It was a huge shock for everyone!
They just all experienced something, they knew that it never happened…
Jon didn't grow up with them. Jordan never got training from Sam in the basement of the barn. And he never had such long curly hair. And Sam ensured that he would never be so mean.
They knew that Jon had no powers when he left Earth. Tal told them detailed about his training with Jon. And Jordan had no visible powers, too back then. So, wherever these 'flashbacks' came from, someone was trying to manipulate Jon in letting him believe that they wouldn't love him because he has no powers.
Jon told them about the other flashbacks and what he saw in them.
"It all began when I saw you for the first time in the television-signals. And then later when I watched his interview. I don't know where they come from… I mean… I know I didn't experience it! But… It is odd… to think about it!" Jon told. "I had to think about myself endlessly ever since, and about how I was and who I was before I went to Argo!"
"I still can't believe that you were there all the time!" Lois said with tears in her eyes again. "And you never had… you know… a suspicion? Was there ever… an event that let you assume that you could be… Kryptonian?"
"No!" Jon said. "Well… I once destroyed with a football a tire-swing and a window two houses away… No… I… ehm… I never dare to think that! I mean okay… I was never seriously sick! I was fitter than most of my friends! Better at sports… oh I was a cheat!"
"Oh, no don't say that!" Clark reassured him. "You didn't know! You didn't cheat!"
Earth-AU…
"My father allowed my superpowered brother to join the football-team in Smallville. And what did he: cheat!" Connor moaned while they were waiting for the analysis.
"Do you think Joel or Martha will be ever allowed in a sports-team?" Janet asked.
Earth-359…
"With everything you told me, it would have been no problem to let you play. Well at least until your powers manifested!" Clark continued.
"Really? Odd to think… Uncle Zor told me, that if I never came to Argo, my cells would still be to adjust to the yellow sun and I would blend in perfectly!" Jon said.
"Hmm… In that case I guess I would have taken you to my fortress to check why!" Clark said.
Earth-TUD25…
"You never thought about bringing your son to me or your father to check why he never developed powers?" Lara said accusingly. "Kal, that was not right!"
Clark brought Jon back as soon as possible after the weird event. After telling her what happened, Jon was so mad again. His anger written in his face when he yelled on his father that this is once again ruining his life. And that Krypton only means trouble.
"He is denying his Kryptonian heritage because he has no powers. He sees himself not as a legit heir to the house of El and he is ashamed to be part Kryptonian. Kal, being Kryptonian is not about having powers. If you had taken him to your father, too regularly you two might have a better relationship. Instead, you openly preferred Jordan because of his powers. This is evident now!" Lara said.
Clark never saw his Kryptonian mother that angrily before. Jon was in the other room, walking up and down in his attempt to calm down. All while Clark had to confess to his mother the barn-scene, Jonathan's X-K abuse, and his troubles.
"Are you hiding something from your son, Kal? Or what is the reason you don't want him to be a part of his own heritage? Is it true, Kal?" Lara asked and looked on Clark. "Do you prefer Jordan because of the powers?"
"No! And I deeply regret that it looks like that!" Clark said.
Earth-Krypton…
"You never showed any interest in me when I had no powers! You openly preferred Jordan!" the Jonathan-A.I. said. "And after I vanished, you suddenly cared about me! Don't you realize that in all your obscene to let's call it 'apologize' to me, you start to lose your mind?"
Clark sat on the ground, still trapped by the forcefield that was surrounding him, and looked like a scared little child that was scolded.
"I am sorry!"
"You're sorry? You weren't sorry when you humiliated me in front of the entire world! Or when I had to suffer under my supposed powerlessness, everyone made fun about! But this is not the right moment to discuss that… we must stop this! Worlds are in danger!"
Earth-359…
"…and so, my mind went black… it didn't get out of my head! So, I sneaked down to our laboratories. Put the energy-core into the pod. Programmed the flightpath to Earth. And came here! Simply that way! Aghh… I forgot that the energy-core is reacting to sunlight, too! That's why it overheated this solar system!"
"The crash was not your fault!" Clark reassured him. Not mentioning the multiple craters all over Europe. "Really… It is more important that you are here! Even under these circumstances!"
"Yes… I am happy, too!" Jon said with a bright smile. "We planned this trip to Earth for years! I wish you could meet Uncle Zor, Aunt Alura and Kara, too! Or all the other members of the house of El!"
"Wow… we have so many living relatives!" Jordan said.
"Yes, we originally wanted to come all together! I still can't believe that your only disguise is a pair of glasses!" Jon said.
"I can't believe that I 'supposedly' called you a shame for the family in one of these visions, you had!" Clark said. He tried to imagine himself and Jon standing in their farmhouse and calling his son a shame! It let him shiver. "We should let you check in the fortress!"
"Fortress? I hope you removed all Zeta-Rho from there!" Jon said by the thought about his last trip to Tal's fortress.
"Oh no… A brand-new fortress! We created a new one! A few months after you left! It's in the Pacific! You will love it! And there is someone else who is eager to meet you!"
And so they prepared to go to the new 'family-fortress' in the Pacific…
Earth-TUD25…
"Family-fortress? Pah! He knows exactly that I can't come here by my own! And how many times he actually took me here?" Jonathan moaned while he walked up and down and brooded about everything! "This place was just for him and Jordan! I knew it all the time!"
Earth-Krypton…
"You know… when you and Jordan were little, I thought about one day creating a new big fortress for all of us together!" Clark said. "A family-fortress!"
"A family-fortress? Nice thought! Instead, you made your arctic-fortress into a father-son-fortress for you and Jordan! And I saw it for the first time, five years after my death?!" Connor said accusingly.
Clark lowered his head in shame again…
Earth-AU…
"You know what, I never dared to think that I could have my own fortress one day!" Connor said while he looked around.
"Yeah… you came here to bury the crystals to get rid of them. And suddenly this building was created! I remember! You caused an Earthquake and a landslide!" his wife said.
"And I am not proud of that! The whole island was trembled and was moved five feet westward." Connor said and became red.
"Yes… but you finally got a place where you learned how to control your powers and finally learn what was denied you!" Lara said. "When your doppelganger brought you to me in your uncle's old desert-fortress, he did the right thing! Only there you were able to heal from your fall and the injuries you suffered in the lab."
Connor became moody when he thought about the lab… but Lara was right! Here he got a place where he was not only able to learn how to control it, but also where he was able to learn to accept his heritage…
Earth-TUD25…
"Jonathan, please talk to me!" Clark said desperately. Standing in the opening to the room, Jonathan was in.
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Jonathan yelled and turned away. "I know I am not allowed to be here! Don't rub it into my face!"
"I am not doing that!" Clark said. Realizing it was getting worse! "Listen I am sorry! I know it was not right from me…"
"You told me so many times, that it is good that I was spared from the powers. That they are only a burden! And then you openly prefer Jordan, because you got your perfect heir in him. Why not adopt my doppelganger from the inverse-world? So you have one more? I know you never wanted me anyway…"
A tear ran down Clark's face. It was getting worse…
"Jonathan…"
"Kal, give your son some space!" Lara said when she closed the opening to give Jon some privacy. Clark looked on her and she was still mad on him. "In the meantime, we talk about your punishment for the barn-scene, the preferring of Jordan, the neglect and for excluding your son from his own heritage…"
Earth-359…
The family prepared for their trip to the fortress. But no matter how happy Sam was to have his grandson back, he had to go back to the DOD to make his report and to prevent that someone gets suspicious.
The plan was quickly made: At first Clark brings Sam back to the DOD, while Jordan and Nattie fly with Jon to the fortress. The Eastern path, so Jon could charge a bit in the sun better. Tal brings Lois there. In the meantime, Clark recovers the pod from Lake Yellowstone and hide it in Tal's old fortress. Then he recovers the parts that were spread over Europe and bring them there, too. Jon was still unexperienced in flying, so they would need a while go reach the fortress… enough time for Clark to recover all the parts and for Sam to calm down the authorities before they join them.
Just as expected, the flight with Jon felt awesome and was full of fun…
Jon was still getting a feeling for flying but Jordan and Nattie were not that good during their first flights. And Jon had visible fun while they flew east over Europe and Russia to get to the fortress.
In the meantime, Clark brought Sam back to the DOD where he asked everyone as Superman, to don't be upset, that he will handle everything, and that the boy is a relative he will take care of. Then he flew to Chisinau, after seeing the news footage, and recovered the energy core.
The sun had risen over Moldova again. And the energy core got so hot, that it turned the ground around it into lava and that every water, the local fire brigade sprayed on it, vaporized before it even touched it. Wrapped in thick lead, Clark brought it to Tal's old fortress where it could cool down again. Then he got the pod out of Lake Yellowstone, and the remaining debris from Europe and hid them in there, too.
After that he went back to the DOD to 'offer the general to talk to the visitor' in front of everyone to be sure that there is no trouble to be expected from the boy. And Sam of course agreed to Superman's 'generous offer' and looked forward to see Jon again, too.
In the meantime, the rest of the family flew over Russia. Tal was flying closest to Jon, who was still full of awe and joy about his newfound abilities. Guided and advised by Tal, who was full of joy, too, Jon got more self-confident and flew higher and faster. They couldn't fly as high as they wanted, as Lois was with them but Tal let Jon fly the teens higher.
"You are good!" Jordan said. "Is that really just your second flight?"
"Yeah!"
"You are really better than we were!" Nattie said.
They flew faster. Sometimes higher, sometimes lower. Over East Siberia, they all risked some loopings before Lois interfered that they should be careful. Jon enjoyed every second of their flight and the sun that was shining on him when they reached the Pacific Ocean and flew all lower, as here nobody could see them.
Close over the ground, Jon could see the water reacting to his power when he flew fast over it and used his hand to feel the water below before rising up again and joining his siblings again who enjoyed it, too…
In all his joy about having his twin-brother back, Jordan even forgot Sarah. And latter was furious when she realized that she got ditched and stomped home angrily…
After flying a while, Jon could finally see it in the distance. The fortress! An impressive futuristic constructure that throned in the Ocean. From the distance it looked like a big jagged iceberg. But Jon could see immediately that it was a building full of Kryptonian technology. This was not just ice! It was a piece of Krypton on Earth.
They all slowed down and prepared for landing when Jon could feel that he was a bit too fast…
"Slow down! Watch your balance!" Tal advised but then decided to help Jon with the landing, by holding his hand and preventing him from crashing again.
As soon as they all were on the ground, Jon looked around in awe.
"What a place! It's beautiful!" Jon said.
"Yes, it is! Very impressive!" Tal said. "A piece of our old home, recreated on this planet!"
"And here you guys, do all the Superhero stuff?" Jon asked.
"No, just training! We don't have a true lair or anything like that!" Jordan told. "But this place is great..."
Jon walked around to take a closer look on the walls and saw that everything was full of technology. Every square inch of this place was filled with technology, humanity could only dream of. The probably most powerful computer in this galaxy.
A minute later, Clark arrived with Sam on his back, at the fortress, too. Smiling brighter than ever.
"Your pod is impressive! I hid it in Tal's old fortress! Your pod's energy-core is safe! Did you build it all by yourself?"
"I had help!"
"Impressive!" Jordan said. "You are smart!"
"I hope nobody got hurt when it crashed!" Jon said.
"No… But I fear, you will have to apologize to a lot of people in Chisinau." Clark said. In truth hundreds were injured. But the main thing was that nobody got killed. "But everyone will forgive you!"
Earth-AU…
"The people in Smallville didn't forgive me till today!" Connor said.
"The people in Smallville are the dumbest people on this planet! You proved your innocence, and they scapegoated you anyway! Connor… you are the greatest person in the world. A much better hero than your brother could have ever be! Everyone here in this town can confirm it!"
"Yes! But not everyone in this town knows the truth about me!"
"That doesn't matter! We all stand behind you!" suddenly a new voice said.
Connor and his wife turned around to see Connor's parents in law entering. Both packed in thick jackets and bringing coffee and cookies.
"Is everything all right?" Connor's mother-in-law asked. "You two have been here for hours!"
"Really? That long?" Connor said and became red. "Well… I still try to figure out who is bombing me with my old memories! You should go home!"
"We are a family! We stick together!" Connor's father-in-law said stern and sat down on a chair. "This might be your fortress! But you said everyone is allowed to come here! What ever your stupid father or those hillbillys from Smallville messed up with, you can handle everything! We believe in you!"
"Oh…" a tear of joy ran down his face. "…I love you guys… I am so glad that I once stranded here!"
And so they continued investigating…
Earth-Krypton…
"There is a chance to stop this mess!" the Jonathan-A.I. said. Everyone was listening closely. "If the doppelganger on the affected Earth enters a Kryptonian fortress we could be able to create a stable connection to warn him…"
Meanwhile in Metropolis, Lois was in her penthouse-apartment and tried to find some words for her son if he decides to show up in near future. She saw in TV some footage of Clark and Connor together and Connor 'kidnapping' Clark. Maybe to talk to him! Mentally she prepared for the possible meeting, when she suddenly heard someone hammering against her door.
"Coming!" she yelled when she walked to the door. But the hammering got harder and louder. "Yes…"
When Lois opened the door she was shocked when her father 'walked' inside.
"Lois, something happened!" he said clearly.
"AGHH… You can walk! You can talk!" Lois gasped. Didn't he had a stroke?
All what Sam could do was shrug in response.
"Lois… I don't know what happened! But I think I know now where Jonathan is! Get your stuff… we're going to Arizona!"
Earth-TUD25…
Clark was back in Smallville, where he buried his face in his hands while he, Lois and Sam sat in the kitchen again. Clark told them what happened, and that Jonathan's condition worsened…
"Any ideas?" Lois asked worried.
"It's getting worse!" Clark said. "But in one thing my mother is right! I didn't do enough to let him feel included. I neglected his feelings. He was crying for help, and I ignored him!"
"Do you think he will ever forgive me?" Sam asked upset.
"That depends on how you behave in his next flashbacks!" Clark said.
"Or how much you hurt his feelings otherwise?" Lois added.
"Say the people who constantly reminded him that he is not allowed to know anything." Sam defended himself.
"Enough!" Clark yelled. "Yes we made all mistakes. Unforgivable mistakes! Now is more important that Jonathan gets help. After that we deal with the punishment from my mother…"
Earth-359…
"Let's go inside! Your grandparents will be so happy to see you again!" Clark said, put a hand on his lost son's shoulder.
They went inside. Walking next to each other, Tal and Jon looked funny in their partner-look outfits. Making jokes about their matching outfits. Clark was in his supersuit, everyone else was in civilian clothes. Just Jordan was missing his glasses and was literally Superboy in civilian clothes.
"Where are your glasses?" Lois asked. In all her joy to see Jon again, she and everyone else totally missed that detail.
Jordan used his hand to feel his face and finally remembered his glasses, too.
"Oh, I must have dropped them when Dad grabbed me and… aghhh… Sarah! I FORGOT SARAH!" Jordan yelled shocked and looked on his watch. In Smallville it was already night. Sarah probably left hours ago.
"Oh, sorry…" Clark said comforted him.
"Aghhh… when I see her again I have to come up with a good explanation."
"Tell her the truth!" Jon suggested. Not knowing it was his brother's plan all the time.
"She doesn't know the secret!" Clark interfered. "We discuss that later… let's show you to your grandparents."
Together they went inside, where Clark inserted two crystals in the main podium. The lights changed and two holographic images of a man and a woman, both wearing Kryptonian clothes and the house of El crests, appeared in the room.
"Mother, Father… Jonathan is back!" Clark said proudly and put a hand on his son's shoulder. A bright smile appeared on both the holograph's faces when they recognized Jonathan.
"Jon-El my dear grandson, I am so glad that you made it!" Lara said full of joy, too.
"I am glad to finally meet you, grandson!" Jor-El said with a satisfied smile on his face. And those were rare.
Jon told them how happy he is to finally meet them properly, too. In fluent Kryptonese, what made Jor-El and Lara even happier. Praising his beautiful Argo-dialect, that was said to be the most beautiful dialect on Krypton.
Jon and his grandparents had a happy conversation. Telling them in fast and perfect Kryptonese, that was even better than Clark's, how Argo developed and how he came back to Earth. And most of all the true reason for his spontaneous trip.
"I see… what you told us is a very serious matter that needs to be investigated. I am shocked that someone wants to let you believe that you had a bad life!" Lara said while Jon stepped on the podium to start the scan. "…this is interesting… you have the same genetic hybrid-structure like your siblings! And just like them, you have a natural born immunity against Kryptonite."
"You are like us!" Jordan said happily.
Earth-TUD25…
"I am not like my brother! I am not like my father! I am just a human!" Jonathan complained while he got scanned again.
"Just like your brother, you are a child of a Kryptonian and a human. You are as much Kryptonian as him!" Lara reassured him. "Just because your father didn't take you to me or your grandfather it doesn't mean that you have no right to know everything about Krypton, too. Your father made a mistake. Don't let it rule your life!"
Earth-359…
"Is there any known trigger? Certain events or emotions that cause those visions?" Lara asked, while observing a little holograph of Jon in her hand.
"Not that I know! I used to watch footage of them during the first two attacks. The last one was different. Because it affected everyone who was close to me!"
"What do you feel during these visions?" Jor-El asked.
"Pain, sorrow, rejection… the feeling of being left out and unloved!" Jon explained. Causing everyone to be in despair.
"I can confirm that you are affected by interdimensional anomalies. Your brain is processing information from other worlds, trying to fill the void that was left in your mind!" Lara diagnosed.
"Does it mean… someone erased my memories!"
"I guess more that these visions are erased memories…" Jor-El said. "There is something…"
Earth-AU…
"I found something!" Lara said. Suddenly everyone present was very eager to listen. "The anomaly is open again. We can try to make contact…"
"Stay back, everyone!" Connor yelled towards his family, who took a few steps back to not to be affected by whatever is happening. Not knowing that it was too late for them…
Earth-TUD25…
"I found something!" Lara said. Jonathan was suddenly very upset. "It's getting closer… Prepare for another memory!"
"How?"
"Try to focus on something nice!" Lara said.
Earth-Krypton…
Sam, who didn't care about his sudden returned ability to walk and talk normally again, dragged his daughter to a nearby heliport. He used his old contacts to organize a military-helicopter with jet propulsion, to use it to go to their Jonathan's fortress…
Right there, the Jonathan-A.I., saw the connection again.
"I found something… It's going to happen again, soon!" he said. "Prepare for it…"
Earth-359…
"We are not alone! Other's try to localize us, too!" Lara said…
"How do we cause another vision?" Jon asked.
"How where the others caused.
"I don't know!" Jon said and turned to his family. "Do something! Say something!"
"And what?" Jordan took a step forward and reached out his hand…
Suddenly all Jonathan's had a flashback to the moment, Jordan broke their arms… And everyone present saw and feel it, too.
Earth-TUD25…
Lois, Clark and Sam flinched in pain when they could feel how Jordan broke Jonathan's arm and collapsed, while Jonathan in the fortress start to glow…
Earth-AU…
Connor start to glow and roared in pain, while his family had those pictures in their heads. The whole island start to tremble, and lightning struck over the dark sky…
Earth-Krypton…
A lightning struck the fortress, while everyone felt the pain… In their helicopter, Sam and Lois lost consciousness…
Earth-359…
Jon roared in pain and start to glow, too. Nobody was able to interfere, as they suddenly found themselves in a alley in Metropolis, where Jordan (with those curly head again) just tried to punch another teenager…
"WHAT IS GOING ON?" finally Jon was able to jell when he felt that he was falling.
It got cold, then hot, then wet, then dry, suddenly it felt like he got slapped, punched, or kicked. Falling into a big empty void…
People were screaming… young voices, old voices… Jon was tossing around so fast that everything became a blur…
On all Earth's that were directly involved this experiment… everyone who was involved in the last flashback and everyone who was standing close enough to them, vanished in a bright light of pure energy...