Round two? (Cameron)

Upon coming inside, anyone who looked at him could see that Cameron had recently been through a wringer. Of course it had not been his battle against Supergirl that had done this, as the wounds from that nasty little spar had been healed quite nicely. No, the previous night he had the misfortune to encounter a gang of thugs, armed with alien tech weapons. They had been tough to beat down in all honesty, because of how much he had to pull his punches, in order to meet his assumption of what Supergirl wanted. Truthfully he had held back so many of his blows, to the point where they barely even tickled the thugs. It was why he was in rough shape, to be completely honest, as he was not sure how much she had wanted him to hold back. 

Of course, the other and more important reason was that he needed practice with the new aliens he had. Each was unfamiliar and while some had similar powers to the ones he was used to using, Cameron knew he needed practice. Learning about what each of his aliens could do was only part of what he had on his to do list. In addition to that, he also needed to take an inventory of all the various pieces of alien technology he had access to. Of course, this brought up a third problem. Legally, his original identity and his new one didn't exist in this dimension which was a problem he was going to have to solve. 

"Hello Supergirl,"  He said, after he approached her.  "Today, we've got a bit to talk about, before we spar."   Cameron had also been sleeping under a bridge, or squatting in warehouses as he didn't have an identity yet, and it didn't feel right for him to hack numerous governmental databases in order to make an identity for himself, no matter how tempting it was to do so. 
 

"Arms Dealer with very advanced alien tech. You told me to pull my punches, wasn't sure how much of them to pull, and I am still adapting to the new aliens the device allows me to use, so I am at a disadvantage. Also, legally I don't exist, so I've been sleeping under a bridge, at least for now anyway." said Cameron, to Supergirl. It was the truth of the matter. There was also another thing, namely that if his family did exist in this universe, Cameron refused to allow himself to approach them. "Water is fine, with a hint of lemon,"  said Cameron, to the waitress. When she had left, Cameron said to Supergirl. "The damage can easily be fixed,"  He said as he activated the Omni-Arm. Activating the DNA of one of the aliens he had that was a fast healer, the injuries vanished quickly and before the waitress came back, Cameron was in his human form once more. 

"I really need to get an identity of my own. Even if my family exists in some form here, in this universe... I can't approach them Kara. Not now, maybe not ever." 

Best to not allow his family, if they existed to become the target of any potential would be evil overlords. It was not something Cameron wanted to put up with this time around. No, if he had somewhere to stay, it was going to be by himself, or with other heroes, ones who could hold their own anyway. 

"I... don't have money Kara." admitted Cameron. This was why he was sleeping under a bridge, and why his clothes were in serious need of repair, and he had not yet managed to do anything about them yet. It wasn't because he didn't want to, but because he lacked any amount of money that could be used in order to achieve such a goal for himself. As to her question about the alien arms dealer Cameron thought about the answer to it. Had the alien arms dealer got away? Honestly the pain in his skull that he had earlier meant that the arms dealer had probably managed to beat him into unconsciousness, so the answer was probably yes, but he was not entirely sure if the arms dealer had or not. Later he'd have to hunt around, and make sure the answer was a no. 

"In the future, if the villain who murdered them in the other dimension shows up, and there's a way to suitably confine him so he doesn't escape and go after them here, I suppose I could meet up with my family. And yes, Kara. Under a bridge. Legally I have no existence here, remember? Cameron Dolos doesn't exist, and my original identity I surmise, does not exist here either. Also to your question about the Arms Dealer, I'm not sure. I'll have to do a check around the city. If you're sure about it being okay for me to eat some food off of your dime, I'll do it." 

Truthfully, Cameron didn't want to mooch off of Kara. There was however the matter of his stomach, which if it could talk would be muttering words that were less than polite towards him, as he hadn't eaten in a few days, all that much. Sure he'd managed to discover an alien who could create things somehow, and used that to make some food, but it wasn't the same, and didn't taste right. Thus, he knew he needed real food for himself. Yet without money, he didn't feel like he deserved it. 

Cameron had to admit that Kara was nice. Offering to share her home with a complete stranger was something he had never expected.  "I'm not sure,"  He said in response to her question about there being another of him in this dimension. If there was, he was going to have to convince that version of himself to give up being a hero. As much as he'd like the extra help, he didn't want another of him to lose what he had lost. The squid that had done it was very fortunate that Cameron could not get to him right now and was still learning how to use a new list of aliens he had at his disposal.  

"I'll have a Grilled Chicken Wrap with Lettuce, Mayo, and Tomato, and Ranch,  an Angus Mushroom and Swiss Wrap, no three of those and a Strawberry-Pineapple Smoothie." 

Her offer to share the couch in her apartment until he could find a place of his own, he was going to accept. It beat sleeping under the bridge. Besides, it would give him a chance to learn more about her, and her abilities. Perhaps if he did, he could learn how to use  one of the aliens he had the most difficulty with, the one she was. Kryptonians were a mystery to him, and a mystery that he needed an answer to because he didn't understand a lot about them. 

"I will accept your offer to stay with you, Kara. At least until I find some way to earn money, and get my own place. Perhaps I could use the skills I developed from working on alien technology for so long, to open my own tech company perhaps. "   

It was a good idea, in his opinion. Using some of the secrets of alien races that probably didn't exist here to build up his money so he could survive was probably immoral to a degree, but it was the only idea he had. 

"New clothes do sound like a lovely idea. If I do meet myself here, I'll have to put an end to his heroic career." 

Devouring his food as he hadn't eaten in over a week,  Cameron devoured it within an instant. The food was delicious, but he needed more because of how much energy he had expended when he had used that alien to heal himself. Sure it was one of his new favorites, but it was also one that he didn't like to use. When she called him hot, he blushed furiously. 

"No I wouldn't, but I know how his power works. And thus, I'd know how to turn it off." 

Cameron truthfully didn't want to do this to himself, but he could see no other way. If this universe possessed a version of him it also possessed a version of his enemy, and that was going to be...problematic. 

"Truthfully, I'd prefer not to turn off his powers. But if the monster who murdered my family exists here....."   Cameron got tears in his eyes as he envisioned that scene happening anew. 

Kara was probably right, and he shouldn't pry. Chances are he'd be better off if he didn't know what was happening with his doppelganger in this universe, if in fact one of them existed. There were two options, and one of them made him happy, while the other made him want to tear apart anyone who had made his doppelganger suffer. Either one of them however was unappealing because he knew himself, and he knew he was probably a hero, if not dead. In any case, he owed it to himself to try and make a new life in this place, without using his old identity if he could avoid doing so at first.

When she asked what he liked to do for fun, he said. "Sumo Slammers Video Game, doesn't exist here. Drink smoothies, tinker with machinery, train with my powers... the last part I need to really do at some point soon. After all, with my new list of aliens I have absolutely no control or practice with any of them. I'll be learning from the ground up." 

And there was one of the reasons Cameron had banished his tear, and forced a smile onto his face. 


 

Honestly the idea of new clothing was the thing that Cameron needed the most.  "First, we must acquire new clothing for me. You are right about my clothes. They need to be changed, immediately to different ones."  Of course if he had one of his aliens who could ignite things on fire he was going to burn this outfit. If he could get her to use her heat vision on them, he'd burn the old clothes the moment he had the new ones on. A new shirt, new jacket, new pants, new shoes. Truthfully Cameron needed all of those if he was to make himself look like the hero he had been in the past. Of course he was not ready to totally don the outfit he had worn as a hero, but with time he could be ready and able to do that once more. 

Once they had finished the meal, Cameron had a smile on his face.  "You know Kara, I really enjoyed this time with you. It was better than when we were fighting, and much less painful on my ribs. Of course we do need to do something about that alien tech problem we have been having. I might try to arrange something to take care of it, once I know your world more."