Shadow

0.3 I Forgot You Were Such a Ray of Sunshine

"Time runs short, you must awaken. You must awaken now!"

A strange voice said inside Lily's head. It shocked her into regaining her consciousness and opening her eyes. The first thing she noticed was the fact that she was indeed, trapped.

Well, this sucks.

She was inside a pod-like structure, not unlike the one they had just rescued the clone from before. Her arms and legs were secured in cuffs to assure she didn't escape. Straining her neck, she could see the rest of her friends were also in the same predicament.

Shadow looked around to see if there was anything that could help her escape, but unfortunately, it looked like they had stripped her weapons off.

We need out of here fast. Lily did not like small spaces and did not feel like having a panic attack here.

Trying to distract herself from that fact, she began studying the room they were in. Nothing super special about it, just a couple of monitors and the clone standing in front of us, unblinking.

"What? What do you want? Quit staring, you're creeping me out." Shadow hadn't been the only hero to notice the staring. Kid Flash was just the one to voice his discomfort.

Real nice Wallace. Get the person who's the reason we're all in here mad. That won't go badly at all.

"KF, how 'bout we don't tick off the guy who can fry us with a look?" Robin said. Kid Flash didn't say anything in return so Shadow assumed he realized Robin was right.

"We only sought to help you," Aqualad calmly explained to the clone, wanting to understand him and for him to understand us. Wally didn't take that approach.

"Yeah, we set you free and you turn on us, how's that for gratitude?"

"Well, maybe he wasn't in control? You've seen the things they've done here, it wouldn't be surprising," Lily said to the boy trapped next to her.

"What if I... what if I wasn't?" The clone spoke up, surprising them all. It was the first thing he said since they woke up.

"He can talk?" Wally said, not quietly at all. His words caused the teenager in front of them to narrow his eyes.

"Yes, he can." The clone said before Shadow could get mad at the older teen.

"Not like I said it," Kid Flash mumbled under his breath before Aqualad began talking again.

"The genomorphs taught you. Telepathically." His words came out as more of a statement than a question, already realizing that his theory was correct.

"They taught me much. I can read, write, I know the names of things."

"But have you seen them? Have they actually let you see the sky or the sun?" Robin chimed in to interrogate the clone with questions.

"Images are implanted in my mind." he looked away before finishing. "But no, I have not seen them."

Lily's heart filled with sympathy. She couldn't begin to imagine a life without being able to walk around underneath the summer sun's warmth. Especially since he was Superman's clone, his powers would be powered by the sun. They've just been putting him underneath an artificial sun as if that was anything like how the real one was.

"Do you know what you are? Who you are?" This caused the clone to stand tall, looking almost proud as he explained robotically to the teens.

"I am the Superboy: a genomorph. A clone made from the DNA of the Superman. Created to replace him should he perish. To destroy him should he turn from the Light."