Chapter Text
*Takes place after Mark leaves for Thraxa (episode 12)*
William, the lover of trashy reality television and a gemini on the astrological charts, knew that his friendship with Mark would fade away after high school. Most friendships do, and it was pretty much solidified once he discovered that he was Invincible. Their worlds were just too different, so William accepted that he would simply become that friend to be checked on once in a while just to give a sense and perspective of normalcy .
He honestly didn’t mind being an NPC in his best friend’s life since he got all the perks of having a hero for a friend, and none of its cons like being kidnapped or killed by one of his lunatic sworn enemies.
So with Mark out of the picture for most of his life, there being no absolute certainty that Rick will return, and Amber being more Mark’s girlfriend than his friend, William was ready to make new friends of his own.
But before that, he needed to get into the groove of attending several classes at odd hours of the day. He loathed the idea of taking his required English courses, much preferring the scientific ones that felt far more useful to his future medical career. But he guessed there was a bright side to taking these mandatory courses since there was more of a variety of people also just there for the credit.
Although “variety” might not be quite the right word when a woman entered the class looking like she could be his twin! When she saw him, she was also just as bemused as he was, and they clearly needed to sit next to each other.
“Hiiii, my name is Willow.” Even her voice seemed like the lighter version of his.
William couldn’t help being stoked, “No way! My name is William. Were we separated at birth or what? I mean the same pale sky gray eyes? The light brown hair and our aquiline noses?”
Willow giggled. They did have the same face, but naturally she had on the seasonal true summer makeup package where her dark grey mascara matched well with her gentle mauve lips and eyeshadow. Her revenant brown hair was put up in a braided crown with intricate knots of smaller braids accessorized with ribbons and gemstones.
He inquired, “I have to ask what are you majoring in. Let me guess, business?”
“Not even close. Mechanical engineering.”
“Damn. Should’ve guessed that with your outfit, which I loooove by the way.”
Clearly inspired by the 40s when women were allowed in male dominated fields, Willow had on the crisp button up collared shirt tucked in belted high waisted wide pants and a cute pair of brown oxford shoes.
“If I had known we should dress like the careers we want, I would’ve worn scrubs but like from the 70s. If you’re wondering why, it’s cuz I’m gay.”
Willow snickered at that, “Personally, I’d go with 1980s cuz of the whole aids epidemic and the monumental Princess Diana moment that changed the world. Plus, you’d look amazing dressed like an 80s heartthrob.”
“You are so right! It was also when the tv series Magnum PI starring Tom Selleck aired, and it was my gay awakening as a kid.”
“So you’re into big strong guys with a carefree attitude full of charm and a heroic side?”
“When you put it that way, how can I not? What about you?”
“Uuuuh,” There was a passing dimness to her eyes as she glanced to the side, “Kinda the opposite. I mean I like a strong, heroic guy, but I prefer them a little serious and clumsy.”
“Do you now? Y’know I do know a guy like that, but he already has a girlfriend at the moment. But, and this is so gonna sound rude of me, they’re not gonna last so you might have a chance if a friend of ours doesn’t claim him first.”
Willow snorted as if it were an inside joke, and said, “Uhm, that’s nice of you, but I just got out of a relationship recently. But enough about me, I wanna know your career choice. Let me guess! Pediatrician?”
William didn’t want to change the subject but they just met, so he followed her flow. He answered, “I love kids. Want to have one of my own someday, but you’ll be surprised to know that I’m actually aiming to become a surgeon.”
“You’re kidding me! Not only do we look alike, but we’re both aiming to dissect and fix a body of work! Mine being not alive though, but I grew up a daddy’s girl so I’m like totes into cars and rockets and kinda a rockstar with math.” She winked. “Is it for the money and prestige for you or the good will part?”
“Both. I just had a really big thing for how medicine fixed things. Doesn’t hurt that I have a great memory and I like talking with people. I was looking into becoming a pharmaceutical scientist but after seeing someone mangled after an attack, I thought trying to sew people back together could do more than a pill.”
“I know right? I was into computer science, and the larger paycheck didn’t hurt, but after all the damage that happens after an attack, you just can’t help thinking that there had to be better machinery to speed up the process while keeping up to code!”
“Would really help with how superheroes don’t mind cra-”
“Good morning, class!”
The two hushed when the professor came in, greeting themselves. As lectures went on, William noted how Willow neatly wrote in all caps with a fancy gearshift pen with a wooden barrel that had to be from a willow tree.
William on the other hand looked basic with a number 2 pencil in comparison. But he reminded himself that he wasn’t attending university to stand out gorgeously like the goddess version of himself beside him. At least not until he got his monthly allowance from his parents.
When classes were over, they exchanged phone numbers. William was surprised when she pulled out a veronica purple phone shaped like a compact.
“No way! Is that the Totally Spies Compowder?! I always wanted those as a kid!”
“Pretty neat, right? It can do all the technical stuff, but not the ones completely out of sci-fi like changing my outfit or teleportation. Yet that is.”
“You are amazing.” William said with full seriousness and then complained, “Wow, I think I need to bring up my A game.”
“Nah. I’m an engineer so I can afford to fuck up. You can’t.” She had her compowder request for the phone number which William accepted.
“That is a really good point.” He darkly joked as they walked along the hallways, “And here I was about to go full psycho mode like the freak who tried to turn me into a cyborg cuz of some dumb evolution obsession he had.”
“Oh yeah, I heard about that. RIP to his victims who suffered for his bullshit theory. Earth hasn’t discovered the non-toxic metals necessary to create a fully functional cyborg that can defeat aliens with the power to destroy planets. Granted I’m not an expert in other fields, but if he wanted true evolution, he should’ve looked into genetic engineering instead since people have the funkiest genetics.”
“Tell me about it! We literally live in a world of superheroes, demons and aliens, and he chose to be basic! I mean on my mom’s side of the family, we have witches, so I might have a gift for magic.”
“Seriously? Have you tried it out?”
“Nah. The spellbook passed down to my mom has some satanic drawings, so I’m pretty sure my ancestors were actually warlocks and I am not damning my soul to hell just to have cool powers.”
“Shame. My dad’s side has an alien ancestor from Jupiter known as the Jupitereans. Lore is that Jupitereans were beings of pure energy that needed to be in constant motion in order to live. Kinda like sharks. Other planets in our solar system hired them to power their machines. But like corporations today, they got greedy and tried to enslave them which led to a war. They used biological warfare and it caused widespread extinctions. That’s why the other planets don’t have a dominant species like us besides Mars.”
“If that’s true then that explains why no other alien other than Martian Man has been to earth.”
“Yeah. Martians mostly keep to themselves, but a few like the Martian Man were exiled to here on Earth which led to the evolution of the English language of today.”
“So do you like, have energy based powers?”
Willow shrugged, “I kinda do, but I got them after being killed by a psycho. Heart stopped and everything, but the alien genes kicked in to jumpstart my heart again.”
William cringed, not knowing what dying was like, but almost being killed was already traumatic enough. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to-”
“It’s fine!” Willow nonchalantly waved her hand. “That was like a year ago, and while I’m no superhero, I’m grateful to be just alive. I imagine you feel the same.”
William for a moment thought about Rick and how his life hung in the balance. He could already be dead for all he knew, but worrying about that wasn’t going to help him. Whatever the result was, he needed to remind himself that it was no one’s fault but D.A. Sinclair’s. And despite the damage inflicted on him, he was grateful to be alive.
He smiled, annoyed by the little pride that came with doing so, “Yeah. So do you do yoga?”
“How do you think I keep this fit on? Pilates? You?”
“With the amount of stress this city puts me through, how could I live without it? Saturday?”
“Saturday.”
._._._.
The rest of the day went by quicker than he expected so William found himself free. Around this time, he and Mark would usually play video games before Mark got that dumb job at Burger Mart. William had gotten used to playing video games by himself, but the thought of doing it now felt so immature and pathetic. Not because video games weren’t for adults, but because he should be enjoying his newfound freedom out in the world and not in his bedroom!
VROOOM! VROOM!
He looked around the parking lot for what must be a motorcycle coming around, but there were only cars and other students passing by. Yet a few were looking up to the sky. William did the same and his face dropped when he saw his great grandmother descending to him on a futuristic motorcycle inspired by vacuum cleaners. Everyone else tried to record her, but found their phones completely frozen until she landed and put the motorcycle in her shoulder bag.
The thin, old lady was only 4 feet tall and covered in wrinkles yet her skin still looked undeniably soft. She had William’s pale sky gray eyes and her 2C hair waves were in the iconic Gibson Girl hairstyle. The witch wore a fitted black leather jacket with silver buttons and black lace attached to the hem and cuffs. The lace continued on her high waisted purple lined skirt. To finish off the outfit, she was bedazzled with silver and crystal drop earrings and collar necklace and knee high leather boots.
“Granny?! What are you doing here? I haven’t seen you since I was 13 at the last family gathering!”
A perpetual scowl was on the old woman’s face but her tone was kind and with an odd accent, “Received yo’ lettah from yur mom n’ was told abu de carnage from de woods. Let’s head to ya room fer privacy.”
“Okay, yeah sure. But aren’t you famished from traveling from your den? I can order us delivery from my favorite restaurant.” He suggested as they made their way to his dorm.
“I fery much prefer yur home cookin’! You haf de witch’s touch wif yur meals like yur mottah!”
“We do have a kitchen but I have to head to the store to get some ingredients.”
“No worries abu dat! I bought plenty in mah bag!”
“Kitchen it is then.”
The two went to the dorm’s communal kitchen that was empty since a majority of the students prefer coffee for breakfast and delivery for the rest of the day. William’s great grandmother set everything he needed on the island counter, so he went to work making the perfect lasagna, caesar salad, spumoni ice cream and freshly brewed coffee and tea.
That should be it, but William felt like he was back at home where he helped his parents prepare dinner. It also didn’t help that his great grandmother was setting down more ingredients, so when he saw the peeled potatoes, he made mash potatoes with gravy. When he saw the turkey, he made the stuffing and put it in the oven. When he saw prepared noodles with a glass jar of tomato sauce beside it, he enhanced the sauce before pouring it over the noodles.
His great grandmother was helping him, so once it was dinner time, he had already prepared a buffet of food that attracted the tired students just coming out of class and were salivating. His great grandmother told them to dig in, having already prepared a basket for the two. They finally went up to the bedroom, and enjoyed their hard work.
“Yah mottah has not let yur witch skills go down de drain! Everythin’ is moist, flavorful but not too heavy!”
“Thanks. But you can also tell that I haven’t awakened any magical abilities, which I would rather very much prefer since I don’t want to discover that I can summon demons.”
“Ai! Has yur mottah not taught ya to not fall into dat church bullshit! What am I sayin’! Yah don’t attend church! We’re pagans! It’s those shows on screens, isn’t it!”
“They’re actually making demons sexy and more complicated on TV, and making Heaven out to be this over controlling corporate place.” William showed her a list of shows on his phone. His great grandmother’s scowl deepened at the sight. “Anyway, not that I don’t love having you around but why are you visiting me? I’m pretty sure mom also wrote in her letter that despite being traumatized, it didn’t awaken my magic.”
His great grandmother levitated their dishes into the basket which she placed in her wormhole of a bag. She took out a vial from her leather jacket’s pocket to take a sip. In doing so, she became the same height as William with a youthful face. She said with a clear voice, “I came because my divination had foretold that after your 19th birthday, you will enter into a journey that will awaken your powers and find your true love.”
“My true love? That’s a real concept?”
“Your mother is happy isn’t she.”
“Good point. So does your divination go into more detail or am I supposed to be surprised?”
“My divination can’t reach where you will be going my child. Believe me I’ve tried. But I had help from the other witches to make it fuckin’ tell me about this man of yours.” The witch had reading glasses and a scroll appear in her hands. She unraveled the latter to reveal a list.
Bluntly she started, “So he has a kill count.”
William froze, and then his face melted into an expression of confusion. “Of bad people?”
“He is not evil, but he is part of a tyrannical organization by birth.”
“Oh my gawd. Is he a Viltrumite? Am I going to get kidnapped into space and fall in love with a Viltrumite?!”
“Divination was not clear on his origins so he’s definitely not from here. But good news, he doesn’t take pleasure in killing innocent people. He would rather fight warriors. He has killed superheroes though.”
“So he’s a warrior who doesn’t like to pick on the weak, but because he was born into a tyrannical empire, he’s evil by association.” William weighed his ethics in his hands, and thought that he can get with that. “Is he open to change?”
“Surprisingly, I was able to learn that he was born under the Aquarius constellation and is the same age as you.”
“An Aquarius?” William thought about how his zodiac and Aquarius are actually a pretty good match. But, “That’s a fixed sign. Oof. This one might be difficult to convince that killing is not a good thing.”
“Is killing that bad?”
William deadpanned, “Granny.”
“What?! This old bat comes from a time when it was okay to murder intruders on your front lawn!”
“I would like at least superheroes to not die!”
“They should’ve learned to buck up or flee!”
“Granny!”
“Psssccch! You modern child!”
“Whatever! What else can you tell me about him? Is he hot?”
“Divination is a prude. Just tells me that he has a face you’d find familiar which will become an obstacle in your journey of falling in love.”
“Holy shit, he might look like Mark’s dad.”
“Nah, the books told me that he had a hard childhood so he had to grow up early, but when you two meet, you are at a stage in his life where he is youthful in appearance and personality.”
“Youthful?”
William thought about all the people he met in his life and whose face may make the relationship be a bit of an obstacle. Martian Man popped into his mind and how he was a shapeshifter, so there’s a chance the alien he falls in love with is not a Viltrumite but someone who takes on the human appearance of someone he knows. And William always did feel a bit weird about romance where a robot/demon/alien takes on the appearance of a dead loved one, and the widow(er) falls in love with them.
“Fuck! Granny can you check if my friend Rick will live! He got att-”
“He’ll live.”
William gave a big sigh of relief. “Thank gawd! But will he be fine mentally? He had the part of his brain that feels emotions removed. Luckily that DA Sinclair guy was a quack because I was still able to reach him in time to save Mark’s life. Do you think one of our relatives can help?”
“We’re the Riach family aren’t we.” She pulled out another vial from her pocket and gave it to him. “Spill this in his ear on the night of a full moon. The feminine energy will be at its strongest to heal his brain to its original state.”
“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” He gave his great grandmother a hug and a kiss on the cheek before placing the vial in a secure place.
“You seem to really care about this Rick person. But I hope you understand that he isn’t your soul mate.”
William’s excitement faltered yet he grasped at the opportunity to finally be honest, “Yeah, you don’t have to worry about that. I…had a lot of time to think about what happened.” He looked off to the side guiltily, “He’s someone I hooked up with last summer when I signed up to be a camp counselor. It was like being in a cheesy gay romantic movie built on a small budget. It was amazing .” William smiled at the cute memories yet quickly frowned at the future, “But after what happened in that sewer, it made things complicated. I still really care about Rick, but I became scared that when or if I see him again, these strong feelings in me is more this sense of relief and obligation. Do you get what I mean, Granny?”
“A hundred percent, I do. Like me, you’re too much of a free bird, my child. You hate being chained to anything that isn’t authentically you. I’m sure this Rick boy is amazing because you would never settle for less, but you know it deep down that you were only excited, which is why you should only remain friends with him.”
William didn’t want to be an asshole. They weren’t dating, but it still felt wrong to reject someone who had so much of themselves removed, and is fighting to survive while being put back together. A majority of it being new parts so the scars can’t even disappear til he died.
However, his granny was right. William can’t settle for less. And it wouldn’t be fair to Rick. William loudly groaned at his situation, laid down on his bed and breathed into his pillow to relax. Yet in doing so, the tears spilled down his face. His great grandmother went over and patted his back.
She reassured him, “Rick’s true love is abroad so when he has the opportunity to travel, that is when you can let him go.”
That did help soften the selfishness William hated feeling but it still massively sucked that he was in such a position to begin with. So he cried out all that bottled up frustration and unease into that pillow.
._._._.
Willow walked along the perimeter of William’s dorm. She looked up and blinked, shifting the whites of her eyes to black with matching black irises lined with neon purple. She scanned the area, and then pressed the com in her ear.
“Willow to Wilhelm. Area appears to be safe. Over.”
“Wilhelm responding. Understood. Did you meet the target today? What is he like? Over.”
She leaped up into the sky, gently landing on the rooftop. She took a seat at the edge, letting her legs dangle as the cool wind blew. “This one is an aspiring surgeon. Over.”
“Interesting. An Engineer. A Surgeon. If our villain didn’t wipe out Wilma from existence, we would’ve had a Lawyer to complete the trio. Over.”
Willow gave a sad smile to the dark joke. She continued, remaining serious, “How about the other remaining surviving variants? Was Clockwell and Francois able to locate them? Over.”
“Not yet. We’re still only finding dimensions where our existence is wiped out. 17 so far. Over.”
Willow swallowed thickly as the memory of her murder flashed before her eyes. She forced a steady breath, inwardly cursing at the fucked up situation they were in. “Dammit! There are only 36 universes, and she wiped out half of us! FUCK!...Over.”
“The situation is fucked up, but we found one more. We’ll definitely find the others. Over.”
“But this one hasn’t awakened his powers yet, and that only happens when we’re under incredible stress or we’re killed. And I can’t bear to let that happen to him even if it could mean our survival. At least not in this context.” She hugged herself. “The original canon for most of our universes was that we’re supposed to go through this shit after Mark leaves Earth to pursue his destiny. And never make contact again…”
“That’s only true for a majority of our universes. And time is different in each universe. Although we’ve been doing this for three years, it’s only been a few months in your universe. You can still patch things up with your Mark. You can still marry him and protect Earth together.”
Willow considered it for a moment but responded, “...He deserves a better future.”