Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or any characters related to the show. Young Justice is owned by DC Comics parent company Warner Brothers. Discovery.
Mental Link
Chapter 1
All he got were glares and excuses. But after New Year it became obvious that Superman didn't want to do anything with him and simply ignored him. All Conner ever wanted was Superman to be a mentor to him and more importantly his help in masting his powers. But Superman refused. Kryptonians have hard heads Batman told him. Conner had no reason to try anymore. It was painfully obvious that his existence wasn't meant to be. It was painfully reaffirmed when a visitor from the stars attempted to kill him.
Jan 2, 2011
The Team successfully liberated the Justice League from Vandal Savage and Klarion's mind control. After the fight, everyone talked to their respective mentors. Conner only got a glare from the Man of Steel while he was accompanying M'gann who was telepathic speaking to her uncle. The revelation that the six league members went missing for 16 hours made everyone nervous regarding where they were sent and what their actions were under Savage's control. After spending their New Years' day searching the WatchTower and every League-related site for any surprises that Savage and the Light may leave behind the team decided to take the time to relax and spend the holidays with either their respective families or mentors. M'gann tried to convince Conner to join her but he insisted that M'gann enjoy the holidays with her uncle. After M'gann left Wally insisted that Conner should join him for the holidays.
"Since all six of us liberated the League from Savage my family decided to celebrate. I asked my parents and Uncle B if we invite you to celebrate since...you know? They said yes and you can bring Wolf and Sphere if you want."
"You're sure Wolf and Sphere can come?"
"Yes and besides Uncle B wants to thank you personally."
Wally grinned a bit hoping Conner would join him. His uncle did want to thank Conner and the team for liberating the League. Plus Wally wanted to see everyone's reactions to Wolf.
"Alright…we can Zeta to central then Sphere can take us to your backyard."
"Sweet"
All 4 left Mount Justice and zeta'd to Central City. Where Sphere turned went Super-Cycle mode and Conner, Wally, and Wolf hopped in and flew to Wally's house.
Kent Farm
Smallville, Kansas
Clark Kent was home with his parents. His attempts to relax and spend time with his family backfired. He was too worried about the missing 16 hours he along with the 5 other missing leaguers were involved in. They could've caused any kind of destruction and to their knowledge to make matters worst they don't remember anything until they all woke up in the WatchTower in pain. The only blessing they can count on was that nothing major happened on Earth while under Savage's control. However when Robin and the other protégé revealed that Savage, Klarion, Luthor, and Queen Bee had been responsible for the events for the past 6 months and Superboy's creation. Clark had no idea what to think of. His thoughts however were interrupted when Red Tornado was contacting him through his league communicator.
"What is it Red?"
"Superman an unidentified ship has passed the WatchTower and is heading towards Smallville."
"Is it hostile?"
"Unknown WatchTower scans show the ship has one life form given its small size it may not have weapons and could be an escape pod."
"I'm on it."
Superman quickly changed and went off to intercept said unknown ship. Just as Tornado predicted the ship crash-landed on the outskirts of Smallville no one for miles to witness it all. He flew up to the damaged ship and discovered the occupant of the craft was an unconscious female in her mid-teens. While the ship was damaged there was text on the side written in Kryptonian.
The text translated said "This vessel carries my daughter, Kara Zor-El from the now dead planet Krypton. Treat Her as you would your child for you will see the treasure she will be for your world.". Superman only thought of one thing: A Kryptonian a real live Kryptonian. Clark was in joy for once he wasn't alone in the universe. However, he was a bit cautious could this somehow be related to the missing 16 hours? Could this be one of Savage's, Klarion's, Luthor's, or Queen Bee's schemes? The thought of any of those 4 schemings is possible however there's no possible way that any of them could've obtained a ship from his home planet before its destruction. There's a possibility of the ship's crashing related to the missing 16 hours but without knowing what happened during the 16 hours it's impossible to know. Superman immediately went to his league communicator and contacted Batman.
"Batman a ship crash-landed on the outskirts of Smallville. There's someone inside the marking of the ship indicates it could be a Kryptonian."
"I'm aware. I'll send some leaguers to quarantine the site. Take the occupant to Mount Justice for examination."
Clark winced at that last thought he doesn't want to go to Mount Justice. He doesn't want to interact with Superboy. Before Clark could finish why he doesn't want to interact with Superboy Bruce spoke up.
"Just letting you know Superboy is currently in Central City with Kid Flash spending New Year with his family."
Clark was relieved he didn't have to interact with Superboy. Clark proceeded to rip off a section of the ship and grabbed the girl and headed to the nearest Zeta-Tube bound for Mount Justice.
Before Tornado alerted Superman of the unidentified ship heading to Smallville. He alerted Batman to the situation and the discovery of a life sign on the ship. Bruce immediately went into the Batcave changed and headed for Mount Justice. While on the mountain he prepared the medical bay for the unknown visitor that Superman will be bringing in later. Truth be told Bruce was somewhat glad that Conner wasn't in the mountain and was instead with Wally celebrating New Year. Bruce was hoping after New Years that Clark would at least acknowledge Conner in general. But all hopes of that happening were long gone. Given what Dick said about Conner asking for help since he was being blackmailed about being half human and using DNA suppressants to gain access to his full powers it has shown how far Conner has grown as a person. Conner's asking for help shows that he may not care about gaining Superman's approval or acceptance anymore. Conner has the team his friends his family he doesn't need the man of steel. After finishing his conservation with Clark Bruce requested both Hawks and Captain Marvel to quarantine the crash site and transport everything to STAR Labs.
Superman finally arrived in the cave with a semi-naked blond girl in his arms.
"Take her to the Med Bay"
Superman did as requested. Batman began examining the girl. No visible injuries but scans are needed to confirm. If what Tornado said is true the ship could have been an escape pod for the girl. Initial scans indicate she is extra-terrestrial. Her DNA is similar to that of Kryptonian. However, before the scans can complete the girl wakes up and immediately breaks her bindings and looks at batman. Before she could say anything the dark knight jumps away as her heat vision destroys the terminal Batman was using to scan her. She quickly covers her eyes and begins to float before being intercepted by Superman. Superman and the girl began to speak in Kryptonian. After a couple of minutes, they both flew down. "Her name is Kara Zor-El from Krypton she's my cousin.". He said with a grin thinking for once he wasn't alone. The moment was then interrupted when the Zeta-Tube announced the arrival of the team.
The team agreed earlier to spend some time together. Before any of them can head to the couch everyone can smell something burning. They walked over to the med bay to find it in ruins. A terminal was melted and there standing were Superman and semi-naked blond girl and Batman. Before the team asks a question Superman beats them to the punch. "Team this is my cousin Kara Zor-El from Krypton." the way Superman made his statement and with a grin made Conner and the others feel very uncomfortable and it showed. Kara began asking a couple of questions about who the people in front of her were specifically the person wearing the House of El insignia. Superman began talking in Kryptonian before being interrupted by M'Gann.
"Maybe I can help? I can link all of us mentally so that we can all understand each other."
Clark took a moment to consider the offer and accepted. While he was fluent in Kryptonian acting as a translator was going to be exhausting since he was too excited at the prospects of another Kryptonian. After a slight headache for the man of steel and the new girl. Superman began introducing everyone.
"That's Batman and this is the team they work for him."
He pointed and introduced everyone until he got to Conner.
"And this is Superboy... my clone."
When Superman finished the statement with distaste the team went silent they were gobsmacked Superman had no idea that Conner took on a name and the reference to him being nothing more than a clone was painful. Before anyone could finish a thought the new girl as the team now called her moved quickly and attacked Conner. Conner was on a wall being strangled to death the team quickly reacted by attempting to take the blond girl off of him. Everyone struggled to try to take the other Kryptonian off of Conner. Kaldur, Wally, and Robin each had a moment of Déjà vu recalling them liberating Conner from Cadmus. The only difference is the girl claims to be Superman's cousin and was more friendly compared to their first encounter with Conner. Everyone was struggling with pulling the girl off of Conner so M'gann used her telekinesis and pulled her away. Her eyes glowed red and fired heat vision at Conner. Conner screamed in pain yes he had Superman's invulnerability but it wasn't as strong as his donor. Conner's scream quickly drew everyone's attention. The girl wasn't holding back and it showed she wanted to kill him. Knowing this and hearing Conner's scream Robin quickly grabbed the lead-lined box containing Kryptonite from his hidden utility belt slide it in front of her and opened it. The heat vision stopped and the girl quickly moaned and collapsed on the ground while Conner collapsed on the floor as well. Robin closed the box he along with the team quickly ran up to Conner checking to make sure he was alright. There was a massive black bruise on his neck while his chest was bright red. The pain was so intense that it knocked Conner out. Robin examined the burn on Conner's chest and knew it was a second-degree burn. Before anyone can finish their thought Batman growled.
"Take her to your fortress now!"
Despite being exposed to some kryptonite. The man of steel still had some strength and was quickly picked by his 'cousin' and departed for the Zeta-Tube. The rest of the team meanwhile were moving Conner to one of the rooms in the Med Bay. Artemis and Robin were mainly giving orders to everyone to perform certain tasks. Before any of the tasks can occur Robin and the others also wanted to know 'why'.
"Wally you and Kaldur go with Superman to the Fortress and figure out why 'she' did what she did?"
Both the Atlantan and Speedster nodded and left for the Zeta-Tube to accompany Superman back to the fortress of solitude while Artemis, M'gann, and Robin were now dealing with the more complicated task of assisting an injured Conner who has never dealt with this amount of pain before. Robin flicked a switch and turned on full spectrum lights in the med bay to assist Conner's healing process.
"M'gann you're going to need to use your telekinesis to hold him down."
"Why?"
"M'gann we need to dress the burn. Conner's going to be in a lot of pain when we dress the burn. We need to make sure he doesn't hurt himself or anyone else. Artemis said in a serious yet somber tone.
M'gann nodded and Robin showed up with two containers of water each with white cloths inside. Robin and Artemis cleaned their hands and started dabbing the cool cloth onto Conner's chest. Conner moved slightly from the pain but was held into place by M'gann. After 15 minutes Batman walked in and checked in on Conner's condition.
"How is he?"
"He doing well we are just cooling the burn. From the look of things it has the burn has started to heal. We're just about to put a sterile pad and wrap the burn."
Batman nodded and went to one side of the bay and grabbed some sterile pads and gauze. He then removed his cape and gauntlets and assisted Artemis and Robin by dressing the burn and wrapping it. Batman left after while Artemis, M'gann, and Robin were sitting in chairs looking at Conner while engaging in mental conservation regarding their unconscious friend while Wolf laid his head on one of Conner's arms.
"Do all Kryptonians hate clones?" Artemis asked.
"Superman doesn't hate Conner he just doesn't know how to handle or deal with him. When Batman asked Superman to try to be a mentor to him he outright refused. He doesn't deserve this." Robin responded with somber.
"But in Dhbar he told me he wanted to get to know him as a person not as Superman's clone."
"M'gann he only said that to move away from the conservation."
Before M'gann could formulate a response to Artemis' comment Conner woke up. Conner groaned and winced in pain as he tried to get up.
"Conner wait you need to lie back down."
Being the hard-headed and stubborn half-Kryptonian he is Conner rejected M'Gann's notion and tried to get up again only to be rewarded with more pain from his chest forcing him to lie back down again.
"You have second-degree burns on your chest and a massive bruise you need to lie down so that they can heal."
Normally this would be the time that Conner would argue or try to get up again but he didn't. Artemis and Robin looked at Conner and noticed that he was more put down and distraught with everything that occurred. Something was wrong not physically but emotionally.
Author's Note: Two things I would like to address.
First off I hope everyone enjoyed season 4. Personally, it wasn't as brilliant as season 1 but as good as season 2. That being said I've heard the rumors regarding a 5th season. The entertainment industry is going through something and as of this moment Greg hasn't confirmed anything so more likely or not the series isn't canceled just not picked up. Personally if Young Justice was cancelled I would be alright with it since it Season 1 was the only good season in my opinion.
Second In my eyes DC doesn't acknowledge Conner that much and this is an opportunity for me to remake him in a way that makes him stand out. The reason why I chose to pair Conner with the Batfam was that Bruce showed concern during the first season of Young Justice and other reasons to follow in later chapters. He tried to get Clark to speak or do anything with Conner but outright refuses. This also allows me to take Conner in another direction thus forcing him to evolve past what he currently is on Young Justice. It should be noted in this version of Young Justice Bruce asks Clark to be a mentor to Conner, not a father so that Conner can figure out a couple of things first and then decide what he wants to do.
