Chapter 38: Meeting New People

Disclaimer: All things Supergirl/Superman and Flash belong to DC. No infringement is intended.

Clark Kent, better known to the world as Superboy, was having a pretty good day so far. Sure, at first he had been disappointed and more than a bit peeved that his mother was heading out on yet another space adventure without him. Then he had been worried upon learning that she was chasing Brainiac, the Kryptonian supercomputer that had attacked Earth once before. He had been even more worried (and also peeved once again) that the world's biggest jerk, aka Green Lantern Guy Gardner, got to accompany her.

Since then, though, things had improved. He had gotten word from the Watch Tower that his mom and the others had successfully thrown Brainiac off that alien world he had apparently conquered (Clue or something?) and would return home after a brief detour to some place called Oa, which was apparently the home of the Green Lanterns' bosses. Maybe they would demote Gardner for being a jerk or something, one could hope.

So, no more worrying. His mom was okay, and he had realized something else: Superboy could operate solo for once. Really solo, with no super-mom watching his every move from a distance. Not even his mom could keep watch from halfway across the universe (he hoped).

It was an incredibly liberating feeling. Not that he didn't understand why his mom kept watch on him, but still. Finally, he could be Superboy for a day or two without oversight. His mom hadn't forbidden him from going out in uniform while she was gone, so she trusted him. He was going to show everyone that Superboy wasn't a kid anymore and could handle things on his own.

How soon could he get away with calling himself Superman, anyway? He was 15 now. Wasn't that almost like 18?

Thankfully it was the weekend, so no school and no chores on the farm that he couldn't deal with in ten seconds flat, so he had lots of free time. He helped out with a fire in Metropolis, prevented an oil spill off the coast of Norway, and stopped some terrorist group or other from blowing up a building in Kenya. People cheered when he arrived and thanked him when he left. Not the bad guys, obviously, but everyone else. It was a great day so far.

Then he flew over Keystone City and his day turned... well, weird.

So far his mom had steered him away from encountering any of the so-called super villains that were springing up with alarming frequency. Most of them were normal humans who used high-tech gear of some kind or other, but more and more they were meta-humans, people who had genuine super powers either by way of an accident or sometimes simply by birth.

Flying over Keystone City, Superboy wasn't quite sure what category this particular super-villain fell into. Probably the former, but it didn't really matter either way. A guy in a white, armored-looking suit was setting things in fire using two gun-sized flame throwers. Several cops were shooting at him, but his suit appeared to be bullet proof. A moment later the boys in blue had to take cover, as plumes of fire were heading their way. Yeah, this did look like a job for Superboy.

He was about to dive and intervene, but, amazingly, someone else was faster.

A red blur shot through the street and knocked the perpetrator for a loop. By the time he got back to his feet the red blur was there again, striking from a different direction, and the two flame throwers disappeared. The red blur swept past a third time while the guy was still finding his footing and sent him sprawling. At least that was what it looked like to the casual observer.

Clark Kent, however, was far more than a causal observer. As a Kryptonian and fully powered by the light of a yellow star, he could not only move very fast, his senses could be dialed up to match. He didn't quite catch on during the red blur's first pass, having been caught off guard, but by the second pass he could easily see what was actually going on. It was a man. No, he corrected himself a moment later. A boy, judging by his height and proportions. A teenager, probably no older than he was. He was moving at a speed Clark was not sure he could match. The blow that had taken the super villain down on his third pass had actually been about three dozen punches, none of them that hard, but every single one breaking the sound barrier. Clark was sure the perp was deep in dreamland now.

Having knocked the criminal down on his butt and with the flame throwers disposed of somewhere, the boy in the red suit apparently saw little need to stick around. He ran halfway across the city before even slowing down slightly and it was only Superboy's aerial position and superior senses that allowed him to keep track.

Well, it looked like Keystone City had its own superhero these days. And while Superboy was not a member of the Justice League yet (three more years, darn it!), he knew that his mother was always keeping an eye out for future recruits. So the least he could do was fly over and introduce himself.

Wallace "Wally" West, not yet known to the world by any other name than that, was having a pretty good day so far. After having been in a coma for quite a few days, needing several weeks to notice that the lightning impact had somehow changed him, and taking months to figure things out once he did, he was now finally at a point where he was starting to get the hang of his speed power. And wasn't that just the coolest thing ever? Instead of being flash-fried by that freak lightning bolt, he had gotten super speed powers from it. What were the odds of that happening?

He figured he could give Superwoman a run for her money in the speed department, as he had clocked himself at easily running past the speed of sound. That had presented another array of problems, of course, as normal clothes were not designed to withstand that amount of friction. The first time he had really pushed himself, he had ended up naked and singed. Thankfully he was somewhat scientifically inclined and finally managed to put together a suit he could run in without it burning up around him.

Interesting side note: he himself seemed to be impervious to friction and heat while running. He had no idea how that worked, but he wasn't complaining. Anyway, with the risk of ending up starkers now removed, he could finally use his new powers. Keystone City had seen its fair share of exotic crimes lately and the cops could certainly use a super-powered hand. Big time heroes like Superwoman and Wonder Woman could deal with the world-shattering stuff, but they couldn't be everywhere at once.

So making sure that he remained unseen – which was surprisingly easy when one could move as quickly as he could – he began to aid the local cops in dealing with super-villains. Oh, he fully planned to go public as a super hero eventually, but right now he was still a minor. He was sure his mom would get a heart attack were she to find out what he was doing. So until he was 18 and no one could tell him no, he would do his best to remain unseen while helping out where he could.

Of course those plans went right out the window when the Teen of Steel himself dropped down from the sky to land right in front of him as Wally was taking a breather.

"Hi there," the dark-haired teenager said, his red cape settling down around his shoulders. "I hope you don't mind, but I saw what you did there with that flame-thrower guy. Nice work."

Wally was speechless for a long moment. Superboy? Superboy was here in Keystone? Superboy had seen him take down Heatwave?

"Uh, thanks," he finally managed. He was talking to Superboy, THE Superboy. This was so cool!

For what was probably less than a minute but appeared like an eternity to him (had his super speed somehow kicked in without him noticing it?) neither teenager seemed to have any clue what to say next. Wally chuckled, kind of embarrassed, while at the same time being relieved that Superboy didn't seem to have much of a clue how to handle the situation, either.

"So...," Superboy finally said, "you're really fast, I take it?"

It would have been lame hearing anyone else say that, but hearing it from Superboy? Still cool.

"Yeah, I guess," he replied. "Power kicked in only a few months ago and… well, I'm still getting the hang of it."

"Anything else you can do?" Superboy asked, sounding genuinely interested.

"Well, not that I've noticed so far. I mean, I seem to be a whole lot stronger when running than when standing still, but I figure that's just part of the package, you know?"

Superboy chuckled. "Probably. I noticed things seem to weigh less when I carry them while flying."

"Really? Cool!"

There was another awkward pause.

"So, what do you call yourself anyway?" Superboy finally asked.

Wally was about to tell him his name, but caught himself. Sure, it was Superboy, son of Earth's greatest hero and all, but still. Besides, he had been thinking about a superhero name since figuring out that he did indeed have super powers.

"I'm thinking… Flash! The Flash! How does that sound?"

Superboy's eyes widened in surprise. Surely the name wasn't that bad?

Clark Kent probably wasn't quite as smart as his mom was, especially when it came to the science stuff, but that didn't mean he was stupid or slow on the uptake. His mom had told him about her wild adventure through time and how it had all begun with a man called the Flash, who had taken her to the distant past without so much as a by your leave. Her working theory was that he actually hailed from their future and might well have been sent on that mission by her own older self, given how events had fallen into place.

Clark had understood that theory and also understood that, if true, they would probably eventually meet a guy called the Flash who could move at extreme speeds. Well, it seemed that day was finally here. After all, how many people who could move really, really fast and called themselves the Flash could there be?

"That's… a pretty cool name," he finally said, trying to downplay his surprised reaction.

"Thanks," the other boy said, looking pleased.

"Well, here's the thing. My mother, Superwoman, has put together a team of superheroes in order to protect the world from threats no single hero alone can deal with. She does have this thing about allowing only adults to join, but we're always on the look-out for future members."

The Flash's eyes widened. "Me? On a team with Superwoman? And Wonder Woman? And that Batman guy? Wow!"

"Eventually," Clark told him, trying to curb his enthusiasm a bit. "You are, what, fifteen?"

The Flash hesitated a moment, apparently wondering how much he should tell the virtual stranger in front of him. Finally, though, he nodded. "Yeah, fifteen. So... another three years then?"

Clark nodded, sighing. "Yeah, another three years."

"Oh, you, too, then?" Flash asked, apparently recognizing that sigh by experience.

"Yeah!"

Flash shrugged. "Well, three years isn't that long, right? We'll be 18 before you know it."

"Yeah, no time at all. And you better believe I'll change my name then."

"Change your... oh, you'll be SuperMAN then, right?"

"Sure thing!"

"Cool!"

They grinned at each other.

"So, we... stay in touch then?"

"That would be good, yes," Clark said, checking one of the pockets sewn into his cape. His mom, who was the undisputed queen of always being prepared, had actually given him something for a situation just like this one. He took out one of the business cards she had given him.

"You can reach us under this number," he told Flash, handing him the card. The number was for an encrypted phone built by K-Solutions and would redirect to either their own phones or coms. "Just in case there is something going on you need help with or even if you just... you know, want to talk about the whole super powers thing or anything with someone who knows what it's like."

"Cool," Flash said, taking the card. He looked a bit lost for a second, though. Apparently his running suit did not have pockets of any kind. Finally he slipped it into his boot. "Hey, are there many teenage super heroes around yet? You are the only one I have heard of."

Clark shook his head. "There aren't that many super heroes altogether. All the others I know are adults."

Flash grinned. "Oh well, then I guess you and I are the founding members of the... well… Super Teens!"

Clark frowned. "Super Teens?"

"Yeah, you're right! Not good. How about... Young Giants?"

He shook his head. "Try again!"

"Teen Titans?"

Clark mused on that for a minute. "That doesn't sound too bad, actually. We will need at least one or two others. Two people isn't really much of a team, you know?"

At that moment Clark's communicator beeped, calling for his attention. Flash noticed. "What is it?"

"Some kind of big explosion happened in Metropolis, it seems. I'm going to head over to help. So, Flash, it was..."

"Race ya!" the Flash said, right before he vanished in a blur of red.

Wally wasn't sure what had gotten into him, but he didn't much care. Somehow, and he had no idea how exactly, he was making friends with Superboy, the Teen of Steel. That was so cool. So far, all he had known about Superboy was that he was the son of Superwoman (naturally) and that he was following in her footsteps. Unlike his famous mother, he wasn't in the spotlight nearly as much. Probably because he was still a minor, same age as him even, and if Superwoman was even remotely like Wally's own mom, she would try to keep him out of danger at all costs.

Still, finding out that Superboy was in some ways in the same shoes as him... that was awesome! Wally wasn't exactly a quiet introvert who had trouble finding friends, but he didn't really have anyone he'd call a best friend. He certainly didn't have anyone he could really talk to about having super powers.

So when Superboy was about to leave for Metropolis, Wally didn't waste any time thinking. He started running.

Keystone City to Metropolis was a trip of at least four hours by car if you didn't mind breaking the speed limit now and then. The Flash arrived there in less than three minutes (and he didn't mind breaking the sound barrier doing it). Superboy was about half a second behind him.

"You cheated," Superboy told him once they stopped.

"You're just sore that there is someone faster than you!"

Superboy was about to retort again, but then his eyes found the reason they were here in Metropolis in the first place and he became all business. There was a very big hole in the ground, right at the edge of the city. Packets of dirt and bits of metal were scattered all around and a huge amount of dust had been kicked up, only slowly settling back down. The sirens of fire trucks could be heard in the distance, but so far, only a single police car was present. Superboy wasted no time flying over, probably to ask the cops what was going on. Flash followed, but made sure to remain out of sight.

"What happened, officers?" Superboy asked, touching down next to them. The officers were startled for a moment, but then relaxed upon the familiar sight of the S-Shield on the teenager's chest.

"We don't know, Superboy," one of the cops said. "Only got the call five minutes ago that something big exploded underground here."

The Teen of Steel took a quick look around. Right, the Supers had some kind of X-Ray vision or something, Wally remembered.

"I can't see any injured people on the surface," Superboy said, "but there is lots of lead underground. Some kind of tunnels or pipes. Was there a big gas main here or something?"

"We're checking that right now and..."

"Nope," the other cop said, getting off his radio. "According to the guys at city hall, there should be nothing underground here at all. No pipes, no power lines, nothing, not even sewers. Just solid ground."

"Well, solid ground doesn't just up and explode!" the other cop deadpanned.

"I'll take a look in the crater," Superboy told them, taking off to do just that.

Flash zipped forward towards the crater as well, making sure to move too fast for the cops to see him, just in case. There was a huge hole in the ground. The way that pieces of earth and bits of metal were scattered, it was definitely something underground that had blown up. Only there wasn't supposed to be anything down there, right? Or so the cop had said, at least.

Carefully sliding down, Flash was next to Superboy a moment later. The Teen of Steel was standing in what looked like the center of devastation.

"See anything?" Flash asked.

"The more interesting question is, what am I not seeing."

"Okay, and that would be...?"

"Something exploded here, right? So why isn't anything burning down here? Why isn't it hot?"

Flash looked around, seeing what he meant. Wally West planned to be a CSI once he grew up (or at least that had been his dream job before he gained super powers) and had watched a lot of TV shows and documentaries to that regard. Normally in the aftermath of a big explosion, there was lots of smoke, scattered fires, ash, and the likes. Here, though? Just a big hole in the ground, debris scattered all around, dust up in the air, but no fires, no smoke.

"This doesn't look like an explosion at all," Flash finally said. "This looks more like something really strong was trying to get out from underground and had no patience for digging."

"Yeah, but what?"

The person limping away from the disaster sight, not yet having anything resembling a name, was having a pretty good day so far, all things considered. Sure, the explosion had been kind of unexpected, but the end result mattered.

"I'll not be jailed," the person muttered, long hair falling into their eyes. "It'll take more than a bomb or whatever that was!"

Maybe Cadmus would believe the explosion had done the job. Maybe they would stop looking. But probably not. Best to hide for now. And then find some help.

"How could this happen?!"

The supervisor winced at being yelled at like that by his boss. "We don't know! The drones had caught up with the escaped subject just short of the exit tunnel. Capture was imminent. And then there was that explosion, we still don't know what caused it."

"The subject?"

"Unlikely. It doesn't fit with the power profile."

"Did it survive?"

"Unknown at this point. We had to scrub the site as quickly as possible. Not only were emergency services arriving, there was also Superboy..."

"SUPERBOY? Why wasn't I told that first thing? Did the alien see anything?"

"Nothing! All access tunnels and underground installations were fully lead-lined as specified. At the most, he would notice a few underground tunnels that he couldn't see into. The explosion took down most of them and the drones collapsed the rest. We are in no danger of discovery."

"That is something at least. Very well, tell all units to begin a thorough search for the subject immediately. I want it back at Cadmus as quickly as possible! The last thing we need is for Superwoman and her ilk to poke her nose into this mess!"

"Understood!"

End Chapter 38

Author's Note: I think this is actually the first chapter of my story not featuring Superwoman. Well, Clark is getting to the age where he is going to have the occasional solo adventure. And now the Flash is here, so you know that time travel shenanigans are going to happen again. Readers familiar with DC comics can probably guess who the newcomer introduced at the end of the chapter is, but it will be another few chapters before they are fully revealed.