Super Volume 2

Insurance

Cal's POV
My mom, my aunts, my sisters, and I, gathered to talk about Retro's request. "Absolutely not! You can't mess with the course of events!" Mom yelled. "Mess with the course of events? Aunt Astro is married to The Orange Arrow, and it's her daughter that's asking for help!" I snapped. "That's different." Clementine said. "Is it, mom? How is it different? Because you know as well as I do, that Dail could have had a completely different timeline, had Astro not stepped in." I replied. "She has a point, Clem." Astro said. "Shut up, Astro!" Mom snapped. Astro rolled her eyes. "If I may, uh- you have no right to talk, Clem. I seem to remember a certain someone continuously chasing after a girl that literally hated your guts and even hit you with her car." Aunt Layla added. I raised an eyebrow. "Mom hit you with her car?" I asked. Clementine blushed. "That's none of your business. Look. All I'm saying is that these superhero fools get themselves into the craziest situations all the time. I don't want you to get in the middle of that, and Zeus knows what could happen if you do help. The timeline could get so much worse!" She explained. "It will get worse, but you know how it works mom. There will be a happy ending if we push through the storm." I replied. Clem sighed. "But at what cost? You shouldn't have to pay it." She said. "Can we even do that? I thought mortal magic doesn't work on us." Alex chimed in. "It doesn't. It seems like mom has forgotten that since turning mortal." I replied. Alex and Lemmy giggled. Clementine rolled her eyes. "I haven't forgotten, but the price isn't just magical. It can be physical, emotional, and mental! I don't want you getting hurt." She explained. "Mom, that's a part of life. You know that, and if you're that worried, then give us a guard." I replied. "A guard?" She asked. "Kai will come with us." I explained. "Kai?! You want me to send Quinn's daughter. The princess of Hell. With you? She'd never agree." Clem shook her head. "Yes she would. She still owes you from when you were married." Layla said. Clem glared over at her and she shut up. "You were married to my girlfriend's mom?!" I shrieked. "We're Greek Gods. It doesn't matter." Mom rolled her eyes. "Ok, well Kai already asked and both of her mom's agreed." I said. "Of course. That fireball is gonna be the death of me. Ok, but I have one more condition." Clem said. "Lay it on me." I smiled. "You need a mortal guard too. Someone to escort you, that knows their way around Earth." She explained. My eyebrows shot up. "But we don't know anyone, and Retro is occupied." I said. "Don't ask for my sons. They won't help you." Layla said. "Cal?" I heard. I spun around and held my hand up so the adults would stop talking. "Yes Lemmy?" I smiled. She never speaks, so Alex and I will stop anything for her. "I might have someone who can help us." She said. "You know a mortal?" Alex asked. Lemmy nodded and mom sighed. "Fine. Bring Kai and your sisters to your friend's house, Lemmy. Explain the situation. If they agree, then you can do it." Mom finally caved. "Thank you mom!" I smiled.

"Hey babe." Kai hugged me. I smiled and patted her back. "Hey. Thanks for convincing your mom." I said. "Thanks for giving me a reason to leave Hell. Demons are so mean." She frowned. I raised an eyebrow at her red horns and tail. "You're half demon." I noted. She sighed. "I'm aware. Anyways! Where are we going?" She asked. "Lemmy has a mortal friend that can help us." Alex explained. "Really? Lemmy?" Kai asked. Alex shrugged. "What do you know about this friend, Alex?" I asked. "Nothing! I didn't have time to look into the past before we left." She shrugged. "Where's Lemmy? And why are we at a diner instead of this person's house?" Kai asked. "Both good questions." I nodded. Lemmy walked out of the diner, looking slightly different. I squinted at her. "Are you wearing eyeliner?" Alex asked. She just blinked at us and walked to the side of the street as a car pulled up. "Ooh. Nice wheels." Kai smirked. The shiny white car stopped and a girl got out. My jaw dropped and I looked at Alex. "Drop it, Cal." She mumbled. I groaned and crossed my arms. Lemmy smiled at the girl and ran right up to her. "Hey lemon drop!" The girl hugged her. Heat flushed my face and I gripped my fists. "Chill babe. They're just friends." Kai whispered. Lemmy practically jumped into her arms and hugged her tightly. Then she took her hand and pulled her over to us. "Hello! I'm Marlow." The girl held out her other hand. I hesitantly shook her hand. "You must be Cal and Alex. Lemmy talks about you a lot." Marlow smiled. "She does?" I asked. "Well, not out loud, but yes." Marlow chuckled. "Nice to meet you, Marlow. I'm Kai." She shook her hand. Lemmy looked at Marlow and Marlow nodded in response. "Oh! She's your sister's girl? Yeah I can see it." She said. I raised an eyebrow and Alex laughed. "You're friends with a telepath? Of course!" She giggled. Lemmy shrugged. "I thought we were meeting at your house." I said. "The cleaning crew is in today and I didn't think you wanted many people knowing about your... abilities." Marlow explained. "Cleaning crew?" I asked. "The maids, yeah." She nodded. "Oh! Rich telepath. In that case, it is very nice to meet you." Alex smirked. Lemmy shot her a glare. "I get it. I hate being home while the maids are working. Let's go inside!" Kai smiled.

"So you need what? An escort?" Marlow asked. She sat with her arm around Lemmy's shoulder, and Lemmy was perfectly fine with it. I swear I had never seen her like this, and it pissed me off. "No. Our cousin is a superhero and asked for us to live here as 'insurance' for her team. Our mom then said that apparently we needed insurance for being the insurance." I explained. "Ah, got ya. Yeah I can do that. Happy to help." She smiled. "How'd you meet Lemmy?" Alex asked. I raised an eyebrow. She should already know, since she can literally see the past. Lemmy looked down and fiddled with her hands. "Well uh-" Marlow noticed, and just stared at Lemmy for a second. Then she looked back up at Alex. "She came into my parents' store a few times." Marlow shrugged. Alex glanced at me and raised an eyebrow. She's lying, and Lemmy told her to do it. I glared at both of them and to my surprise, Marlow glared right back. Kai sighed. "Do any of you have a knife, so I can cut the tension?" She asked. My eyebrows shot up and I looked over at her. "Kai!" I groaned. "Drop it." She snapped. Her hair caught fire and I shut my mouth. "Thank you." She extinguished it and looked back at Marlow. "I think it's great that Lemmy has someone she can talk to. As for this whole thing, I look forward to seeing you around." She smiled. "Yeah. Me too." Marlow replied.

When we got home, Lemmy ran off to her room, and Kai stopped me from following her. "Leave it." She snapped. "But Kai!" I whined. "But nothing! You made it a rule not to look into your sister's lives. Why should it change now?" She asked. "That was about our powers!" I groaned. "No Cal. It extends past that. If Lemmy is happy, she has every right to keep it a secret until she's ready to share. So you better leave her alone." She spat. "Or what, princess?" I snapped. "You really wanna play that game?" She raised an eyebrow. I smirked and stepped closer. "What if I do?" I asked. Kai smiled at me. "If you two are gonna fuck, can you do it elsewhere?" Alex asked. We looked over at her. "We're not. Someone is being a prude." I groaned. "Cerberus bit me! It hurts to sit in certain ways! I definitely can't do-" Alex cut her off. "Ah! Hey! No details, please. And anyway, don't worry about Marlow. She did technically meet Lem at her dad's store, but the story is Lem's to tell. Kai is right. You have to wait for Lemmy to tell us. From what I've seen though, Marlow is a nice girl. Give her a chance, Cal." Alex explained. I sighed and groaned to myself. "Fine. Come on demon scum. I need to lay down." I huffed. "Ooh! Yay! Cuddles." Kai smiled and followed me to my room.

Retro's POV
Cal texted me, saying that they would be at school when it started. "Yes! Perfect. Now to expand the team." I smiled. "I don't know, Ret. This could be a very very bad idea." Ella told me. We got out of my car and walked up to her mom's house. "Your siblings are literally the perfect candidates!" I exclaimed. "Yeah, you'd think that, but they told me, mom, dad, and even Gold that they didn't want to be Arrows. I doubt that it's changed now." She said. "It's been years! No harm in asking again." I shrugged. "Yeah... right." Ella sighed and unlocked the door. We walked inside. "Mom! Are you home?" She yelled. "Ugh- what the fuck are you doing here?" Her sister walked up to us. "Mia! Hi! I'm here to see you!" Ella smiled. Mia looked her up and down, then raised an eyebrow at me. "Sure you are. I'll get Lila." She walked away. Ella gulped and turned to me. "We gotta go. This was a bad idea." She shook her head rapidly. "Don't tell me you're scared of your younger siblings." I laughed. "You don't understand! Lila is-" Ella stopped when she heard footsteps. She slowly turned back around. "Now I know you aren't here for the reason I think you are." Lila snapped. She's the oldest of Ella's younger siblings. Mia is the middle child, and her brother Josh is the youngest. "No! Of course not! Not me! Her! It was her idea! I told her no!" Ella pointed at me. I looked at her stunned. Lila glanced at me. "Retro." She greeted me. "Hey." I waved. She looked right back at Ella. "I don't know what makes you think it would work today. You've asked a million times and we've all told you no. Not that I expect you to remember anything about us. You don't care about anyone that isn't in your superhero circle. Now, if you want to see mom, then go ahead and see her, but I swear to god Ella. If you come back here one more time, asking us to join your rainbow brigade, I will shoot you with your own bow. Got it?" Lila snapped. Ella clasped her hands together and looked down. "I understand. I'm sorry." She mumbled. "Good. Oh, and go fuck yourself, Retro." Lila flicked me off and stormed away.

I just blinked a few times and turned to Ella. "You ok?" I asked. "Get out of here, Retro. I need to talk to my mom." Ella turned away. "Ella, I know she was harsh, but you can't take it so personally." I said. "Personally?!" She snapped. I was taken back. "I take it very personally, Retro. Those are my sisters! And they hate my guts! And she's right! I never bothered to care growing up, and now it's too late. I knew not to come back, and I told you no, but you forced me! You made me do it again!" She yelled. "Ella, I'm sorry. I-" She laughed and I stopped. "You're sorry... so am I. But as you can see, sorry doesn't mean shit under this roof. Go home Retro. I'll see you later." Ella walked away.