Terrors

- - - September 14 - - -

"Good morning, Miss Turner! This is Janet Kent speaking, calling on behalf of my son Connor. He is in Mr Carr's junior class. Yes, Conner Kent, that's the one. I'm just calling to let you know that he came down with a pretty bad stomach bug last night. I took him to the doctor's first thing this morning, she said it's a bacterial gastroenteritis and that he should stay out of school at least until Friday. Conner's quite upset to miss the second week of classes, but we wouldn't want any other students to get infected, right? Yes, I got the doctor's note right here, is it all right if I email it to the secretariat, or do you need the real paper? Perfect, I'll scan it right away. Thank you so much for your understanding! It's really a shame to catch a bug this early in the school year… Oh, he's not the only one? Must be going around then, I hope the poor girl gets better soon! Anyway, please send my regards to Mr. Carr, and let's hope nobody else gets infected! Thank you, and have a good day, Miss Turner!"

Mary hung up the phone.

Conner, a good old English name. Superboy had chosen well.

According to his school register, Conner Kent was living in Happy Harbor with his single Mom, Janet, whom Mary had his permission to impersonate for phone calls such as this one. If anyone asked, Janet was originally from London – to explain Mary's British accent – but had raised her son in Washington, DC, before recently moving to the coast. She was supposedly working as a data analyst. Conner didn't expect anybody to ask which company employed her.

Miss Martian had crafted a more detailed backstory for her human identity, Megan Morse. For official purposes, J'onn would impersonate her alleged father, Mark Morse, an author of science fiction novels who had recently moved to Happy Harbor from Chicago.

Of course Superboy and Megan were not actually ill. They were about to embark on an undercover mission to the Belle Reve prison facility to investigate a potential conspiracy among the inmates, while impersonating the so-called Terror Twins.

Earlier this morning, Batman had located Tommy and Tuppence Terror in New Orleans, immediately setting the pre-discussed plan into motion. If all went well, Superman, J'onn and Red Tornado would apprehend the super-powered siblings later this afternoon, preferably after a rather public show-down, at a location where Megan and Conner would already be waiting to take their places.

Mary pocketed Janet Kent's mobile phone and went to join the two teens in the common area, where Black Canary was currently giving Conner's freshly died blond hair a side cut to perfect his Tommy Terror disguise. At Conner's side, the Sphere was blinking attentively.

"The Happy Harbor High secretariat is informed that Conner and Megan will be missing for a few days", she announced.

Megan winced. "I just hope they won't kick me off the cheerleading squad for missing the second week of practice…"

Mary shot her a sympathetic look. For the young Martian's sake, she really hoped that the two team mates would be able to gather the desired intel within just one week, instead of having to prolong the mission and their alleged sick leave even further. Megan had been absolutely elated about joining the Bumblebees.

"Why don't you call that new friend of yours, what was her name, Wendy?", Mary proposed. "Just ask her to explain to the others why you're absent."

The Martian jumped out of her chair immediately "Hello, Megan! I should have thought of that myself. She's in all of our classes, she could also tell us what kind of homework we're missing… I'll make the call right now!" She flew out of the room.

"Don't forget to sound ill, you have gastroenteritis", Mary called after her.

Leaning back against the counter, she watched Dinah style Superboy's hair.

She still felt uneasy at the thought of sending the two teens to a prison full of hardened supervillains, all on their own. Earlier this morning, when J'onn had contacted her to coordinate their high school excuses, she had voiced her concerns. He had promised to always stay within Megan's telepathic reach during their time in Belle Reve. If the ordeal proved too much for either of the two young heroes, he would step in and call off the assignment.

He was the only one of the team's mentors who could easily enter the prison facility on a short notice, by simply ghosting through its walls.

She hoped it would not have to come to this.

"There, all done!" Black Canary applied one last whisk of hairspray, then stepped back to regard her creation with a satisfied grin. "One supervillain haircut, ready to go."

Connor picked up a handheld mirror to examine his new appearance.

The sphere rolled around him, beeping disapprovingly.

"She's right, I don't look like myself at all." Conner frowned. "What's next?"

"All you have left to do is change into your Terror clothes, baggy black pants and a white t-shirt. As soon as Aqualad arrives, you three and Martian Manhunter take the bioship to Louisiana. You should arrive with a bit of time to spare before the big show-down."

The sphere beeped again, moving even closer to Conner. Mary couldn't hide a smile.

"Take the Sphere too, if you want", Dinah conceded. "But she has to stay in the ship, we won't fish her out of the Mississippi if she tries following you all the way to Belle Reve."

"She'll behave", Conner promised.

Dinah turned towards Mary. "Meanwhile, we are going to do our dear friend Cat Grant a favour."

"The TV reporter?"

"That's the one. She's always covering League activities quite positively. We'll drop her a hint that she might want to have a mobile camera team in western New Orleans this afternoon. It always pays off to be on good terms with the press…"

"We're in position", Conner announced.

It was 2:42 pm local time, still more than two hours before the time slot Batman had deemed most suitable for apprehending the Terror twins in the industrial outskirts of New Orleans. Martian Manhunter, Aqualad and Sphere had stayed in the Bio-Ship for areal surveillance, while he and Megan had been dropped off to take up their post at their designated hiding place.

They could have informed Superman of their arrival at the derelict warehouse via the League communicators, or through Megan's telepathy.

Instead, Conner had simply said it out loud.

Super-hearing was a very versatile power. At the headquarter, Conner usually toned it down to a minimum, so that he would only hear conversations from within the cave itself.

His maximum range for discerning spoken words was about a mile in a city, much farther in quiet regions such as the Bialyan desert.

Hence he knew that Superman could hear him.

"Do you copy?", Conner demanded to know.

It was time for a confrontation.

"Affirmative." One word, clearly discernible above the sea of urban noises.

He would recognize that voice anywhere. It was only a little deeper than his own.

"We need to talk", Conner stated.

Next to him, Megan gently touched his hand, offering support.

He smiled, but shook his head. This was his task alone.

"We do", Superman agreed.

Conner swallowed. Now what?

So many questions.

So many expectations.

So many ways this could go terribly wrong, like all their previous encounters had.

How to start a conversation with someone you don't really know at all?

Well, he had learned that lesson on his very first day in the cave.

"Greetings", Conner said.

For a second, silence.

"Greetings", Superman replied.

"My name is Conner."

Silence, again.

"My name is Kal-El", Superman revealed. "My Kryptonian name."

That seemed like a safe topic to start with. "What was it like? Krypton?"

No reply.

Conner felt anger welling up in him. Megan squeezed his hand, but even her presence failed to calm him. "Why don't you answer?", he practically shouted.

"Because I'm scared, okay?", the Man of Steel yelled back.

Conner froze.

That was completely unexpected.

"Why?", he asked.

"Listen, Conner, I would love to tell you about Krypton, okay? There is nothing I would rather do! I've been hoping to find another Kryptonian all my life! But how do I know if it's safe?"

This time, it was Conner who stayed silent, baffled by the revelation.

"You have no idea what kind of temptation you are to me", Superman continued, his voice softer now. "But I fear that this was exactly what they intended. Krypton held wisdom, technologies, wonders far beyond human scientific advances. I am the guardians of all that remains of these secrets. I would love to share them with you, but you were created by our enemies! You could be a bait, a lure, Conner, even unknowingly. Who knows how they attempt to track you, how they plan to gain access to your memories again in the future, to use you to access the secrets of Krypton that I have sworn to protect?"

It took Conner a moment to process this.

"I don't really think that's likely", he finally replied.

"How would you know?"

"Well, they did prepare me to fight you. That's not really conductive to winning your trust."

Superman didn't even hesitate. "They would have known I'd forgive that."

Connors throat went dry. That was… good to know.

"Um, I also wasn't programmed with a preference to find out more about Krypton", he continued. "I don't actually care all that much about your secrets."

"You just asked about them!"

"I thought it would be a less controversial topic!"

Silence.

"Less controversial than what?", Superman enquired.

"Than asking about you. About us", Conner admitted. "Look, can't we talk a couple of things through without you revealing any Kryptonian secrets?"

"Well… Yes, I suppose?"

Okay. He glanced at Megan. She smiled at him reassuringly.

"That entire bait thing… Does that mean you don't actually hate me?"

"What? Of course I don't hate you!" He sounded almost indignant.

"How am I supposed to know that?", Conner shot back.

Silence. Then a soft rushing sound, approaching the old warehouse's half-collapsed roof.

Superman landed right in the middle of the abandoned building. His red cape billowed behind him. On his chest, he proudly bore his red-and-yellow emblem.

Superboy was acutely aware of the fact that he had already changed into his Tommy Terror disguise, that his hair looked blond and stupid, that the insignia on his own chest was missing painfully.

Still, here they were. The two clones regarded each other, two pairs of piercing blue eyes locked with their counterpart.

"Let's start over, shall we?", Superman proposed.

He extended his hand.

Superboy took it in a firm, strong handshake.

"Greetings", he repeated. "My name is Conner Kent."

Superman flinched away like he had touched Kryptonite.

"You too?" There was a strange desperation in his voice. "Please don't tell me you want me to act like your father, too?"

"What, why? No!"

"But… your name…"

"What's wrong with my name?"

Superman shook his head in confusion. "My civilian name is Clark Kent", he explained.

Superboy's eyes grew wide. "I swear I didn't know that!"

"My uncle and Red Tornado suggested that surname", Megan chimed in.

Superman seemed to notice her for the first time. "Greetings, Miss Martian. I apologize. Um, my civilian identity is actually strictly classified…"

She nodded with a smile. "I wont say a word."

"I appreciate that." He turned back towards Conner. "Now, then, what would you want us to be?"

"I want to be able to talk to you", Conner replied sharply. "I don't care about family relations. Cloning is weird, okay?"

The other looked both conflicted and relieved. "We do share the same blood..."

"Not entirely."

That seemed to startle him. Conner had been quite shocked, too, when Batman and Mary had explained their findings a few days ago.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not completely Kryptonian. They ran a medical diagnostic on me last week. Apparently, parts of my genome were filled in with human DNA."

"You're partly human? Why? Whose DNA did they use?"

"How would I know?"

He had asked Batman to confirm it was not Doctor Desmond's. That had to be enough.

Conner knew that some of the other genomorphs had dozens of different creatures in their blood – G-elves combined traits from wolverines, lynx and morray eels, among many others. Yet that didn't make them animals.

"I don't care where my blood comes from, okay? I just have some questions."

After a long moment, Superman nodded carefully. "What kind of questions?"

Where to start?

"Flight. How does it work?"

Was he truly unable to fly, lacking whatever gene was required, or had he simply not mastered the skill?

"Oh, that kind." Superman shook his head, as if to clear it. "You really don't care about Krypton's secrets? You were so insistent to talk to me, I just assumed…"

"No."

For a moment, Superman just stared at him, as if searching for something in that all-too-familiar face. Then he dropped his eyes. "In that case, I must apologize to you, Conner. I was wrong to evade you for over two months."

Conner swallowed hard. What was supposed to reply to that?

"So, about that flying power?", he repeated.

Superman shook his head sadly. "It's a passive skill I've had as long as I can remember, there is no specific trigger. If I step off a building, gravitational pull is immediately negated by some kind of anti-gravitational acceleration that nobody from the League has fully figured out yet. I don't fall, unless I consciously choose to do so. All I have to do to activate flying mode is to jump off the ground or step over a ledge. It switches on right away, and I can control velocity and direction intuitively. I'm sorry."

Conner had jumped and fallen and been thrown around often enough in the previous months.

No flight power had ever been triggered.

"What about heat rays?"

Superman scratched his scalp. "I got that power when I was a teenager – you know I grew up on Earth, right? I almost set our farm on fire a couple of times."

Conner had not expected the other to share personal details. Well, he had not expected much to come out of this confrontation at all. Still, it almost seemed as if Superman was trying to make up for his former absence by opening up so far.

"You do have infrared vision, right?", Superman enquired.

Superboy nodded.

"You know how that option is always kind of hovering at the side of your peripheral vision, how you only have to refocus your eyes to see temperature differences instead of colours?"

He nodded again.

Superman grimaced. "Now, for me, the heat rays are just another option like that – which doesn't make any sense scientifically, but it's still the case. It's very easy to accidentally activate them, when all I want is to get a better look at something, just because I focussed my eyes the wrong way… It's quite impractical! The only upside of having the radiation source directly connected to my eyes is that it makes accurate targeting a piece of cake. However, it was a pain to learn to control that power."

"How did you do it?"

"After a few unintentional house fires, my father – well, my human foster father – made glasses for me with a fine mesh of wires in front of my eyes. Whenever I accidentally triggered the heat rays, the wires would heat up first, and that would be disturbing enough to stop me from setting anything else on fire. I wore those glasses for over two months – that was during summer break, fortunately – until I finally got the hang of it."

So maybe missing heat rays really that wasn't much of a loss, Conner reflected.

"Talking about control…" he hesitated. This was the most important issue.

Megan was standing right behind him. That made it easier.

"You fight humans. How do you not hurt them?"

"Well, first of all, I try to avoid violence whenever possible. A physical fight is always the last resort, most conflicts can be settled peacefully. Just last week, the League…"

Conner interrupted. "When you're in a fight. When you're angry. How do you not break them?"

This time, Superman seemed to understand.

"I do my best not to get angry", he started, hesitantly. "However, you are right, it cannot always be avoided. I try to to take precautions against such eventualities. For example, I always adjust my strength to an appropriate level before the fight begins – to be just a bit stronger than my opponent. Strength adjustment is a conscious process, right? I figure that if I ever… If I ever lost it, ever wanted to... crush somebody' skull in the heat of a moment, I would not be able to do so until I took a split-second to focus and dial the power further up – there is no instinct for that, it would have to be a conscious decision, and that focus might help me stop, reconsider…" He trailed off.

Conner stepped forward, closing the distance between them. "How do you adjust it? Your strength?"

Superman's eyes widened. "Surely you have done that before?"

"I'm not sure", Conner admitted. "How does it work?"

Superman frowned. "Let's see... Do you know how to tune down your super-hearing?"

"Yeah."

"It's similar, just that you don't focus on your ears but on your entire body instead."

Conner tried to feel for a 'dial' like that inside him, but it eluded him.

"I think I do have some restraints", he explained. "I know, somehow, that I've never hit anything with all my strength, even when I was angry in a fight. I should be able to level Mount Justice if I did. But when I'm training, sparring, I have to consciously hold back every punch." He glanced at Megan. "That's why I only spar with Aqualad."

Superman placed his firm hand on Conner's shoulder. "That's pretty impressive, actually. The last time I forgot to tune my strength back down after a confrontation, I ended up ripping the door knob off my own front door. And yet I hear you've learned to handle raw eggs despite your power…"

Conner shrugged dismissively, but felt himself smile.

"I would like to help you figure out your strength adjustments", Superman offered, his hand still resting on Conner's shoulder. "After this mission, maybe we could meet up again?"

Conner met his eyes, feeling the tension between them finally abating.

"I would like that", he replied.

For a moment, they just looked into each others eyes silently – those familiar bright blue eyes.

Then Superman lowered his hand awkwardly.

"I also have a few questions to you", he admitted.

"What kind?"

"You said you should be able to level Mount Justice. And Black Canary mentioned that you knew her name, when you first met her, right after you'd been freed. Cadmus provided you with information about the League, its members and their powers, is that right?"

Conner nodded.

"I would like to hear what they taught you. We still don't know who was behind that whole Cadmus project, except that they're our enemies. It could be valuable to learn how well they know us."

"They might not have taught me everything", Conner cautioned.

"True, and they might even have planted false information deliberately. But if they did teach you any true secrets, classified information that we thought was secure, then we need to be aware of that. There is even a chance that the type of information they have given you will let us know who their informants are, and potentially help us identify the true actors behind this."

Conner nodded grimly. "Do you have any clues who they might be, though? How they have gotten a sample of your DNA in the first place?"

"All I know is that somebody poured a lot of money into that Cadmus facility, and that they seem to have focussed their efforts on me, in contrast to other members of the League. The obvious assumption is that Lex Luthor is somehow involved. It might even be his human DNA they used for, well..."

Conner's eyes narrowed. "What if they did?"

Superman squirmed under his scrutinizing gaze. "It's an awkward thought, but as you said, cloning is weird… In any case, I would advise you to stay away from him. His genes might be fine, he's a smart and healthy man, but Luther's behaviour is ruthless. I beg you not to let him influence you, not to listen to him at all if he ever approaches you. He can be highly persuasive, but his morals are fundamentally flawed..."

"Um, yeah, obviously? Why would I even want to listen to Luthor? It's not like I've got a lack of people to learn human skills from."

Superman accepted the blow with a weak smile. "I do apologize, again, for my absence. I really am looking forward to spending more time with you. Maybe we could..."

He broke off, looking up through the warehouse's broken roof with a frown. "J'onn has just contacted me, the Terror Twins have returned to their lair near the harbour. I should probably get back into position, just in case…" He hesitated.

"We'll talk again when Megan and I get out of prison", Conner promised.

Superman nodded gratefully, then raised an eyebrow. "If I ever do introduce you to my human parents, would you please not mention that the first time we had a proper conversation, it ended with you being sent to jail?"

There was a hint of humour in his plea.

Superboy grinned. "I'll see what I can do..."

Author's note:

This confrontation was long overdue. I hope you like my explanation for Superman's absence - we never really got one in the show... Please review and tell me what you think!

On a side note: Yes, calling high school teachers is only a first step for Mary - Black Canary is slowly training her to take over as the League's new press officer eventually. I actually had a whole dialogue planned out between her and Cat Grant at some point, but scrapped it again since it didn't really move the story forward. However, with Cat from Gotham and Wally's mom (Iris Allen-West) in Star City and Lois Lane in Metropolis, the League does have some really great media contacts, and I'm sure Mary will get along just fine with them.

Six years from now, when the world is suddenly threatened by alien doomsday devices strewn across the globe, the entire League and the young team and their allies will all rush out to destroy them. Mary will remain behind at the Watchtower to support communications, keeping the media and the public informed about the severe threat to the Earth's magnetic field, listing all twenty known locations.

Within moments after her announcement, Cat or Iris or Lois will receive a call from a concerned citizen scientist far out North, pointing out that perhaps their scans might have overlooked a twenty-first device. They'll alert Mary, who in turn will alert the League in time.

Anything else would be unthinkable, really.