Tales From Superboy! (Discontinued)

#5

THAM! "I need immediate aid! Where is Dr. Kent!?" Superman demands upon roughly barging his way inside the CADMUS facility, setting his sights upon the worker at the front desk.

"S-she may likely be in her lab still. She hasn't been seen leaving the building." The male answers. With that alone to work with, the clone proceeds toward the door leading to the stairway at lightning speed. Up the stairs and through the halls of the second floor until he reaches the office he seeks. Banging immediately ensues as the Kryptonian lifts a fisted hand.

"Dr. Kent, are you in!? I need a curative for this." He yells out, hoping to be heard.

"Hang on, hang on. I'm coming. Though, I'm not exactly sure what you have that the sun c-" When she pulls open that door after getting up from her desk and walking over, she pauses. Shocked by what she sees.

"Even if it could, the Sun hasn't lessened his hindrance. The vision in my right eye is... inverted, I think. All I can see with it is a negative distortion of the world." He explains to her. Curiously, she raises her left hand to cup the right side of his face and brushes her thumb over the discoloration of his closed eye.

"Does it hurt?" She asks.

"No."

"Open your eye for me." She requests, and he obliges. His eyelid peels open to reveal a pinkish-red pupil surrounded by not white, but pitch black darkness. A complete contrast to his opposite.

"Who did this to you?"

"Some bizarre dark ooze that morphed into a woman dressed like Batman after I touched it. She said she was an 'Amalgamation of echoes'."

"...A woman dressed like Batman?" Dr. Kent repeats with a concerned frown overtaking her features.

"Yes. She was still made of that gooey substance, but she had taken a clear form of a woman dressed like him. Bat symbol and all." He affirms.

"Bryce...? But, it couldn't be..." She murmurs to herself, averting her eyes in deep thought. Her arms retreat to fold across her torso as she does.

"Bryce? Is that what its name is? Is that some sort of acronym for something?" Connor asks.

"No, it's the name of someone I knew. A friend of sorts, if I could even call her that." She answers honestly.

"...I'm confused."

"I know, Superman. It's a complicated thing. I'd have to see her for myself, but can you tell me everything that happened at the Watchtower, anyway?" Dr. Kent asks of him, which he obliges without hesitation. The moment he arrived, to his escalating dialogue with Hal Jordan, flying desperately through the halls of the giant structure, the unexpected aid from Batman, to what they found within a secret room, the things the bizarre woman said, the sudden flooding, and how he ended up out in space with no air.

"I see. I'm glad your secondary powers saved you then, Superman. That must have been terrifying for you. And honestly, it sounds as if she actually does know I'm here. Though, that shouldn't be possible."

"Here? Why do I get the feeling you're not referring to this building? What is her place of origin, and what does she want?" The clone presses.

"Well, she's from an entirely different earth. Bryce was The Bat back my old Earth - my original Earth. A dedicated detective just like the Batman on this Earth. Until she lost her mind, that is. Seems like she found her way through, too." She elaborates casually.

"An entirely different Earth? So the multi-verse is a real thing?" He asks with a lifting brow.

"Undoubtedly so, Superman. It is very much real."