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(General P.O.V)
Three years had passed since Jon's powers first manifested, and now, at almost 14, he had reached 1% of his father's full strength— a significant feat for a half-Kryptonian like Jon, according to Jor-El at least.
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It was a sunny day, perfect for the Middle School state Olympics Tournament.
The stadium was alive with raucous chants from parents and fans alike.
"Ladies and gentlemen, get ready for the 100-meter race!"
An announcer's voice boomed through the speakers around the medium-sized stadium.
On the track field below the stands, ten boys in track suits stood ready at the starting line.
A blonde-haired kid turned to the boy next to him with a snicker,
"Ready to eat my dust, Kent?"
Jon smirked, amusement coloring his eyes.
"That's my line, Dash."
Dash was from a neighboring town to Smallville and a rival to Jon in the sports they both competed in.
They always met at the Middle School State Olympics, specifically in the 100-meter dash.
Dash had always won, and Jon had long suspected that Dash was a metahuman.
He was incredibly fast, so fast that Jon couldn't keep up even with his cells stocked full of solar energy. He had thus categorized Dash as a "Speedster."
Even three years later, Jon had yet to beat Dash in the 100m race despite training hard.
Said boy sniffed, staring ahead at the finish line with a confident smile.
"We'll see about that."
'Indeed, we will,' Jon thought, crouching as the referee raised the gun and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
The line shot forward.
In the first second, everyone was evenly matched. On the second second, two figures took the lead explosively.
The first was Dash, with Jon right behind, hot on his heels.
Time seemed to slow down around Jon as he narrowed his eyes, determined to win this time.
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"Go, Jon, go!"
Lois cheered for her son from the stands.
"Get that number one, Dash! Make momma proud!"
A slender brunette woman, flanked by a purple-haired teenage girl and a small baby, cheered from the row below Lois.
The woman caught Lois's attention because of the name she called out.
'So that's Dash's mom,' Lois thought, recalling the fast boy who always beat Jon in this event.
'This time my Jon will win.'
She silently urged her son on, determined to fill the empty spot in the award cabinet at home.
'Bring it home, Jon, even if you have to cheat a little.'
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The race was only 100 meters, a distance that both Jon and Dash could cover in a split second.
However, to avoid revealing their abilities, they competed at the absolute human peak without activating their powers. It was a sort of unspoken rule between them.
Even then, Dash had always been faster.
So it was a surprise to Dash when, on the fourth second, Jon reached him, keeping pace.
By the sixth second, Jon passed him, a smirk playing at the corner of his lips.
"Slowpoke," He whispered at Dash, shooting forward towards the very near finish line.
Dash blinked in surprise. There was nothing he could do without revealing his powers.
At the ninth second, Jon crossed the finish line, with Dash just half a second behind.
Jon won, setting a new record.
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After the tournament, Jon ran forward and hugged his mom, showing off the golden medal hanging from his neck.
"Mom, look! I did it!"
he exclaimed.
Lois took a picture, pride on her face.
"Wow, you've never won one of these. Your dad will be so surprised when you show it to him."
"Kent."
Dash called from behind, approaching with his family.
"What do you want?"
Jon asked, turning around,
"Here to congratulate me on my win?"
At the remainder, Dash looked as if he'd bitten into a lemon.
"Congratulate? You only won because I let—"
Before he could finish, he was cut off by a knuckle to the back of his head, delivered by his mother.
"What's the big idea, Mom?"
the irate boy glared at her.
"Dashiell Robert Parr. Is that any way to show your sportsmanship? Man up and accept your loss."
his mother scolded him.
"Hi,"
Lois stretched out a hand, slightly impressed by the other woman.
"The name is Lois, Lois Kent. This is my son, Jon."
"I'm Helen Parr. These are my kids, Violet, Dash, and the little one is Jack-Jack. Nice to meet you and sorry for my Son's attitude. He's always been too competitive."
Helen shook her hand with a smile.
(Jon's P.O.V)
"They seemed like good people."
Mom commented as we drove home.
An image of Dash's sour face appeared in my mind. The kid could frown.
"Yeah, I guess."
I replied, thinking they were more interesting than good.
After meeting Dash's family, I now knew without a doubt—they were the Incredibles, a family of superheroes.
Mr. Incredible, Dash's father, was a strength-type, someone with super strength and super durability. The mom was super elastic, his sister, Violet I think- had invisibility and shield projection, and the last born, Jack Jack...that Kid was seriously broken. If I was correct, he had multiple abilities. And Dash was of course- a Speedster.
It was strange that despite their powerful abilities, there was no mention of their heroics. Also, I thought this world was purely DC continuity?
I shook my head, deciding not to stress over something that didn't concern me.
I had better things to focus on, like the fact that today, I almost had it— the strange invisible aura that covered Dad's body.
It had happened during the race when Dash was about to beat me.
The precise focus needed to keep my speed below the superhuman threshold while exerting the full potential of my body without tapping into my solar reserves was harder than expected.
But being pushed like that along with my intense desire to win, had allowed me to briefly sense it— my own Bio-Electric aura.
I still didn't know what it was exactly.
Even the knowledge I could access via the Crystal Key was limited on that subject. But I knew what it could do— let Dad fly.
Whether that was through telekinetically pushing off the ground and air, or manipulating his own personal gravity field to defy Earth's gravitational pull, the Bio-Electric aura was responsible.
I suspected that was the direction to take to awaken flight, something that still eluded me.
"...are you listening to me, Jon? Jon?"
Mom broke me out of my thoughts.
"Oh, sorry Ma, you were saying?"
I apologized.
Sometimes my mind would get lost in a long train of thought. I could not only think clearly but deeply—another consequence of my growing powers.
She shook her head with a sigh, already used to it.
"I was asking if you wanted to get ice cream to celebrate your win?"
"Ice cream?"
I agreed abruptly.
"Yes. Ice cream is God."
Mom laughed, turning the truck around a curve. Ahead of us was a bridge that, upon crossing, would bring us to town.
I could already taste the chocolate Sundae with strawberry toppings waiting for me.
As the bridge came into view, so did a lone man standing by the side of the road, wearing a trench coat and looking very suspicious.
Mom noticed him too, hands tightening around the steering wheel.
"Jon, you got your seatbelt on?"
she asked, gaze focused ahead.
"Yeah."
I gave a nod.
After my confirmation, she increased the truck's speed, muttering under her breath that this wasn't the first time she found herself in such a situation.
Being with Dad for so many years, it was a given she would be caught up in some of the craziness. And from the looks of things, now I might be too.
Calming down, I readied myself for anything, eyes on the strange man as we passed by him.
The trench coat was hooded, keeping his face hidden.
I blinked, noticing a subtle green light glowing from his chest area. The strangest thing was how silent he was. Even with my enhanced hearing, I couldn't hear his heart rate.
Thankfully, he did nothing as the pick up truck drove by.
Mom sighed in relief while I watched his retreating form in the side mirror.
We reached the bridge, and it was only because my ears caught a sizzling noise ahead that I saw the flash of lightning descending from the sky.
"Mom!"
I yelled, reaching out suddenly and turning the steering wheel.
The truck lurched to the left, dodging the lightning bolt that slammed onto the bridge, narrowly missing us.
"Jon! Look out!"
Mom shouted. The sudden change in the truck's trajectory meant it was now headed for the edge of the bridge, about to collide with the guardrail. With the speed we were moving at, there was no time to change direction again.
Thinking fast, I tore through my seatbelt and burst out of the car an instant before it crashed.
"Are you alright?"
I asked Mom, gently placing her and the driver's seat on the ground, my voice heavy with concern.
With no time to spare undoing her seatbelt, I had judged it easier to tear her seat off the truck.
"I-I'm okay."
Mom shakily replied, her focus shifting to my back.
"Behind you!"
Without thinking, I spread my hands out and shielded her with my body, a split second before my back was hit by something green, hot, and painful.
The impact sent me flying over her, slamming onto the metal railings around the bridge with an agonizing gasp.
I fell to the ground, stunned, my vision blurring at the edges. Absolutely everything hurt.
(General P.O.V)
"Jon!!"
Lois tugged her seatbelt off, running towards her son, only for her hair to be grabbed from behind.
Pepper spray at the ready, she turned around to find the culprit was the man in the trench coat they had passed by on the road.
"Let go of me, asshole!"
she shouted in anger, spraying him.
"That won't work on me."
a gravelly voice came from under the hood.
The pepper spray was snatched from her hand and crushed. With the other hand, the man grabbed a struggling Lois by the neck and lifted her up.
"W-who are you?"
Lois asked, her voice strained with fear, trying her hardest to remove the tight grip from her neck.
"You don't remember me? That makes me sad, Lois. After all..."
The man removed his hood, revealing a face that was part human, part machine,
"We have history."
"M-Metallo?"
Lois gasped in shocked recognition.
Half of the man's facial features were missing skin, revealing a metallic bone structure. Both of his eyes pulsed with a sickly green light. Kryptonite.
"Bingo."
Metallo replied, his evil smile turning his face eerie.
With a flash of bright blue lightning, a woman with white hair, dressed like a goth, landed next to Metallo.
"I missed the shot, but we got them in the end."
she told Metallo, grinning at the helpless Lois.
'Livewire.' Lois recognized her as well. What were two of Superman's villains doing in Smallville? And why did they attack her? Did they know about Jon? How?
"W-what do you want?"
Lois glared at them, subtly pressing her watch to send an SOS to Clark.
Livewire snapped her fingers, zapping the watch with a thin current and frying it.
"We know all about that little trick. Supes ain't coming to save you, darling. Not this time."
She told her with glee, licking her lips.
'Shit.'
Lois thought, her heart sinking.
To make things worse, Metallo tightened his grip on her neck, cutting off her air supply.
"What do we want?"
He asked in his gravelly voice,
"How about revenge? He took something from us, now we're taking everything from him."
'I can't breathe...' Lois started to panic, about to pass out.
"Let go of her!!!"
A furious roar filled the air.
Vrooomp!
The air thrummed as twin laser beams slammed onto Livewire's torso, blasting her backward and into the side of the crashed vehicle.
Metallo turned his head to look, only for a punch to land on his cheek with a resounding smack. His entire body spun around, leading him to drop Lois in the process.
The impact of his body on the bridge floor left a groove behind, his momentum only halted by the guardrails.
Breathing a little fast, his body smoking, and a hole on the back of his t-shirt, Jon wrapped his arms around his mom, his eyes fixed on the two villains.
"Ma, you alright?"
"Y-yeah."
Lois coughed, getting to her feet with his help.
"J-Jon, we need to run while we still can."
Jon knew the smart thing to do was to listen to his mother, but they had hurt her. Metallo's hold leaving red welts on her neck.
He couldn't let that go. Not in a million years.
"Jon! Come on, let's go!"
Lois insisted, but the look on her son's face when he turned her way, surprised her; fury unlike any she had seen before, yet his eyes remained focused.
Without a word, he grabbed her in a princess carry, turned around, and jumped.
Lois blinked as the bridge shrunk from view along with the car.
That single leap cleared a distance close to a mile.
When they landed, it was in a road intersection with a few signs. From there, the town was only a few hundred meters away.
Jon put her down, allowing her to catch her breath.
"Call Dad." he said, stepping back.
When Lois turned around to face him, the only thing she saw was her son's form disappearing into the distance with another leap. He had a score to settle.
Time to see how destructive 1% of Superman's powers could be.