Author's Note: For those who read the comics, you probably already know I borrowed a lot from the comics for this arc, because it was a fantastic arc. If you want to check out the real thing, the comic book arc is called 'H'El on Earth' or issues Superman 13 to 17, Superboy 14 to 17 plus Annual 1, and Supergirl 14 to 17. Enjoy.
Becoming Superboy 29
Kal El hated her. She had no friends left. She was in a world that she didn't understand. She just wanted to go back home. Yet, it felt so good to let everything go and listen to H'El's well-arranged words. He was Kryptonian alright. The way he said things, praying on what she wanted and what she knew. He wanted her help and to him she was the only person who could help him. He considered Kal El a complete loss for he ran away with the clone and left her, his own flesh and blood behind. She knew it wasn't true. Even if Kal El hated her, he was not the type to leave anyone behind. Anyone could ask Lex Luthor how many times Superman had saved him. Still, it felt good to be wrapped in those words. She felt like she belonged next to him.
"How are you feeling?" he asked her holding her chin with his rough fingers.
"Much better," she said with a halfhearted smile. His pale scarred face still frightened her. It was as if he wasn't truly alive sometimes. It didn't seem to warm up to the sun like hers.
They were floating so close to the sun. Her whole body felt warm and safe, and at the same time stronger.
"First, we must remove any obstacle," H'El said releasing her chin and turning his sight to the far off point that was Earth.
"I am not killing anyone," not in Earth or Krypton was there a good reason to kill.
"You can't kill what never has truly been alive, Lady Kara," H'El said with a short disgusted laugh.
"You mean Kon?" the memory of him flying with her back to Metropolis came to mind. He had been so upset at her because he had just saved her from an alien parasite and all she had done was expect him to mock her.
"No clone should have so much power. He is a threat to our objective," H'El declared.
"Kal El won't let us near him," and she didn't want to go near him. She imagined his accusing glare when they came face to face.
"He can't watch him all the time. We just have to bide our time," he turned to face the sun again and basked on its power.
She didn't know how long they were there, but when he took her hand and transported them back to Earth it was almost nightfall. They were flying over Metropolis. Her heightened senses told her Kal El wasn't anywhere nearby, but Kon was. He was in an apartment, probably the one where Kal and he had moved in recently.
"The moment we move on him Kal El will come," and she didn't want to fight her cousin.
"I can't help to think you aren't wholly compromised on restoring of our world," he said looking down at her.
"Of course I am, I just believe that we shouldn't mess with Kon and go straight to the Fortress," H'El was able to beat him before.
"I need time to break through the defenses of the Fortress. They are set to only work for the members of the House of El, at least those who share Jor El's blood. Kal El probably doesn't know as he spends so much time in this unevolved world," even she didn't know that.
"So, I am the bait," she was starting to think she was no more than an accessory to H'El.
"Lady Kara… I won't wait another moment to restore our world," he was too close too suddenly and holding her head between his hands.
"What are you doing?" she tried to pray them off.
"Just remember the pain they caused you," he touched his forehead to hers. It was clammy and cold.
"No!" she recognized the feeling immediately. She had felt it when she learned about Kon El. But it was not the first time she felt so much fear.
She was a little girl again in Argo City. She was running through the halls of the place she used to know as her home. Now, it would become her resting place if she didn't get away from the clones. Her father's lab would be the safest place to be, her father was always there to her mother's displeasure.
"Kara run!" she heard her mother shout behind her, "stay away from my child, monsters!"
"Haaa!" she heard the clones, once their drones, charge towards her mother.
"Ahhh!" her mother charged too.
She kept on running. Some got past her mom and she could hear them getting closer to her. She cried out as something burn her arm. She turned her head just slightly to see they were pointing energy guns at her. She ran faster until she spotted her father's lab. The tears she had been holding started flowing for the door had been forced open with some sort explosive. She kept on running. She had to believe he was still alive.
When she entered the lab, she found the biggest monster of all. Kon was standing over her father's lifeless body. There was a large pool of blood around him. His eyes stared emptily into space as Kon stared down at him with little to no emotion.
"You are pathetic," Kon said stepping away from Zor El, "you don't deserve to exist."
"Please, no" he started walking towards her. She stepped back until her foot hit something. She turned around and saw all around her those killed by the clones. Mountains of bodies from every age and region of Krypton were around her rotting and staring at her with pity. They knew she would be joining them soon.
"You Kryptonians aren't better than us, you are inferior. You keep us on leashes because you are afraid we will realize it," the clone changed before her eyes. He no longer looked like the Kon she knew from her studies. Instead, he took the young form of Kon El. His eyes were the same as her cousin's, as her father's. He stared at her with so much contempt she thought she was going to be sick.
"Stop, please stop," it was not her fault the people of Krypton had been cruel to the clones. It wasn't her fault that they had forgotten they were living beings. She now knew it had been wrong to use the living to experiment on against their will. It wasn't her fault they were used for jobs which were too dangerous, too straining and too low for them to do themselves. It wasn't her fault they weren't treated better than disposable objects, easily replaced. It wasn't her fault.
"You think you have everything arranged to perfection when clearly your greatest fault is your overconfidence. Why else we with our limited resources were able to do this? It's time to put you in your place," he kicked her on her chest. She was no longer the little girl, but she was powerless.
"No…" she fell on her back only to come face with her mother's rotting head, severed from its body. Her mouth was open in the form of her last agonizing scream.
"Even your cousin could see it, why can't you?" Kon said standing next to the head before kicking it.
"Kon! You will pay!"
She launched at him and started punching him as hard as she could. They broke through the ground and the harder she hit him, the deeper they went.
"I will kill you!" her hands were hurting, but she only took bare notice of it. She would avenge them. She would not let him get away.
"Leave me alone!" Kon El had shouted before the world became a searing pain. He had burned her face. He was escaping. She went after him. The world changed between the remains of Argo and another place she knew. She just couldn't recall what it was.
Then, she was captured by a flying beast with red eyes and white skin. She tried to fight it, but she could sense it trying to pierce at her mind. Attempting to break something.
"C'mon Superboy! Knock her out!" the creature shouted.
"I think not Martian," H'El was there the next moment. Everything around her started to twist and she knew this was no longer a reality. Her memories were mixed up. Her eyes, however never left the murderous Kon. Those clones had been the reason why her world was gone, why her family was gone. Yet… this wasn't that Kon, right? That Kon died on Krypton with everyone else. This was Kon El, right? The Kon that started the war… he was…
"-messing with the wrong god-power wielding dude. I am magic, something you Kryptonians are not good against."
The world went dark then. She was falling, but someone caught her.
The old dream returned and it played again and again in her head. She was running through the halls, finding his father dead with Kon. Kon belittling them and then her mother's dead face. She tried to stop in the dream, shouted and begged. Eventually, she became numb to it. At that point, she could hear words breaking through her nightmare.
"But I think you wouldn't have left the Team if you didn't think they were that good."
"I don't know any of them."
"You will remember."
"Superman keeps saying the same. Neither of you knows if that will happen."
"I forgot what a downer you used to be. After all I have seen on Earth, there is very little I don't believe possible."
That was right. They weren't in Argo or even Krypton. They were on Earth. Krypton was gone. Now, she lived in Metropolis like her cousin. She went to college and she found interest in-. The nightmare started to fade away. She felt the humming comfort of a healer's table.
"H'El!" she heard Kal El shout.
"Don't be so surprised Kal El. I have known where you were all this time. I only bought some time to get through your defenses thanks to your little clone. Who I see is now wearing your armor. Just when I thought you couldn't go any lower," then she heard Kal El gasp, "Kon, you are becoming a real pest."
"Ahhh!" he heard Kon El's battle cry, and then everything became silent.
"Defensive Shield activated," she heard the Fortress announce.
"Now, let's get back to our mission Lady Kara," next thing she knew he was holding her so she was standing upright. Her mind went numb and everything she had seen and heard until then went to the back of her mind.
888
They were walking through the many halls of the Fortress. It astounded even her that her uncle had been able to convey such a magnificent structure for Kal El to take with him to Earth. It was also sad that it was so empty. A place like this back in Krypton would have been loved and visited often.
"Where is Kal? Does he know we're here?" he only trusted a few to come up to the Fortress.
"If he knows, he does not care, Kara. This place is just a relic to him, an echo of a home he doesn't even remember. Why else would he hide these treasures of Krypton in such a remote and desolate place? It's as if he's embarrassed by his heritage."
But she knew H'El was wrong. Kal El chose the place because that way the Fortress wouldn't be spotted by Earth's technology, and also because it gave him, or at least used to, give him the solitude he sometimes needed. Living 24/7 with super-senses was no walk in the park.
"Embarrassed by his people, including the ones still alive and trapped inside this bottle. Kandor deserves better," she had known they were coming here, but she was still shocked every time she saw it. The whole city of Kandor had a chamber of its own where a large crystal container held it.
"I know Kal El said he's been trying to find a way to save them, but…" something about what they were doing seemed wrong. She approached the city and looked at it. It was just as she remembered it when her mother would fly her to see her best friend. It was so beautiful; the only remaining jewel of Krypton.
"The only way to save them is from the inside of Kandor itself, Kara," he placed his cold hand on her shoulder, "and only you can find it!"
She felt as if someone had punched the air out of her lungs before she stared down at Kandor, but this time from a real life-sized view. She looked up and saw the crystal ceiling. She was in Kandor! Somehow H'El was able to miniaturize her and send her inside. Her fogged up mind wondered why. Wait, he had said something about saving Kandor from inside. She flew through the towering buildings and found heartache in the perfectly preserved monuments of her once home. It was like being back in Krypton. It was like a dream come true!
No, she realized coming to ground lever. It was more like a nightmare. The people of Kandor were all frozen in stasis. They were floating in the streets, their eyes always open and looking up. Those eyes stirred something in her mind. A dream, a nightmare she hadn't been able to wake up from. But, in the dream they hadn't been sleeping. No, they were- no, no no! They were still alive. They could still be saved. She had to believe H'El could actually find a way.
"Kara?" she turned around and met with a young man, "I am sorry I didn't fully explain what we were doing, but I was afraid you wouldn't believe me if I told you where we needed to go.
"Who are you?" he reminded her of Kal and Kon, but his body wasn't solid. She could tell it was some sort of projection.
"It's me, Kara. It's H'El. This is what I looked like before I changed," but he looked too much like Kal and Kon. It was disturbing. Those feelings went away, and she was left feeling empty. She looked at H'El for answers, but all he did was give her a sweet smile. "I can't shrink my own physical body as I could yours, but I can project this astral image. I thought seeing me… normal again might help you trust me."
But something whispered in the back of her mind that it wasn't working.
"If I only knew why I changed… what actually happened to me after I left Krypton. So many gaps in my memory…" he looked at his own hand, and for a moment his appearance flickered and he looked more like her uncle, Jor El. "But I don't have time to wonder. I wish I could just pull these people out of Kandor, but there's no way to know how the shock would affect them. It might free them from stasis… or it might kill them. The only way to truly save them is to travel back before Brainiac attacked them. Before Krypton was destroyed."
"Time travel?" hadn't Kon and his friends said something about that?
"And part of the solution is here in the city," H'El said as they continued to walk through the streets full of people in stasis.
His voice was hypnotic. It was also Kryptonian, but there was something alluring about it. It made her feel sure about what they were doing again. It reminded her that he was the only being who could truly understand her. Kal El hadn't felt the pain she had when she found Krypton was gone. She was sure H'El had for all that they were doing.
She stopped in midstep before floating towards a particular person. She felt more than heard H'El displeasure at the distraction.
"Tali," her best friend, she was alive. The cloak of smoke in her mind lifted as she stared at the face of her friend completely unchanged. Her heart was so full of joy at knowing she was still alive, yet she felt her heart might break at seeing her in stasis. Her gray eyes stared directly up as her soft pink hair floated around her. Her tan skin was covered in a beautiful blue gala dress. She had been somewhere important when all of this happened. "Oh Tali, you have to tell me everything that has happened since I last saw you. I promise I will find a way to save you. I am going to save you all no matter what it takes."
"Well said Lady Kara," H'El said behind her, "let's get what we came for."
They flew directly to the Central Power Station of Kandor. The building reminded her of Earth's Easter eggs. It was colorful and beautiful to look at.
"If we are going to travel back in time, we need a power source greater than any we can find on Earth. Except for here of course."
Time travel. Time travel. Something kept nagging her mind about that. They flew to the center of the building where on a pedestal a beautiful crystal floated just above. Her father had taught her about them. This was one of the most precious inventions of their world. It was what separated them from the old cultures. The clean energy of the crystals. One crystal alone could take care of an entire city.
"There it is. That's what we need," H'El flew straight to it.
"But doesn't the city need it? If we take it…" the life support of the city would be powerless, everyone would die in stasis.
"It's okay Kara," he spoke to her as if she was a child and it was pissing her off, "when we are finished, this crystal will be safely back in Kandor and Kandor will be safely back on Krypton. A living Krypton."
Okay, she thought taking a deep breath; that made sense. None of this would have happened if everything went their way. She extended her hands until they were under the crystal and then she pulled it out. It was incredible. It felt like the energy of the sun hitting her skin at close proximity. She was holding the heart of Kandor with her bare hands.
"The sooner we're on our way…" she appeared back in the room where the vase was being held, "the sooner that becomes our new reality. Now that we have this, there's only one element left that we need."
She was standing before him. He looked so different from the projection he sent with her.
"You can't imagine how much this means to me, Kara. Your cousin would never have agreed to remove the crystal from Kandor," H'El said looking at the colorful glass.
"He wouldn't have?" she thought then, of course, he wouldn't have. He would have been too worried about the Kandorians.
"I still hope he will join us though leaving this planet and returning to Krypton would mean giving up his immense power. I wonder if he can do that," H'El said with a frown. She felt dizzy.
"I would," she found her heart speaking out "I'd give all my powers back in a heartbeat if it meant going home. If it meant saving my family, my friends, everyone." She couldn't look at the crystal. If they failed… what had she been thinking!?
"I want nothing more than to make that a reality, Kara," he said placing a hand on her shoulder. She couldn't help flinching, "I… I know how I must look to you. I am a freak. A nightmare. Seeing my normal self in Kandor again just reminded me of that. I know that even when we succeed, even when Krypton is saved… I won't be! I will never be normal again. Never sound the way I once did. Never feel the way I once did. But you can still live the life you were meant to live, Lady Kara."
His strange voice, it didn't sound so cold anymore. She could hear the echo of the voice she heard inside Kandor. Was that really his voice?
"You will never know what your trust has meant to me. You treat me like I am not a monster. You treat me like I am whole again."
Her mind was buzzing. She could swear she heard sincerity, but there was something else.
"I know I can never truly be whole again. But, having you on this journey with me is enough. Saving Krypton with you, I couldn't have asked for anyone else."
"Really?" her cousin was so much stronger and braver than her.
"That we will be going home together, of living that beautiful moment with you Lady Kara, aren't you happy as well?" he was looking at her so carefully, as if he could see through her.
"Y…yes," she said seeing that moment in her mind. Returning home, returning to her family… with H'El by her side, "I am happy." She leaned forwards, and she saw him smile before their lips locked.
She was, right?
888
"We are not seriously going to talk to that guy, right?" he still remembered his last meeting with him, or at least the last his memories allowed him to remember. He left him standing under a bridge after using a control word. He had felt so powerless.
"He is the smartest human on the planet," Superman said as they exited the Zeta Beam into Metropolis.
"And a complete egomaniac," he said as they flew towards Luthor's Tower. The place looked like it had recently been attacked. It was half burned. But, the top floor was not their objective. They flew a few levels down where a window was left open.
"Still the smartest human around," Superman said stopping a safe distance from the windows before the panels on the sides opened revealing the mouths of cannons.
"Are those antimatter cannons?" he asked wide eyed. Wherever they moved, they followed.
"Yes, armed to go off if anyone with Kryptonian DNA gets closer than ten feet," and he knew this was not the first time he had been here. There was a sort of ceremonial feeling to it.
"Superman, welcome," Luthor said appearing on the window. He leaned on the window sill, much like a neighbor leaning out to chat. There was something very wrong with that.
"Distance Luthor, you know the drill," Superman said crossing his arms. He kept an expression of calmness.
"You wound me," Lex Luthor said taking a step back, "there, now will you relax?"
"Never, I am only here for your expertise on a matter that I think threatens the entire world," Superman said not relaxing one bit.
"Wait- you're asking him for help? I might be…" he met eyes with Luthor, the man smiled at him and he knew it was no good to let him hear much, "…incomplete right now, but I don't need the rest to know he is all kinds of evil."
"It takes one to know one boy," Luthor said with a smirk.
"Huh?" he wasn't evil. All he had learned pointed out that he was still one of the good guys or did Luthor know something he didn't?
"We have no time for your head games. I need your help," Superman said unflinchingly.
"Since you asked so politely, I trust you're inquiring about H'El," Luthor said reeling in the feeling of having Superman, of all people, ask for his help.
"Why am I not surprised?" Superman said retaining his composure, which he was having trouble masking his shock.
"Oh, how I wish I could take credit for all the pain he is causing you. But the truth is, I only know about him because I have been watching him, watching you," he couldn't help narrowing his eyes on the man. How much did he know about them? "What can I say? That's just the kind of guy I am," and his shameless smile said everything else.
"H'El wants to restore Krypton, but the only way he could do that would be by traveling in time. I want to know if he can and at what price?" Superman said staring at Luthor in the eye. Neither one flinched.
But that was impossible. Time travel absolutely an impossible feat. Still, it was Superman who said it, so maybe he had some experience with it.
"Absolutely," said Luthor with an ever growing smirk, "at the cost of every single life on the planet Earth. I will help you. But let me talk to the Superboy." The man looked at him and knew something else was going on. His previous words about him being evil they rang through his head.
"Pardon the expression, but no chance in hell," Superman said showing emotion for the first time. It was annoyance.
"It's fine," he said, "what do you want?"
"There's the spirit," Luthor said before the cannons were covered by their panels. "Come closer boy."
"I think not," he said keeping his distance.
"Then I won't help," Luthor said turning his back on them.
"You don't have to," Superman told him ready for them to fly away.
"If it gets him to talk then I will-" he started to say.
"Wonderful," Luthor said turning back. He was already flying in front of the window. "I don't think I have thanked you properly for saving me but have you made any progress finding the culprits?"
"No," he said with a frown. He saved Luthor?
"I know you won't tell me much, or at least you can't right now," he said with a knowing smile.
Superman's annoyance turned into anger. He was wondering just like him if Luthor had actually joined with H'El and was trying to mislead him.
"I imagined as much. Superman here seems to have no idea what we are talking about even though you probably tell him everything," Luthor said picking at his nails.
"You aren't making any sense," he told the so called genius.
"Your memory was altered, so was his, and mine too. Do you remember?" Luthor asked, "of course not. That's the whole point." He pointed up, to the top floor which was being taken down because of the fire. "Whoever did it was not after my life, but merely altering my memories. They still want us around, just not knowing enough. Think of the people you would trust with the secret. They have probably been targeted too. Before they try to do the same to me again, let me just tell you this. You two thought I was the one who commissioned the boy's creation. It was not like that. When I found out, that's when I was first attacked, I was made to forget I even met him. Later, when you talked to me and found something going on, you and Superman became targets."
"Why should we trust you?" he kept himself from asking if he really carried Luthor's DNA.
"You don't have to, check yourself," he threw them a small flask with blood.
"How did you…" if he knew Luthor lost his memories, he would have never told him he was his other donor.
"I reached to some old colleagues. Remember Slade and Rash Al Ghoul? I knew they had stolen some files from me and their kind are not easy to find. Whoever did this to us has not found them yet," and if they had, they were probably dead, Superboy knew enough about those two men to know they were not to be messed with.
"Why are you doing this?" he asked at the flask of blood labeled with two Ls.
"Why else? Because no one messes with me" his anger showed for a moment, "believe me, I am spending millions on finding who they are right now, but your cooperation would also be appreciated. It would benefit all of us to have them stopped."
And it would be better if it were them who found them; otherwise he doubted they would get a chance to pay for their crimes.
"You two can go back behind the invisible line now. Let's get back to talking about our new visitor," Luthor said and just a few moments later the cannons were back on.
"Tell us all you know about H'El and his plan," though he was more than happy to check if he was indeed not part Luthor, they had to take care of H'El first.
"Quiet child, I am done with you," Luthor said narrowing his eyes on him, now that was the Luthor he knew. He turned to Superman and he could just imagine him lifting a small cup of tea over his words "what a positively exquisite creation. A piece of art, actually. Certainly a pale shade of the grandeur of its donor, but this clone is not without its charms."
"Just because you told us something we wanted to hear, it doesn't mean we believe it," he was right. Luthor might be playing with him. Was that blood really his?
"Oh believe me, if he had at least one of my DNA strands, he would be much smarter," Luthor said looking at him with pity, "though it seems whoever is his other donor does not have the same patience you do. I wonder who he will now blame for his shortcomings. Sad, isn't? He probably blames me for not being exactly like you, but then again the Originals are usually better."
"Stop talking about me like I am not here, Luthor! If you have something to say about H'El, then out with it or-"
"Don't ever talk to me like that again, Kon. Or I will have you reduced to your recumbent DNA strands and have your conscience dispersed to the farthest ends of the omniverse before you are even aware you are dead. I tolerate Superman because he is the closest thing I have on this planet to an equal. I would afford you no more courtesy if I were having a conversation with my own appendix, which now you aren't even better than. Do you understand me, 'Superboy'? Though you aren't even a child, right?"
"Mmph, fine," he said through clenched teeth. "Tell us, please?" he asked with what was clearly a fake smile.
"Splendid, there is hope for you yet," Luthor said also with a fake smile. He was sure the guy would try to kill him after they found those who were manipulating their memories if what he was saying was true.
"We are all very impressed by your ability to intimidate teenagers, Lex. Now about H'El," Superman said regaining his stoic manner.
"As I suspect even you suspect it was no incident that he chose to lock himself away in the Fortress of Solitude. You and I both know it is where you keep the unfortunate denizens of Kandor. The bottle city from Krypton in which they have been kept since our initial encounter with The Collector. Now imagine if H'El were able to use the same infinite energy source that powers Kandor to fuel a ship through the Chronal-Nexus that exists both everywhere and nowhere all at once and not at all. 'But Lex,' you are no doubt thinking," more like when was he going to get to the point "'even if that were possible, where would he find the source to protect his vessel while traveling through said theoretical nexus?' He can't, I would answer because nothing on Earth could provide such vast amounts of energy. Which is why, naturally, he would be forced to look outside our relatively meager planet's orbit and instead draw the countervailing electromagnetic energy for our entire solar system by collapsing it into itself in something of a reverse big bang," and then he made a fist and a small popping sound.
He didn't want to believe it, but the way Superman remained still and contradicting told him it was the truth.
"So yes, it is possible. A win for Krypton, perhaps, but a losing proposition for Earth," though the man seemed to be taking it quite well.
"Interesting," Superman said unflinchingly. He wondered if Luthor was trying to get a reaction out of him. Any normal being would be fretting, but it seemed Superman also had nerves of steel.
"That's very gracious of you to say Superman, but we both know you are lying through your perfectly white teeth," Luthor sneered at him. The man hated anyone who could possibly look down on him. "Your alien mind is second only to my own, yes, but I haven't told you anything you don't already know. You figured out H'El's plan the instant he made his way into the fortress and got his hands on the artifacts you keep there. You didn't come here for my 'expertise.' You came to make up your mind. You know in your heart the only way to stop H'El is to kill him, just like you have wanted to do with me for years. But, of course, you can't have the rest of the world think you anything but their savior."
"Thank you, Luthor. You have been of service to your planet," Superman said starting to fly away. He gave Luthor one last glance before following.
"You can turn your back on me, Superman. It's a lot easier than turning away from the truth. You pride yourself on using your innate power to serve humanity. You are so much better than the rest of us. But ask yourself, why can H'El do so much more than you? Is he more powerful than you, or have you just failed to make yourself as powerful as he? And it that is the case, what are you so afraid of, Superman?" Luthor shouted until they were out of earshot.
"He really loves the sound of his own voice, doesn't he? Does he always talk so much?" and please tell him he really doesn't have his DNA.
"Only when I bring company along," Superman said with a smirk which quickly faded, "did you put your flash drive back on the sphere?"
"I did. You believe what he said about someone messing with your memory too?" if it was a secret, who else would he have told? Those who were his closest friends were no longer so close.
"Something tells he might be right," Superman said as they kept flying towards the Zeta Beam.
"But it was H'El who did this to me," but something in the back of his mind made him doubt. H'El wanted him gone, why mess with his memories if that was the case?
"Are we sure it was H'El?" the bad guys weren't known to attack one at the time.
"I guess not," he said trying to remember, but then his head started to hurt. From one moment to the next the pain became blinding. When he opened his eyes, he was no longer in the air, but standing in front of something that looked like his old pod. He was inside or was it Match, or another clone? The clothes were different.
Go away!
"Superboy?" he opened his eyes and realized he stopped in midair, "are you alright?"
"What?" he asked. What had he seen?
"You froze for a few minutes," Superman told him clearly worried.
"I did?" he saw something. Was it himself?
"Don't try to remember for now," Superman said, "we have to hurry."
He could only nod before he followed.