Hey, guys!
So... I really didn't like how the writers pretty much abandoned Jon-El's storyline, so I decided that I would fix it myself, lol.
I hope you enjoy!
Chapter One
"Maybe if my dad had talked to me the way you did, I would be on your side... But he didn't."
Jon-El ran the conversation through his head over and over. There wasn't anything else for him to do in this empty prison cell.
"You're a good kid who went down the wrong path."
It hadn't been that long since Superman had left the room in the blink of an eye, but it felt like an eternity. And though Jon-El ran the conversation through his head, he tried not to focus on the last thing that he had seen before this world's Kal-El flew away. It was impossible.
He had seen the flash of disappointment in Superman's eyes. It was the same one that had been a frequent gaze from his father back on his earth. The same one that he tried so hard to avoid, but ended up somehow earning it anyway. For some reason, it still hurt just as much from his father's doppelganger.
Jon-El sighed and leaned his back against the see-through wall of his cell. He let his body slide down until it reached the concrete floor. He hated his stupid glass cage. There was no privacy. None. He was sick and tired of feeling like a zoo attraction.
He looked up towards the yellow lights in the room. He hated those too. They burned his eyes if he looked at them, and he was beginning to notice his pale skin taking on a red tone. Similar to the sunburn he and Jordan had gotten at Uncle Tal's fortress when they were seven, long before his powers came in.
That was the worst part though. His powers were gone. The one thing that made him feel special, like he was worth something, was gone.
He closed his eyes, and sighed. He just wanted to be out of this cage. Everything would be better once he was out of this cage. Ally would fix the world, he would be able to merge with Jonathan Kent, and he would be whole.
Behind him, he heard the door open, but he didn't move to see who it was. It was most likely some guard who had come to taunt him or Superman to act all high and mighty. He wasn't interested in either of those things.
"Jonathan-El."
Jon-El stood up and turned around as quickly as he could without powers. "Ally," he said as a wave of relief rushed through him. She had come to save him. Everything would be okay now.
She walked closer and Jon-El could practically taste the freedom. Only a few more seconds, then he would be out of this prison.
When she got close enough though, Jon-El realized something. She wasn't smiling. She almost always smiled when he was around…
"What did you do?" she demanded.
Suddenly, Jon-El's mind went blank as he scrambled to find an answer. "I-I tried to merge with… with him," he stammered.
"You failed!" she yelled, causing Jon-El to flinch. Ally almost never lost her temper… And now she was mad at him.
"I trusted you with the pendant!" she said. "And now the enemy has it."
"I'm sorry," he said. His heart was beating at a million beats per second, and he could hear it pounding in his ears. She had never been angry with him before…
"I don't care about your apologies," Ally told him, then her eyes glowed a bright blue like nothing Jon-El had ever seen before.
Jon-El stepped back. "Let me make it up to you," he begged. He had no idea what her glowing eyes would do, but he knew what his and his aunt's did. He didn't want to die today. "Please."
Ally's eyes glowed brighter, then she held out her hand.
Jon-El felt the air leave his lungs as a bright glow pulsed out of her hands. It connected with him and pulled.
Jon-El gasped for air, but he couldn't. It burned so badly, more than any flame ever could. His eyes watered as he tried not to cry out.
"You are useless, Jonathan-El," Ally told him, though he could hardly hear them over the pounding in his ears.
Jon-El collapsed to the ground, and this time he couldn't stop the cry from escaping his lips. It hurt so bad… It was a blinding pain. He felt like his body was being ripped apart.
The corners of Jon-El's vision began to darken. He knew what she was doing. She was draining him of all of his energy. He wouldn't survive.
He thought that she had come to save him.
He thought that she actually cared.
He had trusted her. Killed for her.
He barely felt it when his forehead hit the hard floor of his cell. He was gonna die and it was all his fault. He should have listened to his parents…
He didn't wanna die.
It took everything in Jon-El to inhale, and when he did, it felt like his lungs were about to explode. There was someone who could help him. One person in the whole world who could save him.
He just hoped he would listen…
"Superman!" Jon-El screamed as loudly as he could.
"No one is coming to save you," Ally told him. "Especially not Superman."
Then Jon-El's eyes slipped closed, and he felt nothing.
Clark walked inside and poured himself a glass of water.
A month of being away from the farm meant that there was a lot of hard work that needed to be done. Work that couldn't just be done in a couple of seconds or even minutes.
He sat down at the table, then took off his glasses and began to massage his temples.
He couldn't shake that other world from his head. He couldn't believe who they were over there and what the secret had done to them. It had torn them apart, fractured their relationship beyond repair.
And Jon-El…
He sighed at the thought.
Seeing his son's doppelganger on the enemy's side, with powers, and murdering people without a second thought had stuck with Clark. It felt like some sort of weird nightmare still… A fever dream, perhaps. He wasn't sure.
He was just glad to be home, and back on the world where cups weren't square-shaped…
He closed his eyes and leaned his head forward. He didn't really need the rest, but he cherished the momentary silence.
Like always though, it only lasted a moment.
"Superman!"
Clark snapped to attention and dread filled his stomach. He knew that voice. He had just spent a month with that boy.
He stood up and sped towards the DoD building. The entire time, his anxiety grew stronger. There was absolutely no reason why Jon-El would need to scream like that. He was safe there.
The call hadn't been a regular shout. It had been a raw, desperate scream. Something was wrong.
He tried to hone in on Jon-El's heartbeat, but he couldn't.
So he flew faster.
It felt like ages before he got to the building, and as soon as his feet were on the ground, he ran inside.
When he reached Jon-El's cell, he could tell that something was wrong. Someone had definitely been there and all of the guards who had been surrounding it were gone.
He walked up to the cell, then gasped.
"No, no, no…" He said as he turned off all of the leftover security so he could easily get into the cell. He was too late…
He ran in and knelt beside Jon-El's body.
Jon-El's skin was gray, and what wasn't gray was covered in blue, spider web-like veins. He was barely breathing…
Clark scooped him into his arms, then flew off towards his brother's fortress. Jon-El was too young for this. He was just a kid. Clark couldn't let him die.
"You're gonna be okay," Clark told the child in his arms, though he knew it wouldn't actually help anything. Jon-El was unconscious. He wouldn't hear anything that Clark said. "Everything's gonna be alright. I promise."
He had said those words to his own children more times than he could count over the years, but he had never expected to be saying them to Jonathan's doppelganger.
Clark tightened his hold on Jon-El and tried to focus on the slow, backwards heartbeat. He needed to get him to the fortress as soon as possible.
The wind beat at Clark's cheeks as he flew faster to the fortress. He could hear Jon-El's heartbeat fading…
"Stay with me, Jonathan," Clark begged as he landed in his brother's fortress. He couldn't let Jon-El die. He didn't deserve to die…
He gently set Jon-El on the ground, then ran over to where his mother's crystal was.
He picked it up and placed it in the device where it would be activated. This had to work.
It had to.
Here's chapter one! I hope y'all enjoyed! I would love to know what you thought!
Thanks for reading!