Notes at the bottom.
Papercut
I got a papercut today. Dr. Roquette put a Band-Aid on it for me, one with little Spider-Man symbols all over. There's his head. Ooh, and webbing. And little spiders. Under that is an ugly, gaping wound. A slice through skin that should be whole, exposing all the tissue underneath that shouldn't be exposed.
I've never had a papercut before.
It really hurts.
Dr. Roquette said that for some reason, papercuts always hurt worse than other cuts. I wouldn't know.
I've been pounded on by all sorts of bad guys. That hurt. Bruises and scrapes. Never a broken bone, thank God. Though, it might be fun to have a cast. Get Robin and Impulse and all the others to sign it.
I guess now I'll have the opportunity to break something, won't I?
I got a papercut. I think I'm going to be ill.
Dr. Roquette said I was cute--looked all pale and shocked that I was injured. She gets cuts all the time, so of course it was nothing to her. And I couldn't tell her that I was frightened, that it scared me to be injured so easily--because, of course, it doesn't. Why should it? It's just a little cut, and it's far from my heart. Just because now I can be shot, like any normal human, or skin my knees rollerblading, or fall, that's no reason to be frightened.
I could trip, and fall, right on my face. And then what would people say?
"There's the Kid. Used to be pretty good. Can't even walk straight anymore."
Maybe this is just a mental block. Maybe if I tried hard enough, I would get my powers back. Maybe if I climbed to the top of the Young Justice hangout, and jumped, I would fly again.
Or maybe I would fall, and die, like any normal human.
oh my god.
Okay. Okay, I can deal with this. I've dealt with a lot of strange things--you have to be able to adjust if you're going to be a super-hero. Only I'm not a super-hero anymore, am I? Cadmus doesn't even want me around. They probably think I'm a liability. And, I guess, they're right.
All right, so I'm human. I can be like Batman, or Robin. They're human.
They also have untold riches. How else would they get all those gadgets?
Okay. So I can't be like them because I don't have untold riches. So I'll be a normal human.
But I'm not normal. I don't age. Do I? Or, now that I'm powerless, do I get older, too? I don't think so. I mean, I would have felt it. Surely you can feel it when your body grows.
So I'm not a normal human. And I'm not a super-hero.
I'm a clone with no super-powers, and a papercut. I'm a person who doesn't age, but has no past. I'm someone without a name of their own, only one I borrowed.
I'm going to have to live a "normal" life, because not even Cadmus wants me anymore.
My papercut still hurts. I wonder how long it'll keep hurting. It's funny, you know. Someone could walk by me down the hall, and never know a part of me was missing. Although, I guess a papercut isn't missing skin, it's just separated. So something on me is separated, and can't be used properly anymore. No one would ever know. I look the same. And yet, I'm not whole anymore. I don't have everything I need; pieces are gone. I feel hurt, because what I need has disappeared. And I do need it. I need it back.
I want to fly.
I wonder if Young Justice will consider me a liability. When I had my powers, they didn't. If I had my powers back none of this would be going wrong.
I wouldn't have a papercut.
It really hurts. My body and mind know it's not right, that I'm not whole anymore. Will it scar when it heals? Will it heal? Or am I going to walk around forever, half the person I was? Won't my powers ever come back?
I mean . . . It doesn't bother me that I don't have powers. You have to be able to adjust if you're a super-hero. So I'll adjust to being normal.
I . . . I can do that. I'm good at that. I'll be normal, and I'll walk around without powers . . . millions--billions--of people do that every day. I can too. I'm not missing anything. I'm just like everyone else. I'm not missing one thing. There's nothing wrong with me. I feel whole. Really.
I never used to get papercuts.
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Feedback, please! I've never written Superboy fic before. :)
Notes:
If you don't follow either Superboy or Young Justice, then you need to know that Superboy lost his powers.
For those who do follow SB and/or YJ: This is set between the time Superboy lost his powers, and used that ring to get some back. You know, right around the time Project Cadmus told him to take a hike.
DISCLAIMER: Superboy, Cadmus, Dr. Roquette and YJ all belong to DC comics, and I'm making no money off this. Shoo.
Note: This was just a short little thing I wrote. I've never written Superboy fic before. Tell me if you like it. Tell if I can make it better. ;)
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