4/23/11 - 12:01AM - Kent Farm - Smallville, KS

The Kent farm was quiet, as the house had been emptied after so many years of having a family under its roof. The Kent family from Nathaniel and Mary Kent in 1871 had built the farm and its successors had lived here for years until this year when Clark Kent and Lois Lane had decided to sell the farm. Clark Kent believing that there was no place for the farm in his new life with Lois and in Metropolis. There was already a buyer for the house but until then some people were renting the house though currently the farm didn't have a tenant. But tonight it was occupied.

All of a sudden the barn was filled with a bright light as a sound like thunder had reverberated inside the barn as before in the city of Metropolis. Yet more than one ball of lightning had filled the barn, but three. As soon as the bright orbs had landed on the ground a person exited from the each of the orbs. The first produced a young man in a dark suit, dressed in a dark blue coat and hat, wearing white gloves and a golden medallion around his neck. His complexion was fair and his hair was white. Just like his eyes were shining as white as lightning until it dissipated like the lightning. He then grasped the medallion in his hand that then caused his eyes to become a dark royal blue and his hair rich ebony. He turned around and looked next to his fellow traveler.

His fellow traveler that touched the ground was a young woman dressed in a long blue tunic that came at her knees. The garment looked metallic but looked light and comfortable on the young woman, fitting her well-formed figure. She had on long red trousers that also appeared in the same style of the tunic. Her red boots displayed a blue double 'W' pattern, with one foot she wore a gold ankle bracelet around her shoes, a bracelet that matched with the symbol on her chest. Her complexion, eyes and her hair were very much like that of her fellow traveler in his current state, though her hair was tied in a loose ponytail with a small curling strand in front of her face. She looked around the place appearing more than familiar with it. She smiled happily as she looked over her shoulder and noticed her fellow traveler but then looked around her other shoulder as she saw another traveler.

The other traveler was much younger than the other two, for he was still a boy but had a look of determination as solid as his companions. He touched the ground softly as he continued to glow brightly for a moment, as his clothes were black and green. The green was on his boots, his torso and his mask. Yet he wore gloves that were a crisp clean white with the exception of a glowing green ring on the right hand of his finger. The ring was in molded in the image of the patches on his shoulders. On his chest was the same symbol on the young woman's ankle bracelet and on her tunic. He also had a third symbol emblazoned upon green gauntlets and boots, a double 'W' symbol. His hair was as dark as that of his fellow companions but his eyes shined green for a moment until his mask vanished from his face. Yet they still appeared green but with a rich shade of blue.

Looking at these three one couldn't help but notice a similarity between these three. There was a reason. They were siblings. Once they all realized that they were all well and good they came together in a group hug that was warm and strong as the sun. A sun that glowed with great fraternal love that didn't ever wish to be extinguished, but they eventually broke their hug as the eldest among them in the dark suit spoke up first.

"So little brother what does the ring say? Did we make it?"

The young boy looked at his ring and tightening his fist as he closed his eyes in a brief trance as he opened them up and spoke.

"We made it, with 'it' being April 23, 2011. Precisely three weeks before Darkseid attempts his first invasion of Earth and around the same time before Clark Kent and Lois Lane's failed attempt to get married after he came back from the Phantom Zone."

"I don't understand," the woman spoke. "Why is he travelling back in this time?"

"Because if I remember exactly." said the boy. "His legendary modus operandi the first time he tried to ruin dad's name came after being seen as a big hero at first. With his ring's power he could become the great champion of the world, a world that will not live in darkness but in the light... the light of fear."

The young woman had burned a fury equal in her mind to her own mother's, as it had burned within her veins at what her brother was telling her. "We can't let that happen."

"Indeed we can't." The eldest said. "But first we need a plan to get things set."

"So what's the plan?" said the young woman and boy at the same time.

"Well lets get up to the loft first." said the young man as the rest of his siblings climbed the steps into the barn loft. The place was sparsely furnished for people who planned to rent or buy from. The siblings looked sadly at the surroundings. This place will one day become their home and they couldn't believe that it was going to be sold. They then sat down as they continued to take in their surroundings. They eventually sat down by the couch when the youngest spoke.

"It surely feels depressing. Its nothing like I remember it." said the boy.

"That's because 'she' made the stupid decision to convince dad to sell the place little brother." said the young woman.

"Come on now Sissy." The older brother said. "They made the mistake and the mistake was fixed. Thank goodness for Ben Hubbard."

"Yeah that's for sure." said the young boy. "Now lets stop this and start planning."

"Sure." said the older brother and sister as the former spoke up.

"The way I see it we'll stay here at home, take a nice long rest and then we start working. Until dad comes back we must stay safe and make sure to hide carefully because if Cyborg catches us, he will kill us before we can even save dad."

"How are we going to do that?" said the young woman.

"He has his ring, but so do we. How are you with that little bro?"

"His corps has not been created yet. Parallax is still out there doing his worst but his power can't go to any army of rings let alone the one present unless he's contained in the massive central battery at Qward. Whereas the Green Lantern central battery at Oa is sending power me and to my brothers in green, numbering a full 3600 strong. My Lantern..."

He then produced a small green item from his pocket, as it grew as large as a delivery box. It was shaped like an old-fashioned gas lantern only with a green color and light emitting from it but without any flame, as the boy continued to speak.

"... will be able to hide us from him. If anything he'll have no choice but to use his battery and ring sparingly. The way he charged it before he left he'd have at least a day at most two days before he runs out. Unless he finds a disciple, from there the power they share they will last longer. Particularly if he heals someone affected by the darkness."

"So we've got time then." The young woman said. "We can sleep peacefully throughout the night and then what?"

"We get ourselves a decent breakfast." The eldest sibling continued to speak. "We can steal what we need and cook inside the house. It'll be the only illicit thing we do because afterwards we'll make some diamonds with our fists and eyes and sell them to every available place with no computer records, which means cash only. We then get what we need to pay back the people we stole from and buy some more things; Food, clothes and of course phony identification. We can keep off the radar thanks to the untraceable computer that is your ring Bruce."

The young boy known as Bruce performed a small bow. "Oops. We shouldn't do that you know. We should stick to our aliases."

"We haven't picked our identities yet brother."

"Well we should, as a matter a fact..." The boy's ring then shown a light creating the solid shape of a laptop computer as he started typing away.

"I've got the name Howard Kane. You big brother are Alex Waid and you Sissy are Lynn Miller. You two are college students having finished your semester at Met U and are preparing to intern at the Daily Planet. I've set the computer to make sure the records are accessed as soon as someone begins asking and more importantly erased soon after. So lets keep to our false names until we got our ID's set."

"Very well, Howie." said 'Alex' as he smirked at his brother's discomfort at the name.

"Oh two can play that game..." 'Howie' paused as he took his time with his grin. "Lex."

"Ooo!" said 'Lynn' as she noticed her older brother's discomfort at the name.

"Touché little bro but names aside we have to do right and stick to our identities but even more importantly keep an eye on our dad's friends. Given our ages and professions we should keep an eye on the Daily Planet. We go there as interns and keep an eye on things. More importantly we'll be safe knowing that given what Lois has done she'll be having members of the League there ,especially J'onn disguised as dad. Given that there is no way Cyborg will be there to take us out you and I sis will make ourselves comfortable in the shadows of the more established interns and reporters."

"What about me?" said Howie.

"You're still a kid... but I know someone who'll be able to protect you if things get tough."

"Who?" said Howie.

"Check Blue Valley Academy." said Alex.

"The one in Nebraska?" said Howie.

"No. The one by Mount Royal community in Metropolis." said Alex.

Howie typed away and saw the records of one Courtney Whitmore.

"Star Woman? You are leaving me in the hands of Star Woman?" Howie's mouth had gaped opened which then widened into a large grin. "Sweet!"

"Eww!" said Lynn. "Howie, she's thrice your age you know that. By the way if I remember exactly its Stargirl."

"And right now she's only two years older than me. Look at these pics again sis. Smoking!"

"Watch it you little perv!" Lynn continued. "You are getting watched over for your protection, not for pleasure. You go to school as a tour as its the end of the school year. So organize the two weeks there as a tour and make sure its Stargirl that shows you around to make sure you are protected. Alex and I go to work at the Daily Planet to be in the proximity of the members of the League for our protection. But I have to say to all present that we got to make sure not to be noticed in our true identities by anyone from the future, especially our father. Believe me I want nothing more to say hello to our dad and his friends but we have got to be careful. If we do have to put our faith into someone..."

"Exactly!" said Alex as he looked into his sister's eyes. "We contact her and only her."

"But if we have no choice but to reveal everything..." said Lynn.

"We'd be making things even more difficult." said Howie. "Given the link between dad and Cyborg, it would be like a computer linked to a frequently updated network. As long as he lives he's continuously being updated in real time. His memories would be his and he'll know everything the moment it happens."

"I realize that." said Alex. "But in the meantime, we have no choice but to make sure that we are not spotted, especially by dad."

"Indeed." said Lynn. "But what about a place to stay?"

"Well we can't stay here," said Alex. "As much as we want to. I suggest we find a safe house in the Metropolis and do our best to keep our distance. We'll use... the Isis Foundation!"

"The what?" said Howie and Lynn.

"The Isis Foundation. It was a place that was run by Lana Lang before they used what they called the Watchtower. Its a respectable safe-house that was forgotten after the death of someone very close to the League."

"I got it." said Howie. "Okay. We'll deactivate whatever security is there and squat in there. You little bro will be watched over at the Academy which is a boarding school, we will stay at the Isis Foundation but if we need to make a cover identity then we need to establish an address."

"Sure." Howie said as he continued to type away on his computer as he organized a modest place for his two siblings to stay in case they needed to.

"Are we all set then?" said Alex.

"Yes." said Howie and Lynn.

"Good." said Alex. "Then lets go inside the house and get some rest. Who wants which room?"

"I prefer grandma's big bed." said Howie.

"If you don't mind I'll take my… I mean dad's old room." said Lynn.

"And I'll take the couch." said Alex.

Eventually they made it inside the house when they realized just how vacant the place felt. They found their rooms and slept easily despite what they had to worry about.


Cyborg sat in a luxurious apartment overlooking the Centennial Park. It was well past midnight but thankfully he managed to manipulate some records and was able to get in there. Someone might get angry at first seeing as these places might need to be shown first before they can be allowed to stay the night. But thanks to his ability to manipulate technology, especially this era's technology, a certain real estate broker will wake up to have several hundred thousand dollars transferred into her account. Almost thirty-five years outdated and it was unbelievably easy to deal with.

Unfortunately for him if those kids followed him here then they'll be able to hide from him. Trained to find and fight threats. He wishes he could have done more but after all his years of inactivity and the destruction of his Corps in which his leader had betrayed them all... He didn't want to think that. He had what he needed. His own technological powers as well as a certain item he stole.

But right now he needed to lay low at least when the time had struck. It was perfect as well. He'd appear almost like Jack the Ripper but he'd need to plan it right by sending a message. 'Sending a message.' Even he couldn't believe the appropriateness of that quote.

He knew if those kids made it back they would reveal themselves hard and fast. But they were 'his' children and they would be patient as he. Plus they have their own power more importantly... No they would have done that already.

But he would wait until they made a mistake, he made a mistake or until their father came back, the biggest mistake of all time.