"It's so quiet." Connor whispered to himself, not daring to disturb the birds that twittered among the trees that lined the road. He had a special package tucked under his arm, and he could see the town just up ahead. It lay still and quiet in the cool morning air.
"Every day's just like the one before it, in a little town full of little people. Just now waking up to say-"
"Bonjour!"
"Bonjour!"
All at once, the town burst to life. Housewives shook rugs from the window, the milkman's cart clattered past, and there was the baker, making his own daily deliveries.
"Bonjour!" Connor heard a small voice piping from the side of the road.
To his right was the forest the surrounded the town of Smallville and marked the border between the kingdom of Mars and country of Krypton, where Smallville was located. To his left was the Manor of Lord and Lady Wayne, the benevolent rulers of Smallville's corner of Krypton. And trying to shove their faces through the wrought-iron bars of the gate that surrounded the manor was Lord Timothy, Lord Wayne's ward, and Madamoiselle Cassandra, lady-in-waiting-in-training to Lady Wayne.
"Bonjour!" Connor stopped to chat with the two of them.
"Is that the next chapter of Clark's story?" Tim asked, his blue eyes growing wide.
"Yes, he's almost finished." Connor ran his finger along the side of the package. "He didn't say how it was going to end, but he said it was going to be magnificent! There's a beanstalk and an ogre and-"
"Can we read it?" Cassie begged.
"Timothy!" The voice of Lord Wayne called out the window.
"Miss Cassandra!" There was Lady Wayne.
Tim cringed. "I suppose we'll have to read it later."
Connor shook his head in sympathy. "Don't worry, Monsier Jones promised to make several copies so that as many people can read it as possible.
"Thank you Connor!" Cassandra called. The two waved over their shoulders as they ran back to the Manor's front doors through the tall grass.
Connor continued on his way, making sure the bundle of papers was secure under his arm before tucking his hands in his pockets.
He was scarcely five steps onto the cobbled streets when the whispers and the stares started up. Still, he walked tall and proud. What did they know?
"It's the Kent boy again."
"Pity. His good looked and his skill could have gotten him so far if it weren't for his family."
"He's just as crazy as the rest of them."
Still, Connor was relieved to escape the crowded streets and enter Smallville's bookstore.
"Ah, Connor!" J'onn J'onzz was from Mars, and had a deeper voice and thick accent to most Kryptonian citizens, only those who took the time to know him could really understand what he was saying. Everyone called him Monsieur Jones, a Kryptonian name, but it didn't change the fact that he was from Mars, Krypton's longtime enemy. Most of the townspeople were uneducated, and always too busy to find the leisure time to read a book, and the prejudice against Martian immigrants didn't help J'onn's business. But to the schoolchildren and people like Connor and Clark, he was a great friend, and an even better storyteller.
"Good morning, J'onn," The upbringing from Connor's parents always helped him remember to call J'onn by his real name, instead of lazily going the easy way. It was more respectful, especially to an old friend.
Connor held up his package. "I brought the next chapter."
"Wonderful!" J'onn clapped his hands and reverently took the package, unwrapping the binding. "The children have been anxious for another chapter."
"Not as anxious as Clark. He's almost done with the last one. Stayed up all night working on it. He was still asleep when I left."
"Tell him to take it easy. Genius doesn't come by force." J'onn advised. He spotted Connor's eyes wandering to the shelves.
"Anything you'd like to borrow to get your mind off things?" J'onn smiled at Connor.
Connor's hand shot out and took a familiar blue book out of it's spot on the shelf.
"This one." He said.
"But you've read it twice!" J'onn chuckled.
"But Atlantean tales are fascinating! Besides, I haven't memorized them yet." Connor said.
"I suppose not," J'onn admitted. "Tell you what, if you like it all that much, it's yours." He patted the book firmly into Connor's hands.
"Thank you sir, thank you very much!" Connor was already backing towards the door, eager to get home and read his book again, but J'onn stopped him one more time.
"Oh! And tell your brother this letter just came in for him, from Metropolis."
Connor looked at the signature on the envelope J'onn handed him.
"All the way from Metropolis? But how did-"
"I sent them a couple chapters of your brother's writing. They sent it back to me because your house doesn't have much of an address."
Connor beamed. "Clark will be thrilled! Thank you, thank you very much!" He left the shop and headed home, shoving the letter into his pocket so he could read his book as he walked.
"Hi Mister Connor!" Outside the bookstore, several schoolchildren were playing jump-the-rope while they waited for classes to begin.
"Good morning everyone," Connor grinned.
"Whatcha readin' Mister Connor?" young Bart Allen asked.
"Well, it's a got a bunch of different stories in one book, but it's a book of Atlantean fairytales."
"Which one are you reading now?" Jaime Reyes asked.
"Well, the one that I'm reading about has a prince who leaves his life in the palace behind." He chuckled. "My favorite part is when the he meets the princess, because-"
The loud cowbell clanging interrupted Connor's storytelling.
"Time for class, children!" Headmaster Shayera called, her voice ringing as shrill as a hawk's.
"Sorry Connor." Bart apologized meekly, speeding off to get to class on time.
"You'll have to tell us later!" Jaime added.
"If you have some free time later, Clark just had me drop off a new chapter!"
The children cheered.
"Who's that? I don't think I've ever seen anyone that could parallel his looks." the new girl, Raquel Ervin, asked the police commissioner's daughter as Connor walked past them. His eyes were glued to the pages of the book in front of him, but his strong jawline, bulging farmboy muscles, and piercing blue eyes were unmistakable.
Barbra Gordon winced. "That's Connor Kent, the youngest son of that family I told you about?" Barbra sighed. "They're nothing like the rest of us."
A gunshot rang through the air, but no one paid much attention to it. It was just a demonstration from General D'arque, the government's recruiting officer and arms manager.
Connor, however, noticed the shot. He groaned inwardly to himself and hid his face behind his book, taking a different route.
"You didn't miss a shot, sir!" La'gaan told General D'arque in wonder. "You're the greatest soldier in the whole world!"
"I known," D'arque handed the rifle to his assistant and turned to the crowd of men and boys who had gathered to watch his display of marksmanship.
"The Royal army requires more men to defend our borders from those wretched Martians!" D'arque's voice boomed even louder than the men who shouted in agreement. "I can teach you to shoot and defend, but only if you sign up and join the army!"
D'arque chuckled as the small-minded Smallville citizens rushed at La'gann's table to sign the recruitment sheet. They didn't need too much convincing.
"Wow sir, you're amazing! Everyone in town wants to sign up!" La'gaan held out the sheet so that D'arque could see all the sloppy, uneducated marks made by various townspeople.
D'arque's face darkened as he spotted Connor. "All except two."
La'gaan followed D'arque's gaze. "Really sir? You're worried about the daydreaming Kents? Really sir, you shouldn't concern yourself sir." He said, "Mr. and Mrs. Kent have a strict policy of "no violence" for their precious boys." La'gann snorted, thinking back to the days when he and Connor went to school together. "He'd let any of the schoolyard bullies beat him up."
He rethought that statement. "Well, not that any of them really wanted to beat him up because he was so big and hulking and just...there." He mumbled.
"Exactly! With those muscles, he's stronger than fifty of your townsmen! Herding cows and farming, why, he could kill a Martian with his bare hands if he only had the gumption to do that!" D'arque ranted excitedly. La'gaan snorted, and D'arque grabbed his collar.
"Are you saying the royal army doesn't need the best it can get?"
"Well, no, of course- I mean you do but- Kent!?" La'gann tried. D'arque let La'gaan drop and hurried after the farmboy.
Connor was almost back out of town, he couldn't wait to read under the privacy of his favorite apple tree and help Clark finish his book.
But that would have to wait.
"Connor, my boy!" D'arque draped an arm around Connor's shoulder, making the boy freeze.
"What are you reading today, son?" D'arque plucked the book out of Connor's hands with two fingers, holding it like a rodent's carcass.
"Atlantean fairy tales? Really, my boy, you shouldn't be filling your head with this frivolity." D'arque tossed the book over his shoulder and into a mud puddle on the side of the street. La'gaan was out of breath as he caught up with D'arque, but not so much that he couldn't laugh as Connor struggled to retrieve and clean his new book.
Connor comforted himself by being grateful that it wasn't Clark's manuscript and that the book could be aired out by Ma's kitchen stove.
"Well, sir, what should I be filling my head with instead?" He asked in a dangerously low voice.
D'arque didn't hear the tone. He was too pleased that Connor wasn't ignoring him for once.
"Military techniques. Strategy! The memory of holding a rifle in your hand and lining it up for the kill shot!" Connor jumped a foot in the air as D'arque imitated a gunshot.
"Sorry sir, that's just not for me," Connor stood up and flicked some mud off his boot, which landed at D'arque's feet.
"If you'll excuse me, I have to get home, I still have chores to do and I have to help my brother finish his book.
"Ah, of course, Smallville's resident fool, Clark Kent." D'arque drawled. La'gann laughed again.
"Don't you dare talk about my brother that way!" Connor pointed an accusing finger at D'arque and La'gaan.
"La'gaan, don't talk about his brother that way!" D'arque passed the blame off to his assisstant.
Connor shook with fury. "My brother isn't a fool, he's a genius!"
There was a great yell of frustration from the Kent farm, and Connor, who knew that yell all too well, ran off to assist, leaving D'arque, La'gaan, and everyone else laughing at the Kent's misfortune.