Wednesday
August 22, 2018
5:31 AM
Conner turned off his alarm, grabbing his t-shirt from the nearby chair. He scratched his stubble absent-mindedly, whistling Imagine Dragons as he entered the washroom.
He stared into his reflection two seconds too long. He had seen that face for the last seven years, and he still wasn’t sure if he looked more like Clark or like Lex.
He turned his attention to his Samsung smartphone, scrolling through his social media feeds. His friends were living the life. Malibu, Hollywood, the Andromeda Galaxy. And he was stuck here, pulling the remnants of Young Justice towards the future. What the future held for him, Cassie and the others, he didn’t know.
“What would Clark say?” Conner asked his reflection, observing his facial movements as he applied shaving foam. They didn’t betray any of the frustration brimming within, like a simmering cup of black coffee. Unlike the cup of joe, however, no bubbles popped on his face.
He pictured Clark, looking at him, blue eyes twinkling. He hated that stare, sometimes. It looked through his soul in a way that told him that yes, both of them were alone in the world, but at least they had each other.
He still wasn’t sure what Clark was to him. Lex had always insisted that he was Conner’s real dad, but Clark never acted like a dad around him. Which is ironic, considering how fond of kids he usually is.
Conner focused his gaze on the mirror, his eyes glowing red as they shaved his stubble with missile-like precision. Clark had taught him this, and while this had always felt like a rather crude way of shaving, he really hadn’t found better alternatives.
That’s what happens when you are one of the two surviving males of an entire race.
At least his stubble looked pretty cool, Conner thought, stuffing his own keys into his pocket. He checked his watch. 5:34 am. Almost time for the start of his own patrol.
He nodded at Krypto, who came running up to him as he exited the Kent home. Nuzzling Kyrpto’s nose with affection, Conner rose upwards, surveying the terrain that surrounded him. It was Smallville, and there wasn’t much to say about Smallville. Conner spotted Lana Lang nursing her belly in the safety of her home; he stifled the urge to wave her by as he flew above the Lang estate.
Krypto followed suit, his cape billowing loudly in the wind. He barked joyously; unlike Conner, he never grew tired of flying.
“Let’s see how the rest of the world is doing, boy,” Conner said, accelerating to supersonic speeds before blowing past Kansas state lines.
~*~
Kara was just getting started with her own rounds. She was finished with her initial scans, and now she was going through the Indian subcontinent with a fine comb, searching for any signs of robberies.
She caught a few domestic disturbances. By now, she was skilled and even tempered enough to handle them without killing or mailing assailants. It still boiled her blood when men raised their hands on women and little girls. But at least she wasn’t screaming bloody murder when she was tossing them in the river.
That’s a joke, by the way. She can’t really toss human beings into water without anything to grab onto. That’s why she fetched a stray log of wood from the Sundarbans before promptly dropping it into the Ganges. She took a minute to survey her handy work, hovering over the men trying to hang onto the log for dear life.
She smiled surreptitiously, before recoiling in disgust; she caught one of the men leering, eyes big as saucers trained on her thighs.
Guess she was asking for it, given the provocative nature of her uniform. Maybe she should have covered her midriff and wore a longer skirt. But she had tried that, and it didn’t help in the least bit.
She tutted at the oogling gentlemen softly, carrying the log onto the nearby road. She asked a passer-by where the nearby police station was. Unfortunately, the passer-by was mortified at the sight of a flying white woman in Kanpur. He turned and fled.
Kara wondered what she had done wrong. Didn’t enough people recognize the S shield by now?
She wondered what Clark would have done in this case. Well, he wouldn’t have to deal with men ogling at him from dawn to midnight; nor would he have to decline marriage proposals from his fan mails.
Kara used her supersight to find the nearest police station. She grabbed a stray copper wire from a nearby dustbin, wrapping it around the men tightly. She took to the air once again, grabbing onto the wire tightly as she carried the four men to the station. On the way, she saw a group of boys playing dangerously close to train tracks.
“Hey! Be careful, would you? The next train’s just one minute away!”
True to form, train whistles sounded off in the horizon, and before long the hazy form of a passenger train appeared, its lengthy form snaking through the tracks.
The boys hurriedly backed away, and watched the train whoosh by, the tracks rattling at the sheer speed of the locomotive.
Kara dropped her captives at the gates of the station. Understandably, the officer in charge of the station was startled to see Supergirl appear in his station with four men tied up with electric wiring. Thus Kara had to explain everything in detail.
“This man,” Kara pointed to the short, scrawny man in the middle, “he was beating his wife with a paddle. Then this man, he was strangling his fiancee, because her family couldn’t afford to pay the dowry. And then this man-”
“Slowly please, ma’am. I need their names and addresses.”
“Sure!” Kara turned towards the men, all smiles. “Gentlemen, please tell him your names and addresses.”
“I don’t understand English, sorry,” one of them said in his native Hindi.
“Toh apne vasha mein unko bataw, please,” Kara insisted. “Aapka naam or paataa.”
The man gulped, and complied. The other three followed suit.
“Ma’am, we appreciate your help, but only one of these men are in my jurisdiction. You need to go to three other stations to sort them out.”
“I see! Alright, I will be back in five minutes.”
Kara disappeared in a blur, and three of the men did as well. The man who remained was still white with fear.
“Kabir, that’s your name right?” the officer said, taking a good look at the man’s face before returning his gaze to the FIR.
“Yes sir. Sir, can you please tell me one thing?”
“Sure. Ask away.”
“Sir, am I dreaming?”
“No. No you are not.”
“Sir, are you dreaming?”
“If this was my dream, Kabir, things would have been pretty different.”
“How so?”
“For one, I wouldn’t be stuck talking with a wife beater, waiting for an American superhuman who’s dropping off three other men like you in Varanasi. My dreams are pretty wild sometimes, but this is a lot more random than that. And also a bit depressing, too.”
“I see.”
The man lowered his gaze, silently contemplating his fate. “Sir, is there any way to help me?”
“You can ask your wife about it, when she gets here.”
The rest of the wait passed by in silence. The officer’s subordinates soon returned, crossing ts and dotting is before carrying Kabir off to his new cell. Before long, Kara returned, true to her word. What’s more, she was carrying two flasks of hot tea.
“Sorry if I kept you waiting, officer! Here you go, some good chai for your troubles.”
The officer nodded, cautiously grabbing the handle of the offered flask. He unstoppered the cup, holding it out, looking at the tea with a scrutinizing gaze. Once he was satisfied, he poured some of it out, drinking it at his own leisurely pace.
“This is some damn good tea, ma’am.”
“It is! I found this great tea stand in Keystone City. I know it’s a bit different from what you find here at home, but I thought you might like it. I bought a spare too, in case you want to take some of this home.”
“I am flattered, ma’am.”
“Please, call me Kara.”
“Alright, Kara. I am Akash,” the officer said, offering his hand. Kara took it, shaking vigorously.
“You are doing good work, Akash. Let me know if you need any more help with this, or with anything really. You can always reach out to me via Twitter or Instagram. If it’s anything serious, you can also drop a mail off at karazorel@jla.com.”
“That’s very generous of you. Please don’t let us keep you here, though.”
“Not at all, Akash! I am just getting started with my shift. Hope you have a good day.”
Kara was gone again. For good, Akash hoped. He appreciated the help, but this was going to create a lot more paperwork than needed. That’s what bureaucracy does for you.
Akash wondered if it was always this easy for the supers. Done with everything in a zip and a flash.
He couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to do what the supers did as a dayjob. If he had powers like Superman, he would check out for the rest of the day and take his wife on a vacation to Shimla.
It was good, perhaps, that he didn’t have those powers. These abilities required people who could handle a lot of responsibility, and he was pleased that Kara was, seemingly, one of them.
“Well that’s enough excitement for one day,” Akash said, to no one in particular, returning his attention towards his desktop PC, scrolling through the police feeds, searching for new updates.
~*~
Clark was flying towards the sun at breezing subliminal speeds. The electromagnetic spectrum was open to his eyes, and he was looking at sights no human eyes had seen, deciphering information no human ears had heard.
He was right on time for his daily sun bath. Within three minutes, he would diving into the boiling seas, the fires tickling his flesh with energy as he traversed the depths, piercing through the surface and speeding towards the core.
But wait! Before he could make it, Clark spotted the faint outline of a spaceship, straining weakly against the brilliance of the sun. What were they doing here, so close to the Sun?
“Conner, Kara, I need you guys. On my way to the sun. Apparently there’s a vessel out here that’s rescuing.”
“You had me at sunbath, Kal,” Kara responded. “I will be there in three minutes.”
“That sounds great, Kara,” Conner said, “But Clark, I am running a bit late with Cassie. We ran into his monster in the Andamans, and he has been keeping us busy for the last few minutes. Be there in five.”
“Right. See you then, Conner.”
Kara giggled, and to Clark’s hearing, it was as though she was laughing right into his ears.
“What’s so funny, Kara?”
“No, I just always find it funny how he calls you Clark and you call him Conner. I mean, why bother with two syllables? Kal and Kon are easier to pronounce, too.”
Clark sighed, before chuckling softly to himself. “It’s an Earthling thing, Kara. You would have to be from here to understand.”
“That’s not fair, you know,” Kara pouted. Clark looked behind him, spotting a trail of effusive blue heading towards him.
“What isn’t fair?”
“This ‘I have been on Earth longer than you are’ shtick. I have been here for almost eight years already.”
“It’s not about how long you have been here. It’s a mindset, Kara. You know, how New Yorkers always look out for other New Yorkers? It’s a bit like that.”
Kara huffed. “Well, New Yorkers aren’t all nice though. One of them called me a tourist once. Along with not so nice things.”
Conner appeared a few seconds later. By then Clark was a few seconds away from the sun, and Kara was trailing right behind him. “So…what did I miss, guys?” Conner asked.
“Apparently, Kara doesn’t have much love for New Yorkers.”
“Sucks to be her, then. New York is, well, New York. You really don’t need to say more than that.”
“Hey! You should come visit Argo City some time. Yes, it doesn’t have the Empire State Building but it’s also the only place on Earth where you can meet actual living Kryptonians!”
“Sure Kara, I will be thrilled to meet with some living fossils,” Conner countered, grinning lopsidedly at her as he drew level, his black and red trail contrasting with the red and blues of Clark and Kara. “But you know what? They might actually have a better chance of survival than…whatever that is right there.”
Clark couldn’t help but agree. The spaceship, which looked human made, was sinking through the sun’s surface. It looked like some weird cross between a bowling ball and a Land Rover, as though it wasn’t entirely sure if it wanted to be a space ship or a SUV.
What made things even worse was the sheer size of the thing. It was easily as big as two full moons.
“You know, this could be like the perfect scene. For a movie. Like, they could remake the Titanic, but in space,” Kara offered, swooping down and grabbing hold of the spaceship’s exterior. She focused most of her strength into her grip, pulling gingerly at the vessel’s metallic surface so that it didn’t tear under pressure.
“That’s not the best metaphor to think of, Kara,” Clark said, joining Kara by her side, skirting slowly opposite to her before applying his strength. “The Titanic didn’t make it across the Atlantic.”
“I know. That’s why they need to remake the movie. Jack needs to live. These guys need to live, Kal.”
Clark nodded. “I know. Conner, can you get into the sun and hoist this up from the bottom?”
Conner scoffed in disbelief. “You do remember that I am only half Kryptonian, right?”
“You have a lot more heart than you give yourself credit for, young man,” Clark assured, smiling.
“There you go again, Clark. With that smile of yours. That’s going to kill me one day.”
Conner sighed before diving into the sun. He grunted as the flames tore away at his shirt, his jeans starting to burn. By the time he resurfaced, his flesh was singed and his face was slightly red.
“That wasn’t fun,” Conner stated, before pushing the spaceship up with his back. He grunted, his shoulder muscles straining. “I am starting to think you should have called for more backup, Clark.”
“No time for that,” Clark said, channeling the last few bits of reserve into his hands. He was running low on solar energy. At such levels, this was almost all he could do. “Got to trust ourselves.”
Clark smiled when he saw Krypto appear on the horizon. The dog lapped at his face, before biting on to the spaceship’s exterior and pushing firmly against it with its paws.
“You know, this would have been the perfect time to take a group selfie or something. The super family in action, and so on and so forth,” Kara said, beads of sweat pouring down her head. “Also, I concur with Conner. There are three hundred people trapped in here. I am reaching out to J’onn. He can connect us to Hal and the Lanterns.”
Clark grimaced. “Go ahead, Kara. But I have a feeling we won’t need their help.”
Clark grunted before diving into the sun again, pummeling his way into the solar core. The fires surged through his veins and nerves, empowering them. His mind came alive, neurons firing like a city turning on its lights at midnight. His body surged with renewed solar energy, like a foundry of limitless potential. With this much strength, Clark felt like he could take on anyone and anything.
With a mighty grunt, Clark resurfaced, shoving the spaceship away from the sun. Conner let go, as did Kara and Krypto.
“Look at that d’ast bastard. Taking all the glory for himself,” Supergirl said, grinning from ear to ear.
“Do you want to be that, though?” Conner said, pointing towards Clark, who was already repairing some of the damage with his laser vision. “When’s the last time he really slept?”
“I don’t know, Kon,” Kara said, zooming towards her cousin, joining his trail as he entered the spaceship. “I don’t know.”
Clark spotted a green fireball speeding past the Earth, fast approaching their location. J’onn J’onzz and the Green Lanterns had arrived.
Clark nodded at J’onn, who grinded to a halt. He was soon joined by Hal, Simon and Jessica. The trio of Green Lanterns shon brightly, and their light illuminated the alien interiors far and side.
“Alright Clark,” Hal said, taking charge of the situation, “What are we walking into here?”
“Something man made,” Clark said, scanning the area around him. “I recognize the architecture and wiring. But some thing’s off.”
“They are humans alright,” J’onn said, his head morphing slightly, expanding to connect with the passengers onboard. “But they are from three hundred years in the future.”
“I wouldn’t have guessed we would make it that far,” Simon said, staring dumbfoundedly at the strange devices in front of him. “Good to know we don’t kill ourselves off anytime soon.”
“This might as well be a different future, Simon,” Jessica explained. “You know, different timelines?”
“Yeah, like this could be, like…Future Trunks, you know? From Dragonball?” Conner offered. “When he came back and gave Goku the heart medicine.”
“That would be kinda fun, wouldn’t it?” Clark asked. Linked with J’onn’s mind, he was scanning through the surface of the passengers’ minds.
Something wasn’t right. These minds didn’t feel as befuddled as he expected them to be. People don’t feel just mindly inconvenienced when they are sinking into the sun.
“I don’t know. This kinda feels played out,” Kara said. She was scanning the memories of the passengers at a more measured pace, trying to peace together what brought them here. “Right, good news, bad news time, everyone.”
J’onn suppressed a smile. As the League’s main telepath, he was used to knowing people’s minds before they spoke them. “You really think it’s like that, Kara?”
“Yeah, pretty much,” Kara replied. “Look at their emotion levels. If they were here to warn us about something, there would be more of a sense of urgency about them. Instead…”
“They are… excited?” Hal asked. “Why?”
“To meet all of you, of course!” A voice bellowed within the mental network J’onn had created. “Please wait where you are. We will join you shortly.”
A gust of wind blew through the ship, as a white hovercar shot through the air, a trail of smaller airbikes following its trail. The hover car skidded to a halt in front of Clark. The door opened, and a strange, bony looking man stepped out, clutching a large, transparent tablet. His foppy hair was parted midways, and the way he stared at everyone reminded Clark about Lex, for some strange reason. Like Lex, his gaze was riddled with calculated intent.
“Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Leo Quintum. I am from the twenty fourth century. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
Leo bowed, and Clark returned the gesture. “You need to be more careful when putting in transtemporal coordinates, Leo. You don’t want to end up inside the Red Spot when you return back home.”
“Of course, of course. This is our first time travel session, you see. It’s normally forbidden, but we just couldn’t help ourselves.”
“You just had to see it for yourselves, didn’t you?” Kara asked, a hint of irritation laced in her words.
“See what, Kara?” Clark asked. He was getting a bit annoyed at all the wordplay going around there. This could be the start of something big, and he felt that Kara and J’onn were taking things too lightly.
“I think it’s best if Quintum explains it.”
“Yes, yes! Allow me to explain. But first, you must join us for breakfast. It’s almost time!”
Clark looked to his right, spotting the large Daxamite wall clock he had hung on the second room in his Fortress of Solitude. It read 06:53.
Clark shrugged. This day had barely started, and it had already gotten pretty weird, pretty fast.
He turned towards the rest of them, the barest signs of a frown quivering mirthlessly on his lips. “Right, guys. Let’s join Leo and his people for breakfast.”
“Yaay,” Kara said, raising her arms in mock excitement.
Conner simply rolled his eyes. “This better be some good news. I can’t handle another Superboy Prime situation.”
Clark nodded. Superboy Prime. Now that was a name he hadn’t heard in a while.
Somehow, Clark knew in his bones that what waited for him today was something much, much worse.
And he was right.
~*~
This is a Shared Universe, multi-chapter story that will be updated periodically. You can also follow this story on other platforms, such as Wattpad.
