"That was stressful." Opening the door and stepping inside, Alex was greeted by the sight of Diana casually playing video games. He sighed lightly. While he had spent the day working alongside Wonder Woman—handling speeches, organizing events, and making sure everything stayed on track—Diana had only needed to finish her paperwork and come home.
She definitely had it easy compared to him.
Alex had no idea that Wonder Woman and Diana were the same person. He wasn't a hardcore comic book fan, after all. He only knew the basics—Superman was Clark Kent, Batman was Bruce Wayne, and Flash was Barry Allen.
Those three were impossible to miss, considering how often their real names were thrown around in his past life..
Wonder Woman? All Alex really knew was that she came from an island of all women. He hadn't even known Diana ran a company until he found himself in this world.
"You're back sooner than I expected," Diana said, her focus never shifting from the TV screen as she stayed locked in a fierce battle with Doctor Octopus.
"Yeah, Wonder Woman couldn't stay long and ended up leaving," Alex said, slipping off his shoes. "Everything went smoothly, though I'm pretty sure she used the fact I had already foreseen she might get called away for a Justice League matter, to just leave."
He muttered under his breath, thinking she wouldn't hear him, "That stripper-dressed, walking definition of a male horny dream…"
Diana's eyes widened in shock. "Alex, that's your boss!" she said, quickly pausing the game, just as Doctor Octopus landed a hit.
"I'm sorry," Alex said, letting out a heavy sigh. "I just spent so much time planning everything, only for her to leave because she felt bored. And then she dumps all the real work on you while she runs around dressed like a… cough"
He caught himself, although it was clear that she was frustrated.
"I'm just upset she left me standing on stage to deal with everything alone. And it's not like she had some urgent hero matter to rush off to. I checked online, and there was nothing huge happening that had her going to handle… plus... I'm not good at public speaking. Then, to top it all off, I had to deal with a cramped passenger plane and a crowd of people the whole way home. Any knew me from the speech, so I had to deal with that nonsense, they just kept coming and coming, giving me zero personal space."
Diana's eyes widened. She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again, unsure what to even respond with, before finally giving a small, guilty nod.
"I'll make sure that doesn't happen again," she said. "But… why didn't you take first class?"
At her question, Alex's shoulders slumped in defeat.
"For some reason, there were no available seats in first class," Alex said, feeling wronged, his voice tinged with frustration.
Diana frowned slightly, piecing things together in her mind.
Wonder Woman had been called away for a supposed superhero emergency, but from what she knew, Superman had handled everything. She ended up returning home early because her presence wasn't needed. By that point, Alex was already at the airport, and it would have looked suspicious if she'd shown up to collect him.
Still, something didn't sit right with her. Since when were first-class seats completely unavailable?
It almost felt like someone had intentionally placed Alex into a stressful situation—like they were trying to push him, to force a reaction.
But who would go that far? And more importantly… why?
She also had to admit—she was failing in her duty to protect Alex. Her mind had been so wrapped up in games that she couldn't wait to rush back home and play. Somewhere along the way, her priorities had slipped.
"What are you doing?" she asked, snapping out of her thoughts when she noticed Alex heading toward the kitchen. Her voice carried a hint of curiosity, and guilt.
"I'll cook you something before heading to bed," Alex said with a tired yawn, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm sure you haven't eaten yet. Anything you want in particular?"
Despite how drained he looked, he still took his job seriously. Half-hearted effort wasn't in his nature.
"It's alright. I can just order takeout," Diana replied. "Like I've said before—your role as a personal assistant only applies to the office."
Alex simply waved her words off, already pulling ingredients from the fridge and setting them on the counter.
Seeing how stubborn he was, Diana sighed and moved over to help him. She quickly shut down Alex's attempts to stop her, leaving him no choice but to let her help, lowering, in his mind, his chances of earning that raise he was hoping for.
"What are you making?" Diana asked, drying her hands after washing them, since Alex stubbornly refused to let her do anything unless she was properly cleaned up first.
"Something simple," Alex said with a small smile. "I'm going to use the leftover rice to make egg fried rice. I'll mix it with a little twist—my personal recipe. I call it Orange Chicken Egg Fried Rice."
At his words, Diana's stomach let out a low growl, reminding her of the meal Alex had cooked that morning. She hadn't realized rice and chicken could taste that good until then.
She remembered how Alex had mentioned he planned to do something special with the leftover rice. As tempting as it had been to finish all of it earlier, she had forced herself to stop. And now, she was glad she had.
"First, we start with the chicken. Forget the rice for now," Alex said, guiding her step by step.
And so, Diana found herself learning how to make orange chicken. Alex turned out to be a surprisingly good teacher. He didn't just move through the steps robotically—he explained how each ingredient worked together, breaking it down clearly and painting a full picture of what they were building toward.
They quickly finished the orange chicken and then turned their attention to the rice. That's when Diana's struggles began.
Using the wok wasn't as easy as it looked. Some rice flew out and hit the floor when she used too much force. Other times, when she hesitated, the rice barely moved at all, sticking stubbornly to the spot. It was a learning curve, but Alex didn't seem bothered.
"There's a technique to it. Follow my movements," Alex said, reaching over and grabbing the handle of the wok along with her hand.
Diana tensed in surprise at the sudden contact. She almost pulled away—but seeing that Alex's focus was purely on teaching, she pushed aside any hesitation and concentrated on matching him.
It wasn't difficult for her. In no time, she was tossing the rice into the air with smooth, even motions, not a single grain hitting the ground. Once he saw she had it under control, Alex let go and stepped back, leaving her to keep tossing the orange chicken egg fried rice on her own.
He moved to the counter, starting to prepare the plates for when the food would be ready.
"Oh, I've been meaning to mention this… but you might be a meta-human," Alex said casually.
Diana nearly launched the rice straight into the ceiling but managed to stop herself just in time. She turned to him, wide-eyed in shock.
"You're learning speed," Alex continued, watching her with an amused look. "At first, I thought maybe you were just talented. But your reaction time when playing those games is something else. You're matching professional race car drivers—and you're doing it without any formal training."
He gave a small shrug, like it was no big deal. "Not to mention, your movements are way too precise for a normal human. You could probably pass for a superhero… someone like Batman."
Alex said it half-jokingly, flashing a grin. Diana laughed awkwardly, trying not to let anything show.
"You seem like you already knew," Alex said lightly, keeping his tone casual. "I was just worried. If things ever went bad, public outrage would be pretty high."
Fun fact about meta-humans: in this world, they weren't feared the way they were in other stories. Thanks to the existence of the X-Men in Marvel comics—and the brutal way mutants had been treated—society had grown more cautious about rushing to hatred. People learned to be slower to judge.
Because of that, heroes like the Flash, Black Canary, and so many others were able to step into the spotlight and be accepted as true heroes.
"Still," Alex added, giving her a small glance, "I highly doubt the government isn't experimenting on meta-humans behind the scenes. So be careful."
Diana smiled lightly at that, hiding just how much those words meant coming from him.
***
"What the hell!" Luthor roared, hurling a vial of serum against the wall, where it shattered on impact. His rage consumed him, his focus entirely on the failure at hand.
He barely spared a glance at the nearby test subject—a man whose body had reacted to the serum, his penis enlarged to abnormal lengths. Meanwhile, Luthor himself remained unchanged, still cursed with the humiliating condition that gnawed at his pride.
He was Lex Luthor—someone who had solved problems on the level of curing cancer. Enhancing something as basic as physical size should have been a simple task, something he could have fixed in a single day.
And yet, no matter what he tried, no matter what formula he created, the result was always the same. His "little brother" would never grow.
"This has to be Alex's doing!" Luthor screamed, turning to glare at the clone of himself standing nearby in a tub.
Even the clone, despite all his efforts, suffered the same humiliating condition. Luthor had tried everything. He had even attempted surgery, equipping the clone with a new, perfectly designed replacement… but no matter what he did, it always shrank back down.
It was like a curse. A curse that even science couldn't overcome.
He didn't want to admit it, not even to himself, but he might need outside help. His pride screamed against the idea. His ego refused to accept that there was something he couldn't fix.
And yet, no matter how much he tried, no matter how many experiments he ran, the truth became harder to deny. Alex's power wasn't normal. It wasn't something science could touch.
What bothered Luthor the most was how precisely Alex had targeted him. Everything had happened around the time Wonder Woman appeared, saving Alex at the last possible moment. It was clear to him now, Alex had been behind all of it, some subtle form of revenge for the attempt on his life.
Luthor couldn't shake the thought. Every action Alex had taken that day seemed designed to buy time for Wonder Woman's arrival. But if that was the case… did it mean Alex could see the future?
It would explain a lot, how Alex immediately knew Deadshot's attack was tied to him, how he made all the right moves without a hint of panic, perfectly stalling until help arrived.
But how was Alex able to target him? Was it simply that, by seeing into the future, Alex could identify the one behind the attempts on his life? That seemed like the obvious answer. But it didn't fully add up. The whole Trigon event proved that Alex couldn't see into the future… unless, from the very start, Alex had been putting on an act.
Maybe he knew to pretend, looking around at the right moment to throw them off, making it seem like he was reacting instead of anticipating.
But no, that didn't make sense either. Why would Alex bother looking around if he already knew what was coming? Is that not why led everyone to look into him in the first place?No. Alex didn't see the future. He could see danger.
"Yes… he felt danger!" Luthor said sharply, rushing over to one of the nearby computers.
He quickly pulled up the surveillance footage—specifically the scene from Alex's home, moments before Wonder Woman's arrival. He enhanced the video, zooming in on Alex's eyes, analyzing every slight movement in painful detail… And there it was.
For a split second, Alex's gaze locked onto Deadshot's hidden position. It wasn't long, just a brief flicker, but it was clear proof. Alex hadn't seen the future. He had sensed danger, located the source, and then deliberately played it off.
In that tiny moment, Alex had directly looked at Deadshot. Just long enough for any normal person to have noticed the threat, and just long enough to hide that he had.
"This is your warning?" Luthor growled, his eyes bloodshot with rage. His teeth clenched so tightly that pain shot through his jaw, but he didn't care. He was already planning how to make Alex pay for this insult.
But first, he needed answers. He needed to figure out exactly how Alex had managed to target him. Alex wasn't a god. His powers, whatever they were, had to have limits. And Luthor was determined to find every single one.
First and foremost, he had one burning question: How did Alex know he was behind Deadshot? And why had Alex waited so long, acting only after Wonder Woman's visit? Nothing about it sat right with him.
"Could he sense the root of danger?" Luthor muttered, pacing furiously. "Did sending Deadshot after him somehow allow him to trace the threat back to me? What kind of spider-sense bullshit is this?"
His voice rose in anger, but he forced himself to calm down. That was only a theory. It might not even be true. He needed real proof, not assumptions.
He just had to test Alex, without aiming to actually harm him. So, the Light might be getting Alex's information. It wasn't like he intended to hurt Alex… not yet. He simply wanted to warn others about what they might be dealing with.
Meanwhile, Alex believed his earlier actions would be enough to buy him some peace, at least a few months. But he hadn't counted on Luthor being this sharp.
In truth, if Luthor hadn't had a clone of himself ready and available, Alex probably would have had much more time.
Luthor was one of the smartest minds in the universe. Sure, he was still operating on theories about what Alex truly was—but he had come dangerously close to the truth. It was a reminder of why Luthor was considered the smartest man on the planet.
Meanwhile, deep within the Batcave, Batman stared at his monitors, his mind racing. "Why did Luthor suddenly disappear…" he muttered under his breath.
He had been quietly investigating Alex, and part of that meant keeping tabs on Luthor, who had ordered the hit on Alex's life. But after his rush to the doctors, Luthor had simply vanished.
Was Alex behind that? Batman didn't know yet. What he did know was that someone had managed to hack into the Justice League's emergency alert systems, deliberately drawing Wonder Woman away from Alex.
Other players were starting to take an interest in Alex. And that wasn't a good sign. If things kept going this way, it was only a matter of time before bodies started dropping.