Thrawldom

Flames crackled and roared through a massive skyscraper as the sun shined brightly down on Metropolis. The sounds of glass shattering, along with pieces of the building crumbling muted the screams of those who were trapped inside the fifty-story furnace.

"Help me!" A woman's voice shouted. She was pinned down by a concrete pillar that was crushing her waist and she couldn't move a muscle. She couldn't see nor hear a thing, and neither could anyone else in the smoke-shrouded building, all realizing the truth of the situation.

No one could hear them.

No one could see them.

No one could save them.

At least, that's what they all thought until they heard the sound of hope arriving.

Woosh!

The sounds of something, or rather, someone arriving at the scene could be heard through the sounds of raging fire and destruction. It was like a soft wind, soft yet powerful as they could see it move the smoke in front of them.

He was here for them, the Man of Steel himself, Superman.

Woosh!

A second wind was heard, just a second later, confusing those who'd heard it.

That sound, the gentle wind, usually meant that Superman had arrived at the scene. But why were there two?

Pheeeew!

The sound of a mighty wind was soon heard by those trapped in the building, followed by an icy breeze that shrouded their bodies, cooling them and soothing them from the hellish heat that once surrounded them.

It was Cerberus, wearing his blue and red costume, floating outside the building and blowing his ice breath at the burning building as his cape fluttered behind him.

Inside the building, the flames began to cease as Superman entered and began saving everyone through the smoke using his X-ray vision. One by one, the hero grabbed civilians from the building as his younger brother continued to put out the flames with his ice breath.

Beneath the building, onlookers applauded, cheered, and recorded the two Kryptonians as they continued to be the saviors of the poor souls trapped within the building. Once the fires were put out, the building began to shift once again, sending pieces of debris falling down toward the onlookers.

Cerberus gasped, realizing that the debris was going to hit someone if he didn't stop them Like a missile, the young hero shot down toward the Earth, grabbing each piece of debris and placing it away from the civilians at such supersonic speeds.

One piece of debris, a massive piece of concrete was missed by the young hero. As soon as he noticed it, he dashed through the air and caught it just before it landed on the ground, smiling down at the people he had just saved.

Cerberus smiled at the civilians and placed the debris elsewhere before blasting off into the building and helping his older brother rescue those who were still trapped inside.

Before long, the hundreds of people in the building had been saved by the two brothers, the two Kryptonians.

Once everyone was safe, the two brothers waved to everyone before flying away together, disappearing just as fast as they arrived. The whole time, Mark had a massive smile on his face, feeling envigorated after having finally made his superhero debut.

Clark was smiling as well, delighted to see his brother so excited about being a hero. He was thankful that his brother shared that same desire to help people. At least, that's what Clark thought.

In reality, their motives were a bit different. Mark was more into the fame and praise that one gets for being a hero, saving people wasn't as rewarding as the girls fawning over the hero. He also really wanted to fight bad guys more than anything, being able to really let loose and fight against someone with all of his strength.

Eventually, the two were sitting side by side beside a building, both smiling as Clark wrapped his arm around his little brother. "Great job out there, you're a natural!" Superman told his younger brother, both smiling brightly.

"I learned from the best." Mark told his big brother in response.

"Seriously, though. I wasn't expecting something so big for your first time. I just saved some pilot on my first patrol. You helped save over a thousand people today." Superman admitted. "Didn't it feel great? Being there for all those people and seeing yourself make a difference." Superman saying this made Mark laugh a bit.

"Yeah, I guess so." Mark told him, concealing his true self from Clark.

"Well, I gotta stop by the Daily Planet. See you later, Mark." Superman said, lifting up off the building slowly and hovering in front of his brother. "Get that homework done, you hear? Even superheroes have responsibilities."

"Yeah, yeah... See, ya." Mark said, waving to his brother before Superman blasted away.

Mark smiled, thinking about how his name would be known by all by the time the next day came. He thought about the kids at school talking about him, the girls fawning over him, and most of all how Cass would probably be drooling for him unknowingly. Excitedly, Mark flew home and began working on his homework for a few hours as his brother said until dinner was ready.

Once he was called to dinner, the young hero hovered downstairs and sat at the table with a big grin on his face. "Hey Mom. Hey Dad." The Kryptonian said, settling down in his seat in front of the massive pile of fried chicken in front of him. Like his long-lost twin, the boy needed extra portions just for himself.

"Hey, buddy." His father said.

"Hi, Mark. How was school?" His mother asked him.

"School was cool. Did you guys see the news!?" Mark asked them both, seemingly very excited to tell them both about it.

The parents looked at each other, both having no idea what he was talking about due to having not really paid much attention to the news. With a smile on his face, Mark revealed the news to them personally. "Clark and I saved a burning building together!" He said triumphantly, smiling like a real hero.

"Oh, that's great!" Martha told him, rubbing his head from beside him.

"It was! The building was on fire and ready to collapse so I used my ice breath to cool it down and put out the flames! Then Clark swooped in..." As Mark was explaining what happened in detail, his parents smiled softly at their youngest son, feeling endeared by his excitement.

"He started saving everyone one by one, he was so fast that I bet they didn't even know what was happening. Oh! When the fire was out, I started catching debris, saving people from being crushed to death, and then I helped Clark pull the rest of the people out from safety. Clark counted and said we saved over three hundred or something in total." Mark explained, taking a bite from his food before continuing. "Oh, and everyone cheered and they were clapping for us. It was amazing. They loved us!"

"I'm so happy for you, dear." Martha told him.

"Yes, we are very proud of you, son. Both you and Clark." His father said, patting the young hero on the back. "I remember how excited Clark was when he came back home from his first day as a hero. He saved a pilot!"

Mark nodded. "Yeah, he told me. Glad my first day wasn't something so boring." Mark added, continuing to eat his dinner.

"Well, it may not have been anything world-ending, but it was what made him into a hero. That's what matters the most. He saved a life, one as precious as the hundreds you saved today." Mr. Kent told the boy, hoping he'd understand the same thing that Clark understood. "You and your brother were both sent here by God to protect people."

Mark rolled his eyes. 'No, we weren't. At least I wasn't.' He thought to himself. He still recalled a few memories from the womb and as an infant, remembering his real mother and father but not their faces or names.

It was odd, the memories would come and go randomly, and sometimes he would see them in his dreams. He had a whole journal written about his memories and dreams, trying to remember who he truly was.

All he knew was that he was from the same planet as Clark, both having that S-shaped symbol inside of the pods they appeared from, and that he had a twin brother out there somewhere. He always wondered about his real brother and his real parents, wondering if he'd ever meet them. However, he was slowly beginning to lose hope.

"I told you, I'm not from God. I'm from another planet. I still remember some things." Mark told his parents. Both of them exchanged some looks before trying to explain why they were right and he was wrong.

"Mark... those are just dreams. You're getting your hopes up thinking that you have people out there searching for you. It's impossible to have the memories you say you do." His father told him kindly, though Mark took offense to this.

"No, no, no! I know what I'm experiencing. Maybe if you guys didn't live in yeehaw land you'd understand that there's this thing called research that you can do! God isn't the answer to everything. I have prenatal memory. That means I remember being in the womb and I know it's true. I remember a bit after I was born too. I remember the day I was sent here! It was all real! God had nothing to do with it!" Mark slammed the table gently, though gently for him meant it was still superhuman, breaking a corner off of the table.

"Mark..." His mother said in a calming voice.

"Don't 'Mark' me. I'm tired of my existence being reduced to some silly fanfiction about an invisible man in the sky who doesn't exist! My parents are real! My brother is real! I will find them!" He shouted, silencing both parents.

Realizing that what he was saying might've sounded like he didn't care about them, he corrected himself. "You guys are my parents. Clark is my brother. I know that, but I want to meet my other parents too and my other brother. Is that so bad? Why do you want to take this from me?"

They didn't have an answer for him.

"Do you think they're going to replace you in my life? Do you think when Clark meets his birth parents, he's going to just suddenly leave you guys behind? Clark loves you. I love you. We aren't going anywhere... Just please stop it. I'm not letting myself get brainwashed like Clark..."

The entire room was still silent. Again his parents didn't have anything to respond with. His reaction wasn't something they were prepared for. "If you have nothing to say, I'm going to my room. Thanks for dinner." Mark told them before floating out of his seat with his plate in hand and stomping upstairs.

He could've continued floating, but Mark was sort of a brat, wanting his parents to know he was upset by stomping his feet with the strength of a human child.

His parents looked at each other, both having expressions of uncertainty before continuing their dinner without him.

The next morning came and the young hero got ready and flew to school, prepared to see everybody talking about him. Like his older brother, Mark wore glasses when he was just Mark and removed them when he was Cerberus, somehow concealing his identity.

Mark landed behind his school before walking around toward the front and walking the halls with his confident stride. Many girls greeted him, making the boy feel even better than he already did that day. However, he only had eyes for one girl at the moment.

Soon enough, he spotted Wally West, his best friend, taking his books out of his locker. As soon as Wally made eye contact, Mark could see that something was wrong. Wally looked away, not wanting to tell Mark the bad news, but Mark wasn't going to allow him to withhold it.

"What's wrong?" Mark asked. "Is there something on my face?"

"No... check Twitter. Search Superboy." Wally told him quietly.

'Superboy?' Mark thought. 'Who the hell is Superboy?' Mark pulled out his phone, opened up the social media app, and began searching for the name Superboy. His eyes widened in shock upon seeing just exactly who this Superboy character was.

It was him. Mark was Superboy, not Cerberus.

Since he looked like his brother, due to them wearing almost identical costumes, everyone started calling him Superboy, the son, brother, or sidekick of Superman. Mark was furious. "What!?" He shouted, realizing his super cool self-image was now ruined and reduced to something as lame as Superboy.

Upon hearing him yell, everyone in the hallway looked at him for a second before going back about their own business.

"Yeah..." Wally told him quietly. "The media loves naming people after their mentor. Wondergirl, Aqualad, Batgirl... even I was a victim of it." Wally confessed. "I didn't come up with the name 'Kid Flash', that shit is lame. I should've warned you."

"What? The media comes up with it? There's not like a Justice League application you fill out?" Mark saying this brought a confused expression to Wally's face before Wally started to laugh hysterically.

"Justice League application?" Wally repeated, continuing to laugh with his hands on his stomach. "Nah, bro. Most people don't choose their names. Superman was literally named Superman because he's a man with super abilities.

As Wally laughed, Mark could hear people talking about his hero persona around him, all making fun of his name.

"Superboy? What a lame name."

"The original is better."

"What's next? Supergirl?"

"What a cheap knockoff..."

Just as Mark feared, he was being overshadowed by his older brother and this infuriated him. That's the whole reason why he came up with the name Cerberus, it was so different from his brother's that people wouldn't even call him a sidekick, more of an equal. He wanted to work with his brother, to be partners, not his subsidiary.

Regardless, that plan fell through and now Mark was tasked with trying to escape living in his brother's shadow.