and another chapter. nothing to report. but this has been tough and I've been stuck on thinking about what I want to do with this. Went through some plot changes and character traits. So sorry for the wait. hope this was worth it and I hope I can get more in before school starts again.

Don't own...

Conner and Clark

When everyone split up, I followed Conner to the roof of the apartment building and we flew off. Yes, Conner was flying. Actually flying! I never knew he could do that! Did everyone else know? How was this possible? I thought that he was only half kryptonion! That was why he didn't have all the powers I have. But now, seeing him flying in front of me... Well it almost felt like I did miss three years. Especially since his hair had grown out and I could already see the S-curl on his forehead. God, I hope it wasn't Lois who gave him that hair-do.

Conner caught me staring,

"Stop it."

"Sorry. You just...you look older." Well that was a stupid thing to say.

"That's what happens when your body changes over time as you mature."

And for the next five minutes we flew silently to Metropolis, were apparently, someone was breaking into the... what was it this time? Museum? LexCorp (Lord I hope not)?

"Hey, Conner. Where was the break-in again?"

I heard him sigh, "Dick said someone was breaking in to LexCorp Labs. Recently, LexCorp has been experimenting in boom tube tech after the Light was disbanded. They have a prototype in the lower basement of the building but as far as I know, it doesn't work yet. But if another company is trying to get the prototype then I have to stop them."

"So we're saving Lex from himself once again?"

In two seconds we landed, surprisingly, on an apartment balcony only two blocks from LexCorp. Conner opened the glass doors and walked into the apartment. He didn't say I could go in and really, it was a bit uncomfortable. But I went in anyways. It was nice, clean with a leather couch and flat screen TV. It was defiantly the one I had seen in the visions. So I'm guessing that M'gann lives here too and that was why it was so clean. There was a kitchen in the back and bedrooms down the hall. There were signs of people living here; costars on the coffee table, dirty dishes in the sink, sweaters and jackets hanging on some hooks in the hall, painted pictures on the wall... It was really home-y despite that M'gann and Conner first lived in the Mountain.

"Look, you can stay here if you want but I doubt people are going to just accept it when they see you out fighting again. I can handle this myself and then you can go back to Gotham and get this whole, 'time-travel' thing sorted out." Conner came out of his room dressed in tights. Seriously! He was wearing almost an exact replica of my uniform, except his was red and black and the cape started from the S-sheild, which was also red and black. Red boots, belt and cape. He looked good but it kind of bothered me that he got rid of the blue and yellow. He had the normal scowl when he looked at me.

Was it me or did Conner sound like he didn't want me around Metropolis? "Why would the people not accept me? I've lived in and saved Metropolis for years."

He didn't meet my eye, "A lot has changed since then. People think you abandoned them. That you left the city and planned on never coming back. And when you didn't... Well it didn't pass very well. People questioned what would happen to the city; about the villans. Then they looked at me, you know, since they connected Superboy to Superman."

"And so you took over as Metropolis' new Superman?"

I didn't mean to sound resentful, but that kind of hurt to hear that my own city had given up on me so soon. That everyone I knew here had chosen a new hero to replace me.

Conner was the same height as me now, "It was actually Lois' idea."

WHAT? "What?"

"Yeah," He walked towards the balcony. "She got sick of seeing her home town get trashed by-" A buzz went off in Conners ear. "Hello?"

I could hear the other line,

"Where are you? Down town is a mess and if you don't-"

Conner recoiled at the voice, "Yeah, yeah. I know. I'm on my way. Who is the problem this time?"

"It's Metalo, for the fourth time. I thought I told you to get rid of him the last time?"

"I'll take care of it. Superman out." Conner looked at his DNA donor. "The TV automatically turns onto the news. You can watch if you want. Just stay here." And he was gone. Leaving myself, who was stoic from hearing the voice Conner was talking to, to sit on M'gann and Conner's couch and watch the TV.

Of course Conner had been right. The leaguers had been gone for three years. If they had suddenly turned up out of no where, the people, and not to mention other heros, would get suspicious and demand explanations and reasons as to why their heros had abandoned them. If any of the recently found leaguers were reported on-screen an alert would go to the Watchtower in a matter of seconds and I shuddered at the thought of an angry Diana and Mera on their asses about where they have been all this time. defiantly better to stay low until we figured this whole situation out.

Not to mention that it had been Luthor, that Conner was talking to. All the more reason for Superman (me) to stay away from the situation. If Luthor wanted something there was no way on Earth that Superman (me) was going to give him what he wanted. It did raise the question as to why Conner, the new Superman and hero of Metropolis, was taking orders from Superman's (my) arch-enemy.

I turned on the TV and, as Conner had said, it immediately went to the News broadcast.

" -live from downtown Metropolis where Metalo, recently active robotic-villian, has torn apart multiple buildings after emerging from LexCorp Labs carrying a strange briefcase. Thankfully Metalo has been intervened by our very own Superman!"

Cat Grant disappeared from the screen and was replaced with a live footage of Conner/Superman, flying in from the sky, cape flapping behind him as he crashed into the Robot man Metalo, sending the android off his feet and backflipping towards a building. A building full of people.

I nearly fly off myself until Conner caught the villain before Metalo made a dent in the wall. He held the man by the back of his arm and threw him into open air, Conner still holding Metalo's arm.

Metalo on the other hand, flew into the air higher than the Daily Planet building. Conner threw the metal arm on the ground and flew after Metalo. The camera zoomed in but even then it was still hard to see what was exactly-

Wait a darn second! I have supervision! I can see and hear what was going on with my own eyes! Why hadn't I used this before!? I ran over to the balcony, where I could see Conner and Metalo in the sky. I could hear their conversation.

"I thought I made it clear Metalo. Stay away from Metropolis or else!"

I heard Metalo laugh, "I'm not afraid of your prisons Superbrat!"

"I wasn't talking about prison." I could see the fear in Metalos face. I heard the venom in Conners voice. But he couldn't be serious. Conner wouldn't...

I heard Metalo scream as Conner ripped off the other arm, the one holding the briefcase. He let it fall and grabbed Metalo by the collar and ripped off a piece of his chest. I could see the green glow, the surprise and flash of fear on Conners face, and Metalo's laugh.

"You shouldn't be surprised brat! No kryptonion can stand up to kryptonite-"

Conner tore off his head. "Shut up."

The body fell and Conner threw the robots head so far I lost sight of it. The kid then flew down, caught the body, picked up the briefcase and flew to LexCorp. I was stunned, amazed, worried and horrified. Conner had just torn a man/robots head off without so much as blinking. He hadn't been affected at all by the kryptonite. Hadn't even sweated. Kryptonite drained any kryptonion of all their strength and slowly killing them. Conner was 'suposedly' half kryptonion. The evil green rock had affected him before. What had changed now?

I lost sight of Conner in the crowds. But I couldn't really focus. Did the other kids know about this? Why didn't Conner tell him? I mentally kicked myself. Of course Conner wouldn't have told me. He barely trusted me and now three years after I went MIA he wasn't going to just accept me and give me every one of his secrect! Damn it Clark! What were you thinking?

I'll tell you. I wasn't thinking! I should have expected changes. I should have known things would be different. But I had go with the insane idea that everything would be like normal. Like I have never dissappeared. The most I could have done was give Conner the credit he deserved by taking on my mantle. Lois was right. With me gone he was the only one who could have replaced me. He was after all, Superboy. He was bound to have one day (though I had hoped it would be much, much later) to become Superman.

Was that what Bruce expected from Dick? What Barry expected from Wally and Orin expected from Kaldur? Heck, Oliver and Diana probably expected Roy and Donna to one day take their place.

"So you saw the fight, huh?"

Conner was standing behind me, a scowl on his face as usual.

"Yeah, I saw it."

"So what are you thinking?"

What was I thinking? I was thinking that Conner had all the powers of a kryptonion, he had become the new Superman and was working with Lex Luthor, he had not been effected by kryptonite, and he had crushed Metalo without so much as a second thought.

"You seemed to handle that pretty well." WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?

"Metalo's a push-over. Easy when you know how to deal with him."

"So, are we done here?"

"Yeah. The tech is back at LexCorp. I haven't gotten any calls from Dick or the others so they're not done yet which means we don't have to go back yet."

Oh yay. I get to spend more time alone with my clone who is freaking me out.

"I guess I could call Lois and tell her your here."

Oh shi-

Done! OMG THAT TOOK WAY TOO LONG! i am so sorry for the delays, again. Two more weeks till school and i've had major writers block. plus my internet has been dumb. I hope you enjoy and I will try updating soon.

byebye