"Hey, boss. Someone's here to see you again. Or rather, your pet."
At LexCorp, the company's most powerful figure on the surface was Lex Luthor himself. Yet, at this moment, he had personally walked into Reid's office—his assistant—to inform him of what was happening in the lobby.
Reid leaned back in his chair, smirking. "Looks like our black friend won't let this go until he loses an eye."
Behind him, a medal hung prominently on the wall, identical to the one Carol had received during the United Nations ceremony.
It was awarded in recognition of his contributions in handling the Kree threat. Likewise, Luthor had received a similar honor for LexCorp's satellite system, which played a crucial role in detecting the alien fleet.
However, unlike the medals given to Carol and Martian Manhunter, which praised their heroism, Reid and Luthor's accolades were purely formal, acknowledging their strategic efforts rather than public admiration.
But that was enough. Gaining entry into the upper echelons of human society only required recognition, not popularity.
For Luthor, this was just another step forward. His path into politics was now all but secured.
As for when he would become president?
If everything went according to plan, by the time Tony became Iron Man, Luthor would already be sitting in the White House.
Reid pushed his chair back, stretching lazily. "Alright, I'll go see that one-eyed bastard. This might be the last time we talk so peacefully."
...…
In the lobby of LexCorp's ground floor, Nick Fury sat on a leather sofa, looking thoroughly frustrated. One hand covered his injured eye.
It seemed like losing an eye was his fate, locked in by the will of the universe itself.
"Looks like you've paid the price for your actions, Agent Fury," Reid remarked, stepping into the lobby.
Fury exhaled sharply. "Reid, you never told me Goose had such a nasty temper. I swear, my eye doesn't even feel like it belongs to me anymore."
"That's natural." Reid smiled and didn't hold back the truth.
"A wound caused by a Flerken doesn't heal. At least, not with a normal human's regeneration. You pissed off the cat. This is your punishment."
"She's not a cat!" Fury shot back. "You told me—she's a Flerken!"
"Did I? Maybe I did." Reid's tone was entirely unsympathetic.
Fury had come for one simple reason—Goose. Or, more specifically, what Goose had swallowed.
Reid had never hidden the fact that the Flerken had consumed the Tesseract. And he had no intention of making the creature cough it up anytime soon. Keeping the Cube under this pretense was the perfect excuse. Eventually, once Fury's attention shifted elsewhere, Reid would quietly take it for himself.
But before he could continue enjoying Fury's misery, another presence caught his attention.
Carol Danvers.
"Didn't expect you to have time to visit," Reid mused, turning to her.
Carol had come along with Fury, but he knew full well she wasn't here for him.
"Sorry to intrude, Reid," she said, her tone polite.
They had fought together, and Reid had helped her a lot while she was searching for her memories. Compared to the stiff, almost lifeless expression she'd worn in recent interviews, she seemed much more at ease now.
"Is J'onn with you? I need to talk to him."
"Understood." Reid nodded. The next moment, a green figure slowly emerged from his body.
Right in front of everyone, Martian Manhunter used his powers to materialize.
Thanks to Reid and Luthor's manipulations, the Kree incident had become widely known. Just like Carol, Martian Manhunter was now a recognized hero of Earth. He could appear in his true form without hiding.
"What is it, Carol?" J'onn asked.
Carol was a little surprised. She had spent the past week entangled with the media, while Martian Manhunter had supposedly been recovering from severe battle injuries.
This was the first time they had seen each other since the ceremony. And yet, something felt different. He seemed… gentler.
And that was normal.
Reid and Luthor had ensured that Martian Manhunter's heroism was cemented in the public's mind. With the United Nations event over, his mission of saving Earth had reached its conclusion.
The one standing before Carol now wasn't Reid playing the role of the Martian—this was the real J'onn J'onzz.
"I have something to say to you. Let's go, J'onn."
Without waiting for a response, Carol grabbed him and soared into the sky. The stunned onlookers watched as they disappeared over the city.
"Anything else, agent Fury?"
With Carol and Martian Manhunter gone, Reid turned back to Fury, who was still covering his injured eye.
"Yeah. One more thing." The man sighed, pulling an envelope from his pocket and handing it over.
"Maria's hosting a celebration. A dinner for the heroes of this whole ordeal," he explained. "I know I'm not getting a medal, but a meal isn't against the rules. If Mr. Luthor wants to come, he's welcome too."
"I'll pass," Luthor said immediately. "LexCorp has more important matters to handle."
He declined the invitation and left.
Reid had been the key figure in this event, not him. Luthor understood precisely where he needed to position himself.
"In that case, I'll accept," Reid replied, tucking the invitation into his coat.
Once Fury was gone, he made his way to Luthor's office.
Luthor was already waiting, tossing a file onto his desk. "You know," he muttered, "you could've just used telepathy to pull this straight from my mind instead of making me waste time gathering all this."
Reid shrugged. "Really? Too bad I'm human, not a Martian. I haven't had these abilities for long, and I'm not used to that whole mind-reading thing yet."
With that, he flipped open the file. It wasn't just any information. It was about the mutants.
For the past week, their reaction had been the same.
Silence.
That was the only way to describe it. The entire mutant community—both the X-Men and the Brotherhood—had remained unexpectedly quiet.
Right now, with everyone's focus on extraterrestrial visitors, no one was paying attention to the mutants.
"Looks like our mutant friends are waiting for the olive branch to come to them," Reid observed as he skimmed through the file.
"If the Martian stays on Earth, that's inevitable," Luthor added.
They both saw what Charles Xavier had already understood.
Humanity's fascination with alien power was temporary. Given enough time, they would turn their attention back to finding their own power—even if it came from a group of mutated humans.
**
**
**
Thank you for reading! If you'd like access to extra chapters and want to support my work, you can visit my P@treon:
P@treon/SilverShark769
Vote with Power Stones for Bonus Chapters!
Your support means a lot, thank you!