Chapter 23: Planning For Luthor

More Advance chapters on P@treon.com/Saintbarbido.

-General P.O.V-

The sun bathed the Kent household in a warm, golden light as Jon and Connor stood in the kitchen, ready to head out to school.

Breakfast had been the usual affair — bacon, eggs and fruit. The faint hum of early morning TV chatter filled the living room.

Connor adjusted his backpack, a little uneasy, as it was his first official day at Gotham Academy. Made possible due to a wayne foundation scholarship. Batman was invested in keeping a watch on him.

Jon, however, was ready to leave, his mind clearly elsewhere, distracted by the recent events and the plans taking shape in his head.

"Jon, Connor, don't forget your hug!" Lois called from the kitchen table, her arms open wide.

Jon sighed, rolling his eyes but relented, joining Connor as they both moved in for the embrace.

Lois smiled, patting Jon's shoulder, her hand lingering for a moment longer than usual.

"You're taller now," she said, looking him in the eye. Her face softened with that familiar mix of pride and worry.

"We're going to be late," Jon said, sidestepping her motherly affection as he headed toward the door.

Just as Jon reached for the doorknob, it opened from the outside.

Standing there, in the full red-and-blue of his Superman uniform, was his Dad. Jon stopped, his eyes locking onto his father's with a heavy, unspoken tension.

A week had passed since their confrontation, but the distance between them had only grown.

Clark's face was etched with concern, but Jon couldn't meet it. He grabbed Connor's hand and moved past his father without a word.

Clark sighed deeply, stepping inside the house to find Lois waiting for him, arms crossed, frustration simmering just beneath the surface.

"Clark Kent, I've frankly had enough. What the hell happened between you two?"

-0-

-Jon's P.O.V-

A full week had gone by since I started magic training with Raven. Honestly, it hadn't gone as smoothly as I'd hoped, but I was making progress.

At least, that's what I kept telling myself.

What was really eating at me wasn't the magical struggle. It was the conversation I'd had with Raven—the one about following my beliefs, about finding my own path.

That conversation had planted a seed in my mind, and that seed had grown into something I couldn't ignore.

It all circled back to Luthor. His face loomed large in my mind, even now as I sat in class.

I knew Luthor wasn't working alone.

He was part of something much bigger, a shadowy group of supervillains known as 'The Light'.

And worst of all, they had a way to control Connor. One phrase—just a few words—and Connor would be theirs. Every time I thought about it, my gut churned with anger.

I needed to stop them, but the question was how?

My first instinct was to involve J'onn, the Martian Manhunter. His psychic abilities could probably block the trigger phrase, but... no, he was top close to Dad.

There was another option though. One just as capable, but closer—M'gann. I wasn't sure she could help, but I made a mental note to ask her the next time we met at the base.

But that still left me with the bigger issue: Luthor. How do you deal with someone as dangerous as him, permanently, without crossing the line?

I knew what my father would say. "Put him in jail." But that hadn't worked with Luthor before. It hadn't worked with any of them.

Maybe if the prison was truly inescapable...

That's when the thought hit me— The Phantom Zone.

It was the perfect place, except there was one major problem: I didn't have the Phantom Zone Projector.

My memories from the show only covered the first season, but I remembered a spoiler about season four. The Projector was in the hands of a New God, Metron.

Sheesh. We're talking about New Genesis here. Gods of incredible power.

Leave alone the risk of involving myself with the Fourth World, getting in contact with Metron would be tough.

But there was a lead... Intergang.

I quickly scribbled the word in my notebook, underlining it twice. A voice snapped me back to reality.

"Mr. Kent!"

I jerked upright, realizing that Mrs. Downing, my biology teacher, had been calling my name.

"Mr. Kent, I won't have you daydreaming in my class, perfect scores or not. Are we clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," I mumbled, feeling the eyes of the entire class on me.

Dick, who sat next to me, snickered under his breath. "What's up, Kent? Not enough sleep?"

I just shook my head. "Not now, Dick. I'll explain later."

---

Lunch rolled around, and I tried to act normal as I introduced Connor to our friends.

But it was clear to anyone paying attention that I was distracted. Barbara was the first to notice. I could feel her constantly eyeing me.

While Betty dragged Connor off to give him the official school tour, I quietly sent a signal to Dick.

A minute later, I excused myself, heading toward the bathroom. A few seconds after that, Dick followed.

We met on the rooftop, away from prying eyes. Dick leaned against the ledge, looking at me with his usual playful skepticism.

"Alright, Kent, what's going on? You need me to talk to a girl for you?"

"Thanks but no thanks."

I shook my head, then took a deep breath. "I know who's behind Cadmus... It's Luthor."

Dick's face shifted from surprise to seriousness. "Luthor? You sure?"

"Positive. But there's more. Luthor has a way to mind-control Connor. Some kind of trigger phrase. I need your help, Dick."

Dick crossed his arms, waiting for me to continue. So I told him everything—about the fight with my father, our argument and what I'd uncovered.

At the end of it, Dick shook his head. "You know you should leave this to the League, right?"

"I can't." I clenched my fists. "The League can't do anything. They're tied down by their moral code, and Luthor's too good at slipping through their hands."

Dick raised an eyebrow. "What, are you planning to kill him then? I mean, it would be easy enough for you, right? Just fry him from a distance with your heat vision."

Of course I knew he was joking, but the thought made me pause. For a split second, I really considered it—how easy it would be to end Luthor.

But I shook it off. "No. I'm not killing him. It'd make everyone I know hate me."

"Not everyone Dude. We'd still be best friends, buuut I would probably have to send you to jail."

Dick patted my shoulder.

"Take heart, I'd visit sometimes. So now that killing's out, what's the plan?"

Before I could answer, I heard it—a heartbeat, way too close.

Instinct kicked in, and I flashed to the rooftop door, ripping it off its hinges in one swift motion.

Standing there, eyes wide with shock, was Barbara. Before I could say anything, she screamed and pepper-sprayed me right in the face.

---

Everything went white-hot. My eyes burned as the spray hit, but I shook it off, the sting fading almost instantly. Thank Rao for my heritage.

"Barbara!" I shouted, blinking rapidly. "It's me, Jon!"

She lowered the canister, looking more embarrassed than anything now that she realized it was me.

"Jesus, Jon," she said, stepping back onto the stairway while eyeing the metal door in my hand. "What the hell was that?"

'Crap.'

I wordlessly propped it against the wall, the door handle bent.

"I should be the one asking that, you Pepper spraying witch." I grunted, rubbing my eyes.

The guilty look that came over her, made me ease my tone. "Plus...I thought someone was eavesdropping. I didn't realize it was you."

Dick came over, trying to defuse the situation. "Easy, Babs. We were just having a private conversation."

Barbara raised her brows at him.

"A private conversation where Jon rips a door off its hinges?" she shot back.

I sighed, glancing at Dick. This wasn't going according to plan, and now Barbara was involved. She was smart, though.

I could already see her mind turning, putting together pieces of the puzzle. I wonder how much she heard.

Dick had the same thoughts from the look he gave me.

"Alright," I said, exhaling. "I'll explain everything. But you have to promise to keep this between us."

She crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes. "Start talking."

---

-General P.O.V-

By the time Jon finished explaining the situation to Barbara, the atmosphere on the rooftop had shifted.

The tension had eased, but the gravity of the situation weighed heavily on all of them.

"So," Barbara said, leaning against the wall, "you're both sideki-"

""Heroes!""

Dick and Jon corrected.

Barbara gave them a look.

"Okay, you're both Heroes and part of a team working with the Justice League. And Jon here, wants to take down Luthor for some 'personal but Heroic' reason, but you don't want to kill him."

Jon nodded. "Exactly."

She let out a slow breath, running a hand through her hair. "This is too much to believe. But I believe you."

"Huh? What? You...you do?"

Dick and Jon exchanged looks of surprise.

"Yeah."

Barbara shrugged.

"We were actually banking on you 'Not' believing us."

Jon pointed out.

Barbara stepped onto the rooftop, with a knowing look.

"I can always tell when Grayson is lying and I just saw you casually rip metal. Your story checks out. Besides..."

A buzzing sound filled the air, before a sleek red drone landed in between them.

"I keep tabs on my surroundings and let's just say...now I know what the Red Blur coming in and going out of school really is."

Dick chuckled my way.

"That would be me..."

Jon admitted, scratching his head.

"Can't exactly sit in class and do nothing when people are in danger."

"My hero."

She sarcastically intoned.

"In any case, none of this involves you Babs."

Dick jumped in.

"So we hope you keep our secret, or the school admission will learn about your little spying. Right Jon?"

"Actually...Babs, how good are you at finding people?"

Jon questioned.

"Dude! Not cool. She's a civilian!"

Dick rounded up to him.

"Depends. They good people or bad people?"

Barbara crossed her hands.

"The former you can hire a PI, the latter sounds like an exciting challenge."

Jon smirked.

"Oh trust me, Intergang is the worst."