Necromancer | Daughter of Batman

Chapter X

"No, no!" Kim laughed. "You have to button mash it, but don't break the controller, we just bought it." She placed a hand on Connor's thumb as he remained focused on Kimberly's zombie game.

"I'm not gonna break it, Keeks, damn!" He snickered. "I can control my own strength, you know!"

"Hey, you two!" Clark shouted from the kitchen. "Pipe down. We're in a meeting here."

Kimberly lolled her head back to face the Justice League, all out of their uniforms and surrounding Bruce Wayne's kitchen island. "Maybe you should have gone to Headquarters. Or maybe don't bring Connor next time."

"Kim—" Bruce warned.

"Shutting up now!" Kimberly returned her attention to the TV happily.

Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose and lowered his head. "She's has such an attitude."

"Connor, too." Clark chuckled. "Must be why they're so close. Not to mention, they'll be in high school in a few months.

"Don't remind me. I thought I wanted out of the kid stage, but back then... She used to listen to me at least."

"You should both be harder on them, you know." Diana crossed her arms. "The rest of us don't have our own kids to raise, but we have our sidekicks. Even they know they're meant to replace us someday. It's about time Kim owned up to her responsibility as the next CEO, and Batwoman."

Bruce sighed heavily. "She'll get there. Most of the time she's respectful, but... Connor brings out her personality. No one else can do that, not even her girlfriends back at school." He smiled gently. "I'm glad those two grew up together. They'll make as good a team as Clark and I."

"They're talking about us." Connor whispered.

"Hey, Clark said it's rude to use your hearing for that." Kim giggled.

Connor shrugged in response. "What he doesn't know won't kill him." He smiled. "Besides, I think I can trust my best friend to keep a secret, yeah?"

Kim scoffed. "Sure, Superboy."

"You have until tomorrow morning. Then, you'll never see him again." A soldier whispered to Kimberly as he shoved her inside the cell. She fell onto her hands and knees, then looked up toward the back wall. There he was. Connor Kent, leaning on the brick, slumped over in his own excrement. The cell reeked of death. He breathed slowly and heavily. The veins on his arms were green in response to the glowing chains, made from Kryptonite. Even the son of Superman couldn't escape. How could a powerless girl escape from here, with him at her side? Kimberly let out a whimper as she realized there was no hope.

"Connor," she whispered, crawling over to him. She placed both hands on his cheeks and stroked them with her thumb. "Connor!"

The boy opened his eyes slowly, focusing them on the girl before him. Immediately, they filled with tears. "Kim... Not you, too..." He wept weakly, setting his eyes on the bleeding wound in her shoulder. "They shot you..."

"I'm okay, just losing blood..." Kimberly turned her attention to the tubes protruding from his chest, and the cuts lining his arms and legs. "What did they do to you...?" She whispered, pulling his body forward. Her eyes settled on the mangled skin of his back as a result of brutal whipping. He cried out in pain. "Oh, God..."

"I can't heal... The Kryptonite." He breathed heavily. "I refused them, Kim... That's why they..." He grasped her hand tightly. "Please, do whatever they say. Don't refuse..." Tears streamed down his cheeks, stopping at the feeding tube taped to his face.