Tales From Superboy! (Discontinued)

#7

"Haah." Connor exhales as he emerges back into reality, unaware he was holding his breath the entire time he was walking through that intense light from mere seconds ago. With a brief survey of his surroundings, it doesn't take long for him to realize that the mystic doorway brought him just outside the ruined CADMUS building and standing in distant view of the crater he was lying in who knows how long ago.

"Hnn..." Silence is all there is around him. Still, he looks over his shoulder and examines the facility using his optical abilities for the sake of checking. His search ends in seconds, and it's quite clear it's been abandoned entirely. Not a single soul remains inside. He deems dwelling around to be pointless, and thus turns forward with bending knees. Kicking off like a torpedo toward dingy blue sky above in the next second. A quick shift and he goes from ascending at an angle, to breaking the sound barrier in a flat line right for Metropolis City. It's but a short burst of speed before he's slowing down considerably as he comes to fly over buildings below, and instinctively head toward the heart of the city.

"They're gone..." He realizes, commenting as a concerned frown settles upon his features. The streets were vacant and unnervingly quiet. Traffic, chatter, and even the minuscule sound of a chain leash rattling while a pet owner takes their dog for a walk. Nothing. Well, not quite /nothing/. Just not the normal jumble of sounds he grew familiar with.

There was, however, quite a bit of ruckus coming from the direction of the Lex Tower. With haste, he makes his way closer to it. What he sees in that general direction shocks him.

"She's... She's corrupted them, too." The civilians weren't gone, they were abiding their new master's will. Stretching for several miles out, a sea of negative people were gathering around the building. Those at front banging and clawing as they try to get in, but a force field keeps them out. Not only that, but the corrupted Justice League were also present and trying to force their way inside, as well.

But why? What was inside that they wanted so badly?

Something catches his attention from the corner of his eye. Turning his head, he sees the culprit behind the strangeness standing at the ledge of a building across from the tower. The Bat -- the female equivalent of Batman, according to Dr. Kent.

"What are you after...?" He practically whispers under his breath. Yet. Yet somehow, it seems to be all that's needed for her to turn her head toward him despite being fairly far away. Slowly and until her eerie eyes are peering right into his eyes with cold emptiness, and it's enough to make his heart skip several beats in chilling fear.

How could she have known he was there? His answer comes to greet him courtesy of Martian Manhunter phasing out of intangibility and into solid form right in front of him.

"When did-- GUH!?" Before he could finish that notion, a large yellow construct claw suddenly latches around his body from behind. Given no time to assess the situation, Connor finds himself being taken for a literal spin before he's hurled with tremendous force back in the direction he came from. The turned pair, Hal Jordan and Martian Manhunter, chase after to deal with him in seclusion.

He ends up traveling over six miles barely within several seconds before he finally slows himself to a halt and upright, though there's no time to think or strategize - Martian Manhunter swiftly closes in with a big hook. One that Superman JUST manages to lean with a sway out of the way of, and unfortunately, retaliating in that instant was out of the question. Following behind the previous attack, Green Lantern Hal Jordan sends a yellow lance construct at the kryptonian that passes by the martian's head. Another swaying motion allows the clone to avoid it, but a punch across the face from the Martian does connect. A blow that's then accompanied by an uppercut to Superman's chin, sending him soaring a few feet away. It's clear as day that allowing the two to dictate the pace of the fight isn't necessarily in his best interest - or at least, that's the conclusion he adopts under his growing frustration and after bringing his body to a halt. Just as the two Leaguers were beginning to move in on him again, Superman goes on the hyper aggression. Teeth clenching and eyes burning a sizzling red as he delivers a rushing and devastating backfisted blow to Martian Manhunter's jaw, one that rings out with an echoing shockwave through the sky. Quick to follow up, he maneuvers around the Martian while reaching to grab hold of his blue cape. Swinging once and launching the corrupted hero away like a disk before using that very momentum to turn toward Hal Jordan and allow his heat vision to fire upon the negative Lantern. The latter was apparently prepared, or possibly acting preemptively, because Hal was rather quick to construct a sphere shaped barrier around himself. Connor's heat vision, at best, just barely manages to send the Lantern and his shield soaring a fair distance away before the beams desist. And he doesn't just stop there. No, the kryptonian breaks the sound barrier within an instant to deliver a malicious punch that shatters a large fraction of that protective construct like glass. 

"I have to break his focus. . ." The clone murmurs to himself upon recalling installed information about the Green Lantern's weakness.

Hal manages to repair his construct just in time before he inevitably crashes through a building and jets out the other end within a force of momentum he had no control over. Using that same burst of speed, the clone follows his adversary's trail and catches up within a blink of an eye to punt the Lantern skyward with a fierce kick. Another blink and Superman heads upward to speed past Hal, positioning himself to spike the Lantern downward with a double-handed hammer blow, shattering pieces of that yellow sphere again on impact. The corrupted hero's sphere ends up bouncing off a car and absolutely crushing it in the process before bumping off a building at an angle and dribbling twice along the street before the kryptonian zips down with a hard hitting left hook. Of course, the blow sends his momentary foe off like a cannonball.

"Faster. I need to be faster." Connor utters to himself. And with that very notion in mind, a thin crimson aura begins flowing around his entirety like fire, his hair mimics that same property and waves gently in a somewhat spiky fashion. His cyan eyes shift to a deep and vibrant red. His hands bawl into tight fists as he bends his knees a bit, then–

F W O O O S H !

The concrete beneath him cracks within a wide radius, nearly forming a crater when he takes off within a red blur. Before the corrupted Lantern has another second to think, he's swallowed up within a violent storm – a myriad of blows that pinball him around at a mind ravaging rate. The kryptonian was moving at an unimaginable pace. By Superman's 11th blow, that barrier finally gives and shatters completely and Hal himself goes soaring down until he's tumbling along the street in a rather rag doll fashion.

 From above and in the distance, Connor observes the other. Soon witnessing the Lantern beginning to gradually rise to his feet. In the midst of Hal doing so, the clone finally recalls the gift he was given from that peculiar stranger in white. Upon that recollection, the artificial young man rushes the Lantern down again, this time practically tackling him. They end up in a position where Connor is restraining Hal by holding his forearms behind his back, the latter kneeling on one knee while the kryptonian keeps a boot on the Lantern's upper back. Mindful not to dislocate or break any bones, of course. 

"I don't know how this purification works, but–" And then it happens right then and there. A radiant holy glow envelopes Hal Jordan's entire body briefly before simmering away, casting away the corruption upon him. He was green and back to his normal state.

"Hey, you mind easing up there? Or better yet, letting go? I think I have my mind back now." The Lantern informs. Blinking, the clone promptly lets go and takes a step back.

"You're back to normal?" 

"Yeah. Yeah, I think I am." Hal answers, groaning as he raises to stand on his feet. Rotating his shoulders a couple of times before using a hand to soothe his right shoulder blade.

"Then I suppose direct contact with my hands is all that's needed to turn someone back to normal." Connor reasons as he looks down at the palms of his hands.

"Whatever you did, it definitely cleared my head. I remember everything, but I felt like... I had no real control of myself. Yet, somehow feeling like I did? I was aware the whole time. It's just so weird."

"Interesting. I don't know what she did for sure, but it sounds as if she adjusted the core of your person to her preference. And.. It just occurred to me. I remember landing a direct blow on Martian Manhunter. I wonder if–"

"Yes, I as well have reverted back to my normal state." The Martian himself announces as he descends down to join the other two in the middle of the street.

"I apologize for my aggression earlier. I fear I wasn't my usual self either at the time."

"I don't blame you, I blame her. This confrontation has shown me that I can put a stop to whatever she's planning, so it was a worthwhile learning experience at least." The clone responds with a solemn expression. It's then that he decides to take off suddenly, hurrying back to Lex Tower, where the biggest threat yet remains. 

"Hey! Don't go thinking you're in this alone, kid. This world is our home too, and I'll be damned if I'm gonna' standby and do nothing." 

"I concur. I think of Earth as my home as well, so I'm prepared to defend it against any evil." Both Hal and Martian Manhunter make their intent known as they fly along either side of the kryptonian, obviously more than prepared to take the fight to the mysterious villain.