Sunspot is a mutant.
Unlike most mutants with tragic fates, he grew up in a loving, affluent family. Even after awakening his powers during a sports match, his parents embraced him. As owners of a Brazilian mining empire, the da Costa family had the resources to welcome a mutant heir.
No need for Sunspot to fight or dive into human-mutant conflicts, his wealth insulated him. For most trust-fund kids, avoiding harebrained startup schemes and simply inheriting the family fortune was enough.
But Sunspot wasn't one to sit still. His talents earned recognition from Krakoa, the mutant nation, and even Professor X had personally reached out.
"My family's bankrupt?" Sunspot gaped, incredulous.
He'd gone off to school, fallen in love, and now his home was gone?
"It's harsh, young master, but that's the reality. I suggest you return. The world's too chaotic, wars between major powers are everywhere. Now it's Xenomorphs versus Atlanteans; soon it might be humans versus mutants. Your mutant status makes you a target." The butler said loyally.
Without tangible gain, flashy displays born of ego were foolish. Sunspot, young and unscarred by the world, didn't grasp this. With his terrifying mutant powers, how could he stay low-key?
"Maybe I should accept Professor X's invite, join Krakoa, become a citizen. It might not be a bad move." Sunspot mused, seriously weighing his future. With his father unreliable, he needed other paths.
"Master da Costa strictly forbade involvement in mutant affairs." The butler cautioned.
"But this is a personal invite from Professor X! A global heavyweight! How do I turn that down?" Sunspot's heart raced, his vanity stroked.
Fresh off a brutal breakup with Magik, Colossus' sister from the X-Men, he craved validation. He still couldn't fathom why Magik had been so heartless, claiming she was off to some "Limbo" To study magic. Bizarre.
"If it's white magic, Illyana wouldn't hide it. Kamar-Taj is the top white magic hub on Earth, no need for secrecy. Unless she's studying black magic…" Sunspot fretted.
Black magic? Wasn't that, like vampires, a relic doomed for extinction? Black magic users, often tied to Dormammu, naturally opposed Adam and the Ancient One. Xenomorphs were wiping out such relics.
"If I don't join Krakoa, where do I go? Humans? I'd have to rely on Dad. Mutants? Family says no…" Sunspot felt lost. A mutant as powerful as him, though the world didn't yet know his strength, shouldn't be homeless.
A howling gale and towering waves interrupted his thoughts. Sunspot cursed, recognizing the fallout of another Xenomorph-Atlantean clash. Such disturbances were now global.
"Who's fighting this time? A Xenomorph champion? Native Xenomorph, parasitized human, or alien?" Sunspot wondered enviously, his body igniting with searing flames.
His power let him absorb and store sunlight, unleashing it to vastly enhance his physicality. His skin, soaking up ambient light, turned charcoal-black. High-speed flight, heat manipulation, temperature control, energy beams, he had it all. The sun's vigor fueled his strength.
Thunder roared, pummeling the ocean, as if the sky itself collapsed. A figure burst from the waves, having dispatched all foes, and veered toward Sunspot, trailing immense lightning and landing with a boom.
"You're a hard man to track down." Jane Foster said, clad in Thor's armor, Mjolnir in hand. Though diminutive, her surging Asgardian thunder god power awed the novice Sunspot.
"You're the female Thor? I can't believe you're here… Wait, you're here for me?" Sunspot stammered.
"Who else? If Druid hadn't helped locate you, this would've been a nightmare." Foster said, striding forward.
Instinctively, Sunspot braced for combat, his body darkening further, flames erupting across his surface. The surrounding air spiked by dozens of degrees.
"This is your power? Harnessing stellar energy, but in a peculiar way, just sunbathing makes you stronger? Even basking all day, how much sunlight can you absorb to fuel such might?" Foster asked, intrigued by the young man. It defied logic, skirting energy conservation.
Reynolds was absurdly strong, but his power came from Super-Soldier Serum, phase-shifting his body to tap a pocket universe's million-star energy. Sunspot? He just sunbathed and wielded staggering power.
Unfamiliar with Superman's lore, Foster couldn't grasp sun-fueled strength.
"No wonder Adam singled you out to be deputy captain of Reynolds' Superman Squad." Jane Foster said, marveling. As a physicist, not a biologist, she was glad not to hand Sunspot over to Beast, Hank McCoy would've dissected him by now.
"What? Adam picked me for deputy captain? And you mentioned Reynolds, the Sentry? I'm to assist the Sentry?" Sunspot's eyes widened, his mind reeling before a surge of honor hit him like a tidal wave, nearly lifting him off his feet. "A figure like Adam knows me, Roberto da Costa?"
"Knows you? He's got your whole file. We've been tracking you, aware of your family's business troubles. Join us, and you'll be a top-tier member instantly. Your mining conglomerate? We'll revive it. Hammer Industries? We've got ways to handle them." Foster said. "Just nod and accept Adam's invitation. You know how rare this is, countless people worldwide would kill to join Adam's team, to serve him."
Sunspot immediately called his father, then flew with Foster to Weyland Tower without a second thought. Had he refused, Foster would've dragged him there by force. The fledgling Superman Squad had only Reynolds as its lone pillar, and finding someone fitting the "Superman" Mold was tough. Unearthing a mutant with Sunspot's staggering potential, guided by Adam's insight, was a coup.
Most crucially, when did anyone Adam chose get a say? Shouldn't they be overjoyed to offer themselves up?
…
"So, you were dating Magik and got dumped? Don't sweat it, who hasn't had a fiery fling? Perform well, and I'll help you find her. Without me, you'd never reach that place called Limbo." Adam said, consoling Sunspot after learning his past during their face-to-face meeting.
"Limbo? Yeah, that's the name. She went there, but I scoured the internet and found nothing…" Sunspot murmured.
"Of course not. Limbo's not on Earth. If she dared study black magic here, even if I stayed quiet, Kamar-Taj wouldn't let her off." Adam explained.
Adam had little interest in Magik, Limbo's queen. No matter her power, she wielded black magic. Even if parasitized, a chestbursted Xenomorph couldn't harness her peak abilities. To Adam, ten Magiks weren't worth one Sunspot.
His sun-fueled strength echoed Superman's, though his energy cycling and efficiency paled in comparison. A stray thought crossed Adam's mind: Hyperion could probably rival Superman's powers. But across the multiverse's numbered realities, Hyperion existed in only a handful, Marvel's true Superman analogue with the chops to match.
Thus, Adam parasitized Sunspot. Though Sunspot pleaded to serve without infestation, it was non-negotiable. As regret flickered in his heart, it was too late, Reynolds, flashing a "friendly" nuclear smile, ensured the parasitization went smoothly.
The Superman Squad now boasted two "Supermen."
Sunspot quickly adapted, embracing his new Xenomorph status. Under Reynolds' lead, he launched rapid strikes, opening multiple fronts, securing small victories to build confidence and battle experience.
"You're subpar in every way, but I'll admit, your powers mirror mine. Master 30% to 50% of my abilities, that's probably your cap." Reynolds said, knocking out an Atlantean soldier with a single punch, glancing at Sunspot.
Sunspot, mimicking him, pulverized an injured foe to ash with one blow, his expression, unreadable on his blackened face, souring further. Killing wasn't the goal; subduing and capturing enemies alive was.
"Why can I only learn half your skills? I just need more sunlight. Give me enough time under the sun, and I'll surpass you." Sunspot retorted, bristling with defiance.
Reynolds believed he should share any power he wielded, after all, both he and Sunspot tapped stellar energy. Close collaboration to bolster allies' strength yielded twice the results for half the effort.
"I've got a million stars fueling me. You got that? Even if you did, a million suns' rays would incinerate you." Reynolds said airily, delivering a verbal knockout.
Sunspot sometimes wondered why he hadn't been chosen by Adam sooner, granted the same golden opportunity as Reynolds. With a million stars' power plus his sunlight-absorbing X-gene, he'd soar instantly, becoming one of Earth's top dogs.
But Sunspot wouldn't quit. "If I beat you, I become captain, right?" He challenged, itching for a fight.
"Idiot, you're shortsighted. Don't you see the issue? The whole Superman Squad is just us two, a captain and deputy, no grunts to command!" Reynolds said, his gaze piercing. He hoisted an Atlantean soldier in each hand, golden beams erupting from him, ensnaring more Atlanteans, dragging them as he moved.
"Why do we need more members? The war's going fine. Atlanteans can't match us. Xenomorph numbers keep growing, but every Atlantean death is permanent." Sunspot said, baffled.
Since joining Adam's ranks, the more he learned, the more awestruck he became. He'd underestimated the Xenomorph legion's terror. Atlanteans, lords of the global oceans, grew increasingly outmatched against the surging Xenomorph horde.
Reynolds, a veteran of major battles, knew Atlantis' fall was inevitable. The only question was how many tsunamis they'd unleash on land before collapsing, like desperate fleas biting welts but doomed to be squashed.
"Our real enemy was never Atlantis. This is just a hiccup in our expansion." Reynolds said, glancing instinctively beyond Earth.
The symbiote army, countless beings like Grendel, shocked him. Everyone saw how symbiotes amplified Xenomorphs. If symbiotes numbered enough to form a planet, they demanded serious attention. A racial war would be grueling with insufficient troops.
Xenomorphs always overwhelmed with numbers. Now, the tables had turned.
"Our forces are too thin. A few hundred thousand? Try millions first! Not enough? Add more!" Reynolds said, a glint of anticipation in his eyes. "Let Xenomorphs blanket every corner of Earth, every planet in the cosmos. Let the universe sing our praises."
"Sounds like a religious zealot's prayer." Sunspot quipped.
"You're not wrong. That's Druid's line, not mine. He's a psychic, so he's even more fanatical than zealots. Steer clear of him." Reynolds warned gravely.
The Superman Squad was officially formed, but for its two leaders, the priority was recruiting more hands. Without expansion, maintaining the team would draw hostile scrutiny.
The war's balance tipped noticeably. Even as Atlanteans got serious, wielding magic freely, they could only watch helplessly as Xenomorph numbers swelled. The longer the fight dragged, the more it favored those with patience, honed through years of discipline.
Namor, harried daily, felt a creeping exhaustion. Even wielding his trident to stir global seas grew taxing. In just over ten days, over ten thousand Atlanteans had perished, casualties from Xenomorphs' relentless, sacrificial assaults.
Atlantis' population was finite. They had no choice but to hold the line, or Xenomorphs would amass further, eventually toppling the kingdom.
"Still no word from Attuma?" Namor growled through gritted teeth.
"None. We've tried every channel. If he's alive on this planet, not dead or captured, he'd have received our signals. But nothing." A subordinate reported.
"What the hell is that bastard doing? Atlantis is teetering!" Namor roared.
Meanwhile, the Warlord, cursed by his king, finally contacted his powerful ally.
"Welcome to Earth. I suppose the divide between ocean and land folk doesn't quite fit… space folk like you." Attuma said, clad in heavy golden armor, his tone laced with wary caution.
Before Attuma and his Atlantean cohort stood two figures floating midair.
"Pointless distinctions, reeking of childish stupidity." The burly figure said, arms crossed, a sneer barely contained. He turned to his companion, also hovering. "Ikaris… I can't believe you stumbled on this backwater. What a disgrace to the Eternals."
Ikaris, long absent, bore a weathered look. "Don't underestimate this place. This planet's anything but ordinary. A real monster's emerged…"
"Shut it. Of eleven Eternals, you're the last one scraping by, forcing Arishem to drag me here." The man snarled, his face twisting with menace. "Everything on this planet's a mess because of your incompetence. Kill Adam before his rise, and we're done. But no, you followed Ajak's lead, playing hermit. Doesn't matter, Arishem sent me to fix this."
He glared cruelly at Attuma, then shifted his gaze to the planet itself. "Let me, Hyperion, the mightiest Eternal, bring this world back on track!"
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