“So…
now there’s another Kryptonian living in the house and another visitor from another world,” John summarized, rubbing his temples as he tried to fully digest and understand the situation.
Brandon didn’t say anything at all.
He simply stared silently from Kara to Karen and from Karen to Kara, assessing once more the striking physical resemblance the two women shared.
In the end, he couldn’t help but mutter to himself with a touch of comical disappointment, “My aunt theory was way more realistic…”
“Wow, looks like you’ve already met our new guests.”
Suddenly, a deep and familiar voice snapped both boys out of their contemplation.
Turning around, John and Brandon exclaimed at the same time in relief, “Dad!”
Conner nodded at the boys in greeting.
At that moment, Karen walked over to him, affectionately wrapped an arm around his waist, and said in a slightly demanding tone, “Well, it’s about time you got here.” Right after, she scanned her man’s body from head to toe; seeing no traces of him having been in a battle, no torn clothes, or anything of the sort, she couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity, “What were you doing out there?
What was that highly important matter you mentioned before you left?”
John and Brandon, who were standing just a few steps away, immediately pricked up their ears.
They, too, were dying of curiosity to know what kind of secret mission their father had been on.
Conner flashed a highly amused smile, remembering the scene on the rooftop in Gotham, and replied with a mystical tone, “Well…
I was observing a rather interesting kid.”
Karen stared at him, raising an eyebrow as if asking with her eyes: Are you serious?
You left in the middle of lunch for that?
“Well, let’s just say he’s a kid who will enjoy dressing up as a superhero, going out at night to fight crime, and who will also love striking dramatic poses on rooftops while saying things like: ‘I am vengeance.
I am the night.
I am Batman!'” Conner recounted.
Even though Bruce Wayne hadn’t officially become Batman yet and was currently operating under the mantle of Robin alongside Harvey Harris, Conner didn’t think it was a bad idea to drop the hint, since technically that was exactly what the boy would end up doing in the future.
“Wow!
Those catchphrases are awesome,” Brandon exclaimed, his eyes shining with excitement as he imagined the scene.
John couldn’t help but get caught up in the excitement of the concept either.
“So…
his superhero name is Batman?
What’s his power?
Transforming into a bat-man?
Or does he have vampire powers?” he asked one question after another with enthusiasm.
Even Kara, Raven, and Laurel, who were on the other side of the living room, heard the conversation perfectly thanks to the acoustics of the place.
Interested by the tale of the mysterious nocturnal vigilante, they stopped what they were doing and fixed their eyes on Conner, waiting for the answer.
Conner simply shrugged with total nonchalance and blurted out indifferently, “He doesn’t have powers.”
The answer fell like a bucket of cold water in the room.
“What?
Seriously?
He’s not a metahuman…?” Brandon countered, completely deflating in a second.
John wore a similar expression, losing half the interest he had just a moment ago.
Karen looked at Conner with confusion, unable to understand why her husband would be so interested in watching over a completely normal human who simply enjoyed wearing an extravagant costume around the streets.
“Well, it’s not like he has absolutely nothing either…” Conner added in a vague and mysterious tone, purposely drawing out the suspense. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
Everyone in the house looked at him with renewed expectation, holding their breath to hear what the mysterious Gotham vigilante’s secret ability was.
“He’s rich,” Conner stated.
The revelation caused a deathly silence in the room.
Everyone was left completely speechless, staring at him with blank expressions at such an answer.
Even Kara, whose mind was almost a blank slate due to the amnesia, looked at him with a face of absolute emptiness.
After that little episode in the dining room, the boys finished eating.
Looking up, they noticed that their father was no longer in the living room; he had stepped out onto the farmhouse porch to catch some fresh air under the blanket of the night.
Conner held a steaming mug of tea between his hands.
He loved drinking tea at night, specifically black tea with milk—a deeply ingrained little habit he carried over from his past life that was still very much a part of his current routine.
As John and Brandon quietly walked up to him, enjoying the peaceful countryside atmosphere, Conner immediately noticed their footsteps.
Without even turning to look at them, he asked in a calm voice, “What is it?”
“Um…
Dad, we…
we…” Brandon stammered, fidgeting with his hands, not quite knowing how to continue the sentence.
Seeing that his brother had frozen up, John decided to take the initiative and finish the sentence for him: “We talked to Clark.”
“You told him about his background, didn’t you?” Conner interjected, turning around slowly with a smirk, giving them no time to finish their explanation.
Both boys’ eyes widened in surprise that their father had guessed it so quickly, and they nodded, sporting rather awkward smiles.
Conner rolled his eyes in amusement and took a sip of his tea before speaking.
“It’s fine.
Come on, did I ever tell you that you were forbidden from telling him?”
John and Brandon looked at each other, realizing that, indeed, their father had never imposed a confidentiality rule regarding the matter.
They nodded, feeling a massive weight lift off their shoulders.
“So don’t worry about it,” Conner continued, looking up at the stars.
“Besides, as a Kryptonian, Clark had every right in the world to know where he comes from and what his background is.”
Both brothers felt a bit foolish for having been so worried all day, only to discover that their father wasn’t bothered at all.
Noticing the slight awkwardness that still lingered in the air, Conner decided to subtly change the subject, much to the boys’ immense relief.
“So…
how did he take it?”
“Well, although he told us he still had to digest so much information all at once, in short, he took it really well,” John explained analytically.
“Oh,” Conner simply nodded, showing no surprise whatsoever.
In his mind, Conner found himself reflecting on Clark Kent.
In these early years, it had been hard for him to recognize which specific version of the character he was dealing with; in fact, he knew he still needed a couple more years of observation to decipher it one hundred percent.
But if anyone were to ask him which Clark he resembled most physically in this universe, Conner would say without hesitation that it was Henry Cavill’s…
though he still couldn’t say for sure.
“Well…
so, Dad, about the new girls…” Brandon brought up the subject, unable to contain his curiosity any longer.
“Them…” Conner paused briefly, contemplating the steam rising from his mug.
“Well, your mothers were patrolling around the dam and found the ship Kara came in.
As for me, I stumbled upon Raven by pure chance while I was out going for a walk and getting some fresh air.” Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
“Oh?
And is their stay here going to be temporary, or…?” John asked, highly intrigued by the future setup of the house.
Conner knew exactly what his son meant.
“Well, it’s hard to say.
In Kara’s case, she arrived on Earth quite a few years ago, but due to an issue with her ship’s systems, she ended up trapped in suspended animation.
Now that Laurel and Karen freed her, for some strange medical reason, she’s left with amnesia.”
Conner couldn’t help but take a mental pause at that point, marveling at the tremendous and bizarre twist of fate.
In the original Smallville series, Kara’s arrival hadn’t been like this at all, and he briefly wondered what could have caused that alteration.
However, he didn’t give it too much thought and continued with his explanation:
“And in Raven’s case…
well, she’s a more special matter.
I don’t know much about it yet.
I ran into her the moment she set foot on Earth, and from the little she’s revealed so far, I assume she left her home planet for some major reason,” Conner concluded.
While John remained lost in thought, Brandon began to fidget in his spot, looking rather restless, as if he had a massive question burning a hole in his tongue.
Conner noticed it immediately and rolled his eyes.
He knew exactly what was on his son’s mind; it was something he himself had anticipated from the moment he walked through the front door.
“You’re wondering why Kara looks so much like Karen, aren’t you?” Conner blurted out with a highly playful smirk.
Brandon jumped, startled to see that his father had read his thoughts like an open book, but he ended up nodding expectantly.
John also snapped out of his thoughts and stared at his father, sharing the same curiosity.
“Well…” Conner looked at them and thought fast for a couple of seconds.
Obviously, he couldn’t drop the absolute truth on them: that biologically they were the same person but from different parallel universes within the multiverse.
That would blow their minds.
However, a perfect idea based on the lore of his race came to mind, and he spoke with total ease:
“Kryptonians can end up looking remarkably alike, boys.
This is because, on our home planet, the reproduction system was entirely based on genetic engineering.
Fetuses weren’t born naturally; they were artificially designed in the Genesis Chambers.
That way, the physical perfection of society was ensured, and predetermined traits were chosen beforehand.
It’s highly likely that their family lineages share the same genetic design pattern.”
“Oh…” both brothers exclaimed at the same time, completely amazed by the sci-fi trivia.
And so, with that explanation, the great “aunt” mystery was seemingly resolved for the boys.
The three of them stood in silence for a few minutes, contemplating the peaceful night landscape of Smallville under the moonlight, until Brandon broke the harmony with a mischievous grin:
“So…
are you going to trick both girls and add them to your harem, Dad?”
The silence that followed was deathly.
Conner slowly lowered the teacup from his lips, turned his head toward Brandon with a cold, piercing gaze, and declared in a dangerously calm tone, “It seems to me like your backside is itching for a beating, isn’t it?”
As he uttered those words, Conner began cracking his knuckles one by one, letting out a dry, menacing pop that wiped the grin off Brandon’s face in a millisecond.