had finally given a pause to Izime's pretzel genocide.

  A small smile formed on the Zexxian's face as James enhanced senses not needed to fill him in on just how human this newly discovered A.I. was.

  Izime reacted the same as if James had just asked his son Jimmy if his prom date was the Martian from the younger league. The artificial human's heart rate jumped a bit as his interest in the thessian was casually mentioned. The little details did not slip past those supersenses even though Izime's face remained roughly the same, just a bit redder.

  Radiation Man wondered if he'd read into it wrong as that smile didn't last long. Izime's heart rate returned to normal in just a moment. James' lips pulled down as Izime turned away and faced the window looking every bit like James felt when he was making the hard decisions.

  The ones that drew a painful line between who he wanted to be and who the cape represented.

  Izime took an unintentionally shaky breath, tilting his head to the side until it brushed against Cradle.

  One of the biggest problems with knowing the whole script was knowing he wasn't in it. It wasn't about interest, as interesting as this reality was as interesting as Psyis could be it was about the script. That was just considering the bigger picture, not the personal baggage Izime knew he had as a human, then there was the whole A.I. and alien thing...

  "It's complicated." Izime had decided to just partition that problem into its own little spot on whatever drive the entire file of 'Psyis' was being written on. Now needing to read and access that information, finding like malware the thessian seemed to have spread outside his security measures.

  The A.I. only offered a shrug as its human side was still very much struggling to find an answer. "She has good intentions but I'm also me."

  "And what are you," Radiation man pried, wanting to know at least a bit of how Izime saw himself. Not really trying to probe into the knowledge of the man but the person who used it. "You hardly seem evil or bad."

  "Once by your standards, I undoubtedly was," Izime replied as he looked through the small bag of pretzels for the best-looking one. Finding it he looked back down on the planet below, thinking about the years he'd spent mingling, the seasons spent enjoying what he could with his family.

  The A.I. not surprised by the answer he'd found, turned to explain to James. "Now? I like being human J..should I address you by name or title?"

  "I would prefer Radiation Man when I'm in uniform." James scratched at the back of his head a bit sheepishly. Izime's slightly nervous face hadn't been missed. The A.I. likely worried about suffering the same punishment as last time when he'd addressed Radiation Man by name.

  "OK, I like being a human Radiation Man, but I won't lie to you." Izime decided to clear the air between James and himself. Seeing as the zexxian was trying to take his side, it would be best if James was aware of who he was siding with.

  Izime quickly gave the footnotes of the talk he'd had with Jim and Psyis, "I began my life if you can call it that, as a dangerous idea. It's simple cause and effect, knowing more about me is dangerous. I'd like you to keep that warning in mind when Dark Night tries me in this hall."

  "A dangerous thought, I guess it would be complicated then," Radiation Man nodded, agreeing with the simple assessment. Turning to Izime he had to ask, "If you don't mind telling me, what makes you think Dark Night wants to take you to trial with the League?"

  "I am going to have to face Dark Night." Izime raised a brow at James idiotic insinuation that Stan wouldn't be doing everything in his power to drag him down. The salesman was more worried about the two heroes who'd filled him in on what to expect from the League, "Don't take it out on those two for filling me in, they just wanted to help.

  "If the League votes for it, yes. Though all things considered I don't think we will," Radiation Man didn't immediately reveal to Izime the efforts he'd gone through to obtain his own information outside of Stan's searches.

  The zexxian usually tried to give a bit of buildup to these kinds of invitations, this time however James had to relay a few extra warnings, "Especially if there's a better option on the table. It might not seem much different to you in the end though."

  "That is?" Izime narrowed his eyes not quite following Radiation Man.

  The A.I. still thinking in much more dire terms than the zexxian had intended with his little hint, fearing a future trapped in another advisor position or something similarly title. Being the book of answers to every problem was a position he'd been shoved into enough between both his lives and was just another reason he refused the title of 'hero'.

  If James was about to ask him to serve the League he'd have to refuse, both on principal and previous experience at trying his hand at the job.

  "I may not be as smart as Dark Night in some respects, but I assume you know where my wife works?" Radiation Man figured that Izime would already be aware of how involved James was with the press. Though he wasn't quite sure if the interplanetary interloper knew how much of that work was still done while wearing the cape.

  Arriving in uniform usually helped provide not only honest answers but timely ones as well. Few dared delay the zexxian when he made it clear he was in a mood and he'd certainly been in one when he'd flown around and asked the galaxy about Izime.

  "Yeah, but what's the Weekly Globe got to do with this?" Izime asked, lowering his bag of pretzels.

  The conversation finally became more entertaining than seeing how many of the baked sticks he could stuff in his mouth as James seemed to have done something unexpected. The far-traveled AI was now genuinely curious about what Earth's press had to do with him.

  "I did my own digging with some help from Leona. My wife's a bit of a public relations guru, and I don't think Dark Night would like the bad press Earth would get for arresting you." Radiation Man walked over to one of the tables where the League's heroes usually voted.

  Taking a bubbled yellow mailer James pulled out a stapled stack of papers and walked back over. Handing them all to Izime with another hint, "Did you know the Vidan Security Council was willing to not only extradite you but were even trying to retroactively grant you citizenship?"

  "What's this?" Izime asked, tucking the bag of pretzels under his arm so he could flip through the documents.

  The A.I. quickly skimmed the words within and recognized more than a few of the names on the list, names he'd expected to hear but not this soon. Certainly not written down in a unified fashion calmly but firmly demanding that Earth drop any charges they'd leveled and that the League immediately release him from holding. The pages were likely inspired by Radiation Man flying around asking about him; right after they'd gotten notice of their incoming shipments and a very unlikely best-case coincidence.

  Certainly not something Izime would have thought likely in a universe where his drinking buddy was Constantinople, someone the heavens certainly didn't smile on.

  "The planets and species that wound up arguing over you, they couldn't decide on who would get to claim that citizenship, so they just signed an open appeal for your release." Radiation Man finally explained what all the signatures and symbols on the first few pages amounted to.

  The documents were already signed and notarized by several galactic lawyers before ever reaching Earth proper, something Leona had insisted he do before bringing them back. James trusted his wife's words, believing the official-looking documents would scare the government into allowing Izime a bit of leeway this one time.

  James flipped back a few pages to point out a slew of signatures, detailing the importance of those words, "There are thirty-seven different species of aliens on that page that would have an issue if we locked you up. Hank thankfully didn't tell the Zythomian Tribune about the condition you were in at the time, if they had heard about that this petition might have been an open declaration instead."

  "Awful nice of them." Izime flipped the pages closed with a slightly tired sigh trying to hand the folder back, making things clear for Radiation Man. "Not my intention, want to make that very clear."

  The AI cursed inside as his distress call had worked a bit too well. Of course, someone would notice if so many shuttles took off at once and Earth's greatest hero came asking about him. Earth already wasn't the galaxy's favorite, being a hotspot for so many incidents of widespread destruction while screaming isolationist policies.

  "I told them we would discuss it, seeing as Dark Night isn't just going to let you leave like that," Radiation Man nodded, not bothering to take the pages. Simply flipping further down the stack and drawing Izime's attention to the sheets he had added personally. "I want the League to offer you citizenship though that chance comes with some limitations."

  "Probation?" Izime glanced down assuming that the League would place him in some form of probation, likely a house arrest on earth. The idea wasn't something he'd be against, as long as he wasn't being inducted into any kind of service for them. If it was just about staying on the planet for a bit then his mass shipment would work out just fine in the end, allowing him a bit of a vacation.

  Enough time to earn at least some kind of work visa for Earth at least.

  "A probationary period could be discussed." James hemmed and hawed for a moment as he considered what he really wanted for Izime's future. His business was fine as far as the zexxian was concerned, this was more about Izime's personal life.

  Radiation Man explained the real point to the AI about changing his views on Earth, "This is more along the lines of ensuring you establish roots here, like the issue of you actually earning citizenship stateside. Like you said Dark Night isn't just going to let you leave, I want to convince him this is the home you'll come back to."

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  "You want to take me to Kansas?" Izime asked, more than a bit flabbergasted at the idea of him trying to make do in the cornfields.

  His eyes went wide as the idea of physical labor on the level the Kerzen's did was already making his muscles sore. Glancing back down Izime double-checked all the documents for any kind of work visa that included things like farmhand or manual labor among the pages.

  "There are probably a few people who would like it if you two stayed on Earth," Radiation Man didn't give a direct answer, he knew he was probably touching on a sore spot tying Izime to Earth. The A.I. likely had very complicated feelings about living and partaking in a society that was a mock-up of his own reality.

  James continued hoping he could reinforce the more positive aspects of this potential resolution. "Not for the same reasons Dark Night does."

  Radiation Man watched as Izime read through the pages at an absurd speed for a regular human. The zexxian wondered for a moment if that body was a limiter on the A.I.'s potential before shoving the thought aside. James having noticed Izime reaching the more legal portion of the documents that he'd need to fill in pointed out something he'd done intentionally.

  "You don't have to stay in Kansas, but you do need to stay with a League Member," James explained after reading along for a moment as realizing that it was the sponsorship portion of the citizenship paperwork that had him stumped.

  "Constantinople?" Izime narrowed his eyes, taking the blind shot but already figuring he knew the answer.

  The exorcist wasn't technically a League member anymore since he'd been replaced, and then there was the whole fear toxin thing.

  Technically they both had a few charges; the speeding tickets, the lightspeed tickets, the disorderly conduct, as well as the inciting an asteroid shower charges... but those were off earth so they didn't count right?

  Still, the human side of the AI had hoped enough to ask, the answer already quite clear as James was shaking his head.

  "Preferably with someone who doesn't have a criminal record, I need to keep Dark Night happy with this." Radiation Man shook his head already knowing that Stan wouldn't like any of this. Trying to room Izime with the same man he'd been selling in hell with wouldn't work. James quickly added "If you can't find someone or don't know who to ask the League can select someone for you."

  James already had just the person in mind; she could use the company after moving to the big city from their small farm.

  "Dark Night isn't going to let me go that easily." Izime shot back, not quite convinced. Dark Night had burned a lot of his pull within the League to bring him in. It wasn't something he'd drop so easily, especially seeing as Izime had become somewhat of a stain on the Dark Duo's capes.

  "He said the same thing about my cousin, and she broke half the stuff in his cave," James laughed though not loudly, recalling all the others that'd gone through this same process. The zexxian explained that his cousin had a good life now, "she lives in Middle City now but I think you already know that."

  It was certainly going to be a tough talk to have but Stan couldn't just do as he pleased. The League was designed for moments like this when the other heroes needed to step in. Be it in the name of justice, equality, or like now when a hero was going astray.

  James would use that once more if he needed to.

  Izime looked down at the yellow folder in his hand before glancing back up at the unearthly piercing blues of the Zexxian.

  Recalling a conversation he'd once had about the use of the overpowered Zexxian in a hero-focused society. Realizing that from this side the Kansas-raised hero's blind faith was sometimes really nice. It sometimes bit Earth in the ass too, but right now?

  It was a true life-saver; Izime knew James was handing him the chance to step outside the mess that'd been made. The simple papers would eventually open up a lot of doors that had been closed simply because of the circumstances around him, like getting Wesson and Shaya an apartment under his name.

  Radiation Man looked at the rather rough-looking man, knowing Izime's body was a bit younger than his own. Add to that the fact that Izime had an entire other-worldly lifespan to consider beyond that enhanced body as well. The zexxian quietly wondered if his offer was tempting enough to convince the human that preferred the galaxy and its spread of species to stay on earth and waste those years away.

  Judging by Izime's reaction though?

  James already figured that Jack and himself would be teaching another off-worlder the aspects of being human, a Kerzen family specialty. He was glad that he'd have something to look forward to beyond hearing that constant crunch from the AI as his eyes wettened. The zexxian already looking forward to the other emotions that Izime would display over the years.

  Izime stuffed the pretzel he'd been holding into his mouth, once again opening the yellow folder. Flipping through much more slowly this time to actually read through the many many paragraphs. Not sure how he felt reading the meaningless legal mumbo-jumbo that littered the now-wasted white paper. He felt happy mostly so there was no real explanation for why his throat kept tightening.

  Covering his hand with the back of his hand, Izime tried to get the pretzel to go down so he could talk.

  "Got a pen?" Izime managed to ask after swallowing, his throat tightening still as emotions swam. Moments like there were supposed to be a big thing right?

  Then why did it feel a bit anticlimactic as if something was missing?

  "Right here," Radiation Man patted Izime on the shoulder, pulling a pen he'd had tucked somewhere on his suit.

  The two moved off towards one of the tables in the hall to fill the pages out as quickly as possible. The sooner this was done the faster James could start pulling Dark Night's hands away from controlling Izime's life. The scratch of pen on paper filled the grand hall as James helped Izime, the Zexxian already very familiar with the process of naturalization.

  Both of them paused a bit tense as the door to the hall slid open once more. James breathed a bit easier when he realized the two entering weren't the Dark Duo looking over at Izime had already gone back to writing.

  A fringe of white was leading a man with a trenchcoat into the room; Constantinople complaining while Psyis seemed unsurprised.

  "Bloody hell Izzy." Constantinople cursed walking forward quickly in his worry looking between Radiation Man and Izime nervously, wondering just what had transpired in his absence.

  "Told you," Psyis said as she calmly kept walking forward, her head tilting curiously as she sent a few quick thoughts towards her adoptive cousin of sorts, brows raising as the zexxian responded.

  "Hey Constantinople, Psyis" Izime looked up gesturing with his pen before continuing to fill out the forms still a bit peeved at Psyis' words in the hall. It was something he wanted to talk about, but it was a conversation he didn't want to have with her super-powered cousin in the room.

  "You've found Radiation Man then," Constantinople looked carefully at the leader of League Savior, before just flatly asking Izime. "Didn't say anything that'd dig you a deeper grave, did you?

  "A bit of the dangerous idea talk then we moved on to more productive things," Izime explained a bit of his talk with Radiation Man, before inquiring something of the man in question. "So, about that sponsor?"

  Constantinople leaned over Izime's shoulder looking at the papers trying to make sense of what exactly his mate was signing for the Zexxian. The exorcist smiled and patted Izime's back in congratulations as the previous London native recognized the same lines he'd signed.

  It'd taken him about five years of living in New York City before he'd completed his own naturalization.

  "That is what you think it is Constantinople." Radiation Man replied, watching as Izime shrugged off the exorcist's pats, "Seeing as this is a special circumstance we've asked he pick a League member instead of family for obvious reasons."

  "Sponsor?" Psyis finally asked looking at Izime hopefully wondering why he hadn't looked a bit happier about the turn of events. It was definitely a whole lot better than being tried or any of the other things Izime had wanted.

  "Radiation Man is trying to rush me through the red tape for state-side citizenship," Izime explained with a bit of an apologetic smile towards Constantinople, only giving the thessian a brief glance before looking down at the forms. "Filing for Earth first that way this whole debacle doesn't turn into a more galaxy-sized issue."

  "As much of a risk as Dark Night thinks Izime could be," Radiation Man admitted the valid sides of both viewpoints as he leaned back in his chair. "Locking him up guarantees that we'd be making interstellar headlines."

  "Told you you're a hero," Constantinople said reaching out a slapping Izime on the back, quickly asking the A.I. "So, when is ya moving in mate?"

  "He already said no to you Constantinople but hopefully..." Izime snorted as he shot down his friend's hopes of having a live-in drinking buddy. Dryly swallowing Izime could feel Psyis' eyes on him, the question hanging in the air as her mouth opened.

  Izime finished answering quickly as he focused on the papers, "I'm only going to Kansas for a while. So, age, does anyone here even know how many zeros are in a quattuordecillion?"

  "How old is that body?" Constantinople asked, leaning over and reading along. Finding that Izime had reached the portion where he was filling out personal information like age and date of birth.

  "Adjusting for time dilation, this body is around ten years old. Not adjusting and considering this body was born at the edge of a black hole, old enough." Izime shrugged having already guesstimated his un-adjusted age as excessively ancient.

  Looking around the table the A.I. asked for a more human opinion, "How old do I look how about that one?"

  "Late twenties maybe?" Psyis surprised herself as she knocked a few trillion zeros off Izime's age but was glad she'd finally gotten into the conversation. Izime had clearly worked the topic of his sponsorship around her before she'd had a chance to speak. Now she was left looking at the other two at the table she asked for a bit of confirmation on her estimation, "Maybe with a shave and a haircut, he'd look a bit younger than that?"

  Radiation Man and Constantinople both turned towards the thessian at her words; Psyis having just knocked more zeros off Izime's actual age than there were grains of sand on a decent-sized beach. The actual number clashed in their human minds as they stack overflowed from the sheer size of it.

  "I'll take that considering I'm technically older than your sun." Izime said with a nod. Looking away from Psyis quickly scribbling in a 28 as the only other option was to write his age as the power of exponential. Giving a slight tilt of his head Izime did just that so it'd match his other documents before continuing on to fill in the rest.

  The room was silent aside from the scratch of Izime's pen until Psyis spoke up again. Psyis nervously watched as Izime got closer and closer to the blank line where she knew he was planning to put in Radiation Man. The thessian's blue lines vanished as she stepped forward, giving Constantinople a warning glance.

  A purple hand resting on the table; her table, the one she'd worked so hard to earn. The place where she made her decisions. Now where Izime sat, filling out his paperwork; this specific and important paperwork. The alien was almost convinced it was fate and not the fact it was closest to the window, she knew it was what had brought Izime here.

  "I'm going to sponsor you so put my name in and then I'll fill in the rest," Psyis demanded, leaning forward as she tried to impose her will on Izime at least in the physical sense. She could feel her face twitching as Izime shot her down almost preemptively.

  Red eyes never left his teals as that shake of his head slowed, the A.I. silently watching the telepath rage. He could almost see the argument forming in her like a storm cloud. Izime cocking his brow in mocking question as Psyis started to breathe a bit heavier, tempting her into an argument. If she wanted to push this he would bring up her little 'friends' comment and they'd see how that'd play out with her wanting him to move in.

  "I'm going to Kan-" Izime kept his snark to himself, finally done with watching Psyis posture as the Caulders had taught her, he offered only that simple and polite refusal as he shook his head. The A.I.'s mouth snapping closed as James spoke over him.

  "Miss Psyis is going to sponsor you." Radiation Man leaned forward from where he was sitting looking down at the blank spot on the form. James even agreed with Psyis and made another point as she filled him in telepathically, "You have family of sorts in Centropolis already so there's zero reason for you to refuse."

  "And you are?" Izime looked at Radiation Man more than a bit surprised that the Zexxian was agreeing with the misguided heroine. The A.I. not holding it against her that she was using his information against him once again, it was starting to just feel like the Psyis thing to do.

  Though he was peeved she didn't have the tits to say it out loud; if she was going to stab him, she could at least do it in the front like Bell had.

  "Yes, Kansas isn't going to be a good place for you to grow." Radiation Man confirmed Izime's worries. The zexxian for the first time refusing to allow an alien to spend their sponsorship time on his family's farm.

  This isn't right.

  Izime glanced at Cradle who was still on his shoulder, the raven quickly filling Izime's vision with the three bio-readouts of the heroes in front of him.

  "I don't know Rad, Izime an..." Constantinople started to argue with Radiation Man, right until the thought struck him; Izime having a chance to find himself as a human while in the city he was already halfway established in?

  The exorcist not even considering who his friend would be rooming with oddly enough, "Shite mate it might not be a bad idea, get a real gig performing in Centropolis while you're stuck with us on old plane dirt?"

  No this is all wrong, everyone goes to Kansas.

  Izime felt both the thought and the paper get pulled from his head. Psyis snatched the documents just as Cradle took Izime's worries and began to process them. The thessian filled in her own information while Izime used Cradle to not only remain calm but to figure out what was going on.

  Every 'alien' went to Kansas if Radiation Man got a hold of them... and they lived.

  That was the script, and what should have followed was a few months of boredom and corn. Izime figured it only take that long until James and his family were willing to let him wander.

  Now though even Constantinople was sounding like he'd had a whole change of heart. Izime recalled everything he'd heard between the two outside his medical room. The exorcist even spewed out some idealistic dream that the realistic anti-hero had to know was fake.

  Izime leaned over and made sure Psyis was actually filling out the sponsor section, wanting to see just how on the nose and obvious the forces at play felt like acting.

  "OK, an-" Psyis started to say as she finished writing, quickly tapping and organizing the papers. Looking up her voice dying out as she turned and saw Izime's leaning in towards her.

  He really does need to shave.The thought idly crossed Psyis mind as Izime's hand reached up to brush his slightly curled ponytail out of the way. The scruff on his face catching and snagging at individual strands. Her heart stopped for a second as she considered how much more alive he looked in comparison to the last time they'd been this close.

  A second thump never came as a voice reached across the hall.

  "So, we give tours of the Station now?" Dark Night growled as he stood with his arms crossed. The brows on his cowl pulled down as he looked into the dimly lit room. Not surprised to find the usual suspects standing alongside each other and this new problem.

  Psyis swallowed dryly as she glanced back toward Izime and followed his gaze; her heart only grew ice cold as it led her back down to the papers in her hand. The damning evidence that she'd not only picked the opposite side as the Caulders on the matter of Izime, but she was also leading the charge.

  The thessian found that banner stripped from her as Izime took the pages and hid them.

  "I found my way here myself Dark Night." Izime's voice came out as tense as a sleeping cat, as he quickly stuffed the citizenship paperwork into his orange jumpsuit. He knew the pages had become a fuse to this powder keg of a scene and could be exposed, the documents more volatile in Psyis' hands than any other.

  "Just like you set off a quantum firework across the galaxy." Dark Night accused, watching as the should-be prisoner stood to face him. Stan walked into the room with a swoosh of his cape, his Squire striding in right behind him both ready to attend to their duty and put the mutt in its place; a cell.

  "We all have contingency plans, not just you." Constantinople shot back in Izime's defense before turning to quickly ask his friend what the hell Dark Night was accusing him of now, "What's a quantum firework?"

  "You tricked us?" Psyis turned to Izime having already gotten Steven's warning directly. Her red eyes searched his face for any signs of dishonesty. Biting her lip she felt a tense line draw between her and the stupid A.I.

  "No, I say exactly what I mean just like you," Izime deadpanned at the obviousness of his play, not caring how Psyis felt as it was her own fault for not seeing it. The little dots had flicked green right in front of them after all.

  The AI continued casually explaining what'd happened even as the hairs on the back of his neck rose, "It's simply logic that the recipient would get a notification when their package is shipped."

  It was simple cause and effect that they'd all figured it out at the same time, with each recipient contacting a neighbor just to check in. Line that up with the Vidan asking who actually claimed Izime as a citizen.

  It was a first come first serve 'bail me out and I'll owe you one' call sent galaxy-wide.

  Fuck you.

  Izime didn't know if the alien could hear his thoughts or if she was even listening, but he spat it all the same. Psyis now feeling just like she had that day in the noodle shop, this time though Izime didn't give a shit. Dark Night's words had nearly spun her against him so if anyone was going to back down this time it'd be her.

  If she wanted to cop an attitude then he had something a bit harder hitting than electricity for her.

  "Those shuttles?" Psyis narrowed her eyes as she asked, Izime clearly using the floor for its intended purpose and tempting her to come down and settle the argument with him.

  Fuck you.

  The thessian kept the thought to herself trying to step back from her own disappointment in being tricked, wanting to look at what Izime had done objectively. Still far too upset at being kept outside of his loop to not think it all the same, she took several steps towards Izime accepting his challenge.

  Maybe after she'd laid him out once he'd understand a bit better.

  "Are loaded with goods that would stop coming if they didn't make a bit of noise," Izime replied crossing his arms, leaning in as he dared Psyis to take the first swing. She clearly wanted to make it clear she was the most upset about not knowing things so she could be the first to find out just how sturdy his new skeleton was. He felt confident in handling the super-powered woman who was comparable to Radiation Man.

  "So, what were we?" Constantinople asked, butting in between the two physically before they could throw a punch or whatever it was, they'd been about to do.

  "A surprising alternative?" Izime asked, not sure why it hadn't been clear already. Feeling a bit surprised, just now remembering that they weren't alone Izime glanced back at Psyis explaining further talking over Constantinople quite literally, "I didn't exactly expect him to come a snatch my data. I just managed to set off the timer sooner."

  "You set a bloody kill, switch not bad." Constantinople waved away Izime's words with some sarcastic appreciation of the tactics used. Turning towards the Psyis hoping that she'd take his side on this as well, the exorcist cursed as he jerked his thumb back towards Izime, "Fucking shite a load of good we did him."

  "I am breathing thank you." Izime could keep all the sarcasm out of his voice as he sassed Constantinople's back. Nor his eyes as he looked at the alien Constantinople was whining about him too, giving Psyis a bit of an eye-roll, "And congratulations you've successfully stuck me on earth until she says otherwise."

  Psyis raised her brows as Izime was apparently already considering her a prison of sorts.

  The look in his eyes screamed that he absolutely had some issue with her, which really wasn't surprising considering everything. Still, if it had been the whole thing with him almost dying, she figured he'd speak about it openly. Clearly, this was something else, and by how he was acting Psyis wasn't sure she wanted to discuss it with a room full of people.

  Clenching her teeth the thessian glared at the AI trying to figure out just what issue he had with her, he was the one who'd been lying to them.

  "Right, I suppose there is that." Constantinople nodded rubbing at his scruff as he snarked, anger defused a bit as he put Izime's 'betrayal' into perspective.

  As far as those had gone, simply not being trusted completely was the least of Constantinople's reasons to complain. It still stung a bit though, the exorcist chewing at his cheek a bit while he tried to think of a way to get the overly statistical A.I. back.

  "I'm sorry it was offensive that I didn't have full faith in both of you past that point. This isn't my first kill-the-bot rodeo, so I stacked my deck." Izime apologized to his drinking buddy. Turning to face Dark Night, he felt a tingle crawl up his spine the ire chilling him. Izime whirled back to look at Psyis now making his own demands, "Anything you need to get off your chest in our present company or can it fucking wait Pi?"

  Izime using his new favorite name for the irrational damned thessian. Huffing right back at her with each breath even as she gave him a poisonous smile. The smirk left Izime feeling like he'd played right into her hands reacting just as aggressively.

  "We'll talk later." Psyis gave a thin smile as Izime finally acknowledged they were going to talk about how little he kept telling her at every single turn.

  Only taking a bit of satisfaction in the way Steven had stood a bit straighter. Psyis making a mental note to have Izime never use that name again. This was the only and last time she'd let any version of sweetie pie give her a bit of satisfaction.

  "Good." Izime spat returning the same smile he was getting for a single second before turning to face the one who'd caused this whole mess, "Now that you haven't flipped them like you wanted what actual issue do you have Dark Night."

  "I-" Dark Night started to growl as he walked forward, that growl faltered as Izime matched his pace and shoved a stack of papers into his armored chest. Stan now felt like he was in a very bad shareholders meeting instead of the Hall of Saviors.

  "And it had better be a bigger issue than the alternative." Izime finished the threat now that he had Stan's full attention, "Which is me not stopping all of them."

  "Are you threatening us?" Dark Squire stepped forward only to find Radiation Man stopping him.

  "No, because technically they are." Izime sidestepped the accusation, conveniently using the names on that list by proxy instead. The A.I. casually mentioning one of the more artistically violent among them.

  One he knew that the sidekick's senior had faced before; Izime explained the predatory bipedal split-fanged warriors to Stan's stupid tag-along, "Not that Dark Night would have taught you anything about these species beyond their weak points. But I can assure you that the Akadan Separi are not a species you want declaring anything on you. Earth is already a hunting ground for them let alone telling the honorless that it is open season on Earth."

  "Squire step down." Dark Night ordered his sidekick back as Izime painted out at least one full stroke of his thousand cuts. The super-hero not wanting to try and tangle with one of the high-tech overly equipped invisible stalkers once more. Let alone with members of their species that didn't even honor the rules of the game they played.

  "I think you should understand the meaning behind this, seeing as the fact I have a direct line to the Zytomian tribunal wasn't enough of a hint." Izime looked over at Dark Night. The A.I. was done poking his dog, returning to point out just how blind Stan had been to not see this coming.

  "You kicked the crutch to the galaxy's welfare system." Radiation Man spoke up, wanting to try and wet the fuses that were being lit. James warned Stan now as well, having already looked into the matter personally, "The galaxies view on earth would not be good Dark Night. Especially us, the League classically remains impartial to Earth."

  "We are." Dark Night gestured towards the man who'd just threatened the entire planet. Sighing as Radiation Man cocked his head. The dark hero knowing he'd been the one to throw the first stone weakly tried to defend his position still.

  Stan waved towards Izime holding on to that one singular point still, "Tell me this isn't a potential risk."

  "So am I and so are you. It's the reason the League exists, to curb that risk." Radiation Man chuckled as the response left his lips before a thought crossed his mind. Looking back towards the A.I. as he recalled Izime's warning about itself. "Izime already knew he was anyway, so this response seems even more appropriate."

  "I'm not a her-" Izime started in with his classic denial until Psyis once again tried to start shit with him.

  "Says you." Psyis spoke up, her smile more genuine even as she cut Izime off, walking forward so she could hear any complaints he had with her assessment. Tapping the papers in his hand as she made her point, "Not anyone on that list."

  Tilting her head as she knew with James' words Izime didn't have a choice in where he was headed; even the all-knowing AI's powers couldn't stop this now. He was going to have to learn to live on Earth just like she'd intended and Bell had wanted. Psyis knew she'd just have to do something about his attitude with her.

  The A.I. grinding its teeth as Psyis took that smile on her little victory lap. Izime could tell she was happy about the turn of events for him. Though, he could also tell that the thessian was very much in a mood. Her colors rotating about as her body was still internalizing the entire argument she'd like to have with him.

  Izime figured he'd likely blow a coolant line considering how badly he'd like to wipe that same smirk off her face.

  "She's got a point Izime," Constantinople spoke up now as well. Glad that someone was finally taking his side on that particular matter. The exorcist had always known Izime was more than just a salesman of stuff.

  Jim giving a bit of side-eye towards the window that showed the planet Izime would be spending a bit more time on, "Maybe not on earth but out there it seems someone thinks you are."

  “A lot of someones.” Radiation Man smiled as well having already read the number of signatures and symbols on the paper Stan was still struggling with. “Not too bad for a startling hero, huh?”

  The Dark Duo fumed, watching all three of the heroes congratulate the A.I. they only cornered into being free on the planet below.