4- Shop

The next week was a blur of studying. It was incredibly boring to do so, going over years and years of math, science, and literature.

The only fun part about it was when the history section caught up to modern times and the age of heroes began. Some heros were missing from the mix, but the Light had actually provided me with a decent base of knowledge about the DC world.

The other breaks I managed were the repeated tests where I was made to go farther than I had before by Eve, though I knew it was the greedy guy in charge of Cadmus. Whatever his name was.

Might just call him Blockhead, knowing how he'll end up in the near future. Not only would he take Blockbuster and become... Blockbuster- lazy name btw - but he would also lose most of his intelligence.

In the end, he would become essentially the same as Match, only with more muscle mass and a thick hide. 'Now that I think about it, he was another one of the people similar to the green guy in the office next door. Like Grundy.'

Anyway, I also dove into my system more. I skipped over it before but there was another mission listed, but it was locked.

[Mission Tab]

[Hidden: This mission is hidden from your view. Either complete it or accomplish a part of it to unlock it for viewing.]

[Part 1: ???]

[Reward: ???]

[Part 2: ???]

[Reward: ???]

I spent a long time thinking about what a two-part mission held in store for me, but came up with nothing. Though I had an inkling that it had something to do with Match.

After all, what else was there for me to do here other than study at the moment?

I also spent a lot of time browsing the shop in my free time and man was it expensive. Though I could find just about anything, even a simple steak meal was 10 points.

Now I say it's expensive because something like a health injection (which would accelerate the body's healing process) costs 100 a pop! You'd think something that essential would be cheaper but nooo, my cheat just has to cheat me!

Knowing that I could buy 100 of them when I escaped made it a bit better but still! Looking deeper into the shop, I found a lot of useful things. All the way from a smoke bomb to a vial of high-grade Kryptonian blood.

The blood alone cost a whopping 10,000,000 points, which was mind-boggling. But it was worth it because it would upgrade me to be on the same level as the boy in blue himself. And although I really wanted it, I knew that it was way beyond what I was capable of at the moment.

Eventually, I came to terms with the prices of things and moved on. Something else useful I found was knowledge books, which when bought would directly download the information inside into my mind. This would be incredibly useful for many reasons. So many that it's not even worth naming.

I found books about martial arts, history, and many different science topics, basically anything you could think of was in a book. The kicker- there were levels to some of them.

Martial arts for example came in tiers from Basic to Grandmaster. Directly buying the tiers was pricey, Basic costing 1,000 points alone and quickly rising from there. Luckily there were smaller tiers for the higher tiers starting at intermediate 1-3, the price split between the three.

I'm sure that there was much more to be found, but Eve had told me to come down to the cloning floor tomorrow. It seemed that Conner was ready to wake up.

Just in time too as the misfits would be breaking in the night after tomorrow, it having been eight days already. With that thought in mind, I hurried to finish the final book of my studies.

'There's no time to accomplish anything else but finish this, so that has to be the first part of that other mission.' I concluded.

And sure enough, just as I slammed the book shut I heard a ding from the system.

[Hidden mission unlocked!]

[Completion at Cadmus]

[Part 1: Finish your studies that Cadmus has given to you before your escape.]

[Reward: 1,000 Shop Points]

[Part 2: Defeat Match & Blockbuster in battle]

[Reward: Kryptonite Resistance Ring]

"Complete Cadmus? What is this, achievement hunters?" I asked incredulously. "I'll take the points though."

Looking at my new points, I took a glance into the shop at one of the things I had been eying. The Basic Martial Arts skill which just so happened to cost exactly 1,000 SP.

"What a coincidence..." I muttered as I tapped on the skill, bringing up a smaller screen.

[Confirm Purchase?]

[Y/N]

Confirming the purchase, I immediately felt a headache form in my head. I knew it was from the sudden influx of information, so I powered through it.

Luckily, the pain passed after a few moments and I soon was able to process the information. 'Hmm, seems like it's not very complicated, but that's to be expected'

The Basic package was all about simple blocking, evading, and attacking techniques. It covered things from how to position your feet, to twisting your hip to put more power into a punch.

'That'll be pretty useful, and now I'm not just some bloke throwing wild punches.' I thought to myself. 'Plus, I'll be putting it to use not too long from now.'

Turning to my side, I looked at the genomorph that was patiently waiting for orders. "Hey, what time is it buddy?"

Hearing my question, he turned to me, his horns igniting. '10:48 PM.'

Patting him on the head, I lay down for bed. "Thanks bud. See you when I wake up."

Closing my eyes I quickly fell asleep, ready for my last day as a glorified lab rat.

---

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---

Waking up the next morning, my genomorph quickly hopped on my shoulder. "Good morning bud, what's the schedule today?"

His little head bobbed up and down, horns igniting. 'Tests. Wake Superboy.'

I raised a brow. "More tests? Haven't we done enough running by now?" I asked.

'Different. You fly?' It tried to ask.

"Oh, so they wanna see if I have any of Superman's abilities?" I clarified.

His little head bobbed up and down excitedly. "Haha okay, let's head there now then."

Taking up a jog to the testing room, I found that it had changed some. Instead of strength testing things, there were a few different stations.

One was just a platform which I assumed they wanted me to attempt to fly off of. Next was just a box sitting on a platform, X-ray vision. Then it was a circular target sitting against the wall, for heat beams. Finally, there was just a cup of water also on a pedestal.

"Hi Jackson, ready for some quick tests?" Eve popped up from the side, excitedly asking me a question.

I smiled and nodded at her. "Yeah, I wanna see what I can do!"

In my head though, I was feeling a different way. 'I already know I won't be able to fly or use the heat beams which are arguably the best of the bunch.'

"Go ahead and stand on the platform and give it a shot. Just don't jump through the ceiling please." A male researcher gave me the go-ahead.

Wanting to get this over with. I stood on the platform and bent down a little. Focusing on staying in the air, I did a small hop, hoping to be hovering.

Alas, I fell back down like nothing happened. 'Worth a shot.' I grumbled to myself.

Turning to Eve, I gave her a little shake of the head. "I guess flying wasn't included in my starter package," I said with a chuckle.

"Hmm, I guess not. Let's move on then." She gestured to the box. "I want you to imagine seeing through that box. If you can, tell me what's inside."

Doing as she said and imagining seeing right through it, I was surprised when I actually could. The metal box disappeared, or more accurately turned transparent, and I could see the genomorph tucked inside.

"Haha, what's he doing in there?" I asked, picking the box up and off of the little thing. Its head bobbed up and down like it was exited before jumping onto Eve's shoulder.

"X-ray confirmed, moving on," Eve noted on her tablet.

"Let's finish the rest of these quickly so we can go see your brother okay?" She asked me with a bright smile.

I nodded, also smiling. "Okay!"

'I get to see Superboy! I wonder what he'll think of having a brother...'

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A/N- Hey I thought that I'd mention that I'm currently a student-athlete and won't always have time to write. I'll do my best to keep up with it though.

P.S. I won't be posting weekends, so I have time to get ahead in writing.

P.S.S. Hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to critique me as I know I'm anything from perfect. Have a great day!