Originally Posted by
Bored at 3:00AM
I've tweaked the dialogue and added this bit to hopefully clarify things. Let me know if this works better for you. Thanks.
***
“And this Superman co-exists with the Superboy we just saw?” J’Onn asks.
“Yes, and on the same Earth, which is what’s so peculiar. Normally, a change in history would create a new branch of history, running parallel with the original, but that hasn’t happened this time. The new timeline and the old are weaving in and out of the other.”
“Are they aware of each other?”
“Not yet, but they will be once their two timelines untangle themselves enough to drift apart from one another. But, by then, they’ll just think they’re visiting another Earth amongst the infinite alternate worlds of the Multiverse. They’ll have no idea that they were living right alongside each other for years, hidden in each other's temporal blind spot.” Dawn waves her hand again and the world around them dissolves into the giant tents of a circus, packed with spectators enjoying the show.
“Where are we now?” J’Onn asks, astonished in child-like wonder.
“Haley’s Circus. See those two over there?” Dawn points out a much more youthful Clark Kent and Lois Lane watching a family of acrobats high above them. “Unbeknownst to that Lois & Clark, their counterparts have just gotten married a few blocks away.”
“How is that possible? Wouldn't they inevitably become aware of one another through others?”
Dawn skakes her head. "Nope, people's memories adjust to whatever timestream they happen to be in at any given time. Take that girl, for instance. Her name is Betty Kane. She works summers at her father's law firm, the same law firm Dick Grayson works for. Depending upon the month, he sees him almost every day. Has a bit of a crush on him, too. That kid swinging up top around she's been watching? That little seven year old is Dick Grayson. A year from now, he’ll be adopted by Bruce Wayne and start training to become Robin, the Boy Wonder. But, to Betty, at this specific moment in time and in this particular timestream, she doesn't work with the adult Dick Grayson at all…until she does whenever she needs to.”
J’Onn turns to Dawn, “But why? Why have they become younger?”
Dawn shrugs her shoulders and smiles back at the Martian, “Who knows, J’Onny? Maybe there was a part of them that wanted it. Hell, maybe some higher power needed them younger. These are bigger questions than the two of us are capable of answering.”