04x22 - Rescue and Search

[bunniefuu]

[Bio-Ship screaming]

[Saturn Girl screams]

Get us out of here now,
or I will snap her neck.

[device turns on]

[grunts, groans]

[roaring viciously]

Ma'alefa'ak, inform this ship
to stand down and cooperate,

or all three
of its little friends die now!

That's better.

[theme music playing]

[crowd cheering]

[Haly] Dames en Heren,

Mesdames et Messieurs,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Children and Children-at-Heart...

[crowd erupts]

Welcome, welcome

to Haly's
International Traveling Circus!

Where the world of the
Center Ring is your oyster,

and our latest pearl, yes,

is the return of the one, the only...

Daring Dan Danger!

[crowd cheering, whistling]

Dan has had hundreds of adventures,

but his mission tonight is
nothing short of a flight to the stars!

[audience gasping]

Countdown's starting!

Four, three, two, one,

ignition...

Blast off!

Watch as Dan Danger

whips around each heavenly body

to launch himself closer

and closer to the stars!

Oh, but will Dan ever make it up
to the far reaches of the galaxy?

He did it!

[audience cheering, applauding]

[woman] I love you, Dan.

[crowd continues cheering]

[Zatanna chuckles] Great show.

Z! Ha! Thinking about joining up?

We could always use you in the act.

[chuckles] No, I'm more of a headliner.

But I can see why Danny-Boy
retreats to this place every few years.

The thing is, oh Daring One...

I don't need a trapeze artist.

I need a detective.

[Dru-Zod] Time has passed since we
caught a glimpse of the outside world,

and there is much we should discuss.

You were immune to the Phantom
Zone Projector's security measures.

Clearly, you weren't in its database.

Am I to assume you were
never convicted of any crime?

There was no conviction.

[Dru-Zod] Then why were you sent here?

Was I sent here?

What happened to you?
What do you remember?

There was a b*mb. I think
I was trying to neutralize it.

There was lava, and it b*rned.
[Superboy screaming]

Then I remember a flash
of light... And I woke up here.

With her.

- Did you set the b*mb?
- No.

Then it sounds like you were a hero.

- Hero?
- Which fits

with you trying to save me when you
thought the Projector was attacking.

Were you a soldier?

Impossible. He didn't know you.

What soldier would not have
heard of General Zod?

I don't think I was a soldier.

What is your lineage? Your parentage?

Luthor.

I know of no House of Luthor.

I am the House of Zod.
This is our crest.

Do you remember yours?

[sighs]

I wish it were true, Z...

But I really don't believe
Conner's still alive.

Can you at least pretend?
Just for hours?

Even if he were alive,

hours isn't much time to prove it.

It's enough for you.

You trying to convince me or flatter me?

Both.

Laever ym noisiv!

Help me! Please!

[breathing heavily]

Uh...

Okay, I see where you're coming from,

but that hardly proves anything.

"That's" not all. Laever eht Ecnaes!

If Conner were dead and not at peace,

we would have found him.

And if he is at peace, he
wouldn't be calling for help.

[takes deep breath]

- hours.
- That's all I'm asking.

[keyboard clacking]

Huh. Did you know about this?

'Cause Dan Danger has been
out of the loop.

I've been Doctor Fate,

and Nabu doesn't give a damn
about the loop.

[computer] Recognized: Kid-Flash D- .

Status: Missing.

So now two Outsiders have gone missing?

On two different planets.

They're probably not connected,

but it's worth looking into for
both Bart and Conner's sakes.

Ugh! My hacking skills are rusty.

Truth is, Barbara's better at this.

So with Oracle on the job,

I haven't exactly stayed current.

But checking out Bart's credit
card statements is easy enough.

As is hacking store security footage

where he last shopped.

Who are those two?

Running facial recognition
through all official databanks.

- [computer] Not recognized.
- Huh.

No results.

Officially, they don't exist.

[exhales] That's odd,

but not impossible if they're minors.

I'll run a face match against
other collected footage,

starting with likely locations.

[keyboard clacking]

[computer] Recognized.

Well, well, well.

Well, well, well, indeed.

[Clark Kent slurps]

Superman, we need your help.

[sighs]

I've got to find another
place to drink coffee.

You are House of El?

All right, Kon-El. On your feet.

I am Kon-El.

[Dru-Zod] Could he be
Jor-El's son or Zor-El's?

[Ursa] Zor-El had a daughter.

Jor-El's son was an infant.

This "Kon-El" couldn't be him, could he?

Have we been here that long?

I know it feels like a thousand years,

but we were only sentenced to ten.

Are you the son of Jor-El?

I am the Superboy. A genomorph...

A clone made from
the DNA of the Superman.

Created to replace him should he perish,

to destroy him
should he turn from the light.

Who is this Superman? Is he a son of El?

He was.

He was Kal-El, son of Lara El
and Jor-El.

Superman is my genetic half-brother.

Was.

Super-man. And you are Super-boy.

How old was this son of Jor-El?

How many years have passed on
Krypton since we were sent here?

Krypton? Krypton exploded
over years ago.

Kal-El was its sole survivor.

And I k*lled him.

[bell chiming]

Stay whelmed.
I have an Aural Glamour up.

If anyone eavesdrops, they'll think

we're talking about the upcoming
Monarchs/Knights baseball game.

Please. The Monarchs are
gonna run away with it.

- Clark.
- Oh. Right. What do you need?

Remember how Bibbo was kidnapped

by Kroloteans four years ago?

Well, after that, he set up
security cameras in the diner.

[sighs] So, I imagine
you recognize these two.

Uh-huh.

Wait. "Uh-huh"? That's it? "Uh-huh"?

They were with Bart the day before
he disappeared. Who are they?

Their identities are strictly
on a need-to-know basis.

Bart's missing. They may be
responsible. We need to know.

Is there any indication of foul play?

No. He seems to have been
cooperating with them,

but that's no guarantee
they're trustworthy.

Bart may have been coerced or...

Without going into detail, I
had good reason to trust them.

Leave it at that for now.

[Zatanna] I hope the Knights
slaughter the Monarchs.

Ugh. Superman keeps secrets like
he has them locked away in a vault.

They don't call him
the Man of Steel for nothing.

[sighs] But fine, let's assume Bart was
working with Clark's "secret friends."

They were buying supplies.

Maybe gearing up for a mission.

If so, what else would they need?

[Tigress] A pack of
five Inhibitor Collars,

a Space-Belt and a Zeta-Tube
Power Core are all unaccounted for.

- How did you know?
- Who took them?

[Zatanna gasps]

Run it again frame-by-frame.

Freeze.

Jackpot.

I just don't know about this.

I know it's a big ask,
but please keep an open mind.

[computer] Recognized.

Another facial match
for our mystery teens?

Yeah. Mystery Girl was
a waitress at Bibbo's

during the original Team's
private party last year.

They've been keeping tabs on us
for over a year?

- [computer] Recognized.
- Maybe not on all of us.

[d*ck] Maybe not.

Mystery Boy was at the U.N.

the day Superboy
revealed himself to the world.

And there's your direct
connection to Conner.

Okay, wait, wait, wait, wait.
Bart stole a space-belt,

which suggests his secret
mission wasn't on Earth.

A League squad just came back
from a mission off-world

that involved
a time-traveling Kryptonian.

And Bart's a time-traveler.
Who led that mission?

[d*ck] I sped through the mission
report, and one thing wasn't clear.

Who or what destroyed
the Phantom Zone Projector?

- I'm honestly not sure.
- But if you had to guess?

Well, if I didn't know better,

I'd say it was destroyed by a beam

fired from a camouflaged Bio-Ship.

Of course, I assumed
that was impossible, so...

So that would be a connection to Mars.

Yes, and another
potential connection to Conner.

What does Conner have to do
with anything?

Let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Z, can you show us Raquel's memory of
the beam that destroyed the Projector?

And the glimpse she got of
the inside of the Phantom Zone.

Please. It's important.

- Do it.
- Laever eht seiromem ew kees!

- [gasps]
- What?

Laever ym noisiv!

Help me! Please!

[gasps] So, you think
Conner's in the Phantom Zone?

[Artemis] Hurt and desperate.

Trapped. For months.

Wait, does that mean
you believe Conner's alive now?

And it hasn't even been hours.

Bart's still missing too.

Bart maybe on a path parallel to ours.

He seems to have chosen to be with
people Superman finds trustworthy.

And I have a hunch they were on the
Bio-Ship that destroyed the Projector.

- That's a bit of a leap, isn't it?
- Maybe.

But Superman admitted he was
withholding information from us.

Why would he do that unless
telling us could make matters worse?

Unless telling us could
thr*aten the timestream itself.

What if Bart the Time-Traveler
is with two other Time-Travelers?

What if they have inside intel
about this Kryptonian Time-Traveler,

about the Phantom Zone, and
about Conner being trapped there?

Whoa, Boy Wonder.
You're seriously reaching.

I know! But it comes down to this:

Bart made a choice,
and we should trust him on it.

Conner was asking for help, and
we need to get him out of the Zone.

He spends a lot of time hanging
upside down from trapezes.

Are we really buying all this?

You two dated him. You tell me.

- I'm sure he's right.
- Fine, but now what?

The Phantom Zone Projector
was destroyed.

There is another way,
but, [sighs] you won't like it.

- You lie!
- [Dru-Zod] Stand down.

There's more we must learn
from this... clone.

[frustrated grunt]

How was Krypton destroyed? An invasion?

Was it New Genesis? Daxamites?
The Green Lantern Corps?

The sun exploded,
taking Krypton with it.

You said Kal-El was the only survivor.

How did he survive?

Jor-El and Lara placed their infant
son in a rocket and sent him away.

And Jor-El saved no one else?

I was told he tried to save
all of Krypton,

but no one believed his warnings.

That sounds familiar. And ironic.

Where did Jor-El and Lara
send their son?

To a planet called Earth.

Why Earth? What is this Earth?

A planet under a yellow sun.

[Dru-Zod] A yellow sun?
Is that significant?

Kryptonians gain tremendous
power under a yellow sun:

flight, strength, invulnerability,

heat-vision and more.

That is how Kal-El, Superman,
became Earth's greatest hero...

until I k*lled him.

You did well.

Jor-El and his brother banished us here

to prevent us from saving Krypton.

They were the true traitors
to our world.

I am glad you k*lled Kal-El.

I need some air.

There is no air in the Phantom Zone.

- [grunts angrily]
- Nevermind. We'll both go.

You stay here, Kon-El.

[Phantom Girl] Superboy, listen to me.

We are both in terrible danger!

[computer] Recognized: Nightwing B- .

Rocket - .

TOO-toh ee-DEH-tay!

Hey, stranger. Like the new look.

Ah, thank you. Wyynde
seems to like it as well.

- You're back from your sabbatical?
- Yes.

I took a month off, but
have returned to active duty.

I believe I have finally come
to terms with Conner's death.

Yeah, about that.

What do you need?

A fifth anchor.

Hold your places.

I will summon Klarion to
appear inside a Mystic Circle

that the five of us will anchor.

In exchange for his freedom,

we'll get him to access
the Phantom Zone,

since he's clearly done it before.

And you believe he will cooperate?

[scoffs] Yeah, how do we know he
won't turn us inside-out or something?

It is a risk, but his only
way out of the Circle

will be to exit here.

And Klarion won't dare enter the Tower.

It's Fate's place of power.

Uh, where is Doctor Fate?

Otherwise occupied.

But let's not tell Klarion that.

- Go for it, Z.
- Going for it.

[takes deep breath]

Drol fo Soahc, I nommus Eeht!

Who dare summon Kla...

Hey, it's the poor little witch girl.

She's got some nerve!

You owe me a debt for
restoring you to the mortal plane.

I'm calling it in now.

Remove Conner Kent from the
Phantom Zone and bring him safely to us.

Oh, yeah. The Zone. I've been there.

Nothing but a bunch of
whiny Kryptonians.

No way I'm going back there for you.

I'm Chaos. I don't do debt.

Ha! You thought I'd be afraid
to enter Fate's Tower, dintcha?

Well, I may hate this place,

but I can't letcha
"summon" me unpunished.

And with Fate away...

[in unison] we can squoosh
you punks good!

Oh, please.

Anything you can do, we can do better!

[Klarion grunts]

[Kaldur'ahm grunts]

Yawn.

Double, double, toil and trouble!

Someone's got too roomy a bubble!

Let's see what we could do about that!

[Rocket straining]

[Klarion grunts]

[Tigress grunts]

Tag, you're out! [snickers]

[Nightwing grunts]

[Nightwing grunts]

[fireball hissing]

Time's running out, Bird Wonder.

- Tick, tick. Boom!
- [Nightwing grunts]

[grunts]

Gnikohc seniv ekohc ym ymene!

Deew rellik llik siht rellik deew!

Sriats fo eht Rewot, nosirpmi mih!

Etim-o-nyd!

- [loud expl*si*n]
- [Zatanna grunts]

[Klarion snickers]

I gotta hand it to you, Klarion,
you're a mean backwards speller.

But just in case, let me spell
this next one out.

Ni eht eman fo eht Yloh Ecnalab,

I egrahc uoy ot Ronoh ruoy Tbed!

In the Name of the Holy Balance,
I charge you to Honor your Debt!

[in unison] Do we have to?

[meowing]

[groaning] You're no fun anymore.

[Nightwing winces softly]

Fine. But I decide how to honor my debt.

And I'll honor it by
not k*lling you... this time.

Come on, Teekl, let's boogie.

Being trapped in this Tower is worse

than being trapped in
that big yellow pogo stick.

- [Teekl meows]
- Bus. Bus. You knew I meant bus!

[gasps]

[Saturn Girl] You had
already k*lled Superboy.

A thousand years in the future,

there would have been no Legion
of Super-Heroes to stop your father

when the Phantom Zone Projector
released him.

You'd won.

But you couldn't leave
well enough alone.

You just had to steal the
Projector here in the present

and attempt to release Zod now.

Instead, the Projector was destroyed,

and now your parents will never be free.

Hmm. So the Green Lantern Corps
has taken the Kaizer-Thrall to Oa.

[Bio-Ship powers down]

Behave, Bio-Ship. Or else...

Take your position.

Don't be a fool, Earther.
Cooperate, or I k*ll your friends.

And who knows? If you bide your time,

maybe your chance to
turn the tables will come.

I'm giving you your speed back.

- [electricity crackling]
- [Kid Flash yelps]

Sorry, wrong button.

Oa, here we come.

[Tigress wincing] So...

[Nightwing grunts]

That could have gone better.

It could hardly have gone worse.

Did we have a Plan B?

We did not.

[Zatanna] Huh... Maybe we do.

Xedni drac!

If you can track down
a ten-year-old school bus.

[Soranik Natu] This so-called
"Kaizer-Thrall" is indeed sentient.

In fact, there seems to be the remnants
of a humanoid inside this machine.

It's incredible,
and not a little horrifying...

[Forager clicks]

The results are in. Let me see.

I'm reading a male. Approximate
age, eleven Earth years.

[Forager clicks]

[Soranik Natu] Yes, by the Guardians,

this is a human boy,

a child... from Earth.

[Kaizer-Thrall beeping]

And I believe it, he, is
trying to communicate...

[Kaizer-Thrall beeping]