Atticus was soon kicking down the stones of the sidewalk as he walked Cherry home for the night, and where Cherry had a surprise for her best friend the next day.
"Well, here we are," Atticus said to Cherry. "I'll see ya later, good night."
"Uh, good night, Atticus." Cherry replied as she tried not to show any weakness for him as she wanted to save it for later.
"Night, Cherry." Atticus said as he now left to stay at the house he mentioned to her from earlier.
Cherry watched him go before she went to her own home.
Bud and Michelle were going over photo albums with the cops since Cherry was 'lost'.
"Cherry's always been the creative type, I mean, she's been wearing her glasses since she was three," Michelle said emotionally. "There she is even drawing in her crib."
"Mom? Dad?" Cherry spoke up.
"Cherry!" Bud and Michelle ran toward their daughter and hugged her.
"Well, I guess our work here is done," One cop told the other. "Let's get some donuts."
"Okay." The other cop agreed.
The officers soon left and let the Butler family put their minds at ease.
"Mom, Dad, I can't breathe!" Cherry gasped until they let go of her and she then caught her breath. "Phew! Thanks..."
"Where have you been?" Bud asked.
"Um... I'm actually in bed, you are too, because this is a dreeeeam..." Cherry swished her arms to fool her parents before she soon saw that they weren't falling for that. "Not working, huh?" She then asked.
"Nope." Michelle replied firmly.
"You fooled me for a minute." Bud replied.
"BUD!" Michelle snapped.
"I don't wanna hurt her self-esteem..." Bud replied.
"Okay, uh, you two discuss that, and I'll see you at breakfast..." Cherry smiled nervously as it looked like her parents were going to have a random argument which would go nowhere.
"Oh, no, you don't, young lady." Bud said.
Cherry froze since her father was almost never firm with her. "Daddy...?!"
"We'll discuss your punishment later." Bud said.
"Now get some sleep." Michelle added.
"Yes, Mom and Dad..." Cherry replied before going up to her bedroom.
The next day soon came.
"All right, this is it," Cherry told herself once she sat up in her bed. "Time to make things right with Atticus." She soon left her home before becoming Lady Gothika to go speak with a certain Man of Steel. Luckily, Bud and Michelle were still asleep right now.
Lady Gothika looked all around. "Superman? Here, Superman..."
"Yes?" Superman asked as he arrived.
"Do you have the adoption forms signed?" Lady Gothika asked.
"Right here," Superman replied. "All set to go."
"All right, signed, sealed, and delivered." Lady Gothika approved.
"Yep." Superman nodded.
"Thanks, Superman," Lady Gothika replied. "I know Sayia Man would appreciate this."
"No problem, and I think I might have found him, but you're not going to like where he is." Superman said.
"Try me." Lady Gothika said after a sharp sigh.
"Well, I saw the police take him away as his alter ego to an orphanage," Superman said. "But not the happy kind."
"Orphanage..." Lady Gothika winced.
"Surely you've known..." Superman told her. "I mean, doesn't he talk to you about his life?"
"He doesn't like to talk about it very much," Lady Gothika replied. "He says he feels safe with us, but still feels like he needs something more in his life than staying with us like as my brother."
"Alright then, I'll have to adopt him both ways," Superman said. "One as my alter ego so then people don't get suspicious and another as myself."
"So then everyone will think that Saiya Man and Atticus aren't the same person." Lady Gothika smiled.
"Right..." Superman agreed. "You're a pretty smart kid."
"Eh, I'm not that smart," Lady Gothika smirked. "Though I did make the Dean's List in school and I've had perfect attendance for a while now."
"And as for Atticus?" Superman asked.
"Do you watch high school football?" Lady Gothika asked back.
"Yeah?" Superman nodded.
"Well, he's the star quarterback." Lady Gothika smirked.
"So, he does go to school with you?" Superman asked.
"Yeah, I'm not that into sports, but it's fun to watch him beat the crap out of the other teams," Lady Gothika giggled. "He sends the opposing team players flying left and right."
"I'll have to see that when I can." Superman chuckled.
"Of course, sir, you're his dad after all," Lady Gothika replied, referring to the adoption. "Well, we better go to the orphanage so then Atticus can meet his new father."
"Right... Do you know the way?" Superman replied.
"Come with me." Lady Gothika nodded to the Man of Steel respectively.
The two of them soon went off to the orphanage and where once they found a safe place to change back to their alter egos, they soon came into the building. Cherry gestured for the man to follow her as she knew exactly where to go. Once inside, they went to see the owner of the orphanage.
A woman was writing on papers before she looked up to see that she had company and she cleared her throat while sitting up straight. "May I help you?"
"Yes, I'm here to adopt someone named Atticus Fudo." Superman's alter ego named Clark Kent said as he showed the adoption forms he signed.
"Hmm... Let's see here..." The woman hummed as she took a look at the forms. "Yes, I see... Atticus Fudo's been here so long, I'm surprised someone's actually come to adopt him."
"Why wouldn't anyone want to adopt him?" Clark Kent asked.
"It's a mystery myself, I usually have couples come and meet the kids they wish to adopt, I guess he's not a very social type..." The woman replied before getting out of her chair and walking them toward where to find Atticus. "He always goes outside and sometimes spends the nights away... He's a very strange boy."
They soon found him doing push-ups while reading a book.
"Atticus, you have a visitor who wishes to... Adopt." The woman told Atticus.
"Are you gonna keep a timer on this one, Tiffany?" Atticus asked like it was a regular boring thing now.
"Yes, I've already held my breath," The woman replied with a slight smirk since this was almost a routine for both of them and Atticus wouldn't be adopted, but this time would be different. "All right, Mr. Kent, you've got one hour."
"Thank you, ma'am." The disguised superhero nodded.
"Atticus, this is your possible father, Clark Kent, go ahead and bond." Tiffany told the two before leaving them alone.
"So, do you like to wrestle?" Clark asked Atticus.
"Yeah... But..." Atticus replied.
"But what?" Clark asked.
"I might hurt someone..." Atticus explained. "Besides, some kids think I'm a freak because of how strong I am."
"Try me and see if I'll get hurt." Clark challenged.
Atticus looked up at him. "I don't wanna hurt you, sir."
"Don't worry, you shouldn't be able to." Clark reassured.
"Okay..." Atticus shrugged and soon tackled him down with all his might.
The two of them began to wrestle and where to Atticus's surprise, Clark was able to handle his strength. Clark smirked to Atticus. Atticus was surprised, but soon returned focus and began to wrestle him. Cherry waited outside for them, playing a game of Chess by herself to occupy her time and intelligence.
And where an hour later, Tiffany went into the room and found Atticus and Clark getting along.
"So, Mr. Kent, what do you think of Atticus?" Tiffany asked, expecting yet another rejection only to be surprised.
"Wrap him up, I'll take him." Clark smiled proudly.
"Does this mean that you'll really adopt him?" Tiffany asked.
"Of course I will," Clark smiled. "He'll be a wonderful addition to my residence."
"All right then... Sign these." Tiffany replied, handing special forms to make it official as she accepted the adoption papers.
Cherry sat on one bed while Atticus packed his things up in his room in the orphanage.
"I'm so happy that I'm finally getting adopted." Atticus smiled as he continued to packing.
"I thought I could help make your day." Cherry replied.
"You did this?" Atticus asked her.
"Eh, you're like a brother to me." Cherry shrugged modestly.
"Well, thanks." Atticus smiled.
"Yeah, I thought living with Mr. Kent would make you happy." Cherry replied.
Atticus smirked as he came to her with open arms.
"Don't you dare touch me, don't you dare touch me, DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH ME!" Cherry told him only to be hugged against her will. "Augh, my sentimental feelings for you..."
After a while, Atticus went back to packing. Cherry waited for Atticus as she randomly wrote in her notebook.
"Whatcha writing?" Atticus asked.
"Nothing." Cherry lied as she didn't like people to read her work since a lot of people thought she was weird and a loner.
"Come on, tell me." Atticus smiled as he finished packing.
Cherry sighed as she decided to tell him to get it over with. "It's about these twin orphans... They find out that they're the Chosen Ones and they go to a magical school... It's kinda like Harry Potter."
"Cool." Atticus smiled.
"Nah, it's kinda lame..." Cherry replied with a shrug as she went back to writing her story. "A lot of people make fun of me when you're not around, they think I'm just a loner."
"If they make fun of you again I'll send them to the moon with a knuckle sandwich." Atticus said.
Cherry snickered slightly to that as she kept writing until he would be all done.
"Come on, let me read it..." Atticus reached.
"You're weird." Cherry muttered.
"Come on, please?" Atticus begged. "I'm already done packing."
Cherry rolled her eyes and handed her notebook for Atticus to read her draft of short stories based on dreams she had to make her own novel series out of someday. As Atticus read the stories, he was amazed at how creative they were.
Cherry soon looked all around the room. "Ya think you're ever gonna miss this place?"
"Are you kidding me?" Atticus said. "I'm glad to be leaving this place."
"Yeah, I guess I can see why..." Cherry replied before she hoisted herself off of a bed. "So, if everything's packed, let's go meet your new dad. Are you gonna call him 'Dad'?"
"Yeah, I'm going to start calling him Dad," Atticus smiled. "I never thought I'd ever say that word with a smile."
Cherry and Atticus left the room and went to go see Clark as he waited for them.
"Your new son is ready for you." Cherry told Clark.
"You need help with your luggage?" Clark asked Atticus.
"Only if you want, but I got most of it." Atticus smiled.
"Please, consider it my greatest honor... Son." Clark smiled back.
Atticus smiled warmly back to his adoptive father. Clark took Atticus home with him and a few of the other orphans said goodbye to Atticus since he was now adopted.
"I guess I'll go home now." Cherry said, deciding to let Clark and Atticus get settled into their new lives together.
"See you at the ceremony." Clark whispered at Cherry.
Cherry nodded and saluted him slightly before going home. Clark and Atticus soon went to Clark's home.
Cherry soon snuck back home, and where luckily she was able to get back inside without waking her parents.
"Shell, did you hear that?" Bud muttered as he sat up in his bed, hearing the front door open and close.
"Oh, Bud, Cherry's probably just using her bathroom before breakfast..." Michelle muttered groggily before falling back asleep.
"Yeah, you're probably right." Bud agreed with his wife before going back to sleep with her.
Cherry jumped over the gap which was her parents' shut bedroom door and she then went to her own room and slid into bed. "Whew!" She whispered to herself out of relief.
"Welcome to your new home," Clark told Atticus as he unlocked and opened the front door. "It might not be much, but it's your home now too."
"It looks great." Atticus smiled.
"I was hoping you'd like it." Clark smiled back.
"I do, and I know which superhero you are, Dad." Atticus smirked as he opened up his adoptive father's shirt.
"Very clever," Clark replied. "Your friend told me you were quite the detective."
"Yep, I sure am, but I could see your superhero outfit with my x-ray vision." Atticus smiled.
"Very impressive, Atticus." Clark smiled back.
"Thanks, Dad." Atticus replied.
"Would you like anything special for dinner for your first night?" Clark offered.
"Steak with some broccoli and spinach." Atticus requested.
"Sounds good to me." Clark smiled back.
Atticus then went into the spare room and decided to get settled into his new home, and where he soon unpacked at super-speed. Clark decided to have dinner taken care of for him and Atticus. Atticus smiled as he looked around the room as he got it just the way he liked it, and where he soon heard some weights being dropped in front of his room.
"Your friend's told me so much, I feel like I've known you all your life, which kinda fits now." Clark chuckled to Atticus.
"Whoa!" Atticus smiled. "Thanks for the weights, Dad."
"You're most welcome, son." Clark smiled back.
Atticus soon lifted the weights and bent one of them into a loop for the fun of it.
Clark chuckled. "I'll go check on dinner, you go have fun."
"Thanks again!" Atticus smiled. "Maybe we can practice with each other later."
"Alright, but I won't go easy on you like last time." Clark smirked.
"Same to you then." Atticus smirked back.
Clark soon got dinner ready and even added in his own heat vision.
"Thanks, Cherry." Atticus said quietly as he finished up getting settled in and did his work-outs to pass the time.
And where a few minutes later, the food was ready.
"Atticus, dinner!" Clark called out.
Atticus smiled and zipped over so he could sit down and eat with his new father.
"I hope you like it." Clark smiled back to Atticus as he served the boy.
"Mm... Smells delicious," Atticus smiled before smirking playfully. "You used your heat vision, didn't you?"
"I wanted it to be done as soon as possible," Clark chuckled. "You must be hungry after your long ride over here."
"Well, I was pretty hungry..." Atticus admitted. "Plus this food actually does look edible."
"Unlike the orphanage food?" Clark guessed.
Atticus shuddered in disgusted memory of the food that he had to eat. "Thank goodness for Cherry inviting me over some nights."
After finishing off their dinner and putting the dishes away, it was now time for them to bond again with some strength.
"You ready?" Clark asked.
"I'm ready, old man." Atticus teased with a smirk.
"Oh, you are so going down." Clark smirked back as he took off his clothes to show his superhero outfit.
Atticus laughed as he then smirked back, getting into a fighting stance.
"Better get into your hero mode." Superman smirked.
"Oh, you mean this old thing?" Atticus smirked as he then changed into his Sayia Man costume.
"Yeah, but no helmet this time." Superman replied.
"You're right; no need to keep my identity a secret from you." Saiya Man smirked as he took off his helmet and placed it on the ground.
The two smirked to each other as they decided to fight each other, but not in an evil way with enemy against enemy like they did last night. The two of them were now only doing this out of fun.
Back at the Butler house...
"All right, Cherry, we're going to discuss your-" Bud said firmly before looking to see his daughter cooking dinner. "Punishment...?"
"Would you guys like some pork chops and fried potatoes?" Cherry offered as a bribe, knowing how easily distracted her father was with food.
"Aw, my favorite potatoes..." Bud smiled.
"And your Tabasco sauce." Cherry smiled back.
"Mm..." Bud smiled hungrily and excitedly.
"Bud, did you talk to Cherry yet?" Michelle asked her husband.
"Yeah, she made food for us!" Bud smiled as he lost his train of thought.
Michelle simply anime fell as she should have seen that coming. Cherry then served her parents.
"Don't think just because you're giving us food that we'll forget your punishment." Michelle told Cherry.
"What punishment?" Bud asked which made Michelle face-palm.
"Okay, maybe this made one of us forget." Michelle said.
"Forget what?" Bud asked.
"Our daughter went out last night!" Michelle reminded.
"Aw, Shell, do you have to yell at her?" Bud pouted. "She's just a little girl."
"But she was... And we were supposed to..." Michelle stammered.
Bud and Cherry looked to the woman curiously to see what she would say or do next.
"Fine, you're not grounded." Michelle said to Cherry.
Cherry smirked innocently as she ate with her parents. It seemed like everything was now good. Bud and Michelle talked about their plans for the day which often had Cherry home alone for the day, not that she didn't really mind, and where Atticus/Saiya Man and Clark/Superman continued their strength test.
"Not bad, my boy, not bad at all." Clark approved.
"I told you I wouldn't go easy on you." Atticus smiled innocently.
"And you were right." Clark smirked before getting him into a headlock.
"Hey!" Atticus laughed.
"Noogie time." Clark smirked as he began to mess with his adopted son's hair.
Atticus laughed. "Aw, come on, you're my dad now!"
"Yeah, and sometimes they mess up their son's hair." Clark smirked.
"Oh... Okay." Atticus shrugged with a smirk back.
Clark and Atticus then laughed together as they had a lot of fun as father and son, and they soon got back inside after their strength test.
"So nice to be in another house without it being a holiday." Atticus smiled.
"I guess you usually did that?" Clark asked.
"Yeah, it was normally a thing for the orphanage to have someone host for us on Christmas or Thanksgiving to be a guest in their home." Atticus explained.
"And let me guess, you usually chose Cherry's house?" Clark guessed.
"Yeah, normally," Atticus smiled bashfully. "I'm surprised even though she said 'Whatever', she didn't seem to mind."
"That might have been her way of saying sure or yes." Clark smiled back.
"Yeah, Cherry's a complicated person sometimes, especially when you just meet her for the first time." Atticus admitted.
"I'll have to agree with you on that one." Clark said.
Atticus chuckled to that about his more or less only friend. "So, um, when do we meet up about Darkseid?" he then asked. "Because after what happened last night, I thought there would be like some celebration at sometime."
"We'll check on with the others in a moment, I want you to get settled into your new home." Clark replied, ruffling up his dark brown hair.
"That's kind of you." Atticus beamed.
"No problem, kiddo." Clark smiled.
Atticus smiled back as he really loved this so far. "May I use your phone?"
"It's your phone too, go right ahead." Clark allowed.
Atticus soon decided to call Cherry and once he heard her voice, he thanked her several times.
"You're welcome, Super Nerd." Cherry teased as she was getting a snack from the fridge since she felt hungry again.
"So, did your parents ground you?" Atticus asked.
"Nah, I made breakfast and Dad totally forgot what was going on, he's like putty in my hands." Cherry smirked.
"And as for your mom?" Atticus smirked back.
"I think she gave up because of how impossible my dad is." Cherry smirked.
"Smart thinking, using your cooking skills to subdue your dad." Atticus said.
"I'm a smart girl," Cherry smirked. "And you're a brainiac."
"Oh, so you being smart is cool, but me being smart is lame?" Atticus asked.
Cherry snickered and laughed. "Sorry~"
"Oh, brother." Atticus sighed with a smile.
Cherry then put a plate of nuggets in the microwave. "So, are we gonna meet later with the others?" She then asked. "I'd hate to interrupt your bonding with your new dad."
"Yeah, we're going to meet later." Atticus said.
"Will I have enough time for chicken nuggets?" Cherry asked.
"I think so." Atticus said.
"Okay, I'm starving right now, I'll try to make it though." Cherry replied.
"For your sake, I hope so too." Atticus agreed, knowing that if Cherry didn't get food when she wanted it, she tended to get rather fidgety and cranky.
"Well, I'll see you at the ceremony then." Cherry said before hanging up.
Atticus hung up himself with a small smile. "Cherry... She always surprises me with her acts of random kindness."
A few hours later, the heroes soon all met up.
Lady Gothika stretched and adjusted herself. "These spandex are gonna take a lot of getting used to."
"You will soon enough." Wonder Woman promised.
"How long will this take?" Lady Gothika asked.
"You'll see, Gothika, you'll see." Wonder Woman replied.
"Oh, boy..." Lady Gothika rolled her eyes slightly with a sigh.
Soon enough, the ceremony started. Lady Gothika and Sayia Man gave small smiles to each other as they joined in on the ceremony, and where everyone was there and nothing could possibly go wrong now.
Lady Gothika looked around and shrugged. "Okay, I'll say it, nothing can go wrong now."
Everyone enjoyed themselves. Superman and Sayia Man smiled to each other as they felt so happy to be in each other's lives.
"There should be a group for all heroes to meet up and plan future plans with each other... Almost like a League..." Lady Gothika replied.
"Yeah, like a League to show that we bring Justice to those against." Sayia Man agreed.
"Like a Justice League." Saiya Man and Lady Gothika smiled to each other.
"I like the way these kids think." The Flash agreed.
"The Justice League." Superman nodded.
"What a wonderful idea." Wonder Woman approved.
And from then on, they would all be known as the Justice League.
"The Justice League, I like that name." Shazam smiled.
"Same here." Sayia Man agreed.
"And you kids proved us about you being more than just kids." Wonder Woman added as the young cyborg was coming along to see if he could join the Justice League.
"And we just know that the two of us will need some training to do with our new powers." Lady Gothika said, referring to herself and Saiya Man.
"Nice to see you accepting of your powers, Gothy," Sayia Man smiled. "I expected you to hate it."
"How could I hate my creative powers?" Lady Gothika asked.
Sayia Man smiled to her.
"Wait for me," The cyborg told them. "I wish to join you."
"Join us?" Batman asked him.
"If you'll let me," The cyborg replied. "I promise you won't be sorry."
'We could use some more members.' Saiya Man thought to himself.
"What do you wish to call yourself then?" Green Lantern asked.
"Cyborg." The cyborg replied.
"Fitting." Lady Gothika muttered dryly.
"Perfect." Saiya Man said.
"Welcome to the Justice League, Cyborg," Lady Gothika told him. "We will bring justice to the world all together as superheroes and the whole world will accept us as their saviors." And where she was right, but Darkseid wasn't the only one they would fight.
The End