Author's Note: Well this is somethign I never thought I'd finish. I've had this on the back burner for about two months now. I dont know why I just think writing about the early superheroesis kind of intrestring. Let me know what you think.
Legacies
Chapter 2
Legends of the Past
As Sanderson left the buffet table, Superboy looked across the room at his father/reluctant mentor. Taking his words to heart, Conner gathered himself and slowly made his way over to where the Man of Steel was standing with the other League members. His back was turned to him so that meant that he could catch him by suprise. Wonder Woman was the first to notice his presence and quietly watched him approach his dad from over Clark's shoulder while he was still talking to Martian Manhunter and Green Lantern. Conner steadied his nerves as best he could as he made his way up to the Man of Steel when the others noticed his presence. Conner cleared his throat as his dad turned to face him.
"S-Superman...do you mind if we talk?" he asked softly.
Hal and J'onn started to back away from Clark so he wouldnt have an excuse to bail. It was apparent to all the founders how tenious his relationship with Conner was and how badly this was needed. Wonder Woman and Batman however didnt budge and he could feel his colleges' eyes boring into the back of his head as the tension built. Diana finally nudged his back forcing him a step toward Conner who looked back at him with hopeful eyes. Clark cleared his throat and finally answered.
"Um...sure." he said uneasy. A smile brightened the boy's face.
"Great." he replied.
"There's a museaum opening tomorrow morning in Washington, D.C. why dont we meet there?" Clark replied. Conner's eyes widened in shock and disappointment but did his best to mask it, averting his eyes from him.
"Um, sure...okay." he muttered.
"Its the new museaum for superheroes I'll be covering for the Daily Planet but we can make a day of it. How does that sound?" he asked. His downcast eyes looked back at him.
"Promise?" he asked. Superman looked back at his colleges daring him to say otherwise.
"I promise." he replied. His protege nodded accepting it.
"Then I guess I'll see you tomorrow." he said before walking away.
"Yeah...see ya." said Clark.
"You mean it?" Hawkman asked him. Superman looked back at the hero but said nothing.
"Clark I know this is difficult but you really need to be there for him. He needs his father." Flash told him as Superboy walked away from the group, his super hearing hanging on every word. The Man of Steel frowned as he gazed at his retreating form.
"I guess I better get ready for tomorrow then." he said.
The funeral dinner finally dispersed later that evening as the heroes went thier seperate ways. That night Clark sat in his apartment mulling over his deal with the young boy. Everyone in the League had been getting on his case about not talking to the boy. It was a conversation he admittedly hoped he never have, but as the days wore on he knew he was just dodging the subject. They didnt know what it was like, how we felt. They didnt have this problem, they had sidekicks not sons. He sat down on the foot of his bed laying his forehead in the palm of his hand. He knew that if he broke his promise this time, he'd never hear the end of it. Looking across his bed over to his nightstand was a picture of his parents, groaned and reached across the bed.
At the Kent family farm in Smallville a telephone could be heard ringing outside the house. It was evening in Kansas as his mother picked up the phone sitting on the table in the living room.
"Hello?" she asked.
"Mom? It's me."
"Oh hello Clark, how are things? Its been a while." she greeted warmly.
"Fine mom. Actually there's something I've been meaning to tell you. Um, I'm not sure how to say this but...I've recently come across...a son." he admitted.
His mother was sipping tea in the easychair and stopped upon hearing his last sentence. The elderly mother raised an eyebrow and calmly sat down her cup.
"I see. So I take it that you and Lois are..."
"No it's not like that. It's a little more complicated." he tried to explain rubbing his neck awkwardly.
"Oh? Is there someone else Clark?" she asked reserving judgement.
"No it's...ugh. I'm not quite sure how to say it. Mom I've been cloned, someone got ahold of my genetic material I'm not sure how and created a younger version of me called Superboy." he said finally spilling it.
His mom on the other end was genuinely alarmed when she heard this holding both hands to the phone and was silent for a few moments. Her expression softened a bit as she processed this information.
"Mom?" Clark asked.
"That is different. So they got it from Superman." she finally stated. He sat down on the foot of his bed relieved she answered.
"Yeah...and I'm not sure what to do about it." he said.
"It? You met the boy?" Martha replied.
"Yeah...I have." he muttered.
"Well I understand your confusion Clark but you cant be afraid of him." she told him. Her son rolled his eyes as he laid back on the bed.
"Now your just sounding like the others." he said annoyed.
"How much interaction have you had with him?" she asked. Her son looked at the window and didnt answer, but his mother knew all too well what he was saying.
"I see. Clark...I know this must scare you to death. But you cant keep avoiding him, your going to have to make contact with him eventually." she told him.
"I know and I already have. I told him he could come with me to the superhero museaum opening tomorrow morning." he said.
"Well then you better keep your promise. We raised you better than that." she replied on his end.
"Dont remind me. It's just...he's a good kid, at least...I hope he is." he trailed off as he sat up.
"He came from you Clark, he must be good." she reminded him as he stood and faced the bay window of his apartment.
"He was bred to replace me mom. That's what he was made for...that's what...bothers me." he mumbled the last part as he gazed crestfallen on the streets below. Again there was silence on his mother's end as she struggled to find the words to encourage her son.
"Bring him by the farm when your done with your tour. I'd like to meet him." she said.
"Yes mom." he said as he stood at the window.
"I love you Clark." she told him.
"I love you too." he replied.
"Good night dear." she added.
"Good night." he said.
The next morning Superboy showed up bright and early awaiting Clark in civilain dress as he showed up at the front entrance to the new museaum. Unfortunatly for Clark, Conner had no other clothes showing up in his Superboy costume while Clark wore his regular blue trenchcoat and fedora. Conner didnt seem to bothered while Clark was mortified but did his best to hide it as he walked up to him.
"Dont you have anything else to wear?" he asked.
"I had a jacket but it was destroyed a while back." he shrugged while his father grimaced grabbing the front of his fedora.
At that moment a little boy had caught sight of Superboy's 'S' symbol and grabbed his hand jerking on it while Conner was looking at his father.
"Hey mister! Where did you get that T-shirt?" the little boy asked.
"Um...I made it." he lied.
"Are you a fan of Superman?" the boy asked.
"Uh sure. Yeah, you like it?" he smiled.
"I think it's cool! Black's my favorite color." he told him.
"Well all right." he added before the boy raced off to his mom.
"Mommy! Mommy! I want a black Superman shirt!" he told his mother jiggling her hand like he did Conner's.
"We'll see if we can find one sweetie." she told him.
"He said that he made it." the boy told her. The mother smiled at her son prompting her to come over to them catching Conner by suprise.
"Excuse me, I'm sorry but how did you make that shirt?" she asked kindly. The woman had long brown hair tied back in a ponytail and was five years older than Conner.
"Uh, I uh..." he stammered for an answer before Clark stepped in.
"They sell iron on patches. You can get them anywhere." he told her.
"Oh well thank you. Are you guys together? You look sort of alike." the woman noted.
The guys looked at each other suprised she made the connection so fast.
"Um, he's my uh...he's my dad." Conner told her a move that notably shocked his 'father'.
Because Clark himself hadnt thought that Conner regarded him as such. Indeed he had hoped that the Boy of Steel only saw him as a mentor like his teammates in Young Justice. Only to learn that they're relationship was more complicated than either of them thought. A thought that sobered Clark as he stood looking back at the young man infront of him.
"Come on let's get inside." he said as they walked past.
Once inside the newly opened museaum they were greeted by the first and most obvious exhibit, a giant statue honoring the seven founding members of the Justice League of America. The pair made thier first stop as they stood infront of the monument showing Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter standing side by side, with Superman in the very middle. Looking past the Justice League display was one of Green Arrow kneeling ready to shoot and expanded outward to other heroes with thier own exhibits. Clark and Conner explored the museaum further seeing one of Red Tornado hovering above them using his cyclonic powers from his hands and waist. An exhibit in the back corner had Wonder Woman balanced on one leg with her arms held out with a flirty smile and colored glitter lining the adjacent wall and ceiling of her exhibit. While beneath her statue were weapons and artifacts from her home country of Themyscria alongside additional cardboard standees of the Amazon.
Another one of the Flash had him rushing forward on his pedistal, but also featured a wall with images of him racing by and even has smaller figures of him beating the likes of Captain Boomerang, Mirror Master and Captain Cold. The one behind Flash featured Aquaman standing on top of a wave with arms folded and his gold trident by his side. Behind the wave statue of Aquaman was a smaller one of Aqualad crouched partway down with his arms held out. It was then he looked back and saw the lifesized statue of Kid Flash back at the Scarlet Speedster exhibit.
Superboy frowned as he looked at them realizing they already had statues of themselves in the museaum. Making thier way further back they came across the Batman one, with the Dark Knight crouched on a rooftop with a plethora of his enemies in various poses below him with the Batsignal shining overhead.
"You like what you see so far?" Clark asked as they continued walking.
"Sure." he muttered.
"Come on there's something I want to show you." he told him.
They made thier way past the Green Lantern exhibit showing Hal Jordan flying over the Corps. A small collection of strange looking Lanterns from other worlds included John Stewart, Earth's other GL. Along with one that resembled a dog, shauzner to be precise and a large pig-like alien that towered over the others and had his fist in the air. Walking past exhibits of other League members like Hawkman who was suspended from the ceiling with mace in hand with Hawkgirl hovering beneath him. A statue of Black Canary caught Conner's eye as he walked by showing her in a boxing stance with a smirk. He chuckled a bit seeing her statue and followed Clark into another wing of the building featuring heroes he'd never seen before. A look of suprise and awe drew across his face as he came into the room.
"Who are these people?" he asked.
"These are the heroes from yesteryear Conner. The first generation of superheroes to ever walk the earth." Clark said facing him from infront of the main exhibit.
Conner looked around in amazement at the dozens of hero statues he'd never seen before.
"The men and women before you are the Justice Society of America the world's first superteam and the League's direct predecessors. As well as your own." Superman told him.
He turned his attention back to Clark who had gone into his more assertive Man of Steel voice and stance with hands akimbo as he started to list off it's members.
"Jay Garrick the original Flash." he said.
Jay's statue was in the middle showing a man in a red sweatshirt with a yellow lightning bolt across his chest, and wearing blue trousers, with simular bolts along the legs, red bucaneer boots and a winged silver discus shaped helmet after the Roman god Mercury.
"Alan Scott the first Green Lantern."
The one next to Jay was a fair haired man in a red sweatshirt with a realistic lantern symbol against a yellow circle, and featured a black and yellow cape with a large upturned collar, green pants, red boots and violet domino mask, holding a green Power Lantern by his side.
"The original Atom, Al Pratt. The first nuclear powered superhero." Superman told him.
Atom's statue stood in the middle of the room and was the first one Conner noticed showing a man in a yellow t-shirt with a blue cowl covering his entire face and cape, along with brown pants and arm bands with red boots.
"The list goes on including lesser known heroes such as Hourman, who could have superhuman strength for 60 minutes. Wildcat a brawler who helped train Batman and Black Canary early in thier careers. Starman a brilliant physicist who created an anti gravity rod derived from the stars themselves. Doctor Mid-Nite the first blind superhero who could operate in complete darkness. Mister Terriffic a renassiance man who turned to heroics when he conquerored every other challenge in life. And there are some your already familar with." his father told him.
"Doctor Fate." he said.
"And Sandman, he was one of the founding members of the JSA along with Sandy the Golden Boy. The young man you spoke with yesterday." Clark said, Conner nodded.
"I know, he told me all about it. So is this all you wanted to show me?" Conner asked.
"Not exactly, there's one more exhibit I want you to see." he said leading him into another room.
"What is it?" he asked following Clark and saw an exhibit full of WWII memorbillia including a tank, and the statues of various JSA members alongside even more heroes disperced across the hall.
"Okay, now I'm really impressed. These guys have two exhibits?" Conner asked.
"This is America's second superteam. On December 7, 1941 the night of the assault on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt requested the presence of every superhero available in that era and brought forth Article X. A superhuman draft policy requiring them to band together and protect US intrests at home. At this time German sabotauge was at an all time high and required constant vigilance. But that team was brought together for another reason as well. At this point in the war Adolf Hitler had captured the Spear of Destiny and planned to use it to control the world's superheroes. As such they were not allowed to fight in the European theature for fear of this. Some of these members went against orders when they were drafted into the armed services under thier civilian identites. Al Pratt was one of these indiviuals. As a tank corpsman he was able to fight in the Battle of Berlin." Clark told him as a black and white flashback began.
He was deeply entrinched within his tank in downtown Berlin and was being bombared with shells by enemy tanks at point blank range. The inside of his hull rattled as he sat at the controls holding his own as best he could. Two other Ally tanks had already been damaged and it's occupants took cover as another shell hit just below the tank's gun blowing a large hole through it. Pratt was now the sole tank driver still in battle as he faced the odds before him. Outnumbered and outgunned he was running low on amnunition shells as they blew away the lower corner of a building behind him causing it to collapse on the disabled tank directly behind him. Pratt grit his teeth as he looked back and saw that he was trapped. Down to his last shell he quickly loaded it into the cannon as the opposition moved in. Sweat trickled down his face as he wedged his last shot in and started to pray. The opposing tank fired a shot landing directly behind him and blowing out his left tank tred from behind. He cursed and bowed his head thinking this was it. Looking down at his right hand he remembered that he still had the power and a wave of energy coursed through his hand. Making a fist he furrowed his brow and looked back at the tank standing before him. Pratt slammed his palm against the butt of the cannon charging it with energy.
The opposing tank started to move in and Pratt fired off the supercharged shell decimating the tank and everything else surrounding it. Inside one of the surviving tanks, German soldiers were shocked by the devestation caused by one salvo with the commanding officer telling them to retreat. But Pratt was ready for more as his hand radiated with energy, the tanks fell back while firing off more shots at him. Pratt rammed his hand into the barrel and fired a blast of nuclear energy from it. By now the tanks were in full retreat as planes overhead started to bomb Pratt's tank. Leaving the confines of his vehicle he lifted his own tank above his head and threw it in the air at the planes, clipping the wing of one while destroying another.
With his tank destroyed he made his way through the streets of Berlin in his army uniform. The airplane he took out earlier crashed into a building behind him and exploded as he left the scene. On the otherside of the block Allied soldiers scrambled to figure out what the hell was going on with all those blasts. And how a freakin tank could fly into the air like that. It didnt take long for any of them to figure out they must have a hero in thier midst.
"Wow that guy sounds badass." Conner said.
"He was. Next to Wildcat they say he was one of the toughest superheroes of his day." Clark told him.
"I'd believe it. So what happened then?" he asked.
"He continued through Berlin in his army uniform. Germans didnt know who or what they were dealing with..." he trailed off as the flashback continued.
The display of his terrifying might had them running scared as they retreated further back into the city while Pratt continued on his own. A German soldier caught sight of him and shot at him, Pratt grabbed a smashed brick and threw it at the man nailing him in the shoulder across the street. Further up the road a group of German soldiers were huddled together with guns drawn as they awaited the oncoming threat only to see Pratt emerge from the smoke in his Atom uniform. The soldiers opened fire on him as he dodged to the side and outran the bullets trailing him as he raced towards them. They continued firing trying to kill him as Atom's right fist started to energize and leaped before punching the street sending out a pulse that caused the street to cave in towards the German soldiers and swallow them whole.
"So was Atom the only superhero in Germany at the time?" Conner asked.
"No he wasnt by this time the rest of the Squad already learned where he was and tried to find him before it was too late." Clark answered.
"What happened to them?" he asked.
"The legend goes that he eventually made his way to Hitler's fortress and attempted to take him out." Superman told him.
"Did he?" he inquired.
"No one's sure, according to most accounts he did face Hitler in his war room along with the high command. It's said he used the Spear of Destiny to control him. Some say it didnt work, others say he was too stubborn or even too enraged to be controlled by Hitler. What transpired in that room is anyone's guess. What is know is that he blew it to bits. And it's widely assumed that he powered up and used himself as a bomb to defeat Hitler, but this is speculation at best." Clark said.
"But I thought history said that Hitler claimed suicide in a bunker at the end of WWII? And if that's the case then how could he survive the blast?" Conner asked. He looked back at the boy sternly before answering.
"The Atom survived the blast, and your right. It turned out the Hitler he confronted at his base was really an advanced robot." Superman told him.
"A robot? How could that even be possible?" he asked.
"No one knows." Clark shook his head. His son sighed taking it all in.
"Hitler created a robot of himself to serve as a distraction. So that means the spear was lost then right?" he replied. Clark pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to make sense of it himself.
"It's hard to say, history says that Hitler was obsessed with the Spear of Longinus so it's unlikely he'd let it out of his sight even with a robot. There are some conspiracy theroists that say it was a fake along with the robot which may explain why it didnt work on Atom. Or even if the spear had powers to start with. It's one of those mysteries that may never be solved." Clark explained.
"Hmm. So who are these other guys?" he asked changing the subject. His dad looked up and saw another group of heroes bunched together on a platform.
"They're the Freedom Fighters, an offshoot of the All Star Squad that operated around the same time as them." he answered.
The group depicted were four men and a woman all huddled together ready to fight. A man in a white containment suit stood at the forefront, with a man dressed as Uncle Sam standing behind his right shoulder, behind him was a woman with black hair in a yellow one piece swimsuit and green cape, while on the left was one man dressed head to toe in a yellow jumpsuit with a finned cowl, and a forth man flying over them wearing black pants with blue briefs, barechested with a blue sash and a glider-like cape attached to his wrists.
"Human Bomb, Uncle Sam, Phantom Lady, The Ray, Black Condor and Doll Man." he said naming them in order of appearance.
"Doll Man?" he questioned.
His dad pointed to reveal a knee high figure standing infront of Human Bomb wearing a blue leotard with black leggings that came down to his knees and a red cape.
"Oh." Conner added.
"Come on there's still plenty more of this place to see. And I have an article to write." he said patting him on the back. Conner remained where he was as his father started to walk off.
"Hey, when we get done...can we get something to eat?" he requested. A smile formed on his dad's face as he looked back at him.
"Sure." he nodded.
"Thank you." he said softly and smiled.
"Maybe this wasnt such a bad thing after all." his dad mused.
Author's Note: All right so what'd you think of that? I dont think anyone expect me to update this. and to be honest I thought I was done too but ever since the JSA were mentioned in YJ I've developed this facination in wanting to write about them. Word of God aka the creator says that most of the JSA are either deceased or retired but we have seen at least two of them in the series. The most obvious one being Doctor Fate. The other one being Jay Garrick the orignal Flash who's birthday they're celebrating in 'Downtime'. My guess is the ones that are dead in the comics are dead in the series. Anyway I've toyed with an idea for quite a while about them traveling back in time and meeting up with the Golden Age heroes. What would you think of seeing that? Let me know what you think guys.
Please review,
Green Gallant
