#and considering the people of cadmus are equally confused

[hypewinter]

As Danny crept down the hall it quickly became apparent that this was not in fact a ghost containment facility. He made a mental note to remind Skulker to double check the locations he scouted when he got back. For now though, his curiosity was peaked and Danny phased into a nearby room to figure out just what kind of facility this was.

As he entered the room, he came face to face with some kind of pod labeled Kr in big bold letters. Behind the glass was a boy dressed in some sort of white suit with the Superman symbol on it. Oh no. Had he wandered into a villain lair that had kidnapped the son of Superman!? Wait.... did Superman have a son?

Danny checked around the room and found a console to the side. After a bit of hacking (thank you Tucker) he found out that this was apparently some type of cloning project. Welp that was all he needed to know. He immediately opened the hatch to release the clone. Ellie would never forgive him if he left the poor guy here. Danny stood in front of the pod, ready for a groggy clone to wonder where he was. What he didn't expect was for said clone's eyes to fling open and for him to start lunging at him.

He easily sidestepped Mr. Kr before quipping, "If I had a nickel for every time a clone attacked me, I'd only have two nickels. Which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice."

The clone rounded and went to attack Danny again. Though calling it "attacking" might have been too generous. In reality, the clone was just wildly swinging his arms so after dodging a few more times, Danny simply grabbed hold of him and subdued him in a tight grip.

"It's alright, I get it," he said. "You get cranky when you're woken up, I do too. I'll tell ya what, I'll let ya have your beauty rest."

With that, Danny located the pressure point Pandora had taught him about and waited until he felt the weight of the clone slump against him. From there, he easily swung the guy over his shoulder. "Welp, guess it's time to head home," he announced to the empty room. "Ellie will be ecstatic to have a new brother." Danny turned and opened a portal before stepping through.

[argyle-s]

Summary:

In the wake of the DEO bombing, Kara and a few others go after the bomber.

Preview:

Nia sat at her desk all day waiting for disaster and feeling helpless to stop it. Some of the symbolism of her dream the night before was confusing, but the gist had been clear. Someone was going to bomb the DEO.

She wanted to do something about it. She wanted to stop it. She just didn’t know how.

She’d considered several options. Trying to get a warning to Supergirl via her social media. Calling in a warning to the DEO. Going to the National Security Advisor. Going to the President. None of those were good ideas. They would end up with her getting fired at best, or in an interrogation room or a jail cell at worst.

As much as Nia might like President Marsdin, and as happy as she was about the amnesty, she wasn’t so naïve as to think a signature on a piece of paper had magically cured anti-alien bigotry. The fact that she was afraid of Cadmus blowing up the DEO was proof of that. It was a huge step, but it didn’t mean that there was suddenly justice and equality for aliens.

There was also that the fact that Nia was a trans woman, and she really didn’t want to come into contact with the criminal justice system. Especially since she was, at the very least, guilty of falsifying a lot of records and lying on her application for her job, which was technically a felony since she held a security clearance.

Add on top of that her mother spending hours on the phone with her the night she’d told her about the first dream telling her over and over again to keep her abilities a secret. Nia understood her mother’s fear. There were people who would pay a fortune for a Naltorian seer, and there were slavers who were always on the lookout for such a rare find.

For all those reasons, Nia had spent the day in a sickening mix of guilt, helplessness and fear. The relief she’d felt when the end of the day came and there had been no bombing had been enough to make her decide to treat herself to a night out. She took the Metro over to 17th street and went to Elanor’s for dinner. She’d just been seated, and was wondering if she could afford the $45 for the aged rib-eye when the alert chime she had set for her boss went off and a sick feeling settled into her stomach. By the time she got her phone out, a dozen more alerts had come in.

She checked the message from her boss first.

Helen: Get your ass back to the White House now. Check the news on the way.

Nia: On the way. Can you have food waiting?

Helen: Yes. Hurry. It’s bad.

Keep reading on AO3

[ohallows]

sorry if i sound rlly dumb but ur blog inspired me to start reading more kon el and bart allen comics and everything waa good but now im really confused? i only recently got into comics sso i dont really understand what happened to the characters? like what wad the last time kon made an appearance? and whats with the whole bar torr thing? like the dc wikia just says bart allen is just an alias for bar torr? sorry im just really confused

oh my god??? im so honored??? okay i will totally explain. also welcome to comics where continuity is made up and the timeline doesnt make sense. 

um this is a.... VERy long explanation bc i didn’t just want to say “THEY’RE DIFFERENT PEOPLE I HATE IT” but tl;dr they’re completely different people and the explanation is below (if somethig doesnt make sense/you want more clarification pls ask i love talking about comics honestly)

to answer your questions: the Real(tm) kon’s last appearance was (probably) in the 2009 adventure comics run, or the cameo in red robin, or the last issues of the 2003 titans run. bar torr is a criminal who took the name bart allen when he escaped to the past and never talked to the flash family (which, at that point, was QUITE LITERALLY only barry)

more explanation under the cut bc thats very. VERY short.

so i’m going to explain the new 52 real quick and if you already get it skip this paragraph lol -- so in 2011, dc decided to reset its entire comic continuity. big mistake  so in order to get this to happen, they had barry go back in time, save his mom, realize he fucked up, go back and not save his mom, and then things allegedly wouldn’t have  changed [we call this Flashpoint, or if ur me,  ‘fuck you barry why is everything terrible now’]. except actually the entire timeline changed. all the justice league heroes were ~10 years younger, none of the younger heroes ages changed (which is why batman had like. the equal amount of robins in 5 years (which is messed)). the main issue that the new 52 brought was that every characters backstory changed. some very drastically, some not as drastically. but everyone was different.

now, most characters were still the same person, just with a altered past, a different motivation, different vices, etc etc. however (and this isn’t only restricted to tim kon or bart they’re just the three i talk about the most and the three who in my opinion were some of the most changed characters), there were some characters who’s entire, well, existence was changed. 

lets start with kon. prior to the New 52 (called the pre52), kon el was the half-kryptonian/half-human clone of lex luthor and clark kent. this caused a lot of drama considering lex is a psycho megalomaniac villain. but kon took the name superboy and then clark gave him the name kon-el and its really cute honestly but i digress. pre-52 kon was cool and a #gayicon. he had a solo run in the 90s and was part of young justice and then the 2003 titans run and then he died and came back and then ?? the new 52 happened. in the new 52, another superboy was introduced. 

so, a list for pre52 kon:

name: kon el, conner kent, superboy

clone of: lex luthor and clark kent

cloned by: Cadmus Labs, under watch of Guardian and Dubbilex

here comes some confusion. 

New-52 superboy also had the name Kon, but in this continuity “kon-el” means ‘abomination’ in kryptonian and i will be mad about this for any number of reasons. But New-52 kon was cloned by NOWHERE, not Cadmus Labs, and heres where it gets MORE confusing and honestly i dont understand it either. he wasn’t a clone of lex and clark. he is the clone of jon lane kent, a future child of clark kent and lois lane. (idk how it works im just tired and dc needs to stop) but anyway new-52 kon is genetically a different human being than the pre-52 kon we know and love. 

So New-52 kon joined (read: tried to kill and then became friends with) the teen titans for the 2011 and 2014 runs of the comic. then he became a murderer,  was replaced by match or the original jon lane kent that he was cloned from i honestly do not remember they were terrible issues, sacrificed himself after a really gay scene with tim, and (apparently) merged together with a being called the Oracle after kicking it with superman for a while (not.. necessarily in that order) [these are seriously some of the most confusing issues of comics ive ever read and i read crisis on infinite earths]

tl;dr, pre-52 kon’s last appearance was in 2010 or 2011(ish?), and new-52 “kon” is a completely different person who was given the name kon + the superhero name ‘superboy’ bc dc honeslty thought it could fool us with that bullshit and bc they’re unoriginal and lazy. 

bc i like lists:

pre-52 kon:

cloned by cadmus labs using dna from lex luthor and clark kent

an all-around Good Boy

was given the name kon-el by clark to signify that he was part of the house of el and that he belonged there

has a kick-ass leather jacket

died and came back but is now missing

new-52 kon:

cloned by NOWHERE under Harvest using the dna of jon lane kent, clark and lois’ kid from the future who has murderous intentions

was stuck with the name kon-el bc it signifies him as a clone and an abomination in the eyes of the house of el

murderer

has a futuristic black and red suit that isn’t bad but doesnt make up for the crap he pulls

died (?)

.......................................................................................

hhhoooooo boy. onto bart allen, which is somehow more complicated than that mess. 

(im sorry you probably didnt want all this but now i’ve got going so)

pre-52 bart allen is a time-traveler from the 30th century, who came back to our time (the 90s) with his grandma iris allen bc his speed was, quite literally, killing him (forcible aging is a nightmare). thats a whole other story, but whatever i digress. pre-52 bart allen is the genetic grandchild of Barry Allen and Iris West, and the son of Don Allen, one of the Tornado Twins (barry’s kids). [iris was transported to the future and got pregnant there from barry and thats how he’s from the 30th century and is still just barry’s grandkid dont think abt it too much]

ANYWAY. bart and kon were best friends, bart had a solo run in the 90s and hes such a sweetie, he was part of YJ and the teen titans and was forcibly aged up, beaten to death, and then came back to life as a teen again. it was sad. 

heres where it gets weird. bc bart was a flash, flashpoint affected him differently. This is all laid out in the comic Kid Flash Lost, which is actually pretty good and gives you some background on what happened to him during this event. so, long story put very, very shortly, bart wakes up in a nightmare world and after some adventuring, enters the speed force to hop dimensions back into his old time. there, he encounters his grandpa barry, who doesn’t have enough speed, to get back to the present. so, bc bart loves his family and his grandpa, he gives barry his speed to get him back. bart turns into a white flash and gives his speed to barry and dissolves into the speed force, disappearing. 

im not ashamed to say i cried at the ending. 

so, pre-52 bart allen was lost to the speedforce (along w johnny quick and max mercury and countless other speedsters bc i have yet to see one (1) of them - not counting jay - in dc rebirth and frankly im very angry BUT THATS ANOTHER STORY sorry i get distracted)

here’s where new-52 “bart”, or Bar Torr, comes in. pretty similar story, “bart” is from the 30th century, is a time traveler, and has speedster powers, thought he was somehow related to the flash, took the name kid flash, etc. etc. 

however, one little snag - thats not who he was. at all. 

bar torr was a murderer from the 30th century who’s memories were wiped and he was given the alias of bart allen, again bc dc thinks we’re stupid enough to fall for this crap and is UNORIGINAL AS FUCK. 

background: bar torr was (as its been explained to me because i..........hate him and refuse to engage with him) was basically a fundamentalist christian who killed a bunch of people in the future bc they killed his parents and indoctrinated his sister into their cause, and he escaped to the past and wiped his memories so that he couldn’t be found by the time police (thats not what they’re actually called but whatever.) and then he for the most part bounced back and forth between the 30th century and the 21st century whenever he feels like it (i guess ??)

SO

pre-52 bart allen

grandson of iris and barry allen, from the 30th century

takes the name impulse and then kid flash after having his knee blown up (long story) and maturing a lot

works closely with the entire flash family to fight crime (is an important part of the family)

sacrifices himself on multiple occasions for his friends

dissolved into the speed force, has been missing since 2010/11

new-52 bar torr

a criminal, who’s parents we dont know, who is also from the 30th century

takes the name kid flash bc hes an asshole

never interacts with barry allen or any speedster from the family (granted they’re all missing but still)

a fundamentalist christian terrorist who murders a Lot of people

missing since 2014 i guess like we havent heard from him in a while its all very unclear

tl;dr in both of these cases, dc has taken a completely different individual and given them a familiar name, probably in order to sell more comics and draw more readers in who recognized the names. (the same thing happened with tim but thats another annoying story)

the new-52 “kon el” and the new-52 “bart allen” are completely different people from their pre-52 counterparts on a genetic level. new-52 kon el is cloned from someone completely different while new-52 bart allen is a totally different individual who took on the alias bart allen to pass unnoticed in the 21st century. 

this is a lot to take in and its all very confusing i tried to explain it as best i can but if none of this makes sense let me know and i can try to explain things better!!

[pharmakonkairos]

Introductions: ICIA and CIU

One fact about the ICIA that was not released to the public—its possession of exceptional technology that allowed for the efficient detection and persecution of perpetrators.

Author’s Note:

This story is a part of Pharmakon: Kairos, a time travelling story about ordinary people forced to travel back in time to save those that they love.

Character profiles/summaries can be read here.

Stopping just in front of large black gates, Hayden gazed at the building that stood just beyond. Glass covered the sides of the building, reflecting the light of the morning sun directly at him.

  One fact about the ICIA that was not released to the public—its possession of exceptional technology that allowed for the efficient detection and persecution of perpetrators. Each team possessed such a device and each device had a different role in solving a case. The Rolmac team—the team Hayden was assigned to—possessed the VsFB, a device that allowed the team to hear the final words of the victim. While such evidence could not be used in a court of law to persecute the suspected perpetrator of a crime, it had its uses.

  “Name?” A voice echoed from the speaker attached to the gate, starling Hayden from his thoughts.

  “Ah….H-Hayden Griffith. I-I am assigned the Rolmac team starting today.”

  “…”

  There was silence for a moment, leading Hayden to wonder if he had said something wrong. 

“I see. Agents are to enter through the side gate. Your ID should open the gates.”

 The voice was notably more hostile than before. Or perhaps he was over thinking it…

  “Thank you…”

  As per instructions, he made his way to the side of the building. Two guards stood guard at this entrance, which was strange, considering that there had not been any security at the front gate.

  “H-hello…”

The guards simply took a glance at him, then proceeded to look forward, a grim line on their faces.

  “…”

  Maybe he had not been clear enough in his greeting.

  “M-my name is Hayden Griffith. I’m starting today…”

  The guards didn’t show any sign of having heard him, so Hayden continued, albeit reluctantly.

  “I-I was told that agents are to enter here…”

  Again, no response.

  “…”

  “…”

  One of the two guards jerked his head toward a small touchpad embedded onto the gate. Hayden gazed at the device, then back to the two guards.

  “Good morning!” A man’s voice came from behind him, a burnt brown shade in color. The guards’ frowns quickly shifted to smiles as they greeted the man—presumably another agent.

  “…”

  Puzzledly, Hayden scanned their faces for a moment before turning to the newcomer.

  Underneath his ICIA jacket, he wore a cleanly pressed dress shirt and a tie. Confidence radiated from him from his stance alone. Unlike the guards, the man gave him a grin as soon as their eyes met.

  “Good morning!”

  His cheerfulness and enthusiasm was contagious.

  “G-good morning…!”

  “So you’re Hayden? My name is Cadmus. Cadmus Nevitt. But Cad is fine.” It seemed like he had heard the words that Hayden had exchanged with the guards earlier. “I’m what you would call the co-leader of the team. Or well, I like to call myself the co-leader.” He laughed.

  Relaxing at the friendliness of his words, Hayden gave him a smile.

  “Well, if you’re ready, let’s make our way inside.”

With one swipe of his hand, Cadmus ran his ID through the scanner, which glowed blue. The gates opened with a loud creak. “Scan your ID there. It’ll also scan your fingerprint. ICIA precautions.”

  Hayden did as he was told and the touchpad glowed again.

  “Great! Let’s go in.” Cadmus made his way in first, leaving Hayden trotting after him. Their height difference was quite noticeable, as he barely stood to the other agent’s shoulders. The agent was probably a good foot taller than him, Hayden guessed, and Hayden had to walk twice as fast to keep up with the long strides that Cadmus made.

  “Don’t worry about them. They’re not supposed to show emotion—or so they claim. In reality, they’re probably just trying to scare you. They do that to newbies.” Cadmus gave him a reassuring smile. “Actually, you’ll find that most of the agents will do that to you here for a while. Dan will, I bet.”

  Seeing Hayden’s confusion, Cadmus clarified, “Oh right, Dan is our team head. He might look intimidating at first, but he’s relatively harmless despite the permanent frown etched on his face. But don’t tell him that I said that. Tell him that you heard it in the lobby.” With a mischievous grin, the agent continued. “I’m sure Leanne and Evie would love to meet you. Evie’s been practically bouncing off the walls ever since that we got news that we would get a new agent on our team.”

  They had entered the ICIA lobby. The floor was covered with black marble, polished to perfection. Sleet blue sofas stood to their left on top of a gray carpet. Several agents were resting there, whispering something to themselves. It seemed like they were being watched, for heads turned to look at them everywhere they went.

  “Oh but, do me a favor?”

  “Yes?” Hayden looked at the older agent curiously.

  “You see, I didn’t get my coffee yet today. Overslept a little.” He scratched his head sheepishly. “I would appreciate it if you could help me carry some cups? Wish I could grow some more hands, but…” He chuckled, “Well, coffee will help dispel some of Dan’s irritation. He’s not a morning person. Or well…I guess he’s not an afternoon…or evening person either…” With a shrug, Cadmus led him to the lobby coffee shop. The smell of freshly brewed coffee filled the air along with the chatter from nearby agents, which overpowered the low rumbling of what seemed like a coffee grounds processor.

  Cadmus ran through the basics of ICIA: its background, the creation of teams, and the story behind their team, the Criminal Investigative Unit—shorted to CIU. Hayden looked at him in awe, wondering how he could remember and list off so much. After a while, he stopped, and gave him another cheerful grin.

  “But I’m talking too much. Though wait until you meet Evie. Try not to lose your ears just yet, you’ll need them later.” It was then that they had arrived at the front of the line. Four orders were made, then the agent turned to him. “And what would you like, Hayden? Coffee? Tea?”

  “Huh? A-ah, no that’s okay, I-I’m not much of a coffee or a tea person…”

  Cadmus looked almost comedically shocked at his response. “Don’t worry, you’ll be one soon!” The agent replied with certainty before turning back to the cashier. “And a cup of ice water please.”

  “I’m glad cupholders are a thing…” With the three coffee cups in the cupholder and his own in his hand, they were taking the elevator to the fifth floor. Hayden wondered why he was asked to come along in the first place, seeing as Cadmus didn’t need his help at all. He held the cup of water in his hands that Cadmus had gotten for him, insisting that he couldn’t let any of his agents leave a coffee shop empty handed.

  The doors opened with a high pitched ding. Agents filled the room, some standing alone the hallways. All eyes turned toward them as the elevator opened and suddenly, it felt like déjà vu again like in the lobby. Did they really draw that much attention?

  “Good morning!” Cadmus’s voice rang out and murmurs of greetings came from the agents in response.

  “G-good morning…” He mimicked, averting his eyes to the ground. Again, a murmur of responses. Their eyes were still directed on the pair, however.

  “Don’t mind them. Let’s go.” A low, reassuring whisper from Cadmus. He made his way through the rest of the agents and Hayden followed in turn.

  “This is our place.” Cadmus stopped in front of a door. The letters C, I, and U were carved in a silver plaque and hung in front of the door. Underneath, the words “Criminal Investigative Unit” could be seen. “Sorry, could you get the door for me?”

  “Ah, o-of course!” Hayden stepped forward to reach for the doorknob, only to pull back—though slightly too late—when the door opened on its own.

  “-should be here-“

  The door slammed open, startling Hayden backwards. A female agent, her light brown hair cut into a bob, looked equally surprised.

  “A-ah…”

“Ah! I’m so sorry about that! I didn’t think there would be someone behind the door!” The woman exclaimed, hand flying to her mouth. Her voice was a bright orange color, Hayden noted. Before he could say anything, she continued.

  “I didn’t mean to startle you, I promise! But ah, you must be Hayden! We were told that you’d me coming today and I’ve been dying to meet you! Well, not literally, but you get the point. Which, now that I think about it, that phrase doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. I mean, why would someone be dying to meet someone. Oh, is that for me?” It seemed that she had finally noticed Cadmus, who had his an amused grin on his face. The flurry of words left him stunned and he simply blinked, unsure of what to say in response. Luckily, Cadmus came to his rescue, likely sensing his dilemma.

  “Evie. You forgot something.” Simultaneously, he nodded to a cup on the cupholder, which she took gratefully before giving him a look of confusion.

  “Huh?” She frowned, a pursing her lips before her eyes lit up. “Oh right! Did I not introduce myself? I didn’t, did I? My bad! I go off on tangents sometimes. People tell me that it’s a bad habit, but I don’t think it is, do you? It gets people to talk, so it all works out in the end. I’m Evie Kirchner. Actually, my real name is Evelyn, but no one really calls me that. My mom used to only call me that when I got in trouble, so it still freaks me out when someone calls me by my full name even today and-”

  “Evie, you’re scaring him.” Another female agent came out from the room. This time, the voice was a burgundy color. Her dark hair was braided neatly over her right shoulder. She had a pleasant smile on her face. “Hayden? My name is Leanne Landreth. We’re also in the CIU. I suppose that Cad explained everything to you?” With a nod from Cadmus in confirmation, she continued, “Well then, please don’t hesitate to ask us anything if you have any questions. It can be quite overwhelming on your first day.” She took a cup from Cadmus, thanking him as she did so.

  “I-it’s nice to meet you both.”  He could already see that this would be one interesting team.

  “Have you met the boss yet? Just you wait! Oh, but don’t worry, he looks like he’ll bite your head off, but in reality, he’ll probably just hold you in his jaws for a while until he deems that you’re adequate enough to his standards. Then he’ll gently place you to the side. Won’t lose any limbs, I promise! Though you might be bruised and battered and perhaps mentally scarred by the time it’s over, but he doesn’t have bad intentions!” Evie reassured him with Leanne and Cadmus simply smiling at him. Was their boss that intimidating?

  “Can someone explain why we’re talking in the hallway and not inside?”

  The steel blue voice startled him and he turned, only to find himself nearly face-to-face with a grim faced agent, who had stealthily somehow managed to make his way right next to Hayden without him even noticing.

  With a deepening frown, the man began to visually scrutinize Hayden. His black hair was neatly brought back on his head. He wore a black dress shirt and gray trousers; his ID hung from the shirt pocket reading “Daniel Rolmac”.

  “Oh, nice timing, Boss! This is-“ “Hayden Griffith.” Dan interrupted Evie’s ramblings. She didn’t seem to mind, however, and nodded enthusiastically.

  “Yep! Isn’t he cute? So innocent! Try not to rip him up too much, we need him intact for now! After all, I don’t think a half-eaten agent will be of help at all. Honestly, a half-eatened anything isn’t really all that useful. Well, unless you consider that half-eaten food is still food and it’s still edible, even though it is half-eaten. I would eat it if I was really hungry. Half-eaten food is still better than no food. But a half-eaten Hayden won’t be any good, so don’t eat him up too quickly! Actually, scratch that, don’t eat him at all, that would probably be for the best.” Turning to Hayden she grinned, “Of course, I don’t mean literally. That would be unethical…and wrong on so many levels. After all-”

  “We have a case.” Evie stopped midsentence at Dan’s words and her eyes lit up. Dan made his way into the room, stopping only to grab the remaining coffee cup from Cadmus, followed by a still chattering Evie.

  “Yep, that’s everyone.” Cad chuckled, patting him on the shoulder. “They may be queer, but they have the best intentions in mind.” Leanne too, gave him a reassuring smile and he found himself again relaxing.

  Perhaps he could get used to this.