Sarah had no clue if her attempt to cut the duct-tape, that was wrapped around her wrists with a key was successful. She just desperately tried to free her hands to help Tag and Jay. Tag had trouble breathing more and more. She feared that his lungs were hurt and filling with blood. The fact that his face became paler and paler with every minute was just proving her clue.
"Sarah… will they find us…" Tag asked. His voice was weaker than before.
"Stay awake, Tag! I know it hurts. But please, stay with me!" Sarah begged, trying to saw with the keys at the tape much faster.
Suddenly the door opened. A bright light, that was so bright that Sarah was forced to close her eyes, filled the room. She was so surprised that she dropped the key, before there were loud swooshes and suddenly two bodies were thrown into the cell with them, and the room filled with an intense red light…
Sarah shrieked up loudly when she mentioned that two men where violently thrown into the cell. One was Jordan and the other one his father in an older Superman-suit.
"Jordan? Mr. Kent?"
Jordan and Clark were unconscious the most time since their terrible battle on the camping site with the three Jonathans. But as soon they were thrown inside and hit the hard concrete ground Jordan woke up. Feeling that weakening effect of the red sunlight. One of the negative side effects of having the powers restored…
"Sarah?" Jordan gasped. The young man was relieved to see that she was alive, but also shocked to see her here.
"Jordan!?" Sarah was shocked to see that he got caught, too. As well as his father.
Before they could continue with their conversation, they could hear Clark groan in pain. Clark, who knew that feeling when normally always being so powerful, thanks to the yellow sun, and then suddenly powerless thanks to the red light of the red sunlight like the planet Krypton had.
Everything happened so fast. Sarah suddenly mentioned that the key, she used to cut on the tape was gone. But much more she was shocked to see three identical Jonathan Kents standing right outside their cell. She screamed shortly…
The three Jonathan's stood unimpressed and with petrified faces in a row. All around 20. Their muscular bodies dressed in short sleeved, skin-tight black t-shirts and black cargo pants with steel toed boots. Their hair cut so short, that it looked like they were in a special unit of the army. The real Jonathan would never cut his hair that short. But nobody was able think about this now. Sarah was just shocked.
"WHAT THE HELL…" Sarah screamed when she saw three identical Jonathans. "JONATHAN?"
"That is not Jonathan!" Clark said scared. He was able to lift and turn around to look on them.
All three looked straight forward and didn't dare to look into anyone's face. Like robots. Mindless and emotionless robots without any feelings or any own will. They were dressed like Connor. Just that Connor wore the red house of El crest on his shirt and blue cargo pants to his boots. And of course, Connor looked still like a teenager. These 'Connors' looked like they were 'optimized'.
"You… Who created you? You are clones of my son!" Clark yelled, ignoring that the red sunlight weakened him more and more. "What is your purpose? Who created you and why you appeared?"
There was no respond from them! That hurt Clark much more than the red sunlight. He remembered Jonathan being so cold and distanced before he vanished. And how cold Jordan became towards him and Lois after his getaway. Seeing this three Jonathan's remembered him all the nightmares he had since that faithful morning…
Jonathan gave up before his getaway. They knew that. Clark expected that, if they ever find Jonathan, that the boy would be cold and emotionless towards them. And now he got what he expected. And that multiplied by three!
"Superman…" Tag wailed. He was still in pain. And his chest felt worse with every second.
Finally, Clark realized that Sarah was with them. As well as two severely injured young men. Clark crawled closer to Tag to check his injuries. He couldn't use his x-ray-vision, but his medical knowledge was big enough to see that several ribs were broken, and that one rib probably punctured a lung.
"Stay calm young man!" Clark said. "Breath slowly and relax!"
Jordan meanwhile went closer to Sarah and start to pull on the tape around her wrists.
"Don't worry… My mom is still out there!" Jordan said before he whispered into her ear. "And she is not alone…"
Lois tried to not to scream in fear, every time Connor made one of his jumps in his attempt to fly. She flew often with Clark in the past. But that was long after he mastered his ability to fly and knew how to fly safely with a passenger. Connor, who managed to float in a beam of red sunlight in the fortress, had the ability but not the practice and the knowledge how to use this power. And so, it was more or less just many far jumps…
After a quick goodbye to her parents-in-law and a heartful promise to Jonathan (his A.I.) to bring him home, Lois took Connor by his hand, led him to the entrance and told him to fly her to his mommy… (to say hello).
Connors first superjump was around a half mile wide. Lois who was carried on his back, knew what it meant to be passenger, but this felt more like a freaky rollercoaster-ride. Connor's leaps became further with every attempt. Lois had no clue how long it will take them to get back to Metropolis, but she guessed that Connor was now able to leap 20 to 25 miles at once…
The landscape already changed from the eternal ice to wide forests and more and more towns. Connor raised his arms with every leap. Trying to do it like Clark did when he demonstrated it in the fortress. With stretched out arms he happily yelled every time he went up and tried to fly. His leaps became stronger and stronger. Lois, still in fear, just focused on Connor's happy cheer. It was Jonathan's voice! Jonathan's happy voice she missed so terribly over the years… Tears ran down her face while they reached the area near Lake Winnipeg and continued their way to Metropolis…
In Metropolis meanwhile, a woman was done with everything: Done with her greedy employer, done with the secrets, and done with the terrible mistakes she made.
She wanted to do something good. Instead, she accidentally helped to create monsters. Connor, her poor little baby, was hunted. She will never ever be able to make amends for what she did. And after seeing in TV what the subjects did at Siegel Plaza, the expressway, and that camping-site, now she knew the truth…
She will be dead, soon. If not, a miracle happens. Hastily, she safed some evidence for her ignorance on a CD and a diskette before she told her assistant that she 'forgot something in her car' and left the lab with the evidence and with the purpose to never ever come back. She had no clue that Superman and his living son got caught and were already here.
While leaving the building she looked around. Thinking about her own time as a researcher. The incredible job-offer after her journey to Krypton 6 years ago. The loss of her son. Her maternal feelings for Subject 11… She named him Connor! After her own son. She bought him his black Superman-t-shirt with the red house of El crest. She once found it in a second-hand store and asked herself how he would react. Much to her surprise he felt so attracted to it. And he looked so incredibly good in it. Jonathan Kent was born to wear it, so Connor, who shared his face and his appearance with him, was too.
When she realized what was really going on in this lab, she planned to get him out. Their first attempt yesterday was ruined when they met Sam Lane, who woke up memories inside Connor… memories he shouldn't have…
In fear to get caught, she entered her car and raced away… looking on the big hole in the wall 'her son' left during his getaway. She just hoped that he followed her advice and never comes back… listening to the news in the radio about the attack of Jonathan Kent, the fight with Superman and the fear of the people that Jonathan Kent has returned to get revenge on the world. Jonathan Kent is dead; he can't get revenge on the world. At least that's what they told her.
Clark and Jordan meanwhile, made themselves familiar with the cell. It was without doubt, designed to capture powered Kryptonians. By now, Clark had no time to ask Jordan about his suddenly restored powers. He always guessed that sooner or later, they will return. But not that quickly.
"In the fortress, right?"
"Yeah!" Jordan confessed.
"Is that the reason you never wanted to come to the fortress again?" Clark asked, imagining that Jordan (the pride of the house of El and the Lane stubbornness being fault) hiding his returning powers from everyone.
"Yes!"
"And why you suddenly… you know?" Clark didn't dare to speak it out loud with Sarah, Tag and (maybe) Jay listening, too.
"Jonathan convinced me!"
"You found him?" Sarah suddenly asked. "The real one?"
"Not directly!" Jordan said while he turned to face her to whisper it. Fearing that whoever hold them captive here was listening. "Remember what I told you about sun-crystals and my Kryptonian grandparents?"
"Jonathan is a hologram in your father's fortress now!" Sarah said astonished.
Clark looked on his son astonished: "Your girlfriend is smart!"
"We're not together!" Sarah and Jordan said both in unison. Which was awkward…
"Where is he?" suddenly the electronically changed voice said out of the speakers again.
"Who is that?" Jordan asked.
"Who are you talking about?" Clark asked madly. "And who are you?"
"I think he is looking for the boy who looks like Jonathan!" Sarah explained.
"The young lady is right! Tell me where he is!"
"Who are you? And what do you want with Connor?" Clark asked madly.
"Connor?" Sarah asked.
"Long story!" Clark and Jordan said now in unison.
"Where is he?" the voice asked again.
"The way he was scared when I found him and the way you try to get him, I know it is not a good idea to tell you that!" Clark said. "You are responsible for everything! You cloned my son!"
Sarah looked on Clark astonished when she heard the word 'cloned'. Then she looked on the three Jonathans again. That were clones! So that's why they have powers!
"Where is he?"
"I won't tell you! He is at a safe place!" Clark said.
Clark had no clue, that Lois used Connor as transportation to get back to Metropolis. Connor's latest leap was so far, that he missed Metropolis and shattered a jetty on a lake south of the city. Lois shrieked and told him to return and so he made another jump (under the glares of a group of astonished kids) and jumped back to the city…
Connor landed in a very certain neighborhood, where he left a wide 'bump' in the middle of a crossroad.
"Oh, my god! This was our neighborhood!" Lois said when she recognized the buildings.
This was their home! Before the boys figured out who their father was! Before they got exposed and were forced to move to Krypton…
Lois was pregnant with the twins when they bought a brownstone in this area. The neighborhood was perfect: It had easy access to the city, was clean, had a nice playground… perfect for a family with little kids.
"I like this place!" Connor said with a bright smile.
Seeing him smiling remembered Lois once again how happy Jonathan was a kid. How much he loved their home. And how much Jonathan missed Metropolis! It hurt her to think about that they never took Jonathan back to Metropolis for one of their many trips. To show him that they care for him, too. That they love him, too. Gosh, why she never told Clark to fly Jonathan to Metropolis and spend the day with him instead of training Jordan?
"This is your home!" Lois said once again with tears in her eyes. "You… I mean… my son Jonathan… It is weird… You loved it here… He loved it here… aww…"
Connor got more happy flashbacks… Of him (Jonathan) playing with other kids here in the streets… being just a kid. A happy kid with friends.
It was quiet. Most people were at work or at school currently. The streets were deserted. Both didn't know that the woman, who raised Connor in the past months, was living in this certain neighborhood, too…
She just left her house with a prepared suitcase and was back in her car to get to the airport. Her getaway plane-ticket to Italy in the purse she knew that she wouldn't be able to return if Superman was not able to handle it. She just hoped that Connor, was able to lead Superman or another Kent-family-member to the lab where they find him before his 'brothers' cause more damage.
She just entered her car and put the keys into the ignition lock when Connor was able to spot her from three blocks away with his super-vision… he didn't even know he had. Lois was not able to prevent Connor from using Superspeed to approach her and stopping right next to her with a bright smile…
"Mommy!"
Hearing that voice let her freeze in shock. She turned around to see that 'Connor' standing right outside her car…
"Connor?! OH MY GOD!" she screamed before she left the car to give him a hug. "I told you to never come back. It's not safe in this city for you."
"I met him!" Connor smiled.
"Superman? You found him?" she asked full of hope.
"He can fly! But I can't fly!" Connor said innocently. "Can I do learn it?"
"Oh, Connor… you must leave… stay with Superman! He can protect you…"
"Protect him from what?"
The woman froze again. She knew this voice…
After witnessing Connor using Superspeed to approach the woman and hearing how he called her Mommy and she called him Connor, she was convinced that she found the woman who kidnapped her son…
Seeing Lois Lane, with tousled hair and messed up as if she got shoot out of a cannon, let her shriek. She wanted Connor to bring over a member of the Super-family to the lab. But that he brought Lois Lane to her house was just dumb. And not helpful to stop the evil guys…
"Ms. Lois Lane?"
"You…" Lois felt that urge to grab the woman, hold her by her throat and yell the hell out of her. But she knew that Connor was seeing her as his 'Mommy'. And as much as this hurt her, she couldn't hurt Connor (Jonathan's doppelganger/clone) by making a scene and hurting the woman who created him.
"I… I can explain…"
"I won't make a scene! As difficult as it is for me… But I can't defend myself against Connor if he freaks out again. He is strong… and according to what I know a six-months-old version of my son! You have five seconds to tell me where my son is! Or I will scream so loud for the police and make a scene nobody has ever seen before."
"Ms. Lane… I know must have millions of questions now. But I don't know what happened to your son! I left Krypton three days before he…"
"YOU LIE!" suddenly Lois exploded. "YOU CLONED MY SON! WHERE IS HE? WHAT HAPPENED WITH HIM? I WANT MY SON BACK!"
"I DON'T KNOW!" Eve yelled full of fear. "I JUST GOT SAMPLES! I AM SO SORRY… I NEVER WANTED TO LET ANYTHING OF THIS HAPPEN!"
"WHAT HAPPEN?" Lois yelled.
Connor watched both woman yell on each other in fear and shied away, holding his ears, and starting to cry.
"You scare him!" Eve ranted madly but with a lower voice while she went to Connor to comfort him.
"Where is Jonathan?" Lois yelled. Also, lower but with tears in her eyes. "He was picked up by a woman named Eve!"
"I don't know! All I got told is that your son is dead!" Eve said with tears in her eyes.
She always thought about telling the Kents
"I know he is alive!"
"Where? That's impossible! They told me he is dead!"
"I have my sources!" Lois said. She didn't want to explain the whole sun-crystal-matter and the fact that Jonathan seemed to be still alive but suspended in a comatose state or extremely deep sleep.
"You have to believe me! I don't know… I only got samples. Everyone told me that it is just to create… aww… Please, when I realized that Connor has powers, I was surprised."
Lois was surprised, too. Realizing that her son Jonathan had powers the whole time, and that the only reason they were not developing, or manifesting were his stress, the abuse from the higher, the public pressure and the bullying, her ignorance, and the lack of attention from her and Clark. As much as it hurt, she knew that Connor was not her Jonathan. He was just one of at least four…
"My husband and my son are right now fighting against an evil version of Connor…"
"Three!"
"Three?"
"Yes, Ms. Lane! There are three of them!" Eve confessed full of shame.
Lois was so close from strangling her…
"Three?"
"I swear as soon as I figured out what they used my research for I left. I even told Connor to get to your husband to be safe."
"What happened?"
"This is a long story!"
"Listen Doctor Johnson… Eve Johnson, right… We both have something in common! I know about your son Connor. He was 12…" Lois had not much time to research but she was so good in it that she knew enough to break the barriers in that woman. "… a truck hit him… he was dead instantly! That's why you named Connor Connor? Right? But unlike you, I was never able to say goodbye to my son… So please, from mother to mother… TELL ME THE SHORT VERSION!"
Lois' infamous Lois-Lane-death-glare gave her the rest…
"MY BOSS TOLD ME THAT IT IS FOR RESEARCH REASONS! I HAD NO CLUE THAT THEY PLANNED TO REPRODUCE HIM LIKE THAT! I DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY ACTUALLY PLAN! BUT WHEN CONNOR WAS BORN, I TOOK CARE OF HIM AND WHEN I MENTIONED THAT HE HAS POWERS I WANTED TO PROTECT HIM!"
"FROM WHO?"
"CAD…"
The woman was not able to finish, as suddenly her car exploded in a huge fireball…
Instinctively, Connor threw himself in-between the blast and both women to protect them from the shockwave and the fire. Connor had no clue why he did that, or how he did that. He just did it out of instinct. As if he was born for it. Born to protect others…
The explosion let nearly all windows in the surrounding houses shatter. The shockwave even set several car alarms on. Connor was laying over the two woman who continued screaming wildly. When they lift and saw the burning car, they realized that someone tried to kill Eve!
"I should have never started to work for them!" Eve murmured, watching her burning car, with the plane-ticket and her suitcase and her passport inside, realizing that it could had been her, too. "Ms. Lane… get Connor out of Metropolis…"
"Who tried to blow you up with a car bomb?" Lois asked instead.
"They will find him and use him to produce more…"
"WHO?" Lois yelled.
"Cadmus!"
Lois froze in shock. She knew that name!
Clark meanwhile was absolutely convinced to not to tell the mysterious voice, that they hid Connor.
"Mr. Harris and Mr. Nakamura need a doctor!" Clark yelled. But there was no respond from the voice anymore. "HELLO!"
"Dad, please…" Jordan said, while he pulled on the tapes around Sarah's wrists to free her. Then he turned to the Jonathans. "HEY YOU… FAKE JONATHANS!"
The three Jonathans didn't react.
"WHOEVER YOU ARE… YOU WILL NEVER KEEP UP WITH THE REAL JONATHAN!" Jordan yelled.
Once again, the three Jonathans didn't react.
"I think this are Connor's brothers?" Clark said.
"Yeah… but that are not very nice brothers!" Jordan continued.
There was this tensing silence. Sarah was trying to help Tag and Jay as good as possible. She saw that Clark was wearing an older version of his Superman-suit. With the classic house-of-El crest and the red cape. Normally she would ask him what happened. Or why Jordan was here, too. Or why they talked about Jordan's powers, she thought he destroyed for good. But there was no time for questions. But one question she couldn't hold back.
"What do we do now?"
Clark and Jordan looked on each other.
"We find a way out of here!" Jordan said encouragingly before he peeked over to the three evil twins of his true twin. "And we figure out why those guys exist!"
Clark leaned over to them to whisper something to them: "Jordan, your mom and… you know are safe. And I am sure that a lot of people witnessed what happened to us. I am sure we attract a lot of attention, so someone will come."
"OH YES! You indeed attracted a lot of attention!" suddenly a voice said. This time clear and not changed.
The door opened again, and a man entered the room… Clark recognized him immediately…
"YOU!"
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