ISSUE #25 (August 2021)
Written by Tobias Christopher Featuring: |
"SPLIT PERSONALITY"Clark Kent and Jimmy Olsen sat at the kitchen table as Jimmy nervously sipped a cup of hot chocolate, as he was now nervous about what he’d just told his idol.
Not only was he still traumatized from weeks of being held captive on Apokalips at the hands of Granny Goodness, but upon returning home after being rescued, he found he’d been let go by the Daily Planet. Perry would have normally given the young man another chance, but in the struggling economy, he no longer could afford to keep Jimmy on, not in the age of digital technology where photographers and their cameras were of less use than they were decades ago. Then there was Jimmy’s reveal that he knew who Superman and his sons were while in a daze, even though Superman had enough speed to blur his face and be unrecognizable to anyone who saw him. “It wasn’t your face, it was your body and voice,” Jimmy told him. “I spent time as a junior detective, remember? I spent enough time around you to figure it out a few years ago, I just didn’t want to reveal anything because I wanted you to trust me.” “I could always trust you,” Clark told him. He’d always viewed Jimmy as a younger brother, even making him an honorary uncle to Jon when his son was born. “I just worry about the people closest to me being targeted by my enemies.” “I’ll continue keeping your secret,” Jimmy said. “Even though we won’t be working together anymore.” “I don’t know about that,” Clark said. “I could always use a farmhand around here, and there is room in the barn for someone willing to work.” “I’m your man,” Jimmy told him. “You’re saving my life again, Clark.” “We’ll get you back on at the Planet, we just need time to convince Perry,” Clark promised him. “In the meantime, you’ll earn your keep around here, doing chores and helping Jon with his schoolwork. Speaking of which, I should check on him.” The last thing Jon Kent remembered was a painful explosion in his stomach. Then fire. Then… nothing. He had activated his solar flare for the first time, not realizing what he’d done, then came darkness. When he woke up, he was in a bedroom filled with toys and books that was decorated in red and blue, with heavy blankets over him. He was wearing blue pyjamas with an ’S’ shield on them as he tried to stand up but felt woozy as he tried to stand. “He’s awake!” Lois said as she ran in to hug the boy. “How are you feeling, baby? Are you alright?” Jon just looked at her with a confused look on his face, staring around at the faces of his family. His parents, his cousin, and his older brothers. “Who am I?” “I’d better take him to the fortress to have him checked out further,” Clark said, wanting to make sure that a missing memory was John’s only problem. “Do you feel like a trip?” “I guess,” Jon said, unsure. “Then follow me, we’ll figure this out,” Clark said as he jumped out the window and floated in front of it. “Uh… okay,” an unsure Jon said as he jumped out of the window and landed in a large pile of hay. “That… wasn’t supposed to happen,” Clark said. “Are you okay, son?” “If you’re my dad, why’d you let me jump out of the window?” Jon asked as he rubbed his head. “I don’t know about this,” Chris said as he held up the shirt with the House of Zod symbol on it. “You can make your family name good again,” Kara promised him. “And it’s better than flying around shirtless.” “I don’t know, I kind of like the shirtless look,” Chris said. “Just try it for a little while,” Kara told him. “In the meantime, we can start searching for a guy for you.” “What if this goes wrong,” Chris said. “What if someone recognizes me as Power Boy? I mean, I can blur my face like Clark does, but what if I fall for a guy and want to tell him who I am?” “You’ll cross that bridge when you get there,” Kara said. “And there is something we can try to hide your appearance.” Metropolis… Lex Luthor sat at the business table with his lawyers as they discussed plans for the Superman tv series. Luthor had obtained the rights to Superman’s image* and was using it to his advantage. Unfortunately, he never got the rights to the other Superman family members. “Since we can’t get the other Superman family members to sign the contracts, we’ll have to improvise,” the producer said. “We’ll create all-new original characters and build plots around them until we can procure the rights to Superman’s family.” “We might have found a way around that,” Luthor said as he pushed a button. “In the meantime, we will go under the guise of Ultra Boy. Bring him in.” A door opened as Richard White Jr. was let in. The young blonde boy looked nervous as he sat down. “Gentlemen, this is Ricky,” Luthor said. “He was found wandering the streets after he ran away. We’re trying to reunite him with his father, but we discovered something… interesting about the lad.” Ricky stood up and lifted the chair next to him with lawyer still sitting on it. “Ricky will be our new Superboy once we’ve cleared the rights while he goes by Ultra Boy,” Luthor said. “In exchange, we’ll take good care of the boy in the event his father doesn’t want him back.” “Who wouldn’t want a powerful kid like this?” the lawyer asked. “You’d be surprised,” Luthor smiled menacingly. “Ricky here is the key to getting the real Superboy to sign over his image.” Underneath LexCorp, Richard White Sr was tied up as another strike hit his face. He’d been picked up as soon as Luthor learned around about the problems with the White family. “Sign the contract,” the man said. “Giving LexCorp custody of the boy.” “Never,” Richard said as he spit blood out. “I’ll never sign away my son. He’s the most important thing in the world to me.” “More than your legs?” the man laughed as he held a crowbar. Ricky looked out the window, wondering if his father truly missed him. He didn’t mean to run away, but he’d become scared of what would happen if his father learned he wasn’t normal like the other boys. “How are you holding up, Olsen?” Connor asked. “See you finally set foot outside.” “I was tortured by that old woman for weeks,” Jimmy said as he tried not to remember what was done do to him. He could be emotionally scarred for some time to come. “Then I come home and I find out that I lost everything while I was gone.” “Not everything,” Connor told him. “You still have Clark and this family.” “Yeah, and they’re practically handing everything to me,” Jimmy sighed. “I need to be out there, earning my keep. I don’t want hand-outs; I want to be useful.” “You’ll find something,” Connor promised as he patted Jimmy on the back as a wind blew past, only for Connor to see Bart Allen standing in front of the barn. “Bart?” “Guess who got his powers back?” Bart smiled. “Let’s get to work on making you Superboy again.” “There’s already a new Superboy,” Connor told him. “I need a new superhero name, one that tells the ladies that their Greek God is back.,” Connor said as Bart was about to open his mouth. “No, Bart, not Hades!” Superman had taken Jon to the Fortress to figure out what had happened and performed every test on him that he had. After a long wait, Superman found Jon playing with Krypto. “I’ve run every test, and not only did whatever happened to take away your memory, but it took half of your powers,” Clark said. “You still have your invulnerability, half of your strength, speed, ice breath, and x-ray vision, but that’s about it.” “I had powers?” Jon asked. Superman kneeled to look Jon in the eyes. “You have very special gifts, son. Gifts that you use to try to do good for the world. And we’ll help you get them back as well as your memory.” The computer beeped as Superman headed over to the scan of what had been going on according to Jon’s bio-scan. “You had a solar flare,” Superman said. “That’s where your body stores solar energy in your cells, then expels them with great force. Enough force to restart the fire pits on Apokalips. But it doesn’t explain how you were able to get home.” “Am I gonna be okay?” Jon asked as his father hugged him. “Yes,” Superman promised. “You’re going to be okay, we’ll find a way to reverse this.” Kara had taken Chris and Connor into town to get some coffee where the trio enjoyed the drinks outside. They’d donned wigs to hide their natural hair colour and not be recognized as well as glasses on their faces. “So, what is this super-powered trio going to do with our day?” Kara asked as a loud crash was heard. They saw a bus had crashed nearby as the trio immediately jumped into action to help as many people as they could. The bus had crashed into the store across the street as Chris used his breath to put out the fire while Kara started pulling people out. Connor had his arm around an old woman’s shoulder as he walked her to the curb to sit down. “What happened?” Chris asked. Kara used her x-ray vision on the bus tires. “These tires exploded from heat vision.” “Heat vision? Whose?” Connor asked as a car came flying toward him as Chris pulled him out of the way. “My guess is that guy,” Chris said as Zod floated over then. “Hello, my treacherous offspring,” Zod said. “Oh, I’ve been waiting to take this guy on,” Kara said as she got ready to fight when Non knocked her through a wall. Chris was about to fly over to Kara when Zod grabbed him around the neck. “This is a lovely family reunion,” Zod said as he started squeezing. “Except my bitch of a mom isn’t here,” Chris choked out. “Ursa is… predisposed,” Zod told him. But we have a ringer to fill the void.” “Really? Who? Chris asked as Connor came running up when he was picked up and tossed through a glass window. Someone who looked exactly like Jon floated in the air over Kara as she picked herself up. He was dressed in a red costume with the House of Zod symbol on the chest. “Jon?” Kara asked. “No, this is my son, Mal-Zod,” Zod told them. “Mal-Zod, destroy these insects.” “Yes, father,” Mal-Zod said nervously as his eyes started glowing with heat vision. Superman had flown Jon home to find Lois talking to Perry on a video call. “Jimmy’s been a loyal member of the Daily Planet family since he was in high school,” Lois said. “He deserved another chance.” “I want to give him another chance, but the economy’s hitting us hard right now,” Perry told her. “I’ve already had to lay off several low-tier employees. We just can’t afford him right now, Lois. I’m sorry.” Perry hung up as Jimmy looked over at her. “Thanks for trying, but I guess I just have to try my luck elsewhere while I earn my keep on the farm. I already lost my apartment during my disappearance, so everything I have is on my back, and that’s Connor’s sweatshirt.” “We have problems with Jon,” Superman told her. “I’ll tell you about it after Jon goes to bed.” “Clark?” Lois asked as she held up her phone with live footage of what was happening in Downtown Metropolis. “We have bigger issues with Jon.” Zod still held Chris up the throat as he started squeezing. “You were always a disappointment, Lor-Zod,” Zod said. “You always brought shame to this family.” “Yeah,” Chris said as his eyes lit up. “But at least I can see.” Chris stared at Zod and shot his heat vision into his father’s eyes. Zod screamed in pain and dropped Chris as he staggered back. Chris coughed to catch his breath as Kara looked up at the other Jon. “This can’t be right,” Kara told him. “How did you get here, Jon?” “My name isn’t Jon, it’s Mal-Zod,” The boy said as he floated down in front of her. “I am the son of Zod, future ruler of this dirt-ball planet.” “What did he do to you?” Kara asked as she reached out for Jon. He grabbed her by the hand and flung her over his shoulder with his half-strength that he shared with Jon. Kara caught herself as Mal-Zod looked over at Zod. “Father?” “Destroy her, my son,” Zod told her he looked at Chris. “While I crush this worthless annoyance.” Zod flew toward Chris as Superman appeared in front of him, grabbed him by the arm, and tossed him through the same brick wall Kara climbed out of. “Excuse me,” Superman said. “That’s my son you’re attacking.” Jon appeared in front of Mal-Zod as the two boys stared at each other. They slowly poked each other in the chest before feeling each other’s faces. “Wait a minute,” Jon said. “Who are you?” “Who are you?” Mal-Zod asked. “I think I’m the son of Superman,” Jon told him. “My name is Jon, at least that’s what they tell me.” “My name is Mal-Zod,” the other boy said. “The son of Zod.” “Are we supposed to fight?” Jon asked. “I don’t want to fight you.” “And I don’t want to fight you, but if I don’t, I’ll disappoint my father,” Mal-Zod told him. “I don’t want to disappoint him, but I have to fight someone.” “Why don’t we just run away?” Jon asked. “I don’t want to hurt anyone.” Mal-Zod looked around at Superman punching Zod and Kara struggling with Non. He turned to Jon and tried to smile. “Okay, but where do we go?” “I don’t know, but I can’t fly like you,” Jon said. “I do have super speed, though.” “I don’t have super speed,” Mal-Zod said. “Then climb onto my back,” Jon told him. As soon as Mal-Zod jumped on, Jon took off running. Kara picked Non up and flew into the air, twirling him around before letting Non fly off into the distance. She flew down to see if her cousin needed help. Superman and Zod continued trading blows strong enough to shatter windows. “Kara, where did Jon go?” Chris asked. “And that boy who looks like Jon?” Kara asked. Smallville, Kansas… With no memory, Jon ended up on the streets of Smallville with Mal-Zod on his back. He jumped off and looked around. “Where are we?” “I have no idea,” Jon said. “I just knew to come here for some reason. Maybe I live here?” “Look!” Mal-Zod pointed out. “What’s that?” A parade was starting to celebrate homecoming at Smallville High. “Some kind of celebration,” Jon realized. “It’s homecoming, what are you from, out of town?” a girl said as she stood on the sidewalk. Jon took immediate notice of the blonde-headed girl and instantly felt his heart racing. “The Smallville Crows are going to state.” “State what?” Mal-Zod asked. “Football, little man,” a reddish-brown-headed boy told them as he noticed Mal-Zod’s red costume. “Nice costume, kid. But Halloween’s not until October.” “Halloween? This is the costume my father gave me to conquer this world,” Mal-Zod stated. “He says it’s what we’ll all be wearing someday.” “…Right,” the boy told him. “Who are you two?” “I’m Jon,” “And I’m Mal-Zod,” “He must be a foreign exchange student,” the reddish-brown-haired boy said. “I’m CJ.” “I’m Kathy,” the blonde-haired girl with freckles said. Jon took one look at her as his heart started beating rapidly. “And this is JJ,” Kathy said as she looked around. “JJ’s gone again!” “That kid has the attention span of … something with a really short attention span,” CJ told her. “His dad’s going to kill me when he gets home. He’s been staying with me and my Dad while he went to Metropolis. We have to find him.” “I can help find him, “ Jon said. “What’s he look like?” “Short, blonde, wears nerd glasses,” CJ told him. “You’ll know him if you see him.” “Is that him?” Mal-Zod asked as a float drive by with JJ sitting on it eating an ice cream. “That’s him,” CJ and Kathy said in unison before they started running after. “JJ!” Jon and Mal-Zod followed. “What is he!?” Superman asked as he punched Zod. “A clone? A robot? A robot clone?” Zod punched Superman and tossed him through a brick wall. “He’s your son, I used my X-ray vision on him myself. He shares the same DNA as your son when I used the ring of Van-El on him. The perfect tool to use against you.” “That can’t be right, I’ve had Jon with me all day,” Superman said as he used his fists to pound Zod into the ground. “How are there two Jon’s?” “His solar flare split him in two,” Chris said as he held up his phone. “I texted Batman. He left his number with Mom in case of emergency.” “Why didn’t he leave it with me?” Superman asked. “He said because you’d think he was your friend and call him whenever there was a crisis,” Chris replied. “We need to end this and find Jon,” Superman said as he turned and saw Zod was flying off. “He’s probably going to find Jon. We have to beat him to the boys first.” “Jason Jackson White, get off of there!” Kathy shouted as the boys ran along with the float. “Your dad trusted us to watch you!” “My dad doesn’t care,” JJ said as he looked down at her. “It’s always been about Ricky.” “I’m sure it’s not true,” CJ said. “Your father cares a lot about you.” “He never takes me fishing anymore,” JJ told him. “Or to the carnival. Ever since Ricky came back, it’ll all been about him.” “JJ, Ricky’s been missing for weeks,” Kathy told him. “Sometimes I think my Dads don’t care either, but I know they love me. When your Dad gets back with Ricky, we’ll talk to him about it. Just come down, please?” JJ sighed as he waited for the float to come to a stop, just as everyone on the street looked up. Zod and Non floated down among the people. “Such a quaint town,” Zod said. “What is this tiny speck of nothingness?” “This is Smallville, sir,” CJ said. “Our home.” “Pathetic,” Zod scoffed. “Mal-Zod, you will prove your worth by killing these creatures.” “I don’t want to kill them,” Mal-Zod told him. “These are my friends. And… I kind of feel like this is the kind of place I belong in.” “What did you just say?” Zod asked. “The boy has no memories, but he knows places like this,” Superman said as he arrived with Chris and Kara. “He’s spent enough time in small towns to know these are good people. You tried to change him, but both of these boys still have strong morals and good hearts.” “Then it looks like I will have to destroy this town on my own,” Zod said as he looked at Non, grabbing JJ by his arm. “We will start with this puny human.” “No!” Superman shouted. “He’s just a boy!” “A boy that will never become a man,” Zod said as his eyes lit up. “NO!” Mal-Zod shouted as he flew in and punched Zod while Jon grabbed JJ away. “You won’t hurt my friends!” “I will destroy everything you hold dear to teach you a lesson,” Zod said angrily. “You have no friends, boy.” “He’s wrong,” Kathy said as she stepped forward. “I’m his friend.” “And so am I,” CJ added. “Me, too,” JJ told him. “And we won’t want bad people like you in our town.” “You heard him,” Power Boy said as he stepped forward wearing his new shirt. “You dare wear my family crest?” Zod asked. “Yeah,” Power Boy told him. “I’m going to restore honour to this family, no matter how long it takes.” Supergirl reached over and hugged him. “And one more thing, Dad,” Power Boy told him. “I’m gay. I like men, and I’m proud of who I am now. And I’m proud to be Kal-El’s son!” “You have dishonoured me, boy,” Zod told him. “You are an outcast, a freak of nature. From this day forward, you are disowned from the House of Zod. Never again will you know the honour of conquering in the Zod’s name.” “Thank goodness,” Power Boy told him. “I thought you were going to do something terrible to me.” “It’s time to go, Zod,” Superman told him as he punched Zod as hard as he could, knocking him into the air. Supergirl punches Non in the stomach as Jon and Mal-Zod both grabbed him by the collar and tossed him into the distance. The people on the street started cheering as Superman held his children close. “I am very proud of all of you,” “So, we’re both the same person?” Jon asked as he looked at Mal-Zod. “The powers may be different but are both the same Jon Kent I raised,” Superman said. “But we can’t have two Jon’s, how do we tell you apart?” “Well…,” Mal-Zod said. I heard someone use the name Jordan at the parade. Call me Jordan.” “Okay, Jordan,” Superman smiled. “That’ll hold until we can find a way to put you two back together.” “Did you mean everything you told Zod?” Supergirl asked Chris. “Yeah,” Power Boy smiled while he blushed. “I’m Christopher Kent, and I’m gay and proud.” “Let’s go home,” Superman said as a voice shouted in the distance.. “Superman, wait!” A tall blonde man in his late 30’s walked up, followed by a security guard. “It is an honor to have Superman stop by our town,” the man said as he extended his hand to shake. “Whitney Ford, mayor of Smallville.” Superman shook his hand and smiled, recognizing his childhood friend “You have a beautiful town, Mr. Mayor. It’s the kind of place that looks like you can raise a family in peace.” “This is my daughter, Kathy,” Whitney said as he brought her closer. “And her friends CJ and JJ.” “CJ?” Superman asked. “It stands for Clark Junior,” a red-headed man said as he sat in a wheelchair. Pete Ross, Clark Kent’s best friend growing up, and owner of Ross & Son’s Hardware. “Named after my best friend.” After talking for a while (and the upcoming Superman Day celebration) Superman and his children headed home. Now that he knew what had become of most of his friends, Clark realized it was time to bring his boys to town more often. Summer was coming, and Martha had been wanting Jon to spend more time with her. Power Boy looked at Jon. “I can’t help but notice you couldn’t take your eyes off of Kathy.” “I just… She was… Shut up!” Jon told him as he blushed. “Are we coming back?” Jordan asked. “Yeah,” Superman told him. “You might be able to spend the summer down here if your grandmother is up for it. Speaking of which, I’d better tell her that you two are twins. In the meantime, we need to get your memories back.” In Antarctica, Zod and Non arrived to hearing screaming from a nearby ice cave. They rushed in to find Ursa about to give birth. “Do not panic, my love, I am here,” Zod said as he held his wife’s hand, only to have her crush it with her super-strength. Zod screamed in pain as the birth process continued. “You did this to me!” Ursa shouted. “I will incinerate you!” Hours later, Ursa finally gave birth at the cost of their home being destroyed. Ursa held a blanket, looking down at her newborn baby daughter. “Welcome to Earth, my daughter,” Zod said as he looked at his baby girl. “Soon, this planet will kneel before the daughter of Zod!” TO BE CONTINUED… |