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English
Series:
Part 2 of Down the Hall
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Published:
2022-11-22
Completed:
2022-12-13
Words:
24,140
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8/8
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104
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86
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Back of the Box

Summary:

Jordan, who emerged less than a year earlier as Superboy, has discovered that there are rumors floating around on Reddit that Superboy has a secret superpowered brother. He knows that a mysterious user named “theSource” is behind it all, and he needs to find a way to stop it before it completely spirals out of control.

Of course, it would probably help if Jon, who is living his own, glorious life at Metropolis University, would actually talk to him for a change…

Meanwhile, Jordan has received a letter from the Wheaties corporation inviting him to be featured on the back of their box. Though Superman was featured on it twenty years earlier and this is far from a new concept he is finding it extremely difficult to get comfortable with the idea.

Notes:

I actually wrote this first chapter months ago and somehow got distracted…

There is a large Superman and Lois community on Reddit and this story is partially inspired by it. To those of you who are frequent flyers over there, I hope you enjoy my little foray into that world with our beloved Jordan! (And for those of you who aren’t, come join us! It’s a lot of fun!)

This is a continuation of a previous story I wrote called “Down the Hall.” It will be a richer experience if you read that first but it’s not necessary to do so. I threw this into a series with it so it’ll be easy to find if you want to check it out first.

Chapter 1: Back of the Box, chapter 1

Chapter Text

Back of the Box, chapter 1


 

 

 

Sarah Cortez : I miss you. I feel like my head is going to explode. There’s something wrong with me, I know you’re horrible for me but I keep drifting right back. I feel like I’m going to die, I never want to touch alcohol ever again. 

Jordan : I love you too, Cushing. 

Jordan : I’ll see you tomorrow. 

Sarah Cortez : Same time, same place?

Jordan : Of course. I’ll grab the first drink. 

Sarah Cortez : See, I told you you’re horrible for me. Get off of WhatsApp, don’t you have better things to do? I’m sure there’s a cat somewhere in the world that needs to be rescued out of a tree…

When Jordan came downstairs that morning he was too tired to do anything the way a regular human would, so he let himself revert into superspeed, reaching to grab a pancake right out of the pan as Dad stood at the stove, sizzling them up in perfect, round circles—

But unfortunately Dad was just as fast as he was, and he managed to bat Jordan’s hand away just in time. He shook his head, narrowing his eyes. 

“We don’t use superpowers in this house to grab food before it’s ready,” he lectured. 

“Speak for yourself,” Jordan replied. “I'm too tired to hold back right now— and anyway, I’m starving— last night was— wait— what is all of that?” Jordan suddenly noticed the kitchen table, which had several large plastic boxes piled on top of it, each stamped with the USPS logo brilliantly on the side. 

“Huh?” Dad replied, then turning to glance at the table. “Oh, that. Yeah, Mom stopped by the PO boxes this morning—“

“PO boxes?” Jordan replied, just as Mom came strolling into the kitchen. 

“Oh, morning sweetie,” she said, tightening her belt around her waist. “I didn’t realize you came home last night…”

“Where else would I go?” Jordan asked, sighing. Though Jonathan was away at college at Metropolis University, living down the hall from Sarah, coincidentally, Jordan had decided to stay local and was attending Central Kansas A & M. He just found the idea of living in a dorm room with a random person far too daunting, especially because he often floated in his sleep (and he would never even consider rooming with Jon, which Jon wholeheartedly agreed with). And although he could easily make the commute to Metropolis from Smallville in about half a second, it would be a little hard to explain…

He was mostly ok with his college choice, and his classes were interesting enough, but sometimes he found it a little frustrating, especially when Mom continued to insist on calling him sweetie when he came downstairs every single morning.

“Whose PO boxes?” Jordan finally followed up as Mom sat down at the table, staring at the large pile of boxes looming before her. 

“Ours, of course,” Dad replied. He picked up the pan, sliding the pancakes onto a plate. 

“We have PO boxes?” Jordan asked, still utterly confused. 

“Well— Superman and Superboy do,” Mom replied. “Babe— can I have those? I was so swamped at the Gazette yesterday that dinner totally slipped my mind… I’m famished…”

Dad grinned, carrying the plate across the room and setting it before Mom. She reached up to him, grabbing his fingers and giving them a little squeeze. 

“Hey— I thought those were mine,” Jordan said. “I only saved an entire city last night— I think I earned it—“

“And Mom saved the world,” Dad argued, still grinning. “With her reporting, anyway. Another top notch article, Ms. Lane, you smacked it right out of the park yet again—“

“Why thank you, Smallville, that means a lot coming from you,” she replied, batting her eyelashes flirtatiously at him.

Jordan groaned. Parents weren’t supposed to act like this, especially after being together for over a quarter of a century…

He ended up retreating into his phone, toggling between instagram, where he felt plenty of fomo scrolling through his peers’ posts about their college experiences, and Reddit. He didn’t admit this to a lot of people (or really, to any people), but he often ended up snooping on the Superboy subreddit when he was bored— he knew it didn’t help his anxiety on any level, but he just needed to know what people were saying about him, both the good and the bad. And although 99 percent of the content lauded his praises, talking about how amazing he was, and even sometimes fawned over him— there was always that one percent who said otherwise… And as much as he tried to prevent it, he couldn’t help but fixate on that freaking one percent. 

Of course, as he scrolled through the feed that suddenly became the least of his worries. 

 

r/Superboy

 

u/theSource

Met U Incident— New Evidence

Discussion

 

I know we are all painfully aware of what happened at Met U, and all of the implications that have been tossed around over the past few weeks. (For those of you who have been living under a rock, I’m referring, of course, to the incident when that boy fell off of a sixth story terrace, only to be very publicly rescued by what was described by witnesses as a “blur”.) Since this incident occurred four weeks ago there have been many claims that Superboy must attend Met U as a student with some sort of “secret identity.”

I’m here to bring new evidence to light. As some of you might be aware, I am the developer and host of the famous Met U social networking server, popularly referred to as “the forums.” In that context I have uncovered evidence that the “blur” that was witnessed was not, in fact, Superboy. Rather, the “blur” was someone else entirely— it was Superboy’s brother.

Yes, my friends, you read that right. Superboy does indeed have a brother, Superman has two sons, not one, and there is a half-Kryptonian mongrel hiding at Met U, posing as a student, and hoodwinking the entire student body of one of the most premiere universities in the world…

 

Jordan felt his heart come to a complete stop. Of course he had heard about the incident, though Jon hadn’t bothered to take the time to tell him; it had been Granddad who heard about it through his contacts at the army, then passing it along to Jordan. The incident had actually completely blown up, leading to a government investigation, but Granddad had told him that it was taken care of, that the necessary files were deleted, that there would be nothing further to worry about…

Jordan was starting to second guess his decision not to tell Mom and Dad. He glanced up from his phone, watching as Mom whispered something into Dad’s ear, causing him to guffaw in his usual dorky manner.

He rolled his eyes. 

He looked down at his phone, shocked to see that there were hundreds of upvotes and over  a hundred comments, despite the post only being two hours old and having been posted absurdly early in the morning. 

He knew he shouldn’t get involved. In fact, he told himself this every single time…

 

ToBoldlyGo612

This is a really big assertion, u/theSource, and one you have provided zero evidence for. I’m guessing Superboy wouldn’t be too happy with your spreading misinformation about him and his family. 

 

The downvotes started pouring in very quickly, as did the responses. 

      

       Arachnidxl

       TheSource has never misled anyone in this group, toboldlygo, but nice try 

             Lacey27

             Boldygo is clearly just looking for attention. It’s pathetic. 

      IamSuperboy

      It’s really hard to know one way or another. This is far from the first time anyone has wondered if there could be more kryptonians hiding among us. Once Superboy revealed himself as Superman’s son the question of if Superman could possibly have more children that we are just not aware of has always been on the table. Superman hasn’t even revealed who Superboy’s mother is, even now that almost a full year has gone by since we learned the news of Superboy’s existence. 

              SqueakyBruce

             Superboy’s mother is probably Wonder Woman. He has the same black curly hair that she does— and I can’t even imagine Superman banging a regular human. He can lift a planet out of its orbit— if he had sex with a human he would probably kill her with his first thrust—



“Jordan,” Dad suddenly said, causing Jordan’s head to snap up from his phone. “Your mom and I are going to start tackling the boxes— any interest in joining us?”

“Uh, um, what?” Jordan replied, his mind still buried very deep within the Superboy sub. 

“I know it looks like a lot,” Dad continued, “but don’t worry, with superspeed we can be done with it all in less than ten minutes—“

“Ten minutes??” Mom asked. “Why on earth would you go so slow?”

Jordan wasn’t even paying attention anymore. He couldn’t even imagine starting to go through his fan mail right now— he had much more pressing matters to attend to. Like Reddit. 

“Bud— do you want me to go through some of yours for you? I’ll let you know if there’s anything you need to see—“

“Uh, sure, whatever Dad.” Jordan had no idea what Dad was even saying anymore, his nose already back in his phone. 

“Sometimes I think phones have totally ruined our civilization,” Mom murmured in a huff. 

His eyebrows shot up when he discovered he had a private message from TheSource. He had gotten to know him pretty well over the past few months, in the superficial context of the sub, anyway. He hesitated for a moment, finally succumbing to temptation and clicking it. 

 

TheSource

You clearly have your doubts— but I can assure you, my evidence is sound. I know that what I said is true. 

TheSource

I’ve grown to respect you or I wouldn’t waste my time. But you have very reasoned opinions about Superboy— and I know that once you see my evidence you will agree— it is irrefutable. 

 

Jordan swallowed, feeling his heart starting to race. 

 

ToBoldlyGo612

It’s very dangerous to spread conspiracy theories. I thought you were better than that. 

TheSource

This is no conspiracy theory. 

 

And then Jordan noticed that TheSource was typing… he waited, his anxiety building as the seconds ticked on…

And a picture finally appeared. 

It was a screenshot, taken from another social media modality— though Jordan didn’t have to think too hard to figure out which one it was. 

 

Footballguy : I’m the blur. 

Footballguy : You were right. It wasn’t a gust of wind. It was me. 

NotaMermaid314 : So… you ARE Superboy. 

Footballguy : No, I told you already. I’m not Superboy. But Superboy— he’s my brother. 

NotaMermaid314 : Your brother? He’s your brother? Superboy?

Footballguy : Yes, Atlantis. Yes to all of that. 

NotaMermaid314 : But that would make Superman— your father. 

Footballguy : Yes to that as well. 

NotaMermaid314 : But that doesn’t make any sense. That would mean you’re Kryptonian… but how can you be Kryptonian…

Footballguy : I’m actually only half Kryptonian. So is Superboy, by the way, though no one really knows that.

 

Jordan was stunned, completely at a loss as to what to even think. Though he did know one thing— he was going to kill Jon the next time he had a chance. 

How stupid could he be? Not only to go ahead and reveal himself to this stranger, but then to do it over an insecure internet platform… Jordan shook his head, sighing. 

 

ToBoldlyGo612

I’m not an idiot. This could totally be fabricated. It means absolutely nothing. 

TheSource

Except we both know that it doesn’t. And trust me— I’m not going to stop until I find out who Footballguy is— and what he wants from us all. 

 

Ok, Jordan was REALLY going to kill Jon. Slaughter him, toss him out in the garbage…

 

TheSource

And trust me, Boldlygo— I have the means to do it. 

 

And then Jordan jumped as a letter was thrust in front of his face, right between his eyes and his phone screen. He looked up, staring right into his mother’s bright, blue eyes. 

“What?” he asked, his head still spinning from his conversation over Reddit. 

Mom didn’t answer, just smiling at him eagerly. She gestured to the letter, which she had dropped on the kitchen table in front of him. “Go ahead and open it.”

Jordan glanced at the return address, cocking an eyebrow. “Um… why are you showing me a letter from General Mills?”

Mom’s smile widened. “Trust me...”

Jordan furrowed his brow, picking it up, and contemplating the letter for a moment. It was thin and pretty obviously junk— but Mom’s behavior about it was beyond bizarre. 

And then he finally ripped it open. He peered down at it, skimming the words on the page.

“Um…” he uttered. He didn’t really know what else to say…

“Isn’t it wonderful?” Mom continued. “I can’t believe it, you haven’t even reached your first anniversary as Superboy yet!”

Dad walked over to him, ruffling his hair. “Mom’s right— I didn’t get a letter like that until I had already been Superman for five years—“

“Um… I hate to break it to you guys but I’m not going to do it…”

But then mom glared at him, in her intense, no nonsense way. “Of course you will, Jordan. We went over this when you decided to take on the mantle as Superboy— there are many sides of being a superhero and I’m sorry, my dear, but this is one of them.”

“Don’t worry,” Dad said, smacking him on the back. “It’s not going to be as bad as you think.”

Somehow Jordan highly doubted that. 

“I’ve never seen Batman on the back of a Wheaties box,” Jordan attempted, knowing full well that he had already lost. 

Mom glared at him. “Batman doesn’t have a constant uphill battle to stay relatable. Your powers make it a whole different ballgame, Jordan, you know this just as well as I do.”

Jordan sighed, thinking about how terrified Sarah had looked years earlier when his eyes glowed red right in front of her… and he knew that Mom was right. 

“I hate you guys,” he said. 

Mom and Dad exchanged knowing glances, causing Jordan to sigh in response. 

“Well, I’m off,” Dad said, grabbing his plaid jacket next to the door. “The fields aren’t going to plow themselves—“

“Could you just pick up some of those amazing pastries you brought home the other day on your way home?” Mom asked, pecking him on the lips before yanking Jordan’s letter out of his hands and heading over to the fridge. Jordan cringed, hoping she wasn’t about to do what he thought she was doing…

But then she took a magnet off the corner and stuck it right onto the letter, allowing it to sit there, out in the open, for all to see. 

Jordan closed his eyes and groaned— he really needed to move out, as soon as yesterday…

“You mean the ones I picked up in Paris? Sure, no problem…”

“Thanks, Babe,” she said, squeezing his bicep. 

Jordan glanced down at his phone, toggling back to messages. 

 

Jordan : Scratch that, Cushing. I’m coming today— and I’m staying the night. 

Sarah Cortez : 😳

Jordan : Ugh, sorry, that’s not what I meant. I just need to get away from my parents for a little while. 

Sarah Cortez : What about Jon? Or are you still not talking to him?

 

Jordan thought about his encounter with Jon at the museum, when Jon had totally blown him off after he told him about Granddad saving his ass from the FBI— and then he remembered how angry he was at him about the forums. 

And he started fuming all over again. 

 

Jordan : Work in progress. 

Sarah Cortez : You guys really need to chill one of these days. 

Jordan : Yeah, you’re right, because that’s TOTALLY my way of doing things. 

Sarah Cortez : Seriously, Jordan. Think about it. Whatever’s going on with the two of you— it’s not worth it. 

Sarah Cortez : Love you, Flyboy. See you later.