maskormenacelogs | closed. Big K -- little R

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closed. Big K -- little R

WHO: Power Girl and her newly-arrived cousin Superboy
WHERE: Tallest building in Heropa
WHEN: 7/11
WHAT: One Kyptonian and one clone meet on a roof to talk. They are sort of, technically, kind of family. Hopefully buildings won't be thrown.
WARNINGS: None yet.

Chances are that she'll get there first considering his human DNA kept him from some of those full Kryptonian powers; such as flight. Finding the tallest building in a small mom and pop-run town isn't difficult which is why he suggested it in the first place. That and those without superhearing wouldn't be able to hear their conversation. Just in case he needed them, the shields Luthor gave him rested in his back pocket because if it came down to it, Superboy wasn't nearly as strong as his full-blooded relatives. Hopefully he doesn't need them. It would be nice to actually have a family member that didn't try to kill him, simply brush him off or manipulate him.

So even though the tallest building isn't really that tall, Superboy still took the opportunity to land on a third floor windowsill before scaling the rest of the height with a single jump. Not that it really hid his not-so-secret identity but he was wearing his black shirt with the red 'S', cargo pants and boots anyway - typical mission clothes. This time he was alone. His constant companion, Wolf, was back at home probably sleeping.

He moved away from the edge of the roof and towards the center, arms crossing over his chest. How does someone even start something like this. Back when he met Superman all he had to do was show him the symbol on his solar suit but Power Girl probably already knew who he was. Or least, a version of him. Conner kept that little idea in the back of his head.

"So...Kid said we're cousins," he said. Ugh, that was terrible and even Superboy knew that. Five months was not long enough for him to learn how to strike up conversations with people he didn't really know.

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Peej isn't so sure what to expect other than a younger version of the Superboy she knows. Then again, he's still with the Teen Titans back home, so how much younger can he be? It's more odd to consider Wally West and Superboy are the same age when in her universe Wally and Dick are much closer to her (physical) age.

She does arrive first and initially wonders if he's running late or if Wally wasn't making up the emotionally delicate bit; could he have ditched her last minute? She understands how uncomfortable alternate universe counterparts are. She's still coming to terms with Eiko.

In a streak of white, red, and blue, she situates herself midair before him, not getting too close just yet to Superboy. She's somewhat surprised this version of him isn't sporting a leather jacket.

"I guess we are," she says. She and Superboy have never been close. They never spent time together, though he and the Titans, among other heroes, had been the ones to free her from Alexander Luthor's tower. "What else did he tell you?"

Honestly, if she didn't know to expect of someone she knew her in version - then Superboy really doesn't know what to expect. Another person who looked like Superman, maybe but there's no sign of the dark he 'inherited' from his alien father. The flying he did expect though. It was the difference between them.

Seeing her above him does make him feel at a great disadvantage as he could very clearly remember the last time a full-Kryptonian was anywhere near him - cloned brother or not it didn't end well. It's take a lot to not reach in for those patches that suppressed his human DNA and let him do everything the rest of his superpowered 'family' could.

Perhaps surprisingly, Conner didn't even think about ditching her. If Power Girl really wanted to find him then she probably could. From what he understood most of them lived in the government housing.

Living in Florida doesn't really require a jacket and the one he does have got left behind in Rhode Island. Most days he just saved it for school.

"Nothing really worth repeating but I owe him a punch for," he shrugged. Wally using the descriptive word hot towards someone who was technically Superboy's cousin doesn't seem right.

"So...is this one of those alternate universes sort of thing?" Up until Robin mentioned it about Batman, Superboy didn't really think about parallel worlds where they could have some pretty major differences.

She's been through quite a few pep talks in her lifetime, but when it comes to the subject of family Peej stumbles quite often, unable to come to immediate decisions. She needs time to mull over something so complicated, especially when she carries wounds that haven't quite closed since she first lost her universe. Arriving in the City to be briefly reunited with a piece of that universe she lost ― Helena ― had poured salt in the wound.

"Looks like it. You're a bit younger than the Superboy in my world, but Kid Flash and Robin aren't anywhere near your age. Not those ones." She thinks of Wally and Linda and their kids and Dick having taken the mantle of Batman. "I don't get it, but the alternate universes don't always make sense."

Always a pain in the butt, those things.

Family isn't really something he does either, unless it's with the team who Superboy has practically clung to since he first woke up. Of course, there's really only one person he does want to have a relationship with and that person keeps pushing him aside. Batman said to give him time but while Superman flew around the world saving it, Conner was meeting the not-so-nice part of his family.

"I'm guessing you know the important basics. That I'm a Cadmus project to clone Superman." It's easiest to start there. To start somewhere in the early chapters of his life. "From there Aqualad, Robin and Kid Flash broke in and found me. They're the reason I'm free. After that we formed the team. That was five months ago."

Superboy has no idea what she knew and what she didn't but there are just certain aspects of his life that he can't get around. It wasn't his fault that he existed, that he was cloned from Superman's DNA.

"The team is my family. Not Superman or...Luthor." That is first time he admitted who his other parent was out loud.

The tail end of his introduction is what catches her off guard, earning a skeptical brow raise. Some of what he details follows the history of "her" Superboy, but not the part where the not-Teen Titans come in and rescue him. Superboy debuted on his own not too long after Superman's death ― along with a few others. Long story short, everyone was claiming to be the new Superman. From what she can recall, his hair was tacky, he sported sunglasses, and a cocky attitude that could have given a younger Wally West a run for his money, maybe.

This Superboy is much more subdued. It's jarring how stoic he comes off. Is it meeting her or something else?

After her initial surprise passes, Peej can't help a frown at his commentary about who his family is. Good the team is, but not so good he doesn't see Kal as family.

Very curious.

"Why not Superman? You share his DNA." And... well, it's Superman. Big Blue saves kittens from trees and gives the best hugs. Who wouldn't want family like that?

Superboy never saw the death of the man of steel - maybe his rescue came early in comparison to the other Superboy's release. Maybe that could have been him if Dubbilex hadn't set the fire to lure people to Cadmus. At the time of his rescue by the team the programming hadn't been complete. Though he had another purpose that was simply replacing Superman should he stray, it was also to destroy him.

Now, after meeting Luthor he has to wonder if that's all they put into his head while he was out.

Subdued was a good word to use for him, but then again so was angry. Angry at Superman, at Luthor, at Cadmus. Sometimes he didn't know what to do with all of that anger but take it out on the nearest bad guy.

"He's the one that doesn't want anything to do with me." It comes out more than bitter. Conner has some serious 'father' issues, that much is obvious. From the way she put it, it doesn't sound like she knows.

Did the Superboy she knew have only one set of DNA? Would he become crazy like Match? "I've got Luthor's DNA too and he's the one who wants something."

That's why he can't fly and why he doesn't have heat vision or a great deal more abilities that his Kryptonian side of the family has - Luthor's human DNA.

The skepticism doesn't just remain in her expression, it oozes heavily from her voice as she asks him: "What do you mean Superman wants nothing to do with you? If you haven't realized already, that's hardly something he would ever do."

Then again, from what Dick has told her, Superman approved a covert ops team made up of teenagers. While Dick's insisted he's trained and worked hard to earn a spot on the team, she finds it increasingly difficult to accept the very notion of a Superman who would sign off on a team like that. It doesn't sound much like superheroics when you assign the term "covert ops" to it.

She raises both hand and scoffs, but concern is evident in her posture as well. She presses a hand to her chest while pointing the other at Conner.

"Do not trust Lex Luthor. No matter what universe he's from, he'll always be a scheming, power-hungry monster." Her tone's acidic. "Whatever he wants, don't give it to him, Superboy."

Lex or Alex... whatever he goes by, wherever he is, he's always the same. He'll continue to plot against people like her and Superboy.

Edited 2014-07-11 12:20 (UTC)

"Then your Superman and the one I know are very different because we don't even spend five minutes in the same vicinity on the rare occasions he's actually anywhere near me," he frowned. Things were definitely different between their worlds because Superboy has even asked outright for help and the big blue boy scout pushed him off on to Batman.

Of course he has no way that of knowing that in about a week when he got home that he'd be approached by Clark Kent. Between the months of near-silence from Superman and discovering the rest of his family, it has not been easy these last five months.

As for Luthor, Superboy has only had one interaction with him and that was enough. "I don't intend to. My loyalty is to the team before anyone else."

He wouldn't trust Luthor as far as five year old human could throw him, not after the man already used him to find the missing genomorphs who only wanted freedom.

For a moment he let silence fill the space before them. "Have you ever heard of a clone called Match or Project Match?"

It isn't right at all. Kal spent a significant portion of his life alone, even though he had Ma and Pa Kent, Lois, Jimmy, and people like Batman and Diana. Ma had once made her feel a impostor at the family farm, reminding her of the fact Kal had been disappointed once by what wasn't his actual family or fellow Kryptonian. She had been a disappointment, too. It had stung, but he never blamed her for it and eventually, Kara was in the picture (much to Peej's dismay). Despite no actual blood ties, Kal considers her family. That's the kind of man he is. No matter what universe he hails from, Kal-El had an absurd amount of love to share.

Hearing Superboy's version of him wants no part of his life invokes a mixture of frustration and confusion.

"That's not Big Blue." But she mulls over it for a moment. "Maybe... he needs time, Superboy. I don't know much about your world, but in mine... Superman spent a long time believing he was Krypton's only survivor. He may need some time to get used to family he didn't know he had."

It's hard to stay frustrated at a Superman she doesn't know when she's done the exact same thing.

"Unless you're talking about that failed alcoholic treatment trial from the nineties... never heard of it. What is it?"

Batman said it would take time for Superman to come around and he had wanted to believe that so much back then. If he was honest with himself, he still was. But with every encounter he has with Superman - or lack of - that hope dies a little. Would Superman care that he also had DNA from Lex Luthor? Would that play a part in his decision if he knew?

Superboy couldn't tell, not when he barely knew Superman to start with.

"That's what Batman said," he said, grumpily. Just because he knew that, didn't make it any easier to deal with. "But Superman isn't the only one being affected by this."

While the big man was off doing his thing, it left him feeling unwanted and a disappointment to someone he'd looked up to during those long weeks when he was caught up in the genomorphs visions. Sometimes those visions included defeating Superman but that was a long time ago.

"Match is my brother. My older, full-Kryptonian, completely insane brother that's stuck inside Cadmus, which Luthor owns." Superboy doesn't know what Luthor intends to do with Match but it couldn't be anything good.

It takes a moment for Peej to hear out all this information Superboy piles on her, but processing it fully is a different story. She winds up rearing her head back slightly at news of another Kryptonian clone and her shock gives away to revulsion, the bottom corner of her lips twitching before curling unpleasantly.

"That son of a..." She has zero doubts Lex Luthor has anything but ugly plans laid out for Match. It's almost genuinely sad to hear the Luthor in that world is another untrustworthy, dangerous genius. "I'm so sorry, Superboy. Does Superman know about Match?"

He gets it, really, he does. Superboy was there and it was still hard to process the fact that he not only has an older brother but that said brother is also one hundred percent crazy. There was no reasoning with Match and even the measures that Cadmus had taken with Superboy weren't enough to restrain him. It leaves a bitter feeling in the pit of his stomach to have literally put Match back on ice and leave him in Luthor's hands.

That is exactly how he feels and Superboy had wanted to punch the man responsible for all of this. A slow shake of his head. "I only just found out about him and didn't have time to tell anyone before I got brought here. You, Robin and Kid Flash are the only ones that know about him."

On top of that, Robin was the only one he trusted with the codewords that were guaranteed to shut him down temporarily.

"There might be hope for your brother."

She doesn't say it to be only supportive, but from her experience, she's seen people who had mental breakdowns or were crazy turn around, get help, and establish themselves as functioning members of society. There have been quite a few over the years, including some on the JSA.

But that's a lot for one person, especially someone with Luthor and Superman issues atop of other ones to manage on his own. Peej feels sorry for Superboy and even more so that she'll soon be bringing up Eiko's existence. Wally didn't know, but she couldn't be certain he wouldn't run his mouth to Superboy before she got a chance to have this conversation.

"Take it from experience: don't keep your team in the dark about this for too long. If they're your family, you can tell them."

Edited 2014-07-16 00:28 (UTC)

"I hope so," but by the tone of his voice it's clear that he doesn't believe that.

He wanted Match to have a normal life - or as normal as a clone can get. No one deserves to spend their life frozen just because of the way they were made. But this wasn't a mental breakdown, it was in his DNA and all he'd ever known. Superboy isn't sure he can come out of that yet.

"They don't about my relation with Luthor, not yet. I needed time to come to terms with it first before I told them. On top of that, they're all kind of having their own issues right now." What with Robin and the Batman who doesn't know him, Kid Flash and Artemis fighting over something which is causing Kid Flash and Robin to fight.

Superboy has been having father issues from day one and it was nice to put someone else first for a while.

"I've told Robin this, so I'll tell you: your team's going to have good days and bad days. Then you'll have really rotten days. It's a process, but if you make it through those, you'll be fine."

Lord knows how many teams Peej has been on throughout the years, only to bicker with her teammates and other allies, or to leave if the team had been disbanded or something else came along the way.

Most of the time it appeared it was a case of her "it's not you, it's me" with her. Her powers being reduced in half didn't render her useful team material for quite some time.

"But you told me," she adds, her tone surprised. "But for what it's worth, Superboy, I'm glad. I know it isn't easy meeting people from alternate universes." And that it doesn't necessarily get any easier.

"I never expected it to be all good days but I also never doubted that we'd make it through."

He might have thought that a single individual might not make it through but that was a long time ago back when they had a new teammate and their first couple of missions. Once they figured things out, he never had a doubt. Adding new members was never an issue for him.

As for the "not you but me" situation Power Girl felt, he's had some of those moments. Almost made a teammate cry because of his list of issues.

"Kid said we were family," Superboy shrugs. Considering the rest of his blood relatives, he could use someone who's not insane, evil or averse. She had been the one to seek him out and so far it hadn't been to use him. There's even a faint smile for her. "For some reason the whole alternate universes thing sort of made it easier."

That's the truth of it. If Superman has any 'cousins' back in their world they never approached him. That fact makes him not so bitter towards her.

It strikes a nerve with her and Peej remembers just how much she misses her family ― the one she's built for herself on her adopted home planet. She misses Star's bright smile, Ted's grumblings, Alan and Jay being wisdom dispensers on life, and she misses the Superman of that world. She misses Helena all over and thinks about what could have been. However, she squashes those feelings swiftly, not wanting to preoccupy herself with her own self-pity when she's supposed to be helping someone who is making an attempt to reach out to her.

"I've spent far too much of my life dealing with alternate universe drama," she exhales an exaggerated sigh. "But... I'm glad. I'm not... the best at this honestly, but I'm willing to try if you are."

He seems to be relaxing enough to the point she can bring up Eiko. She tucks some of her hair behind her ear and adds, "So... I've got more news for you that I didn't tell Kid Flash. I wanted to tell you directly."

When she talks about how much alternate universes have played a part in her life, he almost wants to ask. To ask about other worlds - other people - another life he could have had but he doesn't. Maybe when they've gotten to know each other better he can really ask her those sort of things but for now, Superboy will just let her talk about the things she wants to.

"Neither am I but I guess that means we'll both understand each other." A 'family' member that wants to try and had a real relationship with him. Yeah, he wants to try.

This was the kind of relationship they'd have right now - ones that pick and choose what to tell the other. Superboy hopes that changes one day. "I'm all ears."

His tone is without judgement.

Her stance shifts, displaying a different kind of uncertainty that hadn't been there earlier. Her hand slips away from her ear and trails behind her neck, rubbing up and down in a sheepish manner all the while she tries to pick out the appropriate words for the news she needs to pass along.

"We're not the only ones with a relation to Superman here," she begins slowly, eyes momentarily focusing on the skyline. "There's a girl here from a universe where her... mother and father are Wonder Woman and Superman."

She lets that hang between them, waiting to see how it will sink into Superboy.

She hasn't even gotten to the weirdest part yet.

Honestly, he isn't really sure how to take that. Technically Superman could be his father as Superboy was created from his DNA but it's not actually the same as being an actual child of the man of steel. And apparently the Amazon woman. His first thought is to wonder if she's accepted by her father and it's a petty, bitter one that leaves as quickly as it came. It did not sit well on top of his recent feeling explosion.

"Who is it?" He asks curiously. It was another family member, maybe not one he thought about meeting right away. Just because things were going well with Power Girl didn't necessarily mean it would be same for someone else. Better to just leave it for now and worry about it later.

Of course, that's not saying anything about the weirdest part.

Humans and Kryptonians are biologically incompatible, but an Amazon and Kryptonian? She hasn't ever thought about it because it means thinking about Diana and Kal in that way. She's certain Diana has dispelled those unfounded rumors back home, often with a hearty laugh at the idea. It's always been Lois and Clark, no matter what universe they are from.

Well... not Eiko's apparently.

"Her name's Eiko," she shakes her head. "Eiko isn't Kryptonian or Amazonian... it's Japanese. She's... Japanese."

Superboy isn't even sure he can imagine Wonder Woman and Superman being a couple. Even if he doesn't know anything about their personal lives. Granted Superman probably gave his attention to his team more than his clone but for some reason, he just can't see it.

If he catches the fact that Power Girl calls Eiko 'it', he doesn't make a remark. Though an eyebrow does raise at the idea of the girl not being the same race as either of them.

"Biological child or adopted?" With the level of technology to create a clone, he wouldn't be surprised if someone altered the DNA enough to pull it off.

"Biological, I'm certain."

But their lives have a tendency to spring surprises on them when they least suspect it. Eiko could be adopted or a clone, which may explain the Japanese features, but the unusual colouring for someone from that country. Sure, Tora's hair is white and Satanna has grey skin, but Kryptonians lean toward blond or black hair.

"She's a nice kid, though. I think you two would get along fine." Superboy can use a peppy friend like Eiko, she thinks.

"I'll...talk to her." After giving himself some time to just soak all of this in.

In the span of a week he has found out about four family members when Superboy was sure that it was just him and the big guy. While he sort of always counted the team as family, he had more blood relatives than he knew what to do with right now. As much as he tried to concentrate on the two that were here, his mind kept wandering back to the ones who weren't.

"Does she know about me where she's from?" Because that was also an option - for him to not exist in a world. It happened to Batman and Robin.

"No," Peej shakes her head once again, still looking on very awkwardly. "Haven't exactly had the time for a sit-down and chat about the family tree."

If she's being honest with herself, even she can't fill in all those blank spaces. Family matters have always been complicated with her, but throw in the multiverse and it goes beyond her understanding and her level of comfort. It's selfish desire, but she's longed for her Kal-L and Lois Lane. She misses her Helena often.

Meeting one relative after another she's never heard of is always disappointing, though she doesn't mean to feel that way and feels incredibly guilty being dismayed.

It's not wrong to want to see her cousin and wife again someday, she hopes.

"Right," he said. It hadn't exactly awkward introducing himself as the Superboy to the 'sidekicks' but when it came to family, it was a whole other story.

Though Superboy gets it. He gets that maybe things were so complicated for some of them that maybe they didn't want to sit down and talk about the rest of the family. Of course he's curious if this daughter of Superman knows about him - it would make things so much easier when introducing her.

Really, he could go without the rest of the family from his world. Having them show up here isn't exactly something he wanted. It could be like what Robin ended up with when it came to Batman.

That was something he could do without.

"Is there anything else I should know right away?" Hopefully they'll have time to get to know other things about each other. Power Girl did seem to like him enough.

"No other alternate universe family members as far as I know."

That was a little more than unsettling to think about; who knew if there were others among the imPort population who had some kind of connection to them? It was only by chance she had learned about Eiko, otherwise they would have passed each other in the streets here without ever sparing so much as a glance between each other.

"I don't know what else it is you want to know. Our worlds seem... more different than I realized, but we might be here all day if we start going through that."

He shook his head. It was good thing there wasn't any more family right now. Four is already a lot to deal with - especially when half that number was crazy evil or just plain crazy. At least Power Girl and Eiko seem to be half-way normal. Whatever normal was for people like them.

"We don't have to compare but I was mostly wondering if there was just anything important - like some enemies of Superman that ended up here or life-altering sort of things."

Like if Luthor has control of his mind because that is certainly important.

She didn't need to be a mind reader to figure out where the train of thought was heading.

"No Luthor," she raised a hand. "There's a few of Batman's enemies here, like Penguin, Two-Face, and Riddler, but they've been behaving themselves. Riddler especially." She adds with a slight frown as if to say Don't tell him I said that.

"There's the Shade as well, though he's retired."

Pretty sure that when it came to the Superfamily, Luthor was the one enemy they all had on their minds. It was certainly the first one that came to mind for him.

"Robin's probably already got them under surveillance or something. Besides, Batman never really did want us on his turf anyway." Superboy is not about to run out and start talking to the bad guys just because they're behaving.

"Yeah, I heard about the Shade already. Talked to him too."

"Yeah, he's like that, but he can handle guys like that."

Although she's dealt with the criminally insane plenty of times, they weren't situations she enjoyed. The older she got and longer she's been around in the business, the more she realized just how much people like that needed help.

Some weren't capable of being mainstreamed into society. Some didn't want to be, but the ones like Ultra-Humanite? Those were the ones who made saving the day bittersweet for people like her and Superboy.

"Shade's sort of one of the good guys now. He's helped Green Lantern before."

"Yeah, and if he needs help - he'll let us know."

Though with Batman here and from another universe, chances are they'd be doing their dynamic duo thing rather than call on the team. As for the crazies - he didn't really stand around talking to them so he never really saw how much help they needed.

And he doesn't hit up the bad guys in Metropolis either. After that one time when he ran into Superman there, he avoided the big blue boy scout's territory too.

"Wally doesn't seem to think he's a good guy."

She rubbed the corner of her brow and snorted lightly.

"Shade is... complicated." She doesn't know him as well as Alan and Scott, so what she wouldn't give to have them there to confirm whether or not Shade is a potential threat would have been nice. "He likes to act all mysterious, but trust me, he's more bark than bite these days."

Sure seemed complicated. Wally's all up in arms over the Shade and Power Girl's not too worried about him. Chances are he'll find a middle ground and keep an eye on the guy but not do anything unless the Shade moved first.

"Right. Good to know. I'm gonna...head back home." He rubbed the back of his neck and turned his gaze away a bit awkwardly. "But I'd like to do this again - you know, talking."

For the moment, she had no moment to concern herself with Shade's activities. The last time he had done anything that warranted a lecture, it had been crossing the US's borders without permission and she had actually been on his side over it.

She's taken by surprise when he announces he's heading back so soon, but Peej quickly decided it was for the best; she didn't want to overwhelm him upon their first meeting.

"You know how to reach me when you do," she said, lifting a hand in farewell.

Learning he has a cousin and whatever Eiko was to him was pretty big. Also that the Superman of her world would have accepted him. Not so much that Luthor was pretty much a dick in any universe.

He was whelmed, as Robin would put it. Definitely whelmed. So whelmed that Superboy doesn't even know what kind of questions he wants to ask. Or even if he wanted to ask them. Did he really want to know how her version of him was like? That was something he needed time to think about.

"Yeah, I'll see you around." He waved goodbye to her, not wanting to actually say the word. Then Superboy turned and dropped off the edge of the building.

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closed. Big K -- little R

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oh she meant the name! brain fart on my end

pfft got it

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i actually cannot recall if alan went by sentinel or GL at her canonpoint and am too lazy to check

haha

the problem with characters who jump back and forth between mantles

truth

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