Chapter 4

Conner had been dreaming that he was sitting in his meadow finishing up his masterpiece when he heard police sirens. He got up and looked around, but he couldn't figure out where they were coming from. As he spun around trying to find the sirens, Conner suddenly felt constricted and unable to move. He woke up with a start and found himself tangled in his sheets- he had been tossing in his sleep.

Conner pulled his blankets off of him and saw that Wolf was standing by his window, growling. Suddenly Conner heard the police sirens again. He jumped up and hurried over to his window, which took up almost the whole wall. He looked down and saw swarms of S.W.A.T. trucks, police cars, fire engines and ambulances heading downtown.

Conner shot down the hall and turned the television on, wondering what- or who- could have caused so much chaos.

"This is Cat Grant reporting live in downtown Metropolis where the notorious Toyman is holding hostage a busload of elementary school children grabbed on their way to school this morning. He is demanding $15 million in cash for the safe release of the school bus, which is currently being held on top off this Wayne Industries building, trapped in what appears to be a giant Hoberman Expanding Sphere. Superman is currently attempting to negotiate with the Toyman."

There was a shot of a bus trapped in a huge expanding sphere, which Conner could see was electrified. On the other side of the roof was Toyman in his giant suit aiming one of the arms at Superman, who was speaking to him. Conner scowled. He wasn't surprised that Superman was there, but the fact that had not brought Conner along too was infuriating. He always brought Conner when he wasn't in school. He was technically supposed to be in school now, but he was a few hours late. This is more important. Conner went back into his room, pulled on his jeans and 'S' shield T-shirt and hurried back to the living room with Wolf barking at his heels. He pulled on his boots and turned to Wolf. "No, not this time. I'll handle this."

Conner was in the parking garage in no time, where Sphere was resting in her usual spot in the corner. "Come on, girl, we've got a mission."

Soon, Conner was flying through Metropolis, on his way to Toyman. With his super hearing and vision, he could see Superman attempting to negotiate; Conner, on the other hand, always thought it was a waste to talk sense into villains. There was no way they were going to surrender; even Clark admitted that he never had convinced one to.

Conner landed on the roof of the building next to Toyman's. He had always hated Toyman. He took something fun and innocent like children's toys and made them into sick and twisted weapons. Even now, the man was in a life size Transformers suit, exactly like the ones in the movies; except that it was loaded with guns, missiles, and bombs.

Conner slowly edged to the edge of the roof, staying hidden behind a generator. He cocked his head and listened to their conversation.

"I won't ask you again, Winslow. Let them go and turn yourself in." Superman's voice was stern and serious, so Conner guessed he had been negotiating for a while.

"Hmmm…" Toyman made a big show of raising his hand and tapping his chin. "Let me think…" Superman and Superboy scowled. "What did I say the last twelve times… hmmm… what was it?... oh, that's right!…NO!"

Superboy scowled and inched his way over to the roof's edge. When he knew neither Toyman nor Superman could see him, he quickly and silently jumped over to the roof, only mere yards form Toyman. He landed lithely on his feet, hardly making a sound just as he had been practicing. Superboy quickly hid behind the large 'W' in the neon 'Wayne Industries' sign. He turned and saw that the school bus was in front of the 'T' in 'Industries' and Toyman himself was in front of it, speaking to Superman.

"Well then, you give me no choice," Superman cracked his knuckles, causing Superboy to roll his eyes. He turned and looked at the children. Small, red faces covered in tears and twisted in fear were pressed against the windows, trying to get a look at Superman. One look at the hero, the one who would always save them, and they would instantly be filled with relief; they knew they would be safe. Superboy scowled; Superman was wasting precious time trying to talk to this psycho.

Slowly and quietly, he made his way to the other end of the sign. He held his breath, careful not to make any sudden movements or noises. Some of the kids saw him, and Superboy pressed his finger to his lips, warning them to stay quiet. When he had finally reached the school bus, Superman had pulled his fist back, aiming it at Toyman's robot, which in turn had it rockets ready to fire.

Then, it happened.

He must have tripped some hidden sensor that Toyman had planted on the roof or the bus, because the second he got near the school bus's door, red lights started blinking and horns started honking. Superboy gasped and whirled around. Toyman, in his giant suit, was standing directly behind him, staring down at him with his smiling mask that could not be creepier. There was a gasp. "Superboy!" Superman said. The children started screaming and banging on the windows of the school bus.

"Enough!" Toyman shouted. Superboy flinched and stepped back as the bus became quiet, save for a few whines. Superman flew towards Toyman, careful to keep his distance.

"Winslow, end this now!" He commanded.

"Aw, isn't that sweet," Toyman said in his spine-chilling monotone. He turned to Superboy. "Daddy's come to save you. Again."

Superboy's face twisted with anger and his fists balled up and turned white. Superman easily read the expression on his face. "Superboy, don't-!"

But it was too late; he had already leapt at Toyman, who was ready. One of the mechanical arms shot out and large, silver slinkies sprang from the hand. Superboy braced himself for the impact, but suddenly he was pushed back.

He hit the concrete ground hard, falling on his side. He looked up. Superman was lying where Superboy had just been, entangled with the large silver slinkies. Superman tugged and pulled at them to no avail.

"I wouldn't do that, Superman; the more you pull, the tighter they get."

As if on cue, one of the wires Superman had been pulling on snapped back into place, biting itself into his skin. Superboy pulled himself up off the ground and tried to make his way over to the Man of Steel. Suddenly, Toyman was in front of him, blocking the way.

"So, you two thought you could distract me, hm? You were put on civilian duty while Superman got the privilege of trying to stop me? Poor young boy, that's all you'll ever be- the sidekick."

He said the word with so much venom and hate in his voice; Superboy felt his own hate bubbling up inside of him until his fist pulled back and he swung at Toyman. The super villain knocked him away with ease. Superboy slid until he hit his head on the edge of the roof. He moaned, his head throbbing painfully.

"Toyman!" Superman said as he struggled with the slinkies. "Enough!"

Toyman turned to look at Superman and sighed. "I suppose you're right. I guess I should get what I came for." He held up a small, cylindrical object. Superboy, still dizzy, rubbed his forehead and blinked a few times. Finally, he was able to focus on what the psycho was holding; a detonator.

"No!" He and Superman shouted at the same time. Toyman chuckled wickedly and pressed the small button with his thumb. A monitor sitting on the hood of the bus lit up, showing 10:00, which began to gradually count down second by second.

"That'll give you two heroes something to play with while I'm gone," Toyman said cheerfully. "Bye-bye." He pressed some buttons on his control panel and activated the rockets in the robot's shoes. He turned and flew off.

Superboy ran to the edge of the roof top and prepared to jump after him until Superman called him back.

"Stop! Leave him! Defuse the bomb!"

"But what about-"

"Superboy, do as I say!"

Since Superman did not look like he was in a negotiating mood, Superboy frowned and headed back to the bus. The clock was counting down quickly

9:39… 9:38… 9:37…

"How do I defuse it?" Superboy shouted. Superman was still trying to pull the slinkies off of him, but they did not break in his strong hands. They must have been made of some reinforced super steel.

"Cut the three unlabeled wires!" Superman shouted back.

"What? Where?" All Superboy saw was the clock, counting down fast.

9:04… 9:03… 9:02…

"Go to the control box, remove the lid and cut them!" Superman demanded, gasping as the slinky pressed itself tighter against his ribcage. He ripped at them to no avail.

"Uh… ummm…." Superboy frantically looked around, half expecting someone like Batman or Green Lantern to come out of nowhere and offer to defuse the bomb for him. By now, the children on the bus were screaming and helicopters filled with bulky cameras flew overhead. Between the screaming and the choppers and the panicky chatter of the crowd down below, Conner felt himself slowly starting to go hysterical.

8:25… 8:24… 8:23…

"Superboy, NOW!"

Superman had never yelled at him like that before.

In a blink, Superboy was pulling the bomb down from the hood of the bus and ungracefully set it in front of him.

"Carefully!" Superman shouted angrily.

Superboy threw him a glare and slowly turned the bomb around, looking for the fuse box. He carefully unfastened the lid and placed in front of him. Immediately, his heart jumped into his chest.

There had to have been hundreds of different wires.

7:32… 7:31… 7:30…

"Which ones?" Superboy shouted to Superman.

"The three unlabeled ones!" He could hardly be heard over the screaming of the children.

"They're all unlabeled!" Superboy felt fear and anxiety swelling up in his chest. Superman, realizing Superboy's building hysteria, grabbed a piece of the slinky and started bending it.

"Listen!" He called over. "Cut the one that leads to the Primer first!"

"What?" Screaming and crying filled Superboy's ears.

"The fuse made to burn! Cut it!"

Superboy looked around and saw that the door to the inside of the building had a window on it. He hurried over and punched it, causing the glass to shatter. He picked up the sharpest shard he could find and rushed back over to the bomb. He knelt down and searched for the Primer.

6:11… 6:10… 6:09…

Finally, he found what he was 80% sure to be the Primer and sawed it off with the glass shard. He froze and watched the timer; it remained the same.

"Now the Reactor wire, then the Ignition Timer!"

Superboy could hear his heart thumping in his ears as his shaky, sweaty hand carefully dug around for the Reactor wire. Overhead, he could hear a chopper coming closer.

"Superman!" A familiar voice shouted through a megaphone. Superboy looked up to see Lois Lane in the chopper, leaning out slightly with a megaphone he was sure she didn't really need.

"Toyman just robbed the Metropolis Bank! The police couldn't stop him! We need-"

"We're a little busy right now!" Superboy shouted up at her. She stopped mid-sentence and Superboy could feel Superman glaring daggers at him.

Mumbling to himself, Superboy turned back to the bomb.

5:41… 5:40… 5:39…

He chewed on his lip and took a deep breath. Slowly Superboy took a wire that seemed to be attached to the timer. He brought the shard of glass up and started to saw the wire.

Out of the corner of his eye, Superboy saw Superman finally snap the slinky in half. He looked up just as the wire came apart.

"No! That was the Ignition Timer!" Superman shouted.

But it was too late.

The bomb started beeping and the numbers started to rapidly decrease.

"You told me to cut that one!"

"I said to cut the Reactor wire first!"

The children on the bus were screaming and banging on the windows. Superboy could hear the reporters in the helicopters talking rapidly-

"- seems as though the bomb was not defused-"

"-unknown if they will rescue the hostages-"

"- Toyman makes off with $50 million-"

00:10… 0:09… 00:08…

"We need to get the bus out of here!" Superman flew over to the bus and prepared to lift it over his head.

"But the bomb-"

"This is more important!"

"But Toyman could-" Superboy started to the edge of the roof.

"Do as I say!"

Superboy flinched and sighed. He was about to turn around when he saw a shadow quickly fly over him and down onto the street. He jumped after it.

People hurried out of the way of Superboy's landing; by now, Metropolis knew that the Boy of Steel wasn't as graceful as his mentor.

Superman set the bus down and the children flooded out of it and into the waiting arms of their frantic parents. Reporters with flashing cameras and fast paced, jumbled voices hurried around, trying to get a word from the hostages.

Superboy turned around to see Superman in front of him, his face twisted with rage. All around, reporters called his name and snapped pictures, trying to get a word out of the Man of Steel, but he ignored them.

"Superboy, I am-" he stopped, remembering they were in public.

Superboy huffed and crossed his arms, turning away from Superman. "Please, it was Toyman. I doubt it's even a real bomb. It's probably filled with streamers and candy."

With a blinding flash of light and deafening BOOM! the Wayne Industries building exploded. The bomb completely demolished the top half of the building, which crashed down and crushed the bottom half. Crowds ran screaming to get out of the way of falling debris and chunks of concrete and granite big enough to crush them to death. Superboy stared up in shock.

"Streamers and candy, huh?"

He could tell by Superman's expression that he had just guaranteed himself a one way ticket to Smallville.

The Kents' Apartment

Clark's hand had a grip on Conner's arm so tight that it was nearly impossible for him to wiggle his fingers, much less get loose. He had never seen Clark so mad before; Conner was actually feeling a little frightened. When someone as mild mannered as Clark Kent got pissed, Conner knew that he was in for the most unpleasant conversation of his life.

He was right.

Clark threw open the door of the apartment with Conner in tow and violently shoved him forward, slamming the door behind them. Conner rubbed his sore arm and cringed as Clark turned toward him.

"Conner Jonathan Kent, I don't even know where to begin," Clark's voice was loud and his tone harsh and furious. "You deliberately disobeyed me, and even worse, all of those children almost died because-"

"That wasn't me! That was Toyman!" Conner shouted back. And so it had begun. "Great job handling that, by the way." Conner knew it was the wrong thing to say the second the words left his lips.

Clark's eyes narrowed in a dangerous way. "And just what is that supposed to mean, young man?" He said in a low voice. His darkened eyes and angry expression lit a spark in Conner, causing him to become angry as well.

"Did you seriously believe that you could actually talk Toyman out of robbing the bank and releasing the children?"

"Conner, don't you dare accuse me of incompetence! Not when all you've done lately is-"

"Oh, here we go again!" Conner shouted. "Again you're bringing up the fact that you think I have problems-"

"I do think you have problems!" Clark shouted. Both he and Conner were silent for a moment. Suddenly, the latter felt something snap.

"Hey, I'm not the one who thinks they can talk a freakin' super villain out of committing a crime! Are you really that naïve?" Clark's face twisted.

"You," he said in a low, controlled voice, "have a lot to learn."

"What, you mean like taking short cuts and letting super villains play you? He was stalling, you, Clark, and you were too stubborn to notice! You're lucky I showed up to-"

"Lucky?" Clark forced a laugh. "You tipped him off! He activated the bomb because he spotted you! Have you forgotten everything I taught you?"

"You're doing it again! You have absolutely no faith in me!"

"You're not giving me any reason to have faith in you! Not with this recent behavior!"

"Can't you just be on my side for once? No, you're only on the side of everything good and righteous!" Conner said in a mocking tone. "The very minute someone steps out of line, you turn condescending and patronizing! Well, we can't all be perfect like you, Clark!"

"Conner, you must be downright cracked if you think that I'm perfect!"

"Oh, I know you're perfect! With your perfect job, and perfect powers, and perfect city, and perfect fiancée! It's no wonder you're so ashamed to be seen in public with me now, being the only flaw in your perfect life!" Conner was downright livid.

Clark was glaring daggers at him the entire time. "Well, it seems I underestimated the extent of your problems." Conner's face darkened. "Conner, I hoped you really enjoyed this little bout with Toyman, because you won't be facing anyone else for a long time." Conner felt his expression go blank. "Pack your things, kid. First thing Monday morning, you're heading to Smallville."

It took Conner a moment to process what he had just heard. "But- but you can't-"

"Oh, you'd better believe I can."

Conner blinked, completely shocked. "Clark, just listen-"

"I am in charge here, Conner! You- listen- to- me!"

Conner stared up at Clark, who was standing over him with a set glare. His mind would not be changed. He was going to Smallville.

Conner's countenance became calm.

"You know what?" He said in a quiet, still voice. "I'm not even surprised." He started to back away toward his room. "People always tell me I'm lucky to be here. That I'm lucky to have you. But they're wrong. I should have stayed at the Cave." Clark frowned, visibly hurt. Conner turned and headed to his bedroom, slamming the door.

He inhaled sharply and leaned against his door. His gaze slowly examined his room, knowing he wouldn't see it for a while. Wolf whined, nudging Conner's hand with his nose, trying to comfort him. Conner pet him on the head and sat on his bed.

He bowed his head down and squeezed his eyes shut. He felt heavy and depressed; it took all his strength to keep tears from spilling over. He lifted his head up to the ceiling and took a deep, calming breath. Then his gaze moved to his desk.

Conner stood up and slowly made is way over to his chair and sat down. He picked up his folder and gingerly removed his masterpiece. He and Clark's unfinished, smiling faces stared back up at him. Conner stared at it for a minute and felt his anger start to swell. In a blind moment of rage and resentment, Conner grabbed the top of the thick paper and with a loud rip that echoed throughout the room, he tore his masterpiece in half.

Conner let the two halves fall to the floor; Clark on one side and Conner on the other. Separated, divided. He could tape the paper back together, but the molecules wouldn't ever be joined again. The tape would only force the pieces together; if it were to be removed, they would fall apart again.

Later

Conner hadn't slept. It was nearly one o'clock in the morning, and he had hardly blinked since his falling out with Clark. Conner bit his lip. Smallville.

Are you really going to let Clark send you there?

What choice do I have?

Don't let him push you around. You never let anyone push you around.

Then what do I do?

Leave.

Conner sat up as if he had just been stung. Leave? It was so simple, yet…. Could he really do it? Just pack up his things and go? Just like that?

No, he couldn't possibly. Leaving Clark meant leaving his life, his friends… no, never.

But don't you want to be happy?

Yes. He did….

Can you really be happy in Smallville?

….No.

Conner swung his legs over the side of his bed and went to his closet. He pulled out his duffel bag and stuffed it full of clothes. He took his brush, favorite book (Percy Jackson), and his best sketch book and pack of stencils. Finally, Conner took a picture of him and his friends. He looked at it for a moment and then gingerly placed it in his bag. He zipped it shut, then headed towards the door. He snuck out into the hallway, Wolf at his heels. He stood completely still and silent for a moment, listening to Clark's even breathing from down the hall. After a few moments, he slipped out the front door and down into the parking garage.

"Wake up, girl," he whispered to Sphere. She beeped a few times in response. "We're leaving."

What do think so far? Next chapter gets good ;)