You know, I really need to think of a pose or something when I do this, I thought to myself as I mentally scrolled through digital data, my body standing stock still inside the Mountain's tech lab. I mean, before when I pulled out smartphone it was clear what I was doing, but if someone wanders in now, things would just be awkward for a few seconds. Kori was used to finding me like this, but given my increasing ability to just dive right into dataspace I probably needed to come up with some pose that indicated I wasn't paying attention.
And today, I was waiting for Superboy to get back after changing into the gear I gave him, so that I could run a few tests. I was still working divining whatever secrets I could from his genetic code, but I was starting to run out of leads. I've learned a lot about how his DNA was stitched together, and I found a few sequences of particular interest, but I still didn't know what I was looking at. Didn't mean I couldn't help him by other means, though.
As I waited for him, I was scrubbing through the all of the various Tarmaranian media files I had brought back from space, for a few reasons. One unfortunate reason was that I need to check for more… explicit content. Not just erotica (which I was finding a fair amount of), but in the more general media too. I suppose I should have expected that mainstream Tarmaranian media would be much more liberal in that respect compared to our fragile Earth sensibilities.
I just wish I had realized that before we had gotten to episode three of Legend of the Shattered Kingdom. Not that I minded exactly, but things got awkward with M'gann and Connor there. And they got really awkward for the former considering she was sitting on the latter's lap.
And so, I was setting parental locks on all the explicit content I could find. Not because I wanted to prevent the various kids running around the mountain from seeing it exactly, I'm sure that they could find porn on their own if they wanted. I just didn't want to be the one responsible for showing it to them and have to answer to their various parental figures (mostly Batman).
Still, going through all of the media was giving me a nice snapshot of Tamaranian culture. A lot of it was what I expected (big focus on warriors and high drama), but I was finding a lot of interesting things about their history and legends. Like how frequently the latter blended into the former. Tamaranians liked to mythologize individuals who did anything interesting, important, or just plain epic. It was such that there was a sort of mythological history that ran parallel to their actual history.
Which didn't mean that these people didn't do crazy things in real life though. Alisand'r, one of Kori's favorites, was well documented for being a sort of wandering hero across several planets during the early Diaspora period. She took down despots, started rebellions, unified nations, all up until her mysterious disappearance. She was one of the more prominent figures in the modern media files, but as I scrolled a few other names with fancy titles kept popping up as well. Zorak the Slayer, Darkbane Mic'hal, Torva'l the Tempered Smith-
I stopped my scrolling, going back to that last name. Torva'l… where have I heard that name before? I wondered for a moment before it came to me. During the Bialya mission, Kori has said that to me, before she had her memory back. At the time I hadn't really thought about it, figuring that it was a Tamaranian word I hadn't learned yet. But it wasn't a word, it was a name. So, who was Torva'l, and why did she think I was him?
I searched the database for more references and found what amounted to an encyclopedia entry on the man. It seemed that Torva'l was a legendary figure that was around during what was roughly analogous to their renaissance period. He was a blacksmith and engineer known for pioneering many of the modern forging techniques for Tamaranian metallurgy. Metalwork took a lot longer to catch on with Tamaranians compared to humans, because steel isn't quite a valuable if you can bend it with your fingers. Up until that point they mostly used bones from large predators for anything really sturdy.
Torva'l not only figured out how to work with the various heavy metals on Tamaranian, he also managed to alloy them with said bones. One of the most iconic things about the man was his suit of armor, appearing like semi-organic bone plating with a greyish color. Which he of course needed, because like most Tamaranian historical figures, he got up to some classical epic shenanigans.
One of his most famous tales, as his bio was helpfully telling me, was the story of how he rescued a princess who had been kidnapped by an invading warlord from their native city state. The two had been something of star-crossed lovers up until then, and when word of her capture had reached him, Torva'l geared up with everything he had built and went after her. Over the course of a month, using traps, tactics and sheer brute force, he tore apart the warlord's army and defeated him in combat. The tale ends with him having earned the right to become the princess's formal mate and the two are wed. There was even a helpful picture showing the two of them, Torva'l himself out of his armor and only clad in a loose cloth for his lower half… with a tool belt around his waist.
I stared at this for a long moment before I snapped back to realspace and muttered "Oh my god, it goes both ways."
Before I could muse on this more, Connor walked into the lab behind me. I put my thoughts aside and turned to look at him. "Ah, good to see it fits." I said, taking in his outfit.
Connor suit was a white body suit with the Superman emblem traced out in red on his chest. His entire body was covered, including his head in the form of a close fitted helm with a tinted faceplate. Through said face place I could see the boy grimacing. "Did it really have to be tights?" He asked.
"It is beyond my skill to give the same functionality of the solar suit to your jeans," I said flatly as I gestured for him to move to the center of a circle I had prepared. It was functionally similar to the much larger space we had in the central room, also connected to the Mountain's supercomputer. "Besides, it has to be flush against your skin if you want your natural aura to protect it. You have any idea how much Superman has to repair his cape?"
He grumbled a little as he walked to where I pointed. "Hope the final version isn't so tight… you said this was just a prototype right?"
"Yeah, derived from what STAR labs could figure out from the ruined suit Cadmus gave you." I said as I arranged a few sensors around the room. "To be honest it's a bit of a failure, I wanted to give it more functionality. But, even as it is, it's worth checking if the functionality it does have actually works the way I think it does."
Connor shifted a little. "So… what does it do?"
I shrugged. "Stores and filters solar energy. Which I'm going to be hitting you with in a moment." I walked to my own position outside the circle and executed a few commands. The floor beneath Connor started to glow, and several holographic readout appeared in the air near him. "Alright, testing in three, two, one." With that, the aperture on my hand opened and I fired a strong white sunlight beam at Conner. The beam hit the suit and immediately started being absorbed into the material. I watch the readout on the energy propagation through the suit as I said "Ok, you should be feeling it right about… now."
Connor shifted slightly. "Yeah… yeah it feels like I'm outdoors on a sunny day." He said, though he didn't sound that enthused. "I mean, it's great and all, but I don't see it being that useful."
I gave a one armed shrug. "If it was just this, maybe. Your body can naturally absorb enough sunlight to last you well through a normal Earth night without a problem, but this might be useful for an extended space mission. But, storage is not all this thing does. It should also protect you from red sunlight, like so." The light beam I was emitting then shifted color from white to a deep red.
The red light flowed over suit, but according to the read out none of it was getting through. Also pleased to see that none of the white solar energy was being drained either. "How do you feel?" I asked. "Any weaker?"
Connor's face plate had turned completely opaque in response to the beam, but I heard him say "No, still feel good."
"Good to hear. The suit also might give you some protection from kryptonite, but I wouldn't rely on it. Kryptonite radiation is much more penetrative than sunlight." For once, I couldn't rely on the Kryptonian medical data, because, well, kryptonite hadn't existed when that data was made. I had to go off of what STAR Labs gave me, and most of what they knew about it was 'wrap it in lead'.
We spent the next couple of minutes switching between white and red sunlight, stress testing the suit and seeing how it performed. I noticed a few signs of micro-level wear and tear as I tried to overcharge it, but otherwise it was preforming to expectations. After a bit Connor asked "So, is that it?"
"Not quite, one last thing to test." I said, and he tilted his head in curiosity. I started to explain. "We've seen what white sunlight and red sunlight do to you. So what happens… when we hit you with blue sunlight?"
The beam I was emitting changed color again, this time changing to a bright blue. The white of Connor's suit started to shift to blue at the point of impact, slowly spreading across his body. A slight frown crossed my face when I saw the data readouts though. Hmm, the switch over is happening a lot slower than predicted, the suit's needs to evenly distribute the new energy first. Going to have to fix that in the next version.
"Blue sunlight?" Connor asked.
I stopped my musings to respond "The Photo-Nucleic effect is complicated, particularly for Kryptonians. According to the data I have, Kryptonian cells can absorb and metabolize even more blue sunlight than white. This results in heightened power, and some new abilities. And if I'm right, I think this helps explain why you're the way you are."
The boy tilted his head, now fully ignoring the beam striking him to plant his hands on his hips and give me a critical look. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"When I said half your DNA was Kryptonian, I wasn't really being accurate. You have Superman's entire genetic structure in some of your tissues, Luthor's entire genetic structure in others, and a few that are an actual mix of both. You're a genetic chimera, and one built in such a way that you should be able to do all the things Superman can do. And yet you instead have 'stepped down' versions of his powers instead. Thermal vison instead of X-ray vison, limited strength with no flight even though those are just different aspects of the same energy field."
The look the boy was giving me was telling me to get to the point, so I continued "I believe that Krptonian powers only turn on when the body's energy storage reaches certain thresholds. And you can't reach Superman's normal threshold, because only half of your cells can store energy like his. So the question is how do we get around that limit, and my answer is giving you a different type of solar energy you can store more of." I checked the read outs. "Which should be hitting you right about… now."
Conner straighten as the suit fully switched over to blue sunlight, not doubt unused to the sensation. I continued "Now, full disclosure: I'm really not sure what, if anything, this will do for you. It might do nothing, and if it does do something I don't know how long it will take before-"
The was an instant where Connor's faceplate glowed red before the whole thing melted and twin red beams hit the wall right next to my head. I ducked as Connor started to swivel his head in a panic (destroy some equipment in the process). "How do I turn it off?!" He yelled.
"Close your eyes, damn it!" I yelled back from my prone position on the floor. A few seconds later the boy clasped his hands over his face and curled up a little, the beams cutting off. The air was filled with the sound of sizzling stone, and I took note of the glowing gouges that now lined some of the walls of my lab. I got to my feet and slowly looked at the one responsible. "Well… I guess that technically counts as a success. Going to have to redesign the helmet though."
Connor ripped off the now ruined head piece before he shifted away and looked at me in embarrassment. "I-I'm so sorry! I didn't-" He cut off when he noticed that he didn't actually walk when he moved. He stared down at his feet, now a good foot off the ground. He made a small sound as he experimentally drifted left and right.
A small smile crept onto my face. "Connor," I said as I formed my aerokinetic core and lifted off the ground myself in kind. "Want me to help you learn how to fly?"
Superboy and I weaved through Metropolis's skyscrapers, ducking back and forth between the towers as I tried to keep the younger man in my sights. He couldn't have picked a less populated location? I thought as one of his turns took him dangerously close to a building. He hadn't made any grievous errors that required my intervention yet, but he was certainly keeping me more focused on him than I would have liked. Still, it wasn't hard to guess why he wanted to try out his new abilities in this particular city.
We had stopped at a few locations to test his other abilities and confirm that he had Superman's full powerset, but flight was currently winning out as his favorite thus far. And in spite of what I had said earlier, I didn't really have anything to teach him. My type of flying was a lot different from his and Kori's, and it seemed pretty intuitive to boot. To be honest I just wanted to keep an eye on him while he flew for the first time. Because I knew that he was going to do it the moment I let him out of my sight otherwise, and he would run out of blue sunlight power sooner rather than later.
Speaking of which, I was surprised to find how often he needed me to top him off with more. I'm sure the fact that he didn't have his helmet wasn't helping, but Connor was burning through the energy surprisingly fast. If I fully charged his suit and let him go it would run out of charge in about an hour at the current rate, and he'd run out of energy shortly after that. I guess Kryptonians also metabolize blue light faster than white light.
Superboy finally finished his latest loop around the city and came to a stop in midair, hovering above a busy intersection. "This is amazing," he marveled as he looked down at the people below. "I can hear all of them. It's hard to make out, but… I wish I could have felt this sooner."
"Sorry about that," I said as I drifted to a stop next to him. I was actually a little embarrassed how long it had taken me to think of it, at least seriously. The idea of exposing Superboy to blue sunlight had occurred to me when I first started to analyze his physiology, but at the time I didn't have a good way to emulate it. Besides, I didn't think giving him 'Superman vision' was what he was after. It wasn't until long after Superman gave me the medical data that it occurred to me that it might do something more. "Took me a bit to put the pieces together in my head."
The boy winced before looking at me. "Ah, sorry, not what I meant. I… thanks. For doing this for me." He smiled before picking at his suit a little. "Kinda surprised that you consider this to be a failed prototype."
"I wanted it to be able to directly convert any sunlight into blue sunlight," I explained. "But I couldn't figure out how to integrate that into the fabric without making it bulky and fragile. I'll see if I can fix that for the next version. I… can't really do anything to make this permanent though." I gestured to him in the air.
I saw a slight frown cross his face before he shrugged. "Don't worry about it. You can probably-" He cut of mid-sentence, his head cocking to the side. "You hear that? Sounds like screaming."
I focused on my hearing, and sure enough I faintly heard it. His hearing's better than mine, I mused before I said "I hear it. Want to do a live test, then?"
He nodded and the two of us shot off towards the source of the sound, about a minute later we found ourselves approaching a six story residential apartment. Smoke and flames poured out of the fourth story windows, and I could see people running out of the ground entrance. Emergency services were nowhere in sight, so it must have just happened. I looked at Superboy and asked "Superboy, how big is the fire? Are there people trapped?"
"How am I-" he started to say before his eyes widened. "Oh, right!" His eyes then narrowed as he focused his X-ray vision. "…the fire's contained to the fourth floor for now, but it's spreading. Everyone fourth floor and down are out of the building, but there are a few above that are trapped."
"Right, you get the people, I'll put out the fire."
He scowled. "I can take the heat!"
"I'm sure you can, but can you take the smoke inhalation? Besides, you're the one who knows where all the civilians are. You can get to them and get them out much faster than me."
He hesitated for a second before he nodded and shot forward, heading for the top floor. Meanwhile I dove straight through one of the windows spewing smoke and flame, landing on the floor and taking quick stock. The smoke was blinding, but my blindsight and thermal vision showed me the layout and flames well enough. My forearms reconfigured into freeze rays, set for maximum penetration. In their base setting, the freeze beams would 'splash' against the first non-gaseous thing they hit and freeze the water in the air around them, but there wouldn't be much water amid the inferno. What I had set them to would directly chill the material they hit instead.
I walked through the building, firing at any source of heat or flame I could find, and cooling any walls I could see for good measure. I had to be careful not to super-cool anything and have it crack, but in short order the majority of the flames had been subdued. I was hunting down the few remaining hot spots when Superboy found his way to me. "I got all the people out," He said, coughing a few times. The smoke was still pretty thick, but it only seemed to annoy him rather than suffocate him. "Are we done here?"
"Just about-" I started to say before a metallic groan caused both of us to look at a nearby wall. Calling it a wall might have been a stretch though, as it had been almost entirely gutted by the fire. The metal beams that made it up were cracking and bending. "Crap, that's a loadbearing wall." I said, glancing around. "The switch from hot to cold must have weakened the beams too much." Depending on how much stuff was directly above the point, the collapse could cause a cascade.
Superboy didn't hesitate, flying towards the buckling ceiling and bracing it with his arms. "Heh, barely even feel it." He muttered.
I quickly assessed our options before I said "Hold that for a few seconds, I'll be back." I ran to the nearest window and jumped out, taking flight and shooting down the street. We had passed a construction site on the way here, and soon enough I spotted what I needed. A few construction workers scrambled away as I landed on a pile of small steel beams. "Excuse me, citizens, I must requisition these." I picked up a pair of beams and flew back to the building.
Getting through the window with them was tricky, but I managed, and I set one of the beams on the floor. I eyeballed the other one and the space from the ceiling to the floor before I held it up to Superboy. "Hey, cut it here." I said, gesturing to a point on the middle.
Superboy's eyebeams sliced the beam apart, and I proceeded to slide it into place. Repeating this and some quick arc-welding later, the improvised supports were in place. Superboy coughed again. "Ok, now are we done?"
I nodded and we left the building, settling on the roof just in time to see the firetrucks arrive. We regarded them for a moment before the two of us fist bumped.
"Well, this is something I don't usually see," The two of us turned to see Superman floating towards us. His eyes flicked between me and Superboy before he continued "Typically I'm the one who gets to these things first and-" The man cut himself off and froze in the air when Superboy lifted off the ground to meet him, his eyes going wide at the sight. "You… you can fly?"
"Yes!" Superboy said enthusiastically before he reined himself back a little. "I mean. It's only temporary, but Machina figured out how to power me up."
"Blue sunlight," I offered as I joined the floating party. "Kryptonians can absorb more of it compared to white sunlight, and it's enough to unlock the rest of his abilities."
Superman looked very unsure of himself for several moments, eventually looking at Superboy and saying "Well, that good to hear, I suppose."
The younger man's jaw clenched, tension filling his posture. Superman shifted uncomfortably in response. I looked between the two of them, feeling uncertain. Why is this so awkward? I wondered. Trying to relieve the tension, I said "So… we were just in the city to give Superboy's abilities a test run. If you've got time, maybe we could do some old fashioned patrolling?"
"I… don't think that's a good idea," Superman said. "You two seem to be doing-"
"Oh come on!" Superboy yelled, his frustration boiling over. "What do you want from me?!"
"I- What?" Superman asked in confusion.
"It's not all the time, but I can still be as strong as you! I can keep up!"
Oh boy, this again, I thought. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that his insecurities were raising their ugly head, but Superman's behavior wasn't helping either. It seemed like something was bothering the older superhero… but he had been fine when he first started speaking to us. "Superboy," I laid a hand on the young man's shoulder. "I'm sure that's not what he's talking about."
"No! He's always like this!" the boy shook my hand off. "Every time I've tried to talk to him he's always brushed me off! Because of how I was made!"
"That…" I trialed off as I looked at Superman, who gave me an unreadable look back. I turned to Superboy again. "You're reading into it too much. He doesn't care about what you are, in that way."
"Are you sure about that?" he asked angrily.
I rolled my eyes and looked at him. "Of course I am, he's Superman, he's better than that!"
Superman flinched like he had been struck. I looked at him, and felt confusion as he looked away from me. Seriously, what was going on here? Why wasn't he acting like…
Like the Superman that I knew.
I went completely still as the realization hit me, and I felt ashamed of myself. Oh god I didn't think- how could I have been so thoughtless? Before I could say anything though, Superman pulled away from us. "I'm sorry, I… have been rude. I should go." He turned into a blur as he shot away from us.
"Superman, wait!" I called out after him, but he was already gone.
Superboy gestured to the open air. "You see?! He just flies away when he doesn't want to deal with me."
I didn't answer immediately, but when I did I shook my head. "No, I think it might be more complicated than that." I turned to the younger man and put a hand on his shoulder. "You're right that he's not treating you fairly, though. Head back to the mountain, I'm going to go talk to Superman and get to bottom of this."
His mouth pressed in a thin line, but he did calm down a little. "So you'll 'handle it' then?" he asked, his tone mimicking the one we got from Batman when he said the same thing.
I shook my head. "I can't promise it will all work out. But I will get you an answer for why he's acting like this, one way or another."
"…Alright."
The two of us split, and I went looking for the man I had until just then forgotten was more than just a character. I just had to make a quick stop at a convenience store first.
Lucky for me, my intuition on what Superman was up to was correct, and soon enough I was cresting over the top of the Daily Planet building. Superman sat on the top of the massive globe, staring out across the city. "How did you know I was here?" He asked as I landed and walked up behind him.
"I mean, it was this or the Fortress of Solitude," I replied as I came to a stop beside the man. "This was the one I could reach in a timely manner."
He gave small nod to himself before he finally turned his head to look at me. "I-"
"I'm sorry."
Superman blinked at me interruption. 'I… what?"
"When I first got to this world, I made a promise to myself. That I would never think of anyone here as just 'characters', but like the people you actually are." My jaw clenched. "It seems I failed to keep that promise. I… thought of you superhero from my childhood, the paragon, the icon. When I met you for the first time, you really did seem to be all of those things. I assumed you just were the person I thought you were from those stories, and I just… never considered you might be different. That you might be your own person."
Superman was very unsure of himself for several moments before he responded. "It's good to hear you say that, but you weren't that far out of line. I never got the impression that you thought less of me, or didn't think I was real."
"Maybe not, but I was treating you like…" I trailed off as I struggled for words. "You were the ideal, rather than the person. Even if it is 'positive', that's not fair to you. And so, I'm sorry."
He gave me an easy smile and said "Apology accepted." He then hesitated before saying "So, now what?"
"Now, the traditional conciliatory gesture." A seam appeared on my torso before opening to reveal a pair of bottles, cooled to the perfect temperature via freeze tech (proof that it could be used for something other than evil).
I handed one of the bottles to him, which he took with a quirked eyebrow. "Thanks, though alcohol doesn't really do anything for me… and it shouldn't do anything for you either."
I snorted before popping off the cap of my bottle with my thumb. "Like that's going to stop us. It's the principle of the matter, damn it." I said before I knocked back a mouthful.
Superman looked bemused for a second before he mimicked me and took a drink himself. I took this as a sign to sit next to him, and for a minute or so the two of us just sat in silence. Eventually though, I turned to Superman and said "But… since I'm treating you like a regular person now, that means I get to call you out. For instance, what's the deal with you and Superboy?"
Superman sighed. "I'd rather not talk about it, if that's alright."
"Well, too bad. I'm his friend, and I'm responsible for him. So when he's upset, I need to find out why. And right now, the thing that's upsetting him the most is how you've been treating him. And after seeing it myself, I'm starting to agree with him."
Superman didn't look at me right away, sighing as he continued to look out at the cityscape. Eventually he replied "I can't be what he wants me to be."
"Which is…?" I asked as I tilted my head.
"His father," He said softly. "I wasn't expecting him, I wasn't ready for him. He's not-" Superman struggled to find the words. "He was created because of me, I know, but I didn't want this! He deserves someone who can give him what he needs, not… someone who sees something made to be a weapon every time they look at him." He shook his head. "It's not fair to him, especially now. But I don't know if I'm responsible for him or not."
I didn't respond immediately, waiting to see if he had anything more to say. When he didn't continue, I said "And have you told Connor any of this?"
"Well, no. I had hoped that he would manage to find his own way."
I let out a soft groan and rubbed my face with my hand. "Ok, I see what the problem here is." He gave me a look and I continued "Being around him makes you uncomfortable. After all, he's a walking reminder of the violation of your personhood."
Superman flinched a little. "Not.. quite how I would have put it."
It would have been just as accurate to call him your 'unwilling' baby, I thought dryly, but I kept that to myself. "I'm not going to deride you for how you feel about it. Hell, I don't think you have to be his 'father' if you don't want to. But you do have to at least acknowledge his existence. You are aware the Connor thinks you hate him for not being as powerful as you, right?"
"What?!" Superman sat up straight in alarm, looking at me with wide eyes. "That's- that's absurd! Why would he think that?"
"Well, for one thing, ever since he came out of the pod he's been really self-conscious to how he's not as strong as you. And for another, you've repeatedly pushed him away every time he's tried to talk to you, with no real explanation why. To top it off, he's a teenager. Of course he was going to conflate the two. What did you think he'd take away from it?"
Then man buried his face in his hand. "I had had no idea. I knew that he would need people to be… there for him, but I thought that you could provide him with that."
I arched an eyebrow. "I appreciate the vote of confidence, and I'd like to think I'm helping, but I'm not what he really wants right now. I'm sure eventually I could help him with his issues, but if you keep trying to keep him at arm's length without actually talking to him, he's going to end up resenting you. Do you really think that's worth not having to deal the awkwardness now?"
Superman sighed before he pulled his head him. "No. No it is not." He then knocked back his beer and took a long drag, draining the rest of the bottle in one go. He handed the empty bottle to me and got to his feet. "Thank you, Jacob. Connor is lucky to have a friend like you."
"Well, someone's gotta look out for the damn kids." I grumbled as I picked myself up. "Just make sure to have that talk sooner rather than later. I will find a way to kick your ass if you don't."
Superman smirked. "You know, I actually believe you." He then flew off and out of sight.
=====A=====
I have no idea if Superboy has ever been exposed to blue sunlight in the comics. Also, the idea that Kryptonian powers are locked behind 'energy thresholds' is entirely my own idea, but I feel it makes sense with what I have seen in the comics and Young Justice.