I'm traveling to a wedding this weekend, so I figured I'd post this now.
Degrees of Separation: 4/?
by Nan Smith
Previously:
"We have to find this kid," Lois said. "The last thing we need is Nor's son growing up with a twisted attitude or something."
"Well, Ally told me last night how her Ben helped her to get away. He sounds like a good kid."
"Yeah, for now. But living too long the way he's living might not be very good for him. You need to talk to Allynda again -- teach her to use her telepathy. They're twins. Maybe she'll be able to help us, if she's got any kind of connection with her brother at all."
"That's a big maybe, but it's worth a shot," Clark agreed. "I'll talk to Perry about maybe getting these pictures out to some of our affiliates, and maybe we can see about getting them on milk cartons or something. Any kind of publicity to make things more difficult for Morris Myers to hide. First I should check with Tanya, though. Just to get her okay."
"And maybe Superman should pay her a visit," Lois said.
"Yeah, I'd say that's a given," Clark said.
**********
And now, Part 4:
Marta, Ally and Maria headed for Maria's locker near the front of the school. CJ, Valerie, Linda and Wyatt would be waiting, but Dr. Jenkins had kept Marta's class an extra couple of minutes, as he handed out permission slips for the trip to the Metro Aquarium scheduled for the first week of October.
"We got those this morning," Allynda said. "It sounds like a lot of fun. I've always been interested in sharks. Did you know that sharks are really fragile creatures, and that a dolphin can kill a shark by ramming it? And that if a shark doesn't keep moving all the time, it dies?"
Marta hadn't. "Sharks are pretty dangerous, though," Maria said.
"Not all sharks," Ally contradicted. "Whale sharks eat plankton and stuff, and when you see them in movies -- you know, when people are all panicking because there's a shark in the water, coming toward the victim -- it's usually a nurse shark. They're completely harmless. Of course, there's lots that are dangerous, too -- great whites, and hammerheads and tiger sharks and things. I want to study sharks when I get to college, and maybe have a career studying ocean life."
"You already know a lot about sharks," Maria said, impressed.
"That's just because I read some books from the library about them," Ally said. "I want to really study sea animals. Ben and I used to go swimming over by Wilson's Cove -- you know: the place they set aside as a marine sanctuary. They let you snorkel there, so you can see all the stuff under the water. It was really interesting. Most people don't have any idea how many kinds of fish live there. Ever since they cleaned the junk out, the water's clear and there are all kinds of things -- crabs, starfish, and once I even saw an octopus! Mom and Dad used to take us there a lot, every summer, until they got divorced."
"It must have been fun," Marta said.
"Yeah," Maria agreed.
They rounded the corner of the cafeteria and stopped sharply. Susie, Lynn Montgomery and Darlene were standing there. Susie was holding a baseball bat, and the two other girls were similarly armed.
"Okay, Kent," Susie said, "this is where you get yours." She swung at Marta.
Marta shoved Maria backwards out of range of the weapon, automatically parrying the blow with her other hand. The bat, wielded by Susie, impacted the ground beside her hard enough to crack the wood.
The other two girls moved in, and Ally struck Darlene's bat as it swung at her, deflecting it into Lynn's.
'CJ!' Marta screamed in her mind, but at the same time she was moving. She kicked the bat that had hit the blacktop, and the two broken pieces flew apart, spinning away in two directions before again falling to the ground. She pivoted around to meet the bat swung by Lynn Montgomery, grabbed the item by both ends and twisted, wrenching the weapon away from the other girl. She threw it away as hard as she could and spun back to face their three assailants. Susie was lunging at her, and she stepped quickly to the side, thrusting out a foot and hoping that Ally would be able to deal with Darlene and her bat. Susie tripped over Marta's foot and went face-first onto the asphalt.
To her left, there was a solid, sharp cracking noise and she turned quickly toward the sound.
Darlene's bat was in two pieces. The head of the bat lay on the ground, and Darlene held the bottom half, staring at it as if she didn't believe her eyes. Ally brushed a few splinters of wood off her right hand onto her jeans and crouched in a defensive stance, facing the other girl. Susie was on her hands and knees and, as Marta turned, Maria landed hard on Susie's back, bearing her to the ground again. Susie struggled to get up, but Maria shoved her face into the blacktop with both hands and leaned forward, throwing all her weight on the larger girl's head.
Susie cursed at her, but the words were muffled under Maria's body, with her face pressed hard into the asphalt.
CJ, Valerie, Wyatt and Linda rounded the corner at a run, to stop in amazement at the sight before them. Darlene and Lynn took one look at the superior forces now confronting them, and ran.
From somewhere above, Marta heard a familiar whooshing noise, and then Superman landed beside them. He had a grip on each of the two other girls, and he set them firmly on the ground. "Don't move," he said sternly. "All right, Maria, you can get up now."
Maria obeyed. Darlene and Lynn stood frozen as Susie staggered to her feet. The bigger girl's face was scratched and scraped in several places, and blood streamed from her nose. Her face was smeared with dirt, tears and blood. She pointed a shaking finger at Marta.
"She attacked me!" she shrieked. "Look what you did to me, you little --"
"I saw the whole thing," a voice behind them said. Marta turned to see Mrs. Elders, one of the women who worked in the cafeteria, standing some feet away. The woman was breathing hard as if she had been hurrying, and her round, plump face was flushed. "You and those two girls Superman brought back attacked these three with baseball bats. All three of you should be ashamed of yourselves!"
"I think," Superman said, "that we'd all better go over to the Office."
**********
"So," Clark said to Lois, "Principal Setter called the police, and everybody wound up at the police station. Superman told the guy that took the statement what he'd seen, and I went back after you took the kids home and filed a complaint against them for violating the court order. They're also being charged with assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. This time those three girls are in serious trouble."
They were sitting on a bench in Centennial Park, talking quietly. They had left CJ, Wyatt and Linda to watch the triplets while they found a quiet place to talk that was -- hopefully -- beyond the reach of Allynda's untrained super-hearing.
"I'll bet anything that Susie's helicopter mom is still defending her precious little angel," Lois said, cynically.
"Probably," Clark said. "But this time it's a criminal matter. It's going to have to be handled by Juvenile Court. And they have adult witnesses -- Mrs. Elders and Superman. He saw it, too -- or most of it, anyway. He arrived right after Marta 'called' CJ."
"Oh?" Lois said, cocking her head sideways, "I'd think Superman should have been able to move fast enough to stop the whole thing."
"Superman saw right away that Marta, Ally and Maria had the situation in hand, and he was pretty sure they wouldn't hurt the other three seriously," Clark said. "He knew he could stop it if things started to get out of control, but he also knew that Susie and her friends were going to keep coming unless they were given a real reason to stop. He let Marta, Ally and Maria give them the reason. The criminal justice system would never be able to teach them what they learned this afternoon." He gave a faint grin. "I wish you'd seen Marta and the others in action. You'd have been proud of them."
"That's for sure." Lois had been mounting the steps of the police station to retrieve the girls and drive them to the townhouse, and had seen Susie's face as her outraged mother had escorted her from the precinct to her Mercedes. None of the scratches and scrapes that she had received when she had hit the pavement looked very serious, and she doubted that there would be any permanent marks, but Susie was going to see the results of her stupidity every time she looked in the mirror for several weeks. If she didn't learn after this incident, then she never would.
"Did you let Ally's mom know what happened?" she asked. "It would probably be better if she heard it from you than the school."
"They'd already called her," Clark said, "but I gave her Superman's version of it. She's working late this evening. I promised to have Ally home by seven when she gets home, herself. I also got hold of Maria's mom. The school had already talked to her, and she was worried, so I assured her that Maria was fine, and not in any trouble."
"I hope none of those girls realize Marta and Ally were using anything besides karate in that fight," Lois said.
"Actually, I don't think they were. Marta knows how to control her super strength, and I'm beginning to suspect that Ally does, too. She hit that bat with the side of her hand the exact same way I've seen you break boards," Clark said. "Even if she did use super strength, I doubt anyone will suspect a thing."
Lois nodded. Why should anyone suspect anything, after all? Marta and Ally were both in Tai Kwon Do, and everyone involved knew it, especially now. Most people seemed to think martial arts were nearly magic anyway. Ally and Marta, and to a lesser extent, Maria, were going to have quite a reputation at their middle school, especially among those who knew Susie and her handmaidens personally. Maybe it would make Susie and her friends realize how stupid they were being. "What's the school going to do about it?" she asked. "Are they going to enforce the rule about fighting in this situation? This wasn't exactly your garden variety kid-fight."
"I don't think so," Clark said. "Not against Marta and the others, anyway. This was a clear case of self-defense. Marta's group could hardly stand by and let themselves be beaten with baseball bats. Any ordinary girls could have been killed, and the school administration knows it. You should have seen Principal Setter's face when he saw the condition of those bats."
"If they do cause trouble, I'm going to raise holy hell," Lois said. "I've had all I intend to take from hidebound school districts whose officials don't bother to exercise common sense."
Clark didn't answer, although he fully agreed with her. A little common sense exercised a few years ago, in the case of Susie Jones, might have prevented the events today.
Lois glanced at her watch. "We'd better get back," she said. "Ally wanted to talk to you alone. You know, I have a funny feeling about that."
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Oh, I don't know. Just a funny feeling."
**********
When they ascended the steps of the townhouse, Clark lifted his glasses and looked through the house into the back yard. The triplets were playing happily in the sandbox while Linda Lennox, CJ and Wyatt were sitting at the picnic table under the maple tree, apparently working on math problems while keeping an eye on the smaller children. Jimmy and Jonny, as might have been predicted, were both lying on their stomachs on the carpet, watching the afternoon cartoons. Their homework lay neglected on the dining room table.
"We'd better take over in there," he said. "Jonny and Jimmy need a little prodding."
"TV again?" Lois asked.
"You must be psychic," he said. Lois snorted.
Entering the house, Clark closed and locked the door, glancing upward toward the playroom. The three girls were watching the computer on the table printing quantities of paper -- evidently, they had finished their project and the computer was printing up the final product.
"Looks like the girls are finished with their report," he said, with a look at his watch. "Maybe I'd better start dinner. It's already five-thirty."
"Well, it's been a pretty busy afternoon," Lois said.
"Mr. Kent?" Ally's voice spoke from the stairs.
Clark turned, to see the girl descending the steps. "Yes, Ally?"
"Could I talk to you now?"
"Sure." Clark turned to Lois. "I have a casserole in the freezer. The directions for heating it up are taped to the dish."
"Okay," Lois said. "Why don't you and Ally go into the den? You can have some privacy if you close the door."
"Come on in here, Ally," Clark said. Allynda was nervous, he thought. He held the door for her while she preceded him into the room, and shut it quietly behind them. Without fuss, he pushed in the locking button. "Just so we don't get interrupted without warning," he said. "Have a seat."
Ally smiled briefly and sat down in one of the padded chairs that Lois had insisted on placing in the room. Clark took the desk chair and swiveled around to face her.
"What did you want to talk about?"
Ally clasped her hands in her lap. "I -- wanted to ask you. You know Superman, right?"
"Yes."
"Did all the New Kryptonians go home after ... after Superman defeated Lord Nor?"
"As far as I know, they did," Clark said evenly. "Why do you ask?"
"Then --" She hesitated and drew in her breath. "Then, that means you're Superman, right?"
Clark's breath almost choked in his throat. He took a deliberate breath. Now was not the time to start stammering out all kinds of stupid excuses. "Why do you say that?"
"Because --" The girl was wringing her hands and Clark reached out instinctively to lay a hand over hers. Her fingers relaxed, but he could tell that she was still distressed.
"Ally, take a deep breath. Why do you think I'm Superman?"
She started to wring her hands again. "Because you're like Ben and me. And Marta and CJ are, too. And so are Linda and Valerie, and your littler kids. Marta and the younger ones can't have come from -- from the New Kryptonians. That means you have to be Superman, because he's the only Kryptonian left on Earth."
Clark held up a hand. "But why do you think I -- and they -- are Kryptonian, Ally?"
"I can ... I can tell. You *feel* different from regular people to me. Just like Ben did."
Clark took a second to digest that. His brain was working furiously, stringing together what he knew or had guessed about Allynda and her brother. Allynda was most likely the daughter of a Kryptonian noble: Nor, and she must have the same mental sense as Linda Lennox. It was the only explanation.
The possible implications of that were something he didn't have time to consider right now. It was, however, obvious that a denial wasn't going to be believed. Besides, Superman didn't lie -- especially to a half-Kryptonian child who badly needed his help.
He nodded slowly. "Yes, Ally. I'm Superman."
**********
tbc
