Author's Note: Lemme answer some reviews real quick-

OCsProtagonistAlliance: So far, no. But as a prequel, I can funnel this into any universe I choose as this and my other two DC stories I'm going to treat as 'universal singularities'.

Guest: Supergirl in this is more of a custom design. Join my discord server (link in profile) to see for yourself.

Black Knight of Critics: Yes this is another short story, just like 'Dichotomies' is. No I don't think I'm 'biting off more than I can chew' or 'filling my boat with too much weight'. I wanted to work on DC stuff and since I finished my Blue Lantern story I needed something else, hence the creation of these two.

Alright, back to it. Enjoy!

Chapter 3: What's Your Story

The all-white room made the lights above twice as blinding. He blinked his eyes a few times, feeling completely discombobulated. Memories were fuzzy, his head was fogged up. He had no memory of this place. Only of a draining, primal urge to fight or flee, doing both before his body exhausted its options and he surrendered to an oblivion he thought he might never wake from.

He felt a pillow beneath his head and sheets over his body, suddenly fearing it was another examination room. He bolted up with a cry, springing out of bed into the middle of the sterile room. His gaze turned down, discovering a white shirt and pants draped over his form not unlike hospital clothes. His feet remained bare, the floor registering as cold but not overwhelmingly so. He looked around, finding a one-way window but no obvious door. That's when one of the walls gaze way, transforming into three-piece panels that retracted into the ceiling and floor. A figure in blue and red darted through. "Woah, woah! Take it easy, guy!" She exclaimed, trying to calm him down. "It's okay. You're safe we're not gonna hurt you."

"We? W-Who's we?" He asked, finally finding his voice. His brain finally kicked in and he took a close look at the red-gold shield on her chest framing an iconic 'S'. "Wait, a-are you…?"

"Yes, you don't have to be afraid of me. I'm one of the good guys." The blonde replied with a smile. "I'm Supergirl. But you can call me Kara if it's easier." She greeted. "Can you tell me who you are?"

He rubbed his temple, trying to figure out the answer to that question. "Uh, w-well… I think I… I mean, I do have a name. It's, er… T-Tee…? T-… Tay? Taylor…"

"Your name is Taylor?"

"Y-Yes. No. Wait… Taylor… The… Theeee-oh? Theo. Theodore! Theodore Taylor." He said with finality. "Yeah, that's it. M-My name is Theodore Taylor." Supergirl nodded.

"Theodore… like that president."

"Heh, yeah, Roosevelt. Good ol' Teddy Roosevelt." Theodore replied, rubbing the back of his head. Kara took that under consideration.

"So, 'Teddy'… do you remember what happened to you?" The Kryptonian wondered. Theodore sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I'm sorry, I really don't have any idea right now. My mind… I can't remember anything." He confessed. "All I can remember, and even that's fuzzy, were those people attacking me."

Supergirl crossed her arms. "Yeah… you gave them a real good beating."

"I-I didn't… kill them, did I?"

Supergirl waved off his worries. "Just some broken bones. They'll live. Seemed more like you were just trying to get away than do any actual damage." Theodore breathed a sigh of relief and Kara took note of that, realizing that something had happened to him, something no doubt related to his inhuman appearance. "Hey… not to be rude, but have you looked in a mirror recently?" Theodore looked down at his hands, turning them over as he studied the gray skin and bone plate along his forearms. Then he looked up and towards the one-way window, his reflection becoming more apparent. The shape of his head remained, which lessened the blow of seeing himself with gray skin and white hair, but the red of his eyes threw him for a loop entirely.

He stumbled back. "Woah, hey, it's okay." Kara reassured him, by his side in a flash.

"I… I-I look… like…" The name escaped him but a vivid image flashed in his mind; a monster's face. Dark, inhuman, otherworldly, death incarnate. "W-What happened to me? Why do I like this?"

"I don't know, Teddy." Kara said softly. "That's what we were trying to figure out. But we'll need your help if we're going to solve this." Her promise was reassuring in a sense but Theodore felt no peace in it. He swallowed, trying to compose himself.

"Who's… we?" He asked again.

Theodore got his answer when the door opened again and someone else entered.

His face was clean-shaven, revealing a sharp, strong jawline. Blue eyes twinkled beneath curly black hair, seemingly always smiling even when he physically was not. The steel-blue suit, made from Kryptonian microfibres hardened by their exposure to Earth's purer atmosphere, fit him perfectly. The crest of the House of El was emblazoned in crimson upon his broad chest. A red cape flowed from his shoulders, the colorful outfit looked natural on his frame and, in Theo's eyes, he'd never seen such huge muscles hugged so closely by clothing before.

A red belt, red boots, he didn't need to look any further to know who this was. Theodore suddenly experienced a moment of vivid recall to many posters in a boyhood room. "Oh… Oh, 'we', right. I get it now…" He rambled, stuck staring slack-jawed. "Y-You're the Man of Steel… the Man of Tomorrow… Y-You're faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive-"

"I see someone's a big fan." Superman replied, smiling calmly and politely. "I'll admit, when Kara told me what she found I didn't believe her at first."

"She found something? Oh, OH! Me. Right. She found me, yeah." Theo rubbed the back of his head in nervous embarrassment. "I'm sorry, it's just… you've been my idol ever since I first learned about you. I mean… you're Superman!"

"I do get around," he affirmed, sounding very mild-mannered and totally not put-out by the young man's appearance. "You remember your name, son?" Superman asked.

The grey-skinned teen's gaze was glued to the big 'S' on his chest for a moment. "Uh, Th-Theodore Taylor. I'm… eighteen, I think." He answered.

"Theodore, eh? Good to meet you, son, I'm Superman. But you knew that already." Superman replied, extending his hand. Theo looked down and back up for a moment before he slowly extended his own and shook Superman's hand. The iron grip was one he'd never forget.

"Ah, heh, yeah I-I do." He leaned over to Supergirl. "I'm shaking his hand!" He whispered, barely suppressing a squeal. Kara giggled.

"You wouldn't be the first guy act like that when they meet my cousin." She said. Superman's gaze turned serious.

"I don't mean to get right to business, Theodore, but I have to know… how is it you came to look like Doomsday?" He asked. That was the monster's name. Theo shook his head, as though trying to clear the cobwebs fogging up another memory.

"I-I don't… know. Everything's still so… so fuzzy." Theo confessed. Superman nodded slowly.

"It's alright. We'll do what we can to help you figure this out." His gaze turned to the bone plating on his arm. "Mind if I take a look?" The young man nodded numbly as Superman lifted his arm. His x-ray vision transformed Theo into a walking skeleton, revealing the bones of his arm and the way they had thickened, surpassing the dermal and subdermal layers of flesh in order to form a membrane over his arm which hardened like a lobster shell would after moulting. There was a flexibility to the structure that seemed connected to nerve-endings, somehow this new layer of bone was connected to his nervous system and responded to brain impulses. Superman glanced down at his hand, seeing no pointed tips to the bones in his fingers, indicating Theo (at least for now) had no bone claws like Doomsday did.

His gaze traveled up his arm, revealing the subdermal spines along his back and shoulders that had retracted beneath the flesh. Superman theorized they had yet to grow big enough to achieve static independence and were also reliant on thought. It was an early and primitive take on Doomsday's rapid-evolution capabilities and he suspected that, with time and training, Theo could potentially take control over his body and its powers.

His gaze turned even higher to satsify one final curiosity. The bones of his face remained the same shape as a human with no sign of growing spikes to jut out of his chin or over his eyes one day. "If it wasn't for my history with Doomsday, I'd say it was remarkable." He concluded as the power in his eyes rewrapped Theo in layers of muscle and skin again.

"W-What's remarkable?" He wondered.

"The way your body has been transformed. I've never seen anything like it." The look on Theo's face turned desperate.

"Superman… please… I-I don't want to look like this. I don't wanna be stuck like this! You've gotta help me get back to normal!"

"And we will, I promise." Superman answered, hands on his shoulders. "Theo… Can I call you Theo?"

"You can call me whatever you want."

"Okay, Theo, Kara and I were talking about running some tests. We have equipment here that may be able to isolate the strain of Doomsday they used to change your look. We were waiting for a friend of mine to get here, so, if you're okay with going back under lab lights, we'll take a look inside and see what we can do." Superman explained. "If not, that's fine. You can wait here until you feel up to it." Theo looked from Superman to Supergirl, both of them calm and collected and appearing genuinely invested in his wellbeing.

"If i-it'll help undo this, then… y-yeah. Sure. Let's do it."

Superman beamed. "Great. Follow me, we can take you for a tour later." Theo shook his head.

"Tour? Where are we?" Neither Superman nor Supergirl said anything as they made to leave the room. Theo followed them outside and abruptly stopped, "Oh. Right. That makes sense."

The Fortress of Solitude. True to its name, the colossal structure stood isolated in the middle of the Arctic Ocean, situated atop a vast glacial island that Superman had used as a foundation for a Kyptonian sunstone that had done the rest of the work.

Now, beneath the jutting fragmented appearance, a myriad of Kryptonian analysis technology was manned by the Man of Steel as he studied Theodore. Kara hovered around him, seldom leaving his side. The laboratory wing of the Fortress was a treasure trove of complex Aline machines that made Theo stop and stare the first time he entered. Even now, on an examination table, he was having trouble not looking around the room as the devices studied his cranium.

The Batman had eventually arrived to assist, and he was here in the laboratory now, studying the incoming facts and figures. While Theodore remained a true-blue Superman fan, he knew full well about Batman too. But meeting the Dark Knight in person revealed just how intimidating the vigilante really was and Theo would be lying if he said he wasn't afraid of his presence. For now Batman resigned himself to assisting Superman, but the constant side-eye glances at Theo kept the young man on edge.

"Kara says she found you just outside of Kansas City. Any idea how you wound up there?" Superman asked without looking up. It took Theo a moment to answer, his memories slowly returning to him over the course of the examination. They were piecemeal and barely coherent, but it was more than he could remember half and hour ago when things had gotten started.

"It's still a little fuzzy… I, uh… I-I know I filled out an application. The government… they were looking for test subjects as part of a biochem program, promised good money. My family needs it so I figured I'd commit to it."

"Did that application include being injected with DNA from Doomsday?" Batman asked, studying the readouts. Theodore cocked his head,

"Uh… no?"

"Figures."

Kara looked up. "How could they do something so… so… awful? I mean, I figured Doomsday was involved to some degree, but how could anyone in the government ever agree to something like this? Mixing its DNA with ordinary people…"

"Moral implications aside, there's bigger concerns to bear in mind." Batman grunted as he approached Superman, the Kryptonian partly-obscured by a pair of examination goggles. "If the government is experimenting with Doomsday, they may be planning some kind of anti-Kryptonian contingency."

"That did cross my mind," Superman agreed while not looking up from his mechanical aide, "right now I just want to know what they did to Theo." His view was deep within the teen, penetrating past the cellular level right to his very genes as only Kryptonian technology could manage with such simple-looking instruments. A living record was made with each probing depth, passing through microscopic realms only the likes of The Atom could explore. "Hmm, look at this…" he trailed off, carefully hovering his machine in the correct highlighted spot. Batman took over, seeing what Superman had found.

"The Metagene." He noted in a calm, calculated tone. "He's a metahuman." Supergirl and Theodore both jerked their heads up.

"I am?"

"He is?"

Batman left the station and strode towards Theo, his cape folding around his body like a cloak to obscure everything save for his mouth and jaw. "Have you ever experienced moments of peculiar superhuman ability?"

"Uh… no? I remember I played baseball with the community league, hit three home runs in one game… but I don't think that's very superhuman…"

"Have you experienced a concentrated dosage of continual headaches, muscle cramps, or internal irritation?"

"No... I don't think so…"

"Are you experiencing any of that now?"

"No."

Supergirl thought the questioning was a bit much, especially with Theo's apparent amnesia still afflicting him. Superman left his equipment be, approaching Batman. He knew the Dark Knight's inquisitive nature well enough to know that these probing questions were stemming from a singular thought. A hunch of a sort. "Something on your mind?"

"While the memory loss is a snag, if he hasn't suffered from the usual side effects of a developing metahuman ability then he likely hasn't been able to manifest one yet. And if Theodore is a metahuman, it may explain why he successfully bonded with Doomsday's DNA and no one else did." Batman concluded. "We should run some more genome sequencing tests, see what the effects his metagene has on a chemical level."

"Computer can have a full map of his DNA within an hour."

"Transmit it to the Batcomputer, I'm going to run some other tests on the blood samples." Batman leaned forward, speaking in hushed tones as he shifted away from Theo and Kara. "Whatever you do, keep him here. We don't know what part of the government made him or what they want to do with him. The longer he stays out of their hands the better." He hissed. Superman nodded.

"If the government is working on anti-Kryptonian projects, what do you think their endgame is?"

"What else? You're a man who can lift a seven-hundred-thousand pound tanker out of the water and throw it halfway across the country. You can fly from Washington DC to Beijing within five minutes. Bullets won't stop you, neither will chemical weapons. The government wants a response to every possible so-called problem. If someone thinks you're a threat then they want to feel safe with a series of actions that will mitigate that threat."

Superman looked up with a sharp frown. "I've done nothing but help people. I fight monsters and aliens. And they think I'm a threat?"

"People fear what they don't understand." Batman said succinctly.

Superman's expression softened. "You're not the first one to tell me that. Still stings to think my efforts haven't meant a thing to these people."

"Cry me a river." Batman grunted. "Half the police in Gotham still don't trust me. And I've been doing this longer than you have." Superman said nothing, watching his friend go about his business with a slow shake of his head. He turned back to Theo as the young man crawled off the table and Supergirl made sure he could stand upright.

"So, uh, what's the next test?"

"How do you feel about doing something more physical?" Superman asked.

"Physical? Like, you want me to run around and stuff?"

"And punch things. And jump over things." Superman concurred. He beckoned with a tilt of his head. "Follow me." Theo did so, shooting a passing glance at Batman. The Dark Knight made no movement to react to their departure, still bent over a console analyzing data. Theo decided that was a good thing. He was still too spooked by his presence and demeanor.

Superman led the pair down ice-like corridors framed by jagged crystalline constructs. Multiple doors led off into a variety of rooms leaving Theo to wonder what lay beyond each. Who knew what alien treasures or special trophies Superman had in his possession? Theo got an inkling when they crossed a gantry overlooking an enclosure part planetarium, part zoo… and the inhabitants were not from Earth. "Many of these animals were rescued from dying worlds. The Fortress converted separate spaces to match the environment they came from." Theo looked over the railing at the dozens of creatures below, all of them milling about without a care and totally oblivious to the people above. To think Superman would show such care even to simple beasts… or perhaps it was a reflection of the trauma he felt in losing his planet and people, not wanting anyone else to feel that way again.

At the end of a gantry sat another door, which opened to reveal a room of reinforced steel interlaced with Kryptonian crystalline. The first thing to catch Theo's eye was the small army of human-shaped robots awaiting them. "When I was a kid, I didn't know anyone else with powers. So when I was learning how to use them I did it alone." Superman stated. "I had these robots created to help me test my abilities. After a few incidents that wreaked a little havoc with my life; prolonged exposure to Kryptonite, red sun radiation, concentrated magic, and so on, they became handy for making sure I was back to full strength. And now we'll see what your full strength is." He turned to look Theo right in the eyes. "Until we can find a way to reverse this, you're going to have to learn how to keep yourself in check and don't accidentally knock down a building."

Theo blinked and shook his head. "Me? Knock down a building? Wait… Because Doomsday could, I can?"

"You're catching on, kiddo," Superman replied with a chuckle. "Kara, show him how the impact test works." Supergirl floated over to one of the robots and said something in Kryptonian, a language so alien Theo couldn't make heads or tails of it. The robot straightened up and strutted forward, a series of knuckles unfolding over its fists.

"This particular 'bot will punch you as hard as it can, to see how well you can withstand the impact." She explained. "And don't underestimate them. One of these tin cans managed to knock me across the room."

"That sounds… dangerous." Theo remarked as he hesitantly stepped towards the waiting robot.

"Now whatever you do," Superman cautioned, "tighten up and lean into the punch. Otherwise you'll be too limber to-" he was interrupted when the robot threw out a blow that caught Theo on the jaw, spinning him around and dropping him like a stone, "-stay standing." The Man of Steel knelt. "You alright?"

"I mean… I felt that. But it doesn't, like… hurt?" Theo replied, looking up with a quizzical expression.

"At least we learned something new about you." Superman mused as he helped Theo up. "Try again. This time, brace yourself." Theo nodded and exhaled.

"You can do it, Teddy!" Supergirl called out in a show of emotional support. Theo felt transported back to one of the ball games of his youth. The robot threw another punch and Theo raised his arms, tanking the blow on his shoulder. He slid back three feet but did not fall down.

"H-Hey… I did it!"

"Baby steps. You've certainly got a lot more ground to cover." Superman agreed. "Kara, why don't you teach Theo the art of pulling your punches? It's a good exercise in knowing your own strength." Supergirl once gain stepped up to the plate, Superman stepping back and crossing his arms in passive observation.

"People like us can break buildings if we're not careful with our strength, so it's important to know how much is too much."

"W-Wait… people like… us? You think I'm like you?"

"Well, you might not be Kryptonian, but you can probably punch in our class with all those Doomsday-bits in you." Kara replied. Another vocal command adjusted the robot into a sparring posture, almost like a boxer. "Go ahead and try punching it. Full strength, don't hold back." Theo wound up and did just that, belting the robot with enough force the chassis crumpled into a dented heap as it fell back on the floor.

"Woah! Old me probably would've broken his wrist!" Theo exclaimed. "Er… I didn't break it, did I?"

"Nah. These things are atomic, powered with urananite crystals, so they have more than enough strength to pull themselves back together." To prove her point, the robot stood back up as its chassis reconverted itself into a fixed position and promptly reassumed its stance. "Looks like you might be holding back… or you're not full-Doomsday. Which would be a good thing. However you wanna look at it."

"Good thing! Definitely a good thing!" Theo quickly said. The two continued their banter with Superman watching, Kara proving to be good teacher as she walked Theo through what it meant to go all out and what it meant to hold back. She had to learn this lesson for herself and, now that she had, she made an excellent teacher in Superman's eyes.

"Clark," It was Batman, speaking just loud enough to be picked up by his super-hearing. With Kara too preoccupied she won't noticed the sonic shift. Superman said nothing and paid attention as Batman continued, "I ran a search for Theodore Taylor. Only some vague personal details are available on social media. The community league baseball checks out. His mother's name is Eleanor, he has two younger siblings: a sister and a brother. No sign of a father, no indication of a death. Seems like a case of early abandonment. With no father in the picture Theodore may have grown up under the impression he has to be the 'man of the house'. This could lead to a willingness to undertake dangerous risks in an act to prove responsible. Careful what you teach him and don't be surprised if he tries venturing out on his own to prove himself."

Superman took that into consideration, looking at Theo through new eyes as the young man sparred with one of his robots. He seemed more at ease now, not quite relaxed but calmed by the presence of those trying to help him instead of poking and prodding. Considering everything he had said about how he wound up in this state, coupled with the compelling need to provide for his family, Superman felt sorry for him. A young man, bright and full of potential, carrying the weight of his world on his shoulders. Part of the Kryptonian wished he could end such things for all people, bring a true sense of peace and justice to society everywhere. Theo was the perfect example of a man driven to extremes because of his love for his family. Superman understood all too well, having flexed the reaches of his super-speed and super-strength when it came to protecting his own loved ones.

No father to guide him. No father to be there for him. He loves his family enough to want to be a stand-in. Seems like Theo could use some stability in his life. Someone to lean on, other than himself.

Superman's thoughts persisted as he quietly watched Theo exercise his newfound powers, also observing as Kara coached him quite closely along the way. He had to wonder just how much finding him had rocked her. She hadn't been around to experience the horror that was Doomsday, only bearing witness to data recordings of the monster. To see his fearsome visage forced upon a young man? Maybe Superman wasn't the only one who was spooked…