So, that night was perhaps the most uncomfortable experience he ever had. Almost three hours straight of glaring up at the foreign ceiling in his foreign bed, everything around so unusually silent (save for his mom's goodnight message). It all felt so… off. So off that Mr K-Bear was laying upside-down right next his head as Jon tried his hardest to get a decent amount of sleep. Suddenly, he was five years old again, sleeping in his own bed away from his parents for the first time. Huh, funny how it felt the exact same.

But he wouldn't get the precious sleep that he needed, feeling the early sun piercing through his windows and forcing him to rise early — for a second, he half-expected to see his mom waltz around after swiping the curtains open with no regard for his eyes. Jon flipped his hair away from eyes and slouched on his bed, groggily twisting his head to grab his glasses before slinking out. As much as he hated the early morn, it was never an excuse when trying to impress new peers. At least, that's what Grandpa Sam told him when they first moved away Kansas as seven-year-old Jon cried all day. Man, Grandpa Sam was the coolest.

Giving himself one final look of confirmation in the mirror after getting fresh and ready, Jon then peeked out of the bedroom door to dart his head side to side, the unfamiliar hallways as empty as the night before. As he slowly made his way to the main hub area could his ears pick up voices talking: Black Canary was one of them, that was certain. But the other two; Jon couldn't recognise them at all. Well, one of them sounded just a tad familiar anyway. Jon quickly retreated around the corner when he saw three figures and a massive ball of white fluff (?) circling around each other, mentally slapping himself.

'They didn't see me, right?' he thought to himself, pushing his glasses up his nose while peering around the corner again. 'Geez, don't let them think you're a weirdo, Kent. Okay, this is it — what you always dreamed for. Just puff out your chest and —'

"Don't be shy, Jonathan; come on over."

"Crap…"

Brushing some loose hair away from his glasses, Jon revealed himself in a rather awkward fashion, his back straight and stiff as he saw who else was present. Black Canary was there to see, still in her usual outfit, but it was the other two that took Jon by complete surprise, both for rather different reasons.

Jon's eyes naturally fixated on the girl first: not because she was admittedly pretty in a cutesy type of way, but because she didn't look like any sort of girl that Jon was used to seeing. Red hair that came down to her shoulders, lively eyes that seemed exaggeratedly big for a split second above her freckled cheeks, cheeks that were green along with the rest of her skin. Even with all the superheroes and magic in the world, it didn't take much to surprise Jon, that was for sure.

"Hey there!" the girl chirped before grabbing the other person's arm who couldn't stop glaring at Jon with Jon unable to take his eyes off him either. "Oh my god, he really does look like you, Connor! He's like your little brother!"

"Uhhh, hi — I'm Jon…" was all he managed to get out; the green girl wasn't wrong into saying that they could be brothers. He was taller and looked a few years older than Jon, certainly didn't lack the muscle that Jon's father had either. In fact, he almost looked like the splitting image of his father from the old picture books back in Smallville, only there was harshness behind those eyes instead of the expected kindness. A permanent frown rather than bright smile that could warm even the coldest heart. He even had a black shirt with the logo and everything. Truly was Jon dumbfounded.

Realising that he was staring too intently, Jon then pushed up his glasses and said, "Sorry, um, I'm Jonathan — Jonathan Kent and I'm… well, I don't really have a superhero name so it's just Jon."

"Nice to meet you, Jon," greeted the girl as she dashed through the air and right in front of Jon's face to shake his hand. "My name is M'gann M'orzz — if you couldn't tell, I'm a Martian. From Mars. But you probably made the connection already, huh?"

Before Jon could even respond to the overwhelming force that was M'gann's enthusiasm, she then floated back over to the boy and continued, "And this here is Connor! I know he looks a little grumpy but he's a softie at heart."

Connor just grumbled and crossed his arms, his frown growing more pronounced. Jon walked over to him slowly and reached out his hand. God, did he really look his dad (if he was hit with a de-aging ray). "Sup? So you're the clone of my dad, huh? I also had a clone that tried to kill me before it died — hey, that kinda makes you like my brother-uncle —!"

"I am not your brother," Connor scathed, prompting Jon to flinch a little. What the heck was his problem? He glanced over at M'gann who gave him a sheepish smile before he hid his hand behind his back, looking around anywhere but at Connor. Thankfully, Black Canary was there to… well, do anything but let this silence pass.

"Now that you're familiar with your new housemates, I think it's best you get used to the Cave with these two giving you a tour," she said before briefly targeting her gaze at M'gann and Connor. "We have a training session later with your other teammates, and hopefully we'll see some progress from you to finally be prepared for missions. Your dad spoke about that, right?"

Jon just nodded, a knot in his stomach forming at the thought of meeting other superhero teens who were, quite frankly, way more experienced than he was. What if they thought he was just a liability, or even worse — some sort of superhero nepo baby?

"H-how long exactly do you think it'll take until I'm ready? You know, for like missions and stuff? Is there like a test or something?"

Canary briefly flashed her perfect teeth with a small laugh. "You'll be ready when you'll be ready, Jonathan, don't worry," she reassured, giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze. "When it's time, you'll know for sure."

Jon responded with a slight nod before feeling something strong and fluffy barge into him from behind; staring right in his face before nuzzling roughly into his shoulder was perhaps the biggest dog that Jon had ever seen before. Hell, it looked way too rugged to even be considered one, despite how oddly affectionate it was towards him. But if there was one thing that was his weakness, it was definitely bizarrely strong yet lovable canines. And apple pie. Maybe even green rocks?

"I've never seen Wolf take to someone so quickly before," awed M'gann as she watched Wolf balance on Jon's shoulders to lick his hair. "I guess it's a Kryptonian thing, huh, Connor?"

"Hmph."

Jon scratched the giant creature's belly as it flopped to the ground with a huge grin on his face. "Wolf, huh? You kinda remind me of my old dog — before he flew off into space years ago. Dad said he'd be back by now…" After Wolf had his fill of belly rubs that were met with him kicking his powerful legs in the air, Jon then turned to his new housemates (cave mates?) and said, "So… a tour?"

"I thought you'd never ask. Let's go!"

Before Jon knew it, he was suddenly chasing after an exuberant M'gann zooming away in the air as she led the way with Connor flying behind her — although it didn't seem like he was doing it by himself, unless flailing upside down was just the way he flew.

M'gann led the way in the hangar as Connor landed awkwardly with his scrunched face growing even tighter. Ignoring his incoherent murmurs, M'gann introduced Jon to a fleshy floating blob that morphed into a ship right before his eyes; it took a few seconds of blinking for it to register until he was hurried inside as he twirled around in awe.

"Man, I could get used to this…" he mouthed as he plopped down on a chair that appeared out of nowhere.

"Pretty cool, huh? We'd go for a quick ride outside but she's feeling a bit moody today — and that makes two of us."

Connor just grunted again.

M'gann didn't cease with the tour as they took to the kitchen where she displayed her latest creations (Jon held in a wince or two when tasted some but managed to keep a smile); the library and workout rooms, all while managing to talk nearly non-stop. Jon nearly found it remarkable how she never allowed a pause more than two seconds to occur — not like he minded at all.

"… and all that stuff, but I'm pretty sure you'll love it there," M'gann continued while floating in between both Kryptonians. "It's just like being in an Earth high school — hello, M'gann: of course it is!"

Jon scrunched his nose to reposition his glasses and said, "Sure, can't wait, I guess. Kinda sucks I've gotta move schools again, though. I was nearly starting to like it at Gotham Academy…"

"Right, the school that Artemis goes to."

"Artemis?"

M'gann set herself down and continued, "Don't worry, you'll meet them soon enough; we've got combat training later, remember? I think you'll fit right in, don't you think, Connor?"

No reply came about as Connor instead walked away immediately without acknowledging the confused Jon; M'gann gave him an apologetic look before tailing Connor, leaving Jon behind all alone. Well, nearly all alone.

"Connor is, uh, pretty intense, don't you think, Wolf?" said Jon, looking over to his right to then be instantly taken down by Wolf clambering onto him again to lick his face affectionately. "Whoa! Okay, okay — you're gonna get my glasses all slobbery!"

Laughter was emptied from Jon's stomach as Wolf didn't seem to care at all, nearly wiping Jon's frames off his nose until his nose turned up to the sounds of the same voice that Jon heard upon arriving. The same robot voice that called him Superboy. He sat up while dabbing his glasses with his shirt, his stomach now twisting when he saw them appear one by one. And here he looked like a complete goober on the ground.

The first one that Jon noticed was a blonde girl with olive skin and almond shaped eyes, a very pretty girl to say the least that Jon must've seen somewhere; he just couldn't put a finger on it. She was locked in a pretty snippy back and forth with a boy whose face was covered with freckles and had his red hair comically spiked back. The two didn't notice Jon on the ground but the other two did: a rather tall boy with dark skin, short blond hair and by the looks of it, thin flaps on his neck that looked like gills. Actually, they most likely were. But it was the last one that caught his eye, the one whose sparkling blue eyes and kind smile made him not notice her hand that she offered to him.

"You okay down there, Glasses?" she lightly jabbed, Jon blinking profusely before taking the hand up and fitting his glasses on his nose. Now this girl was not a hero that he recognised; Jon could easily tell that the redhead kid was Kid Flash and the tall boy was Aqualad, (courtesy of being a fan), but her? The girl that waved in Jon's face as he kept quiet while staring? He had no clue.

Jon took a step back and quickly said, "Oh, sorry! Thanks for the hand, uh… I'm Jon! Jonathan Kent, and um, I'm…"

Before Jon knew it, he felt the air rapidly rush against his face as an arm swung around his shoulder where the redhead boy was instantly by his side. "The new kid on the block, of course! Heard so much about you, trust me — Robin wouldn't shut up about ya'." He then stuck out a fist and continued, "Since we're hitting off with secret identities out in the open, I'm Wally West but behind the mask, I'm —"

"Kid Flash! Dude, I'm — I'm a kinda big fan, you know. Got your, uh, T-shirt and everything." Wally's eyes nearly popped out of his skull as words of jubilee didn't escape him before he 'coolly' composed himself while the blonde girl scoffed. "Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to fanboy out and stuff; this is all very new to me and going so fast."

"You don't have to apologise, Jonathan; it's easy to become overwhelmed," said the taller boy in a reassuring tone that reminded Jon of his father. "We too are still in need of experience and learning; I hope that you can be of a great addition to the team. My name is Kaldur'ahm, also known as Aqualad. Welcome."

Jon shook hands firmly with Kaldur'ahm, resisting the urge to mention that he met him when Jon went on a school trip to the tourist site above Atlantis. Safe to say that Kaldur'ahm didn't remember. Oh well. He looked over at the blonde girl who simply said, "Name's Artemis. Superhero name: also Artemis. And no, I don't want any suggestions on changing it, thank you."

An awkward smile was all that Jon could manage until he faced the same girl that helped him up, her shimmering black hair that came down to her shoulders and her really sparkling blue eyes that almost seemed unnatural. Jon didn't say anything which then prompted her to speak, "Zatanna Zatara, daughter of Zatara, and currently in superhero limbo. Robin spoke a lot about you, Jon. Nice to meet you, finally."

"Yeah, nice to meet you too," Jon replied airily as he twiddled his fingers, hearing the faintest 'aww' from Wally who then caught a vicious elbow in the rib by Artemis. Man, Jon hadn't been this jittery around a girl since… well, Ellie. But she was also way older than him and he didn't have a chance — not to say that he had a chance with Zatanna. Although maybe he could —

A snap in his face brought him out of his brain collapsing on itself with questions as Artemis furrowed her eyebrows, "Hey, new kid, you mind? It's not exactly great manners to stare opened-mouth at your future teammates."

"Cut him some slack, Artemis, he's just nervous and doesn't know how to act," Wally cut in, throwing an arm around Jon again. "He needs someone who he admires to show him the ropes, to get him properly bedded into the team, someone like me. Don't be mad that the kid doesn't own your shirt."

"Kid? But I'm gonna be fifteen soon —"

Wally ignored this as he guided Jon away from the others when they all dispersed a little, now speaking a little quieter, "Dude, you gotta make sure you don't get caught in her words. It's like a game between us: don't ever show any sign of weakness or you'll lose. Bad."

"Right…" Jon had seen enough cheesy movies with his parents to see what was really happening between the two of them. Too many movies. "I didn't look, you know… weird back there? I didn't even mean to stare or anything. Well, not on purpose."

"Eh, Zatanna's a real cutie, dude, so I can't blame ya. Although you might have some competition with the Boy Wonder. Can't even count the amount of times I saw them give each other 'the eyes'."

"Oh. Yeah, sure…"

Wally then glanced over his shoulder as M'gann and Connor came back, Connor looking a little less annoyed; Wally then turned back with a sly grin on his face and whispered, "You see me? That's the one I'm going for. I don't know what it is but a Martian babe just does it for me, man. I just gotta find a way to get her to see the 'Wal-Man' for who he really is."

Darting his eyes from the green girl gleefully clapping and the seemingly delusional Wally in rapid succession, Jon almost thought that he was inducted into a youth game show that just so happened to have teen superheroes in it. Unless he was missing something, surely there was something between Connor and M'gann — ah, what did it matter? None of his business anyway.

"Alright, team, gather up!" Canary's voice echoed as she appeared again. Everyone collected within the middle of the main area as she carried on, "Now I know that introductions have been made but I want to make this official. We have a new member of the team, Jonathan Kent, also known as… well the system had you down as Superboy but for obvious reasons, there's been some changes."

"I'm cool with just Jon, to be honest."

"Well, the time will come for you to choose a codename soon enough. As of now, I'd like you all to welcome Jon and make him feel at home, especially since he's rooming here as he slowly prepares to join on the covert missions. He's not as experienced as you all, so please remember that. Now, everybody suit up: combat training!"

Everyone began to make their way towards the changing areas except for Zatanna; Jon was confused until he felt a hand on his shoulder that made him stop in his tracks. He looked back to see Canary's half sympathetic yet half serious smile as she said, "Jon, I want you to use this as an opportunity to observe your teammates; to see if you can pick up anything that can you use later in the next session."

"Next session? But I can fight — well, I've only really been in one that was serious, but I'm a quick learner, I promise!"

"And I don't doubt that," Canary said back, crouching a little to become level with Jon. "Really, I don't. Both Robin and your father spoke highly of you; everybody knows your potential, Jon. Everybody. And it's my job to help you reach it, but I'm gonna need you to sit this one out and learn, okay?"

Jon bit the inside of his cheek, looking down at his scuffed shoes before mumbling in the agreement. What more did he have to do to let people know that he wasn't some aimless little kid? It was like everyone almost babied him to no end, even those his age. Trudging over to the outside of where the training would commence, Jon crossed his arms until he saw the others walk out in the uniforms: if Jon didn't receive a Green Lantern ring on the spot for using everything he had to hold down this gasp … But he kept his cool like before, watching intently as Black Canary spoke about spatial awareness, how to unbalance an opponent with eye contact alone, where to keep your knees at as you —

Yeah, even when he was trying his hardest to concentrate on Connor being unfazed by Wally's attempt to take him down, Jon could hear Zatanna's calm heartbeat behind him compared to his own which was a little too fast for his liking. He had to clear things up just in case he came off as strange — he probably did anyway. It was just a matter of how to do it was the issue… Screw it, he thought.

Jon span right on his heels and offered out a hand, slightly croaking as he said, "Hi, Zatanna! Um…"

She looked down at his hand, then back to him with an amused smile as she shook it and replied, "Hey, Jon. Don't worry, I didn't forget your name, okay?"

"No, it's not that, it's just… I'm not a weirdo. That whole staring thing? I was just nervous and stuff, you know? New place and all."

"You don't have to apologise, Jon. I'm actually quite flattered that you were staring. Unless I've got a booger on my nose and you didn't tell me." Jon blew out air from his nose as he felt himself calm down, happy to avoid any misunderstanding. Perhaps he was being a little too paranoid about it, but he wasn't lying when he said he didn't know a lot of people. You could chop seven fingers off his hands and there would still be more than the amount of friends he had.

"So, Zatanna," Jon began as the two watched Artemis do an impressive flip to avoid Kaldur'ahm's leg swipe. "Your dad is Zatara! Sounds pretty cool."

Jon was about to chastise himself if not for Zatanna smoothly moving the conversation along as she replied, "Yeah, I guess. There's gotta be an upside to having a dad who's a famous magician and superhero, right?"

"Right, right! You know, I think my grandparents took me to go watch him when I was a little kid. You can do magic as well, right?"

Zatanna took a little step and muttered some gibberish that Jon tried to decipher in his head until suddenly she was lifted from the ground about three feet in the air, her hair slightly swirling as Jon watched with his mouth open, impressed. "It's not much but you know… magic. I can do way more but you've probably seen it all, huh?"

"Actually… no. I mean, I still can't even fly properly so you've got me beat in that area. In fact, I'm kinda surprised that you're not training with the others. What gives?"

"My dad," she sighed, looking away with a distant gaze. "He's not exactly keen on me getting involved with all of… this, like at all. You wouldn't know how many lectures and forbidding I've gotten from the last month alone."

"Oh, trust me, I know," Jon nodded, grimacing at Artemis performing a vicious takedown on Wally. "I mean, my folks finally turned around but you'd think Superman's kid would be one of the first — wait, am I allowed to say that Superman's my dad?"

"I think it was pretty obvious. But what's even more obvious is that you got the power to convince your parents to become a superhero. Maybe you can share that with me sometime."

Jon turned to Zatanna and returned her smile, feeling his cheeks grow a little flushed before quickly focusing on Artemis laughing at and helping Wally up to his feet. Another setback, he guessed; he always seemed to run into the those without fail. Yet on the other hand, he always managed to end up on top one way or another. Timing and patience. Yeah, that's all he needed right now: timing and patience.