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1: Scavenger
Clark made a point, when he had time, to check in on Superboy. He didn’t do it as often as he would like – being Superman had been overwhelming lately, in the wake of putting out all the metaphorical fires that sprung up while he was dead, including the destruction of Metropolis. Clark trusted that Superboy was good hands with Dubbilex looking out for him.
Still. He was a good kid, and Clark loved spending time with him. For their latest meet up, Superboy had flown straight from a fight to this fly by, and proceeded to gripe about his latest run in with a particular villain.
“—and then Scavenger called me an insolent whelp and dumped goop on me! So rude!” Superboy complained.
“Very rude.” Clark agreed, stifling a grin. “I don’t see any goop on you, though.”
Superboy brightened. “That’s cause my TTK shielded me from it so it all slid off!”
“It sounds very handy. I’d sure love to have some of my own sometimes.” Clark said, and Superboy beamed. “And you did a great job dealing with Scavenger, Superboy. I’m proud of you.”
Superboy puffed up in pride. “He’s nothing I couldn’t handle.” He boasted.
“Of course. It sounds like you’re settling in well here.”
“Yeah, Hawaii is great!” Superboy said enthusiastically. “It’s going to be a great time!”
2: Sidearm
After the whole mess with Kenny Braverman, it takes quite some time for Clark to get things all sorted out, and more time to check in with Superboy. He’d meant to do so when he picked up that flower for Lois, but Superboy was apparently on some kind of mission, and then later that day Deathtrap caught him and Mister Miracle. Fortunately, Clark found some time afterwards to track down Superboy and catch up with him.
“Professor Hamilton tells me that he had a run in with someone called Sidearm who stole his arm, and you were very helpful in resolving the situation.”
“Ugh, yeah, that guy. He was the first villain I ever fought, you know? Saw him robbing a bank and intervened. Yelled at me that I wasn’t Superman cause Superman was dead and I’d be too. Uh, yeah, this was when I was still going by Superman. But speaking of names, I figured out he was pretty irked when I called him a different name to mess with him and that knocked him off balance enough for me to win. And. Well, in retrospect my TTK saved the day.”
“Sounds intense.”
“I mean, I was like, a day old, but he’s no problem now! It’s annoying more than anything else when he shows up. I just wish I got to keep those snazzy goggles Professor Hamilton gave me.” Superboy said mournfully
“X-ray vision can be quite helpful, but it’s also trouble.” Clark advised. “And you’re doing a fine job without it.”
“Thanks, Big Blue.”
“Any time.”
3: King Shark
“I ran into Nanaue again today.” Superboy groaned, flopping onto the beach next to Clark. This time, they’d decided to spend some time on the beach instead of in the air.
“Nanaue?” Clark asked, trying to place the name.
Superboy dismissively waved a hand. “Shark guy.”
“Oh, him.” Clark said, recalling a similar complaint in a previous visit.
“I thought he’d been blown up on . . . uh, a mission I’m not supposed to talk about, sorry, Big Blue, but he turned up today. It’s so hard to spot him in the water without my X-ray goggles but TTK saved the day.”
“Well that’s good!”
“I just wish I wouldn’t have to keep dealing with him.” Superboy griped.
“That is the nature of this job.” Clark said mildly. “It is a never-ending battle.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. Still frustrating. I don’t think I’ll have to deal with him for a while though, so that’s nice.”
4: Black Zero
“So. Hypertime?” Clark asked Kon after the official debriefing with Diana and Bruce.
“Very weird.” Kon said. “Saw a lot of versions of myself. One of them was a cowboy. One of them was, well. It was a typical wild adventure!”
“Anything else?”
“Nothing much.” Kon shuffled nervously. “Well. There is one thing I want to ask you.”
“Shoot.”
“How do you deal with evil alternate versions of yourself?” Kon blurted out. Clark had a feeling that that was not quite the question Kon meant to ask, but it was a good question anyway.
“This is about Black Zero, isn’t it?” Clark asked gently.
Kon nodded. “Yeah. I can’t help but think about the fact that he was me and I was only able to beat him because all of us Superboys could figure out what he’s thinking because he was us. He wasn’t broken out of Cadmus early and thought he was doing the right thing and was convinced that Westfield was a good guy. And it’s scary to think that that could have been me if things went differently.”
“That is the scariest part, in my experience, when you see yourself in them.”
“Yeah! Exactly. And I don’t want to think about it but I kind of have to if I don’t want to become him.”
“I understand that, and it’s a good idea, but I don’t think it’s a big risk, Kon.”
“Thanks.” Kon smiled weakly.
It’s clear that Kon is holding something back about what he saw in Hypertime, but Clark doesn’t push. Kon is skittish, at times, so fiercely independent, and Clark knows his protectiveness is often seen as overbearing. So he tries hard to not crowd Kon like this, but sometimes he just wants to sweep Kon up into his arms and protect him from everything that has ever tried to hurt him. It’s not something Kon would appreciate, but Clark still has the urge to do so. He shoves it down, as always, and only prods a little.
“Is there something more bothering you?” Clark probed.
Kon sighed. “I wanted to help Black Zero. He wasn’t going to kill me, I don’t think he was irredeemable, but he thought I tricked him and wasn’t sincere and now he’s somewhere but I don’t know where and it’s just worrying. He doesn’t have the same resources he once did, but he could do a lot of damage. I could do a lot of damage.”
Clark set a hand on his shoulder. “I understand your worry, but let’s not borrow trouble. If or when he shows up, we’ll handle it, I promise.”
5: Amanda Spence
It’s after the dust has settled and everyone is back to their proper ages (and Kon has revealed he found out Clark’s identity) that Kon came to talk to Clark about something.
“You doing okay? I heard about your powers and Tana.” Clark said, concerned.
“Cadmus is working on my powers,” Kon said, waving it off. “And I’m coping.”
“Okay. Just, let me know if there’s anything I can do, alright?”
“Will do. Guardian’s teaching me some moves anyway.” Kon said. “I’ll be in tip top shape in no time!”
“Good.” Clark said, and let a silence settle between them. He’d found that it was one of the best ways to draw Kon out when he was hesitant about saying something. It worked well this time too.
“Kal, do you have any villains that just make you so angry you don’t know how to contain it?” Kon asked, incredibly weary.
“Oh, there are a couple. Luthor, for one.” Clark said. “It’s really hard, but that’s the reaction they want so you absolutely cannot show them that they succeeded if possible. Who inspired this?”
“Amanda Spence.” Kon’s gaze was haunted. “She keeps hurting people to hurt me and I don’t know how to handle it. It’s my fault”
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Kon. This is and never will be your fault. Her actions are on her and her only.”
“It really doesn’t feel like that.”
Clark rubbed a hand over his face. “It is very hard to not feel that way, I know, but it isn’t true. You didn’t make her do that, she chose to do terrible things, and you chose to try to stop her. That is the important part.”
“Alright.” Kon said, looking weary. “I’ll keep that in mind. Hopefully I don’t have to deal with her for a while.”
+1: Kancer
They’re catching their breath as they recover from Kryptonite exposure while the SCU takes away Kancer when Kon asks the question.
“Why does Kancer always have to go after me like that?! He’s your villain!”
Clark winced. “As far as I can tell, he’s jealous.”
Kon preened, running a hand through his hair. “Well, that makes sense. I am pretty awesome. Who wouldn’t be jealous of this?”
“It’s because he’s jealous that you’re close to me.” Clark clarified.
Kon stared at him incredulously. “I’m sorry, what?”
“Kancer grew out of that Kryptonite tumor, so he has some of my DNA.”
“Right, I know that.” Kon said slowly.
“He feels that because he was made from me, we have a bond, and wants to be close to me. And he sees anyone I’m close to as competition.
“So. The fact that I’m very close to you and consider you family, despite us not being related at all? Kancer is incredibly jealous of you because of that and thinks eliminating you removes a rival for my attention.”
“Well. That’s . . . something.” Kon said, clearly reprocessing his previous interactions with Kancer with that knowledge.
“First time I encountered him he went after Krypto.”
Kon looked viscerally offended at that. “Seriously?! Krypto?!”
“Yes. I’m sorry that he’s so vicious towards you because of me. It’s not fair that you get hurt like this because of me –”
“Don’t apologize for this.” Kon interrupted, glaring fiercely. “None of this is your fault, and you being in my life is worth it. And didn’t you tell me that it’s not my fault when villains do terrible things because they’re motivated to hurt me? Same applies to you.”
“You got me there,” Clark said wryly.
“’Course I do.” Kon grinned, and then yelped when his phone went off. “Ah, whoops. Nat asked me to test out some new stuff and I’m running late. Hate to run out on you but I really can’t be any later. See you around, Kal!”
“You too, Kon.” Clark said, watching as Kon darted into the sky. The kid had come a long way is a very short time.