Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or any characters related to the show. Young Justice is owned by DC Comics parent company Warner Brothers. Discovery.

Mental Link

Chapter 2

Normally Wally would be ecstatic about visiting Superman's Fortress of Solitude. But after the failed training simulation and the current situation, the Fortress lost its luster. Both Kaldur and Wally were looking at both Kryptonians with curiosity and concern. They knew the relationship between Superman and Conner was frosty at best, but Kara's attack does make them wonder if all Kryptonians hated clones.

While they were thinking, Martian Manhunter came by and implanted the English language into Kara so that translating everything wouldn't be necessary. It was beneficial since Kaldur and Wally could hear Kara wake up in pain and demanding to see 'the clone'. Superman could calm her down; the pain she experienced from kryptonite would subside since he gracefully placed her in a solar pod. Half an hour later, she was released from the pod for Kelex and the other robots to perform scans on her. Kaldur and Wally were the silent observers trying to figure out what to ask Kara when everything was complete. The Kryptonians then walked up to them.

"Kelex has run multiple tests and confirmed that Kara is indeed a Kryptonian and is my cousin," Superman said with a grin.

"Why did you attack our friend?" Kaldur asked.

"You're friends with that abomination?"

"He's not an abomination. Why did you attack him?"

Kara looked at Superman and asked, "Is he a clone?"

Superman nodded, and Kara looked at everyone in the room.

"You don't know, do you?"

Kaldur and Wally displayed curious looks about how being a clone involved all this.

"Years ago, Krypton experimented with the prospects of cloning. All attempts would fail, and the fate for any clones would be disastrous, making them an abomination."

"What does that even mean?" Wally asked, wanting confirmation of his worst fears.

"All Kryptonian clones eventually devolve into mindless killing machines," Kara said, confirming Wally's fears.

"This isn't Krypton; this is Earth. Earth-based science created Superboy, the odds of him becoming a 'mindless killing machine' is low." Kaldur responded in a calm tone. Kaldur doesn't like referring to Conner as nothing more than a clone. Conner, after all, is a person he chose to help free them from Cadmus months ago.

"I've fought beside him; he isn't a killing machine." Wally added.

"Kelex?"

"She is correct, Kal-El. The council has investigated the possibility of expanding the Kryptonian race before implementing the Birthing Matrix. Experiments from the past were successful to an extent. However, as time moved, the clones devolved, became mindless, and caused massive amounts of destruction throughout the planet. The council used the research and created the birthing matrix, conceiving you and Kara.".

Provided this new information, Superman made the connection, unfortunately not in the direction that either Kaldur or Wally wanted.

"That would explain why he almost killed Deadshot in Dhabar last month." Superman suddenly said.

Wally winced; he and Artemis were at Wayne Manor celebrating Dick's birthday. Wally did ask Bruce before the party about Dhabar. Bruce mentioned that M'gann and Conner were covering it. But he wished he was there too; maybe he could've calmed Conner down a bit. Now wasn't the time to regret it.

"It has done this before?"

"It has."

"You need to kill it now before it kills someone else."

"Superman, you don't understand….." Kaldur quickly interrupts before anything goes further.

"What don't I understand? He's gone feral before it can happen again."

"What happened in Dhabar can be explained." Wally pleaded.

"Then explain it to me."

Kaldur and Wally have stuck between a rock and a hard place. Conner told no one other than the team that he was half human, that Lex Luthor was that human 'father', and that he used shields provided by Luthor to gain access to his full powers. They didn't want to tell them. Saying all three things could give them more ammunition for their cause.

"He is barely a year old, stuck in a body with powers he's attempting to control with no help. He has no idea how to react or interact without us. What happened in Dhabar was an overreaction." Kaldur said, hoping that amount of logic could make the Kryptonians see Conner from a different point of view.

"You can't punish someone simply because they had no idea what they were doing was wrong," Wally added with emotion.

The boys hoped that was good enough of an answer. They couldn't think of anything else. Fake till you make it at this point.

"Alright, what happened in Dhabar could be an overreaction. But that doesn't explain what happened in the smokey mountains."

"If another incident has happened, its fate is set. We need to kill it now."

"How can you be so sure we can trust her? How do we not know the Light didn't send her or that this could be related to the 16 hours?" Wally replied with a slight tone of panic and worry.

Kaldur was desperate for anything that could throw the man of steel off. Although what Wally said wasn't a lie. The timing of Kara's arrival is too suspicious. Now that they know the events of the past six months have been orchestrated, they can't take any chances.

"You are correct, Kid Flash. She could've been sent by the Light, which could be related to the missing 16 hours. However, Kelex has confirmed her identity."

"If I may, the other units have finished their scans of the craft. We have confirmed no external manipulation was performed on the craft before its arrival on Earth and departure from Krypton. The ship streaked through an asteroid field, and components of it were lodged onto the hull, knocking it off course. We also confirmed that the ship is identical to the one Kal-El came to Earth in." Kelex responded.

"I have no idea what this Light or missing 16 hours is about, but if the clone exhibited signs of becoming a mindless killing machine. We need to kill it now."

"You can't kill someone who's much a victim in this situation as he (Wally points to Superman) is." Wally pleaded.

"Superboy is a threat to everyone; we will do whatever is necessary to ensure the safety of everyone," Superman said in a severe tone.

Both Kaldur and Wally left the Fortress and headed straight for the Cave. They did what they could to see the situation from Conner's point of view. But now they needed to warn everyone and devise a plan with Batman.

Meanwhile, back at the Cave.

When Conner was screaming in pain as Superman's cousin shot heat vision at him. He knew... he knew why. It wasn't that hard to figure out. Yes, there was the slight possibility that Superman hated clones, but Conner didn't care about that. What he thought about in the 5-10 seconds of pain as he screamed was the thought of devolving into a killing machine. When Conner returned to Cadmus during Thanksgiving and found Match, he was initially shocked that he had all Kryptonian powers. The only downside was being feral. He had bruises at the time to show. Luthor saw Match as a failure and kept him on ice. Conner only took the shields to bridge the gap between the powers he had and didn't have. He didn't want to feel more useless and a failure by not having all the powers his donor had. Luthor said the shields were suppressing his human DNA, allowing his powers to bloom. But what if the shields had a side effect on him? If he used them long enough, could his human DNA be permanently suppressed, devolving and making him into Match? A mindless killing machine with the powers of a Kryptonian. He could only theorize that Krypton had attempted cloning, but the results were disastrous. While Kryptonian DNA is complex for human science to read, Conner assumed that Kryptonian science wasn't as advanced enough to clone a Kryptonian successfully. Conner didn't want that. Conner has a life. He has friends that care about him. All Conner wants is a life. So when he woke up and winced in pain, his previous thoughts came back, rushing into his mind. Conner could devolve into a mindless killing machine. He could kill his friends all because he devolved and Superman's cousin was confirmation that it could happen. He knew what he needed to do. He knew what he needed to ask.

"Conner? What's wrong?" M'gann asked, noticing his troubled face.

"Nothing. I'm just in a lot of pain. Never felt this before." Conner said in a faint voice.

Robin and Artemis looked at Conner and noticed that he was more put down and distraught with everything that had occurred. Something was wrong.

Before Conner could finish his internal thoughts, the Cave's Zeta-Tube announced the arrival of both Kaldur and Wally. The boys told M'gann mentally that they all needed to meet privately about the revelations made in the Fortress. Each of them obliged. Before Artemis, M'gann and Robin could leave, Conner asked for the Boy Wonder's attention.

"Robin, is Batman still here?"

"Yes, he's still here."

"Can I talk to him?"

As Conner finished his sentence, not a couple of seconds later, Batman appeared in Med Bay. Maybe it was fate, or Batman saw Conner waking up and decided to check in on him. Bruce walked up to Conner while the other departed the Med Bay to find out what Wally and Kaldur discovered. Conner mustered up the courage to tell Batman everything. He wasn't keeping secrets, but it was something he needed to say.

"What would you like to talk about, Conner?"

Conner froze a bit. It was the first time Batman mentioned his name. He always referred to him as Superboy, not as Conner.

"I need to tell you something."

"If this is about you visiting Cadmus on thanksgiving. You don't need to. Robin has already to me everything."

"So you know I'm half-human?"

"And that Lex Luthor is your other donor. Yes, I know."

Of course, Robin told him everything. It makes things easier but still challenging.

"I didn't tell Robin and the others everything. When I went back to Cadmus and discovered I was half human and would never get to have full Kryptonian powers, I also discovered that I wasn't the first attempt at cloning a Kryptonian. Cadmus attempted to clone Superman using pure Kryptonian DNA. Luthor wanted Superman to meet his Match. The result was Match my half-brother. Match is exactly like me appearance-wise, except his eyes have black sclera, light blue irises, and black pupils. He's feral. All he does is attack. Even with the genomorphs' attempts to restrain him, he's aggressive and will attack without provocation. Luthor said Kryptonian DNA proved too difficult to replicate, and the imperfect sequence made Match uncontrollable. He was stored deep inside Cadmus, and his presence was kept a secret until I freed him. When I freed him, he attacked and injured me. After I healed, I used the shields Luthor provided, subdued March, and placed him back on ice.".

Bruce was gobsmacked, but it explained everything. Since Dick told him that Conner is half-human, he has wondered why. Bruce assumed Luthor and the Light's science couldn't thoroughly read and clone Kryptonian DNA, resulting in Conner being half human. It made sense. But the revelation of Match and his feral personality was something he didn't expect. Bruce assumed any attempt to use pure Kryptonian DNA in cloning would decay them into chalk. But why was Conner telling him this?

"When I took the shields, I only used them to bridge the gap between the powers I have and don't have. The shields gave me flight, heat, and x-ray vision and strengthened me. I didn't want to feel less of the person I was cloned. That's why I've been using them. Luthor said the shields were suppressing my human DNA, allowing my powers to bloom. Batman, can the shields suppress my DNA long enough to devolve me into a mindless monster?"

Bruce looked at Conner, his eyes telling a story. Conner wasn't angry or anxious about everything that was happening. Conner was afraid and scared. He looked horrified at the thought of devolving and killing his friends. They were the only people that knew him, and he didn't want to be the person to put their lives in danger.

"I can't answer that question for you, Conner. I'll run a DNA test to confirm your theory."

Bruce walked over, grabbed a cheek swab kit, and swabbed Conner's cheek.

"You'll be the first one to know the results."

Before Bruce left, Conner spoke up again.

"Can you promise me?"

"Promise you what?"

"Can you promise that you will kill me if I turn feral? I don't... I don't want them to see me devolve into a mindless killing machine. I don't want to turn into Match. I just want to live." Conner finished his sentence with desperation.

"I promise. Now get some rest."

Conner nodded, and Wolf accompanied him while Batman left the Med Bay. While Bruce was walking to find the other teens, his mind was thinking about Conner. Bruce has fought a lot of evil in his time. He's fought off monsters, super-powered individuals, psychopaths, aliens, and more. He's seen people come back from the dead and dated the daughter of a head criminal organization who's hundreds of years old—all of that he can handle. But having someone barely a year old ask him to kill him should he ever become a threat is something he honestly couldn't process. All he thought about was the amount of adversity Conner had. All he asked Clark 5 months ago in Bibbo's Diner was to be a mentor, to provide basic training to Conner to figure out how to use his powers. He outright refused, noting that he wasn't his mentor. The man of steel wanted nothing to do with Conner. Batman's thoughts ended when he arrived in the mission room, where everyone, minus Conner, engaged in a mental link. From the looks on everyone's faces, it doesn't look good.

When Artemis, M'gann, and Robin arrived in the Mission Room, they hoped for some good news. But when they looked at the Atlantean and speedster faces, they knew the news wasn't good.

"How bad?" Robin asked.

"According to 'Kara' and Kelex, the robot that maintains Superman's Fortress. Krypton had experimented with cloning. Clones on Krypton would devolve into mindless killing machines." Wally said.

"Kelex mentioned that while the clones devolved. Kryptonians would later use the science of cloning to expand their species using the 'Birthing Matrix'. The matrix from what we gathered conceived Superman and his cousin." Kaldur added.

"Ok, now that we know how Kryptonians are created, what does this have to do with Conner?" Artemis questioned.

Kaldur and Wally looked at M'gann and asked bluntly.

"What happened in Dhabar?"

"What?"

"Did Conner nearly kill Deadshot in Dhabar last month?"

"How did you know?" M'gann responded by being cautious but confirming the boys' worst fears.

"Superman told us. Combined with what happened at Smokey Mountains, he now thinks Conner is a big enough threat to everyone that he may need to be killed." Wally said.

Dick winced when he asked Bruce why he wasn't in Dhabar. He was excited that he was celebrating his birthday with his adopted father. It was a good night. Dick enjoyed himself, and that kiss with Babs topped everything off. But now he wished he was there to help Conner. Maybe he, Bruce, and the team could've made sure his rage didn't get the better of him and found out about the shields much sooner.

"Did you tell them that Conner is half human and where his human side comes from?" Artemis asked, pleading that this couldn't be worst.

"No, we didn't want to add more fuel to the fire, as you say. Besides, it's not our secret to tell." Kaldur said, noting a slight sigh of relief.

"Ok, that solves one mystery. We now have something else to figure out." Artemis said, deciding to interrupt the moment.

"What's that?" Wally asked.

"When Conner woke up, he looked more distraught with everything."

"Well, no surprise Superman's cousin tried to kill him." Wally said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Not that Baywatch. It's almost as if something inside Conner died. He looked afraid and scared versus just angry when he woke up. It's scary coming from him." Artemis said, giving her honest point of view.

Everyone now was trying to figure out what was wrong with Conner. They were able to figure out why Supergirl attacked. But now, with Conner acting like he has given up on everything, the team was determined to figure this out. It was at that moment Batman walked into the room.

"Aqualad… Kid Flash sitrep."

Kaldur and Wally told the Dark Knight everything they found out from the Fortress, including the possibility that Superman may kill Conner now that he's a treat to everyone and Kryptonian clones devolving on Krypton. The news was unsettling to the Dark Knight. He has a sample of Conner's DNA which he needs to test now.

"He's in the Med Bay if you want to see him."

Bruce left and headed straight to the Gotham Zeta-Tube, where he would be able to get into the Batcave, where he could begin the DNA test on Conner. He could only hope that Conner and Clark's cousin wasn't right.