{AN: More of a note to myself than anything-->REMEMBER TO ADD SPINE TATTOO PICTURES}
{ALSO: Comment on who you'd like to see as the love interest! Keep in mind that I don't really care if they were in YJ or not, as I'm already cooking some changes. This is technically an AU afterall.}
{Who I had in mind:
Raven (Rachel Roth).
Artemis.
Kara Zor-El.
Or an original character. If so, who is she, and what are her powers. (Thinking a Gwen Stacy or something).
OR Chat's Pick :)}
The first few months were... slow.
After bonding with Khaji Da and rewriting his programming, everything just felt different. My body felt like it was thrumming with life. Redundant, yeah, but true. I could probably run a marathon backwards while solving a calculus test. But under that adrenaline high sat a quiet weight—because I knew what was coming.
The Light. The Reach. Darkseid.
Sure, they'd be dealt with eventually. But "eventually" wasn't good enough—not if I could make it safer for the people caught in the middle.
I could've stayed quiet, focused on school, family, and my burgeoning secret tech empire. Pretended I was just another kid. But I knew better. There were kids out there waking up to find their parents dead—because someone like the Joker got out of Arkham again. Because someone like me wasn't fast or brave or smart enough to help.
Back in my old life, I didn't have much worth protecting besides my team.
Now?
I have a family. A real one. Loud, warm, frustrating. Mine.
I couldn't just rush off and risk leaving them behind. But I also knew myself—I wouldn't stand by if someone needed saving. So if I wanted to keep everyone safe… I had to start with me.
Which meant it was time for the talk.
Not that one. The alien parasite permanently fused to your son's nervous system talk.
"¡Dios mío! ¡Tienes esa cosa dentro de ti?!"Ma screeched. Couldn't even blame her. I had just casually dropped the "alien tech in my spine" bomb at dinner.
I stood up from the table, hands raised in surrender. "Yes. And I'll explain everything. Khaji Da isn't dangerous anymore—not to me."
Cautiously, I turned and pulled up the back of my shirt, revealing the stylized tattoo-like circuit that ran down my spine. "It used to be invasive. Like, spine-burrowing, forced assimilation bad. But then… something changed."
I grabbed my new phone—courtesy of my growing app royalties—and activated my technopathy. Glowing circuits snaked down my arms as the phone lifted into the air and disassembled itself before my family's eyes. Screens floated mid-air, streaming code, contacts, cached data, everything.
Even now, it felt surreal.
"I can take tech apart. Read it. Improve it. The Scarab? It was broken. Full of… orders. Bad ones. So I fixed it. Rewrote it. Now, it's not a weapon—it's a partner."
I reassembled the phone with a flick, setting it back down on the table.
Silence.
And then, from the peanut gallery:"…I always knew you were a freak."Milagro, of course. Sly grin and all.
"Milagro!" Ma snapped, while Dad tried (and failed) to hide his chuckle.
Ma turned back to me, her expression shifting. She stepped forward, slowly placing her hands on my shoulders.
"You're… sure? No alien diseases? No space parasites in your brain?"
Her voice cracked just slightly—and that cracked something in me.
So naturally, I decided to mess with her.
I clutched my chest and staggered backward. "Agh! It's taking over! The pain—"
Khaji Da, you in?
[Already on it. I know your sense of humor.]
A bulge shifted under my skin, writhing like something alive. My family screamed. Dad looked ready to grab the shotgun from the top of the fridge.
And then I died—of laughter.
I collapsed on the floor, laughing so hard I cried. Ma thwacked me on the back of the head. "¡Mijo, casi me matas del susto!"
"I—ha—I'm sorry! It was right there! How could I not?!"
Dad "kicked" me in the ribs—more of a nudge, really—and then pulled me into a hug. Ma joined a second later, muttering something about gremlin children.
Nana, still calmly eating her soup, didn't even blink. "Die in my kitchen, and I'll kill you."
Not the first time I've heard that. Probably not the last. I respect her consistency.
"But… you're okay?" Ma asked, brushing my hair back like I was five again.
"I am. Really. But I also know there are people out there who need help. And I can help them."
She started to interrupt, but I kept going.
"If I see someone in danger and don't act… that's on me. If I have the power to stop something and don't—then their blood is on my hands."
That hit hard. For everyone. Even Milagro went quiet.
And honestly? I didn't regret saying it.
Because this time, I had the power to do more than just survive. I had the power to change things. For real.
And I wasn't going to waste it.