Superboy

Scene 13: Finding a New Calling

Now if he wasn't being beaten to a pulp, Connor might have been able to think of something to beat this clone. One of Superman's powers was his genius-level intellect. However, the clone wasn't giving him time to think.

This wasn't the worst problem Connor had, either. No matter how hard he tried, he had no opportunities to land many hits of his own. Even now, when he no longer felt the effects of the Kryptonite, he knew he was outclassed. If only he could do something to change that.

Eventually, Connor managed to dodge one of the clone's berserker punches. Connor tried to find a new angle to hit the clone from, but the clone turned around too quickly. Before he could react, the clone took a deep breath, then used Superman's super breath against him. Connor was thrown into a wall, for the...actually, he had lost track of how many times he had thrown into a wall.

"Great, another weapon I bet I don't have," Connor mumbled. "How am I supposed to win? He has all the powers and..."

He was cut off when the clone shot at him with his own heat vision. Acting on instinct, Connor used his own heat vision to intercept the shot. The two beams collided, trying to overcome one another. Eventually, Connor jumped away, breaking off the attack. As a result, the clone's own heat vision hit an examination mirror, reflecting into his eyes.

Connor looked up at the clone as he roared in pain. Seizing his chance, he jumped at the clone and hurled him into a wall. As he crashed against the wall, Connor grabbed two chairs and threw them at the clone.

"I think I know the difference between you and me," Connor commented. "Maybe you do have more powers than me, but you don't have enough control over them. Let's see if you can use them as creatively as Superman."

Connor didn't wait for the clone to recover. Instead, he picked him up and threw him bodily into the ceiling, hitting a lighting fixture. Electricity sparked around his head. However, even as he fell, he reacted in time to hit Connor aside when he tried to attack him from behind.

Connor cursed, realizing his plan hadn't worked. He had been trying to impair the clone's super hearing. Clearly, a surge of electricity was not going to be enough.

Gritting his teeth in determination, Connor stood up and waited for the clone to come at him again. As he dodged the clone's next charge, he thought he heard something down below. If he had to guess, another fight was taking place on the floor below.

There wasn't time to dwell on it, though. The clone jumped onto Connor's back, wrapping his arms around his neck. Connor tried to throw him off, but he could he feel the air leaving his lungs. In desperation, he jumped at the ceiling with all his might. There was a tremendous crash, and he felt himself fall through the floor.

***

Connor was right. Another fight was taking place down below him.

Roy had succeeded in tackling the guard who had snuck up behind him, only to land himself in the middle of a hallway full of guards. There were half a dozen staring at him in astonishment. There were two guys to his right, while the other four on his left.

Roy took care of the simpler problem and shot a net arrow at the two guards on his right. Before the guards on the right could raise their guns to fire, Roy jumped behind the trapped guards. Immediately, no shots came at him, which Roy had predicted would happen. These guys may work for Lex Corp, but there had to be friends among the ranks of the guards. They wouldn't want to hurt each other.

"Come on, you can't hide behind there forever," one of the guards called.

"I don't know," Roy quipped back. "I'm getting kind of comfortable here."