The way home from school had become the stage for the most shocking conversation of Clark Kent’s life.
John and Brandon walked alongside him, having decided it was high time to break the ice after the morning’s events.
“Remember the thing about your race?” Brandon began, breaking the silence.
“We talked to our dad about your identity.”
Clark stopped dead in his tracks, staring at them with wide eyes.
“Do you know where I come from, then?” he asked immediately.
He initially asked out of simple curiosity, not expecting a satisfying answer.
But to his surprise, both Brandon and John nodded with utter seriousness.
“The planet you were born on is called Krypton,” John explained in a calm voice.
“It orbits the red dwarf star LHS 2520 in the constellation Corvus, about 27.1 light-years from Earth.”
Hearing that, Clark felt ecstatic.
An immense warmth filled his chest, and he even wanted to look up at the blue sky, as if imagining that, with enough effort, his eyes could glimpse his “hometown” among the clouds.
However, the euphoria was short-lived.
He lowered his head, and his expression turned melancholy; the weight of reality hit him, and he began to question the painful reason why his biological parents had left him all alone on Earth.
John and Brandon glanced at each other, sharing a tense look.
Finally, John took a step forward, patted him affectionately on the shoulder, and continued cautiously: “Clark…
I have bad news.
The planet Krypton…
has been destroyed.”
Clark looked down, absorbing the blow.
Although he had imagined various scenarios in his mind regarding the reason for being sent to Earth, the idea that his entire home world was completely gone had never crossed his mind.
Trying to calm the whirlwind of emotions in his chest, Clark took a deep breath and decided to change the subject, firmly intending to leave such a sad thought behind.
“So…
how come your parents know so much about this?” he asked, genuinely curious.
It was highly surprising that John and Brandon’s parents possessed such precise astronomical data.
John opened his mouth to speak and explain calmly, but Brandon cut in with his usual energy.
He threw an arm around Clark’s shoulders and blurted out enthusiastically: “Dude, congratulations!
You’re not alone, and you’re not the last of your kind…
our parents are Kryptonian.”
The revelation left Clark utterly stunned, his mind going completely blank, while John was left speechless beside them, glaring at Brandon for the blunt and abrupt way he had put it.
After a few minutes of walking during which Clark tried to process the bombshell, the young Kent remained lost in thought.
Finally, he broke the silence with a faint voice: “So…
John nodded seriously, regaining control of the conversation.
“Yes.
Our father and our two mothers are Kryptonian.”
“Oh, I see…” Clark began to say automatically, but he suddenly paused abruptly as the detail registered.
His eyes went wide as saucers, and he exclaimed: “Wait!
What do you mean two mothers?”
“It’s a long story and there’s no time, let’s focus on the main topic,” John cut him off immediately, giving him no chance to pry further.
Inwardly, he kicked himself for his slip of the tongue.
Clark decided to ignore the matter for the moment—or rather, he pushed those chaotic thoughts to the back of his mind—preferring to cling to the concrete fact that restored his hope.
“So, I’m not alone…
my best friends and their parents are also my people,” Clark murmured to himself, feeling genuinely happy.
His downcast mood improved noticeably.
“Ahem…” John, who heard the murmur perfectly, couldn’t help but let out a fake cough to snap him out of his daydream and correct him: “Our parents are Kryptonian…
we are not.”
Clark looked at them completely confused, tilting his head.
John flashed a bitter smile and explained: “We’re adopted too, Clark.”
“We just found out yesterday,” Brandon added, shrugging with a grimace.
Clark suddenly felt all the pieces of the puzzle click into place: the depressed and tense mood both brothers had carried all morning finally made sense.
He looked at them with deep empathy, about to say a few words to cheer them up, but John, anticipating his friend’s intentions, stopped him with a warm smile.
“No need, Clark.
Even though we know we’re adopted, that doesn’t change anything in our house.
Our parents love us, we love them too, so there’s no reason to feel sad.”
Clark nodded, agreeing with that outlook, but curiosity rose in him again, so he shifted topics and asked intrigued: “But you guys…
you share the same power I do.
How is that possible?”
Both brothers shrugged at the same time.
“According to our dad,” John explained casually, “it’s likely that some Kryptonian arrived on Earth in the distant past and had offspring with humans.
The Kryptonian gene remained dormant through generations until it reached us.”
Brandon chimed in playfully, trying to lighten the mood: “You know…
even if we aren’t pure Kryptonians, you can still consider us your kind.
Technically, we could be a quarter Kryptonian, right?”
Clark couldn’t help but smile at Brandon’s antics, feeling an enormous sense of relief in his chest.
“Do you want to come to our house and talk to our parents?” John offered.
Hearing the proposal, Clark stood dazed for a few seconds, highly tempted by the idea. Find the original chapter at g.com.
He already knew Mr.
Conner, but he had never seen the boys’ mother in all those years.
Previously, due to the absolute mystique surrounding her, he had assumed she suffered from some severe illness that didn’t allow her to leave the house; but now, apparently, reality was very different.
After thinking it over carefully, Clark declined with a sigh and shook his head.
“Another day…
I really have to get back to the farm with my parents.”
“Alright,” John replied immediately.
He had only asked out of courtesy, assuming Clark would want to meet his people and learn more about his heritage, but he fully understood that Clark needed to digest such a massive amount of information first.
“Well, bye.
We should get home too.
Catch you another day.”
After saying goodbye to Clark, John and Brandon made sure they were in a clear area and, using their super-speed, crossed the fields in the blink of an eye.
Just as they were about to reach out and open the front door of the Blake farm, it swung open from the inside, revealing an imposing Karen.
“Well, boys…
look who finally decided to show up,” Karen commented, crossing her arms with a raised eyebrow.
Both young men immediately smiled awkwardly.
“Sorry, Mom…
we lost track of time talking to Clark,” John apologized with a nervous smile while scratching the back of his neck.
Karen rolled her eyes with maternal annoyance, but chose not to continue the scolding.
“Alright, come in.” As the boys crossed the threshold, she added from behind, “Go eat right away.
Your father isn’t back from his ‘business’ yet, but he might not be long, so you got saved from a good earful…”
“Oh…” Brandon commented curiously, taking off his jacket.
“Where did Dad go?”
“Who knows,” Karen replied with a subtle shrug, brushing it off.
However, when the two brothers turned fully toward the living room to head to the kitchen, they froze completely in their tracks, as if struck by lightning.
In the living room, aside from Laurel, were two women they had never seen in their lives.
One was a pale, mysterious hooded girl watching them with very intense violet eyes.
But the true reason for their absolute shock was not the presence of new faces in the house, but the other girl: a young blonde who bore an alarming and undeniable resemblance to their mother, Karen.
John stood static, blinking repeatedly as an absurd thought crossed his mind: ‘Mom’s sister?’
Brandon swallowed hard, completely nervous at the mystery, and asked with extreme caution and a trembling voice: “Mom…
is some aunt we didn’t know about visiting us?”