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August 10th, 2006: 06:11 AM: Above New York City, New York, The United States.

"Oh my goodness, I-"

Annie January, better known nationwide as the Superheroine "Starlight," stood in the main hanger bay of the world-renowned Seven Satellite, Tropopausian airbase and long-standing HQ to Earth's Most Mighty, "The Seven", (forever anchored between the land below and the vast reaches of space above and, therefore, always in a position for Earth's greatest heroes to monitor threats coming from both,) staring up at the alien, yet all too human presence before her with a look of overwhelming joy and wonder on her young, 22-year-old face. Her short, White cape with its golden lining rippled gently in the morning breeze as the figure loomed over her, his soft, deepish voice contrasted by the sound of friendly, boyish amusement.

"You're our newest recruit. Why on Earth wouldn't I come to meet you?"

The figure in question was a man. A tall, muscular man standing well over 6 feet, who, if you looked at him, appeared to be somewhere in the age range of 27 to 36. His features, highlighted, as they were, by the splendorous light of the rising sun, were equal parts brutish thug and rugged, Hollywood handsome, from his high brow with its single crease and the Neatly combed golden hair atop his scalp to the slightly pugilistic Grecian nose, all the way to the seemingly perfect, friendly, reassuring pearly smile etched just above the Diamond shaped Jawline. This, plus the attire he was clad in; the blue leather leggings and Button-Flap Jacket with the red highlights and the squarish, v-neck collar, the star-emblazoned Scarlet gauntlets and boots, all visually held together by the red and white vertically striped cape with the golden star between the shoulder blades, connected to the jacket by a small, star-emblazoned pin on the left shoulder, linked, in turn to a large, golden, Great Seal eagle shoulder shield on the right by a small, light, golden chain. (The same Seal as that found on his golden belt buckle attached to the red mesh belt around his waist.)

And those eyes. Those blue, saintly eyes with their deceptive, half-awake appearance, hiding behind them such kindness, such humanity and understanding, left no doubt in Annie's mind as to who she was talking to and, more importantly, who was talking to her.

"Because you're...You're The Homelander...!" she managed to say, her back tingling at the knowledge that small, awkward little sentence brought. The things this man had seen, the rescues, the great battles, the crimefighting, the issues tackled both societal and social, the feats of strength, speed and gallantry which had earned him the unparalleled reputation he now enjoyed among his peers. From behind the white and gold dress with its long, sensible, modest skirt and again behind her own innie belly button, the butterflies were on the move. And yet, in that moment, Annie's smile could not have been wider. This was the man that heroes and civilians alike had looked up to for generations! The country's, no, The Earth's greatest champion, The Leader of its premier superhero group. A man often rightfully described as Soldier Boy and The Illuman rolled into one and here he was, talking to her face to face!

"John." The gentle, but deep voice again.

"J-John?"

"Yeah, John. John Gillman." The butterflies all seemed to drop dead in an instant. Was this real? Had The Homelander just willingly and casually shared his full name with her? And with such familial openness too. It took a moment for Starlight to take this in before she came back to reality, only to find the right, red-clad hand reaching out towards her.

"And it's not Starlight all the time, is it?" he asked her. Once more out of friendly humor rather than anything that might have resembled snark.

She stared up once again into those blue, semi-closed eyes and, although Homelander, John, stood a good two and a half feet over her, Annie felt no inclination that The Human Miracle (a nickname given to him by Vought's comic-making machine, Victory Comics who, by extension, was responsible for most of the nicknames superheroes possessed) was looking down at her as her right hand, covered by her golden cotton gauntlet with a similar star motif at the wrist, took hold of the larger figure's meathook.

"Annie. Annie January." Nothing in the known universe could have wiped away the joyous look on her face, as She and her childhood idol...well, maybe not idol per see, (There was Jesus to consider, after all) but certainly her childhood hero, stood in that cold hanger bay thousands of miles above the Hudson River shaking hands. Her body loosened and relaxed as the built-up tension she had carried with her flowed out of her skin like a burst of static, replaced by a sense of overwhelming excitement. Homelander chuckled.

He'd seen this reaction so many times before from non-team members. be it from visiting heroes, school kids from across the globe taking a tour of the satellite, or the face of A-Train when he had been selected to be their new speedster after Steve...Steve...he quickly banished that dark memory from his mind. There was still a lot of ground to cover with this one, and only time to say one more thing before they had to start:

"Welcome to The Seven, Annie."

John led Annie out of the hanger bay as the large, hydraulic doors slowly closed shut behind them. Before long, the costumed pair found themselves walking down the curved, circular passages and corridors of the Satellite's interior, all gleaming Tungsten, and Cruachanium (The Legendary Fae metal created by the alchemists of Queen Maeve herself and justly named after her realm back in Ireland) and, aside from the expected number 7 gimmick emblazoned on the walls, the ceilings, the doors and everywhere else you'd expect to find it, entirely functional and without frills.

That was what she loved the most about this place, Annie thought. Those with an eye for aesthetics and little understanding of anything else might have perceived The orbital fortress's recesses to be cold, ugly and without any sense of life. Annie understood differently. To her, it all showed a sense of modesty, discipline and restraint. Resistance to the sins of Vanity and Decadence.

True, most Superheroes tended to do their business in...less than Orthodox clothing, but that was different. There was always a sense of honor and tradition in those gaudy uniforms that she couldn't get enough of. Why else would she clad herself in a suit that, despite being marked with the familiar hues of the "Capes for Christ" open-air evangelical movement, was heavily inspired by The Homelander's own super-suit?

Right down to the addition of golden stars, including the one on her chest, The Five-pointer with the stylized comet trail around the top. Not to mention the earrings her Mom had bought her on the day She'd received her specially made costume from V.A,C. The one they'd designed together and sent off in the mail to them. Her gold-colored heeled boots with the tall collars that reached up to her knees clanked dully on the double reinforced Steel Treadplate floor in time with Homelander's as they made their way around. She was soon brought out of her daydream by a tap on her shoulder. It seemed that John had noticed her silent, faraway expression and asked her if she was alright. Given the way she'd been treated so far, Annie decided to be honest with him.

"I...Still can't believe I'm actually here..." She admitted in her high-pitched, girly voice that, despite her being in her early 20s, made her sound as if she were still a junior in High School. "It comes as no surprise to me, Annie." John replied encouragingly as they made their way past the rows of tower servers which held the vital information, battle plans and strategies that The Seven regularly used to protect not only Earth but all planets inhabited by intelligent lifeforms. "Your performance in the trials was remarkable."

Annie looked down at her feet, eyes closed, smiling as she tried her best not to turn pink to no avail. It was nice to be praised with such sincerity. It was then, however, that Homelander's tone suddenly changed. Not too drastically, but in a subtle way that sounded both genuine and cautionary at the same time without sounding threatening.

"We allow very, very few newcomers in The Seven;" he told her. "We simply can't afford to take the risk."

Of course, Annie knew that John was right to tell her this. Mostly because it was true. For how many times over the years, no, the decades, had The Avengers of the Innocent been infiltrated, bedeviled, passed and generally had their Homebase laid siege to by their enemies? Too many times, that was for sure. Not to mention the incident in 1979 where their old sidekick and Honorary Member ''Thump" Doggett, had sold out the location of their original hideout, The refurbished "Ghost Town" of Seven Hills, Indiana, to their then and now greatest foes: "The Sinners" and had been promptly banished and excommunicated by his former friends from their ranks for good following a hearing.

Up 'till the events of The Brooklyn Bridge disaster 5 years ago, the team dubbed "Earth's Most Mighty" by both Victory Comics as well as a grateful world populous, had been the closest, most effective and most disciplined team in the whole Hero Community.

There was, Annie reasoned, a reason for their team's name. It had nothing to do with elitism, as some had suggested. Keeping humanity alive prior to the Second Coming required them to keep things niche and tight-knit between them, lest the secrets they guarded fall into the wrong hands. The events of 2001, the tragic sacrifice of Mr. Marathon, The 2nd man to claim the title of "Fastest Man in the World", had changed everything. The reason why America's top Young Hero teams were down a member each.

''I know.'' she said at last, trying the wipe the smile off her face in vain. ''Please don't think I'm not taking this seriously. It's just...you know.'' She paused again, choosing her next words carefully. If she didn't sound like a silly teenager before, that sentence had sure made up for it. Once more, she chose honesty. "I've admired you for as long as I can remember...'' she said softly. "Your incredible kindness, how wise you are..." She was interrupted by a guttural chuckle from her left.

"You're going to have me blushing in a moment," John replied, looking down at the walkway the same way Annie was. Despite herself, the "Devine" Lumomancer couldn't help but chuckle as well. "Oh, I'm sorry." she apologized.

The two carried onwards, passing by one of the giant Cruachanium framed windows that gave a glimpse into the world outside, the sky still amber-tinted with the dawn. The only other things of note from the other side of that particular window being Stratocumulus clouds and one of the enormous Solar mirrors attached to one of the equally large Solar Cells that powered the entire Sky Station. Annie couldn't help but continue being in Awe of the whole setup.

"You know," she remarked, "This is Amazing. I mean, back in Des Moines, with The Young Americans...we didn't have anything like this." The Young Americans, of course, were Annie's old team, the ones she'd, sadly, left behind in Iowa and one of the two major "Teen" teams in the country. They'd been billed by VC as the "The Defenders of Des Moines", their base of operations, even though their missions covered a sizable chunk of the West North Central States, plus Arkansas, Oklahoma, the States of both Colorado and Wyoming and a tiny sliver of Canada beyond the central border. What most set them apart from other superhero teams of their demographic, in particular, "Teenage Kix", A-Train's old team which covered most of the original 13 colonies and Maine, was this:

In contrast to the more left-wing, counter-culture stylings of Shout Out, Popclaw, Whack Job and the rest of Kix Leader Big Game's group of 8, The Young Americans were pretty much Moderate-Classical Conservatives with Judeo-Christian religious leanings, members of a dying breed of American Youth that, despite all the reasons not to (and, admittedly, there were plenty of those.) still held things like Saluting the flag, the pledge of Allegiance, respect for elders, Duty to one's country, Sunday Church and "Waiting Until Marriage" in high regard. No surprise since a good chunk of the team were also followers of the aforementioned "Capes for Christ" religious movement, Starlight included. (This was how Big Idea had come to them with a pitch for a CGI Action-Adventure-Comedy series based on their exploits in 2000 a year after the team's founding, which they'd signed off on and, incidentally, which had ended up saving the Veggietales creators from financial ruin.)

At the time she, as Starlight, had been invited to The Seven tryouts in New York to replace the other former OG teammate, The Lamplighter, there had been 8 members of that YAs in total, but three above all that she couldn't help thinking about even now:

Drummer Boy aka Gabriel "Gabe" Phillips - the Team's leader and Starlight's boyfriend who had, as a teenager in Missouri, come across an ''Enchanted Drum and Sticks" belonging to an ancestor of his who'd been a drummer in the War of Independence on the side of the Colonies which, when played in certain ways, could produce a variety of effects from concussive sonic blasts to destructive soundwaves to hypnosis to even levitation. Inspired too by The Homelander, Gabe dressed in a patriotic costume complete with a blue domino mask, a huge gold star emblem and epaulets on his shoulders. He was the heart and the main brains of the team, the most approachable and the guy everyone else always deferred to in terms of training, religion, history and morale.

General Issue aka Christopher "Chris" Van Leer - A so-called "Military Brat" from Lawton, Oklahoma who, after a way too close encounter with a group of gemological terrorists while at his Colonel Dad's army base at Fort Sill, had been infected with a genetically enhanced, Compound-V dilated super-bug that, rather than killing him slowly, had instead given him Super Strength, Super Leaping, Bulletproof Skin, Peak Superhuman speed and agility and enhanced intelligence. Chris clad himself from head to ankle in Army Green, complete with a typical soldier's helmet, save for his own gold star emblem, black boots and Champagne-colored cape. He was the most serious of the Team, the one least likely to smile (unless tickled) and Drummer Boy's right-hand man in terms of Stratagem.

Holy Mary aka Mary Mancini - Abandoned as a baby on the doorstep of the monastery of the "Discalced Carmelite Nuns" of Littleton, Colorado, Mary had grown up under a vow of eternal silence. Raised by the Nuns and eventually joining them in their eternal quest for Self-Reflection, it came as a shock to all involved when she unlocked, during prayer one afternoon, Telekinetic and Telepathic powers along with Clairvoyance, Healing, Teleportation and Supernatural Empathy. Unable to bear the suffering of the outside world in solitude, she'd ventured out into the world and never come back; dressed in the traditional robes of the Carmelite sisterhood, but, with the addition of a white cowl that covered the top half of her face. She was the most powerful, and yet, the quietest of the Young Americans, choosing to talk either telepathically or in sign language. She was also Annie's best friend.

For her own part, Annie's "Secret Origin" hadn't been, to her at least, anything special. Her powers, which involved light manipulation/constructs, enhanced stamina, flight and enhanced speed (but only in flight) had manifested while she was in her 2nd year of Middle School in Des Moines. Doctors and Surgeons had called it an "Ultraviolet Mutation" but Annie and her parents knew better. These powers were a gift from God. A clear sign that he planned for her to become a Costumed Supe which, after a year of training at a Vought American Voluntary Training Facility in her city, she had done so.

"You miss them already, don't you?"

It was amazing, how well that man could read people. She'd miss them all, alright. Manuel Aguilar - The Standard, Thomas and Teresa Newton - The TNT Twins, even Alexander "Alex" Hill aka Supersonic. She and the Team's resident speedster had parted on bitter terms. He'd always dreamed of making it into The Seven and had been part of the trials to replace Mr. Marathon in late 2002, only to lose out at the last hurdle to A-Train. She sighed internally. Alex had behaved with outward Dignity and maturity as The Deep had sent him on his way with his usual brand of tough reassurance. Back home, it was a slightly different story.

No big tantrums or anything but he'd been quite sullen about it ever since. And now. with Annie now living his lifelong dream too, it'd just been too much for him. Never mind the fact that they'd both had strict competition from other Supes. (Annie herself had nearly lost out to The Starlike from Team Titanic.) But what hurt was that despite everything they'd gone through together as friends and teammates, Alex hadn't even come to see her off. Then she paused. It wasn't right to dump all this on Homelander right away. She'd wait till another time to air out her feelings.

"Yeah."

Of course, she knew she'd miss Gabe most of all. The two were, after all, quite in love and were pretty open about it, despite still being on first base, as indicated by their matching purity rings. Nevertheless, they did still love each other and being so far away from him...

But, of course, John had already caught on to her feelings, the natural empath that he was, and felt the need to pry. "Is there...Someone Special?'' he asked, in a tone akin to a Dad asking his daughter about a potential crush. Annie looked up at him and softened. It was easy to see why The Vanguard of Democracy was so beloved. Even with his imposing presence, he was a man you felt you could trust, that you could faithfully open up to. He just seemed to instinctively know what was on your mind at any given time when you were around him, encouraging the positive and helping you through the negative. Perhaps an inherent trait of his people, whoever they were, or maybe just a byproduct of his supernaturally brief initial upbringing.

She turned and smiled up at him, eyes now fully open, and briefed him on her and Drummer Boy's relationship. How they'd both met at a Capes for Christ Meeting when they were both 13 in one of the Junior Ministries run by Oh-Father himself. How they were waiting for marriage and didn't want to "ruin things" between them. All the while, John listened, only speaking to say "That's Great!" twice. And yet, despite this also fatherly encouragement, Annie couldn't help detecting what sounded like inflections of...maybe not disapproval but, perhaps, concern? There was no question that Homelander and CFC as a whole didn't always see eye to eye, what with the former being progressive on several key issues that the latter was not, Gay Marriage and Chastity being the biggest ones. Still, he hadn't shown her any distrust, otherwise she sure as shootin' wouldn't be up here. She decided that this topic should be left alone for as long as possible.

At this point, the Tour concluded. John led Annie to a set of Hydraulic automatic doors which parted and slid away, revealing a large white and grey room. Said chamber seemed to be Hexagonal in design with four walls at the base, two diagonal walls on top of those, the roof complete with a currently closed skylight and, at the far end, a long, six-sided half-oblong window out of which you would've seen more sunrise and more clouds. In the middle of the room, however, stood a long, grey rectangular table with two legs at its Southern and Northern ends. On either side of it and at the far North, were 7 comfortable-looking plush swivel chairs in Metallic Blue imitation leather.

"Oh," Annie exclaimed, as she and John walked over to the furniture. "This is where you-" "Yes." The veteran Supe interjected. "Have a seat. You've earned it." Annie looked at the arrangement of PC chairs in front of her and carefully inspected them. As she'd expected, In front of each one, on the table, was a small desk plaque in gold, on which was inscribed the name of a Team Member: The Homelander, Black Noir, Queen Maeve, A-Train, The Deep, Jack from Jupiter. Then, at last, she saw it. Where Lamplighter's own plaque had undoubtedly once been was now another, same as the others, but bearing her hero name in bold, Helvetica lettering. "Starlight." Annie gently placed her gloved hands on the back of the chair, her body trembling with excitement, unable to stop smiling.

"I'm really here." she murmured out loud, trying to keep herself as John nodded in affirmation. She was barely able to hold back the flood of emotions that now seemed to swallow her like a psychological tsunami, still wondering, as well she might, if all of this was some sort of dream. If it was, she knew one thing for sure. She didn't want to wake up. Suddenly, she remembered something that, momentarily, brought her back down to Earth.

"I know it's probably only temporary... But..." she paused. In her bliss, she'd forgotten the kind of Status Quo that, despite everything, endured in iconic team rosters and now, she felt as if she'd set herself up to inevitably fall when the ''real'' owner of that chair came back. John, in the process of removing the hook from the eye of his cape's gold chain, was trying his best not to frown in front of her. Not too much, anyway. She needed to be relaxed and at home to prepare her for what was coming.

"Well, I know that's what we said in the beginning, but I'll be honest with you, Annie:'' He paused, shaking his head solemnly. "I can't see The Lamplighter ever coming back.

"Annie's smile became a little more melancholic upon hearing this. It was a well-known fact that The Lamplighter and Mr. Marathon had been extremely close, practically brothers. Next toTthe Troika, the two were the Seven members most likely to be seen teaming up on missions. The New Prometheus and The Fastest Man on Earth. Aside from the aforementioned Troika (Homelander, Black Noir and Queen Maeve), No Alliance held together as strongly within the ranks of Earth's best line of defence. The death of his best friend had sent the pyrokinetic hero into a downward spiral of depression, so said the tabloids. One that had only gotten worse aster A-Train had been added to the roster. It's all been detailed by both the comics and the press. First the red and black costume, then the angrier, more standoffish attitude and finally, the sudden absence at a routine meeting in July of 2005, followed by an E-mail, mass forwarded to the rest of the team. An E-Mail with only two words:

"I Quit."

She finally settled into her hair as, for the first time, now that the initial awe had worn off, Annie realized just how sparse and undecorated the Seven's conference room appeared to be. She hadn't minded about the Rest of the Satellite but here?

"So, I thought you'd have all kinds of Trophies here, you know memorabilia from all your old battles...'' She didn't notice Homelander neatly folding his cape, prior to draping it over the back of his own chair. "We did..." he admitted. "All over the base, as a matter of fact. We donated most of them to the Smithsonian 5 years ago."

"Why? Too much clutter?"

"It just seemed to smack of Triumphalism." clarified John. "I was never too comfortable with that kind of thing." he placed his cape on his seat before continuing. "Some of the others disagree," (he politely chose not to call anyone out) "but I prefer to see what we do as spreading peace, not inflicting defeat." Annie's heart fluttered at the sound of that and through his super-hearing, John could hear her whisper to herself "That's so true..." in a reflective, edified sort of way. "This...you know," she said dreamily "It's the Pinnacle of everything I've ever hoped for. to serve with The Seven, I mean, there's just no higher a Super-Person can go.."

"I Told you, Annie." John replied, an aura of pride and respect in his speech. "You deserve it. You've worked so hard."

She deserved it...the words sank into the young heroine's mind and heart like water on a sponge. The warm welcome, the light humor, the Paternal motivation. All of it combined had finished off the kaleidoscope that she'd brought with her on the day she'd left the Midwest and her old life behind and flown through the evening and night toward The Big Apple. In that moment, her guilt over Supersonic, her concern for Lamplighter and her pining for Drummer Boy seemed to be suspended. She was here. She was officially part of the greatest selection of superheroes the world had ever known. Would ever know until Super-Duper came along in the far future. She closed her eyes one more time to envision it all. A lifetime of sacred deeds, incredible compassion and high adventure that, up till now she'd only ever dreamt of awaited her and, with the mentorship of John, The Homelander and her newfound friends, Annie knew that life could only get better from there.

"There's just one final test for you to pass," John remarked unexpectedly. "And I know you're going to excel at that too."

"Mm?" Annie's curious little squeak edited from behind her closed lips. With her eyes shut, she could hear noises. Strange noises. Grunted, a dull, metallic sound and then, nothing. Unable to hold back her curiosity any longer, she opened her eyes and looked over at John...

The smile faded. The eyes widened, the poor girl's jaw dropped in unspeakable, shocked horror. She tried to look away but it was no use! Her eyes were drawn straight to it! It was like looking at a train wreck! So big, so ugly, so disgusting. Dripping with a substance she'd hoped never to lay eyes upon in her life! It was as if everything she'd ever known about the world had suddenly, mercilessly, come crashing down...

The Horrible, hideous mass, pulsating, sagging in all directions, coated with semi-gelatinous, bubbling, Asparagus Green ooze which hardly covered up the smell of Saccharine and Candy Corn, lay on a silver platter on the table. The same platter that Homelanded had remorsefully hidden under the table out of noseshot, knowing that this was inevitable. The words "Welcome, Starlight." had been delicately squeezed on in Buff. The Star Spangled hero looked down at the still horror-struck woman's frozen face with a mixture of sympathy and concession.

"Traditional Ganymedese Heart Fruit and Arthro-Cattle Milk Cheesecake of Welcome. Jack's idea, I'm afraid. It's really hard to say No to him. If it helps..."

..."You're not the first." came a mischievous, Californian voice from behind them. Annie turned, her face finally able to unfreeze. Standing in the now open automatic doorway were two men. One appeared more like a shadow, clad entirely in pure black, kevlar all over his body with no sign of a mouth hole or any facial features whatsoever. The other was more of a person in appearance and, subsequently, more colorful. Brown hair, Translucent blue goggles over a white, open-topped mask that also showed off his nose, mouth and chin, (not to mention the tiny hole punched in the middle of the forehead) blue earpieces, blue gauntlets with white highlights, a blue, athletic, sleeveless singlet with white on the shoulders, and a huge, stylized letter A on the front and back in the same color, a white and blue high-tech belt with an A in the hilt and below the bare legs and knees, Rubber soled Track Boots in the same colors as the rest.

To her right, The Urban Silhouette, The Earth's only Non-lethal Assassin, Black Noir. To her Right, the former protege of Mr. Marathon himself. The man who had trained harder than any speedster in the country to take up his legacy and a former member of the team that she and the Young Americans had argued and bickered with almost every time they'd teamed up, only to become friendly rivals again by the end of each one

A train smirked, arms crossed as he observed the moderately disgusted look on his new teammate's face. This was priceless! Awesomely Princeless!

"Bon Appetite, Sister Act. Don't worry. There's plenty for everyone."

Annie's look of disgust turned to a polite, yet slightly worried smile as she realized just how ''tight-knit'' this team truly was. She wasn't just expected to be a co-worker or a team member, Oh no. She was a member of a family. And as much as Annie would've loved to protest, her chances to do so were hopelessly dashed when, a few seconds later, a certain Ganymedese ET walked in with a tall chef's hat on his hairless head and an expression of expectant hope on his Orange, reptile-like face. The butterflies may've flown, but the stomach ache was just beginning.

#the boys #the boys fanfic #paralells #deconstruction #reconstruction #recontextualised #comics #tv #fanfiction #garth ennis

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