Chapter Fifty-Five: Superboy
"It's good to have you back." Victor said, securing a bandage around Silvia's damaged wrist. "As much as I hate to admit it."
"Yeah, I missed you too." She replied smugly but the playfulness in her tone didn't uphold for long. "... What's going on around here, Vic? Who are these people claiming to be Superman?"
"I wish I knew. All I can tell you is that the 'Cyborg' one is more advanced than I originally suspected." Buzzing sounds could be heard throughout Titan Tower, not quite loud enough to drown out Victor's voice but enough to be distracting. "I tried tracking whoever rebuilt him, and whatever they did it with, but the technology used on him is too advanced for my scanners. It's actually scarily similar to my own cybernetics."
"But... it's not really him right?" Silvia rested her broken wrist against her lap, it already felt like it was healing; she could even move her fingers without pain.
"It's one thing to rebuild him, it's a completely different job altogether to bring someone back from the dead."
"Thought so..." She replied with a heavy exhale. "I can't believe that the people of Metropolis truly believe that he's Superman."
"People will believe anything when they're scared. They've even started saying that Steel is somehow Superman, despite the fact that he was around before Clark's death."
"Seriously?" Silvia scoffed. Sometimes she wondered why they ever bothered saving these people. They were so quick to discard the memories of those who died fighting for them...
"Speaking of which," Victor started again, shifting over to a nearby laptop and tapping a few keys. "He's actually here today."
Without a second to spare, in walked Steel. He looked exactly the same as last time Silvia had seen him... all but his chest that adorned a metal 'S' symbol. He smiled at Silvia, that expression only falling into further amusement at the bandage wrapped around her wrist.
"You always were a troublesome one." He teased as he crossed his arms. "What did you do this time? Jump off a skyscraper?"
"Punched Cyborg Superman in the face." Silvia smirked triumphantly.
"You only just got here and you're already starting fights with the new arrivals?" Steel laughed. "Why am I not surprised?"
For just a moment the atmosphere in that room lifted. It had an airy laughter lingering through it as if things were back to how they use to be. They weren't though, and soon enough that positive vibe was drowned out. Silvia's eyes lingered back to the symbol on Steel's chest, and this time there was no dodging the subject.
"I hope you don't mind that I'm wearing this." Steel finally spoke in a serious tone. "I wanted to pay my respects to Superman in the best way that I knew how... and this symbol, his symbol, shouldn't just disappear from Metropolis altogether. With Supergirl and Powergirl focusing their attentions elsewhere, it seemed like it might leave this city to ruins if I didn't take it up."
Silvia nodded, slumping back in her chair in utter exhaustion. "You deserve to wear it more than those fucking new guys. As long as you're not claiming to be Superman, then I don't have a problem with it."
"Your confidence means a lot, Silvia. I won't let you down." He said, posture straightening and hands moving to rest on his hips. In some ways, he was more like Clark than any of those pretenders. "Though that new one, 'Superboy', is a bit of a problem. He's the reason I've been so busy of late."
"Is he really that much trouble? He's just a kid..."
"Yeah, just a kid with the powers of a Kryptonian. At least an adult could control themselves." Steel leaned against the door frame, his costume giving a metallic 'tink'. "He's destroyed a large section of Downtown Metropolis, and when I tried to stop him he pushed me through a building... filled with people."
Silvia cocked her head to the side. Now that she hadn't heard of. "So... he's a villain?"
The man shook his head with uncertainty. "I'm not sure... He looked terrified of me, of the people around him, and even of his own abilities. I don't think he even knew what he was doing, or at least not the gravity of it."
She stared at him for a while with a raised eyebrow. He was tense, his back arched and his eyes on the ground as he recalled the memory. Digging her thumb nail into the cheap pine top of Victor's desk, Silvia scoured her mind for an explanation. This boy didn't exactly sound like a cold blooded killer, at least not to her.
"Has anyone seen him since then?" She asked, nail burrowing deeper into the wooden top.
Steel shrugged his large shoulders, now averting his gaze to the window where nothing but the blank emptiness of the sky could be seen.
"He went to the Justice League a few days ago." Victor replied calmly. "He wanted to join but no one knew what he was. It was a risk, one that Bruce wasn't willing to make, so he turned him away."
"Bruce kicked a confused little kid onto the street?" Silvia huffed in frustration. "Of course he fucking did..."
"Can't really blame the man, I mean, without Superman we've been more vulnerable. A boy claiming to be a Kryptonian and damaging half of Metropolis isn't exactly going to warrant trust."
"He should have gone to the Titans. Starfire would have taken him in..."
"Kori's got a good heart but she's naive. The fact that she'd welcome him is reason enough to be suspicious of the kid."
Silvia fidgeted in her seat. She felt extremely uncomfortable knowing that a little boy was out there alone. "Is there any way you can find him for me, Vic?"
"Well, I can't find him... but I can help him find you." Victor swerved to the other side of the room in his rolling chair, pulling out a draw and rummaging through the various items inside. "We can use the signal watch."
"Like the one Jimmy use to wear?"
"Exactly alike. I had it duplicated encase of emergency, and it blocks out any cybernetic interference so Cyborg Superman shouldn't pick up the frequency." At last, Victor pulled out a plain silver watch and rolled back towards Silvia. "If Superboy has any Kryptonian DNA then he should be able to hear this... Unfortunately though, that also means that Eradicator might be able to trace it."
"Unless he's not Kryptonian..." Silvia suggested in a low voice. "That will be all the evidence I need to scratch him off the list of supposed 'Supermen'."
"Then I hope he doesn't show up. It'd be nice to get some answers around here for a change."
Silvia was zapped back to the middle of Metropolis soon after, left in the middle of the crumbling city. With so many people flying around with Superman's powers it was rather sad to see that none of them, even combined, could properly take care of this place.
The night had a cool breeze latching onto whatever solid surface it could find, and as Silvia pressed the button on the watch, she noticed how cold the metal had become. She listened... but heard nothing. She pressed it again and strained her ears even harder. Still nothing.
Apparently it had worked though because it wasn't long before she heard someone dashing in her direction. Silvia turned, only to be met by a young boy with dark hair and eyes bluer than the sky. Both of his hands were covering his ears and his entire face had scrunched up.
"What is th-that sound?" He yelled over a piercing static that she couldn't hear. "M-Make it stop... please!"
Silvia fumbled with the watch, missing the button at least a dozen times before finally hitting it. The young boy's arms instantly fell limp at his sides and his eyes refocused onto her. Silvia's heart broke all over again. He looked so troubled... and yet she could definitely see some aspect of Clark in him.
"Sorry, kid." Silvia said, forcing a smile. "Just needed to get your attention."
The boy instantly jumped into panic mode, his whole body crimping up and his teeth beginning to chatter. "Are you... Are you with the people trying to capture me?"
"What? No..." Silvia leaned down to eye level with him in an attempt to look a little less intimidating. "Why are people after you?"
"I-I don't know..." The boy's breathing became hollow, eyes flicking around the vicinity in fear. He looked so small... so helpless despite knowing the power he wielded.
Silvia couldn't just leave him like that. Not only because he was a kid... but because she also didn't know how the Kryptonian body worked. Who could say that Clark really hadn't been reincarnated? Maybe it was her blinding hope that he'd return, but she was willing to lose herself to that possibility if it meant protecting him.
"Don't worry, just follow me. I'll make sure they can't get you." She said, offering her hand to the boy. He may never remember who she was, and it was definitely better that way, but maybe she could at least have a small role in his new life. If that meant being his protector for a few days then so be it.
Superboy didn't hesitate to take her hand. He looked somewhat relieved that someone finally trusted him enough to help. This peace didn't last though, because at that moment Eradicator slammed against the concrete with a loud 'bang', creating a crater where he stood. Silvia's stomach instantly churned... She was hoping that she could at least bring back evidence that Eradicator wasn't Superman, not more proof that he might be.
"I heard a noise." He said dully, scanning his surroundings before his stare fell to Superboy. "You again... Are you trying to anger me, boy?"
Silvia stepped in front of Superboy with a growl. "Leave him alone. I'm the one that made the stupid sound."
The man analysed her, eyes resembling Clark's hidden beneath a yellow visor. It looked ridiculous, in Silvia's opinion. Maybe because it was so odd seeing someone that looked like Superman take so many liberties with his appearance.
"For what reason, Silvia?" He said in a low hiss.
"None of your busin-..." Her voice trailed off, lips parting to allow a shaky inhale. "Wait, how do you know who I am?"
"I'm Superman, I know everything about you."
Her eyes widened but she quickly forced them to narrow again through her surprise. It couldn't be him... It just couldn't be... "I don't believe you, you would've visited me and your mother if you had any memory of us."
"I may have Superman's memories, but Clark is gone. He didn't come back with me." Eradicator stared her down, arms crossed over the symbol on his chest. "I'm Superman, but I'm not Clark... not anymore."
"Or you never were!" Silvia snapped.
Eradicator's lip curled in irritation and his forehead deepened with wrinkles. "I took you to jail when we first met, you lived in Southside in an apartment with a broken door, you had a brother named Mason, and when I asked you to marry me you ran away. I remember everything, it's clear in my head, but I have no emotional attachment to them. It's as I said, Clark died with Doomsday. I have been reborn, but not as the man you once knew."
His words weighed heavy on Silvia, but she didn't know how to feel- sad, maybe, but that sounded so childish, like something flimsy, something one should be able to cast off with a happy reflection. But it was nothing of the sort. It sat inside her like the germ seed of depression, just waiting for the right conditions to grow, to send out roots to choke the hope out of her heart again. It was a trough in which she struggled to return to the peak, always afraid that this time the rungs would be too slippery, too far apart or simply not there at all.
For a split second she believed that maybe he was telling the truth... but her broken heart couldn't bare it and so she discarded the idea with every ounce of force that she could muster. "You don't have an emotional connection to those memories because they're not yours."
Eradicator's hands formed into fists, knuckles turning white at the tension. Still, he shook his head and averted his gaze elsewhere. "I won't repeat myself, and I don't have time to deal with unstable killers. In that case, it's probably better if you don't believe me."
The ground rumbled beneath them, and without another word Eradicator had taken back to the skies. To Silvia, it felt like the world was playing some elaborate prank as punishment for all her wrongdoings... and it wasn't amusing in the least. The blonde turned back around to Superboy, who was still staring up at the stars. Three Supermen in one place, and none of them with Clark's restraint... this was a disaster waiting to happen.