“I need to calm down and fix myself… Take back control”, the reborn artificial kryptonian tells himself as he retreats into the psychological depths of his jumbled up mind to address the source of his identity crisis. He suddenly stands at the heart of darkness - inside a space where the only source of light is the neon red glowing from the decor of his skin-tight CADMUS issued suit. That is, until he opens his icy blue eyes. Like a remote activation, a mass spread of holograms appear when he metaphorically and literally takes a look inside of himself. The sight is curious and far spreading. So much so, that the young man doesn't even know where to begin.

  “Guess I'll just start by… looking around”, he decides with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders. The lab-made kryptonian begins levitating three feet off the marble black flooring below and floating forward at a slow pace. He scans around the holograms and soon realizes something about them.

  “These are my memories”, he utters softly with a look of wonder in his eyes.

  As he ventures through the still frames of moments from his life– His… LIVES, he soon also makes another discovery. One that draws a disapproving scowl across his handsome face.

  “Wait, wait, wait… What the heck is going on here? Half of these don't match up and even contradict one another! It's no wonder I'm on the verge of losing my flipping mind!” He's gone and found the error hindering him. His mind is a mess and unable to decide what's true. What REALLY makes him who he is.

  He eventually comes to a halt and touches down upon 'solid’ ground again.

  “Okay, let's organize this junkyard and sort this mess out.” CLAP! The male brings his hands forward and claps them together as if he's attempting to catch a fly. In the next instant, the holograms around him begin moving swiftly, blending into each other until finally there's only two left in front of him - Connor Van Luthor & Conner Kent, both standing side by side at a distance. Conner Kent's posture is smug and stylish in nature, bearing the swagger of a 90's kid with an attitude, leather jacket and all. To his right stands Connor Luthor, the youth with his spine straight but a look of uncertainty and sadness on his face - as if he's unsure of what lies ahead, but he's ready to face whatever comes his way. The one of flesh has traits from them both. He has Conner Kent's leather jacket and a similar short haircut, while he wears the high-tech suit of Connor Luthor.

  “I combined… I survived, but I am not merely an individual anymore. I'm an amalgamation of these two.” He theorizes, now folding his left arm behind his back while his right hand thoughtfully rubs at his chin.

  “I don't know which is more accurate or useful to me. How do I cope with two different realities that don't add up at all?”, he ponders stoically. He then extends both of his hands and swipes them in opposite directions, opening the holograms like computer files to display familiar faces he's met. Starting with none other than the members of Young Justice and Teen Titans. Tim Drake, Cassandra Sandsmark, Bart Allen, Cissie King-Jones, and Kid Lobo to his left. Red Robin, Wonder Girl, Impulse, Beast Boy, and Bunker to his right.

  “The inconsistencies are blatant. It feels like I've been living two separate lives simultaneously, and it's such a bother trying to make sense of it”, the youth comments with a mild frown as he rubs at his temples.

  “It's obvious I can't just leave myself like this. I need to clean house… I need a Hard Reboot”, he says regretfully. He takes a moment to look over the holograms of his friends and thinks back to his memories with them. Two in particular are consistent enough to REALLY tug at his heart strings: His best friend and the girl he loved dearly. In both lives, their roles were similar to their counterparts. Even so–

  “All of it has to go…” With those words, he swipes his hands in opposite directions again but at a wider range, expanding the list of familiar faces until every single person he's ever met is out on display. Afterwards, he ascends ten feet into the air and backs fifteen feet away for a better view.

  “This is for self preservation. I'm sure they'd understand. I'm sure they've all moved on long ago…”, he tells himself while shutting his eyes. He takes a deep breath and exhales it. Only then does his eyes open once more, but this time eyes that glow and burn with a deathly red light. With a sad gaze, he gives his goodbye to what was.

  “I'm sorry… I'm sorry I couldn't come back and see all of you at least one last time.” Words spoken softly before he turns his head to the far right and begins shooting his heat-vision within constant dual beams, gradually turning his head to the opposite side as he burns the memories out of his mind. From moments fighting against Darkseid, to the memories of his mother, and even his final moments with his first love, Tana Moon.

  Of course, he's mindful to spare the basics that he needs to function. Memories of his origin and all of the things he's learned while in the cloning tube. Not only that, but the only name both variants of himself knew of.

  Goodbye Conner Kent, see ya next apocalypse Superboy – Kon-EL is now his one true name.

  ~~~~~~

  Akin to a college frat-boy feeling the effects of a long, wild night of partying and drinking the very next morning, the reborn kryptonian known-- No... There's record of his existence this time around. However, he himself knows who he is, and that's a kryptonian clone named 'Kon-EL'. And right now, he's laying on a marble flooring while holding his spinning head, writhing in place with subtle motions of bending a leg momentarily and his body rocking from one side to the other.

  "Awww man... Feels like the world just won't stop spinning." He comments softly to himself within that dim room. Then-- KROOOOOM!

  There's a ferocious force strong enough to send a tremor through the building he's inside and the sound of impact his super-hearing is able to pick up on. What follows immediately is a bellowing roar from a beast. A resounding 'GRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!', that makes Kon-EL's already knitting brows twitch.

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  "Ugh... Just five more minutes, dad." He murmurs in half jest before he proceeds to push himself up into a sitting position. Those drousy-like eyes of his scan his surroundings, and as sharp as his superb eyesight might be, it's impossible to make out much beyond a nearby counter.

  "Where... Am I?" He ponders outwardly with soft spoken words. Desiring to be on his feet again, Kon-EL goes on to make the effort to push himself up onto the soles of his seamless boots, but the impatient young man finds himself clumsily staggering backwards in his endeavor.

  "Aaaah, crap!" THUMP! - The back of his head meets a wall, which doesn't inflict any sort of pain, but he does end up slumping down into a sitting position.

  "You gotta be kiddin' me..." The lightheaded-ness is fading, but it's almost miracle he can still string together actual words and sentences after wiping 93% of his mind clean of what has become obsolete in his personal opinion.

  [ Meanwhile... ]

  The extraterrestrial Man-Beast, Doomsday, lays waste to city blocks and the local police force that confront him in vain. Mere firearms could do nothing to even tickle the towering mass of muscle and sharp protruding bones as he attacks with no apparent thought or reason - beyond finishing what he started, that is. The behemoth of a world ender treads with steps that give off imposing thuds while sending tremors through the ground, tosses cars with utter ease, and sends those in uniform backing up as their numbers quickly dwindle. Doomsday wasn't going to stop until he renders the grand city into absolute ruin.

  [ Back With Kon-EL, Lex Corp Tower's basement elevator--]

  "GGRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!" Anothet ear-agitating roar reaches Kon-EL as he rides an elevator up to the main floor, and it makes him pick at his waxless eardrum with a pinky finger.

  ,Man, what is that NOISE?" He inquires to himself, frowning as he finally decides to just simply take a look for himself via his x-ray & telescope-vision. His cyan eyes promptly turns into a shade of monochrome as he peers-- Well... In this case, tries to.

  "Huh... Is that a layer of lead? W-where am I again?" He ponders out loud as his eyes return to their normal state. At the very least, he's nearing the exit. DING!

  The metallic lift finally stops and pries its door open to let him off.

  [ Just Two Blocks Away From the Daily Planet Building. ]

  BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG!! "We're not equipped to deal this kind of stuff! Where's the Justice League!? Hell, I'd even be a lot more comfortable letting the US Army deal with this guy instead!" A female cop exclaims as she and her peers empty clips upon clips upon clips upon the gray monstrosity who's casually picking them off one by one while making his way down the street. Officers ahead scramble to get away when the beast is within range to crush their patrol car or take a swing at them with his massive arms.

  "H'aaaah damn it... I'm with you there. THIS? We're just wasting bullets! He's not even flinching... A Justice League or Superman would be really great to have right about now!" Her partner concurs. Then the two are abruptly taken aback by the rampaging monster suddenly picking up his pace with a heavy sprint in their direction, knocking several cruisers aside like weightless toys with flinging swings of his forearms.

  THRASH! KRASH! KRRRNNNCH! Doomsday totals those cars with his bare hands and the weight of his body upon jumping on top of one in his advancing, soon merely tossing one up and overhead into the distance just before he reaches the duo. His arms raising far above with the intent of smashing down with all of his might. But...

  "Step off, freakazoid!" KROOOOM!! Swooping in like a guardian angel to answer the pleas of not only the cops, but civilians of the city, a figure in black swoops in at Mach speed and repels the fiend with a flying-hook, sending Doomsday soaring back where he came from and beyond like a cannonball - crashing into a building in the distance. Though those no wise civilian around during such danger, the new arrival of a savior receives stares from the officers in the area, as well as the daring photographer, Jimmy Olsen.

  "Is that... Is that Superman?" One of the officers squints, despite being close enough to see every detail of the young man's dark costume and features.

  "The 'S' is kind of familiar, but no, I don't think so. This guy's more lean, the real Superman is definitely taller with bigger muscles." The female cop informs. Hearing their exchange, Kon-EL looks down with a sheepish grin and shrugs his shoulders. He honestly couldn't argue against her observation, especially since he has no reservation about admitting that he's not the Man of Steel they're used to.

  However, their moment of idleness comes to an end when another roar erupts through the air.

  "GRRRRRAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Out from the rubble comes Doomsday, charging right for the kryptonian in black like a hybrid of a rhino and bull seeing red.

  "Oh--! That's my cue. You know the drill... Clear out and get to safety while I clean house!" Kon-EL instructs the two as he proceeds forward, descending to smoothly transition from flying to running, more than ready to play a chaotic game of chicken with that raging simpleton in front of him.

  Two trains in the form of individuals with unfathomable amounts of physical strengths were on the verge of clashing, but a Righteous Individual intervenes to put a stop to that pending impact.

  "Huh?", the colorful costume of someone suddenly sliding into the mix of things, passing the beast while doing so, is all it takes to stop not only Doomsday, but Kon-EL in place, as well. The former, however, has his legs suddenly caught up in webbing that hinders his sprinting and results in the spiky monstrosity stopping in his heavy, ground trembling tracks. What follows is the fascinating and sophisticated display of that athletic stranger in red & blue leaping onto the beast of a man, crawling all over it like an actual pest and webbing their common enemy until he's covered in tight bindings, held back by the weight of cars and buildings the Spider-like hero attaches the webbing to.

  "WHO ... is that?", the kryptonian ponders out loud softly, eyes wide as he gawks at the handiwork of the stranger. Just until the individual speaks to him directly.

  "Hey, in need of a second opinion here-- this look sturdy enough to you? This guy's definitely 13 horns ahead of another hornhead I know back in the big apple!"

  "Huh? Dunno. I mean... It looks pretty sturdy." Kon-EL comments, crossing his arms over his bold red 'S' and tilting his head a bit, studying the trap with a observant scowl. However, his expression becomes one of shock a moment after. The struggling brute begins audibly ripping through the thick webbing, signaling that their break time is over.

  "Oh! And would ya happen to be related to Supergirl by any chance?" The web-slinging New Yorker asks while leaping away to safety.

  "Ah... Supergirl? Don't know who that is, but--", Kon-EL wants to engage with the topic, but there's obviously work to be done. Doomsday flexes his massive structure, flinging the cars and breaking off pieces of the buildings, and closes off the distance between himself and the two heroes. Just as Spider-Man is about to turn around, Kon-EL leaps over the New Yorker while bending his knees up to his chest and thrusts his legs outward to send Doomsday sliding back with an impromptu drop-kick to his broad chest.

  "But I definitely would like to hear more about her later!" He shouts upon landing on his back. The two natural enemies both collect themselves in the next instance. The kryptonian scurries up onto his feet again in a somewhat clumsy fashion, while Doomsday's involuntary sliding comes to an end - then and there, the two simultaneously rush each other down again.

  "RRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAUGGHHH!!!"

  "Yeah-yeah, we heard that one... BEFORE!" Kon-EL exclaims the moment he lunges in with a swift hook across the monster's jaw. A blow that, while it does lane cleanly and jerks Doomsday's head slightly to the side, doesn't delay a counter-attack. The beast had braced for that impact this time around and retaliates by abruptly reaching forward to draw the kryptonian in by the back of the head, and thrusting his upper body forward to deliver a thunderous headbutt with an echoing 'KROOOOOOOMMM!'.

  "G-guh!?" A daze spins his world and sends him stumbling back for a fall, but his adversary goes on to grip and thrash him against a nearby car by the jacket. A hold on Kon-EL he then uses to hold the grimacing kryptonian up with one hand, while he draws back his other with the intent of throwing a punch of his own.