#multiverse fics

The Way I Danced with You

This was possibly the best tea that Chase had ever tasted in his life. Max didn’t order tea. He ordered a smoothie and added in a bunch of things that like… why didn’t he just get dessert? All of the sugar content couldn’t be good for him, plus… He mentioned planning on drinking later. How was he able to keep that physique and excel in hero duties with all of the sweets and alcohol he partook in? Chase didn’t do stuff like that. He made sure that his body was as immaculate as humanly possible. But tea would often be one of his guilty pleasures… Not that tea wasn’t healthy, but he ordered for taste and aroma, not so much the medical or spiritual purposes that Charlotte usually adhered to. He wondered how she was doing with “her guys.” He wondered if their presence at the cottage had made the difference that Max once hoped for with those guys. He wondered what it would be like whenever they reunited…

“Okay, so, we gotta go shopping. Gotta get some Dystopia clothes to wear and some supplies for the robot research. Then, it’s to the library, because there’s an entry way into Charlotte’s lab there and that’s the closest and easiest one to access. I’ve gotta look over the potential genius pool results for minions and get them started on one of my side projects, while I have the down time. Gonna swing through Maxtropolis and check in with Marx and Dougie - you can stay in the car if you need to…”

“I’ll be fine,” Chase said, but even thinking about it made him tense. 

Max brushed it off and continued, “Probably will be around lunchtime. So, gonna do that at The Bionic Brothel…”

“Brothel???” Chase repeated, clearly horrified.

“Relax! It’s a soup saloon.” His eyes grew misty as he stared into the distance, “There’s nothing else in the world like their soup selection.” Chase glanced towards where Max was staring off into the distance and this brought him back to the conversation, “And, they’ve got cool soup selections and other stuff too, so even though it’s hot outside, you could still enjoy something. One of the biokids Char plucked from your dad’s island opened it up about a year ago. It’s a bionic owned business with a bionic staff, with the exception of a few regular servers. Hostess is an android… Or was. I don’t know the status of the ones that were living life before this hellstorm…” 

Now, it was on both their minds again, but Max found his voice to say, “And after that, check in with Charlotte to see if she needs anything, and if not, head back to the Super Stay to wash up and get ready to go to Dance Off Revolution.”

“What… what is Dance Off Revolution?” 

“You really have got to get to Dystopia more often!”

“Something that 16 year old me never could have imagined anyone would ever say…”

“Dance Off Revolution is an underground club where dance crews have battles and soloists try out for crews.”

“Are you suggesting that we try to join a dance crew?” Chase asked, a little bit more excited than he intended to sound, but Max froze and looked at him with equal excitement.

“I wasn’t, but the tone in your question tells me that I was wrong! Hell yeah, we’ll try out for a dance crew!”

Chase smiled, cheerfully, then collected his thoughts, “Wait a minute, we can’t try out for a dance crew. We don’t have time to join a dance crew! We’re only here for a few days or so.”

“You don’t do things JUST TO SAY that you did it?” Max asked incredulously.

“I mean…” Chase smiled brightly again and gushed, “YES!”

“Oh man, I am gonna destroy you on that dance floor!”

Chase furrowed his eyebrows. For some reason, in his mind, they were about to do a thing together, not face off. But at merely the suggestion that Max could defeat him didn’t sour his mood. It made him competitive, “In your dreams Super Kid.”

Max’s eyes grew wide, “It is SO on!” He started mumbling something about, “Thinks he can defeat me in a dance battle? This boy don’t even know Beyonce’s catalog and thinks he can beat me in a…”

“What does Beyonce have to do with dancing?” Chase asked. 

Max almost crashed the car, then came to a screeching halt. People were honking their horns as he collected himself. “Tell me… that you just did NOT…”

“We are in the middle of the street…” Chase said, nervously, and mouthed apologies to angrily passing vehicles. 

“That’s like asking what Usher has to do with dancing!” Chase narrowed his eyes, not wanting to ask it out loud, but Max read his face, clenched both of his fists and yelled, “YOU’RE WONDERING WHAT USHER HAS TO DO WITH DANCING, AREN’T YOU???” Max shook his head and started driving again, making a very illegal U turn. “Plans are cancelled until further notice. You have to be schooled in the Church of Usher.”

“Is that another Dystopia landmark that the tourists don’t usually hear about.”

Through his teeth, Max chimed, “It is a lifestyle choice.” He turned on an Usher playlist and headed for his friend’s house.

.

Simone was giggling about Max Thunderman being in her dance studio, in front of the mirrored walls, showing Chase Davenport Usher choreography. It was extremely unexpected and cute. She loved this so much. AND they gave her permission to put any of the clips she recorded on her stories for the Kickbutt Dance Studios Company page. By the time they finished, Chase knew every Usher song with the choreography and was in the best mood that Max had ever seen the guy in. He took a call from Mr. Davenport while Simone and Max talked.

“So… This your new romance prospect?” She wondered.

Max furrowed his eyebrows, “What? Are you joking?”

Simone looked confused, “You asked me to open my studio for you to share Usher with him and danced for hours. You put together a routine for Dance Off Revolution! …If that isn’t a date, then I don’t know what is. Anyways, you like teacup people with bright eyes.”

“SHUT UP! I do not!” He did, but. He already had a teacup person with bright eyes. Charlotte.

Simone laughed and shrugged her shoulders, “I guess…” She looked towards Chase, then said in a lower voice to Max, “Just, be careful around the bionics. I don’t know. He seems nice and all, but they’re… they’ve brought a lot of controversy and contempt into our world.”

Max didn’t expect to defend Chase, but it flowed out naturally. It wasn’t even because he felt connected to him or that they had bonded over dance. He just knew that the things that people thought about Chase were probably misconstrued, after having spent some time with him.  “I know that, but he isn’t like that.”

“Kaz seemed to think so,” she said.

“Do you ALL know each other???” Chase asked, coming back over.

“Pretty much,” they both said. 

Chase fussed, “And why is Kaz ALWAYS talking to someone about me? Jeesh.”

Simone wasn’t EVEN going to get on that subject. “Look… I know you did a lot for the supers whenever the war started, and as someone who could’ve potentially been slaughtered, that definitely means a lot. I just still take issue with the fact that bionics are comfortable with taking the credit for supers’ successes.”

“The supers have told us that they don’t want your world uncovered,” Chase said. “I guess your buddy Kaz leaves that part out when he’s keeping a personal journal about my life.”

“That was years ago, my dude. People know that we’re here now, and yet bionics are still seen as heroes while we’re seen as freaks. The difference being because you guys are just nonsupes with technology and we were born this way. You can’t remove our abilities and that makes nonsupes dehumanize and demonize us. As someone who knows and works with us and even fought alongside of us, I would think you’d be more vocal about exposing the truth. No other bionic person has the platform that you do.” She shrugged her shoulders and said, “Just something to think about. Personally, I never really wanted to be a hero. I love being stationed in Dystopia. The Defenders do most of the work and I was able to open my own dance studio! So, I’m not insulted on behalf of heroes. I just watched my mom bust her buns to be a hero and never get to let the world know, and now that the world is evolving and slowly making room for supers, I think it’s important that our importance in history and in today’s formation is esteemed, as well.” She shrugged her shoulders. 

Chase nodded his head, until Max tried to answer for him. “Well, it’s not really his platform, so he can’t just start making statements about supers.”

“Who’s platform is it?”

“His dad’s.”

“I don’t know his dad.”

“His dad’s in charge. He’s just the poster boy.”

“Wait a minute!” Chase interrupted.

“Say no more. I know how that is. I was the Super President’s daughter coming up. No platform of my own to be found.”

“I have a platform!” Chase insisted.

Max smirked, “Yeah, that Daddy controls. Excuse me, Mr. Davenport…”

“I can put whatever I choose on my platform!” Chase fussed.

“Okay,” Max said, rolling his eyes, then laughed when Chase pouted about things.  A few more minutes, and they were finally off to do the things that Max intended to do before. Chase remained pouting. Max drowned out his sighs and groans with more Usher. Chase tried to resist moving along to the music. He couldn’t, but he definitely was able to hold his glare.

By the time they were shopping, he lightened up, but the implication that he couldn’t speak for himself because he represented Davenport Industries would continue to bother him. He picked up the tab, because he knew he had more money than Max did and he did feel like he owed him for being pretty generous with stuff like cooking breakfast and offering beverages and stuff. They would be working together and he had to get used to treating him like a person that he was considerate of. Super Stay was a hotel that supers tended to stay in, though there was other clientele. 

They were in the Maximus Suite, and the place had a bionic chamber. Chase was impressed with it. It wasn’t like the one that Charlotte kept for him, but it was pretty good for a hotel. Dystopia was extremely accommodating, now that he was visiting. He didn’t want to tell Max that he had quarters in the city, because Max was pretty comfortable with this arrangement of them being in the same suite and he didn’t want to seem ungrateful or rude. 

Once they were cleaned up and changed, they met in the common area of the suite and Max announced, “Sure you’re gonna be alright seeing Marx?”

“I’m not a baby, Max.”

“Okay. Well… it’s closer than the library now, so there first, maybe get soup with Dougie and then the library. He’ll probably wanna look over Char’s robot stuff anyways,” Max said.

As they headed out, Chase wondered, “Are you two like… really close?” 

Max thought for a moment, then said, “Well… I think so. Something that my family never really realized about my villainous days was that I was missing something.  I thought that there was no way that I could ever be as good a hero as my sister and I had a pet villain to motivate me in other directions. My parents never supported me unless I did something they approved of and well… I felt like I found what I was looking for in Dr. Colosso… and I mean, I ultimately made the right decision but I was so close to the darkness. Douglas went into the darkness and when he came out, he'd lost his family. Sure, he was able to get back in, but he still missed out on so much and can't fix what he's done. I empathize. I didn't go as far as he did, and if I had, who knows? My family might not trust me. It could have gone so much worse. Dougie helps me to remember to be grateful and I help him to have a connection with a son like figure that he can relate to. There's mutual understanding and appreciation that we haven't exactly been able to get from our loved ones that have never did the dance in the darkness that we've done."

Chase didn't want to talk about why he didn't trust Douglas fully or the tension and resentment he still felt, after years of work and trying, but, one thing was still true, "I'm glad he's got someone like that."

“He would trade me for one of his own in a heartbeat,” Max said, with a shrug, though the thought of Douglas ever turning on him shook him deeply. He was around when Colosso died… And honestly… he was the only person who was at all helpful. He… wanted to reanimate him as an android bunny, which no… I didn’t want to do, but I sure appreciated his desire to help me cope.”

“Bunny?” Chase repeated.

“I’ll explain later. Anyway, yeah… Dougie and I are close. He’s basically me, if I was old and lonely.”

“Lonely? With you, Charlotte, and Charlotte’s weird little friend?” Chase asked.

“Wow. You’re just gonna disrespect Schwoz that way? Yes. Even with a few friends, Douglas is still lonely. He doesn’t even get to be fun uncle to Naomi.”

“More and more, it’s sounding like you just hang out with him because you feel bad for him. Scared that you’ll turn out that way?” Chase joked. Now, it was Max’s turn to frown.

“Maybe,” he muttered. Probably, he couldn’t get himself to admit out loud.

.

“So, you ready to help me to create a whole new Dystopia?”

“I’m ready to watch your back while YOU create a whole new Dystopia.” 

“That works!” 

Thunderstrike smiled at Charlotte, his mask hiding half of his face, but not the eyes - old school style, as was the case with the heroes of his bloodline. That and a cape. He was ready to be the hero that she needed to do whatever it was she had to do. 

Charlotte was it for Max. He’d made that up in his mind before he ever met her. Sure, he’d done this before (with Cheyanne), but with Charlotte, it was different. First off - he apparently was drawn to her, because he admired her in each form she had, not even knowing she was the same person. And then, they became friends, and then he relocated to Dystopia during the height of its crime and then… he felt validation. 

She finally was starting to see him for who he was and he’d hoped, for who he could be to her. At that time, she’d been away for over a year and doing a lot. He could tell that she wasn’t as connected to her former partners as before. He could tell that she cared for him, maybe not as much, but enough for it to matter to her… enough for him to matter, for THEM to MATTER! 

The Super Stay wasn’t around yet, so he had a cabin on the campsite of the shelter he used to bring supplies for (Henry and Jasper’s shelter), and it was cozy and had every amenity needed, but sometimes, he wanted a bath. It was hard to get used to not soaking before he showered, and Charlotte was staying in the fancy place that Mr. Davenport provided, so whenever he’d mentioned this particular inconvenience, she suggested that he could do that at her place. Most of the time, she was either at work or at Henry and Jasper’s (which she was still calling “home” at the time), so she gave him the extra key and told him to make himself comfortable. 

He wasn’t going to impose. He just wanted to soak and think before he showered. Nothing else. Only, whenever he came over to do so, Charlotte was always there, despite having claimed that she was never really there. “Guess I just have bad timing,” he joked.

“Or good timing,” she said, with a bright smile and went to retrieve a pair of pants. She was just wearing panties and a crop top sweatshirt, with her locs tied up in a scarf. She didn’t seem uncomfortable with him seeing her that way, or maybe she presumed that he’d turn his head when he realized that she wasn’t decent… Or maybe, and he didn’t want to presume, but couldn’t help it, maybe she’d wanted him to see her like this. She pulled on the tight fighting, snug leisure pants and headed into her bathroom… where HE was about to go. “So, this is where the towels are,” she told him and he followed her voice, gasped when he saw how wondrous the bathroom looked, before even making it to the walk in linen closet, which was full, not only with towels, but soaps, skin products, dental hygiene supplies, etc, and had a little computer on the side. “This is Madame. If you’ve ever seen the episode of Fly Homes with the Dom, that computer system that he calls Eddy, this is like that, but for here and she isn’t obnoxious. She’ll help you with anything you need to set the tone. Oatmeal, honey, milk, tea, whatever you wanna add to the bath. The pressure of the rinse… All the details. You can program your preferences under your name.” She started showing him how.

It was dope. He stayed for a while, laying in the tub, not realizing how much he’d needed this and also hating the fact that he didn’t have such a fancy set up in his house. He’d have to change that at some point… But, that night, he simply rested and soaked, then showered and whenever he came out, ready to go home, Charlotte was closing her laptop, having just finished all of her assignments, and she smiled at him. “Nightcap?” She wondered. 

Of course he wasn’t going to leave. He didn’t plan on staying all night, but as it turned out, back then, it took less liquor to make her worry about him driving. So, after a few drinks and long conversations about their current projects and stuff, she let him sleep on the couch and she went to bed. 

They had so many nights like that, the first time that he showed up and she in fact wasn’t there, he was sorely disappointed. He went into the bath, put on an eye mask and soaked, steam coming off of everything. 

It was a while before he felt like he heard something and sensed someone there. He pulled off the mask and Charlotte was standing in the doorway, trying to quietly back out. She laughed at herself and shook her head, “Sorry. I didn’t realize that you were in here. I was gonna try to leave unnoticed.”

“No, no… This is your bathroom. Do what ya gotta do.” He put the mask back on and rested against the bath pillow. She bit her lip, but came into the room and sat on the toilet. She turned on some music because, maybe it’d be better if he couldn’t hear her peeing. She noticed his hand tapping the side of the tub to the beat of the music and was relieved when he didn’t react to her extremely loud piss. Like… she was only aware right now how loud it was. Was it ALWAYS that loud? She hugged herself, sighed and let out some gas. She groaned and quickly said, “I am so sorry.” She said it almost under her breath, because finding her voice in the midst of that shame was difficult.

“For being a human with bodily functions?” He asked, from beneath the mask, and then added, “In your own house?”

Usually she’d remind him that this isn’t her house and that whenever her stay here was over the Dom was gonna use it for something else, but that night, she just laughed at herself, cleaned off with the bidet and left the bathroom. 

The next time that they were both there, she was now more comfortable with stepping in on him, since she knew that he didn’t care, and she really wanted to do what she needed to do and get out of there. They bumbled around each other for a while, trying to be polite, but also to hurry. Max had an early morning and had to get to sleep. Charlotte had a date for the first time “in ages” with Henry and Jasper. It was controlled chaos and they laughed their way through it, and moved along.

Only… Charlotte spent the majority of her date thinking about Max and what was happening with them. How comfortable she was getting with someone who wasn’t Henry or Jasper… how… attached she was feeling. Max spent the entire night awake in bed, willing her to be somewhere thinking of him too. That wasn’t to say he believed that could happen, but the possibility of him being the only one who’s night was overtaken by emotions and thoughts just didn’t sit well with him. 

After that… they were solid. Neither of them mentioned it for a time, but Charlotte began to stay home more (calling her Davenport property home, by this time) and he began to stay over a lot. 

Jasper was upset. He didn’t feel like it was appropriate. “This friendship of yours is going too far,” he’d complained. Only to be overruled by Charlotte’s iconic, “You think that’s the farthest that I, of all people, can go?” and Henry quickly smoothed things over with, “I think it’d be cute. One of these days one of us was bound to like somebody else and want to explore. It’s Charlotte, so the most sensible of us and the one with the most moral fiber. That’s a good start for a relationship soft open.”

Soft open. She didn’t know if she liked that description, but further conversation led them to a conversation about opening up their relationship, but only with open communication about it. 

At 21, she didn’t have all of the answers. Even people who lived poly lifestyles and people in open relationships all had their own ways of doing it and she didn’t know which way was right. She was still learning herself at that time and to learn yet ANOTHER man seemed excessive, but it was Max. She knew that things were mutual. She knew that she could do this and she believed that she would enjoy it.

Whenever she next came in to find him in the bath, listening to something vibey - Jhene or Sza or something - eyes shut and head leaned back, she removed what she had on and joined. He stirred, but didn’t visibly panic whenever her toes touched the water. His eyes opened and seeing her settle in, her stared, but didn’t want to ruin whatever was happening, so he didn’t question her and he didn’t say anything. She sorta wished he did, even though she had no explanation for her bold actions. All she did was shift around through the bubbles and find her way to his chest. She laid on him and felt his arms move to wrap her up. He kissed her forehead and they didn’t say anything about it.

When they got out of the bath and he started the shower, she began her skin and hair routine. He got out, teeth were brushed, bodies moisturized, etc. Finally, the silence was broken, when he pointed his thumb and wondered, “Should I go to the couch?” She shook her head, took his hand, and guided him into the bedroom. That was the FIRST night that he slept in her bed.

“I don’t think you’ll end up that way,” Chase broke into his thoughts. “You’re someone who cares about others at this point in your life… I don’t know that I can say Douglas was that way at your age. You turned things around sooner, and made a good difference earlier in life. You’ve got similar feelings about your adolescent stages, but everything else, save maybe poor taste in fashion, is all different. You won’t end up like Douglas. You even have people who love you,” Chase said. He slapped a hand awkwardly on Max’s shoulder, and patted him stiffly. 

“Are you trying to open up to me about your true feelings, Bionic Boy?” 

Chase pulled up her information in his bionic system, something he had been doing quite religiously ever since finding out that he was expected to be a part of these shenanigans. Mr. Davenport lauded this woman as “the person most fit for this job,” and as a condition of Chase’s current position in the company, he would have to shake the hand of this person in front of the world and approve of that sentiment, ‘thus endorsing the so-called “SmArtEst WOmAn In thE wOrld”’

Feeling that she “swindled” universities was unfair, but he was still pretty raw about all of these plans and mostly about that ‘COMPLETELY UNFATHOMABLE TITLE.’ Secretly, he admired her audacity and her follow through. He would never be able to admit it, as long as she was considered his intellectual equal and a high priority for Mr. Davenport.

She began a little challenge that she called "The Degree Collection Challenge." She would contact the Deans of Ivy League campuses and basically profess that she would be able to complete certain degrees in (some unprecedented amount of time), with their permission. Initially, they would agree, out of the pride and certainty that she couldn't do this. It became her brand - doing all of the work possible to earn an official degree in what should have been not enough time. Organizations began to try to monitor her endeavors and make sure she wasn't somehow cheating, hacking, doing SOMETHING illegal to yield the results that she was yielding, and eventually androids were utilized. Universities paid Davenport Industries A FORTUNE to basically stalk this woman with the intent to prove that she was unfairly gaining elite degrees from their institutions. 

She kept fairly earning her degrees, racking up work, experience, and notoriety as one of the smartest people in the world and her new title as the Degree Collector, ‘a title she can be worthy of.’

It was on her verified social media, and whenever she went to do interviews and speak at colleges, it would always be on the caption or the headlines. He was fine with that. In fact, after a mention from a fan who said that they would LOVE to see her have a conversation with Chase Davenport, the bionic smartest man alive, she confessed that she was a HUGE follower of his work and would also love a conversation with him. He was flattered. She was famous, in her own right, and smart, as well. Also, she looked pretty in all of the photos and footage he saw of her, so finding out that she was a fan was highly favorable.

Her announcement led to Donald arranging the meeting AND giving her a job in one of his places close to her Alma mater, Harvard. She was already earning him money with the android monitoring systems from several colleges, and he wanted someone that popular and smart under his umbrella. Chase would be her “introduction to Davenport Industries” in her biography, even though he didn’t actually have the opportunity to meet her. In fact, his brother, Leo wound up having to pick her up and getting her settled into her new Davenport provided space, because Chase was out on missions. 

She understood. As a self proclaimed huge follower of his work, she knew he went all over the world to tend to various threats, and after a while, the prospect of having a conversation with him became lost and he forgot all about the girl with the purple hair who Donald used as a publicity stunt a few years ago. ‘UNTIL… She became lauded as “the Smartest Woman Alive.” 

For THAT to be true, she would need bionic access to all of the world’s information, to computer connections, satellites, etc. She would have to be extraordinary. She was just some woman with a bunch of degrees that she did get impressively quickly for a typical woman… but still… She was just a typical woman and he got frustrated every time he thought about the fact that her title pretended to rival his! 

“Mr. Davenport?” He heard from behind him and he cleared off his research and cleared out his eye before turning and seeing a slim, petite, far more beautiful in person than in any of the publicity photos where she was typically working. “Hi!” She said, excited and extended her hand, “Charlotte Page. I know that I’m early, but The Dom said that I could let myself in with my access permissions, and I really wanted to be able to speak with you outside of all of his… panoply.” 

Chase shook her hand. It was soft and her handshake was firm. She had on a cream colored pantsuit that fit her form, but was sleeveless and her arms indicated someone who took great care of her body. In fact, her body indicated someone who took great care of her body. And her face, her hair, and so on. 

She didn’t look distressed, disheveled, with a mound of purple hair tied up in a puffy, messy bun. She wasn’t to her knees in an assignment or charity work, or in protective gear in her lab, and she wasn’t online, in a dimly lit room, speaking tired, because of the lack of rest she had. Her hair wasn’t purple either, or curly or puffy... It was... they call those goddess locs, if he remembered correctly from having seen the hairstyle before, and hers were a mixture of browns, with golden accents and charms in them. 

He saw several superhero emblems - Captain Man, Kid Danger, the Dystopian Defenders, ‘So, she’s a superhero fangirl’ some African symbols and cutesy stuff too, a few lightening rods... She was staring at him and he wondered if he was studying her looks too long.

This was the first time he saw her face to face, and it was an amazing sight. “Well… Nice to meet the…” He paused. He realized at that moment that he had never said it out loud and also that he could not.

“The Degree Collector?” She said, saving him the discomfort of calling her the smartest woman alive. She folded her arms casually and said, “Although, my degrees can’t really be at all impressive to you, with the educational catalog that you’ve got. And for what it's worth, I never actually refer to myself as the other thing, either. When there’s someone like you out there and nobody else comparable, that would seem gauche. Not to mention the fact that my life has been teeming with privilege and opportunities. There’s probably a woman out there right now that might have mollywhopped me in the degree collecting challenge if she had more access and wealth, so… I’m good with being Charlotte Page. Charlotte Page is amazing.”

He relaxed a little and felt secretly justified in his silent protest of her being called that. But, now that it was out of the way, he did have other questions and interests about her that he would have already addressed had he not been simmering in anger. He began with, “What is it about Dystopia that makes you so passionate about it?”

A twinkle sparkled in her brown eyes and she was the prettiest and softest thing he could ever remember, in that moment where she thought about Dystopia. She unfolded her arms and began to move her hands around as she talked, “I think it’s because it was my first chosen home. I decided to go there and try to make a small difference. I brought along the two most important people in the world to me and together, we made it our home, for a little while, but made a big difference in a small span of time. Whenever I had to leave, my heart stayed there. My friends didn’t come with me because there was just so much to do and they felt more needed there than I might have needed them with me.” She called over one of the water boys and grabbed a fresh bottle of water from them. “I was working on a Biological and Biomedical Sciences degree and after only one year of doing that, realized that it would take too long for me to do everything that I wanted to do in Dystopia, or even in this world. SO, I took a note out of my friend’s little sister’s book… She managed to graduate high school early because she had to take so many summer classes. I shot for the same basic principle, but on the college level and once it began to be a thing that I just do… I continued and I use everything that I can to try to make Dystopia better, for my friends and for my fondness of it as the first home that I chose for myself.”

“Wow. I’ve actually never chosen a home, so I don’t know this attachment. Mr. Davenport has orchestrated where I go for all of my life,” he admitted.

“Why?”

“Well… Because, he’s the one in charge,” he said and shrugged his shoulders, slightly embarrassed. She studied him for a while and he felt mildly uncomfortable under her watch, but simultaneously enjoyed the attention.

“At least he’s a genius. The gods know I’ve worked under the control of complete idiots before..” She thought for a little while longer, then added, “But… not genius enough, I would say.” She finally commented and averted her eyes to glance around the room. “He’s definitely probably smarter than me, but nobody’s smarter than you. You’re Smartie GOALS. It doesn’t rationally make sense to me that you’re in a room with someone, but you’re not the one in charge.” She shrugged and called over a recycling collector to pass off her empty bottle. “You know?” She punctuated the thought, hoping she wasn’t completely out of line for speaking it.

He placed his hands in his pockets and said, “I’m always the smartest man in the room… but not necessarily the wisest person, and definitely not always right. There has to be some humility to make our dynamic work, and if there are these gods you speak of somewhere, they know that HE’S not going to have any. I’ve challenged his authority a couple of times, but it never works in my favor. He really has an infrastructure that calls for his leadership.”

“Maybe you need to separate yourself from that infrastructure to reach your fullest potential,” she said. He looked at her, startled and she laughed and shook her hands and head, “Sorry, sorry! I realized after I said it that I totally sound like an up-and-coming supervillain trying to get the smartest man alive in her corner! I’ll shut up immediately about that. It’s just...my parents weren’t really that involved in a lot of my decisions… They did this thing where they raised me from the first moment I seemed cognizant to learn to do for myself. I don’t always understand those of you who have a more codependent situation with your parents. I think that I expected less commitment, since you refer to him as “Mr. Davenport. I don’t even refer to him as Mr. Davenport!”

He just laughed a little. It wasn’t really her business how he was raised in a capsule in a basement, that his biological father was someone else, etc. She was just making conversation, and you don’t spring heavy things on pretty girls in the middle of conversation. That’s how you never get pretty girls. One of the many ways, at least. His list was still growing at this stage in his life.

After a while, Donald Davenport came through with the camera crew and the dozen androids. He and Chase presented Charlotte with the supplies and she gave a thank you speech to him, and to Chase, although with all of the emphasis that she put on Chase in this thank you, she noticed that The Dom took it as a slight against him. 

That was one of the reasons she called Donald Davenport, “The Dom,” instead of Mr. Davenport or even Donald. That man would honestly be completely comfortable with total submission from others and she often wondered and worried about his wife with these habits, though his brother, Douglas, told her that the wife “wore the pants” at home. A likely story!

She liked Douglas. He was usually her means of contact. While she did bond with Leo upon her first meeting over their shared experience of limited bionics (and hers being even LESS accessible than his, at the time), it was Douglas that she could count on for fun experiment approval and such. She wished that he was here today, but he had some things to do in Centium City, so he had to miss it. He did promise to help her get settled with the equipment in her Dystopia office, whenever he  finished.

After the speech, Chase escorted Charlotte to the shuttle, hating the thought that when this conversation ended, he’d never see her again, and resenting himself for not being able to meet her sooner, or at the very least, to appreciate her for who she was and seemed to be. “Well, thank you for indulging me,” she said. “I’ve wanted to meet you for so long, and now that dream has been achieved!” Her smile was bright and her eyes were hopeful. “Should… we exchange info, or would that be weird for you?” 

“NO!” He said, too excitedly, with a chaotic smile, then followed up with, “I mean, no, it wouldn’t be weird! Yes, to we should!” 

She laughed uncomfortably and handed him something, “Here’s my contact info.” He looked at the  chip inside of the palm of his hand. “New tech that your Uncle Donald and my mentor Schwoz have been working on. It’s an information chip. It basically lets you, as a bionic have access to a normal that you would have to the other bionics.”

“Like… I can track your GPS?”

“On my devices. I don’t have a GPS system in me, but, you definitely have all my numbers, email addresses, etc, and contact with my devices. So… If you don’t get in touch with me this time around, I’ll know that you just didn’t want to.”

“What if I were a stalker?” He asked.

“You aren’t. You’re not the only person who can do extensive research, Mr. Davenport.” She winked at him and he practically melted. ‘Charlotte Page IS amazing.’

.

Three Years Ago...

She heard an electronic alert in her inner ear and uncovered her forearm to check the notification. She tapped the side of her face a few times in order to translate the message, then delete it. “The drop off is here,” she told Henry and Jasper, over the comm. 

“What? We can’t go now!” Henry complained and punched one of the henchmen.

“I know. WE can’t. But, I’ll rendezvous with the supplier and we’ll reassemble at the base,” she said. 

“No! That’s too dangerous.”

“Danger is our brand,” she reminded him.

“Defense. Defense is our brand. That’s why we’re called the Dystopian Defende- Cha… Dystress!” He called out loud. But, she was already barreling her way passed the automatic gunfire being aimed at her and dived behind a collapsed statue.

On the comm, she said, “Deflector… Focus on your mission, and I’ll focus on mind. Catch you when we get back.”

“Dystress, you do not have a forcefield and there is gunfire!”

“T-Force is here with the shipment and if they have to leave it at the drop off, you know that everything will be pillaged. The kids need those supplies.” She adjusted her metal glove gauntlet, pressed some codes on her forearm and groaned as she lifted the biggest piece of the statue and flung it at the shooters. Two were crushed and two ran for cover. Henry and Jasper fought with other henchmen as she made a run for it and slid beneath a pulled up piece of gate to get off of the site.

She notified her contact to beg them not to leave, because she was on her way, then proceeded to run for 15 minutes, dodging curious onlookers and maneuvering through sporadic waves of people. Whenever she reached the drop off, her contact was still there. “Max! Thank God you stayed,” she said and rushed to give him a hug. 

He smiled, “For you? Of course.” They slapped hands and he shook his in pain and hissed. She was quickly apologetic. She still had on her metal glove gauntlet AND her strength was still enhanced. “Were you in a fight?” He wondered. They were usually the contact and coyote for the charity that Charlotte worked with to get quality supplies brought in - everything from seeds, food, school resources, and hygiene products. Sometimes, they couldn’t even PAY for them in the city, because their charity put a dent in the business of too many crime lords depending on child trafficking, child soldiers, and other exploitation of the impoverished kids of Dystopia. But, Max always seemed far more concerned about how Charlotte was doing than the kids he was helping. She had a feeling that he might have had a crush on her.

“Yeah. I had to leave Deflector and Dogwalk in battle to come collect. Supply theft is one of the few crimes that has INCREASED since we got here. We’re causing such a dent in the organized crime, some of the well kept criminals are turning to petty crimes, and some of the bosses are trying to hit our shipments personally. We need an entire goddamn redo with this place. I’m supposed to be leaving after a short while... I didn’t even want to leave them today for this. I hate that they’ll be fighting crime here, probably until they die!” she complained, knowing that she was exaggerating, but also that Max would let her complain to him.

He placed his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes, “Hey. You get this stuff to the kids and don’t worry about your team. Give me their coordinates,” he said. He was already in his super suit and mentally prepared for a fight.

She tapped on the screen on her arm, sent the coordinates, and he opened a portal, “This one will bring you and your supplies to the base,” he said. Then another opened beside it, “I’m gonna go make sure that your dudes don’t die.” She covered her heart with both hands as he stepped into the golden light and it evaporated with him going to Henry and Jasper’s aid. Charlotte collected all of her things and stepped into the light. Workers would meet her on the other end. 

She came through the other end right outside of the camp, tapped her face twice and her outfit morphed back into regular wear. Her purple hair was even tied up. She took the handle of the trolley and moved towards the base. 

And that was exactly what she thought about whenever she walked back onto base with supplies and resources, from Davenport Industries, ready to execute her most ambitious plan ever.

“Is that Charlotte?” Someone asked. She turned to see the director of the charity and was going to go greet her, but “CHAR!!!” from two very eager big boys came roaring towards her as Jasper and Henry ran up to hug her. 

Jasper lifted her into the air and spun her around. Henry yanked her down and bear hugged her painfully. “Ummm… Are you two trying to incapacitate me?” She asked. They put her down and she shook the director’s hand. Everyone was talking to her at once, but whenever several jets landed nearby, she grimaced and promised, “I’m sorry, but I have to touch base with T-Force and with my deconstruction team,” she pointed a thumb at each of the jets. “I’ll definitely regroup and do stuff with you guys later, though.” She turned to go towards the jets, and Henry and Jasper frowned.

Though, Henry squeezed Jasper’s shoulder and said, “You know her work is very important.”

“And we’re not?” Jasper wondered.

“Yeah, but… I’m sure she’s on a tight schedule. And that’s millions of dollars of support that she has to oversee. Come on. Let’s start on dinner!”

Charlotte’s heart rate sped up the closer she got to the T-Force jet. She had gotten word specifically from Max Thunderman, himself that he was going to be heading up this mission (which was basically to guard the Davenport staff as they set up operations for the project, personally vowing to guard Charlotte with his life. She didn’t need it, but the sentiment still made her all giddy inside. He’d never know it, though. 

Whenever he got out of the jet and approached, advanced and new black super suit with an emblem that rotated fire and ice around a lightning bolt; she dipped her head courteously and said in a calm voice, “Nice to see you, Thunderstrike. How’s the suit working out?” He smiled and pulled her into a hug that she returned, but quickly ended, lest she get caught up in her feelings. 

“It’s working out wonderfully. The best fashion designer that I know designed it and the best biological technologist and engineer that I know made it.” 

Her face warmed up and she couldn’t believe how after not even seeing him for years, the thought of being around him already had her semi floating. “So, you ready to help me to create a whole new Dystopia?”

“I’m ready to watch your back while YOU create a whole new Dystopia,” he said, with his hands held out.

“That works!” It was a good day for her. She had been able to see her favorite people in the world, and set out on a journey that would maybe rightfully earn her that title that made Chase Davenport cringe. 

Throughout the deconstruction, The Defenders kept working Dystopia and with T-Force nearby, Charlotte’s work was able to be done without attacks and theft, AND, she set up daily feeding cycles to discourage stealing and establish healthier diets for less privileged Dystopians. One of the first buildings that was worked on was the high tech, maximum security prison. The other one had been overcrowding since she, Jasper and Henry first came to Dystopia, and Henry had told her that a lot of the lower level criminals were simply released because the courts couldn’t ethically put or keep many of them in there under the population conditions. Charlotte named the place for Max. The Thunderman Super Max Penitentiary of Dystopia. He liked having his name on something and all, but he was more concerned about rehabilitation and reformation. So, she got with an architect for designing a rehabilitation center for criminals and villains who could be redeemed. That one, she put his full name on.

She was working on her favorite thesis during that time on the necessity of superhuman and nonsupers relations for the balance of global inequities and her rapport with Max became a better gateway into the supers world than she previously had, while her relationship with Swellview’s finest gave her the down home and small scale hero angle. 

As things became more functional, and more Davencentric, T-Force was reassigned to other missions and the Elite Force would be rushed in for any emergencies in Dystopia. Charlotte was sad to not be able to see Max as much, but it was kind of nice that she got to see Chase sometimes. Unfortunate that it was usually during a crisis, but they actually worked well together in those. The last visit that the Elite Force (his team) came to assist, she was able to show him the Chase Davenport Reference Library of Dystopia. He was honored, though shocked that “Mr. Davenport would approve this.” She laughed about that. She hadn’t gotten approval on anything and as long as the statistics she sent him kept improving, he wasn’t bothering her for it.

In her time there, jobs had been created with the nearly constant building, the pollution problems had been addressed, littering and waste disposal rectified, plant life and trees planted, wastelands beautified, and the corrupt government and laws cleaned up. The head of the charity was now the Mayor and Henry and Jasper inherited the charity and renamed it Budding Flowers. The base was fortified and remodeled, while The Dystopia Defenders’ lair, the Defender Dome, was erected nearby. 

Dystopia became the most flourishing Davencity in the world. The Dom loved being “the most” something “in the world,” so she was pretty much set for life and the Defender Dome was the lair that Henry and Jasper had both always dreamed of. She had revived the ecosystem and the economy - not on her own of course, but as the leader of the project, she would get the credit deserved of her work and announce additional credit while in her spotlight. She loved Dystopia, and now, she could always be proud of it... But... She didn’t necessarily want to just quit while she was ahead and rest of the fruits of this venture. Charlotte Page was amazing. One city was absolutely an accomplishment for her to save. But... how much more of the world could she save if she kept pressing forward?

The first few days were quiet as they monitored the obvious confusion of androids processing things without the innate obligation to remain dutiful to their owners. Chase was working on his video game. Max was working on processing twin powers into bionic chips. Charlotte was looking over the plans for a test of intelligence unaffected by standardized privilege. This was one of the hardest things she had ever done, because she knew that even her ability and history with receiving and interpreting information had been highly influenced by social convention. Androids were better at this, but they too were built by humans who were fallible. She was mumbling under her breath when she heard Chase say, "Just make billions of tests"

"That's impractical…" she said, over her shoulder, thought a moment, then asked, "Have you got the time?"

"I'll make the time," he said, smiling brightly at her. She winked and he blushed. Max… noticed, but he felt like he and Chase had definitely had enough budding of heads already and decided to just catalog it away and keep his eye on that guy. The truth was that Max was not a very patient person. Biding his time and waiting his turn were things that felt both uncomfortable and boring to do, therefore, if he couldn’t figure out ways to get to someplace quick, the goal lost its appeal and he moved on to other goals… This had NOT been the case with Charlotte. 

Oh, he wanted it to be. He wanted to move forward, forget his emotions and never intended to pine, at all… But. He just couldn’t. Maybe she would never want to be with him, but that didn’t stop him from having to make sure that she was as happy and safe as he could from inside of her life. It didn’t stop him from falling or being in love with her and he was pretty sure that nothing would, whether or not it ever became a discussion again. He was forever wounded from the time whenever it DID become a conversation, and he sort of wished that he had handled it better at the time. He also wished that she had known better, too. He would never admit it, but a part of him had been waiting for her to come to her senses… waiting for her to see that he could be what they previously agreed that he wouldn’t be able to.

Chase threw him a glare and asked, “WHAT? What are you staring at?”

Max only realized just then that Chase had been within his line of vision while he was thinking. “Don’t flatter yourself. You’re not THAT good looking. I was in my own head.”

“THAT good looking?” Charlotte repeated with a smile. Max narrowed his eyes at her, but he was smirking, so she knew he wasn’t mad. Chase, on the other hand seemed quite flustered as he stammered over words and said that he was going to get back to work. 

.

After about three days, the androids began to reach out to her. Androids were used to guidance, but they had the freedom to move on… BUT, then again… These technically were only a few years old. She arranged a meeting for them and Chase and Max escorted her to the site. 

Her protege, Mika, was already there and speaking with the androids whenever they arrived. “Charlotte!” She cheered, excused herself from the androids and rushed over, “It’s been extremely hectic today. There has been multiple reports to Davenport Industries about defective androids and Mr. Davenport told me that if I don’t get you on the phone with him within the hour, he is going to shut them all down!” She laughed nervously and wrung her hands. “Donald. Davenport. Yelled at me today! Do you know what is happening with the androids?”

“I do. And, I’ll call the Dom while Chase catches you up,” Charlotte began tapping on her wrist and walked off. 

Mika smiled at Chase. She had A HUGE crush on him, but he saw her as a little kid, and she was pretty small, but he wasn’t a large person himself, and she was young, but she was extremely smart and very mature, she felt for her age and… “Oh my God, I am so sorry! I didn’t hear a word that you said!” She admitted, wincing.

“Did the sound of your fawning drown him out?” Max teased. She glared at him, knowing that her face was slightly darker with the blood rushing through her veins. “It’s like this, Loudmouth, Charlotte freed the androids to make Jamaica better, and if all goes well, she’s gonna liberate androids all over the world.”

Her face was frozen as she stared at him, processing his words and stuck in place.

“That’s not what we agreed to tell her. Now, she’s faced with having to tell on us or be an accessory!” 

“RELAX. It’s Mika. She’s not gonna tell. She knows Char’s a good person, she has the hots for you, and she’s like… if I had a little sister who annoys me as much as my twin sister. When she snaps back to reality, she’ll deal with it.”

“She shouldn’t have to deal with it, because it was supposed to be between the three of us,” Chase said through his teeth before scanning Mika. “She’s in shock. Are you happy now?”

Max rolled his eyes and whispered to Mika, “Chase thinks you’re the smartest non-bionic girl he’s ever met…”

“WHAT?” She said. Max was about to repeat the lie, but she continued, “CHARLOTTE HAS BASICALLY UNPLUGGED THE ANDROIDS?”

“Basically,” Max said with nonchalant confidence and Chase said reluctantly. 

“Hooooooooh my God…” Mika said and waded through nothing in front of her but tense air to make her way to a seat. 

“Hmmm. Maybe I shouldn’t have told her,” Max said. Chase just fumed, but a call was coming through, so he walked off too while Charlotte was coming back. Max would have to explain this Mika freak out.

Chase answered the call and it was Donald. “Chase! Thank GOD I reached you!”

“Mr. Davenport… is there an emergency? I’ve sort of went on a spontaneous trip with some friends…”

Donald laughed for a bit, then sobered up and said, “Oh. You’re serious. Okay. Well, I’m sorry, but you’ll have to cut it short. I need you to go to Jamaica and oversee an incident that Charlotte has.”

“Oh? Yes. Sure. I can do that. No problem…”

“You’re in Jamaica, aren’t you?”

“Charlotte is one of very few friends I have and everyone knows this,” Chase said.

“Well, she really screwed the pooch with her most recent launch of android models. Businesses are threatening to withdrawn MILLIONS from us because of it. All of the droids are defected and I tried to shut them down, but can’t. You’ll have to figure out a way.”

“What if there isn’t a way?” Chase asked.

“There’d better be. Or the Smartest Woman in the World will have to get off of her pedestal.”

“What if they aren’t defected? If they’ve just decided that they shouldn’t have to be slaves…”

“They’re androids, Chase. We decide for them with a few buttons and wires. Now! Fix Charlotte's mistake and honestly, we might need to rethink you spending time with her.” Chase furrowed his eyebrows, forced a smile and hung up. 

It was gonna be a hard time when Mr. Davenport realized that he was in on this. 

.

Davenport Industries lost A TON of money from this, but Charlotte didn’t seem the least bit worried about Davenport ruining her in response. In fact, she seemed pretty settled that she was about to become very popular and well respected for this. A lot of the businesses in Jamaica were being sold off to other companies and  many resorts and such were cutting their losses. The idea of islands full of unpredictable androids was terrifying. That was much scarier than possibly going into a bad neighborhood and being treated like an outsider. Tourists started fleeing. Expats started reconsidering. Charlotte started rebuilding. 

There were androids trying to figure out their purpose, now that they could, and this was a beautiful place to figure it out. But… also… They all had numerous skills. And they required some maintenance, but Charlotte and Mika made rounds speaking to elders and politicians and citizens to see what things they might be able to help with and find androids that were willing to help out in exchange for help with their maintenance.  

After some of them found work and others boarded the ship back to the mainlands, to where Charlotte promised to help them out, Chase used this as a time to convince Mr. Davenport that it was good for business to take credit for this turnaround.

That whatever issues they had with the androids, He could say that he made the situation better and Charlotte would remain out of the narrative and continue to fix this for him. “I know losing money is tough, but you’ve got so much already and well… Do you want to lose all that money AND your reputation?” When all else failed, Chase knew he could probably intercede on Charlotte’s behalf with Tasha… but, Davenport agreed that it was better not to draw more attention to the failures and to quietly fix this. 

Charlotte was unbothered. Jamaica was on the verge of healing and the androids on the ship would be able to go wherever they chose to. 

Max and Charlotte were relaxing whenever Chase returned from his dealings with Davenport. “You two look at ease.”

“Why wouldn’t we be?” Max asked. Charlotte just made a face. 

“I feel like we got lucky with this. Until we’ve been able to find placements for the androids, should we proceed with setting more free? Like… can we logistically pull it off?”

“We are the people who can logistically pull off anything,” Max said. “We’ve got the smartest man, the smartest woman and an extremely smart, handsome, powerful superhuman. We’ve all had moments where nobody else but us was gonna figure out what to do. With our combined strengths and intellects…”

“We’ve got androids in the process of freeing other androids either remotely, or headed for missions,” Charlotte said smiling. 

“Have we forgotten about the hysteria of humanity?” Chase asked.

“We’ve got stuff in the process of combating that, too…” She pulled up a hologram from her wrist of all of the wonderful progress that the Jamaica androids were making in helping things. Mika was collecting hours and hours of positive footage in the event that opposition began to voice opinions.

Chase sat down and relaxed with them. Max passed him a glass, which he suspiciously looked at. “It’s a virgin daiquiri, Dude.” Chase accepted it, knowing that Charlotte would stop him if it wasn’t and took a sip. It was pretty delicious. Max picked up his own glass and lifted it, “To…”“Us,” Charlotte said. Both of them smiled at her, having very different imaginings of what “us” was, but agreeing, nonetheless. “To us!” They said and clanked glasses.

.

It took a few weeks for things to get the level of hectic that they expected. Chase had gone back to Elite Force. Max had gone back to T Force. Mika was almost wishing she was back in Danger Force, but GOD, being android liaison was an assignment that she had not anticipated receiving. Then again, it was giving her an opportunity to both show her linguistics expertise and also her political aspirations. 

Before she went to college, she knew a couple of languages, but she wanted to learn more of them. She initially wanted to be a global superhero. Charlotte was. Max was. Chase was. She knew some pretty powerful people thanks to this job, but whenever she became Dystress’ sidekick and Charlotte’s pupil, Charlotte helped her to realize that putting herself directly in danger wasn’t the only aspect of heroism and that people with minds like theirs could save the world from a desk if they worked hard enough and felt passionately enough. 

Because of that, no matter where they went or relocated, the first thing that she and Charlotte did was get desks. It was a little bit of a ritual, a little bit of a reminder. That no matter what role they would work, they’d be heroes because of their great minds and the greater good that they believed in. 

Mika was at her desk whenever she heard the loud sound of something coming towards them. She rushed out of her office and saw what she could only guess was a... TORPEDO??? It was coming right for them and all she could do was cover her eyes and SCREAM! 

The scream sent a huge wave towards the thing that she simply just knew for a few moments was about to make it explode right in her face, but instead it sent the torpedo back from whence it came and blew up the jet that launched it. Fiery wreckage fell into the water and she covered her chest with both hands in terror and shock. 

She heard some of the bystanders speaking in patois and debating on what they had just seen. She answered to let them know that they were attacked, but were safe, for now. They hadn’t expected her to be able to sound like them. She was very clearly not from there, even though she tried to fit in and she knew that at least a few had to have seen her use her superpowers. 

“Charlotte, we have a huge problem. Someone just tried to attack the android safe house, and I’m pretty sure that Shoutout killed them.”

“Are YOU okay, Mika?” Charlotte asked.

“I’m... shocked. Who would do this? A super villain?” Mika wondered.

“I wish. Super villains are easy to fight. This was very likely the government, or some sort of agency. See what androids you can round up to go on a search and rescue. I’m on my way back.” Charlotte lowered her head and muttered an affirmation. “You were right. You are right. And you will fight for what’s right, and you will win.” Moments later, she sent texts to Max and Chase, just to let them know.

Both of them arrived roughly the same time. Max with Billy and Chase with Bree. Bree and Billy looked at each other, then, before anyone could say anything, they were in a competition. Max catalogued the thought that whenever non supes were less terrible, they could create some sort of games where bionics verses supers. Charlotte walked out to her jet to see them, still in their hero suits and with nothing additional. “What are you two doing here? You should get as far away from this failure as possible.” She had one bag with her, either like she was going on a very short trip, or she didn’t expect to make it back.

“I don’t believe that you think this is a failure,” Max said, shaking his head. “You freed androids all over the globe in a matter of weeks.

“And somebody sent assassins to blow them up. I could’ve gotten a 20 year olf kid killed.”

“Mika’s not gonna die. She’s too smart!” Max said, trying to play off his own worry. “Come on. Let’s get into it. I resigned from T Force to help you.”

“You resigned?” Chase asked.

“Yeah, yeah... I know. Irresponsible and unthinkable, yadda yadda...” Max started.