During September 2010, Superboy continued to go on missions with the Team. He started school under his new civilian name "Conner Kent", went on an undercover assignment, and began a relationship with Miss Martian, after which the Team's faith in Aqualad as a leader was shaken and then restored.
Immediately after Aqualad came back from Atlantis, the Team was sent to investigate a power surge in the Bialyan desert.[1] Miss Martian's telepathic link with the Team was intercepted by Psimon, who used his own mental powers to make everyone forget the last six months.
Because Superboy did not yet exist six months ago, he became an enraged, mindless creature. He attacked some of his former teammates, as well as Bialyan soldiers, until Psimon sedated him telepathically. Superboy was imprisoned and tortured, but with help from Miss Martian and fellow captive Sphere, managed to break free. M'gann restored his memories, and with his help, they defeated Psimon. They made it back to the Bio-Ship in Qurac, taking the Sphere with them.[2]
Equipped with a rebreather and one of Aqualad's spare costumes, Superboy was able to meet Kaldur's parents, Calvin Durham and Sha'lain'a. He was able to speak Atlantean, which was one of the languages the G-Gnomes taught him.[3]
Aqualad showed his friends the capital. After a visit to Queen Mera, he introduced them to his old classmates at the Conservatory of Sorcery.[3]
Poseidonis September 6, 19:27UTC-2
After school, Aqualad and his friends swam with Garth and Tula, and had to break up a fight between students and Ronal, who was accused of being a purist, and responsible for an attack on Topo. Superboy stared down King Sha'ark until the latter backed out.[3]
Aqualad introduced them to their sleeping place: Atlantean pods. Superboy was fine with it, but did not like the name. Miss Martian considered it like going back into the womb. Before they could go to sleep, Queen Mera magically reached out to them, asking for help. They headed to her chambers, where they found she was being kidnapped by Ocean-Master. Once outside the palace, Ocean-Master used his trident on them.[4]
Prince Orm woke the three heroes, and together with Aqualad, formed a plan. His sources had given two locations for purist hideouts; they would both investigate one.[4]
Aqualad, Superboy and Miss Martian were ambushed at their location. They got help from Kaldur's Conservatory friends, but the fight was made more difficult by Ocean-Master's magic and Topo's ink spout. Superboy used his infrared vision to seek out the purists and take them down. Miss Martian followed stragglers to their real hideout.[4]
Miss Martian alerted them to the location, but before she could engage Ocean-Master, she was discovered. They others attacked, but Ocean-Master knew a way to remove Superboy from the battle. He destroyed the surface dweller's rebreather. Miss Martian, who could breathe with her gills, fed him oxygen to prevent him from drowning. They were both out of the battle, but Garth managed to save the day.[4]
Poseidonis September 7, 07:01UTC-2
King Orin thanked his protégé, but Aqualad did not wish to tarry. Superboy and Miss Martian would have their first day of school, and would need some rest.[4]
Mount Justice September 7, 06:41EDT
Like any boy his (apparent) age, Superboy was expected to go to school. He was unfamiliar with the concept of a secret identity, but took the name "Conner Kent" on Miss Martian and Martian Manhunter's suggestions. He was uncomfortable with having to change his shirt inside out to hide the S Shield on the chest.[5]
At school, "Conner" did not start well. Before classes even started, he almost got in a fight with Mal Duncan after he harassed Marvin White. Marvin, and everyone else in the school, had a superhero logo on their chest. Mal had Superman. The two stared each other down, but the teacher Lucas Carr sent them all to homeroom.
In class, Carr showed the students the news, and planned to discuss the situation in Rhelasia with them. After Marvin showed he wasn't paying attention, Conner stepped in to tell the class what he knew about Rhelasia, and questioned their dispute, as they had little reason for animosity in his eyes.
After classes, Megan tried out for the cheerleader squad. Conner watched from the bleachers, and attempted to interfere after the cheerleaders dumped water over her. However, Megan telepathically told him not to, which caused him to trip and land face down on the track. After she was formally inducted into the squad, Conner gave Megan his coat, and carried her books, so they would not get wet.[5]
Superboy and Miss Martian were selected for a mission to infiltrate Belle Reve Penitentiary disguised as the Terror Twins, Tommy and Tuppence Terror. After Martian Manhunter and Superman defeated them in a heated battle in New Orleans, Superboy and Miss Martian switched places with them, and were all set to go to Belle Reve.[6]
"Tommy" and "Tuppence" were brought to Belle Reve along with Icicle Jr. and Mister Freeze. Superboy and Icicle became cellmates, and he was introduced to the prison capo, Icicle Sr.. He learned of the plan to stage a mass breakout.
The plan went off largely according to plan. Mister Freeze managed to gain control of the inhibitor collars and shut them off. The ice villains would make the walls brittle, and the powerhouses would break the walls. "Tommy" and Icicle, Jr. were tasked with destroying the wall between the men's and women's ward. He convinced Junior that the collars are being turned back on, and they had to shut them off. This would get him in better standing with his father. They succeeded, but Freeze was onto them. Superboy spun his words, and Junior bought the version that it was powerplay; Freeze would want to take over from Senior. After a short fight with Mammoth and Blockbuster, the two young inmates were victorious. They also broke the wall, where they were confronted by Killer Frost and Devastation. "Tuppence" had been found out, and Killer Frost had frozen her. Superboy defeated them singlehandedly, and freed "Tuppence". Icicle watched in horror as the "Twins" kissed, and it got only worse when "Tuppence" reverted into her true form. He knew he had been fooled.[6]
In the Cave, Superboy and his friends were attacked by Red Torpedo and Red Inferno. Conner and Wally were trapped in molten metal, up to their faces in water. Only Robin and Artemis could save them, and they did, by creating an EMP generator that knocked out the Reds.
When Red Tornado returned from monitor duty on the Watchtower, he examined the androids. Because the EMP had worn off, the robots reactivated and seemingly reprogrammed Red Tornado. The Team was knocked out and by the time they were woken up by the Justice League, the Reds were already gone.[7]
The League carried out repairs to the Cave, and upgraded its security. Superboy listened in on a conversation between Aqualad and Batman about a possible mole in the Team. Conner became furious, as did everyone else when he told them. Batman stopped them from arguing, and assigned Captain Marvel as their first rotating supervisor. Tracking Red Tornado would be a League responsibility, so he assigned the Team to investigate animal attacks in India.[8]
The Team was still angry at Aqualad, and separated before he could organize them. They are soon attacked by a number of wild, mutated animals. Superboy had to fight off a pack of wolves. He engaged the leader of the pack, a large white wolf, in single combat.
Superboy managed to remove the pack's inhibitor collars, and headed for the Brain's laboratory with the pack's alpha male and leader. The Brain escaped, and Superboy decided to keep the wolf—which he named "Wolf"—as a pet.[8]
Three days later, Batman instructed the Team to go to Bwunda, believing there was a Kobra-Venom operation running. The Team and Wolf were sent out to shut it down.[9]
The Team arrived in Bwunda, and Miss Martian activated the psychic link. Artemis asked Superboy to go to the movies after the mission. Superboy misjudged her intentions, and found it great for a team-building exercise. He interrupted the conversation because he detected the reek of monkeys. Suddenly, they were ambushed by Kobra-Venom enhanced gorillas. After M'gann's communication link went down, Superboy wanted to look for her with his infrared vision. Before he had the chance, he was ambushed by Gorilla Grodd. He was fitted with a inhibitor collar by Solovar, and was knocked unconscious by Grodd when he tried to resist.[9]
Superboy and the rest of the captive Team members were disarmed and shackled to a wall, feigning unconsciousness. Robin freed himself shortly after Grodd arrived with Wolf. He retrieved his utility belt, detonated smoke grenades and tazered Grodd. He then removed Superboy's inhibitor collar, but was grabbed by Grodd before he could do anything else. Superboy realized the new psychic link was not set up by Miss Martian. Grodd explained Solovar's plan to the Team. When the smoke cleared the Team was free and rearmed. After Solovar arrived with Miss Martian, the Team and their gorilla allies attacked their captors. Superboy knocked out Monsieur Mallah, and was chastised by Solovar for referring to gorillas as monkeys. After the base's self-destruct was activated, Superboy and the Team evacuated with the gorillas to their secret hiding place.[10]