"This better be good," Cherry said as she walked with Lionel and Thor. "I was in the middle of... Personal business away from Wayne Manor."
"I'll tell you once Mo gets here." Atticus said.
Cherry hid a smirk.
"What?" Atticus asked.
"You smiled at her name." Cherry smirked.
"Maybe." Atticus blushed.
Cherry and Thor chuckled together a bit.
"Yeah, yeah, real mature you two," Lionel told them. "Yuk it up."
"Well, Atticus, it's good to see you back on track on finding a way to stop your Uncle Sombra," Thor then said as he clenched his fists. "If my uncle ever goes evil, I'm appointing you as my personal General."
"I doubt your uncle will go evil." Atticus said.
"Yeah, your uncle might be a jerk sometimes, but he's not pure evil." Lionel added.
"Hmm... Yeah..." Thor admitted with a small smile. "He's like another dad to me and my little sister sometimes."
"How nice for you." Cherry mumbled before she sipped her milkshake.
"I think this is the right place." Mo said to herself as she went to get to Atticus and the others, looking at a note she was given. She soon walked up to the front door before knocking it.
Atticus soon excused himself from the table to get the door.
"So, you think Atticus might like that Mo girl?" Cherry asked Thor.
"I guess it's up to the Test of True Love," Thor shrugged. "But... Yeah... I think they have crushes on each other somewhat."
"I think so too." Lionel said.
"Mo," Atticus smiled a bit. "I'm glad that you made it over."
"Oh, Atticus, good," Mo smiled back softly. "I wasn't sure if this was the right place or not."
"Come on in," Atticus told her as he walked her inside. "Everyone else is at the kitchen table."
"So this is where you live with your Uncle Sombra? Looks like a great place." Mo smiled.
"Yeah, it's pretty cool," Atticus replied as he came to the kitchen with Mo. "All right, now we're all here."
"Is this some sort of friendship club meeting?" Mo asked as she took a seat.
"There's a bit more to it than that," Atticus said. "We also wanna see that we can trust you with some very important information."
"Yeah, like so important that it could mean the fate of the world." Thor said.
"Goodness, you guys sound pretty serious about this." Mo remarked.
"Trust us, we are," Lionel replied. "Such as not being ordinary teenagers like you are."
"Pietro, is that you?" Mo asked. "You look so small."
"Actually, my name is Lionel Schwartz, Pietro is a name I use in school," Lionel explained. "I'm also an imp from the 5th-Dimension," he then smirked before he removed his head without any harm. "If you don't believe me, then look at this!"
Mo let out a startled scream and seemed to pass out at the table.
"Aw, jeez." Lionel pouted from that worriedly.
Patch began to lick Mo's face to help her wake up once he was on the table.
"Ooh!" Mo blinked before coming to. "W-What happened?" she then asked.
"I am so sorry about that," Lionel told Mo. "I guess I should've thought twice about showing you my head trick."
"What are you, Beetlejuice?" Mo asked him.
"Like I said, I'm from the 5th-Dimension," Lionel reminded. "But that's not all. We are a very special group and we thought we could use a new friend to our little team because we have a job of utmost importance to take care of... Aside from this Supermen thing."
"So... You guys have powers?" Mo asked.
"Special powers, but not only that," Cherry said. "We help out in the Justice League."
"Especially me!" Thor grinned. "I get to be apart of it too with Dr. Fate helping me out!"
"So... You guys are superheroes?" Mo asked.
"Please, allow me." Lionel smirked before he snapped his fingers.
Suddenly, the group was all in their superhero costumes, except for maybe Patch.
Mo gasped a bit. "...I've heard of you guys..." she then said. "I didn't think I'd be going my first year of school with you, of all people though." she spoke with shock and suspense.
"And we thought maybe you could help us out somehow," Lionel then said before snapping them back to normal again. "It was mostly Atticus's idea to invite you along."
Patch nodded in agreement.
"Well... I guess I could try to help..." Mo said before she looked at them. "I'm not sure if I have powers or anything interesting like you guys though."
Patch soon saw something going on with the floor where Mo was sitting. Mo squirmed in her seat a little.
"Mo...?" Atticus asked. "I think there is something..."
Mo bit her lip nervously as she felt scared and nervous to show them.
"Come on," Thor smiled. "I have thunder-bending."
"...What does that mean again?" Mo asked.
"He can control and make his own thunder," Lionel replied. "It's really cool, as well as some lightning if he really wants to."
"Yep." Cherry nodded.
"And I have crystal powers and Kryptonian powers and a new power." Atticus said.
"A new power, huh?" Mo asked.
"Oh, yes, it's much different than what I've done before," Atticus replied before looking bashful. "In fact, I think you may had seen it before at that party at LexCorp."
Mo began to think of what Atticus meant until she remembered Black Adam. "Wait, you're Black Adam?" she then asked him.
Atticus looked a bit bashful.
Mo also looked bashful from that reveal. "I thought he looked like a handsome young hero."
"Ooh~" Lionel and Thor smirked at each other.
"Hey, what's going on under your feet?" Patch asked as he saw what looked to be plants growing out.
Mo bit her lip nervously.
"Mo...?" Cherry called.
"I... I..." Mo stammered. "...We should meet outside."
They soon went outside.
"Okay... So I have something..." Mo told them. "I just wasn't sure what to do with it or what it means."
"Go ahead, Mo," Atticus smiled. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it's not as bad as you think it is."
"Well... Okay..." Mo replied as she took a deep breath before she knelt on the ground and let her hands touch the grass in the yard.
Eventually, there was a small rumbling sound heard and some vines began to grow and stretch out of the ground.
"Whoa!" The group yelped.
Cherry held out a pair of hedge clippers.
"Not funny." Lionel nudged Cherry.
"So, yeah..." Mo said to them. "I'm not sure where these vines came from or why I have them, but... That's my special power."
"So you're like Poison Ivy." Atticus said.
Cherry and Lionel both hissed slightly.
"Oh, sorry, guys." Atticus said bashfully.
"That doesn't sound good," Mo said as she sounded like she was about to cry. "Maybe I should get going now."
"No, no, it's okay; because unlike you, she doesn't use her power for good." Atticus said.
"You think I could still be good?" Mo asked.
"Of course, Mo," Atticus smiled. "You seem like a real cool girl who could use some good friends like us by your side."
Patch also looked hopeful.
"I've never really had friends before," Mo softly said to them. "Growing up, it was just me, Gloriosa, and Timber."
"Well, don't worry; we'll be your friends." Patch smiled.
"Even you?" Mo smiled back as she pet the Dalmatian.
"Oh, yeah," Patch beamed. "Especially if you scratch behind my ears."
Mo giggled and soon did just that.
"Oh... Yeah... Right there..." Patch gushed before his tail began to wag. "You remind me a little of Amber."
"Wait, you can understand Patch?" Thor asked.
"That's another story..." Mo replied bashfully.
"You talk to animals?" Thor asked.
"I thought we could all talk to him, but whatever," Lionel shrugged. "I guess I just thought that was normal in this dimension."
"Alright, so now what?" Mo asked.
"Well, we need a plan to overthrow a certain villain," Atticus glared. "He's made some plans himself and now I gotta make my own plans to stop him before all of our lives become miserable."
"Right." Lionel nodded.
"What's the plan you have then?" Mo asked.
"We're not 100% sure yet," Atticus replied. "I just know that there's an army planned."
"Should we tell one of the Supermen?" Thor asked. "So then they'll be ready?"
"Hmm... That's probably for the best..." Atticus had to agree.
"All right, so you do that and come up with a plan before we all die." Cherry replied grimly.
"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence there, Cherry." Lionel rolled his eyes briefly.
"I guess I'll just pick a Superman to tell..." Atticus said softly.
"Just don't tell the too intense one." Thor said.
"Oh, I'm way ahead of you for that one." Atticus replied.
Thor beamed and gave two thumbs up at that.
"So, what do we do now?" Mo asked.
"We wait," Atticus replied. "And plot."
"Alright." Mo nodded.
The group soon sat together.
"Put on some hot cocoa, it might be a long wait." Lionel suggested.
"Hot cocoa?" Mo asked.
"I'm not a fan of coffee." Lionel replied as everybody else agreed with him on that.
Cherry began to sketch in her notebook as they all decided to make plans to overthrow Sombra and his army. Atticus began to make the hot cocoa.
"So there's an army coming..." Mo remarked. "I wonder if Mr. Luthor knows about that."
"Nope, if he did I would have seen it in my vision." Atticus said as he got the hot cocoa ready.
"Right..." Mo replied. "I'm not sure what more we can do."
"We'll probably tell Drell and the League," Cherry suggested. "I mean, that's what I would do. I trust Batman like my own father."
"Right." Lionel nodded.
And so, the group sat together to think of what to do for their next move. Lex Luthor appeared to be on a video screen for a special interview in an undisclosed, top-secret location.
"So why did you hide the fact that your new Superman is actually a clone?" A woman's voice asked.
"I never said he wasn't a clone, I said he's Superman," Lex replied before he decided to leave. "And he is a Superman clone. Now, if you'll excuse me..."
The video screen soon turned off as a robot was seen typing on something.
"Do we wake him?" One robot asked the other.
"No," The other robot replied before they looked over towards a Superman double that was in some sort of hypersleep. "Kal-El's last battle left him severely depleted. We must not interrupt his ion radiation transfer."
A man was then seen purchasing a newspaper. After buying it and closing the container it came from, he began to read it. Another man then passed by, looking at his phone as the news spread all over.
"Lane's not explicitly calling them fakes," A newswoman said on the TV, being broadcast live, talking about Lois and the mysterious reign of the Supermen. "She's asking the questions that need to be asked. After her stunning LexCorp clone exposè, she's got our attention."
Lois was seen watching the news until a familiar figure from the party flew down to her balcony. "Hello, Ms. Lane."
"I guess you got my message?" Lois replied to him.
"The whole city did," Cyborg Superman replied as he came out on the balcony to walk up to the woman. "I feel terrible we haven't been able to talk yet."
"On the record?" Lois retorted as she brought out her phone.
"But I thought you'd be happy to see me." Cyborg Superman then said.
"See who? I don't know who you are. And neither does Superboy," Lois said. "Who's gone M.I.A. since his father's death."
"Lois, it's me!" Cyborg Superman defended.
"You look like Superman, but Superman died," Lois told him. "In my arms."
"I did," Cyborg Superman said before explaining what had happened. "For my people, death doesn't have to be the end. Our technology was... Is... Far beyond what exists on Earth today," he then told her. "Part of that technology is encoded in my genome. Before I died, I was able to activate it so that it could rebuild and revive me."
"As a robot?" Lois asked.
"I'm not a robot," Cyborg Superman stated. "These are just artificial replacement parts."
"A cyborg Superman?" Lois then asked.
"Just Superman." The superhero clarified as he put his hands on his hips for a heroic pose.
"Okay. What was your last secret?" Lois asked.
"I don't know," Cyborg Superman said softly as he came towards Lois. "Half my memories are gone along with the rest of me."
"Then tell me what you do remember." Lois prompted, feeling a bit indifferent.
"I remember we were close." Cyborg Superman then told her.
"How close?" Lois asked softly.
"Enough that it hurts to have you look at me like I'm a monster," Cyborg Superman told her sincerely. "The way you wrote about me... I never dreamed I'd lose you or Atticus like this. Especially not now when... Terrible things are coming, Lois," he then said. "I can feel it. When the Daily Planet said 'Superman is dead', it painted a target on the Earth."
"Why did you come here?" Lois asked.
"Because I need your voice," Cyborg Superman told her. "I can't protect the people if they think I'm a fake, Lois. Even if you won't believe I'm Superman at least believe that I'm trying to do some good."
Lois looked a bit emotional from that.
"And maybe write about that." Cyborg Superman then added before he took off of the balcony into flight.
And so the days passed and where each Superman did their own heroic deed, although the youngest one didn't seem to do too many heroic deeds. It was of course all over the news, and even Atticus and his friends noticed this while they planned what to do against Sombra's upcoming army, while he tried to keep his information away from his uncle. Conner found himself more as a celebrity than a superhero with helping people, even by talking selfies with fangirls or hosting a YouTube channel for himself and where his video started to lose visitors as the numbers went down. Conner was soon about to take a selfie with a couple of fangirls, only for a limo to pull up at the end of the sidewalk.
"Get in." Lex demanded as his face appeared as the window rolled down.
Timber kept himself quiet as he drove the limo away with Conner and Lex in the backseat. Conner was seen rolling the windows of his side of limo up and down as Lex Luthor was ranting.
"Just like you would any new product," Lex grumbled. "So far, all you've managed to do is preen, and gallivant, and-" he then noticed what Conner was doing. "Stop that!"
Conner soon stopped with a bit of a huff. "Where's Mercy?" he then asked.
"Still in traction, thanks to you," Lex then told him before asking, "Have you seen the newspapers?"
"Yeah, I've seen them all over the place," Conner shrugged. "Even some kids at school are talking."
"Have you read them?" Lex asked before making a screen appear with the first headline.
The headline read SUPERMAN RETURNS with images of Conner, Cyborg Superman, Robot Superman, and the new Superman with laser red eyes.
"Oh. Right on!" Conner beamed at that.
The screen then showed a new newspaper that said SUPERMAN OR SUPERSHAM? with a picture of Conner.
"This really reflects more on you." Conner then grumbled to Lex as he sulked in his seat.
"Do you know what they're calling you? The new Superboy." Lex Luthor glared at Conner.
"But I'm Superman." Conner clarified.
"They didn't get the memo," Lex scoffed a bit as he removed the screen. "This entire roll-out has been a disaster. Goggles and the robot are getting all the good press," he then looked at him a bit firmly. "While you're strutting across TV screens like a clown."
"You said it, not me." Timber muttered to himself as he drove the limo.
"Don't you mean clone?" Conner glared. "Thanks for the head's up by the way."
"Oh, please," Lex rolled his eyes. "So you were genetically engineered. Who isn't? Little DNA from here, some from there. Bam! You're born. Mazel Tov!"
Conner glared from that as he put the window down in a bit of a sassy fashion.
Lex soon grabbed his face to make their eyes meet. "The only difference between you and a biological child is that I've invested a hell of a lot more capital to bring you to the party," he then told the young boy assertively. "So, we are going to start again. It's a relaunch. Superman 2.0.1," he then looked uncomfortable with the name. "That's awful, but we'll let marketing sort it all out."
"Yeah, that is an awful name." Timber mumbled to himself in agreement.
"What do you want me to do?" Conner asked Lex.
"You've had your fun, Superboy, but now it's time to act like a man," Lex smirked a bit coldly. "I got you a gig."
Meanwhile with Atticus and the others...
The others had fallen asleep.
"There's gotta be something," Atticus told himself. "I guess we'll need a little extra help than just us." His, Cherry's, and Thor's phones soon rang.
"Pharfignewton!" Thor cried out as he suddenly shot awake from that.
"Hello?" Cherry answered her phone as Thor and Atticus began to do the same.
Patch, Lionel, and Mo began to wake up.
"We have to do some sneaky work." Batman told Cherry through her phone.
"Now?" Cherry groaned.
"Yes, Gothy," Batman replied firmly. "NOW."
"Why don't you come drag me out the window if you're so eager?" Cherry mumbled to herself in a sardonic way.
"We'll be there and so will Black Adam." Atticus said.
Mo looked all around.
"We gotta go," Cherry told Mo. "Duty calls."
"Can I come with?" Mo asked.
"It might be dangerous for a civilian," Cherry replied as Mo looked sad about being left out. "You understand, right?"
"I'm not sure myself, Mo," Atticus added. "You should probably get back home."
"But I have powers, remember?" Mo asked.
"Do you have a super suit?" Lionel replied.
"...Well, no, but maybe one of you could make me one," Mo said. "Didn't some of you say that you had magic?"
"...I suppose that's true..." Lionel replied. "But you have to know that this isn't a game. You could be playing for your life if you come with us to who we have to go to."
"I understand." Mo nodded.
"By the way, how are Black Adam and Superboy both going to be able to make it?" Cherry asked.
"I'm afraid I don't know right now, Cherry," Atticus sighed. "I just feel so lost after Superman died..." he then narrowed his eyes to himself. "Or so I thought."
"Why not use your crystal illusion power?" Patch asked his master.
"Mo... Just know... You could get seriously hurt..." Atticus told the girl. "Are you sure you're willing to take these risks?"
"I promise, whatever happens, I'll stay strong," Mo replied. "Especially with you guys by my side."
"All right," Atticus told her. "Just don't get mad at me if you have a bad time."
"I promise," Mo saluted before she gave him a thankful hug. "It can't be worse than the life I have at LexCorp with my brother and sister since we have nowhere else to live."
Atticus blushed a bit from the hug. "Sure, Mo," he then said. "Let's get to work, you guys."
"Alright, then let's change." Lionel said.
The group soon came together and they got into their new alter-egos, though Mo didn't have a name for herself yet, but she was given a shirt with a yellow globe on it with gloves, boots, a mask, and a cape.
"I know it's generic, but it's the best I could do." Atticus told Mo.
"I guess it'll hold until further notice," Mo replied. "I love the shirt though."
"Yeah, I wonder what that symbol could mean?" Atticus smiled before he soon transformed on his own. "SHAZAM!" And as soon as the thunderbolt hit him, Atticus was now Black Adam and where he soon used his crystal powers to make a crystal illusion of Superboy.
"Hmm... Interesting..." Patch approved before he soon began to chase his tail.
A bolt of light soon hit Patch and he became Thunder Mutt.
"All right, looks like we're all ready," Black Adam said. "Thor, you got an outfit ready?"
"Sure do!" Thor beamed as he wore an outfit with black, yellow, and blue fabric. "Just call me Thunder Boy!"
"Sweet." Thunder Mutt smiled.
"All right, guys, let's split up," Black Adam said. "Mo, you can come with me."
"Uh, yeah, um, sure." Mo blushed a bit from his Black Adam form, especially since he saved her life the other day.
"Let's go!" Bat-Mite proclaimed.
And so, they did, going to where they needed to go as Bat-Mite and Lady Gothika rushed towards Batman as he sat on the edge of a building, looking out into the city.
"Hey, Bats." Bat-Mite said.
"Gothy, Bat-Mite, get down beside me," Batman told them. "You made great timing though."
"Sounds good to me." Lady Gothika replied.
Batman soon took a look out before he caught something on his radar through his binoculars. "They just passed Burnett Boulevard," he then told the others through his comlink. "Coming up on Rodeo."
"I think they say 'ro-day-o'." Cyborg replied from that.
"They're wrong," Batman said. "Lantern?"
"Yeah, I say 'ro-day-o'." Green Lantern replied as he flew over with a pair of giant green-colored binoculars as he followed the cars down the road.
"Report, ya dingus!" Bat-Mite deadpanned.
"Oh!" Green Lantern smirked a bit. "Smooth sailing up here. Flash?"
"I just wanna ask." Flash replied.
"Ah, here it comes." Green Lantern said knowingly.
Flash rolled his eyes from that before asking what he wanted to ask. "I'm just saying. Are we presidential bodyguards, or are we the Justice League?"
"Today, we're bodyguards." Wonder Woman told him.
Thunder Boy had a bit of a yawn as he tried to stay alert.
"And you don't think there's other stuff we should be doing?" Flash then asked as he ran up the side of a building with his super-speed.
"The Titans have it covered." Batman replied.
"The Teen Titans; oh, yeah, I feel good about that." Flash said sarcastically.
"Sarcasm doesn't suit you well." Superboy told him.
"Leave it to LG." Bat-Mite suggested.
Lady Gothika playfully rolled her eyes from that.
"Chillax, Zippy," A familiar voice smirked. "The Titans are cool."
"Zippy?" Flash asked. "Wait. Did he just say 'chillax'?"
"...Conner?" Black Adam blinked to himself.
"Yep, AKA the fourth Superman." Superboy said.
"What a surprise..." Black Adam replied, not sure what to do or say to that.
"Young man, stay off this frequency," Martian Manhunter told Superboy as he flew beside him. "It's for League members only."
"No, it's for the President's protective detail," Superboy smirked. "As the new head of LexCorp global security, I qualify."
Green Lantern soon had a bazooka launched right for Superboy, looking quite eager about setting off the trigger. "I have the shot." he then told the others.
"Too bad that's not Damian." Lady Gothika smirked.
Bat-Mite chuckled a bit from that, but covered his mouth so it wouldn't sound so loud.
"This will be confusing now since there's two Superboys now." Thunder Boy said.
"Maybe a certain someone should've rethought about having a crystal Superboy." Bat-Mite deadpanned, referring to Patch as it was his idea after all.
"You realize that other Superboy prefers to call himself Superman, right?" Thunder Mutt asked.
"You wanna tell him that?" Bat-Mite replied. "I'm sorry, but this is confusing enough as it is, I don't know what you were trying to accomplish anyway."
"Okay, I get it; not my best idea." Thunder Mutt said.
"Gee, ya think?" Bat-Mite rolled his eyes.
"That's enough," Wonder Woman told them all. "We have a job to do."
"Okay," Flash rolled his eyes. "Can we speed this up? Because if I'm not home by dinner, Iris is gonna kill me."
"Yeah, and I have some other stuff to do away from the Batcave." Lady Gothika replied which made Bat-Mite look a little sad.
Thunder Boy soon waited with Wonder Woman as he looked like he could fall asleep at any minute now. "If I knew it'd take this long, I'd work on my Charm School homework a little more..." he then said to himself. "Uncle Drell is gonna roast me."
"Patience, Thunder Boy," Wonder Woman advised. "You'll get used to it."
"I sure hope so." Thunder Boy replied.
Soon enough, he didn't have to wait anymore.