(Aden's P.O.V)

Ok. Connor had nothing on this dude. He was relentless. Unforgiving. Feral. Strong but most of all, in pain. A deep confusion that gave way to anger could be spotted in his eyes as Terror struggled to fight back. Terror's own moves were clinical and efficient. Meant to deal with something in extreme prejudice. Meaning, he would hit to destroy when ordered to. There was no enjoyment to be found when fighting, not for him. Both individuals were broken. Each for different reasons.

But as things were, I would lose my asset before I even put him to good use. The Kryptonian Genomorph had by now nudged a few hidden memories about the show. And it was only because of his similarity to Connor that I remembered something online about this Kryptonian clone's full powers. My Telepathy was good. Like really good now. My range had steadily increased from 70 meters the last time I checked, to a little over 100. But despite organizing my memories with the help of the martians and my own efforts, the mind was a complicated maze of thoughts and memories. Something was likely to slip through once in a while. What else was hiding deep in the crevices of my mind?

The point to that rant, was that I now had an idea on who Terror was dealing with, Project Match. The first Kryptonian clone created by the Light that was a failure. That was before they came up with a way to combine human and Kryptonian d.n.a to stabilize the clone hence leading to Connor's creation but with a fraction of Superman's powers.

Back to the fight…Terror was getting his ass handed to him. That couldn't stand. My view was suddenly overhauled as the surroundings started spinning. Terror's body flipped through the ground, digging a trail on to the floor before stopping in place. A trail of blood fell upon his eyes and he wiped it away. Ok let's get a rundown of his powers. The transmission seemed to be a mental link established between me and Terror by the Tower. It was the same way I had control over every creature in my realm but this felt more…intimate.

I combed through his memories to get a better understanding of his powers while keeping my invasive actions on task as much as I could. Every mind was sacred and private. That was the first thing Manhunter had taught me. And I was of the same opinion. A second was all it took to understand what Terror had going for him. And jeez! Talk about overpowered. Basically, Terror had access to 7 powers, each represented by a color aura that covered his body when he was accessing a particular ability.

Purple was meant for healing, orange was for flight, red showed up when making shields and forcefields, yellow indicated energy projection/blasts, green to cast illusions, white for intense energy projection/ basically a stun and flash grenade all in one and lastly rainbow was for… something. The scientists doing tests and research on him were yet to find out it's function. Yeah, Terror was stupidly op. But time and time again, I've seen that sheer power does not always overcome skill.

During the one sided fight, a thought had occured to me, I could get two assets for the price of none. Match was very powerful. A real and true Kryptonian. Just missing... something. There was a problem with his D.N.A. But even with that, he rag dolled Terror with minimal difficulty. I firmed my resolve. There was no way I was letting the Light keep him. Plus, it was the right thing to do, granting him freedom and the chance to choose what he wanted in life.

Terror's victory had now just gotten even more crucial. I used my telepathy to start guiding his actions. Not enough to take control of him fully but a small nudge in the right direction. How to use his colors in conjunction with Tommy Terror's meta-gene to give just as much as he received. The tides changed as Terror expertly switched between the colors and fought off Match. And finally, I saw my chance.

Match was drowned in a massive outpour of yellow energy. The power enough to hurt even me but before he could die, under my direction, Terror opened a Boom Tube in the last minute and Match was sucked in. The energy wave died out, revealing a crater and no sign of Match. I sighed in relief when I noticed a lack of suspicion after looking over at Luthor, a scientist and a dude in a flying chair watching the battle from a balcony. Terror was safe. For now. The flying chair dude turned back and a boom tube appeared before him. A serious look came onto my face.

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He wasn't part of the Light, so the only other possible identity I could think of, was that he was a New God. And this time, I had the answer as to who he was. The only New God who floated on a high tech chair was Metron. Suddenly, everything made sense. That's why the second directive from the tower had been completed so quickly. Metron probably scanned the remnants energy of the Fatherbox and found out it wasn't complete. As a seeker of knowledge, it was obvious he would try to find out why.

I took another deeper mental reading of Terror's memories.

"Sorry."

I apologized, however I couldn't take the chance. And just like that, I understood a lot. Luthor and the Light were after a Phantom Zone projector, Terror didn't have any more information on that but I could think of a few reasons why he would want something like that. It was either to send someone in...or to get someone out. Both possibilities sent a shudder through my spine.

In return, The Light offered the chance of studying Terror's existence to Metron, knowing fully well that he wouldn't say no. What scared me was how the Light had deep connections even with New Gods. Metron, using his Morbius chair had attempted to do a deep scan and trace the connection between the essence of the Fatherbox and the other part making up the core of my world but failed due to my realm being inaccessible and impossible to find. Fortunately, that brief surge of the old link had allowed the tower to take advantage and reestablish a connection and then the rest was history.

"Keep on following Luthor's orders, however under no circumstances should you hurt an innocent. Barring that, don't let you cover get blown."

I ordered Terror and cut off the transmission. Back in my body, I rubbed my forehead and sighed, something that had become a routine now. Luckily, my week of rest followed by three days of seclusion had gone by without a hitch. A win in my book.

I teleported out of the Fire Plane, waving goodbye to the little dragon that was watching me from the sides, still a bit shy. The next step I took, was on the rocky island housing the Tower tasked with the creation of worker, support and fighter drones to protect and serve my realms. It was a really huge dimension. I still hadn't made it to the end of it. There was the option of simply teleporting there but I wanted to keep the mystery going on for a little while longer.

I had controlled the Boom Tube to send Match here. Why? You might ask. Simple. The tower had scanning capabilities that would allow me to understand his physiology better and given the fact that the Tower's main function had to do with production and repair...my bet was that maybe it could similarly stabilize his D.N.A.

Match's body was hovering before the tower, a platform made of metal was holding him down while green energy rings ran a scan of his bio. The Clone looked...strained. The anger still clouding his eyes was there but he seemed restrained by something. I sought to understand why and was shocked by the response. All the solar energy in his cells was being actively drawn out by the Tower. Probably, an improvised take on it's sub function to drain resources and energy from my realm to create the drones. Then a unique frequency that disrupted the brain's signals to the limbs, making movements sluggish was being emitted to ensure he didn't lash out violently.

I went towards him and his eyes turned to stare at me with scary intensity. He wanted to attack me. To break and destroy me as appeasement to the rage and anger burning inside him. I pitied him. Pitied that his whole existence had been meant to be used as a tool. And when they found out that tool was broken...they shoved a living breathing being to the side. To live in a pod up until his use was needed. It sickened me.

"I'm sorry. You are not a weapon anymore. You're now free to do what you want."

I said, offering my words as consolation. Whatever good that did. God, he looked so much like Connor when we first saw him. Broken and unsure. Connor had luckily found his place in the world. In part due to the team and I being there. I would be there for Match as well. After all, I know what it felt like to not have anyone in your corner. To be unsure and afraid.

His face eased up somewhat and I stepped away from him. Ok...here goes nothing. I touched the energy film covering the tower and connected with it.

"Scan his biology for any deformities and irregularities, then fix him in any way you can. That is your primary directive for now."

The tower pulsed in acceptance and I pulled my hand away.

"Now," I wondered to myself, "What's the next step?"