Disclaimer: DC Comics owns all rights to the characters within. They are used without permission and not meant to infringe on copyrights or meant to generate income.
Solar Complications, epilogue
1.
Conner and Max were lying in their beds. Max's cot had finally been replaced by a bed (Jonathan and Martha were quite embarrassed that it had been used for so long), so their room felt a bit smaller. The two were very familiar with everything in the room because they had been forbidden to move without permission.
"If we couldn't survive without solar energy, how did you?" Conner asked his brother. "You pretty much hit empty."
"Clark and you had strained systems," Max explained. "To be deprived at that point would have been very dangerous for you. Even I didn't go completely empty; I had about half a percent of my capacity left. It was the shock of going so low that caused my body problems."
"I do thank you for saving me, but I want you to stop doing stupid stuff that puts your life in danger! You have to have some self-preservation instincts; you should listen to them."
"I was quite confident that you'd save me. I didn't consider it a risk."
"So, what can you do now? Are you powerless until you get more juice?"
"I can still hear and taste things. My telekinesis is weak right now, but it'll get stronger when I absorb more light. I'm not as low as when I was dug out from the Groups' base."
"That's good to hear."
There was a knock on the door. A moment later, Dan walked in.
"How are you feeling?" he asked. "The two of you are looking a lot better!"
"I'm pretty much back to normal," Conner responded.
"I'm fine, considering the circumstances," Max replied.
"Now, what exactly happened?" Dan asked.
"This guy poisoned the solar energy in my body," Conner explained. "It was killing me, but it got flushed out and Max infused part of his energy into me."
"Then, why are you in bed?" Dan asked Max.
"I gave up virtually all of my solar reserves to Conner and Clark," he said. "My system went into shock because of the drastic drop."
"Wait, so you nearly killed yourself to save them?"
"There was a very low chance of that happening."
"Maybe you can talk some sense into him," Conner said. "I can't get him to realize that what he did was dangerous."
"I knew it was dangerous, but that was irrelevant."
"There you go with 'irrelevant' again," Dan said. "I think you're using it when you really mean 'I don't care.' It should have some influence on your actions."
"Everything worked out in the end, so I don't see what the problem is."
Dan gave him a look before asking, "You're not supposed to move without permission, right? That's what your aunt and uncle said."
"Yes. I've been threatened with all sorts of trouble if I move."
"Good."
With that, Dan got on top of Max and proceeded to make out with him.
"Hey, get a room you two!" Conner exclaimed. "I'm right here! Wait for some privacy!"
"Look, this hasn't happened in a couple of weeks because I was dumb and got offended," Dan said. "If you think causing a bit of discomfort is going to stop me, you're underestimating my exhibitionist streak."
"The Kents could be in to check at any moment," Max warned.
"It's nothing they haven't seen before."
"You could be wrong about that," Jonathan said.
Dan got off the bed, his face red. Max, too, was blushing.
"Clark told me that he gave you boys 'the talk' already, so I don't think it'll do any good if I repeat it," Jonathan said. "Maybe it'd be better if I got Martha here to give you the 'be careful' speech instead."
"These were extenuating circumstances," Max explained. "Besides, it wasn't like we were going to go further with people watching."
"I was wondering why you guys took our relationship so well, but I guess it's easy after aliens and clones," Dan said.
2.
On Apokalyps, the mood was tense in the throne room. However, the one that should have felt this tension seemed to ignore it.
"Your plan failed," Darkseid said. "The Kryptonian and his spawn still live."
Kanto shrugged. "Inserting the wavelength into his dreams didn't go as planned. The distance and equipment altered it a bit. Still, it would have been so artistic to have had their deaths come from within."
"The next time, I shall have to use a more direct plan."
-----
As you can see, what Match considers an acceptable risk for himself is not what others would. Still, he was quite confident that Kon would be able to save him if things went as they did at the end of the previous chapter!
Any and all comments welcome!
