The first and only thing that came to mind as Kon-el stared up at that back, jewel-studded sky and the full, blinding moon that lingered overhead like a pale, unblinking eye was that the world was far bigger than the corners of the container he'd called his own. Gone were the sterile, white walls, the buzzing of electricity above and beneath him...the eyes of the unfamiliar as they stared at him from behind glass he couldn't break. All of those imaging flashed behind his bright, blue eyes as he looked up and up and up into the dark thing above him for which he had no name.

He didn't smile, though he did feel...something, an emotion he couldn't identify. It was warm, filling every corner of his thoughts as he kept his eyes above.

This was new., so...big. Everything was...different, sure, but he like it. It was a far cry from the coldness he knew, and even when a passing breeze brushed along his exposed, sensitive skin, sending quiet shivers down his spine, he didn't move. The boy was utterly transfixed, unable to fathom the breadth of possibilities that echoed sweetly in the background noise of his mind. He could feel Wally, the red-haired kid that he'd met before, look to him with a grin, and gesture to the white disk in the sky with a hand.

"The Moon!" He exclaimed, and the clone only continued to stare, cycling the word in his mind. The people in the white coats never told him these things; he'd only briefly overhear them mentioning one thing or another here and there, and he'd be left to imagine what those things might have been or what they meant. He understood well enough how to facilitate language (it seemed to be the only thing he knew anything about), but his supposed ignorance didn't dampen the moment.

His eyes shimmered.

Moon...moon...,He thought, once, then twice, then again and again as a little smile played at his lips, despite being small and feeling unfamiliar on his face.

He knew what it was called now. He...liked the Moon.

However, his smile fell when he saw something come into view, something like a quickly growing dot that broke the visage of perfect light from the celestial body before them; its form was impossibly quick, and Kon-el's eyes widened as a caped figure was distinguishable at last, a beacon of power that the clone watched with silent revelry, the others around him doing much the same. The man that had once been in flight seemed to be slowing, though, and was coming to land, his cape like blood tranquility fluttering behind as Wally stepped closer beside him. The speedster's tone didn't betray any nervousness, but he was quick come to his side, turning to face the clone as he spoke.

"Oh! And Superman! Do we keep our promises or what?!" The former asked, almost sounding...excited, if Kon-el could have named the light, airy tone that came from him. But the latter didn't motion to return the gesture; he could only watch as his ascendant landed, joined, then, by a breadth of figures that he didn't know. There were too many, the clone feeling a touch more anxious as collections of faces and scents he couldn't recognize grew in number...and more than that, seemed to be staring at him.

And only him.

He was used to being stared at. The White-Coats (the name he'd lovingly given to the researchers that had tended to him before) always did, but they came in steady numbers, there was a sense of regularity to them; Kon knew, to some extent, what to expect when thinking about them and the few tests that they would run. But here, in the open, new world he had no knowledge or insight about...he didn't have that safety net of comprehension that had been his guiding principles in that cold place he'd been born in. He felt himself go stiff as a cloaked man, clad in black and a strange mask, stepped forward, along with a faster man in red, and a few others.

A lot...too many...,He thought nervously.

Was he in trouble? What was happening?

Why was everyone staring at him?

After his eyes had darted from each face he could pick out from the growing crowd, they again fell upon his progenitor, a stony face that had yet to say anything all, even when the younger hybrid looked on to him, trying to parse something, anything, from his still features. He'd only just glanced at himself now and again when he gazed back at himself from the reflective surface of glass that served as his chamber, noting the dark hair and bright, blue eyes that remained but a staple of his appearance. The clone was taken aback, looking to what seemed to be his carbon copy (or, perhaps the other way around); the man of steel was almost statuesque, unmoved and hardly spoken even after what felt like minutes passed between them, and though the man's hardened expression didn't pass, the resemblance was...uncanny.

Too uncanny.

He tried to think of something to say, but he didn't know if he knew enough to try and break the ice. Kon-el understood enough to know that something was making everyone feel tense, though he could hardly guess precisely what that might have been. Looking to Superman again, he knew immediately that he was him, or...rather, Kon was Superman...in the loosest sense. There was a sort of understanding that superseded words alone that every cell in his body echoed in kind to, an idea that, even with the barest bit of comprehension about everything else, he knew and accepted perfectly well.

He was his clone. He was Superman's clone. Superman was here, right there.He, Kon-el, was here, too.

That's all he knew.

And as far as he was concerned, that was the only important thing.

Perhaps if he said that, maybe everyone wouldn't look so weird. Maybe if he told them who he was, it would change this tension.

Yeah, that's what he would do.

Stepping forward, he didn't miss his other self's expression become...darker, a steep glower falling over his face as he came to a stop, and pulled a tattered portion of his suit up to reveal the coveted symbol emblazoned in red thread upon his chest. The collective expressions of the other heroes around them were openly shocked at this revelation, but at the sight of the emblem, Clark's face only grew more grim, even as the clone did his best interpretation of a smile.

Then the moment passed. Clark didn't smile. In fact, no one did.

It was still.

Kon-el swallowed.

"Is that what I think it is?" Bruce asked, voice rough with inquiry, but it hadn't occurred to him to take note of the slightly wounded look that crossed the clone's features at tbe reference to himself.

He…wasn'tan it.

He didn't like being called that.

Wally was quick to amend the statement.

"He doesn't like to be called that…"The youth whispered loudly under his breath; the other teens around him remained quiet on the issue, seeming reluctant to dissent against the darkly-clad man's statement. Yet all the same, they glanced quietly at him, curious as to what the words might have meant.

The heroes around them did much the same, as if he were some spectacle to be observed and ogled at.

Feeling himself frown, he opened his mouth again, this time to speak, mincing not a single word as what they all realized came forth in the next breath.

"I'm Superman's clone." He stated, suddenly feeling that cold glare penetrate his skin, echoed only by the collective shock that only worsened the stillness that befell the group after his words, but he didn't know what else to say. It was the only thing that youth could come up with the clear the air, as far as he thought he could. It was enough feeling all of their eyes on him, and though he couldn't really vocalize it, he was beginning to feel the itch of discomfort beneath his pale skin. Loosing his grip on the torn fabric of his suit, no one said anything for a long while, and in that instant, Kon-el wished very much to be somewhere that they couldn't look at him anymore.

Even more when noticing the scowl, thedisgust, that soured the already off-put expression of the man, his superior, before him.

But he didn't back down. Instead, the clone waited for someone to say something.

It wasn't long before Batman spoke again, his eyes squinting with intrigue and quiet interest as he regarded the boy again, though his gravely, harsh tone didn't betray any of that.

Kon-el got the impression that it would be hard to tell what he was thinking. The mask certainly didn't help.

"Start talking." He said, and at once, the youth began.

-(A short while later...)-

He'd done his best to recount what he knew...which was hard when you didn't have the vocabulary necessary to articulate yourself, but the youth thought he did well enough...or at the very least, hoped he had. The White-Coats, the needles, the isolation...there probably wasn't much to tell when he didn't get to experience much besides being studied and things like that; yet still, he felt a touch of guilt when Bruce seemed less than satisfied with the information he managed to mumble out.

Then embarrassment.

It didn't help that he'd never really needed (or was told to) speak before.

It was still sort of new for him...stringing together words into coherent thoughts. It wasn't as if he couldn't, he just...was out of practice, he guessed. Watching as a few of the heroes began to take their leave, along with a monstrous creature he also didn't know the name of, he turned to look to his predecessor speaking amongst a small group. The woman and green man that he was with seemed just as pensive as he, though Kon-el wasn't ignorant to it, the barely concealed glances by Clark as their conversation carried on. Sensitive senses had their utility, and it was easy enough to pick out their conversation from afar, even if his face did well to betray a degree of ignorance to their words.

Extending his senses in their direction, he listened in, curiosity superseding any degree of decency he had to refrain from eavesdropping, the youth unaware that he'd even been doing so. As far as he knew, he was just listening to them.

The White-Coats never taught him about those sorts of things, after all.

"It looks just like you...think it's true? That they managed to...you know..."The woman started, appearing hesitant.

"I don't know. Hard to make any assumptions when there's still so much that we don't know...I just don't understand how they could have made such a...an abomination. I can hardly stand to look at it."Superman almost spat, and Kon-el could feel it, the raw emotions that backslid over to him at the mere mention of his existence. His frown deepened as the word the man used turned over in his head.

Abomination?

The youth wasn't sure what to make of it, but he didn't think it sounded good.

It didn't sound good at all.

"Well, for now, you'll just have to bear it. Can't have something like that roaming around unchecked. Best to take it back to Mount Justice for observation...find out more about the situation until then."The green man stated, remaining calm despite the clearly tense situation.

They continued.

"Yeah, you're probably right. Just...for now, I'm going to keep my distance. Try to process...all of this. I need to know who might have gotten their hands on enough of, well, me...to construct it. Think it could have been...Luthor?"The man of steel pondered, his heart rate betraying a sort of uneasiness that Kon-el didn't understand. In fact, he didn't understand any of this.

He didn't understand their feelings, their disgust, their...anything. But he could understand that he felt...bad.

That something with him was critically wrong, and it must have shown as, only moments later, before anyone could answer the question, the green man looked back, placing a hand on Clark's shoulder and turning to notice that the youth had been looking at them the entire time.

"We have plenty of time to speculate about all of this. I'm almost certain that it can hear us; we'll have to be more careful discussing such matters for now."He stated, and both the Wonder woman and Superman looked back, and immediately, Kon-el turned away, furrowing his brow with frustration and confusion. It didn't last long though as his bright eyes flickered back, and in only a moment's time, Superman was turned away again, nodding with relent.

"Ah, yeah. Forgot about that little quirk. We'll...finish this later."He spoke, quieter this time, but the clone still picked it up. With what looked like a sigh, the man started on his way over to his other self, and Kon-el, despite knowing little about body language, could practically see every muscle in his body tense with reluctance to even cross the short distance over to him. It made him wary knowing that the other wanted nothing at all to do with him.

An odd emotion filled him, something cold...voiceless but loud in the back of his mind as he crossed his arms over his chest and waited for the man to speak. It tugged at him, made him want to shrink away from the volume of disgust and repulsion that filled every pore of the older man before him; it was clear to the youth that he didn't want anything to with him.

That his presence...made him upset.

And it turn, this detail made Kon-el upset, too. But his face refused to show it.

He remained still, unmoved, even when every fiber of his being wanted to rectify the situation, to disappear if only to please his other half.

He didn't understand what he'd done wrong at all to make him so...upset with him, but he didn't like it.

He didn't like it at all.

"We'll, uh...we'll figure something out for you. The League will, I mean. For now...I better make sure they get that Block Buster creature squared away..." And without giving the youth a moment to respond, Clark was off, rushing off into the sky to follow behind the heroes that had left several minutes before, leaving Kon-el at a loss. For the first words that he'd directly spoken to him, there was a sense of strange finality despite it only being their first meeting.

It was obvious that he didn't want to speak to him, either, let alone be around him, and as Kon-el watched his ascendant become a blurred afterimage on the horizon thereafter, his frown only deepened.

He felt...colder, still.

"Cadmus will be investigated, all fifty-two levels. But let's make one thing clear - " Behind the group, Batman and two others, a man in a red suit, and another in scaled, orange attire, came forth. Kon's mind was still on Superman, though, his eyes only warily searching the sky for the blue and red streak that had graced his presence just moments ago...but it was gone.

He was gone.

Batman was interrupted by the man in the red suit, his speedy interjection met with some degree of annoyance from the dark man beside him.

"You should've called." The man offered, and Bruce resumed thereafter, as if not a moment passed between his words.

"End results aside, we are not happy. You hacked Justice League's systems, disobeyed direct orders, and endangered lives." The older man chastised the group harshly, though in all honestly, apart from feeling how serious the situation was, much of what the Bat was saying was lost on the clone. He understood him not being happy (that was probably the one part he could reasonably comprehend), but all of the other words escaped him: what was hacking? What were direct orders? He didn't evenknowwhat 'endangered' meant, but he thought it was a bad thing. It sounded bad, at least.

So he would assume it was so.

He could figure out what that was later...probably.

"You will not be doing this again." The Bat finished, and the youth beside him, Aqualad, he could recall he was named, spoke up this time, having remained quiet during the ordeal.

"I am sorry, but we will." He said boldly, almost...defiantly.

Kon-el blinked.

Was that good? To do what you weren't supposed to?

But the man in the orange seemed to disagree.

"Aqualad, stand down." He commanded, and at once, the teen responded.

"My apologies, my king..." Aqualad raised a finned hand to his chest, and seemed to consider his next words, a deep resolve burning in his pale eyes, and looking up again, he met the other's eyes, determination unshaken even with the three adults holding his gaze from that short distance away, "...but no." He stated simply, and the clone felt his interest grow.

No? He...didn't know that word.

He looked to the king again.

He cocked his head to the left; this didn't please the man at all, if the stiff frown and raised eyebrow was anything to go off of.

Aqualad continued, unabated.

"We did good work here tonight. The work you trained us to do. Together, on our own, we forged something powerful...important." The youth asserted, his voice rising to meet the passion beneath his words. He tried to reason what he might have meant, and though he didn't understand all of it, he felt...inspired, that once cold feeling from before coalescing into a soft hum of warmth as the others looked up, growing emboldened by the other's assertions. It was strange...he'd never fathomed speaking to the White-Coats like this...not once had he ever considered talking to older people in such a fashion.

It was...new.

Unfamiliar.

He almost felt nervous when the red man spoke again, tone incredulous at their refusal to stand down.

"But this is about your treatment at the hall? The three of us - " Without even getting the chance to finish, Wally stepped forward, again, amending the words of their mentors.

"Four of us..." He started, shooting a look to the clone in a flicker of movement that he almost didn't catch, but the warmth in his chest grew at the gesture, the very notion of it.

The four of them?

In his mind, he did his best to count each one of the teens around him (he wasn't the best at math). He numbered Aqualad the first, Robin the second, Wally the third, and looking down at himself, he could have smiled at the realization that the former had included him in his count of their group, despite their rocky start. Kon wished he knew a word to describe how he felt, but he didn't, so he settled instead for listening, though the warmth didn't subside, even when the conversation pressed on.

"...and it's not." Wally finished before Robin came next, his tone far calmer, but still as stern, as the rest as he stepped forward to gesture to the three men before the teens.

"Batman, we're ready to use what you taught us...or why teach us at all?" The shorter boy asked, and both Aqualad and Wally agreed, their met silence and still, unwavering expressions sparking a fire of will that Kon-el had never really felt before. It was nice...being a part of something, near others that seemed ready and willing to do the things that he would have never dreamed of doing. Crossing his arms again, he tried to form words that were related to the conversation to really nail it home, to express his engagement as that warmth in his gut persisted until it became heat that gave passion to his words that he'd never felt before.

For a moment, the visage of Superman appeared in his head, and the White Coats, too, threatening to dampen this first wave of personal satisfaction that had set upon him.

Keep quiet. You don't count; they're just being nice to you because they feel bad,A little voice of doubt spat in his head as he felt his resolve shrink a bit, remembering the shrewd, distant expression of his other half only a few minutes prior.

You're not a real person...stay out of it. Shut your mouth...you'll just mess up,Another agreed, biting at him and his willingness to speak.

The clone tightened his arms across his chest, swallowing deeply as he cast aside the doubts the best that he could, though he still felt them lingering.

No; if they could go against their superiors...then couldn't he?

He could try. He had to if that meant he could stay a part of the group. That's what you were supposed to do; go along with what everyone else was doing, right?

He wouldn't know what to do, otherwise...and the last thing he wanted to do was mess up what had only begun to be a good thing.

"Why let them tell us what to do?" The youth began, unfolding his arms and minding little the harsh, crude tone of his voice, walking forward a bit as the others looked to him, doing little to stave the apparent surprise upon their faces. He continued, taking the silence of their mentors as a note to keeping speaking.

"It's simple; get on board, or get out of the way." Kon finished, resisting the urge, suddenly, to see what the others might have been thinking through their expressions.

Did they approve? Had he done a good job? It took every bit of effort to come up with that statement, let alone make it appropriate to the situation, but he was determined to prove that he was on their side, that he could keep up.

He hoped it was enough.

The others, looking amongst themselves for a moment, turned to face the three adults, and inwardly, Kon-el could have sighed with relief, a ghost of a smile playing at the edges of his lips as he continued to stare forward.

So hehaddone a good job. That was the right thing to say!

He'd have to keep that up. Being defiant, he thought; that was what they liked, right? It seemed to work well enough?

Batman remained silent as the groups stood in the clearing, and with a squint of the eyes, Kon-el felt himself shiver, unsure of what the man would say.

- (Several days later) -

When they'd first arrived at Mount Justice, Kon-el was completely at a loss for words. That wasn't to suggest that he still wasn't; he could recall spending the entire first day staring at just about everything his eyes could see, and much longer touching what he could get his hands on, though he was quick to learn that not everything was meant to be touched.

Or held.

Or pulled off the walls.

Or picked up in any capacity.

But it was hard not to be curious when you didn't get the chance to see much else but the confines of a glass tube, and even then, in the scant moments that he was granted some freedom to roam the very limited areas of study when the White-Coats would take him in for testing, there wasn't much to see. He almost couldn't process the breadth of smells, and sights, and textures that filled his senses, and even now, as he stood amongst the other members of his prospective team (he still couldn't believe it), his eyes still scanned his surroundings, looking for new things to see. They'd been gathered in the main room, he thought, a massive hole in the ceiling above them glowing and buzzing with residual energy as their meeting with a few more heroes commenced, but he was distracted, watching as Green Lantern harnessed his powers to aid in the reconstruction of the hub.

Kon-el was fascinated with that, too.

In fact, he was fascinated with everything.

He would have been compelled to walk over there if Batman hadn't begun speaking, and he turned his head to meet the man, though his senses still whirred with untapped excitement at the breadth of stimuli that were happening all around them at the same time.

"This cave was the original secret sanctuary of the Justice League. We are calling it into service again. Since you four are determined to stay together and fight the good fight, you'll do it on League terms." Bruce announced, walking in a line in-front of each member of the team, and Kon-el hung onto every word, unable to fathom that any of this was real.

The excitement was too much, everything was too much, he felt, the teen just managing to keep up that stoic expression that he'd adopted the day that they all got to Mount Justice.

He had to keep it cool. He didn't...want to mess up, not this soon.

"Red Tornado volunteered to live here and be your supervisor. Black Canary's in charge of training." Bruce's eyes fell upon two other heroes, a man and a woman, and given their appearances (Red Tornado was certainly the man clad in red armor, and Black Canary had to be the only other person standing beside him), Kon had little issue picking who-was-who.

He nodded to himself, reminding himself of their names in his head.

Red Tornado, Black Canary. Red Tornado, Black Canary...,A mantra that he recited in mind was placed on hold as Batman continued.

"I will deploy you on missions." He stated with a sense of finality, and Robin was quick to respond, wasting no time with an interjection.

"Real missions?" He asked, and his mentor obliged an answer.

"Yes, but covert." He answered simply. Behind the group, Flash (he'd since learned his name) elaborated, and thankfully so; Kon was still learning words, and he wasn't sure if he knew what 'covert' meant yet, but he wasn't going to openly admit that he didn't. It was clear to him, after only a little bit of time, that not knowing things or not looking smart wasn't a good thing, and he'd had plenty of not-so-smart moments already in attempting to learn how to put on clothes, let alone operating a shower.

Those weren't things the White-Coats thought he needed to know, seeing as they did everything for him.

He soured a bit.

They didn't seem to think he needed to know a lot of things, but he tried to disregard the growing bitterness in his chest, choosing instead to focus on Flash's words and not his mulling, angry thoughts.

"The League will still handle the obvious stuff; there's a reason we have these big targets on our chests." Pointing to the symbol of lightning on his chest, he made his point, the clone could guess that covert meant...secret? Something like being hidden, right? He considered asking someone, but thought against it; he didn't really need the details, right? They just had to do what they said, and he could figure out the nitty-gritty details later, couldn't he?

It wouldn't do to make them think that he was dumb.

Hewasn'tdumb, of course, he affirmed to himself, looking away from Flash to turn to Aquaman.

He wasn't.

"But Cadmus proves the bad guys are getting smarter. Batman needs a team that can operate on the sly." The man turned to Batman, and the former agreed.

"The five of you will be that team." He finished, and Kon-el fought himself not to express his confusion.

Five? But...,Looking around him, and just like before, he counted each of them, including himself, but couldn't reconcile the discrepancy. He wasn't marginally better at counting, seeing as so little time had passed since the first day that they'd met, but he knew enough to realize that there were still just four of them.

I counted four, right? Then...where is the last one? Did I count wrong?,He asked himself, and Robin all but read his mind, positing the same question that he had, the teen feeling thankful that he wasn't the only one confused.

"Cool...wait. Five?" He exclaimed, and without a word, Bruce looked beyond them to the entrance of the hub, and both Wally and Robin turned to meet his gaze. The older man opened his mouth to speak before Kon could get the chance to look behind him.

"This is the Martian Manhunter's niece, Miss Martian." He spoke, and at once, Kon heard a different kind of voice, something lighter and...sweeter...than the ones he'd heard before. He'd long since heard their footsteps far before they came, but he was still taken by surprise when he felt something press upon his skull.

It pulsed quietly in the background, something...heavy that he couldn't name.

Then she spoke, and the feeling left.

"Hi!" Came a sweet voice, and he turned to meet eyes with a small, green girl.

Robin and Wally seemed more than happy at the sight of her.

"I'm liking this gig more every minute."Wally uttered to the former before clearing his throat to speak to her.

"Welcome aboard! I'm Kid Flash; that's Robin, that's Aqualad. It's cool if you forget their names." He introduced quickly, grinning at Miss Martian as Kon watched on from the background, noticing, suddenly, that Wally had forgotten to gesture to him, though he couldn't really blame him; it wasn't as though he'd exactly told them his name.

Then another thought, one that hung over Kon like a stale cloud at the realization.

He...didn't really have a name.

Looking away for a moment, he tried to hide the softening expression that lingered on his features as she spoke to them, tone light and cheerful.

"I am honored to be included." The young girl said, clasping her hands together softly with a smile as the three (Aqualad, Robin, and Wally) closed the distance with her and began to talk amongst themselves, seeming to forget himself for the time being, not that he blamed them. He had no idea what to call himself; the most that he'd really had to call a name was 'It', 'Abomination', and 'Kon-el'...and he didn't really like the last one too much.

At least, Superman didn't.

He didn't want to use it and chance offending the man, and more than that, he thought coldly...it wasn't as if he really embodied the ideals of Kryptonians, as far as he could tell.

He...wasn't good enough for that, he thought.

Besides, the teen thought as he looked away from the group, he wasn't well-versed at that sort of thing...the talking aspect of interacting. Stepping back a bit, he felt almost intrusive, finding himself feeling terribly awkward as the others spoke at length amongst each others. Was he supposed to stay put? Was he supposed to say something? What was he supposed to do?

He didn't know, and not knowing made him...uncomfortable, but before he could make his leave, the pounding, drawing pulse started again, stronger this time and he was stopped in his tracks. It throbbed harshly at the front of his skull, a dull ache he'd never felt before but all the same could hardly make sense of as it faded just as quickly as it had before.

Then nothing, only then noticing that Miss Martian had been looking at him, glancing out of the corner of her eye ever so slightly in his direction before turning to the others around her.

She said nothing, but his mind reeled.

What...was that?,He tried to think, but he was pulled from his thoughts as Robin waved a hand at him, beckoning him forward.

"Hey, Superboy. Come meet Miss M." The teen said, and at once, the sound of a direction, a clear course of action, drew him to the others, distracting him from the pressing thoughts about the strange headaches and relegating them to the back of his mind.

It also wasn't missed on his part, the name that Robin had casually thrown his way.

Superboy…,His mind turned over the title over and over, though it felt weird; was it even okay to make his super name tangentially related to Superman's? It felt somehow…wrong, more than it probably should have, maybe, but he didn't have time to really consider it.

Not when the echo of his headache still lingered in his mind

It was probably just his imagination, he thought, as he came up the green girl, and without moving, her clothes began to morph, taking on the same shades and hues of his black shirt, giving him cause to open his mouth at the show of power. He'd never seen someone just...change shape before; the notion enthralled him as the outfit fit seamlessly over her skin.

She smiled up at him, the same, sweet expression ever-present upon her face.

"I like your t-shirt." Miss Martian said, giving him a soft look, and looking to her, he felt compelled to smile, a small grin gracing his lips before Robin nudged him, joining his side as Wally did the same.

Aqualad looked to them.

"Today is the day." He exclaimed, tone ever-serious, stern in presence as Miss Martian continued to look at Superboy, and he returned her smile again.

That's right,The clone spoke to himself within his mind,Today is the start of a new life.