August 3, 07:38 EDT
The morning rush in Metropolis was its usual orchestra, honking cars, distant sirens, and the hum of a city that never slept. All of it shattered the moment the suspension bridge gave out with a violent metallic scream.
Steel cables snapped. Asphalt folded. A school bus teetered over the edge, its front wheels dangling above the river far below.
From his office in a gleaming Wayne skyscraper branch in Metropolis, Bruce Wayne lowered his coffee cup.
The bridge collapse reflected in the glass, and for a moment, the mask of billionaire calm faltered. He reached toward the hidden panel that would reveal his Batsuit—
—but stopped when a red-and-blue blur streaked into view.
Superman.
Bruce's hand withdrew.
"Alright, Clark. Let's see how you handle this one."
Superman cut through the smoke as if it weren't there. Heat vision stitched across fractured supports, welding them back together.
Then a second figure entered the scene, dropping from above with the subtlety of a meteor.
Superboy.
He hit the bridge so hard the entire structure shuddered.
Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose.
"…That's not ideal."
Down on the asphalt, the clone wasted no time. He marched forward, muscles straining as he lifted a crushed sedan with effortless strength and set it safely onto the road. Then he gripped the school bus—tires screeching—trying to drag it back to stable ground.
Superman appeared beside him, wordlessly taking the weight.
Superboy's jaw locked.
"I had it!"
"You shook the bridge when you landed," Superman retorted, voice clipped. "You could've sent everything toppling. You have to think—"
"I was thinking!"
"—about more than strength," Superman finished sharply. "And you can't just… leap into situations without assessing them first."
Superboy took a step forward.
"Then teach me. Train me. Show me what my limits even are."
Superman's expression shifted, discomfort, guilt, avoidance.
"I… can't. Not now."
Then his comm chimed.
"Superman, this is Green Arrow. Need backup."
The Man of Steel took off without looking back.
Superboy stood alone on the trembling bridge, the river wind cutting against him.
In the Wayne skyscraper, Bruce dialed a number.
"Clark," he said coldly when Superman answered. "We need to talk."
**Mount Justice
August 3, 13:06 EDT**
The zeta-tube pulsed.
Superboy stormed into the cave, jaw tight, fists trembling. Spartan, mid-stretch in the training hall, lifted his head.
"Little brother," he greeted softly, "you look like you want to suplex a mountain."
Superboy brushed past him without a word.
Wonderboy sighed.
"…So. Superman played absentee dad again."
Superboy didn't answer. He didn't have to.
Before Wonderboy could say more, the zeta tube flashed twice.
Black Canary stepped in, arm wrapped in gauze, followed by Martian Manhunter.
"Alright everyone," Canary said, forcing lightness into her tone despite the stiffness in her shoulder. "Line up. Training time."
Kid Flash whispered to Robin, "Didn't she get, like, wrecked this morning?"
"She'll still wipe the floor with you," Robin replied.
"Uh—what?"
"Kid Flash," Canary called with a smile, "step forward."
He flinched.
"…Please tell me you didn't hear that."
She absolutely did.
One blocked strike, one missed sweep, and he was on the mat groaning.
Superboy scoffed. "This is pointless."
Black Canary's smile faded.
"Oh? Care to demonstrate?"
Superboy stepped forward.
Two seconds later he was on his back.
He sprang up, furious, and she swept him again, planting him even harder.
"Strength isn't a strategy," she said, standing over him. "And power doesn't mean you dictate the fight."
Superboy shoved her hand away, humiliated.
"This is a waste of my time. I should be training with"
"With Superman?" Canary said gently.
Superboy froze.
Ocean waves of anger, rejection, and hurt radiated from him in waves. Wonderboy stepped forward instinctively, protective, but Canary lifted a hand gently.
"No. Let him choose his next step."
Superboy turned away—
—but before he reached the door, the Cave alarm blared.
Mission Briefing – Batman
On-screen, Batman stood amidst scorched concrete and twisted metal.
"We have a new threat. A highly adaptive android. Eight League members were required to bring it down."
Wonderboy's brows lifted.
"…Eight?"
"If it copies and scales abilities… that's dangerous," Robin muttered.
"We believe it was built by Professor Ivo," Martian Manhunter added.
Miss Martian gasped softly.
"But he's supposed to be dead."
"Clearly he isn't," Batman said. "The android remains are being transported to STAR Labs. Your team will escort the real cargo."
Superboy clenched his jaw.
"Good. Something to hit."
"Superboy," Batman said without looking up, "take this seriously."
Wonderboy glanced at the screen.
"…He is taking it seriously. In the worst way."
Batman's eyes flickered toward him for half a second, approval.
Then the feed cut.
**Litchfield County, Connecticut
August 3, 20:08 EDT**
The forest near the transport route was quiet, cicadas humming softly. The Team waited in civilian clothing, cloaked by the trees.
Superman arrived to check the trucks.
He didn't look at Superboy.
Superboy didn't look at him either.
Wonderboy felt the tension like a crack across stone. He stepped between them briefly, not confronting Superman, but refusing to let his little brother be overshadowed and ignored.
Superman left without a word.
Wonderboy exhaled.
"…That man could use a class in basic emotional intelligence."
Robin snorted. "Put it on the League meeting schedule."
The trucks began to roll.
Miss Martian, Aqualad, and Kid Flash followed the road quietly—
—until metal screeches and robotic shrieks filled the night.
MONQIs dropped from the treetops like predatory apes made of iron and malice.
"AMBUSH!" Aqualad shouted.
Ambush on the Manhattan Cargo
Robin's bike veered as his HUD screamed a warning.
MONQIs swarmed the transport, latching onto metal with clawed limbs. Their eyes glowed red, targeting systems whirring.
Superboy didn't slow down, he jumped straight at them, fists first.
"BRO!" Wonderboy shouted through the comm. "Don't just—!"
Superboy hit the roof so hard the truck fishtailed.
Robin had to grapple up to avoid being thrown.
Both Teams Overwhelmed
Kid Flash and Miss Martian were knocked off their bikes.
Aqualad took down two MONQIs but six more jumped on.
Robin kicked a robot off the truck—another took its place.
Superboy punched one so hard it exploded—
—and three more grabbed him, lifting him into the air.
He roared, ripped one apart—
—but the others escaped with the cargo.
The same happened on the other side of the state.
The android parts were stolen.
Superboy's Breaking Point
Robin secured the driver as the truck screeched sideways.
Superboy landed beside him, but he wasn't listening anymore.
He crushed his comm link in his hand.
"Superboy, WAIT!" Wonderboy shouted.
But there was only static.
Aqualad regrouped everyone across comms.
"We must locate the parts before they are reassembled. Track the beacons."
Robin hacked a fallen MONQI.
"Gotham," he announced. "They're heading to Gotham."
"Boston team is too far," Aqualad said.
Kid Flash tightened his goggles.
"I'll run."
Wonderboy looked at the dark treeline.
"…Superboy's going in alone."
Miss Martian's voice trembled.
"Find him. Please."
Wonderboy nodded once.
"I got him."
**Metropolis
August 3, 21:18 EDT**
At Bibbo's Diner, Clark Kent sat uncomfortably across from Bruce Wayne.
"Clark," Bruce said over untouched apple pie, "you're going to lose him."
Superman stiffened.
"I never asked for a clone. I never asked for—"
"He's alive," Bruce snapped. "Feeling. Hurting. And whether you accept it or not— you're the closest thing he has to a father."
Clark's fork froze midair.
Bruce stood.
"Get over your discomfort. Before he becomes something you're actually afraid of."
He left Clark alone at the table.
August 3, 22:11 EDT**
The MONQIs skittered like metal gremlins along the cargo train's roof, clutching the glowing crates containing the android's dismantled parts. Their red eyes flickered in coded patterns, transmitting the success of their mission.
They never saw the incoming blur.
Superboy smashed through them like a living battering ram, sending two flying off the train and grabbing a third by the leg before slamming it into the roof.
Its head sparked. It twitched once.
Went still.
From inside the cargo hold, a voice drawled:
"Ah. My wayward creation arrives."
Superboy ripped the train car door off its hinges.
Inside stood Professor Ivo, gaunt, pale, eyes fever-bright — and behind him, the final pieces of the android slid into place with a mechanical click.
Ivo smiled.
"Allow me to introduce you to… Amazo."
The android rose. Eight feet of gleaming, shifting alloy. Its eyes glowed with adaptive blue light.
Superboy didn't wait.
He punched it with everything he had.
His fist dented the metal—
—but Amazo didn't even move.
"…Huh?"
Amazo grabbed him by the face and hurled him off the train.
Superboy crashed through a billboard, a bus stop, and then—
BOOM
—straight through the front of Gotham Academy.
**Gotham Academy
22:26 EDT**
Wonderboy wasn't there.
But he felt Superboy's emotional storm ripping across the telepathic link Miss Martian had left open.
Fear. Shame. Rage.
And pain.
He whispered under his breath:
"Hang on, little brother…"
Miss Martian's voice chimed in:
We're on our way.
Wonderboy: I'll meet you there.
He sprinted into the night.
Inside the School
Superboy tore free of rubble as Amazo smashed into the hallway behind him, each step making lockers jump from their hinges.
Superboy charged.
Amazo mimicked.
They collided, the shockwave exploding classroom windows.
Fists, steel, plaster, electricity — everything blurred as the fight tore through:
– the history wing
– the science lab
– and finally the gymnasium
Superboy slammed onto the hardwood floor, trying to catch his breath.
Professor Ivo strolled in behind Amazo, clapping lazily.
"Oh, this is delightful. Truly. You really thought brute force would work? The android adapts. You hit it? It hits harder. You resist? It evolves."
Superboy growled and pushed to his feet.
Before the fight could continue—
—Kid Flash blurred into the gym, snatching Superboy out of Amazo's descending fist.
"Bro you REALLY owe me for— AHHH!"
Amazo grabbed him by the torso and began crushing with Superman-level strength.
"Wally!" Robin yelled, vaulting from the rafters.
Amazo cocked its fist—
—when an arrow whistled through the air.
Amazo turned intangible, letting the arrow pass harmlessly through before it materialized beside Robin. It swung—
Only Wonderboy's strike redirected the blow in time.
He landed beside the others, drawing no lethal weapons, only taking a defensive stance.
"Good. We're all here," Wonderboy growled. "Now let's—"
Amazo backhanded him across the gym and into the bleachers.
"WONDERBOY!" Superboy roared.
He lunged at the android—
—but Robin blocked him.
"Superboy! Wait! We can't beat it head-on!"
"Then what—?!"
It clicked in Wonderboy's head even before Robin said it.
Robin pointed straight at Ivo.
"We beat the man, not the machine."
Wonderboy grinned from his cracked pile of bleachers.
"Finally. A plan I like."
Superboy lunged toward Ivo.
The scientist squealed and stumbled back.
"Amazo! Protect me! PROTECT ME!"
The android pivoted instantly — switching behavior protocols from attack to defend.
Now its movements were predictable.
Robin hurled a batarang.
Amazo turned intangible to dodge—
—and before it could switch back, Superboy punched straight into its head.
The android became solid.
Superboy's fist lodged deep in the metallic skull—
And Amazo's head detonated.
The massive frame collapsed.
Silence.
Smoke.
Then—
"Is everyone alright!?"
Aqualad burst in through the gym doors, Miss Martian floating behind him.
Wonderboy coughed and stood, brushing splinters off his shirt.
"Been worse."
Robin crouched beside the sparking body and secured the remains.
But when Miss Martian scanned the room—
Her brow furrowed.
"Ivo is gone."
**Mount Justice
August 4, 01:06 EDT**
The Team stood before Batman.
His arms crossed. His expression unreadable.
"You acted independently. You deviated from orders. You lost track of the cargo."
He paused.
"And yet… you adapted. You neutralized the threat. And you saved lives tonight."
Kid Flash blinked.
"Wait… was that… a compliment?"
"Don't push it," Batman replied.
Superboy leaned on the railing, still bruised.
Wonderboy nudged him subtly with an elbow.
Batman continued.
"You may call the League for support at any—"
"No," Robin interrupted sharply.
He pulled an arrow from his belt — the one fired in the gym.
"Someone was watching us. Someone interfered."
Batman's eyes narrowed.
"Green Arrow?"
Green Arrow stepped forward, arms raised.
"Not mine."
Silence.
The Team looked at each other.
"…Speedy," they all realized.
Kid Flash smirked and twirled the arrow.
"Souvenir."
Black Canary moved toward Superboy.
He tensed—
—but Wonderboy placed a hand on his shoulder.
Superboy inhaled.
Exhaled.
"…I'm sorry," he said quietly. "For earlier. You were right. About everything."
Canary smiled gently and ruffled his hair.
"Good. Now get ready, because training resumes tomorrow."
Superboy nodded.
Wonderboy wrapped an arm around his little brother's shoulders, pulling him close.
"Welcome back to the mat," he whispered.
Superboy smirked despite himself