Chapter 28

Man or Superman? Part 2

The next day Apollo finally drove to the Hammer mansion to return the truck. The mansion was huge and looked more like a castle than a house. Apollo remembered how long it took for it to be finished and his Dad telling him how despite how impressive it was that Jason Hammer was building it out of vanity, how it wasn't a house more a symbol of how wealthy the Hammers were way back when Hammer Industries first started doing business in Smallville. When it was finished Apollo expected the Hammers to move in but it was basically abandoned. Apollo marvelled at the size of it for a moment having never gotten a proper look at the complete house before. Apollo then decided to head in but he couldn't see the guard that was supposed to open the gate and nobody was responding to him buzzing in. Apollo didn't want to waste too much time here so he used his super senses to ensure they were no cameras or people nearby before he snuck in at super speed.

Apollo wondered through the halls looking for Justin before walking into what looked like it would be his personal office/work room. Inside they were two people fencing in full gear. The two of them were really going at it and it was quite an impressive sight. They were both very skilled, parrying, attacking and defending like professionals however it was clear that one of them was better than the other. Apollo couldn't tell who it was but based on their build and their hair he figured they were a woman. The longer the match continued the more dominance she displayed before she eventually pinned the other man to the wall and placed the fencing blade to his chest. The man defeated and frustrated threw his blade across the room and it embedded itself in the wall next to Apollo who stares at the sword both shocked and a little startled. The guy takes off his fencing mask revealing himself to be Justin Hammer.

"Apollo?" Justin says shocked to see him here. Apollo glances nervously at the sword in the wall by his head.

"Sorry I didn't see you" Justin tells him.

"I buzzed but no one answered" Apollo tells him nervously.

Justin walks over to him. He grabs the swords and pulls it out of the wall. Apollo looks on nervously.

"How'd you get through the gate?" Justin asks.

"I kinda squeezed through the bars. Is this a bad time? Apollo said quickly and self consciously.

"Oh, no, no. I think Hykia has sufficiently kicked my ass for the day" Justin responds before he walks over to her and tosses her his mask.

"This is a great place" Apollo says looking around in awe as Justin walks past him.

"Yeah? If you're dead and in the market for something to haunt" Justin quipped in response.

"I meant, it's roomy" Apollo quickly said feeling a little self conscious and out his element in a place like this.

Justin just smiled at him a little before walking out of the room and into the hallway beckoning Apollo to follow which he did.

"It's the Hammer ancestral home, or so my father claimed. He had it shipped over from Scotland stone by stone" Justin informed him as Apollo looked around.

"Yeah, I remember trucks rolled through town for weeks but on one ever moved in" Apollo said remembering all the commotion about the house.

Justin stops as he's ascending the staircase to the second floor. He turns back and looks down at Apollo, who had been trailing along behind him and who was still on the first floor landing.

"My father had no intention of living here. He's never even stepped through the front door" Justin told Apollo

"Then why'd he ship it over?" Apollo asked.

"Because he could" Justin said a smirk on his face.

Apollo processed that and remembered his conversation with his Dad. He was right, this place really was just a vanity project and symbol of wealth to the Hammers. The two finished climbing the stair case and entered a new room that looked more like lounge. There's a fire blazing in the fireplace warming the room. Justin pulled off his white fencing jacket. He has a black shirt on underneath. He moves around the room quickly, removing his fencing uniform and getting otherwise organized. Apollo saw some designs for tech for the plant and weapons he was working on and Apollo looked them over.

The designs weren't bad but they weren't perfect. The plant in particular wasn't being as efficient as it could've been. Hammer was clearly working on an equation he wanted to apply to his tech to help improve the plant's nuclear energy output but it was clear he was stumped. Apollo remembered reading one of Bruce Banner's papers on nuclear physics for an AP physics class, the insights he got from that paper could be used to complete the equation Justin was struggling with. Maybe Hammer didn't fully understand Bruce's work or maybe he didn't think to see if his papers could help either way if he applied some of the findings from there to this he could improve the plant's power output while compensating for the tech that by his eye could also use some improvement. Justin noticed Apollo eyeing his designs and work.

"Sorry, I tend to bring my work home with me. These are designs and equations to help improve the plant. They should up the plant's output" Justin informed Apollo.

"I know" Apollo said humbly.

"You know? I don't know a lot of teens that have a good understanding of nuclear physics" Justin said.

"I read a lot and have an eidetic memory" Apollo admitted sheepishly.

"So you're not just a genius on the field huh? Tell me then, do you have any insights on my work?" Justin asked an inquisitive grin on his face. Behind his glasses Justin's eyes were blazing with not just curiosity but with competitiveness. Like he was challenging him.

Apollo picked up the paper and a pen and started writing, correcting Justin's equation where he went wrong until he completed the new and improved equation. He handed it to Justin and Justin read it over, his expression was a mix of awe and almost hunger. Like he discovered something he must have.

"Apollo this is incredible, who knew they were geniuses like you in Smallville." Justin spoke his voice conveying the awe he was feeling.

Apollo felt both proud and nervous about Justin's praise. Being acknowledged as a genius by one of the richest men in the world was definitely a surreal feeling but he also felt a bit out of his element being acknowledged like this. Apollo just smiled at Justin's compliment while nervously rubbing the back of his neck. Justin took the equation and placed it in one his briefcases before turning back to Apollo.

"How're things at school? It seems the whole county is reeling from the story you and your friends published. How're you dealing with it? Justin asked changing the subject.

"We're all just glad that it's over and the Mankins and everyone involved are going to go away for a long time" Apollo replied and Justin nodded studying Apollo.

"That's good events like this can really shake people so I am glad you're dealing with it well. How's the new ride by the way?" Justin said.

"That's actually why I'm here" Apollo says as Justin crosses the room.

Justin threw away his fencing jacket away and placed a towel around his neck. Justin then goes over to a table with beverages and fruit, and with his back to Apollo, starts opening a blue bottle of water.

"What's the matter? You don't like it?" Justin asked.

"No, it's not that. I can't keep it" Apollo answers very quickly.

Justin pauses as if vexed, as if the thought of Apollo saying no never occurred to him. He puts down the water and turns, walking over to Apollo. He pulls up his sleeves. Looking Apollo in the eye earnestly, then looking him up and down.

"Apollo, you saved my life. I think It's the least I can do" Justin says to him and Apollo just looks down.

Justin remembering his encounter with Jonathan Kent and came to a realisation.

"Your father doesn't like me, does he?" Justin says to Apollo. Apollo takes a breath as if he's about to say something but Justin forestalls him.

"It's okay. I'm a Hammer, that names carries a lot of weight and often it's not the good kind like the Stark name and I've lived with it my entire life. I'm used to people judging me before they get to know me" Justin says as he turns, walks away from Apollo and stares into a mirror.

"It's nothing personal. He's just not crazy about your dad" Apollo tells him.

"Figures the apple doesn't fall far from the tree? Justin says as he continues to look in the mirror as if mentally comparing himself to the image of his father.

Justin nods taking the brief silence as an answer.

"Understandable" Justin says as he turns away from the mirror, back towards Apollo.

"What about you, Apollo? Did you fall far from the tree?" Justin asks looking at him intently as if he was trying to read his expression or his mind.

Apollo didn't say anything, he just looked down, and then up at Justin wondering how he should respond to that insinuation. A part of his mind also realising the irony of him being asked that when he was adopted and didn't know his biological parents.

Justin coyly smiles at him a little at as he reads the expressions on his face and sees that the judgement or star struck look that usually exists in people's eyes when they meet him isn't present with Apollo.

"I better go. Thanks for the truck" Apollo says politely deciding that it was best for him to respond this way as he didn't want to prolong the conversation and accidentally offend Justin.

Apollo handed the keys to the truck to Justin and then turned and walked towards the door.

"Apollo" Justin calls out making him stop and turn right before he reached the door.

"Do you believe a man can fly?" Justin asks seemingly out of the blue

Apollo feels a bit taken aback by the question but realises there's probably a reason for it and decides to answer.

"Sure. In a plane" Apollo responds honestly. The only beings he knew who could fly were himself and his Uncle and they were both definitely not human.

"No, I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about soaring through the clouds with nothing but air beneath you" Justin said. Apollo looked at him quizzically wondering what he was getting at.

"People can't fly, Justin, even super soldiers like Steve Rogers couldn't take to the skies" Apollo said.

"I did" Justin responds as he turns away as if recalling a wistful memory or fantastic dream.

"After the accident, when my heart stopped" Justin continued before he turns back to face Apollo but he wasn't looking at him instead he was staring off into space.

"It was the most exhilarating two minutes of my life. I flew over Smallville, and for the first time, I didn't see a dead end here. I saw a new beginning" Justin told Apollo as he looked at him smiling slightly.

Justin walked forward towards Apollo and looked him in his eyes.

"Thanks to you I have a second chance, and I am not going to waste it. When I was soaring I saw what the world needed, it needs men like you. It needs heroes and people who are going to protect their homes and that's what I'm going to be. I am going to protect America" Justin said to him as Apollo looked him up and down.

"We have a future together Apollo. I can feel it, we're both destined for great things and I don't want anything to stand in the way of our friendship" Justin told him finishing his speech.

Apollo nodded and smiled in response to Justin before leaving him to get on with his busy day and heading off to practice.

Apollo walked out of the Hammer mansion but not before he took one more look at it.

Apollo thought about how much money it must have cost to ship a castle. That type of money could change people's lives but instead it was used for vanity and ego.

Apollo understood more about what his Dad was talking about when he talked about men with money like the Hammers.

That type of wealth changes how people view themselves, he couldn't imagine spending money on something simply to send a message to people you've never met about how much better than them you are. But that's what Jason Hammer did, he built a castle in Smallville to show people how rich and powerful he was.

Apollo could never let his ego get like that, no matter what he couldn't be the type of person who power to save and change lives but not be able to see it due to his own vanity and ego.

Apollo hoped Justin thought the same, Justin talked about protecting people and being a hero and Apollo hoped that he truly meant that because he truly could be a great man and help a lot of people with the wealth and intelligence he had.

Apollo smiled to himself at the thought of he and Justin maybe working together to help people like Justin mentioned. Building tech to help the sick and vulnerable. Maybe Justin could even be the Howard Stark to his Steve Rogers one day if Apollo ever decided to become a symbol like Captain America.

Apollo blurred off to football practice with the happy thought about what could be an amazing friendship in his mind.

A few days later….

Apollo was in the locker room getting ready for the game. His teammates were hyping themselves up and hyping him up too. The whole room was buzzing with energy. They'd never played a game this big before and they knew it. This game was getting National Coverage. ESPN was broadcasting it, scouts were filling the stands and the pressure and weight of the game was being felt by everyone. However, nobody in that room was overcome by nervousness, they were all brimming with excitement. Patting each other on the backs, screaming in one another's faces, all of them were getting amped up. Coach walked to the center of the locker room and looked around the room.

"Coach! Coach! Coach!" the team chanted as Coach Quigley stood there looking at all of them.

"Normally I would give a long speech right now but looking around the room I can tell you don't need it. We've spent so long preparing for this day, we circled it in all of our calendars and the day's finally come. Today's the day we show the Rocks that they're no match for the Crows!" Coach Quigley said his voice powerful.

The players shouted out after what Coach Quigley said and he smiled.

"We'll crush the Rocks and then crush everyone else that we face afterwards! This year we're winning it all because our team has it all" Coach Quigley spoke his voice growing louder with every sentence.

"We have an impenetrable defense! An unstoppable offense! And a GOLDEN ARM!" Coach Quigley shouted pointing at the defensive and offensive teams as he mentioned them before finally pointing at Apollo.

The team all shouted and clapped and jumped in unison hyped by their coach. Apollo joined in feeling just as hyped as his teammates did. This feeling, the feeling of being a part of a team was something someone who had been an outsider and felt so alone like Apollo had growing up was so grateful and thankful for. He felt Whitney hug him from behind for a moment before they ran out to go to the field still hyped and cheering. Apollo ran out with them saw Sprite and his parents standing outside the locker room waiting for him. Apollo stopped to talk to them briefly.

"Son we just wanted to say, we know this is a big game and we not only hope you're careful but that you have fun out there. I know I wasn't the biggest advocate for you playing but seeing you on the field or on the court this year has made me so proud and I am so very glad I get to watch my son do amazing things on every field or court he steps on" Jonathan told him.

"Thanks Dad" Apollo said happy to hear his Dad was proud of him.

"I'm proud of you too my sweet Apollo, I see how much it means for you to be a part of a team and I know the feeling and even though my team was very different to yours I am overjoyed to see that you get to experience and enjoy the camaraderie that being a part of a team lends you and I love seeing the man you're becoming and Whitehall you are on the field. You're my star and I'm proud that you're shining brighter every day" Ajak said cupping his face while she said it.

Apollo nodded feeling a little emotional at his Mum's words.

"Thanks Ma, I hope I continue to shine for you and make you proud" Ajak said as Apollo put his forehead to his Mum's and the two shared a moment.

He turned to Sprite who had her usual disguise/projection. She simply smiled at him before sticking her tongue out at him. He stuck his tongue back out at her and Jonathan laughed as Ajak rolled her eyes.

"I'm not giving you a compliment. Your head's big enough as it is. You want me to say something nice you've got to earn it. So go earn it. Go win the game BFG" Sprite told him.

Apollo nodded and then turned and ran through the hallways to the field knowing his name and number was about to be called. Apollo heard the announcers.

"And now taking the field. The team that has been unbeaten in the season. The hammer of Kansas lead by their star player. Wearing number 8, 'The Ultimate', Apollo Kent!"

The crowd began to cheer loudly and Apollo ran onto the field. He ran past the cheerleaders and briefly stopped to get a good luck handshake from Skye culminating in her kissing his helmet before he continued onto the field.

The air buzzed with excitement as the Smallville Crows took to the field for the biggest game of the season. The crowd was so big and so loud it was deafening. Apollo, clad in the team's red and gold uniform, stood tall and proud as the star quarterback. He knew if he stayed strong and ready so would his team, this may be a new environment for them but they were not out of their depth. He looked to his teammates, headfast and strong in his resolve to lead them to victory. The teams warmed up and the stadium reverberated with the cheers of the crowd, their anticipation palpable as they awaited the clash of titans on the gridiron.

The Crows won the coin toss and so they started with possession. The kickoff was done and after the Crows got possession Apollo took the field. Large sections of the crowd cheered him on while others booed him. Apollo drowned them out and focused on his teammates. They were looking to him, all their hopes were riding on him and he wouldn't let them down. Apollo read their defense and instantly knew what coverage they were trying to throw him. He smirked confidently before shouting out.

"Blue 47! Blue 47! Hut!"

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Also read Superman(Marvel+DC) and Marvel: Hyperion.