After a few weeks' hiatus in this book, I have returned to give you, Chapter 6! Please enjoy!
Superboy watched Wally leave the room, and M'gann walk over to Artemis, in her hands a tray of brownies, that had been made earlier. He watched the blonde pick up one, and take a bite, saying, somewhat slowly, "You're getting better at baking, day by day, M'gann." The redhead beamed with joy, and she flew around the room, continuing to pass out the treats. When she came to Superboy, she gave a blush. He said, simply making a statement, "You made brownies." M'gann nodded, and replied, "Yep! At first I wanted to put chocolate chunks in them, but Artemis said that makes them too chocolaty, and I didn't want them to be overpowering. I also wanted to add nuts, but Kaldur cautioned that I shouldn't, in case someone's 'allergic'. Sadly, I don't know what that means, but I didn't do it anyway. I hope you like them!" Superboy took one, and observed its appearance in his hand. The brownie looked really dark and spongy. It had a layer of messy, gloppy frosting on top, and the shape wasn't that of a square, but a triangle. An odd shape for a piece of food, considering he wasn't used to the world quite yet. He stared at it for a moment, before realizing that M'gann was staring at him.
When Superboy noticed M'gann's auburn brown eyes watching him, he moved the brownie to him mouth, and took a bite. It was sweet, but tasted kind of like chalk. Not very good with social cues, he said, "It tastes like chalk, but good chalk." All eyes turned to him, after his comment, and the room fell silent. M'gann stayed silent, as all were worried what she might do to the comment. She took a brownie herself, and tried one, then spat it out, and remarked, "Yuck! That does taste like chalk! I can't believe the recipe turned out like this! It was supposed to be delectable. Maybe I added too much flour? Or not enough chocolate powder? Artemis! Why didn't you tell me?" The blonde answered, "You seemed so happy. I may be cold to Kid Dork, but that doesn't mean I don't have a heart to be kinder to a person of the same gender." M'gann turned, and looked back up at Superboy. She smiled, and said, "Thank you for being honest, Superboy. It means a lot." The clone just stared, then said simply, "It was no problem.", then he walked off.
Black Canary watched Superboy leave the room suddenly, with worry in her eyes. Even if he was getting somewhat vocal with how he spoke, he was fully and brutally honest, even going as far as to tell the excited, cheerful Martian that her brownies tasted terrible. Still, honesty was considered the best policy, and at least Black Canary could see that Superboy understood that concept, even if it was depicted as being done in a harsh manner. After he left the room, the blonde therapist headed for the Zeta-tubes. She needed to talk with the teen's father, and try to encourage the bold Man of Steel to talk with his son about the brutality of words, and how to better convey them, even if the older did not want anything to do with the younger.
Superboy headed into the gym, and saw the same hole in the wall that he had created the day before, that had left everyone stunned. It brought back the thoughts of his temper tantrum, as some had begun to claim it as. The punching bag he had ruined was lying in a corner, and a new one had been dragged in, but not hung up. Seeing as how it was his fault they had to replace it in the first place, Superboy picked up the bag, and set it on the hook, then latched the hook shut on the ceiling, hoping to right the wrong. He wished people could understand how frustrated he was, that he was an uncontrollable disaster, and his temper was a side effect. He wanted to be helpful and a hero, but he wasn't sure if his blood, as being the clone, the copy, of the strongest man in the world, would grant him that. Taking a deep breath, Superboy left the gym, and went to his closet.
When he was in the closet, he could still hear all the things the others were saying from behind the wall. It was all about his comment to M'gann. He heard Kaldur say, "Superboy should have been more respectful to you, M'gann." "Yeah! He had no right to go telling you that your brownies weren't good, gorgeous!", Wally chimed in. M'gann answered, "Superboy was just being honest with me, you guys. You don't get it. Honesty to him, is like a huge thing of honor. He was following what he thought to be right. He was thinking for himself. And he was right. Those brownies weren't good like I thought they were. It's okay, really!" "He didn't need to be so blunt then. A simple 'these aren't good' would have sufficed. I'm surprised you aren't more upset about it. I mean, we all know you have a crush on him. One bad comment from a crush about something as personal as your cooking, usually breaks things down.", Artemis replied.
Superboy stopped listening when he heard Artemis' comment. He was stunned by the words. M'gann had a crush on him? What was a 'crush' anyway? He didn't know, and instead, focused his attention back to listening. "Superboy's just learning how to adjust to everything. I mean, you guys found him in a pod at Cadmus, right? Well, everyone deserves a chance to be known. Maybe he's just shy. He needs encouragement, not pressure. He needs people he can trust to be openly honest with.", M'gann asked, defending him. "M'gann is correct. Saying such about a member of the Team can often disrupt the purpose of having a team in the first place.", Kaldur admitted. "That still doesn't make it right. You do remember he punched a hole in the gym wall, and broke the punching bag.", Artemis said. "He was upset, and that's the only way his anger can be let out, without him physically hurting someone. And he's not as harsh as you all think. I think he's pretty sweet inside, but has a hard shell on the outside. And that's alright too! It just means it'll take him awhile to get used to everything. Don't get mad at him for being himself.", M'gann answered back. "M'gann, we're just trying to look out for you. You know how...sensitive you are, when someone says something harmful. We don't want that to happen.", Artemis said. The Martian replied back, "But I'm okay, Artemis. Please listen to me. Just stop being hard on Superboy." "Fine.", Artemis concluded.
Hearing the voices diminishing into the background, Superboy quit listening. He hated how much people blamed him for things. But M'gann was the only one who defended him. He was surprised that someone who barely knew him at all, would defend him, in front of all the rest of the Team. It made him think that maybe he had a chance. A chance to be someone he hadn't been. Sure, he had been Cadmus' project, but that wasn't his title. His title remained in his name. He was Superboy, the Boy of Steel. The practically invincible alien clone. He had a purpose and a life. He had a choice. He had a free mind, and it was what physically freed him, in the first place.
A/N: So yeah, I wanted M'gann to defend Conner. Don't judge... To me, it's kind of cute how she reacts, and it brings the idea that they both would go out of their way, to defend each other, even if they aren't a couple in this book quite yet. Please stay tuned, as I will try to update more frequently! And please, feel free to leave a vote or comment, to let me know your thoughts. Thank you all! <3
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More Powerful Than Kryptonite (SUPERMARTIAN)
Fanfiction"True love is knowing a person's faults, and loving them even more for it." -Unanimous Even the Boy of Steel - the boy who has brought down a building with his bare hands and his anger - has a weakness. One that he never realized could be the great...
