Adventures of Superguy

August 3, 2010 - Metropolis, DE 

Metro Narrows Bridge 

07:35:31

The morning dawned bright and clear in the City of Tomorrow, and Connor was soaking in the rays and the sights already. He strode along a busy thoroughfare, wearing what he thought of as his ‘civilian clothes’; red hightop sneakers, blue jeans, one of his custom T-shirts, and a heather grey hoodie zipped up, and the pair of aviator sunglasses he had no real need for. 

Not like I need a disguise; I don’t really have a secret identity. I barely have an ‘identity’. My records didn’t exist here until Batwoman did her thing. But better to have some plausible deniability so I don’t get mobbed.

There seemed little chance of that, though. His only official heroism on record was the domestic violence incident he’d broken up in Happy Harbor, and no press had been involved there. There might be a few frames of him and Kid Quick brawling with the Terror Twins but if so, he hadn’t seen any of it online.

Probably for the best. Didn’t exactly show my best side, there. In my defense, I was mostly trying to take both Trailer Trash Twins at once while Kid got the civilians away. The mind palace’s instruction can only take me so far. Wonder Woman is supposed to be training us but she’s been on a leave of absence since that blow up with ‘Wondrous Boy’, or ‘Trojan’ now. That was awkward…

His ruminations on the Princess of Themyscira’s personal issues with her sidekick were forgotten when he saw the view that he suddenly got as he turned the corner.

There it was, the Daily Planet Building! A towering edifice of white stone, and its beautiful bronze Art Deco globe shone brilliantly in the morning sun. Grinning like a fool, he got out his Eye Phone to take a few pictures of it, including a selfie with it so he looked like he was holding up the globe, embossed with the words DAILY PLANET.

“Watch it, kid! Freaking tourists…” A woman in a business suit barked at him as she tore herself away from her cell phone to upbraid him. She nearly shoulder checked him as she shoved past, and Connor realized he had been impeding the flow of pedestrians. Connor stepped back in shock at her rudeness, and she hustled past him, shaking her head in annoyance before returning to her conversation as she disappeared in the crowd.

Some people…

Suddenly, he heard something that cut through the crowd noise, the bustle of traffic, the droning of HVAC units on the buildings, and the rest of the cluttered soundscape of the busy Metropolis. A sound like the crack of a rifle shot that only he seemed to hear. His head snapped in its direction; the river. Then it came again, and again, and suddenly the constant hum of traffic that he had tried to tune out while on this excursion became discordant and frantic, tires squealing and horns being laid on. The crunch of steel and shattering glass also came distantly, as the cracking noises increased. His supervision leapt down the grid streets towards the river, where the road joined the bridge spanning the Bay.

Trouble. He thought, and then he looked up and around, straining eyes and ears for a distinct sonic boom. Nothing of the sort reached him, so he stepped back into a nearby alleyway, and unzipped his hoodie.

This looks like a job for…

********

Leaping from rooftop to rooftop was an exercise in trying to land softly, but that remained an elusive goal for Superboy. As it was, each landing was a floor shaking impact that made him wince slightly. Nothing seemed broken each time, but he figured that the architecture just wasn’t meant for his kind of landing. Regardless, a few more leaps took him to the edge of the last building before the bridge itself. 

A long suspension bridge that spanned the Bay, it was held up on cables hanging from the massive support towers, which were a lime white concrete. Taking a run up and making his most powerful leap, he crossed the distance between the last rooftop and the top of the first tower in one jump. Looking down at the situation, he saw the roadbed cracking up in places and a half dozen vehicles crashed into each other or the dividers. Several were dangling over the side, including a school bus that teetered over the edge. Many cars had stopped before the damaged section of road deck, and been rear ended into it. The people who were still mobile had abandoned their vehicles and were fleeing back toward the land, including commuters whose vehicles were fine. But the sudden traffic jam meant they couldn’t get off the bridge with their cars, so instead they took to their heels.

Wasting no time, he leapt down to the road deck with a characteristic crash and rumble, but this time it felt like the bridge took the impact badly, and for a moment he felt like he had landed on a water bed. But after a second he regained his balance and raced toward the closest vehicle teetering over the edge, a white sedan whose front end dipped toward the water far below even now. He grabbed it under the rear axle and lifted it up and away from the edge, before placing it down again. Its thankful driver piled out, babbling in desperate thanks, but he waved her off and turned to the next closest vehicle in danger.

That proved to be the big yellow school bus, and he could hear high pitched shrieks of terror from its juvenile passengers as the massive vehicle ponderously tipped towards its front, raising the back end off the bridge like a massive teeter totter. As it rose, the screaming children within reached a new pitch. 

Pushing himself, he pounded toward the bus and grabbed it under the rear frame, straining to pull it back down. The weight and leverage made it harder, but he forced it down, and then discovered a new problem. While it was back on its rear wheels, the front and the nose with its heavy diesel engine, were still hanging over open air and dragging it towards its inevitable boon. He felt the weight drag him forward, and in  panic he dug in his heels to arrest its slide.

Superboy strained his arms and back as he tried to pull the bus back, but his feet began to slide along with the bus. Panic began to grip him as the children screamed again as they saw their new predicament. Furious denial leapt to his mind as he grit his teeth and threw his all into dragging the bus back from peril. First one agonizing step, then another, as he arrested the slide and then reversed it. Steel groaned under his hands as his fingers dug into the frame rail, and he worried that it might tear apart in his hands. He quelled his rising panic with the sheer weight of the duty.

Not gonna let anything happen to these kids! Superboy vowed as he ground his teeth and strained every muscle to drag the bus and its passengers back to safety. Then with a sudden smooth jerk, all the weight of it left him and he fell back awkwardly onto his butt. Looking up in shock he saw the rusted underside of the bus floating above him, held aloft by a floating figure in a familiar red and blue costume, backlit by the morning sun.

The sight stole his breath away, and awe filled his heart. 

Knowing she’s real and seeing her do it are two different things…

She was looking down at him as she gently lowered the bus to the ground and moved off to the side, her face unreadable. Superboy looked around and saw his position, scrambling to his feet and dusting himself off to cover his embarrassment. 

“Thanks, uh, for the help. But I had that.” He said, trying to reclaim some dignity.

“I didn’t want to take the chance.” Superwoman said as she turned to face him. “As it is, your landing could have destabilized the whole bridge.” She continued, and he heard the note of disapproval in her voice.

A pit opened in his stomach as he processed that.

Oh god, did I almost make it worse? Shame burned his face at the thought as worry gnawed at him. He grew suddenly very conscious of the small and curious faces peering out the bus windows at him, and their eyes suddenly filled him with guilt.

“But, it didn’t?” Superboy asked hopefully, not meeting her gaze.

“But it could have.” She answered, and as he summoned his courage to see her face, he saw a familiar expression on her stern but beautiful face.

Disappointment.

In him.

Somehow, that was worse than Batwoman’s chewing out after Santa Prisca. Much worse. Made even more biting by the thought of what his actions could have cost others, a pointed example sitting right next to them, watching and listening to their exchange. Those young ears stilled his tongue from any more attempted defenses of his actions. He looked at his feet and gave a curt nod.

Superwoman exhaled after a moment.

“We don’t yet know the limits of your powers, and you have only the barest experience in using them.” She said in a slightly softer tone. “I spent years training myself in how to use my powers before I ever began operating as a hero. As powerful as I am, and as powerful as you might one day become, the most important lesson I learned is to control that power, and to think about what I was doing before I used it.”

Images filtered through his mind, from his own memories rather than the mind palace’s downloads. Hand drawn comic panels and live action movies that depicted what her youth must have been like, training at her parent’s farm and in the Fortress. Learning control and responsibility, earning her power, and showing her skill in using it.

Not like me. I just got handed the keys to a race car and decided I could be a F1 champion. He thought as a cloud of recriminations descended over him. It felt like it weighed more than the school bus, and his shoulders slumped under it. But hope flickered in his heart as he looked up at Superwoman, taking courage from the familiar symbol on her chest as his eyes trailed over it.

“Well, maybe you could train me, then. So I don’t make these kinds of mistakes?” He asked weakly, his hope a flighty thing as he struggled to meet her eye.

Superwoman met his gaze for a moment, then looked away, and his heart fell.

“Wonder Woman has that covered.” She answered with a slight hesitation.

“I know, but-” He started before she raised a hand to interrupt. He could hear the earpiece she wore chiming and she tapped it to answer as he stood there wallowing in his frustration.

“Superwoman. Wait, Arrow, slow down! What’s attacking?” 

He opened his mouth to offer his help, but she turned her back on him to continue her call.

“No, I’m definitely available. Coordinates?... Acknowledged. On my way.” She ended the call, and turned just her head back to him.

“Sorry, Super…boy. Duty calls.” Superwoman said curtly, and flew away without another word.

He watched as her scarlet cape billowed behind her as she flew, rising higher and faster as she soared off. Shame warred with anger as his face grew hot, and he clenched his fists. He looked away from the bus, unable to meet the gazes of the kids who were even now clambering for his attention. 

Superboy stood there for a long moment, before he turned back toward the landward side of the bridge.

This time, he walked.

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