"I… I think I made a horrible mistake," he said in a voice like glass being cut.
Cassie, feet crunching on broken two-by-fours and crumbled plaster, sat down beside him. She instantly grasped, as much as the idea horrified her, what he was implying.
"Kon… where's the other Superboy?"
A small smile lilted at the edge of Kon's jaw. "He's not pining."
"What?
"He's not pining, he's passed on. This Superboy is no more. He has ceased to be. He's expired and gone to meet his maker! This is a late Superboy! He's a stiff! Bereft of life, he rests in peace, if I hadn't atomized him he would be pushing up daisies. He's rung down the curtain and joined the choir invisible. He is an ex-Superboy!" Then he looked up at her like a comedian who'd just delivered an ill-timed joke. "Too soon?"
"He's not well." Cassie looked up as Robin entered through the hole Superboy-Prime had left in the wall. "His Kryptonian racial memory has somehow made him… relive Lex Luthor's memories. But I can help him, I can fix him…"
Kon laughed, a slow, deep noise like the earth cracking. "Hey, Cassie, remember that Ben Stiller movie we went to see that one time? Meet The Parents? I guess every couple has to go through that. Wonder Girl, I'd like you to meet my dad." He turned to Robin, grinning in a slightly demented, slightly tragic manner. "Hey dad, think I can borrow the car?"
Feeling like Alice tumbling down the rabbit hole, Cassie turned to look at the man that was the second closest to her in the world. "What's he talking about?"
Robin faltered, eyes blinking rapidly behind his domino mask's mirrored lenses. "He's… he's not…"
"Real?" Kon offered as he swaggered to his feet. "I'll give you a hint. Who here has seen 'Astro Boy'?"
"You're a robot!?" Cassie cried.
Kon sighed. "Christ, woman, I came in you last night! What do you think? God, now I remember why I was never attracted to you for your brains."
"It's not him talking, Cassie, it's Luthor."
"Luthor took him over again? I don't understand, I thought…"
"I made him wrong!" Robin screamed out, tears streaming down his cheeks. He slumped against the banister of a stairway. "Superman was right about you," he mumbled under his breath before fighting his way back to a sure footing. "But I can fix it, I can fix you!"
"You just want to take me back to the lab so you can Roe Vs. Wade me like all my brothers," Kon accused. "If at first you don't succeed, try and try again, right Tim?" He turned to Cassie, who could do no more than stand horrorstruck and bear witness. "The real me only died once. But I had to die again and again and again… so I could live again." He turned back to Robin, his grin now Mephistophelean. "You have no idea how much I wanted to smack you when you bitched and moaned incessantly over losing daddy dearest. At least you had a father! All I had was a test tube and string of kamikaze adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine."
"You… you cloned him!" Cassie gasped out, hand at her mouth.
"Yes, dear, try and keep up."
Robin held out his hands in a placating gesture. "Kon, you're not thinking clearly…"
"Oh, you had no idea how I'm thinking. This is my birthright. I'm a Luthor, Tim… and you can't stand that now I'm the smart one!"
"That's not true!"
"How could you!?" Cassie cried out, lunging at Tim. She grabbed him by the high black collar of his cape and slammed him into the wall. "I was just starting to let him go and then you send this… this thing to replace him!"
Kon's fall fell, his arrogant expression gone. "Thing? But Cassie, I… we… love…" He lowered his gaze to the ground, downcast, and when he came back up his eyes were as black and sinister as a shark's. "I knew you wouldn't understand. Why can't you just be happy for me!? I'm not confused anymore! I'm not denying who I am anymore! Unlike you," and with that he turned his gaze to Tim, who now had Cassie's hand wrapped tightly around his neck. "You hide your darkness, dress it up in bright red spandex and mask it with a witty one-liner. But me, I've learned to embrace my duality."
"Cassie, please…" Tim begged. "I just wanted to help…"
"You didn't!" Cassie yelled, tears of rage welling in her eyes. "I thought you of all people would know…"
"I couldn't live without him…" Tim whispered as the remainder of the air in his lungs left.
Cassie let him go. "What did you do to him?" she demanded from the fallen heap he became. "He killed the evil Superboy."
"He killed me first. It was only fair."
Robin reached up and took Cassie's face in his hands. "We need to get him to Zatanna. She can fix him."
"Let me guess. By scrubbing the Luthor right out of my brainpan?" Kon's eye twitched. Under his feet, the floor seemed to pulse. In short order the entire house was shaking. "You're not really going to listen to him, are you… Cassie?"
Cassie stepped over Robin to approach him. "He's right about one thing. You're not well. You need help."
Robin rolled out of the way as a picture frame smashed down where his head had been a moment ago. The shaking was quickly bounding up the Richter scale. "Cassie! Get away from him!"
Kon's hand squeezed into a fist, tension traveling up his arm. The quake continued to intensify, every bit of glass in the house cracking in strange fractal patterns. Tim recognized the Mandelbrot Set in a window pane. Then he ripped his mask off as the lenses were bisected by the Julia Set. "Are you with me, Cassie?" Kon asked, his voice small and lost.
"I am, but you need to…"
"Are you with me?"
"Always."
Half-Kryptonian eyes blinked closed. Tim held his breath. Then they opened and looked directly at Cassie, seeming to peer into her soul.
"Liar," Kon said.
His eyes flared red.
"She's lucky to be alive," Alfred said, pulling off his surgical gloves. "Third-degree burns over ninety percent of her body. If it weren't for her rather… mythological healing abilities, she'd spend the rest of her life screaming in pain."
Tim's eyes followed the sedative in Cassie's IV drip as it flowed into her mangled body. "You think I don't know this was my fault?"
"I was under the impression that it was young Master Kon-El who did this… monstrosity."
Tim looked at the butler. "I made him. I did something monstrous… and in turn I created a monster."
He walked over to a small locked drawer. Once he punched in the long-memorized code, it slid open, the contents emitting a sickly green glow.
"That makes him my responsibility."
"Makor Pinot Blanc," Lex Luthor said, pouring the wine into Kon's glass. "It's been in the family for generations."
"Lex, we both know your father was an alcoholic who beat you with a chair leg. Just pour the damn drink."
Lex smiled. "You're direct. I like that." Kon sniffed in the heady aroma of the wine. "Let me make a few suppositions. Firstly, you have come here because you have nowhere else to go, no one else who will take you in."
Kon chugged down his drink. "Not that you're the best guardian. As I recall, your last ward ended up sold to Brainiac. How much did you get for your grandmother?"
Unfretted, Lex continued. "You are hated and feared because you refuse to allow yourself to be chained by the rules of lesser minds. You have begun to decide your own destiny and your 'elders' find that unacceptable. So, they will hunt you, they will beguile you, they will harass you… and finally they will destroy you. Unless you strike first."
"Let me guess. Superman."
"Who has held you back the most. He doesn't respect you. The first chance he got he sent you off to scrub with the second-raters and B-listees. He'll never trust you with Metropolis… unless you earn it." Lex leaned forward and his smile was mirrored in Kon's own. "Do you think they would have ever stopped calling Wally West 'Kid Flash" if Barry hadn't died?"
"You're right. Superman is the end of the road." Kon stood up and shook Lex's hand. "Thanks for the advice… pa."
"Anytime, son."
"Oh, silly me, I forgot to thank you."
Lex's smile now had a slight edge of confusion to it. "Thanked me? For what?"
Kon's smile now had a slight edge of menace to it. "For creating me. For bringing me into existence so I could know exactly how it felt like for everyone I ever cared about to either die or turn against me. It felt a little something like this."
The screams echoed long after the molecules that composed Lex's body were scattered throughout the ventilation system of LexCorp Towers.
On the rooftop of the city-reigning tower of glass and steel, Kon looked out at the city. He'd heard the whisper-soft thrusters of the Batplane as it approached, noticed the THUMP of Robin's ninja boots (padded to make him look taller, more intimidating) as he landed on the rooftop, but as a courtesy didn't acknowledge him until he came within human earshot. Kon didn't turn around to face his best friend.
"How'd you know I would come here?"
"I was trained by the world's greatest detective, you know."
Kon smiled, remembering the in-joke. "So, should I do something with my tactile telekinesis?"
Tim shook his head. "It's not funny anymore. You hurt Cass."
Looking down, Kon briskly shook his head. "I didn't mean to! It's like this… this thing came over me… it's your fault." He quickly looked up at Tim, a shift going through his entire body. Tim was reminded of a cat noticing its prey. "You made me wrong! I wouldn't have done it if you'd done a better job on me! You can't judge me! You have no idea what it's like to make the hard choices! You're weak! You've always been weak and that's why everyone in your life keeps dying! If you'd just been strong, you could've saved Steph! Could've saved me!" He stomped on the floor like a child throwing a temper tantrum. The entire building shook.
Taking off his mask, Tim's face hardened. "That would've meant something coming from Kon. You're not him. You never were. You're some echo, some afterimage that was never meant to live."
The blood seemed to stand out in Kon's veins. "I thought I had to destroy Clark to truly be free. But it's who, isn't it? You're the one thing between me and true power. I'm not going to use my powers on you. I'm going to rip you apart with my bare hands!"
Tim held out a hand and waved his fingers, motioning for Kon to bring it. "The real Kon-El would've hit me by now."
Kon roared "I AM THE REAL KON-EL!" and stomped on the roof once more. This time it gave, collapsing inward. Tim landed on his back atop a catwalk in the maintenance area for some of the giant fans that circulated air in the massive monolith. There, he lay very still.
Kon cocked his head. "That can't be it. It can't be that easy."
He floated downwards, feet touching down on the metal grating of the catwalk like two magnets meeting. There, Superboy walked towards the supine form of his creator. Tim's hand reached up weakly and grabbed the railing, pulling himself up.
"Father, these hands you've given me. You wouldn't believe the things I've done with these hands. And why did you give me eyes if not to see beauty? How can you deny me that?"
Tim reached for his glove. "Hey, Kon, ever wonder why we Bats wear lead-lined gloves?"
In the blink of an eye, he had his glove off, blanketing the area with rays of Kryptonite radiation. Before Kon could react, the right cross sent him to the ground. Where the kryptonite ring hit his cheek, there was a mark like a cigarette burn smoldering into his skin. Kon wailed in agony, curling his arms around his chest protectively. Feet kicking out for footholds on the burnished metal, he began pushing himself away from Tim.
"What are you doing!? You can't do that to me! I have such dreams…! Such… I can see the flamebirds of Krypton burning through the night sky, remember how it felt to be sworn in as President of the United States, remember the feel of my first kiss with Lana Lang… oh Rao, it hurts so much, please, don't do this, how can you be so cruel, this is your fault, you made me!"
Kon stopped crawling, lying flat on his stomach, forehead braced against the cool grating. Tim walked towards him with slow, tentative footsteps.
"I'm real! You can't cut me out of reality like a tumor, I'm real! I have memories…"
"Stolen memories."
"Feelings."
"Not yours."
"Cassie…"
"She was never yours either."
Tim flipped Kon over with his boot and, straddling his chest, pressed the hot ember of the kryptonite ring into the base of his friend's throat.
"It's alright, it's alright…" Tim stroked Kon's hair with his free hand like a parent might comfort a sick child. Varicose veins spread through Kon's half-Kryptonian physique like a network of quicksilver. "Don't fight it, please, it'll be over soon, I'm so sorry, Kon, I never wanted it to end this way, forgive me…"
Kon began choking out his last words. "Think… please… think! What would the real Kon-El want you to do? What would your friend want you to do? Become a murderer? All I tried to do… was live up to his example… the way you showed me… oh God, it hurts so much, please, Rao, God, anyone!"
Tim pulled his hand away. Kon gasped in air as he rolled on his side, face beaded with sweat. Reaching out with one clammy hand, he interlaced his fingers with the grated floor. "I never thought you'd be the one to turn against me, not really…" he growled out in an inhuman voice. "You're supposed to be a robin. Fly, Robin. Fly home to Stephanie."
At his telepathic command, the catwalk broke free of its moorings and fell into the abyss.
Slowly consciousness returned to Kon. He was lying on the floor of a machine room, the great machines whispering a low unending murmur. Coiling his arms under him, he pushed himself up and stood. He ran his hands over his face, feeling the knotty scab where Tim had burned him with kryptonite.
Tim…
Tim was above him, lying on top of a spiraling length of air duct that no doubt either saved Lex (had saved Lex) a bundle or was part of some insidious experiment on LexCorp employees or both. His cape hung below him along with a dangling arm, both moving slightly in the breeze generated by a ventilation shaft.
Kon reached up and pulled on his cape, yanking Tim to the ground. Focusing all his tactile telekinesis, he plucked the ring off Tim's finger through the very air and threw it across the room. Finally, Kon glanced down at the unconscious Tim. He looked strangely peaceful and Kon wondered if the boy Tim had been before becoming Robin was anything like that. Kon paced to the opposite side of the room before looking back.
"You never loved me, did you?"
He started back, fingers tightening into fists, when a door at the far side of the room opened. A young man in his twenties, a mop of highlighted brown hair atop his head, stepped inside. He wore a sweater and jeans and his shoes seemed too big to possibly fit his feet.
"Hey, Kon. How's tricks?"
Kon cocked his head at the man who now stepped between him and Tim. "Bart? Is that you?"
Bart flashed a smile. "I knew you'd remember me."
"But… you're a twentysomething!"
"Growth spurt. You didn't answer my question."
"Step out of the way, Bart," Kon growled. "This is between me and Tim."
"I don't think so. The three of us, we're a team. So it's between all of us."
"You don't scare me, Bart. You don't have the Speed Force anymore. There's nothing you can do to stop me from killing him!"
"I know. But that doesn't mean I won't try."
Kon stepped forward, getting right in Bart's face. "I said move."
"Make me."
Kon actually chuckled. Shoved Bart back a bit.
"You can shove better than that."
In a fit of rage, Kon shoved Bart through the air and into the wall. Bart stepped forward painfully, rotating his shoulders. "Gonna feel that in the morning." He stepped over Tim's comatose form and once again stopped in front of Kon's path. "So, wanna talk about it yet?"
"You think I won't kill you!?"
"The Kon-El I knew wouldn't. And you look an awful lot like him…"
This time, Kon grabbed Bart by his lapels and threw him in the wall. Bart got up again, head bleeding from where it had struck cold cement. "Okay, that I'm feeling right now." Yet again he stepped in between Tim and Kon. "So, feeling more talkative or are you just gonna keep sending me into walls all evening?"
Kon grabbed Bart's throat and lifted him into the air. "Listen, speedster, and listen good. I have to kill Tim. I have to do it to be free. Just like Barry had to die so that Wally could be free."
"That's stupid," Bart said, apparently not noticing his predicament. "That's like saying I have to kill Wally to be free. Wally's not dead and I'm free, so obviously you don't have to kill Tim. See, that's logic. Should appeal to the" (he made air quotes) "cueball half of you."
"You don't understand! He has to pay!"
"For what?"
"Everything! For letting me die! For bringing me back!"
Bart shrugged. "Okay. Then kill me."
So surprised was Kon that he dropped Bart. "What?"
"Well, if you blame Tim for you dying, I had a chance to stop Superboy-Prime and I blew it. So clearly I deserve the blame for that more. And sure, I didn't clone you, but maybe if I'd reached out to Tim instead of 'retiring' he wouldn't have felt driven to try and make things the way they were. Besides which… he's Robin the frickin' Boy Wonder, leader of the Teen Titans. If anyone deserves to live, it's him. I'm just another face in the crowd who can't run fast and has the education of a high-school student coupled with the life experience of a kindergartener. In short, I'm expendable, he isn't."
Kon tried to push past Bart but the former Kid Flash still retained enough of his speed to stay in front of the clone. "What's wrong? Why can you kill him and not me? What's one more life?"
"You're not worth killing."
"Then I'm not worth not killing either. C'mon, kill me. Vaporize me or something. Give Tim a preview of how he's gonna die. Oh, I get it. You think this is a trick or something. Well, here."
Bart reached into his pocket and took out a small Swiss army knife. He extended the blade and handed it, handle-first, to Kon. "There. Shouldn't be much trouble for the Boy of Steel to take me down. Just one slice and you can get on with killing Tim."
Kon snatched the knife up and held it to Bart's throat. "You don't get it! I have to do these things! I don't want to, I have to! To protect myself! Everyone hates me, fears me…"
"I'm not afraid of you. You're my best friend. So if you want to get to Tim, go through me."
Kon dropped the knife. Slowly, he put a hand on Bart's shoulder. And Bart felt everything go black…
Tim held the cold compress to his head and hoped the swelling would go down soon. "Thanks for getting me out of there, Bart. Would've been embarrassing if someone had come across me unmasked and unconscious like that."
Bart shrugged and took another swig of his Zesti Cola. "You'd've done the same for me." He paused for a moment. "So would Kon."
Cassie entered Bart's apartment, closing the door behind her. The force of it shutting rattled the flimsy room, bringing a vase on the mantelpiece (an ancient Greek urn gifted to Bart by Princess Diana) that much closer to the edge. Aside from a few patches of Freddy Krueger skin covered in bandages, Cassie looked good. "Car's ready, Tim."
Tim nodded. "Thanks. How'd you find us, anyway?"
"Gee, the half-human clone with a penchant for destruction and the kid who wears a cape and rides around in a jet shaped like a bat. You weren't exactly that hard to find." After draining his soda can, Bart threw it into the recycle bin. "Going after Kon?"
Again, the Boy Wonder nodded, this time sighing as well. "We're his friends. He deserves to have us be the ones to find him instead of… someone who wouldn't understand.""And will you?"
Tim looked downcast. "There is some of the real Kon in him. Sparing me proved that."
"Have you ever considered that it's all Kon in him?" Bart asked, pushing a stray lock of hair out of his face. "That maybe he's the same guy you've always known, just alone and confused and frightened and going through the mother of all identity crises?"
Tim looked at Bart with a gaze that could freeze molten lead. "Every second of every minute of every day. But we have to be realistic…"
"Realistically, he had no reason to let either of us live. Yet he did. What does that tell you?"
"It tells me that he's worse than a villain. He's unpredictable. A half-truth. And we have to rein him in. Me and Cassie are in complete agreement on that."
Scratching at her bandages, Cassie took the photo out of her wallet. It was the old group photo from the Young Justice days. Greta didn't photograph well, being a ghost and all, and Robin was only a vague outline in the shadows, but the man with the John Lennon sunglasses and leather jacket flashing a peace sign was unmistakable.
"Don't worry, Kon. I'm going to find you. And I'm going to bring you back. If there's a speck of your soul in there, I'm going to bring you back. Because that's what superheroes do. They save people."
Tim stood and shook Bart's hand briskly.
"Good luck," Bart said.
"Thanks." Tim started for the door. On the way out, he turned back momentarily. "One question. Before I came to, I thought I saw Kon infusing you with some sort of… energy. Any idea what that was about?"
Bart shrugged. "Probably just a weird dream."
Tim "Hmm"ed and walked out, closing the door behind him. Across the room, the precariously-situated vase tumbled off the mantel.
Bart caught it in a flash.
The End
Kon walked through the vast crystal fortress. All around him, a thousand thousand alien artifacts and trophies demanded his curiosity. But Kon only had his eye on one thing. His footfalls stopped in front of the main console, where a hologram of a man's head floated, waiting serenely.
Kon took off his sunglasses and looked up at Jor-El.
"Grandfather, I need help."