Conner couldn't believe what they were doing at that time. He kept looking at Clark as he settled at his desk back home with a cup of hot coffee.
"Okay, how do you want to go about this?" his mentor asked opening a blank document and typed 'The Arrival of Superboy.'
"Can't you just tell them I am your cousin?" Conner asked. It would make things so much easier if they thought they were related.
"If Luthor releases what you are it could diminish your credibility," Clark told him turning his head to see the worried kid bite his lip.
"So I guess telling them that I am from a planet that used to be near Krypton is out of the question," Conner said leaning forwards.
"Very," Clark laughed, "but you shouldn't be afraid of telling them what you are. No one has a saying under which circumstances they are born."
"Or made" Conner sighed before pulling a chair to sit near his mentor.
"Where do you want to start?" Clark asked him.
"I don't know," Conner said running hand through his already messy hair, "you are the reporter."
A few nights ago I heard of another hero accompanying Superman. I didn't think this strange for we are talking about Superman. Then someone showed me a picture of the new hero and I found myself curious when I saw the S on the chest of who seemed to be a teenage boy. With the appearance of Supergirl, I had no doubt this might be another member of Superman's family. Maybe another cousin, a younger brother or why not even his son. Once my chance to finally speak to him arrived he seemed surprised at my assumption, though he would say no more. Instead, he called for the boy and a few moments later the youth came in a black body suit with red markings.
He was introduced to me as Superboy and the tale he told was one I never imagined outside science fiction books. The boy was not a brother or cousin to the Last Man of Krypton, for he still retains the title. The teenage boy admitted to being only partially Kryptonian, the rest human. Though as sensing my questioning look towards Superman he was fast to clear he was not his son. The boy explained, and he explained many times as I could not wrap my mind around the idea that he was made, not born; a partial clone.
Made by whom? He would not tell me. But, he admitted they were not the sort of folk you wanted to be enemies with. They, someone with more resources that they should be allowed, wanted a Superman of their own under the pretext that someone must be capable of taking down Superman if he became a threat. Superboy looked very uncomfortable at this revelation, for then I noticed the boy and man resembled each other incredibly. It would not be hard to imagine the kid growing to look like the man. He explained that while in the last stages of his development a group of young heroes broke into the lab that had been his whole world since he could remember. They broke him free of the building and presented him to the Justice League and to Superman.
Now, I will pause here to let the idea sink in. No, he is not in the traditional sense related to Superman, though the man treated the boy like a younger brother. I emphasize on the phrase traditional sense because there is very little that remains traditional in our times, in any sense. Superman admitted then to be concerned when the young man was brought to him. He admitted not having any experience of how to look after kids, and even less teenagers. As of how these two handled it, they only admitted having a lot of help from the rest of the League.
"What do you think until now?" Clark asked him before taking a drink from his coffee.
"Is it going to be much more?" he asked already feeling exposed. Though the word clone had not been used once, he still felt people would not see beyond that or that he was created to take their long time hero down.
888
The first ring he imagined it was someone's cell phone. Everyone started checking their phones. By the third ring, they were looking at him. Then he realized it was the cell phone he always carried with him, but never rang until then. He left the classroom to answer what he imagined was a very serious call. He allowed it to ring one more time before listening to her demands.
"I am not doing that," he said with finality after listening for a minute.
"We had a deal," Lois said as she chewed on the end of her pen.
"To help you know more about Cadmus, not help you with your stories," Conner said wondering if there was a mole at Clarkcatropolis. How did she know Clark was writing his story? She was demanding an interview with him.
"I could always publish an even bigger story, you know? The one about-" she started before Conner cut her off.
"You are lying and you know it. If you don't have something related to Cadmus, I am hanging up," he said hoping he was right.
"You are such a spoilsport. This isn't over," she said before she hung up.
888
"Why are we doing this again?" Conner asked as they walked towards a place called the Bagle Palace on a Sunday, the first weekend of the semester. The place was supposed to have about fifty different choices of Bagels, which would be quite a sight. What actually bothered him was who they were going to meet.
"Because I promised Lois that we would try to at least remain friends," Clark told the youth.
"What about, well you know," Conner hated to point at the elephant in the room, but he had to.
"She has a boyfriend," Clark told him as plainly as if he was telling him it seemed it was going to rain.
"What?" he stopped and asked a few steps away from the door, "and you knew?"
"They have been together for about a year. I have known her for much longer, and never said a word so…" he didn't think he had right to complain.
"So you are just going to give up? You know if you told her-" then he would be off the hook.
"Don't even go there. She would never forgive me for hiding something so big from her. And, I never said I was giving up," but before Conner could ask what he meant by that someone shouted.
"Clark!" he turned to see a red-headed young man walking towards them with a big grin.
"Hey Jimmy," Clark said with a smile.
"Hey, and you must be Conner," Jimmy said stretching his hand to him, "Jimmy Olsen, photographer to the Daily Planet."
He already knew that. It was hard not to find out when most of the pictures of Superman in the past were from him.
"Lois said to get ahead," Jimmy said shaking his head in disbelief, "that woman really doesn't know how to give a story a break."
"Something big?" Clark asked as they went in.
"You know she would kill me if I tell you, not that she would tell me anything lately," Jimmy said leading them to a four-set table.
"Must be big then," Clark said opening the menu, not a bit bothered.
"So is true, you got a big story coming," Jimmy said wide eyed.
"Now, how would she know that?" Clark said putting the menu down.
"I don't know," Jimmy said not able to meet his eyes, but Clark didn't push him.
"She has a mole in Clarkcatropolis, doesn't she?" and before Clark could ask he said, "It has to be. The question now is just how much does she knows?"
"I just messed things up, didn't I?" Jimmy said unable to ignore how serious they both looked.
"This is Lois we are talking about," Clark said smiling as he picked the menu again, "I would be more surprised if she didn't have something like this in her sleeve."
Conner picked his own menu but glared more than stared. He couldn't believe his mentor was letting something so deceitful slide. He was going to find that mole, or at least tell Cat about it so she could find who it was. Then he remembered the other person who had been in the room with them. His mentor gave him a side glance when he realized this. He too had thought of it.
"I heard the corn one is great," Jimmy said with a smirk.
"Oh, how could I miss it," Clark said before ordering just that to humor his friend.
Conner ordered a mix of seeds and something else he wasn't sure if it was a vegetable or fruit. He wasn't in the mood to humor anyone.
"I just love this place," Lois said walking in and walking towards their table.
This did not improve his mood. Still, he kept his calm and greeted her like the rest. Clark didn't say a word of what they had talked about. He leaned back and listened in and out on their small talk. He concentrated on their heart rates, and those emotions emitting from them like waves. There was nervousness, happiness, suspicion, and sincere gladness. There was also deceit, fear, and some jealousy too.
"Can I still expect to see your article sometime soon?" he turned to Lois.
"Clark is checking it first," Conner slipped a small lie; he was almost done but hadn't shown it to his mentor yet. He wanted to bother her for spying on them.
"I have my hands tied at this time, but he will get it to you as soon as I am done," Clark told her playing along.
"Is that so? Working on anything important?" she probed.
"Maybe, what about you?" Clark said after taking a drink from his coffee.
"Jimmy?" Lois turned to the paling photographer.
"I said nothing," he said raising his hands.
"The thing is Lois," Clark started with his usual gentle and friendly smile, "you aren't the only one with sources."
"You are just full of secrets, aren't you Smallville?" Muttered Lois before ordering though the waitress seemed to already what she wanted, "which reminds me; nothing to report of the League's New Year's celebration?"
"Only that they banned mistletoes and cell phones with cameras," he said picking the menu again though he wasn't done with his first order.
"Too bad they aren't really together. That would be a real super couple" Jimmy said before they stared at him incredulously.
"Oh, please Jimmy, don't tell me you are one of them," Clark said with a look between appalled and self-conscious. Last year someone had leaked a picture of him and Wonder Woman sharing one small kiss under a mistletoe and even after a whole year some people wouldn't let the subject drop.
"He is," Lois said shaking her head, "sad, really sad."
"Hey! Okay, maybe not Wonder Woman, but I am sure he must have a super girlfriend or maybe two. He is Superman," Jimmy said before elbowing Conner, "right?"
Conner followed the example of his mentor and his behind the menu, but merely to hide with grin.
"I don't know about super girlfriends, but he does have super-hearing, you see?" Clark said.
"You-you don't think he heard me, do you?" Jimmy said paling at the thought.
"Who knows," Lois said with a smirk, "he is Superman" and then they laughed as Jimmy started looking around for any sign of the Man of Steel.
Then they went to chatting as before. Conner had worked very hard not to choke with Lois last words. How closely would wave what she knew to their faces? If things kept going like this his mentor would catch on soon enough.
"So, do you already know what you are going write for Mr. Global's class?" his mentor asked him noticing he had withdrawn from the rest.
"Just tell him you are related to this guy and that will guarantee you at least a B. Which will be more than what most of your class will get," Lois said giving Clark a side glance.
"Not yet," Conner had barely given it though since he hadn't talked to Lori since he dropped her off at the school campus after their visit to Clarkcatropolis.
"Do you at least have a partner?" Lois asked.
"He does, Lori Luthor," Clark said calmly.
"Luthor?" Jimmy said with wide eyes.
"Lena's daughter," Clark said still not making a big deal of it.
"Oh, well I didn't see that coming," Lois said, but she didn't make a big deal of it either.
"You knew?" Conner asked Clark.
"We are reporters, but it didn't take us anytime to find that Lena and Lori are nothing like Lex. The egomaniacal gene is in Lex's side" Lois said but sensed something in her words rubbed Conner the wrong way.
888
It was a bit after midday by the time they made it back to the apartment.
"It went well, didn't it?" Clark said as he hung his jacket by the door.
"Define well. We learned that Lois Lane, the star reporter for the Daily Planet, is after your story" Conner said as he walked to the window, gave one glance and then walked back.
"Actually, about that," he said before showing him a message he had gotten a few hours ago from Cat.
Looks great, will be out by 1:00 pm
"So soon?" Conner said stepping back.
"Lois Lane is after the story, remember?" Clark said.
"Right, right," but he went into a pacing frenzy. He checked the time every few seconds.
It was only a few minutes of his pacing before Clark had enough.
"We are going," he said looking out the wide panoramic window.
"What? It is still daylight," he only accompanied at night.
"People have to get used to seeing you, we are no bats, remember?" this part he said it proudly.
Right, this was also part of what he wanted. He didn't want to go only on undercover missions; he wanted to be out there helping any time he was needed. It didn't matter if it was day or night.
A few minutes after they were flying among the skyscrapers, but it wasn't enough to distract him from the reactions of the people in the city. The city had fallen into silence as they read the article before Clarkcatropolis started a live feed.
"Welcome seekers of the truth. You are now tuned to a very special live feed from Clarkcatropolis. As usual Clark isn't here, but boy the news he brings makeup for that! You heard it here first friends, we got a new hero in our city; Superboy."
He could hear Cat's voice coming from thousands of screens. He stopped in midair.
"Not a survivor from Krypton or Superman's Super-baby, but something so much more interesting, don't you think?"
"There is robbery down on fifth," Superman said before they started moving again. They went to the robbery now turned car chase, "all yours."
"But," Conner looked down but couldn't complain anymore. Someone watching the feed on their phone and wearing headphone at the same time was about to cross the street. They only bothered to glance at the walk sing without bothering to check the sides. He swooped in to stand before the racing car. He extended his hand concentrated on the engine before killing it. The car screeched as it lost. But, as soon as he noticed the issue he focused on the whole car and brought it to a stop as slow as possible without hurting those inside or the bystanders. It stopped a step from him.
The robber who had not been listening to the live broadcast had no idea who he was so they pointed their guns at him and shot. The small projectiles stopped dead in the air a few inches away from him.
"What the hell!" shouted one of the robbers as his gun came undone in his hands.
"Step out of the vehicle and surrender," Conner called but the robbers were too shocked to understand. Thankfully the patrols had finally made it to the scene and were fast to bring them out of the car. Seeing that everything was under control he flew up where Superman was watching him with a raised eyebrow.
"I think you forgot something," Superman said before Conner looked down. The man that had almost been run over because of his distraction was recording them in his phone. The man waved at him as he shouted his thanks. Conner waved faintly before frying the phone's memory and then leaving the scene as soon as possible.
As they flew towards another scene, he continued to hear Cat's broadcast.
"What did I tell you folks? We already got one of our wonderful subscribers sent us his first-row seat view of Superboy."
"He fried my phone, but it was still cool how he stopped that car!"
"Too bad the kid is camera shy. Take that as a warning and try to take pics of him as discreetly as possible and send it to us. We want to see him too!"
"No need to be shy," Superman laughed right behind him as they were spotted by bystanders who waved at them and hid their phones at the same time.
888
He looked at himself in the mirror. He put on the glasses Clark gave him and then took them off. That was not going to work.
"Is not just about the glasses," Clark said as he buttoned his loose shirt. When he used to work at the Daily Planet, he used to brush his hair to the side, but now since he worked mostly from home he allowed it to rein wildly.
"I know, is just…" Conner was wearing a dark and massive jacket, and also a loose shirt underneath also to hide his toned body. He kept his baggy cargo pants and boots. Underneath the whole thing, he wore his black suit.
"You still think someone is going to recognize you. I have been there. But people don't know you that well as Superboy, well, besides being a phone murderer."
"Are they ever going to let that go?" Conner sighed brushing his hair. He had allowed it to grow those past few months until they became wavy locks which he brushed back to an orderly fashion. It looked shorter brushed back.
"I hope not, it would save you a lot of trouble. But because they don't know you that well you can draw a firm line between Superboy and Conner." Clark drew a line in the air, "how you behave as Conner must be entirely different from how you behave as Superboy."
"I know," these were things they had been talking about since he went to live in Metropolis. He put the glasses back on which dulled the blue of his eyes. He was thankful he had used his first week of school to practice his facial expression. As his mentor told him, he had to keep an open and friendly expression when people saw him. As Conner Kent, he had to be withdrawn and unapproachable. As Conner Kent, he actually didn't have much trouble. He was not an open person by nature.
"Don't over think it," Clark told him, "you should hurry along. Mr. Global won't let you in if you are late."
888
He arrived with minutes to spare to the large classroom where Mr. Global would give his class.
"Over here," he saw Lori waving at him. All the seats around her were empty. He reminded himself that Clark didn't think her suspicious. He sat next to her with a nod, "did you meet him?"
"Who?" He asked as he took out his notebook and pen, though he left the book inside. He read the whole thing two weeks earlier.
"Superboy, I mean your cousin knows him so I thought you-" Lori whispered to him.
"I don't," Conner said not meeting her eyes.
"Oh, that's a shame," she said turning back to stare at the front of the class.
Conner wanted to sigh.
"We live in such a wonderful age, don't you think?" she whispered before he noted she was reading through Clark's article again. Then a frown appeared on her face, "who do you think had him made?"
"No idea,"
"I am glad he is a good guy. I mean, Superman is a really nice guy even if some people are too damn self-centered to see it, but one day he is going to be gone. We will have grown spoiled by then,"
"When you say it like that, you actually sound like you know who from his speech a few years back."
"Do you agree with him? Is it wrong to trust someone that much?"
"Superman, Superboy will be gone someday, but by then I don't think we would have grown spoiled. More heroes are emerging and I am sure they will too in the future."
"Do you think they ever get scared? I mean this guy is probably as strong as Superman, so why would he? But, well everyone is afraid of something, right?"
But before Conner could find an answer an old man entered the classroom. Immediately everyone became quiet."
"I see some of you are here again," the old man said with a raspy smoker's voice, "let's see how you fare this year."
Multiple gulps were heard through the classroom.