The sun was shining brightly, and it was incredibly hot today! Probably one of the hottest days of the year…
It was a quiet day on the Kent-farm. The construction-site of the new barn was silent. Clark was out in the world for a saving, Lois was at the Gazette, trying to find more leads on Lex Luthor, and Jonathan was visiting a fire-fighter seminar with Mr. Cushing in Wichita, today.
Jordan was alone and bored. Still grounded and prohibited from using his powers, Jordan felt struck. He thought about doing something on the construction site. But his father would have noticed that. Not to forget the workers, their insurance paid after the old barn burned down, and who would had been suspicious about who was lifting the beams without the crane.
Jordan was still a bit mad, but his parents and his brother were pretty mad on him, too. Especially after Jordan's condescending speech about Jonathan's job and his latest attempt to use his powers without their parents permission.
Jordan felt unfair treated. He has all these powers and is not allowed to use them. When his brother told him to stop wailing, he yelled on him that he shouldn't interfere as he doesn't have powers and therefore doesn't know how it is! This led Jonathan to leave earlier offended. The coffee-scene in Sarah's living-room was common knowledge among their family and friends now. And everyone complained about him being arrogant, selfish, and acting superior to everyone.
Yesterday, when the construction-workers came for the first time, was a perfect example! Jordan asked his dad, why they both don't just rebuild the barn by themselves with their superspeed in a few minutes? And Clark told him, that it would be suspicious if they have a new barn in minutes and it is unfair towards the hard-working men and woman who don't have powers but do hard work on a daily basis. When Clark ordered him to watch them to see how they work, Jordan just made fun about their slowness which led him to be sent to his room again.
Today, the construction site was silent. Today the workers had another, more important project to finish which was why it was silent. Jordan walked around the site where once the barn was, but that was now full of tools, a scaffolding, and a deep hole, where once the storm-cellar, his training-room and the spaceship were. The ship was in the fortress now. Everything else the flames destroyed.
He felt guilty for not stopping the fire and saving at least the barn, while his father was fighting his mutated inverse-doppelganger on the moon. But he was busy in town to help his mother and his brother to calm down the panicked people.
When his brother left, Jonathan yelled loudly that he wishes Jordan wouldn't have powers! Sarah mentioned something similar, too and his parents were not supporting him as much as they did in the past. He felt that urge to grab a bag with cement and box it into the atmosphere, but that would just make his grounding longer…
A loud but brief thunder in the distance woke him up from his brooding…
It sounds like his father landing! But his father was still overseas to deal with a forest-fire. And it was different. More like it was high up in the atmosphere… Suddenly he heard the phone in the house ringing…
Jordan hated the old landline-phone of the farmhouse. It's ringing sound so aggressive and so tinny. Jordan ignored the call. If his parents would check if he is still home, they would call him over his smartphone. The call ended when the answering-machine picked up the call. The caller left no message. Suddenly the phone rang again. Again till the machine picked up and the caller left no message again…
"What the… aww… who cares…" Jordan murmured and paced around the yard again.
Just when he asked himself, if he shouldn't go out of the sun to not to charge with a lot of energy he can't burn off enough, he heard the familiar swoosh of someone approaching with Superspeed.
"Dad?" Jordan asked and turned around. But it wasn't his father…
There on the farm, just a few steps away from him, stood a tall, hooded and masked figure…
The figure was wearing a black and grey futuristic looking suit that kind of remembered him on the Kryptonian garment Tal-Rho was wearing usually. A thick coat and thick gloves with some odd metallic applications covered every square inch of the person's body.
He was tall, broad, but unidentifiable.
"What the…" Jordan was stunned by the sudden appearance of this figure. And thinking about the sound he heard before, it had to be someone with superspeed. This was not his dad, that for sure. "…who are you?"
The figure remained still. Just looking on Jordan.
"Jordan Kent?" the figure asked. It's voice sound weird.
"Who wants to know that?" Jordan asked. He knew the only other people with Superspeed where his father, Tal-Rho, Tag Harris and some other metahumans. "Tal-Rho? No… Tag Harris?"
"I am here, because you are a thread to world's peace and the entire humanity. Your superpowers are a responsibility, you are not able to handle!" the figure said with this weird voice. Jordan's eyes widened in shock about that what he got to hear. "In the name of humanity, you are prohibited from ever using these powers ever again. Powers, you were never supposed to have at all!"
Jordan was shocked when he heard these words. And much more surprised when the hooded figure approached him with superspeed and grabbed him by his throat to throw him on the ground…
Suddenly Jordan forgot everything. He ignored his grounding, he ignored that he wasn't allowed to use his powers and he ignored the possibility that his parents won't believe him. In an absolute emergency, he was allowed to defend himself. And so, he pushed the masked attacker violently, throwing him against the tree with the tire-swing that tipped over.
Jordan got back on his feet, while the other one used his superspeed to attack him again and push him into the hole at the construction site. Jordan, with his accelerated perception was able to block every punch and threw his attacker up into the air to continue the fight away from the new barn. And also to use his flying powers again after being forced to walk for so long…
Lois didn't expect to see bright flashes of heat vision lighting up the sky when she drove back to the farm. One strong beam of heat vision drove directly across the road in front of her, forcing her to break hardly…
Lois looked up to the sky and was shocked to see Jordan fighting with another superpowered person. Shocked about that view and knowing that the other one was never Clark, Lois grabbed her ELT to get her husband here as quick as possible.
Jordan was so distracted by the fight with this guy who dared to order him to never use his powers ever again, that he didn't hear the ELT or his mother's frantic scream. He was just busy, trying to dodge every attack of the mysterious stranger, who had powers himself. He was moving fast and had heat-vision, too. And whatever he had in his glove, not only weakened Jordan, it seemed to make him slower whenever he got too close to it. One more reason to avoid it. But suddenly Jordan could feel his body getting heavier…
It happened so fast; Jordan had no clue what exactly was going on. He only noticed that the mysterious stranger pressed a button on his glove and pressed his hand on his chest. Something in the glove was glowing brightly and Jordan could feel his body getting heavier and heavier with every second.
It didn't hurt like Kryptonite does! But it was an odd feeling, as if his whole body got prickled, as if millions of ants were walking over his skin. Jordan tried to use his heat-vision again. But for some reason, nothing came out of his eyes…
The stranger meanwhile was just determined to finish his mission and pushed the button on his glove again to open the small lid again to expose Jordan to the mineral that was hidden inside and had only one purpose!
However, while counting the seconds that were necessary without killing Jordan in the process, he didn't notice Clark approaching until it was too late and he got pushed down on the ground violently. Leaving a big crater in the ground directly in front of the house, shattering the window to Lois' office in the process.
Clark was shocked when he heard Lois yelling in fear and calling him home because a superpowered individual attacked Jordan. He left immediately the forest-fire without finishing to put out the fire completely. And he was shocked when he saw this other person floating in the air next to Jordan, who was as pale as never before in his life.
"Jordan, are you okay?" Clark asked but his son, who was right next to him just a second ago was falling.
Jordan had the weird feeling as if he is losing control over his body. He whole world turned silent while the sun suddenly felt so unpleasant and hot like it never did before. Clark speed down to catch Jordan before he hits the ground and place him safely down. He guessed Jordan lost consciousness.
"Dad… his glove… watch out… Kryptonite…" the boy stuttered. Not knowing what else to say.
Clark looked over to the stranger who stood up and walked out of the crater as if nothing happened.
"Get out of my way, Mr. Kent!" the stranger said with his weird voice. Clark was so stunned about that this guy knows his name. Otherwise, why else he should be here on the farm if he doesn't know his identity. "You are not the one I am here for!"
"YOU… HOW DARE YOU TO ATTACK MY SON!" Clark roared in fury and used his own speed to attack the stranger.
Latter used his own speed to push another button on his gloves and open the latch on the other glove to reveal a bright green characteristic crystal that let Clark wince in pain and let him fall on the ground. The stranger approached him, holding out his hand with the green Kryptonite over him to keep sure he is weakened.
"You don't understand this! This is for the best of the world!" the stranger said and walked away to approach Jordan again.
Clark winched in pain while he desperately tried to stand up again. He was able to activate his x-ray-vision, to see who is under this mask or if there is somewhere a weak point in that guy's suit. He had Kryptonian powers but seemed unaffected to the Kryptonite.
"NO!" Clark cried out, while he saw the stranger standing now over Jordan again. But just seeing this guy, who was able to weak Jordan to the point where the boy couldn't fight back, let him forget all the pain, or his concerns.
With all his power, Clark unleashed a bright and powerful blast of heat vision, directly on the stranger's gloves…
The stranger roared in pain when Clark's heat-vision caused a severe short circuit that engulfed the man in energy and caused the glove with the green Kryptonite to burst out in flames, while the one with the other crystal, that weakened Jordan, too glowed brighter.
The stranger was scared. That was evident, when he pulled off the glove in fear and threw it away to not get affected by the crystal's radiation, too. It would ruin his plans and his plan to go back home if so. Clark noticed that and used his speed to push the stranger away from Jordan and throwing him into the acre, where he left another deep crater in the ground…
Right in this moment Lois stopped with squeaking tires next to the glove. She witnessed everything from safe distance and thought quickly. Knowing that it was a device to hurt/kill/ weak Jordan, she grabbed the lead-box they always carried with them in the car and put it over the glove to seal the radiation of the crystal away.
"CLARK? ARE YOU OKAY?" Lois screamed and looked around.
"I AM FINE!" Clark yelled back. Before turning to Jordan. "JORDAN?!"
Clark looked over to Jordan who was laying on the ground and speed towards him. The boy breathed hardly and he could hear his heart racing.
"Jordan, are you okay?" Clark asked worried. Lois arrived right in the same moment and together they helped Jordan to stand up again.
"Aghh… my head hurts!" the teenager wailed. He felt weak and dizzy. "My… aghhh… Dad… who is this guy? My powers…"
Jordan noticed immediately that something was wrong. He couldn't hear anything far away anymore. He felt so weak as if he wasn't even able to carry around his own body.
"Jordan, what exactly happened?" Lois asked shocked while Clark speed to the unconscious stranger in the crater in the acre.
Clark looked on the stranger. His x-ray vision was not working on his lead-lined suit. Clark looked over to the glove with the weird mineral that damaged Jordan's powers, that was now safely sealed away under the lead box. And then to his son who was so pale as if he wanted to puke any second.
"Jordan, fly to the fortress and let your grandmother check you!" Clark ordered. Knowing it was better if Jordan was away from this stranger, just in case he wakes up.
Jordan didn't hesitate or start to cheer about the sudden allowance to go back to the fortress finally. He only raised his arms to fly away… but nothing happened.
"HEY, WHAT THE FUCK…" Jordan yelled shocked.
Clark and Lois watched their son raising his arms ever and ever again, even trying to jump. But no matter how much Jordan tried, he couldn't feel the incredible energy his body was emitting whenever he was flying. He couldn't feel it.
"MY POWERS…" Jordan yelled, his eyes widen in horror. He tried to fly again, but it didn't work.
Clark and Lois were shocked, too. Jordan meanwhile was turning more and more upset. He tried to use his heat vision and his ice breath. But these powers, didn't work eighter. Lois had to hold him to comfort him. In his face was a weird mix of sorrow, madness and fury. And Clark was furious, too.
Whoever this guy was, he found a way to take Jordan's powers, just like Ally took his ones. With the only difference, that Jordan was not in a coma and still awake. Desperately, Clark start to search the stranger's pockets for clues.
Instead of just unmasking him, to see his face, Clark was too upset about Jordan's conditions and the panic-attack, the boy was about to have any second. In one of the man's pockets, Clark found a photo.
It was a photo of a group of young people, sitting together on or around a couch and proudly holding a journalism-award. Clark looked on the faces of the young men and woman. One of them kind of looked like Jonathan. But that couldn't be… The boy on this photo is older… 24 or 25 at least! But he remembered him a lot on Jonathan.
Clark searched his pockets further and found in the other one a small, white crystal of the size of a lighter. Clark studied it and it kind of looked Kryptonian. In the same pocket, he found a folded red envelope with the names Clark Kent and Lois Lane written on it.
Clark was surprised about the envelop that was addressed to him and Lois directly. So, he opened it and found a letter that was written and signed with a typewriter…
'Dear Lois and Clark. Don't worry, your son is fine! We have taken his powers to prevent chaos. Don't ask why, just accept that Jordan with superpowers is no future for your family and a lot of other people. You raised your son wrong! If you would have experienced what we experienced, you would understand! Don't try to give your son his powers back, it won't work. Lara will confirm it! Sincerely Humanity of Earth'
Clark was shocked about that letter. Whoever wrote this, knew not only who they are, they also found a way to disturb their powers. They even knew about Lara!
Clark looked further into the pockets but there wasn't anything else! And when he was done, he pulled down the hood and the ski-mask from the persons head…
Clark let out a shocked gasp when he immediately recognized his son Jonathan… just older…
