The LexCorp tower trembled as alarms shrieked through every floor, red strobes pulsing like a heartbeat in panic. Deep in the executive wing, Lex Luthor’s fingers flew over a touchscreen—erasing data, encrypting files, wiping his sins from the system. But it was too late.

Through the reinforced glass wall, he saw a streak of red and blue cut through the Metropolis sky. It was him.

“Damn it,” Lex hissed, backing away from the console. He turned to the boy standing quietly in the corner of the room—Conner. Fourteen years old, broad-shouldered, raven-haired, eyes sharp like Clark’s—but colder. Cloned from Superman’s DNA, mixed with his own. A creation. A weapon. A son.

Conner watched Lex with a calm expression, unsure, tense. And then the wall shattered.

Clark flew in like a thunderclap, landing hard between them, glass and debris skittering across the marble floor. His eyes locked on Lex, glowing faintly with fury held barely in check.

“It’s over, Lex,” Clark said, voice low and dangerous. “I saw the lab. I saw everything.”

Lex took a step back, swallowing his fear. “I don’t know what you think you saw—”

“You cloned me,” Clark growled, fists clenched. “You used a child.”

But before he could take another step, a blur shot in front of Lex—Conner. Arms spread, standing between Clark and Luthor. Protective. Defiant.