Clark appeared in a blur in front of his worried parents, Jimmy and Lois, who were all walking across the path between the two acres and looked for him and the missed teenager. Full of joy, he told them what he and Jonathan discovered together and led them all to the entrance of his new fortress in the former crater that was now filled again…
Jonathan meanwhile felt in a trance when he was floating in the fortress. Feeling the skintight fabric appearing on his body was weird. But it was over quickly, and Jon could feel the ground under his feet again when his vision cleared, and he found himself still in this new, much more futuristic fortress with Lara in front of him.
"What happened?" Jonathan asked confused before he looked down on himself and suddenly realized that he was wearing a Superman-suit. "AGGHHH… What is this?"
"You like it?" Lara asked. "I used our House-of-El-crest from our dimension if this is okay?"
"What… why…?"
"You are a full legit member of the House-of-El, from the day you were born! And in this suit, flying will be more comfortable…"
"Flying?"
Clark in the meantime led his family and friends down the long stairway, that was indeed at least 20 stories deep. So it took a while for them to reach the big wide main room. Enough time for Jonathan to listen to Lara's words about his body and his own possible future when Clark spotted Jon in the distance and waved with his hands.
"Hey, Jon… we are here…" Clark said. Jon turned around and Clark could see that the teenager was now wearing his suit. "…hey…"
"AGHHH… That wasn't me, I can explain…"
"You look good in it!" Clark praised.
Jonathan was even more embarrassed. So much, that he couldn't hear the praises of everyone, how great he was looking in the Supersuit. Or the countless of questions, the present people all had about this place. Or how Lara welcomed everyone openly. Martha was the first one to realize how pale and scared Jonathan was.
"Are you okay…."
Jon used his cape to cover himself, as if he was naked. His pale face turned deeply red and he grinned innocently.
"I feel so naked!" it blurted out of him.
"Oh…" Martha said, came closer and pulled the cape open to see Jonathan in his suit. "You look great in it! I have an idea how to improve it…"
Martha led Jonathan away and up the stairs to go with him to the farmhouse again.
"He is a nice young man!" Lara said.
"Without him, we would have never met!" Clark said with a bright smile.
"If he is from one of the worlds we already know, we should be able to localize his origin. Or does he might want to stay?" Lara asked.
"I wouldn't be against it!" Clark said and thought about having Jonathan permanentely as a part of his family.
He knew Joantahn for not even 24 hours, but the boy had done so much for him, he would love to have him in his life.
"He can have the guestroom permanently!" Jonathan Sr. said. "He is a great boy!"
"This place is so cool! But does it not cost a lot of energy?" Jimmy asked.
"This place is providing itself with more than enough energy!" Lara explained. "If you want, we can also provide energy to the humans?"
"Oh… that would be nice…" Clark said. Unaware of the consequences, his kind and well-meant decision will have.
But Lara already scanned the surrounding area and found a energy substation a mile away and let an antenna grow underground below the acres and towards the underground cables below the substation.
The moment, the antenna of the fortress reached the energy substation and touched the cables, hundreds of megawatts of clean Kryptonian energy poured into the system.
In Smallville and several neighboring towns, the lights start to flicker, and electronic devices start to hum briefly before the powerplants all reduced their energy-production to prevent overcharging. People suddenly noticed their electricity meters stopping or even running backwards. In the power plants across the country, the engineers were shocked about the sudden 'overproduction' of so much energy. Multiple coal-generators and a nuclear reactor were turned off.
In his lab, Alex Luthor was still trying to connect the dots when suddenly an alarm sound up on his phone. About heavy energy-fluctuations in Kansas. Specifically, in and around Smallville.
"Smallville?" Alex murmured and looked at his map. "Why that sounds so familiar? Smallville… of course… Zero-Day, Thanksgiving… "
Alex pressed on a button. A few seconds later, the two men in black came into the dark lab.
"You two, go to Smallville, Kansas and look for anything unusual. Something that produces a high amount of energy. And then you report it to me! Looks as if Superman's son from the other world is using this world to charge up!" Alex said.
The two men in black bowed and left. Alex turned back to the table with the hair. So far, he only figured out that he is a hybrid. But nothing else about the powers. But this hair seemed to be charged with energy… a weird energy that could only have come from his travel between the dimensions….
"What is the secret of your powers, Superman-junior?"
Jonathan felt a cold shiver ran down his back, when he could feel that someone was thinking about him. He felt so terribly out of place anyway, when he stood in Martha's sewing-room after she put him into his own pair of red trunks and closed the belt, she made for him and together with her, he was looking now into the big mirror.
"You look so awesome! With these trunks and with the belt, the suit looks much better!"
"Oh my gosh, I look like the Superman-action-figure I had when I was little!" Jonathan cried. It was a compliment, but he blushed anyway, and his voice let it sound as if he was offensive. Martha understood that the situation was very awkward for Jon and was not offended. She just smiled.
"The trunks give the suit that certain something!" Martha explained.
Jonathan looked a bit closer on his reflection in the mirror and suddenly saw it: that certain something! But to look really good and not as ridiculous as it is now, Jonathan needed much bigger muscles! Especially around his chest and his arms. Only then, the trunks will make sense.
"I understand it now! But I am too skinny now!" Jonathan said, looking at his arms.
"That might change in near future, too!" Martha said encouragingly.
"Well… at least I finally understood the sense of these trunks!" Jonathan said, before it knocked on the door and Clark peeked his head in.
"How is it going?"
"Clark, come in! Isn't he looking awesome?" Martha raved.
With a bright smile, Clark placed himself next to Jonathan. He was in his Superman-suit, too so he and Jon were now in partner look. Jon's eyes just widened at that thought when he and Clark stood next to each other, and Clark praised their matching suits.
"People could think we are brothers, or not!" Clark smiled.
For Jonathan it was still awkward…
"I have to think about something! No… No… I can't…" Jonathan was upset again.
"What is it?" Martha asked. "Jonathan we are among us! Tell us, we will not judge you!"
Jonathan looked at Martha and smiled. She was not his grandmother, but being with her reminded him so much how it was with his Martha. And so, it was easier for him to talk about it.
"It's odd! I… ehm… this is too embarrassing; I can't tell it…"
"Let it out! Bottling up everything only makes it worse!" Martha comforted him.
Jon took a deep breath before he told it: "Sometime… after figuring out about my father, while he was so focused on my brother's training, and I felt so left out and my arm was broken… I… I… when nobody was home, I sneaked up to my parents' room and… and took one of my father's spare suits out of its hideout. They told Jordan where they keep it, and he told it to me! I… I just wanted to feel special, so I put it on!"
"Oh, there is nothing bad about it!" Martha said with an encouraging smile. "And nothing to be embarrassed of. You are his son! Of course, you should be allowed to try it on!"
"I am sure your brother secretly did that, too once or twice?!" Clark added.
"Yeah, but with my brother it is different! He has powers! And for me it is still not a crest, it's the Superman-S and I am not super…"
"Stop it!" Martha interfered. "This is your crest, too! Say it!"
"What?"
"Say out loudly: This is my family-crest, too!" Martha demanded.
Jonathan closed his eyes and mentally prepared to regret it: "This is my crest, too!"
Martha smiled: "See, that was not that bad!"
"Jonathan, just because you once put on your father's suit you don't have to be ashamed."
"Yeah… Well, I put it on, watched myself in the mirror for a couple of minutes and start to daydream. About… how it would be if I have powers, too! About how it would be if my father shows me his world, too! About how the fortress looks, how these powers feel… or how it would be to fly with him?" Jonathan told and became moody.
He thought about that day, when he stood in his father's suit in his parents' bedroom, watched himself in the mirror and dreamt of flying…
"I was… I don't know how long I was standing there… a while at least… then I heard my mom coming home! I ran into my room, to prevent that she realizes that I was in their room and changed again. I never told this anyone. But when I was wearing my father's suit… I felt so great! So strong! So brave! All these things, Superman stands for: bravery, strength, the goodness in person! Everything I always wanted to be!"
"Let's fly together!" Clark suddenly offered.
"Ehm… what?" Jon was perplexed.
"Let's fly together! You have now the right outfit! And I would love to see if you can do it, too!"
"What… What do you mean with that?"
"You are strong, and you could see though the walls of my apartment! And flying was my very first ability to get!"
Jonathan was scared. On one side, it was something he dreamt of his whole life. Even before he knew that his father is Superman and before he realized that his father only cares for his brother's powers he always dreamt of Superman coming one day to him and offering him to fly him around. When he was five years old, he even said to his parents, that he wants to ask Superman to teach it to him. Something he is ashamed of today.
This Clark is not his father! This Clark was a lot like Jon: oblivious about Krypton, oblivious about the powers and technically still a Superhero-Rookie who did not have the decades of experience his father has. A Clark, who was still learning and for some reason, saw in Jonathan someone who could be helpful.
Jonathan got pale and was trembling. Clark and Martha saw it immediately that Jonathan was very upset about this request.
"If you don't want to, we let it be!" Clark offered.
"I… I… I don't know!" Jon mummed and looked out of the window. He could see the barn…
Suddenly he had that picture of his father and his brother in his head, when they returned from their trip to the fortress and their flying-lesson while he was on the farm the whole day and made 'their' chores. It was the worst humiliation of his life and a prove that his father does not care for him and never loved him. Especially when he saw their smiles. Before that day, he always dreamt of flying. After that day, he hated flying and every time, his brother and father flew away he had this feeling of being left behind and left out.
Otherwise…
If he is really able to fly in this dimension, his father wouldn't be the one who gets the chance to accompany him on his first flight. His father would be the one who misses it and be the one who gets left out…
"Okay… then let's go! If that's not a reason!" Clark said.
Jonathan's mouth dropped. "Did I say everything loudly?"
"Yes! And now I hate your father even more!" Martha said.
Hearing from Martha that she hates Clark, was odd for Jonathan. He wondered how everything would have developed if his Martha was with them when they came to Smallville…
Jonathan looked back and forth between Clark and Martha. His hands were trembling, his whole body felt suddenly so heavy. But he was able to nod. Clark put his arm around Jonathan's shoulders and walked with him outside.
Once outside, the first thing everyone did was to praise Jonathan, how great he was looking in his suit. Jonathan still felt out of place.
The moment, Clark's flying energy poured through his body, Jonathan felt this pure feeling of joy overcoming him and suddenly it felt as if all heaviness was taking off his shoulders. Together they were flying up into the cloudy sky like rockets. Clark holding Jonathan's hand with his right one while stretching out his left one. All under the loud cheers of Clark's family…
That picture in his head, he had of his brother and his father leaving him alone, every time he saw them flying, suddenly vanished. Suddenly he just had himself in mind. Not Jordan and his bragging attitude he had over the past few months, not his father's hurtful praise for his brother when he told him how proud he is on him and not this feeling of being consequently ignored. Now it was just him.
It was him flying through the air at incredible speeds. It was him feeling this incredible feeling of freedom and carefreeness, his brother always cheered about without realizing how much he offended his brother with it. It was him and only him now…
"Do you like it!"
"WOW!" Jonathan yelled when they shot through the clouds and were now flying circles. "This is awesome!"
Clark held Jonathan's hand the whole time to keep sure the boy does not fall and that his energy flows through him, too. And Jonathan had a lot of fun. Clark remembered that little girl he once helped to find her parents and how she shined when they were flying together. Jonathan was shining brighter than the sun. It warmed Clark's heart.
With a hand movement Clark wanted Jonathan to stretch out his other arm. Jon was unsure, but Clark encouraged him to try it. Carefully Jon put his hand forward and stretched it out like Clark. And it felt great. So great that Jonathan didn't notice how Clark careful let of Jonathan's hand to let him fly by himself.
Jonathan at first didn't notice that Clark wasn't holding his hand anymore. He just enjoyed being weightless and free like a bird…
"You're good!" Clark yelled over to him.
"Thank you, but…" Jonathan wanted to say that it was Clark who was flying and waved with his hand. But it was the hand, that Clark was supposed to hold. "…what the f… aghh…"
Jonathan looked at his hand and suddenly realized that he was indeed flying. By himself. Clark wasn't holding him…
"AGGHHH… I AM FLYING! I AM FLYING!" Jonathan yelled astonished and carefully start to fly a corner, then up and down and soon risked a looping. "WOWWW…"
Down on the ground, Lois searched the sky with a pair of binoculars, while Jimmy, Martha and Jonathan Sr. stood around her.
"I found them…" Lois said loudly and gasped. "…oh… wow… Jonathan is flying!"
"Yes, he is flying with Clark!" Martha said.
"No! Jonathan is flying himself! He can fly!" Lois cheered.
Immediately everyone around her start to cheer, too. Until suddenly Lois phone start to ring. She ignored the call. But then it rang again. And again… Lois knew it couldn't be work. She, Jimmy, and Clark called themselves sick today. Lois put her phone out of her pocket and saw that it was her father.
Lois bright smile she had when she watched her boyfriend and her 'son' leaving together, vanished instantly…
"Dad? What?" Lois moaned. After yesterday evening she was not sure about how to trust him.
"Lois, you asked me yesterday about two men-in-black, right?"
"Oh, is this a confession?" Lois wasn't surprised.
"No! But I must confess that there is someone else! And I think these men-in-black belong to him!" Sam confessed.
"What?"
"I know, you are mad on me that I was hunting Superman! And there is a governmental order to stop the hunt for him. But…"
"But, what?" Lois became upset.
"There is this guy I was working with! He seems… well… kind of crazy! Kind of obsessive! I went to him today to give him his paycheck, but I saw those men you told me about! Two men, black suits, sunglasses… they work for him!"
"WHAT?"
"Lois, where are you now?"
"Why? Do you want to send them after me and Clark again?" Lois moaned.
"No! It just… I just want to keep sure that you are okay!"
"Pff… If you say so, I am in Smallville!"
"Smallville?!" Sam's voice suddenly sound so worried.
"Yes! Is that a problem for you!" Lois moaned and remembered the lie she told her father yesterday in the restaurant. "His cousin is on visit, and we try to help him…"
"Lois, I heard these men will come to your place!"
"What? What did you do?"
"Me? Nothing!"
"You lie!"
"I am not lying, Lois! I just coincidentally heard it when I was bringing Mr. Luthor something!"
"LUTHOR?!" Lois yelled without actually wanting it.
She knew that name! Jonathan mentioned it! Yesterday, when they were at the Planet and Jonathan told them about their alternative lives. Luthor! A man who was, according to Jon, one of the most evil and ruthless people in the world. Who does not someone you want to be on his radar. His father's and his mother's greatest enemy. Maybe Her's and Clark's, too?
"Lex Luthor?"
"Alex Luthor! Where do you know that name?" Sam asked a lot harsher now.
"He is… awww… That man is dangerous!" Lois yelled.
"What?" now Sam was confused.
"I… aghhh…" Lois found no words.
"Lois… what's going on? Do you know anything about…" Sam tried to ask but Lois already hang off and turned to the others to warn them about the coming arrival of the supposed alien-hunters…
Lois frantic and panicked explanation let everyone understand that they had to hide the new fortress as quick as possible. Hurried they looked for a way to cover the hole in the ground that led to the stairs.
Clark and Jonathan didn't notice the turmoil on the farm. They just enjoyed their flight side by side. Especially Jonathan, who forgot all the pain, his brother's ability to fly caused for him. Jonathan didn't think about his brother's bragging, his arrogance and the stupid comments he always made. He forgot his father and the countless of broken promises and the many times his father hurt him. Even if they were inadvertently.
"THIS IS SO COOL!" Jonathan yelled. "THIS EARTH IS AWESOME!"
"And you thought you don't have powers! Flying is the easiest of all! At least for me!" Clark explained. "Come on! Let's take a trip around the state!"
Jon nodded and made a turn. He was surprised how easy flying actually was. Jon wondered if it was something on this Earth that caused his powers. Or the crystal he shattered. But he ignored all of this, he just enjoyed the flight…
Down on the farm, Jonathan Sr., Martha, Jimmy, and Lois ran around to destroy everything that proved the existence of the new underground fortress. With a tractor, Jonathan Sr. drove over the space to level it and to let it look like the place was just not used. Jimmy carried a bunch of planks to use them to cover the hole. Lois and Martha took as much hay as they could carry to use it to hide the hole, too.
"CLARK! JON! IF ONE OF YOU CAN HEAR US, PLEASE COME BACK! THE MAN IN BLACK ARE COMING!" Lois yelled up to the sky, where Clark and Jon were nowhere to be seen. "AGGHH… WE NEED ONE OF THIS ELT-THINGS!"
"They sound practical!" Martha said and looked up on the sky. "CLARK… CAN YOU HEAR US? PLEASE!"
Up in the sky Clark and Jon had so much fun together, that Clark really almost overheard the cries of his mother and Lois…
"Did you hear that? Jon?"
Jon was still so overjoyed that he didn't notice anything.
"JON?"
"Huh… What?"
"Let's land and show the others what you learned!" Clark said and pointed down. "I'll help you with the landing."
Together they flew back to the farm. Jon was a bit nervous about the landing. Suddenly thinking about his brother again and how he crashed all the time. But Clark was with him and helped him landing.
They were surprised to see everyone rushing to let the suddenly filled crater look like plain land again.
"Hey, what is going on here?" Clark asked after landing slowly and carefully with Jonathan at his hand on the ground.
"Clark, the men in black are on the way here! They will find the fortress…" Jimmy, who was kneeling on the ground and wildly hammering the planks together, exclaimed.
Hearing this, Clark didn't hesitate. In a blur he hushed over the area and plowed the ground to let it look like an empty acre, then he hushed away, just to appear with a lot of wood again, to build a tiny shed over the hole. Just big enough to cover the hole in the ground. From outside, it looked like a tool shed. Luckily his parents had a lot of wood and even an old door in the barn. With a screwdriver he just put on the hinge for the lock. They only needed a lock now…
"Do you think someone will notice?" Clark asked worried.
Nobody answered. All just looked at the tiny shed, Clark built in a couple of seconds over the hole.
"A tool shed in the middle of an acre is unusual!" Jonathan Sr. said after leaving the tractor. "But this looks nice!"
"A bit paint, and another roof…" Martha said. "It should work for the first time."
"Sorry, this is my fault!" Jon said, realizing how much trouble he brought again.
"Jonathan, stop apologizing ever and ever again. This is not your fault!" Martha reassured him.
"For now, you should hide! Before the men in black arrive!" Lois hissed. "For some reason they are coming here!"
"Oh…" Jon moaned and looked down on himself. "… I should change… how do I change?"
"Lara!" Clark advised and together they sped down the stairs. Followed by the others at human speed.
Back in the fortress, Lara was smiling, when she saw her son and his 'son' floating side by side in front of her.
"Kal-El, my son! Jon-El, my dear grandson from another Earth! I hope you enjoy your time together!" Lara said.
"We do! But we have a problem…" Clark said and explained the situation.
"Are the people on this Earth hunting you, Jon-El?" Lara asked worried after learning about the supposed alien-hunters. "I thought you like it here?"
"Oh… I like this world! Really! I can even imagine staying here!" Jonathan said with a bright smile.
But suddenly he heard a female voice screaming…
"CLARK, DO SOMETHING! THEY STEAL HIM FROM US!"
"Did you hear that?" Jonathan asked. His face suddenly so shocked and surprised. He turned around and saw the others coming down the extreme long stair. But this voice couldn't be from them. It sounds like his mother…
"What?" Clark asked. He didn't hear anything.
"That voice! That sound like my mom?" Jonathan explained.
Lara seemed to flicker briefly when the voice of Jonathan's mother Lois echoed in his ears. A second later there was suddenly a bright flash of light…
"Something is happening!" Lara warned them. But it was too late…
Everyone was forced to close his eyes, because the light was so bright that it burned in their eyes.
"JONATHAN!" Suddenly a male (for Jonathan very familiar) voice yelled out of the light before suddenly a heavy object seemed to stumble out of it and landed on the ground, right in front of them.
Jonathan opened his eyes and gasped in shock, when he suddenly recognized his father laying on the ground in front of them…
What nobody know, was that the both men-in-black were right at this moment arriving at the energy substation and localized the underground connection to the fortress a mile away and the source of the huge amount of energy surplus…