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Post by Superboy on Feb 16, 2012 16:14:36 GMT -5
Just think of flying seemed easy enough. Hopefully this would be the first new thing he tried today that he didn't get embarrassingly wrong.
Sparing a grin in anticipation, he slipped the ring on.
And then he wasn't there anymore.
It took all the logical reasoning in his brain to figure out why Smallville had suddenly gotten so small, but seeing the town shrink down to a smaller and smaller size, combined with the site of clouds shooting by him on both sides gave him his first clue as to what was happening - and he was still going up. Fast. Faster than he could run, or even jump. Feeling as if in a state of shock, he looked up, realizing suddenly that he was eventually going to run out of air at this rate, and since he had already proven that he didn't have Superman's lung capacity, he didn't think he would do very well in space either. The result was that, although he had no idea what was happening or why he was up here and getting higher, he needed to stop and, preferably, go down.
Two options, his panicked mind was telling him. Option one: remove the ring. This would definitely cut the source of the problem off... but he was really high up now, and he had no idea if he could survive a fall from here, and what's more, he didn't know where he would land. He could have been over Texas by now and he wouldn't now it, the land mass below had become a faceless shape.
Option two: thinking about flying got you up here - so stop thinking about flying, and start thinking about descending. He recognized the fault with that plan the instant it had formed in his mind, but by then it was too late - he couldn't stop himself. One word had invaded his brain, and the word was 'DOWN'. And so where before he was rocketing up toward the stratosphere, now he was plummeting back toward Earth with perhaps even greater speed. His vision blurred as he watched the continent below suddenly swell in size. In his peripheral vision, he could see red and orange, like he was on fire, though he didn't feel hot. There was a crashing, BOOM sound all around him.
And there was the ground, about to knock him into next Tuesday.
"STOP!"
And he did.
He was suspended in the air, horizontally, covering his head with his hands in a brace for impact. When he dared to peek to see if he was a stain on the sidewalk, and realized that he wasn't, his instant reaction was to whip the ring off his finger, and this caused him to drop the last three or so feet back to Earth, with a thud.
For a while, he didn't move. He just waited for his heart to stop beating like it was trying to fight its way out of his chest. Then he rolled over onto his back, blinked at the sky, which seemed now to be more threatening than it ever had been before. He turned his head to the side and looked at the golden ring that was lying in his outstretched hand. That thing... was dangerous. Brainy never should have let him have it. He almost died.
So why was he grinning at it like a moron?
Because that was awesome.
There was a shuffling sound, and the teenager turned his head up again to see a shrunken, withered old man standing over him. He was chewing slowly and noisily on something and looking at Conner with vacant eyes.
"Uh." Conner said, "Hi." The man nodded. "You an angel?" He demanded, his voice high and squeaky. "Er... no." "Didn't think so." The man muttered, and shuffled off again out of sight.
Conner sat up and looked around. It appeared he was in a rural town. But it wasn't Smallville. If he was lucky, it was one of the neighboring towns that was dotted around the area. If not... well, he might have some serious jumping to do... and then he would have words with Brainiac 5.0...
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Post by Brainiac 5 on Feb 16, 2012 16:46:52 GMT -5
He waited, patiently, for the other to slip the ring on and try it out, and he did so, and then disappeared. Had he not been a Coluan, and perhaps even if he had not been a twelfth level intelligence, he would have not seen what happened, but as it was, his purple eyes widened as Superboy sped up and flew so quickly, faster than he had ever seen Superman fly. This… This was not good.
Quickly, Brainy flitted up after him, but whatever Connor was doing (it could be the natural inclination of a Kryptonian towards flight that was causing this, after all, his ring had never been used by one of that race) was causing him to go faster than the Brainiac could, and unless he wanted to overstrain himself, something which would likely result in mental injury, there was no way he could catch up. So he kept his mechanical eyes locked on target, doing his best to follow as he wondered what the best option would be.
Clearly, Kon-El was not able to control his flight, something which made him believe that he was not intended to keep the ring, after all, so he had to stop him. The most preferable, at this point, would be if the other took off the ring, for Brainy could certainly catch him. Another would be if he were able to gain control of the ring, but there was only a 32.4% chance of that happening.
The worst? The clone would exit the atmosphere and suffocate. He didn’t want to explain this one.
Had he not locked in on the target, much as a rocket homed in on another vessel, Brainiac would not have seen the change until it was too late. As it was, he narrowed his eyes as the other fell, trying to speed towards him as fast as he could, but somehow, the other was going even faster. It was like everything that made sense in the world had decided to take a day off, and he wasn’t sure what to make of it.
But the other appeared to be on fire, though it was obvious he still had the ring on, yet was plummeting nonetheless, and there was no way that he could reach him in time. In fact, though he was able to pinpoint the coordinates around him, Connor actually left his range of sight, which wasn’t good.
Flying as quickly as he was able was out of the question, now. He had to fly quicker. So, regardless of the warnings that began to sound in his mind, and the fact that he was beginning to grow hot, one of the few times he really felt temperature, unbearably hot, Brainy sped up. It was detrimental to his systems, yes, and he was likely damaging them in the process, but he had to make sure that Connor hadn’t slammed into the earth, wasn’t lying terribly injured somewhere, and so he ignored the warnings, even as he smoked and winced, speeding up until Connor was within his sight range.
There! Laying on the ground like that, was he injured? He sped up slightly, ignoring the smoke that radiated from him, and the alarms blaring in his mind, and dropped to a standing position on the ground, with wide purple eyes. “Are you alright?” he immediately asked at seeing he was awake and sitting up, voice filled with concern.
He was coherent, right? No brain damage? Oh Superman, this was not good…
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Post by Superboy on Feb 16, 2012 17:13:46 GMT -5
Just when Conner was about to sigh and pull himself to his feet, and either locate some kind of sign or ask a passer-by for the name of the town he had landed in, a familiar face dropped down in front of him. He was glad to see Brainy - very glad, as it probably meant that finding his way home wouldn't be a problem any more, and also, he could give him a piece of his mind about this whole ring-will-catapult-you-off-the-planet thing.
He got himself to his feet, frowning as he did so, dusted himself off, and raised a finger pointedly, as if to make it clear that he was about to make an objection toward his friend, and only then did he notice that Brainy was smoking.
It hadn't taken Brainy long to find him... and that meant he had kept up with him, and that meant he would have had to try and match the speeds he was going at, which were ridiculous even for him, and his physiology was built for flying (although he couldn't quite do it himself yet).
"I'm fine - what about you?" He said, noting the concern in his friend's voice and realizing that, of course, Brainy hadn't known this was going to happen. He had assumed before that the Coluan had simply neglected to mention the side-effect of the ring that was propulsion into the sky, but now he saw that if he knew it was going to do what it did, he probably wouldn't have given him the ring, let alone let him put it on.
"You're smoking." He informed him, "That's not good. Can you repair yourself again?" At least he didn't seem to be on fire. That was a plus. And yet, this was the second time today that interaction with Conner had damaged Brainy in some way. He was beginning to think that he was a danger to be around. "You need to stop hanging around with me and get as far away as possible. I'm not good for your health." He said jokingly, partially to assure Brainy that he was fine and unhurt, and secondly to try and make light of a situation that could have been fatal to either of them.
At this thought, his face became grave again, and he gripped the ring in his hand. "Do you know what just happened? Because I sure don't..."
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Post by Brainiac 5 on Feb 17, 2012 9:29:09 GMT -5
…Well, he didn’t look pleased. Sighing internally, and bracing himself for one of the tirades that he often received whenever Superman found out he was hiding information from him (it was for his own good! He knew what he was doing!), Brainy was then nonplussed by the question, blinking in surprise. “Yes, I’m fine,” he told the other, unsure of why he was asking the question. After all, he was not the one that had just lost control of their flight ring (or, rather, never had control of it in the first place) and then plummeted to the earth, correct?
Connor then went on to clarify, and the Coluan found himself amused by the fact that the other thought this would require repairs. “My systems simply overloading with the speed. I will cool down in a short period of time,” he informed the Kryptonian. It truly wasn’t that big of a deal, and it mostly just looked bad. After all, Coluans were not built to be a speedy, fighting race, rather than a hive mind of researchers, brains, the like, and considering that he had not yet reached the age of maturity, physically (he had always been past the age of maturity, mental-wise), it just caused undue stress on his body. When it was time for upgrades, he would have to reinforce himself. Though that would still be in two years.
The comment brought a small smile to his face. “You and Superman both,” he said, falling back into his usual bland tone with an internal sigh of relief. Superman inspired emotion, and now Superboy was (though that had likely been a given), and, frankly, it was exhausting. He wasn’t used to it at all.
But yes, that was a question that needed to be answered. Resisting the urge to float, as he usually did, and instead remaining planted on the ground, looking up at the (way too much) taller boy, Brainy considered it, and then listed the possibilities. “21.36% chance that it was a result of your Kryptonian heritage, 13.45% chance that it was due to some form of instructions programmed into you during your formation, 47.82% chance that it was because of a snap in the timestream, 61.2% chance that it was a combination of any of the former, and 92.4% chance that it was your super speed manifesting itself in an unexpected way,” he recited, the calculations for such options having only taken but a moment, as he rattled them off in his bland voice, pulling them straight from his mind as he looked at nothing.
Though he shouldn’t be using any systems while he was still cooling down, his mind did not count. After all, he was a twelfth level intellect. He could spare some.
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Post by Superboy on Feb 17, 2012 17:18:53 GMT -5
Conner blinked vacantly at the flurry of words that Brainy quick-fired his way in response to his question. Well. That answered that then, in several ways. Now, Conner had always considered himself to be a fairly intelligent person, as far as people went. Heck, if you took into account his encyclopedic brain (though it always seemed to be missing the useful parts), he was a lot smarter than the humans he knew. And yet standing in front of Brainy, he felt like a glorified gorilla. He got the impression that he made most people feel that way though. It hadn't been massively obvious up until now, but if Conner had an encyclopedia for a brain, Brainy must have had the internet for his by comparison. In fact, that probably didn't even come close.
He had been primarily concerned with his Coluan friend's well-being, so once he was assured of that, he felt a lot more at ease, despite the almost fatal joyride he had just taken. He didn't, however, want to become one of those people who constantly worried about their friends. That was annoying. Brainy, he knew, could take care of himself, and so after he was told that he would be fine as long as he took a moment to 'cool down', he simply nodded his understanding and turned his attention back to the current predicament.
"92.4..." He echoed, considering the final number in the rundown he had been given. Those were odds he was willing to take. He had thought that it was super speed at the time. He obviously had no way of knowing, due to having no prior experience, but when he imagined moving faster than a speeding bullet, the sensation was quite similar to the one he had just experienced. He couldn't help but smile at the revelation. "So I can super-speed." He said, clearly pleased with the discovery, even if it was accidental, "I mean, I always assumed I would develop the ability eventually, but there was always a doubt, you know?" It seemed like the more time he spent hanging with Brainy, the more he discovered about himself. First his name, and now this.
The ring was still in his hand, and he held it between his fingers and looked at it again, seeing it in a different light now that he knew what it - what he - was capable of.
His eyes shifted from the ring which he held up in front of them, to Brainy, standing in front of him. "I... don't suppose you've got any tips on flying, then?" He asked hopefully, "My first go went pretty well, but in the future I'd like to maybe take to the sky without worrying whether or not I'll be coming back down again."
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Post by Brainiac 5 on Feb 17, 2012 17:40:43 GMT -5
Brainy nodded at the question, deciding that if Kon-El was willing to go with the calculation, however imperfect it was, then he would treat it like a fact until it was either verified or disproved. “Yes, it appears that way.” He felt obligated to warn his newfound friend, however, about the possible limitations, so did not stop there. “There is an 83.45% chance, however, that it will only extend to your flight, at least temporarily. You may not be able to use it when not in the air for a bit.” Considering that he had no experience in such an area, he would not be able to make an accurate calculation as to how long it would be, but he felt obligated to speak up.
After all, it wouldn’t do for him to attempt it, believing he could, and fail. There could be consequences to such an action (only a 34.23% chance, but it still existed).
…Pretty well? He thought that had gone pretty well? “That was not ‘pretty well’, Connor, that was atrocious,” he told the other in his fairly blunt way. It was funny, how he alternated between telling the truth so bluntly, and lying so much. Thankfully, it did not seem that he would have to do any lying to Superboy. Not like how many he had spoken to Superman.
But he considered the question, hesitating. “It is… a difficult task to compare our neural passageways, but perhaps think the command softer?” he spoke up, trying to consider this. Most people had just been naturally able to fly, and had not needed help. Considering that he still used his original prototype for the ring as well, which required thinking, that would be of no assistance. “For example, floating instead of flying.”
Let’s see… What had Clark struggled with? Ah, yes. “I assume you know how Superman flies? For a Kryptonian such as yourself, it will make you more aerodynamic, and in control.” There wasn’t much else he could say, in all honestly, that would be simple to communicate. “And try to hover before you take off anywhere, until you have fully gained control.”
There, that was all he could say that he knew (although an indepth search of his databanks could reveal more), though he felt like he needed more. He would always feel like there was not enough, unless he hit 132 pages. That was a decent amount.
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Post by Superboy on Feb 18, 2012 17:09:13 GMT -5
So he would only have super speed when he was using the flight ring. Conner had expected that - it wouldn't make sense for the flight ring to suddenly just open up one of his natural abilities even when he wasn't wearing it - so he wasn't overly disappointed to be told of the fact. But flying would do for now, if he could figure out how to get it under control. Flying super speed was way better than no super speed at all.
He had to chuckle at Brainy's correction in reference to his flying. "Yeah, that was actually sarcasm." He explained, "Maybe that's something that I can train you in at some point." Though he doubted his training would be worth as much as Brainy's, and certainly not in a combat situation. He did find his friend's bluntness amusing though. It was actually quite refreshing after a month of everyone tip-toeing around him in conversations and being careful not to say anything that could 'set him off', whatever that meant. It was really rather pointless anyway. He had super hearing to thank for that.
Not wanting a repeat of the process, he paid very careful attention while Brainy provided him with advice. He was keen to get on and try again as soon as possible, and hopefully next time he wouldn't almost die.
Taking into account what his adviser had said, he nodded, and took a step back, raising the ring in his left hand and holding his right out ready to slip it on again. "Well, now is as good a time as any to try again. We've got to get back to Smallville somehow, right?"
He was about to put the ring on again, and was already concentrating on the words 'float' and 'hover' in preparation, when he was distracted for the second time that day by people staring at them.
It seemed they'd gathered quite a crowd, and unlike in Smallville earlier Conner had been too absorbed in conversation to care. The people watching them - civilians, regular, boring people - were keeping their distance, but a lot of eyes were on them. He caught a glimpse of some people looking out of windows. For a moment he wondered if they should go somewhere out of sight before flying off, but he quickly decided that they'd seen too much for it to matter by now anyway.
He turned his focus back to the ring, and trying to burn the word 'float' into his thoughts... but now that he knew he was being watched by a crowd of silent onlookers, he couldn't concentrate at all. He frowned, trying to focus, but he just couldn't. It was annoying.
"Do you guys mind?!" He called, turning around away from Brainy and addressing the people staring from all directions. "Nothing to see here, okay?! Go back to... I don't know... being normal, or whatever!" There was a collective hesitation, like every single onlooker was thinking 'Is he talking to me?' but, eventually, people started moving, voices picked up, and they were on a regular street in a regular town again, as if nothing interesting at all was happening.
He turned back to Brainy, looking irritated that he had been bothered by the staring. "Right..." He said, and, once again, attempted to concentrate.
Float.
Taking a breath in anticipation, he slipped the ring on... and his feet moved out from under him. It was quite as if he had been tripped up by some invisible figure, but instead of crashing down to the ground as a result, the motion continued and his body continued to move in a slow circular motion until he was floating gently but horizontally in the air. His arms and legs moved slightly as he tried to maintain his balance, but he appeared to be stable. Still, he didn't let up on thinking the word 'float', kept that single command in his mind, and he definitely didn't think that he should avoid thinking the word 'fly', because he knew that the second he thought of not thinking of it, he would think of it, and then he would be out of here.
Flying was complicated.
He grinned as he drifted there on the spot, his body still slowly turning around of its own accord so that, when he looked to Brainy, he had to crane his head back to address him. "Okay!" He said, "Progress!"
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Post by Brainiac 5 on Feb 18, 2012 23:14:52 GMT -5
He blinked in surprise at the other’s words, processing that data. That had been sarcasm? Connor was far more subtle with it, then, and though sublety was good, Brainy was not the… best, at deciphering sarcasm and the like (which may have been why his friends were so obvious with it), so his so-called ‘training’ would likely be of use. His communication skills were always a source of contention amongst his… peers, especially with people who were idiots (sadly, that was most of the universe), so anything that would assist him in understanding those with lesser intelligence would be helpful.
“Any form of learning is appreciated,” the Coluan told the other, the ends of his mouth quirking up slightly as he did so.
Nodding slightly at the Kryptonian’s statement, he spoke. “Correct. I will not always be here to assist you, so it is best to help you gain control as quickly as possible, while I still can help.” Although the thought of not seeing Superboy again did make him a bit… depressed. He was like Superman, kind, fun, caring… And he did not seem bothered by his… uniqueness. And it was always enjoyable to train people, especially those that actually wished to be trained, did not complain about it, and were difficult opponents (in the sense that there was a possibility that he would be injured, rather than any skill that the other had).
Perhaps… he could invite the other back to Jump City with him, to assist him, maybe, and further his training? Judging by Superboy’s eager acceptance of training, he believed it would be met with a good response, and he could talk to the Kents… Maybe. Something to consider in the third or fourth level of his brain.
So, filing that thought away, he waited patiently for Kon-El to attempt to fly, his quick purple eyes perusing the crowd that had gathered for any threat, and, quickly deeming them non-combatants and utterly unworthy of his time, he refocused his gaze on the other. While Brainy was not a particularly patient person, his level of intelligence assured that he could be focusing on the other and waiting patiently, while the rest of his mind was humming with thought, and, in the case, considering what exactly he would have to say to the Kents. It was always best to have at least 16.3 plans, if one had the time.
However, it seemed that Connor was not as adept as filtering out other people as he was (considering that he frequently locked himself into his lab for days, sometimes weeks on end, ignoring the people pounding on his door, he didn’t expect anyone to be), and thus Brainy blinked in surprise as the other turned around, addressing the humans. Mentally, he chuckled at the words used, but outwardly, he only smiled slightly, finding the whole thing amusing. Superman had not been such, but then again, Superman was Superman. Kon-El, as part of him, would be almost as wonderful, though definitely not as, and had apparently gained the ability to be funny with the human part of him.
Not that Superman couldn’t be funny if he tried. He was positive that Kal-El could do anything he set his mind to. He just didn’t consider it a priority, that’s all, and considering that Connor had less responsibilities and age upon his shoulders, he could still revel in it. That was all.
Brainy was mildly surprised that people actually listened, but as he glanced at the humans walking by, he did his best to seem like an intimidating alien robot (which, without transforming, admittedly wasn’t very), just to be certain to keep them away, for he didn’t want the other to lose his concentration. After all, he might be patient when he had matters to think over in his head (and the problem was already solved, unfortunately, as well as several contingency plans in case their responses were different from what he had projected, so he was currently analyzing the blueprints for the flight ring, in order to see if Lyle Invisible Kid had changed anything when he had not been looking), but that would not last forever. Even if the other was a half clone of Superman.
So he waited, patiently, and let a small smile slip onto his face as the other floated. Yes, he had… turned horizontally, and didn’t seem very in control, but at least he had managed to get off the ground without shooting off into the sky. Clearly, the other had taken his advice into consideration, something which too few people seemed to do. He knew what he was talking about, after all. He was the smartest being in the galaxy, possibly that ever existed (92.68% chance).
“Good,” Brainy noted, hoping that now that Kon-El had left the ground, they would be able to move on, as he floated up to join him. “Now attempt to shift yourself vertical, and then we shall try aerodynamics.” With that, he shifted a purple-eyed, mechanical glare on the few people that had been unable to resist and thus gawk (truly, he understood them, for the other was half of Superman and thus very high on the level of wonderful), sending them scurrying. No one wanted to be glared at by an alien robot, even if they were only twelve years old.
Brainiac 5 felt very pleased with that fact.
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Post by Superboy on Feb 19, 2012 16:54:45 GMT -5
"Vertical." Conner nodded intently, "I can do vertical." With that he gathered his concentration again, and spent some time whipping his arms and legs about in such a motion that he would have been moved upright, were he suspended in water rather than in thin air.
Floating in the growth tank that he was born into with its hazy green liquid and muffled sounds had been the only experience with floating that he had had, so it was his immediate instinct to move as if in water. But he stopped thrashing shortly, and reminded himself that this thing was based on mental commands, not physical ones. He made sure to think 'vertical' very gently, in case the word somehow got mixed up in his mind with 'up' which he was sure he didn't want yet.
Smoothly, his body rotated, and he was hovering upright, his boots a steady foot off the ground. He was facing the right way too, toward Brainy, though his posture was still somewhat tentative, with his arms raised slightly to the side as if for balance.
"Easy." He quipped cheerily, though he looked like he might topple over at any moment. Well, he was maintaining a safe distance from the clouds, so in his opinion it was going well. But although Brainy had managed to scatter the more persistent onlookers, it didn't stop Conner from wanting to get a move on and be out of here before somebody did something. He wondered how long it would take a regular person to call the police to deal with a couple of harmless floating teenagers.
Deciding to try moving about, Conner proceeded to concentrate on the word 'back' and instantly he was swept back a few feet. He stopped himself before he went flying this time though. "It's okay," He clarified before Brainy could worry, "I did that. We're good. Just testing."
'Left', he commanded, 'But gentler, this time', and he hovered left, slowly. 'Annnd right...' And he hovered right. There. There was nothing to this flying business.
"Okay. Aerodynamics?" He beamed at his friend, suddenly resembling a child with a new toy (which, technically, he was).
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Post by Brainiac 5 on Feb 19, 2012 17:34:37 GMT -5
He was… somewhat doubtful about the other’s ability to ‘do vertical’. Considering his ineptitude shown before, especially when given the fact that none of the other Legionaires had to be given special training in order to fly (that could have been something he was unaware of, however, as most of them did not enjoy him being their teacher. Something about being taught by a ‘condescending pre-teen’), Superboy did not show the… best amount of skill in flying. Still, he displayed, for once, ‘tact’ (the fact that the other was a half-clone of Superman helped in that application), and didn’t say that, simply nodding.
…His thought was proved to be correct quickly, as the other, for lack of a better word, flailed. Brainy let out a small sigh, shaking his head, and was about to correct the other, or at least stop him before he whacked someone or something and possibly broke it/them, what with his lack of control over his super speed, when Connor stopped. Lifting an eyebrow slightly, the Coluan watched as the other turned himself, now facing him.
Going from horribly failing and flailing, to maneuvering smoothly. He was very interesting, was he not? (The analyzation of the blueprints were completed, showing that Lyle Norg had not changed anything, which was good, because otherwise he would’ve throttled him for not sharing that information, so he moved on to the blueprints of the Time Bubble, attempting to see what parts he could interchange with 21st century technology.)
“Good,” the android commented on his success, choosing not the address the ‘easy’ statement. He was clearly not doing as well as he said, so he was suspicious that it would likely be more sarcasm. If he was exposed to a bit more, and this fit with the category, he was positive that he would be able to distinguish it. It was simply a matter of indentifying it, that was all.
Blinking in surprise as Kon-El was suddenly thrown backwards, he was about to shift forward and at least latch onto the other, so if he was sent flying off anywhere, he would be able to easily hitch along for the ride, he relaxed slightly at the explanation. “It seems you are beginning to get a handle on it,” he commented as the clone seemingly tested out the parameters, something which Brainiac 5 approved of. It was probably the best way for those other than lifeforms with a massive neural capacity to learn (he was always best by analyzation, of course).
A small smile broached his face at the smile on Connor’s face as he spoke. It was always nice to teach willing students, those who were content with learning from those younger than them (though it was… an interesting case, with the clone) and uncaring of how stupid they were when compared to him, and so he reveled in it. “We’ll go slow,” he told him, glad that he didn’t have to pause and enter the coordinates, for he already had. “Simply try and follow him.”
And with that, he rose up off the ground even further, flying upwards, but going very slowly and doing so backwards, eyes on Connor the entire time. He did not wish for the other to slip up.
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Post by Superboy on Feb 21, 2012 8:12:03 GMT -5
At least with Brainy leading the way, Conner didn't have to worry about the direction in which he was flying - only that he went in the same direction as him, and that he figured out a steady control.
Thinking 'follow Brainy' in his head didn't present him with any apparent results, so it looked like he was going to have to resort to 'Up a bit, forward a bit, up a bit more', and this mental process resulted in a jerky movement which, in his defense, did allow him to follow Brainy's much smoother trajectory. But it was slow, and awkward, and the worst thing was that it felt like a was operating on a bomb - he was having to keep his full concentration and focus on what thoughts he was allowing in his mind, lest he fire himself into outer space or down into the core of the Earth.
After a frustrating few seconds of going forward-up-forward-up, the clone grumbled to voice his dissatisfaction. He wasn't being launched into the sky at ridiculous speeds, but this did not feel like progress. He would never be able to fly around as he was doing it now. He needed a different method, and this was something he voiced to Brainy as he concentrated on hovering in place for the moment.
He thought about his problem, being careful to spare half of his mind to concentrate on not falling the height of a small building which was now between them and the ground.
"I'm going to try something." He announced, "It might work, but if I fall, don't bother trying to catch me, and if I go up... well..." His eyes flickered to the sky nervously, "Maybe try and latch on, or something..."
He paused for a moment, and then shut his eyes. The word 'hover' was still there, emblazoned in the darkness, keeping him aloft, but only barely, and taking all his willpower to do so. He imagined the word, in big white letters, and then he imagined erasing it. He felt the movement of air and knew he was dropping, but he kept his eyes closed and stayed relaxed, not allowing his mind to make any sudden commands that could be exaggerated by the flight ring. Instead he remained in the darkness and stayed calm and still, and then he imagined the ground underneath his feet, and he stopped falling. There was no ground there, but he imagined it, and so he could almost feel it.
Okay, he was stable. The next step was movement. On his imagined ground, he imagined a set of steps that appeared in front of him in his mind, and went to walk up them, and outside in the real world, he began walking on the air exactly as if there were steps there, leading up from the ground toward where he knew Brainy was.
With his eyes still shut, he smiled, realizing how much easier this was than trying to hold on to single words and commands in his mind. But still, this wouldn't do - he was able to walk on the air this way, but that wasn't the same as flying. So it was time for step three.
This time, standing on his imaginary steps, he imagined that they turned into semi-solid clouds beneath him and all around him. He let his arms reach out and grab them, feeling the texture of them in his hands. Then all that was left was to imagine that they were moving up, and taking him with them.
When he finally opened his eyes, he saw that he was floating easily and comfortably, and smoothly, up after Brainy. He could see in the light of reality that there were no clouds beneath his arms holding him up and taking him with them, but he kept his hands gripping them tightly and continued to imagine that they were there, and that did the trick.
"Think I've got the hang of this!" He said, pleased that he was managing to do something that Brainy showed him successfully for once - even if it was something that people didn't usually need a special method to be able to do right.
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Post by Brainiac 5 on Feb 21, 2012 8:56:38 GMT -5
His position of flying backwards in his graceful way lent him an accurate sight of Connor’s… abject failure with flying. He was jerky, moving erratically, and was, in general, just not flying very well. Chameleon Boy could fly better than this, and he was forever having to remind himself that he was a different size and weight whenever he transformed.
This was absolutely appalling. Perhaps the fact that he had human genes had somehow impaired his basic abilities? Likely.
But Brainy didn’t wish to interrupt the other’s concentration and possibly send him reeling in a random direction as he tried to recover, so he simply watched the slow-moving, jerky clone, mouth pressed into a thin line. Yes, progress had been made, but if this was all the progress that was going to be done, then he might as well take the ring, and have Superboy bounce hope. Because this was pathetic.
Thankfully, it seemed that the other possessed enough modicum of intelligence to realize that he could not continue on in this fashion. Thank goodness. “I can see that,” he remarked dryly, already running over the issue in his head. In truth, at this point, the best idea would be to simply stop, but the Coluan could already tell that Kon-El wouldn’t want to stop, something that he was pretty sure all Kryptonians shared.
So what could he do, then? No one had had issues like this, before, so it was a difficult task to cipher… Hm, perhaps he could imagine himself flying? Rather than the word, the image? Brainy operated on words, codings, calculations, so such a tactic would never work for him, but perhaps for the other…
Before he could voice such a suggestion, Connor seemed to have come to an idea, as well, and though the fact that he didn’t know what the other was thinking, along with the ominous words, didn’t bode well, Brainy nodded, acquiescing. “Very well. Be careful.” He did not wish the other to come to any harm, of course.
As Kon-El suddenly dropped, Querl flitted down with him, alongside the falling Kryptonian (was he truly closing his eyes?). Yes, he would not grab him, as wont his promise, but if the other was about to impact that ground, well… And then he stopped, and the Coluan watched, analyzing and slightly baffled as he began… to walk up invisible stairs.
…Kay, then. Each to their own.
The other seemed to reach out to grab something, and began to fly, and though that had to be the most awkward rendition of using the flight ring that Brainy had ever seen, he was flying, so the Coluan sped up slightly, getting in front of Superboy and flying backwards, keeping his eye on the clone. He could still fall.
“The most… interesting use of flight that I’ve seen,” Brainy commented, smile quirking onto his face. “But effective, nonetheless. Do you believe you have a large enough grasp on it so that we can head to your abode?” Of course, he was already floating backwards in that direction, his coordinates and refreshed memory tugging him that way, but if the other said he was fine, well… He’d turn around and they’d be off.
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Post by Superboy on Feb 23, 2012 12:49:57 GMT -5
Conner wasn't sure if Brainy fully appreciated his somewhat unconventional use of his flight ring. He probably didn't understand his need for this strange method, being clearly a creature of logic. Actually, Conner didn't understand exactly why the standard method wasn't working for him. But if it worked, then it was all good by him, and since Brainy didn't raise any objections, he guessed it was the same story for him. Unless he just wanted to get a move on and insisting that he fly 'properly' would just be a waste of time. Either way, at least now they were getting somewhere.
"Sure." He nodded to the question, "If you can lead the way, I think I can keep up."
It wasn't difficult to pull his hovering into actual flying so that they could cover some distance. He imagined the clouds that were keeping him afloat pushed out in front of him, and he simply held on as they dragged him through the air with both arms out in front. Still keen to get as good at this as possible, and as fast as possible, he recalled what Brainy had said about aerodynamics. How did Superman fly? It was something like this... He pulled his left hand back down to his side, still gripping his imaginary cloud for balance, and pointed his feet back so that his body became as much of a straight line as possible. It did seem to work, strangely he felt a slightly better balance in this position. And yet he was compelled to abandon this pose after a while and go back to having both arms in front. Less balanced, maybe, but he felt more comfortable like this, physically, and psychologically. Maybe he'd start flying the Superman way when he started wearing a cape and his underwear on the outside. Like that was going to be any day soon.
Now that he had gotten such a grip on the basic mechanics of flying that he wasn't worried about dropping out of the sky at any given second, he allowed himself to observe his surroundings, looking down at the ground farther and farther beneath them, at buildings and fields. It was a perspective he was used to seeing things from, given that he had spent some time on the Watchtower, but the control over his own path was something he wasn't quite as used to.
Deciding to exercise this, he swerved to the left so that he fell out of line with Brainy, and forced his imaginary clouds to take him further forward so that he came up beside the Coluan. As cheesy as he knew it looked, he couldn't help but grin at his friend and fire off a salute in his elation, which translated almost universally as 'Well this is going pretty well, wouldn't you say?'
He faced forward then, looking for any details in the land mass that he recognized as being near to Smallville. He'd gone further afield than he'd thought. It was a shame he had no idea how to get back, otherwise he would have challenged Brainy to a race home, even if he had only just learned how to fly. Running before he could walk again, maybe, but where was the fun in taking things slow anyway?
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Post by Brainiac 5 on Feb 24, 2012 18:50:19 GMT -5
Nodding at the response, and following the mental map outlined for him, on account of the coordinates, Brainy turned himself so that he faced forward, speaking. “Alright, follow me.” He knew where he was going, as it was the sort of data that he wished to keep in his mind (it was Superman’s home, why would he ever delete that data?), and it was fairly simple to put his body on ‘auto-pilot’, and think of other things.
Namely, how to broach the issue of Superboy coming back with him.
The logical part of his brain spoke up and told him to ask right now, so that the other would be able to mull it over, but the part that had experience with social situations, however few they were and however little imprint they left, argued that now, when they were flying to his home and he was struggling with flying normally, would not be the best time.
Finding himself slightly conflicted, he glanced back at Connor, and his mechanical eyes widened at the sight. He was… flying like Superman. It was a breathtaking sight to see, for someone who missed him such a ridiculous amount for it not having been that long, and like how the pose had caught him earlier, Brainy watched discreetly, before the other shifted back to his ridiculous other way of flying, and the Coluan was able to tear his eyes away from the sight.
…No, he would wait until later to inquire. Yes, that was best.
Blinking in surprise as the other came up alongside him (had he really been so caught up in his ‘recovery’?), Brainy found himself rolling his eyes as the other saluted him. “Hard to believe that you’re the one designed to be older,” he remarked dryly, a small smile on his face that would hopefully take away any (small) sense of ‘burn’.
It wasn’t exactly true, though, because his mental capacity had limited him in any sort of ‘age’. He had always been mature, and intelligent, and that was that, even the last time he laughed, at the age of 4.18, when he blew up his first lab. Even then, he had been more adult than other Coluans his age, and Coluans weren’t the most emotional to begin with. They felt it differently than humans did (something which he had attempted to explain to his fellow green lifeform, but that had apparently gotten ‘lost in translation’).
“It should not be long,” Brainy remarked to Superboy, sharing the information. Yes, they had flown quickly, and for what seemed like quite a bit, but a lot of that was gaining or losing height, versus covering ground. It shouldn’t take them too long to reach the other’s… house. (He was unsure if it would be the more emotionally-invested ‘home’. Should he ask?)
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Post by Superboy on Feb 25, 2012 14:42:39 GMT -5
Conner had to laugh at Brainy's comment, because he was right. He was somewhat acting like a little kid playing superhero (only in his case, he had the potential to actually be a superhero). And why shouldn't he? He hadn't had the privilege of a childhood like everyone else he knew. It was one of the issues the Justice League had with him. He had overheard them discussing his maturity and how a 'child' with the potential powers of Superman could be a massive danger to everything around him. It was pretty much the main reason he was sent to Smallville, to try and make up for the fact that he didn't have an upbringing. Whether he needed one or not was still up for debate, but he was happy to use the excuse to be a kid every once in a while.
Brainy also claimed that it wouldn't take them much longer to get back to the farm, so he turned his attention to scanning the planes below, looking for some kind of landmark or cluster of buildings he recognized. Considering how many times he'd jumped from here to Metropolis and back on one of his 'breaks', he should really recognize the town from a distance, but he could only guess that they were coming back in the opposite direction from his usual one, because nothing looked familiar yet. But if Brainy said they were close, then they were close.
He glanced back to Brainy at his side. Was he being strangely quiet? He hadn't said much since they'd left the ground. But his expression was almost impossible to read. That same calculating face, for the most part. He could have just been concentrating on where they were going, but Conner got the impression that that kind of thing wouldn't even require concentration from him. There was something about a blank expression like that that made him want to figure out what was going on in that head of his. Not that it was any of his business. He for one had learned to appreciate his privacy, so he had no intention of prying on others. If he wanted to talk, he'd be glad to listen, but until then, it was his call.
Ah - there it was. The big red barn on the Kent Farm was a giveaway even from a distance. It would soon be time for his favorite part. "Landing..." He muttered upon seeing their destination. He had never been good at this, even with jumping, let alone flying. But today was a day of firsts, after all. He could do this. He was sure he could.
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