2 Awakening

When I came to, I found myself lying in a cornfield. I got up and looked around, and sure as hell, I was about three years old. I shook my head with a wry grin, but excitement still bubbled within me at the chance of a new and improved life. This new and improved life would only be relaxed if Superman still becomes Superman, so I decided to let the plot play out, albeit slightly differently.

Walking around, I saw a small boy about my age with dark hair and blue eyes wandering the destroyed field. The TV show didn't do justice to how perilous Clark's situation was. He looked curious about everything but also tired, no doubt affected by the Kryptonite littering the area he fell in.

I spotted a flipped truck a few hundred meters away, so I rushed toward the three-year-old Clark and held his hand. He looked at me curiously, and I tried to give him a reassuring smile. It worked, as he let out a childish giggle. We walked hand in hand to the truck and saw a frazzled Martha and Jonathan Kent.

We squatted in unison to see the couple who would soon adopt us. "Martha!" Jonathan called to his wife as he looked at us, and Martha's face lit up the moment she laid eyes on us.

As they made their way to us, Martha and Jonathan looked us over for injuries and found only dirt. "Do you think they are brothers?" Martha asked, still fussing over us.

"Welp, they don't look alike, but look at how they are holding hands, so who knows," he said, also stealing glances at our adorable selves but still trying to play it cool.

Martha wrapped each of us in a blanket and carried us, one in each arm. John offered to help, but she vehemently refused to give us up. As they searched for where we came from, John spoke, "Kids don't just fall out of the sky, Martha." He looked puzzled about where we came from but unwilling to let us go.

"I don't know, but they must have parents," John said before stopping to look at Clark's spaceship. "If they do, they definitely aren't from Kansas," she said in a bewildered tone as she eyed the spaceship. "What are we gonna tell people? We found them out in a field?" John asked his wife, who was ecstatic due to her inability to conceive.

"We didn't find them; they found us," Martha said with finality. Clark was unconsciously giving John the puppy-dog eyes, and that caused me to laugh. It was supposed to be a normal laugh... But it was a child's giggle that I would probably never allow myself to live down.

Martha squealed with joy and nuzzled us, so... go team, I guess?!

I dozed off during the drive back, I wasn't physically tired but mentally I was drained, Clark and I were left at home with Martha as John left to drive Lionel and Lex Luthor to the hospital. Martha gave Clark and me a bath, which I was absolutely not embarrassed about because I understood the necessity. At least that's what I told myself, but I still burned red with shame.

After the bath, Martha, who had been dreaming of having children, opened her stash of children's clothes that she'd hoped would come in handy for years. As if her dream was finally fulfilled, she spent over an hour dressing us in different things and squealing excitedly, saying things like, "Look how adorable you two are!!!" and "Wanna try this one? No? How about this one? Ahhh?"

I couldn't help but smile as I watched this woman lose her mind over us like we were her favorite thing since air. At that moment, I wondered if the man who sent me here had done so specifically to experience something I'd never had before—familial affection.

I was pulled from my thoughts as Martha started to speak to us and herself. "What should I call you two cuties? Hmmm, you will be Clark!" She picked Clark up. "And you will be Percy." She picked me up.

"Why Percy?" I heard John's voice from the doorway.

"I don't know; it just popped into my head as I looked into those... beautiful golden eyes," Martha said, and I sent a silent prayer in thanks to the man who sent me here. There was no way Martha and Jonathan Kent would have randomly selected my first name from my past life. But I was glad for it, as my name was one of the few things I was attached to from my previous life, and knowing the Kents, I was probably destined for something like Bob or Hiram. 'No, thank you!'

That night as I closed my eyes to sleep, I opened them just as quickly as I noticed a red dot blinking in the corner of my eye. When I tried to focus on it, a message appeared as if from a computer window.

It was a short letter from the man who had reincarnated me here. "Hey, Percy, hope you are acclimating well to your new life. So, before you left, I found that the races you were dealt with were pretty good, but there was a weakness in each. So, I, being the gracious benefactor that I am, decided to wipe them for ya. Now you won't fall in love with every human you see, courtesy of your Homo magi lineage, Also you won't be weak to metallic chromium and will be in control of your emotions, unlike your other Tamaranian counterparts. Also, remember that you are not half and half from each but a whole Homo magi and a whole Tamaranian combined into one being that is working in tandem. Good luck, and don't forget to enjoy your new life. -Lucifer."

I was in utter shock that my guess was correct. I had been flippant and careless when I interacted with one of, if not the most dangerous beings to have ever lived. Not to mention, I wasn't aware of such glaring weaknesses in the races I had been randomly assigned. I couldn't fathom why Lucifer himself was helping me, but I felt grateful nonetheless. After I finished contemplating the message's contents, I allowed myself to fall asleep.

As the days turned into weeks and the weeks into months, our adoption was handled and finalized by Dad. Yes, I had grown out of calling Jonathan and Martha by their names and started thinking of them as Mom and Dad. They hadn't held back in treating me and Clark like their very own, and I could tell that they were genuine people whom I could grow to truly care about.

Our powers started to show not long after we were officially adopted. At first, I was able to feel the energy of the sun as well as a foreign energy all around me. I hypothesized that the second energy must be magic, mana, or whatever magical energy was called in this reality. So I focused on immersing myself in both and tried to absorb them.

It took me a few days to understand how to turn the absorption from a focused and active state, where I had to consciously think about it, into a passive state where the energies were absorbed subconsciously as I went about my day. I could also feel that even in this three-year-old form, I was faster, stronger, more durable, and had more energy than I ever did in my past life.

I waited for Clark to expose that tidbit to our new parents, and he didn't let me down. A few weeks after my own powers were enhanced, his were also starting to show. Mom and Dad were in disbelief for a while after Clark's demonstration.

"Should we keep Clark away from Percy? What if he accidentally hurts him?" Dad had asked Mom. They had tried to distract Clark away from me, but he had become very attached very quickly. Later that day, I showed off some of my strength 'accidentally,' and our parents were left speechless for the second time that day but were also very relieved.

We started speaking not long after, as I acted as if I was able to understand English early and taught Clark. Our parents were very excited. As time wore on and months passed, I realized that Clark was a lot happier due to being able to freely talk about, experiment with, and play with someone his age who also shared his abilities.

I had decided to get a grasp on my Tamaranean powers first before blindly searching for magic. First, I didn't know where to start, and second, if I were to face someone with power, I wanted to at least have a chance to protect myself. So I put aside the almost primal urge to seek out magic in favor of practicality.

I was having so much fun in this life. No need for two jobs as I focused on school. No living with someone who is tolerating my existence out of the kindness of their heart. And freaking superpowers!

I started helping Dad with farm chores, much to the reluctance of Mom. It was just so Dad could spend more time with us and not be constantly drained after he was done. Clark soon joined us, and we made it a challenge to see who would get their chores done faster. We ended up doing an entire day's work for Dad in under thirty minutes between the two of us. Mom was so excited to see her "three boys" put in a day's work together and tackled me, Clark, and Dad into a hug.

"Can you show us how to throw a football around, Dad?" I asked, as we now had an entire day to ourselves. Clark's eyes shone, but not nearly as brightly as Dad's. He had always loved football. I knew that in his youth, he had wanted to play professionally but had put it behind him for some reason. That day, Mom cooked, and we ate outside before throwing around a football.

As the years passed, we reached the age where we would enter elementary school. I decided to skip the whole elementary and middle school thing, convincing them to homeschool me, claiming that I needed to be able to control my abilities better before interacting with anyone. I would go into high school but no earlier. Clark wanted to attend, and I understood that as a kid, he needed more than his parents and brother, so I didn't push for him to be homeschooled.

The day he was to attend his first elementary school day came, and he was so excited. He was practically jumping out of his seat until we reached the school gates. When it was time for him to get down, he got all misty-eyed. "Aren't you guys coming?" he asked in a confused voice. Mom looked like it was going to be the last time she ever saw him. She also teared up, and Dad just sighed.

"Son, just go in there and get yourself some friends, okay?" Clark then turned his watery blue eyes to me and just stared silently, pouting. I gave a deep, dramatic sigh. "Mom, Dad, how about I go with him for the first day? I really don't think I will like it here, but just to make him comfortable?" They were already used to me being the mature one, even though I tried to dial it down, it still showed from time to time. Clark's face brightened as he looked at my parents with a grin.

"But you don't even have-" Dad started as I reached for a bag from the back seat. "I prepared for it just in case this happened," I said. Mom looked relieved as I made my way down from the truck and waved them off along with Clark.

The day had been extremely boring. I saw some of Clark's future friends, some of his future enemies, and some of the 'cannon fodder' that are going to be caught in the crossfire of new emerging abilities due to the meteor rocks all over town. Near the end of the day, a crying little girl came to class holding the hand of her aunt.

I didn't recognize her from her looks; instead, it was her unique meteor rock necklace that told me who she was. She wasn't as pretty as everyone claimed; sure, she'd qualify as a cute kid, but unless an unnatural transformation took place, at best, she'd look like "the girl next door" type of pretty.

Clark also happened to look up at that moment, and I could already see his mind warping him into an absolute simp for her, and I let out an internal sigh for my idiot brother. As she passed by us to sit with some of her friends, a look of alarm came over Clark as he sagged in his seat next to me. I recognized that the reason was the meteor rock, AKA Kryptonite, so I just waited until she was a bit away and the color returned to his face. He looked at me fearfully, and I just mouthed "Later." We were picked up by Mom and Dad, and Clark began to gush about how much fun it was. Then he mentioned feeling faint, and that got the attention of both parents.

"It was the meteor rock necklace Lana was wearing. I think I saw it glow for a second as she got close to Clark," I said. Mom and Dad exchanged a look but drove in silence.