A Shining Beacon
'OMG Superman has a kid?! #Superboy'
'If there's a #Superboy and #Superman, and a #Superog, is there a #Superwoman ? Or girl? Or both?'
'Well I guess #Superman is a DILF now.'
'Is #Superboy a clone? I mean he looks JUST like his dad. Is there anything he has of his mom?'
'I just saw #Superboy jumping over my roof! Fly much? lol'
è 'Can he fly?'
'#Superboy looks like he got his costume from a second hand store'
è 'Easy to cosplay at least! :)
'Why does #Superman even have a kid?! I liked him better when he was the only one!'
'10 women who could be #Superboy's mom! Click below to see! Number 1 will surprise you!'
è 'Eh, it's not really shocking.'
'I loved the part where #Superboy and his dad shared that look on stage, he was so nervous but his dad gave him that smile. #Superdad is best dad.'
'The thought of #Superman, the symbol of truth, justice, and freedom, tying himself down to some woman and having a kid, is completely against what he's entirely about-'
'Is it just me, or is #Superboy kinda hot tho?'
'No you don't get it! He's a new #Superman for our time! The old one is too much of a stupid boy scout, stop trying to push your own ideas on me.'
è 'Dude, he smiled, waved, and said it's 'Nice to meet everyone.' I don't think the apple falls too far from the tree here.'
'Question: How can #Superboy even exist? I mean…..unless there's a Superwoman would he just…...'
'Hoping #Superboy will actually do stuff to help unlike his old man, like get rid of the faunus.'
'If #Superman was hiding a kid from us, what else could he hiding?'
'OMG OMG His little 'Hi'?! It was the cutest thing ever!'
'So what your saying is…..one more year and he's legal?'
Jon scrolled through the social media posts on his scroll with a confused look, "Ok this is….wow." he said as his mom set the Mac and Cheese bowl down in the middle of the table. He had made his debut to the world as Superboy two months ago now, and suffice to say he was now the center of attention for the entire planet. Which was….admittedly intimidating for him, "And I like my costume, I made it myself….well….sorta." he said with a shrug before pocketing his device while his mom sat down across from him at the table with an amused expression.
"I like it." she said supportively, "And yeah, the exposure can be a little much, but me and your father are both here to help you with it." she assured. Jon smiled at his mom's assurances before taking the wooden spoon and getting some of the food for himself. True to his word, he had been speeding over to Vale and taking care of accidents and small level disasters, from auto accidents, to building fires, and even some wayward construction equipment.
He couldn't lie, it was pretty could to swing a wrecking ball around, looking over to the empty seat at their table he swallowed before asking, "Where's dad? Emergency?" he asked.
Lois shook her head, "No, nothing like that. He just needed to talk with some people." she explained vaguely. Jon's brow raised suspiciously at her lack of an answer.
"About me?" he guessed. "I mean, it's kind of what everyone is talking about." he pointed out.
His mother looked down at her bowl, "Well Jon….when your father first revealed himself to both here, and Earth, there were some people in power who didn't feel comfortable with him." she explained carefully. The skepticism of Clark wasn't as bad on Remnant as it was on Earth due to the far fewer government bodies, but there were still a number of people who didn't completely trust the man of steel.
Jon slowly nodded, "Ok….I guess I can see why with how strong dad is." he reasoned. He knew that Atlas in particular, being a military focused Kingdom, prided itself on it's technological advancements and weapons so they were wary of his dad.
"And revealing you to the world well…..it might have made things a little tese with certain people." Lois said before waving it off, "But don't worry about it, you have your entrance exam into Beacon in two weeks. And we still need to work on your disguise." she responded with a playful tone. Her son tiredly sighed, with his face being broadcast on the internet 24/7 since his debut, the remaining time until Beacon was spent developing his disguise that he would use for his huntsmen studies.
He rubbed his throat as he thought of it, "How does dad keep that up for YEARS?" he asked.
Lois chuckled, "I asked myself the same question after he finally told me." she said, recalling how after he told her the truth, she would notice the lengths he would go to in order to keep up his disguise. "You'll get used to it though, hard part will be keeping it up around the people your teamed up with." she explained. Jon pursed his lips together at that eventuality, it was no secret that huntsmen and huntresses were put on teams for their education. So it meant that he'd need to keep his secret while living with three other people for four years.
It was gonna be hard, but his parents were confident that he could do it.
"Thank you for meeting me." Superman said gratefully to the headmaster of Beacon as he descended from the sky onto the balcony of Ozpin's office. "I know with the school year starting up you must be very busy." he said as he lifted his hand to shake, which Ozpin politely did.
"Nothing I can't handle. And I've had some more pressing responsibilities to attend to if I'm being honest." he said, casting a quick glance to the city of Vale in the distance as the sun was just beginning to set. Turning to Superman he offered a knowing smile, "Though, given your recent announcement, I can imagine you haven't been as busy with Vale." he said lightheartedly.
Superman smiled at him sheepishly, "He's been handling some small stuff, but he's been doing well." he said happily before his expression turned more serious. "I hope you understand why I didn't mention him when we first met." he said as he and Ozpin walked into his office of the headmaster.
Ozpin solemnly nodded, "I understand…..children are….." he began with a distant look before shaking his head, "Well you would hardly be the first father to want to protect their child. And given your circumstances? Even more so." he said understandingly. Clark noticed the way the headmaster had gone into himself but didn't pry into it, the headmaster walked to his desk while the alien stood in front of it, "You should know that James was upset by the news being made publicly first." he warned lightly.
The hero let out a small sigh, when he first met Ozpin he was wary of him due to how well informed he was of him in such a short time. However over time it became clear that he was simply very observant. General Ironwood of the Atlas military however was more in line with what he expected Ozpin to be, in fact he reminded Clark more of his father-in-law. Overly defensive if his forces and what they defended, but ultimately having good intentions, and to his credit, Ironwood hadn't tried to kill him…yet.
"I've told James a number of times that I'm more then willing to work alongside him, but I don't intend to work FOR him." he stated firmly as he crossed his arms.
Ozpin nodded, "And I will try to remind him as such, but in the meantime, I recommend not starting anything with him." he said calmly and with an hint of amusement in his voice. "Leo on the other hand is actually thrilled to have him around, and Theodore sends his regards and invites the young man to attend Shade if he so wishes." he said in amusement.
Let out a Chuckle, the other headmasters were very kind people, Leo was admittedly somewhat skittish around him at first but he quickly warmed up to him, Theodore was….excitable. But when the situation called for it he could be serious, "Well I'm at least glad that most of you are welcoming of him."
Ozpin sat down at his desk and folded his hands together, "Quite. Though I do hope that next time you have an announcement like this, you'll at least give us some form of a warning?" he asked good naturedly. Superman smiled as the headmaster continued, "Now then, I'm actually glad you dropped by, I was hoping you might have a moment to look into something for me." he explained as he tapped the keyboard on his desk.
Jon was always somewhat skeptical about how his dad disguised himself seemingly with a pair of glasses and nothing more. It wasn't as though they were technologically special and changed his face enough that no one would recognize him as Superman. In fact there were a few times someone would mention to his dad that he looks just like Superman. Which Clark would simply laugh off in amusement, and for a while it completely baffled Jon, until he started putting together his own disguise.
For the longest time his glasses he wore were mainly a safety precaution, in case his heat vision ever activated, they could stop him from using it and accidently hurting someone. But now they were part of an actual disguise that hid his identity. The point wasn't that they changed his face or anything, the most they did was somewhat mute how bright his eyes were, instead the goal of the glasses were simple. Superboy didn't wear them.
Superboy also didn't have a slight slouch, or didn't have as high a voice as Jon did. Both of which were honestly really annoying to pull off since he constantly had to keep those in mind when out in public in his civilian guise. As well, he could only use a portion of his strength while as Jonathan Kent, and not his super speed, or the other powers he would develop. Which would be a challenge of their own, but right now it was manageable.
Well if dad has to do it, I can too. he decided as he leapt across Vale, his foot landing on a rooftop before launching himself off with his cape flowing behind him. Below him on the streets there was a man running with a gun in his hand and a bag in the other. Landing in front of him, the man skidded to a halt, Superboy giving him an unimpressed look, "Pal, I don't think anyone would give you crap if you just gave up." he said. The mugger raised his weapon but Jon's hand lifted in front of the gun as it fired, the bullet hitting his palm.
Jon quickly swiped the gun from his hands and crushed it in his palm, the mugger looked at him in disbelief. "Look, just turn yourself in. Spare yourself some trouble?" he asked. The man seemed to consider the option….for about two seconds before turning around, before he could run off, Jon grabbed him by the back of his shirt and lifted him up.
"Hey! Let me go!" he exclaimed as he tried to wiggle free of the teenager's grasp, held only a foot off the ground, he swung the purse in his clutches back to try and knock the teen off balance, but his other hand caught the bag and pulled it free of his grasp.
"Alright, let's go." he said as he begun to carry the man with one hand back the way he came, the people around watching the sight in fascination, a few pulling their scrolls out to record video of Superboy stopping a mugging.
"Go?! Go where?" the mugger asked as he continued to trash in Superboy's grip as he carried him down the sidewalk.
"To apologize to the lady you stole this from." Jon replied, smiling a little as he saw the man's face turn to him with a gob smacked expression. Walking around the corner, he saw the older woman on her scroll and the man was struggling more as he approached her. When she saw them, she stopped talking and stared in disbelief at the sight of the Half-Kryptonian carrying the man who took her purse towards her. "Ma'am, does this belong to you?" he asked, has he turned the man away towards the street while his other hand offered her bag.
The woman nodded and took the bag, "Th-Thank you so much Superboy!" she said gratefully as she opened the flap and checked to make sure the contents were still inside.
Jon swung the man to face her, "You have something you want to say?" he asked, the would be robber's face burning red with embarrassment. "Pal I can either keep holding you like this until the police arrive, or I can set you down and make sure you don't go anywhere. Your choice." Superboy added amusingly. The man looked at him indignantly, he looked away from both of them and mumbled something out, "What was that?"
"…..I'm…..sorry for stealing your purse…..now let me down!" he demanded of the Superboy. Jon complied and let him down so his feet touched the ground, but still kept a firm grip on him to be safe.
When the police arrived in their car, the officers were pleasantly surprised to fid Superboy holding down the situation for them. Thanking them for their time, Superboy leapt away, landing on a rooftop a block away before leaping further away, Ok, good job. Stopped a mugger without having to hit him. he praised himself, landing on a rooftop's edge, the awning he landed on cracking from the impact and making him frown. Still need to practice my landings…..or you know, get to flying. he thought as he looked down and saw a dust shop on the side of the road called 'From Dust Till Dawn'.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the watch his dad had given him and checked the time, it was 9:00 p.m. and the sun was already down. And while he didn't NEED to eat food, Jon wouldn't mind a snack or something. Unzipping his jacket, he pulled his glasses out of his inner pocket and took off his shirt to the white long sleeve with red arms he wore underneath it. Dropping down into the alley beside the building he was on top of, he took a moment to get into his disguise.
"Ok, stand up not totally straight." he said, letting his shoulders slouch forward a little bit. "Voice is a little higher *ahem*, Four score, and seven years ago….four score….four score-" he snapped his fingers when he got the right pitch. "Got it." he said happily as he tucked his jacket under his arm and walked across the street, making sure that his cape was folded into his jacket and folded against his side so that the 'S' wasn't visible.
Walking into the shop, the old man at the counter looked up and gave him a mall wave in greeting which Jon returned. Waking down the isle, he looked over the various forms of treats he could buy with his money. As he looked at a bag of chips, he heard the door open with a chime and a number of footsteps enter, glancing to the register, he did a double take when he saw a small group of men dressed just like the one guy that forced him to make his public debut enter behind a man in a white coat with a bowler hat and cane.
"Do you have any idea it is to find a dust shop open this late?" the man in the front said as he crossed his arms in front of his chest, the man beside him raising his pistol at the face of the old man manning the shop. Jon slowly started to back away towards the opposite end of the store.
Alright, Dust Shop robbery, this looks like a job for Superb-he began as he turned, his hand on his glasses before turning to see a familiar girl in her red hood looking at a comic book in front of a rack. Crap. Jon thought, his plan of changing in the back of the store very much shot with someone back here.
"Hey! You two!" a voice said.
Jon turned to see one of the men draw a sword with a red blade and point it at them, Oh double crap. he thought to himself as he raised his hands, his jacket dropping down at his feet. The red cloaked girl not doing so, Jon cast a worried glance back at her as the robber with the sword grew agitated and approached her.
"I said hands in the air! You got a death wish or something?" he asked as he grabbed her shoulder and turned the girl around, her hood falling down and showing she was wearing a pair of headphones.
Jon nearly slapped himself, Oh smooth Superboy. Really smooth. he thought, realizing he could have changed.
The thug pointed at his ear to make her understand, and she pulled them down, "Yes?" she asked, before noticing Jon, "Oh hey! You! Forest boy!" she said excitedly.
"Um….it's Jon." he re-introduced before tilting his head to the man.
"I said, hands in the air!" the robber said, growing more frustrated.
Ruby tilted her head, "Wait. Are you….robbing me?" she asked.
The man in the suit had a vein start to appear on his forehead, "Yes!" he confirmed.
"Ooooooooh." she said in understanding. She turned to Jon, "You want him or should I?"
Jon looked at her with confusion before realizing what she meant, she knew him as a huntsmen in training! "Oh….sure." he decided, his hand shooting into the man's chest and knocking him down the isle and into a display of soda cans. He turned to Ruby and she gave him a smile, "Kind of got caught up in the moment there." he admitted, rubbing the back of his head as another one of the men ran down the isle, this one with a gun he pointed at them.
"Freeze!" he ordered before Ruby burst forward and slammed both her feet into his chest, carrying them both out the window of the shop. As the group of four men rushed to the window, Jon leaned down and scoopedhis jacket up off the ground. Rushing out the emergency exit in the back of the store, he tossed his glasses aside and threw his jacket on and zipped it up before running through the alley at super speed, around the croner and pivoting on his foot at the street corner as at two of the men charged at Ruby, who was now wielding a giant red and black scythe that she planted on the ground to swing her feet into the face of another. As she landed and readied to swing the blunt end of her weapon into the other, before a red and blue blur shot into him and knocked him down the street.
Ruby was then staring at the back of a cape with a golden shield with a 'S' in the center of it.
The man in the bowler hat groaned, "Oh perfect." he said with a sarcastic eye roll as Superboy stood between him and the cloaked girl.
The one remaining henchmen raised his weapon and fired at the teen, the bullets hitting him square in the chest but only feeling like hard taps to him. Walking forward, Jon heard the gun click empty as the approached the man. Grabbing it, he once more crushed it within his grasp before tossing it aside, "I really recommend surrendering." he said to the man with a smirk.
The henchmen bolted away, his hat flying off t how fast he ran while the ringleader shook his head, "Worth every cent, this is what you get for not playing for top level help." he admitted. Jon turned to him and got a much better look at the man's face, he had ginger colroed hair what was short but swept back over one of his eyes, he also had a cane in his hand that seemed to have some sort of design on the end of it in the shape of a jack o lantern. "You know it was plain annoying to deal with your old man, but now that your around? Well hopefully your just as predictable." he said before raising his cane and aiming at Ruby.
Jon saw the end flip up to show a scope, Jon quickly saw what it actually was and jumped over in front of Ruby as it fired, the cloaked girl swinging her scythe to point down before pulling the trigger and shooting herself into the air as Superboy was blasted by an small explosive that shot out of Roman's cane, that sent him hurdling across the street and down the road. Roman chuckled, "Yep! Just as predictable." he said before running away.
Jon hit the pavement and rolled across the ground before sliding to a stop, pushing himself up from the ground he looked down the road to see Roman disappear around the corner as Ruby landed safely. Ugh. Note to self, not everyone is as helpless as I think. he picked himself off the ground and sped ddown the street to where Ruby was, the hooded girl letting out an 'eep!' at his sudden reappearance. "Are you ok?" he asked.
Ruby nodded, "Yeah! Yeah I'm fine but he's getting away!" she said, pointing to where Roman was climbing up the side of a building by a utility ladder. Jon launched up from the ground, Ruby rushing across the road before using the recoil of her rifle to shoot her way up the building. Roman rushed across the rooftop, only for Jon to land right in front of him, and Ruby to his back.
The man smirked at the sight of Superboy with his chest having a large charred mark across it, "Guess you're not as though as your pops." he said before quickly aiming his cane and firing. Superboy raised his hands and caught the explosive, making him slide back across the roof towards the ledge as Ruby rushed the man from behind, her scythe swing but he blocked it with his cane, parrying her blow and kicking her away as Jon shook his hands of the light burns.
Before he could rush forward to aid Ruby, the sound of an engine behind him made him turn around to see a airship fly up from behind the building! Before he could act, Roman fired another hot at Jon, blasting him off the building and clipping the rooftop of another before crashing into a set of power lines and alley between buildings. Sparks exploded as the lines were ripped from their place and the lights of the neary buildings flickered.
Jon groaned as he once again picked himself up, hissing as he was shocked from one of the electrical lines. Looking up he saw the criminal step up into the waiting craft and it begin to take off. Roman fired a few shots at the rooftop, the explosion rocking the neighborhood as Jon got to his feet and the ship began to pull away. Crap I need to stop it! But how do I- he thought before looking at the power line around him, "Wait! That's it!" he realized before grabbing the line and pulling the other end off the tower.
He reeled the line of cables in as debries from the rooftop slammed into the side of the airship like a spear, "Wow….focus!" he berated himself as he took the one end of the cable and began twisting it around itself before tying it off into a snare. "And who ever said that being a boy scout was a bad thing?" he asked himself with a smirk.
Leaping up from the alleyway, he saw that Ruby was no longer alone, alongside her on the rooftop was a older woman with her blonde hair tied back not a bun, a pair of glasses covering her emerald eyes with what looked like a riding crop in her hand. She wore a white blouse with a black cape that had violet on the underside with a stylized end. Landing in front of them, he turned to the ship to see that Roman wasn't the one firing at them, on the side of the airship door had slid open and inside covered in shadows was what he thought was a woman.
Grabbing the snare he whirled it around like a lasso before letting it fly and tied around the upright turbine on the wing. The cable tightened and encased the part of the wing, reaching out, he grabbed further onto his line and with a powerful pull, yanked the airship down towards them. The passenger grabbed the side to keep herself from falling out as it was pulled closer towards the building, raising her hand ad burst of fire shot right at Superboy, nailing him in the chest.
And for the first time in his life, Jon yelled in pain.
Clutching his chest, he gritted his teeth as he held his burned chest, What…what was that?! he thought painfully as the airship flew away. His chest stung badlyt, bullets felt like a tap to the chest, this felt like air that came from an overn hitting him square in the chest but a hundred times worse!
"Superboy? Are you…ok?" a somewhat concerned voice asked. Jon pushed himself up from the ground and looked up to see Ruby's silver yes looking at him with worry. However taking a breath, he hoisted himself up onto his feet, putting on a smile as he did.
"I am, thank you for the concern though. Sorry I couldn't be of more use earlier." he apologized before turning to the other woman who was looking at him, her arms crossed and her eyes looking at him inquiringly. "Um, hi! Thank you for your help back there!" he said, not entirely comfortable under the woman's eyes.
Ruby suddenly gasped as she realized who she was, "You're a huntress! Can I have your autograph!?" she asked excitedly.
Jon snorted but the woman seemed less then amused, "I'm Glynda Goodwitch of Beacon Academy. You young lady should come with me. As for you-" she snapped her head to Jon who stiffened at attention. "I believe you have someone else you should see." she said, Ruby's head sinking a little as she followed after Glynda. She looked back to see Jon wave goodbye to her before jumping away.
Jumping across the kingdom, Jon landed on a rooftop a to rest on, the pain he felt on his chest burning still as he sat down. "Man, that was…painful." he said, unzipping his jacket and pulling up his shirt to see a burn on his chest. "What he hell?" he asked.
After getting back home, he immediately told his parents about what had transpired while he was in the city. "Yeah honey, looks like you were burned by something." Lois said as she inspected the wound on his chest, Jon stood shirtless in the kitchen while Clark set the first aid kit down on the counter. "And you said it was the woman's semblance that hit you?" she asked.
Jon nodded, "Yeah, has this ever happened to you dad?" he asked curiously as his dad took out a roll of bandages and some burn ointment.
"I've met a few people whose semblances are able to hurt me, people who can control their aura can leave a mark to. But for the most part nothing like this. It could be that your not as invulnerable as I am due to your age." he theorized as he handed Lois the cream.
The reporter got a dab of the substance on his chest and rubbed it, Jon hissing at the stinging sensation. "You know Smallville….this kind of reminds me of after your scuffle with Black Adam the first time. Remember?" she asked. Jon looked at them with confusion, Lois realized he didn't know and explained. "He was a supervillain back home, he was almost as strong as our dad."
Jon looked surprised, "Really? I didn't think there was anyone strong as dad." he asked, looking at his father who smiled.
"Not here, but back on Earth? There were many people who could give me a run for my money." he admitted before a grim look flashed over his face. "Some of them….more then a run." he said a little softly. Jon suddenly felt a sense of inadequacy, if there were people that could go toe to toe with his dad? Then him getting hurt by some random mugger person just showed that he was even farther from his dad then he thought he was in terms of greatness.
"But I mean is that Adam used Magic to fight your dad." Lois added.
Jon looked at her and scoffed, "Um, mom, I'm a little too old to believe in magic." he said dismissively. Lois pursed her lips together and looked over at her husband, who rubbed the back of his head. "Wait…..no! No way, magic is real?!" he exclaimed as his mother finished applying the burn ointment.
"On Earth? Yes." Clark answered, "Lift your arms?" he asked.
Jon did as he asked and raised his arms, his hands raising up as well, "Wait, wait, wait, so you guys had time travelers, magic, and aliens?" he asked as Clark wrapped the bandages around his torso.
"Also Amazons, like Wonder Woman." Clark added amusingly.
Jon tilted his head, "Whose wonder woman?" he asked.
Lois stood and planted her hands on her hips, giving him a look, "Someone you wouldn't meet until your eighteen."
"I'm seventeen." Jon pointed out.
"She was one of my best friends." Clark replied, his tone a little forlorn. Lois' firm expression softening at the memories of her husband's friend. "She was…..well, she was a great warrior Jon, she was like me, she fought for truth, justice, and equality." he said with a fond voice.
Lois smiled, "Yes she did…" she added somberly. Jon noticed the way they spoke, he could hear the way the missed her in their voices.
Clark chuckled, "Her, me, and Batman would get together once a year and…well, he would call it update each other. But me and her knew he just wanted to hang out." he said in amusement.
"Whose Batman?" Jon asked.
Lois' face became serious, "Someone you won't meet until your thirty."
Jon blinked as his dad finished with the bandages, turning to him he asked, "These two where your friends right?" he asked, after his mother's reaction he wasn't too sure.
Clark smiled fondly, "They were some of my best friends." he said with a wistful look. He snorted, "You know, Batman had a son too, he'd probably be about your age now." he mused.
Lois' face shifted from serious to delight, "I would pay anything to see you meet him." she told her son as he pulled his shirt back down over his head. Jon gave her a weird look but shrugged, "But anyway, as I was saying, it looked like magic, and your dad is weak to it. Not like kryptonite, but he doesn't have any defenses against it." she explained.
Jon tilted his head, "Really? That sounds kind of like Dust." he reasoned.
Clark and Lois froze the idle observation, "I mean dad has always said that dust rounds actually hurt, so maybe what that woman had was just fire dust and she burned me with it?" he reasoned.
Clark slowly nodded, "That could explain it."
Lois walked past him and put the burn ointment into the first aid kid, "So pyromaniacs aside, good patrol?" she asked as she closed the first aid kit.
Jon smiled fondly as here called the mugging he stopped, "I stopped a mugger from getting away with a woman's purse." he said happily, Clark smiled as he held up his hand which Jon high-fived. "I might have embarrassed him by carrying him back and making him apologize for it." he added. Lois barked out a laugh as she entered the bathroom to put the kit back where it belonged, "Other then that, I ran into Ruby again at the dust shop. I kind of forgot we told her I was a huntsmen in training and sorta just….pushed the robber away." he explained, mimicking how he pushed the man to the open air.
His father crossed his arms with an impressed look, when his son first explained his plan to him of becoming a huntsmen to become better informed with the world like he did with the planet. He was honestly skeptical, but seeing it in practice? He could see what Jon was trying to go for, "So. Next week is the exam, are you nervous?" he asked.
Jon took a deep breath and let it out, "Yeah…..you can tell?" he asked.
His dad reached over and patted him on the shoulder, giving him a familial shake, "Of course I can tell, don't need superpowers for that." he said as Lois entered the room. "But you've been studying hard, and Beacon takes in all applicants regardless of what experience they do or don't have." he explained.
Jon let out a sigh of relief, he knew that there was nothing to worry about, the only hard part would be the practical portion of the initiation. Which he didn't know the first thing about, he just knew he'd be sorted into a team for four years, part of him was nervous about it but the other part was excited. Lois smiled at him, "Honey, you have nothing to worry about." she assured.
The following days flew by for Jon until the entrance exam for Beacon. And, like usual, Lois Lane was right, the written portion of the Beacon entrance exam was not nearly as challenging as he thought it was. What was challenging was him packing up to leave home for four years.
Obviously it wasn't as though he would never see his parents again, the students would have weekends and holidays to visit home, and that wasn't even considering that Jon could run from Beacon to Patch in under half a day. But for all intent and purpose, Jon was moving out of his house. "I'm gonna miss you." Kathy said as she embraced her friend, Jon smiling as he wrapped his arms around the blonde neighbor girl, pulling back the dairy farmer's daughter shook her head, "I still can't believe that your doing this." she said as she stepped back away from Jon on his family porch. Vincent took her place and gave him a hug as well, patting him on the back.
Jon adjusted his glasses, "I know, I just….I want to help people." he said simply. Kathy rolled her eyes but smiled, glancing down at the suitcase at his side. "I promise I'll write. Or text, or call." he listed off, his friends smiling at his promise.
"We'll miss you man, oh! I got you a little something, going away present." he said as he dug into his back pocket and pulled out a hat. Kathy smiled at the look of surprise Jon's face held as he took the red and blue hat with a large 'H' on the head. "Gotta represent your hometown at beacon." he said with a smirk as Jon took it and put it on, giving Vincent a smile before pulling him into another hug, lifting him up slightly, "Gah! Dude! It's just a hat!" he exclaimed in laughter.
"It's the thought that counts." Jon replied as he set his friend down. The sound of a car horn made the three turn to the the driveway where Lois, Clark, and even Krypto were waiting for him in the pickup. Jon grabbed his bags and smiled at his friends, "Well there's my ride to my ride." he said, giving them both one last hug before carrying his suitcase to the truck, lifting it and tossing it in the back before opening the door to the backseat.
Waving goodbye to his friends, the truck drove off down the road in the direction of the airship port.
As he sat in his seat, Krypto laid his head down in the young owner's lap, Jon smiling down at the canine as he ran his hand down his head and back. Krypto looked up at him and he smiled, "Hey it's ok boy. I won't be too far away…..relatively." he said, glancing upas his mom looked back at him with a gentle smile. He saw his dad looking back at him in the rearview mirror, but he quickly adverted his attention to the road ahead.
Jon glanced out the window and saw as they passed by a field housing horses, he smiled, "Hey, remember that summer you took me horseback riding?" he asked.
Lois suddenly barked out a laugh, "Oh yeah, that was fun. Wasn't it Smallville?" she asked, looking at her husband who bowed his head as he snorted. "I still don't know how you, the farm boy from KANSAS, got bucked off a horse." she said, recalling the absolute look of shock Clark had wafter his mount bucked him off, Lois nearly wet herself laughing so hard.
"Horse whispering is not one of my powers." Clark said amusingly.
Jon leaned forward between the seats and looked at his dad, "Clearly it's not."
His father rolled his eyes as he drove, "Sure, let's pick on the man of steel." he replied good naturedly.
He turned to his mom, "Did you come up with that by the way?"
Lois shook her head, "No, I came up with Superman, your father came up with that headline." she explained, looking over at her husband who nodded. "I remember how much Perry loved that, 'That Kent, he's graceful like an ox but he writes like a poet!." she said, doing her best impression of their former boss.
Clark smiled a little shyly, "I just…..liked the way it sounded." he admitted.
"I liked Man of Tomorrow. Good ring to it, went with Metropolis' City of Tomorrow tagline. That's poetry." Lois playfully replied.
Jon smiled to both of them, "I mean, Son of Superman has alliteration." he said boastfully.
Clark and Lois both chuckled, "He's not wrong." she admitted with a shrug which Clark also nodded in agreement with as they reached the airship dockyard. Pulling into the parking lot, Jon looked to the landing pad where a large airship was docked on the tar mat. Stepping out of the car, Krypto stayed in the back seat but let out a whine at Jon, reaching inside he petted his dog before closing the door.
Taking his luggage out of the trunk of the truck, he turned to his parents as his dad walked around the front of the car. Looking towards the ship he saw a number of potential students board the aircraft, turning back to his parents, he saw the forlorn look on his mom's face return. "Come here." she said, opening her arms and wrapping them around her son in a tight hug.
Jon returned the embrace, "I love you mom." he said against her shoulder.
"I love you too sweetie." she replied, breathing out as she continued to hold him.
…..and was still holding him….and still…
"Um…Mom?"
"Nope, Still hugging." she replied,
Jon snorted but didn't stop her, looking over at his dad, he didn't look as sad as his mom did, just a little. But he also was smiling, "Ok hon. If you keep him here he'll miss his flight." he said, gently putting his arms on her shoulders and all but prying her off her son. He soon took her place, his large arms wrapping around his son, Jon patting him on the back.
"I'll try and make you guys proud." he told them as his father pulled away.
His mom and dad both shared a look of happiness, "You already do." his dad replied, wrapping his arm around Lois as his son picked up his bags. With one last one armed hug to each of them, he walked off towards the boarding gate where he presented his ticket that was given to him along with his test results. Approaching the ramp to the aircraft, Jon took a deep breath before walking up the ramp and entering the airship.
The ride to Beacon was uneventful for Jon, but he did enjoy the view of Vale as they flew over it. And when Beacon came into sight, Jon was more excited then nervous, How come I never just ran up to the school to see it beforehand? This is amazing! he thought as he carried his suitcase with him towards the school. His old school was on two acres of land on an island, Beacon made it look like a shack with it's scale. Various buildings and towers for students, of which there looked to be hundreds, to learn and live in for the next few years.
Walking down the cobblestone path, Jon reached into his pocket and pulled out his scroll which had the details for orientation on it from the email that was sent to him. Ok, sno let's see, there's the map, and if I'm here, then the orientation hall must be further down the way. Oh I can just drop my bag off in this hall. he saw asn he suddenly realized something, Wait. My costume is in my bag. Should I really leave that? Well it's not like someone is gonna go through my things. he thought with a shrug before he closed his scroll.
And then there was an explosion.
Turning in the direction of the blast, he was shocked to see two figures on the pathway to beacon covered in soot in the middle of a crater. Rushing over, he was about to ask if they were both ok when he got close and saw one of the people was familiar, Ok what are the odds at this point?! he asked in disbelief as once more, he found Ruby Rose. Only this time she was not alone as a girl in a white dress was, as his mom would put it, chewing her out.
"Unbelievable! This is the exact sort of thing I was talking about!" the girl in white yelled at Ruby.
The red colored girl winced at the tone, "I'm really, Really sorry!" she said apologetically.
The girl huffed, "You complete Dolt! What are you even doing here?" she asked, leaning forward with a sneer at Ruby.
Before she could continue her verbal tirade, a new voice spoke up, "Um, pardon me?" Weiss whirled around and saw a young man standing a few feet away. Looking him over, Weiss was beginning to wonder if this was actually Beacon academy. While the dunce wo had caused her vial of dust to explode at least looked the part of a huntress, this boy did not.
He wore a pair of worn jeans, red shoes, and a bright red hoodie, what really stuck out to Weiss however was the ridiculous looking hat and glasses he was wearing. "And who are You?" she snapped at him, making the young man swallow.
"Um…Jon Kent? I was….making sure that everyone was ok?" he answered, feeling as though he might have accidently stepped into a minefield. He leaned over and waved at the Ruby, "Hi again Ruby." he greeted.
"Oh! So she's a friend of yours?" she asked, her hands planting on her hips. Jon's eyes narrowed a little at the derogatory tone she had when addressing Ruby as such.
"Yes. She is." he answered more firmly.
"Well your friend just caused a miniature explosion!" Weiss replied, pointing at Ruby. "She could have hurt both of us with her carelessness!" she accused.
Jon looked over at Ruby, "But was it on purpose?" he asked, stopping Weiss for a moment. "Because I really don't think anyone would try and blow up someone they just met." he reasoned.
"That's because she's not just ;someone'," the three turned their heads to the new voice and Jon almost smiled upon Seeing Blake Belladonna approach them with one of the dust containers in her hand. "She's Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Corporation, one of the largest energy producers in the world." she contextualized for the two of them.
"Thank you-"
"Which also has had one of the biggest scandals in recent years with her family's questionable labor laws." Blake added, Making Weiss' jaw drop while Ruby snickered and Jo tried desperately to try an lower the beak of his hat to hide the wince he had from that burn.
"I-What-you! How dare!" Weiss sputtered out before snatching the dust vial out of Blake's hand and storming off along with a pair of attendants who were pushing her luggage towards the school.
Ruby watched her leave with a relieved breath, "So whats-" she began to ask the girl with black hair who was looking at Jon. "Oops, sorry." she apologized, not meaning to interrupt.
Jon meanwhile was sweating a little at the way that Blake was staring at him, "Uhhhhhh…"
"Do I….know you from somewhere?" she asked, titlting her head slightly.
What? Of course she does I….OH! he realized, He wasn't wearing his disguise when he met her so she must have known him as Superboy! "No, I do get that a lot though." he lied, Blake didn't seem too sure at first but looking over him once again she relaxed.
"Right, sorry. I guess that's just what it is." she said before departing. As she walked off, Jon let out a small breath.
"Um. Hey again Jon." Ruby greeted with a awkward wave.
The young man smiled at her, "Good to see you Rub….wait a second. I thought you were a year behind me or something. Did you get in early?" he asked.
Ruby nodded in affirmation, "Y-Yeah, I stopped this dust store robbery a few weeks ago and the headmaster offered me to attend early…..two years early." she explained in a shy voice.
Jon felt a pang of pity for the girl, "I'm sorry, that's gotta be tough."
The girl was taken aback by his sympathies and smiled, 'I….well yeah it was, but! My sister's going here with me. And you're here!" she said, gesturing to him. She quickly backpedaled, "I mean I know I only me you like…three times. Including now….and well…" she trailed off before Jon laughed.
"Ruby, it's fine. I'm….honestly glad to see a familiar face." he admitted as he picked up his bag, "Come on, we should get going, orientation is going to start pretty soon and I need to drop my bag off." he said invitingly, Ruby smiled at that before walking with him towards the school. "….by the way how did you explode?"
After the orientation was over, the freshmen for the year were directed to the temporary living quarters they would have for the night in the grand hall. Which was just a bunch of bedrolls lined up. After getting changed for bed with his plaid PJ bottoms and grey T shirt, he walked over to his bedroll and found a slight issue…..it was way too busy around him to really fall asleep to. Why are they wrestling shirtless? Jon thought, glancing over to a pair of boys, one of them having another in a headlock.
I should have taken my book from my bag to read. he thought dejectedly. Laying down against his pillow, he took a deep breath and tried once again to relax. Only for his hearing to begin to widen it's reach again. "It's like a biiiig slumber party!" he heard a excited voice ask.
He tried focusing on something else, "We need to find a strategic sleep spot! Here! By this pillar! I'll give us cover!" an energetic voice asked.
"From…..what?" a more calm and tired voice asked.
"….pillowfights?"
Jon snorted in amusement, his Super hearing was still something he was trying to get the hang of, he always tried to suppress it but his dad brought up that he always has his hearing on and simply filtered out only sounds above a certain decibel. Which is what he was trying to do, try and suppress the background noise and focus his hearing on something more precise.
Suddenly he came across something with his hearing, someone was softly humming a tune to themselves as they did something, Where…..where have I heard that before…..hmm hmm hm hmmm hmmm, hmmm hmmm hm Hmmmm, Jon thought as he tried to recall what the song was, sleep slowly starting to take him as he focused on the melody.
Reviews:
Brave2000: Well there's obviously some sort of connection between Dust and Magic since it only appeared after the gods left Remnant and wiped out all the magic suppousedly. So I imagine it's gotta hurt him.
And yeah I felt like someone had to bring that up since it's Superman and he's such a boy scout XD.
Ben: It'll definitely be broken up by Volumes. And the Invincible Story is out right now and is the next one I'm working on!
C.K.: I hear that whenever I'm wiritng this.
Shadow-Proclimation8: Jon is actually his krytonian name, Jon-El.
AtomicGod666: Glad you liked it!
Loken upercal: I can't say anything….YET.
Icthlarin: Not at all, the Faunus aren't completely innocent just because tey are persecuted, there's bad humans and faunus. Adam is walking proof of that. But Atlas has shown to be concerned with it's own safety above the people of Mantle, they are literally overshadowing the people below them.
chris04cano: We only know it's in the works, nothing yet about when it's going to come out.
AN: Hello Again readers! A pretty sizable chapter this one, considering how short those first episodes are though it's not really surprising. I mean nowadays the RWBY episodes are a proper 15 to 20 minutes long! These are like….8. Just really shows how far RWBY has come huh?
Also holy crap the Volume 9 preview gave me CHILLS. I can't wait for it when it eventually comes out!
Aside from that, not much else, Superman Annual came out today but haven't read it, I'm just waiting until Taylor takes over, and I've been reading through DCeased in the meantime.
Until next time everyone!
