Previously, in Chapter 7:
Several hours later, Clark was trying on a skin-tight mostly blue stretchy leotard contraption with a red cape, yellow belt, red briefs, his family emblem centered on his chest, and bright red boots (they were Lois' idea – she dyed them herself). Looking at himself in the mirror, he felt completely ridiculous. He came out of the bathroom embarrassed to be showing so much of himself to his mother and a woman he had barely just met.
"You know, I appreciate all the hard work that went into this," Clark began, "but honestly –"
"Wow," said Lois. "What a hunk of man. Mmmm."
"Oh honey. It really works. *No one* will notice your face. When you're plain Clark Kent, they won't see any resemblance at all," Martha asserted.
Jonathan was actually speechless.
"Clark," said Lois, "let's take this outside. Let's see how you look when you're in action. Go fly away like you're going to rescue someone!"
Shaking his head, wishing he could truly understand the fairer sex, Clark walked out to the porch, first checking to make sure there were no approaching neighbors. Just then he heard the screeching of tires and metal crunching.
"I'll be right back – there's a big accident down on Route 8 – a five car pile-up!"
Before Lois could suggest she tag along again, Clark was soaring away, his cape billowing in the air just like the American flag.
Martha put her arm around Lois. "We did it – Clark now has an alter-ego! I wonder what they'll call him?"
"How about Super-Stud?" Lois joked.
"Ok, Lois… he *is* still my son," Martha said, smiling but serious. "Try to keep your mind out of the gutter!"
"Seriously, Mrs. Kent… have you *looked* at your son? He's hot!"
With that, both women started giggling and went back into the kitchen to await Clark's return.
~~~~~
And now,
Chapter 8
Clark's first public appearance warranted breaking news on television. While the Kents and Lois were waiting for Clark to return, a local TV newscaster cut in to interrupt the regularly scheduled program.
Breaking news at this hour: a flying teenager swooped out of the sky wearing blue leotards and a red cape - yes I'm not kidding, folks! - to assist in an 5-car pile-up which had crippled busy Route 8! Displaying unbelievable strength, the flying youth was able to lift several cars which were blocking the highway and carried several hurt passengers to the local hospital much faster than the service an ambulance could have provided. He was also able to stop several vehicles from exploding by somehow extinguishing the flames shooting out from the hoods of the cars.
We attempted to interview this amazing young man, but all he would say is that he feels that he was given his unique abilities in order to help others, and that we would be seeing more of him as time goes by! He appears to have the ability to fly, has superior strength, and the ability to cool objects with his breath alone. As you can see from this exclusive video coverage, he's about 6' 3", brown/black hair, blue eyes, and quite a muscular physique! What's his name? When will we see him again? Where's he from? How did he get these amazing abilities? Is he from earth, or from outer space? We noticed that he wears what looks to be a stylized "S" on his chest. Is that a family crest, or the first initial of his name?
Stay tuned, folks! We'll bring you updates as they become available. But for now, it seems that Lowell County, Kansas has its very own savior!
"Ye gods!" exclaimed Jonathan. "We don't want Jason Trask thinking that Clark's from the Smallville area. It won't take much for him to figure out that the strange red and green meteor rocks he found in Schuster's field and the mystery man's abilities are related!"
Lois had a blank look on her face. "Jason Trask? Red and green meteors? Boy, I guess that there's a lot that Clark hasn't told me about himself, huh?"
Martha nodded in agreement. "You sure got that right, honey. Jon, you're right. Clark should deliberately fly around the U.S., helping various causes, so no one believes he's from the Midwest. Once the media realizes that he's all over the United States, they won't focus on Kansas so much."
As if Clark had read their minds, another breaking news story erupted on TV.
This breaking story from Metropolis! Five year old Melissa Grant is standing by here to tell us a heart-warming story.
"Melissa, tell the viewers what happened to you just now," the talking head said to her.
"My kitty cat, Tango, disappeared. I was standing out in my yard, calling his name and crying when a Super Boy just came out of the sky and floated down in front of me. He had Tango in his arms! He handed my kitty to me and told me to have a nice day! Then he just flew away! Just like Peter Pan!"
"Could you tell our viewers what this 'Super Boy' looked like, Melissa?"
"Sure! He was wearing blue tights and had red boots and a red cape! He was cute!"
"This out of the mouth of a five year old, viewers. It appears our flying savior has a new name…. Superboy!"
~~~~~
And so began the career of Superboy, and the whirlwind romance of Lois and Clark. Shortly after Lois and Clark returned to Met U, Clark came clean with Lana about Lois and his abilities.
"Lana… I know you're seeing Pete. It's OK," began Clark. "I met someone too."
"Clark… you're Superboy aren't you?" asked Lana, matter-of-factly.
"Where did *that* come from?" replied a startled Clark.
"Besides the fact that you look just *like* Superboy, and by the way, you should do something about that – get a pair of ugly glasses or something – I always knew you were hiding something from me. Why couldn't you tell me, Clark? All these years and you never said a word! I can't tell you how hurt I am!"
"Lana – I didn't know how you'd react. I'm not from around here – I mean earth – and I didn't know that until about six months ago. Honest. I didn't mean to lie to you."
"Does your new girlfriend know? About who you are, I mean?"
Clark wore a sheepish look on his face. "Yes. She and my folks helped design my uniform, actually."
"So let me get this straight. I've known you since we were five years old. You can fly and do all of these amazing things – and you never told me, or Pete, even though we are supposedly your best friends. I was your girlfriend, Clark!! Now you meet someone and already she knows more about you than I do, having known you for thirteen years! Clark, I'm never going to be able to forgive you!"
Lana ran out of the room, crying hysterically. Part of Clark was relieved that everything was finally out in the open. Lana's remark about looking just like Superboy hit home. He did need to change his appearance as Clark. Maybe a pair of big ugly glasses would be just the thing. He remembered that his Dad had just gotten a new pair of reading glasses. Perhaps the old frames would fit him, and he could have clear lenses made. He made a mental note to run that idea by Lois. Just thinking about her got him all excited. He was picking her up after her Anatomy and Physiology exam. Maybe they'd take a quick trip to Smallville for a great home-cooked meal and a pair of ugly glasses instead of getting Chinese takeout, as they had planned.
Clark waited outside the science building, using his X-ray vision to see Lois getting her stuff together, handing in her exam to the instructor. He also noticed that several other guys in the class were checking her out. Jealousy was a new feeling for him; perhaps he never cared enough about Lana *that* way to feel uncomfortable when another guy showed interest in her, like Pete. The thought of Lois being attracted to anyone else made him crazy. When he saw her exit the building and head down the stairs towards him, he felt butterflies welling up inside his stomach. Every time he saw Lois that happened! God she was sexy and gorgeous!
Lois smiled at him as she spotted him. Just at that moment, Lana and Pete happened to cross in front of him. It was apparent that Lana had clued Pete in that he was Superboy, because they both gave him looks to kill and kept walking, effectively ignoring him. Even though Clark felt badly that his two best friends weren't talking to him, the scent of an approaching Lois nullified the rejection!
Lois gave Clark a big hug and kiss. "Clark, who's that redhead? She just gave me the dirtiest look!"
Apparently Lana had figured out that Clark was waiting for someone and she wanted to check out his new girlfriend. "That's Lana and Pete. They're totally PO'd at me right now because I never told them about my abilities. I just hope they don't get so mad at me that they tell anyone else. I do want to try to live a normal life as Clark Kent. By the way, hon, do you mind passing up Chinese in favor of a trip to Smallville?"
Lois' eyes lit up. "Let's see… on the one hand, I could be eating Chinese: high in MSG and salt content. Then there's the other hand, Martha Kent's home made cooking. Delicious, much healthier, and for a college student, much better on the budget. Hell yeah, let's go!"
"You are so beautiful," Clark said in a husky voice. "And flexible…and …did I say beautiful?"
"Keep sucking up, Kent. So *why* are we going to Smallville, 'Smallville'?"
"I need a pair of ugly glasses so no one will recognize me as Superboy."
"Huh? You mean I'm going to be embarrassed to be with you from now on?"
"I'll still take you flying as Superboy!"
"Ok, yeah; I can live with that. Let's go!"
With that, they headed towards the park. Clark spun into his Superboy suit (a trick Lois had suggested when Clark complained that there was never a good place to take off his civilian clothes), and the lovebirds were off, heading southwest towards Kansas.
Per usual, the Kents were surprised to see their son, who was using the tunnel that he had created to come and go now that it was public information that there was a flying teenager in the U.S., one that had been seen in the greater Smallville area at that.
Also, per usual, Martha's kitchen smelled heavenly. Lois took a deep breath and let her lungs fill up with the aroma of baking chocolate chip cookies.
Martha gave the kids a hug and kiss. "To what do we owe the pleasure of your company so soon after your last visit?" she asked.
"Well, after I told Lana about Lois, she had figured out that I was Superboy. She said I look *exactly* like him, and that I should get some ugly glasses or something to disguise myself when I'm Clark Kent!"
Lois stared Clark down. "You didn't tell me that *Lana* suggested the idea!"
"Well she was being sarcastic, hon, but she was right… I need to do something to change my appearance as Clark Kent so no one puts two and two together."
"Just wait until I meet this girl," Lois muttered under her breath. "I'll kick her *** ."
Martha grabbed a comb out of the downstairs bathroom and took an old pair of Jonathan's reading glasses out of the coffee table drawer. "Let's see how this looks, honey." With that, she slicked back Clark's hair, combing it back with a part on the side, and placed the glasses on his face. "Well, you do look more intelligent now," she joked.
"You *mean* I look like a nerd. All I need is a pocket protector with a bunch of pens sticking out and I'll be all set!" Clark groaned.
"Well, it works," Lois agreed. "No one will take you for Superboy now. You need to change your clothing a little as well. Less jock, more nerd. You might have to drop out of the football team to ward off suspicion."
Martha, Jonathan, and Clark all shook their heads simultaneously. "Can't do that, hon – I have a football scholarship!" Clark exclaimed.
"Oops. Ok. Well, you have an ugly helmet on when you play football anyway. We'll have to ease you in to your new look gradually. You can't be a jock one day and a nerd the next."
"Yeah, every day I'll change my hairstyle just a bit until it looks like this. I'll start wearing the glasses just when I’m in my classes, and eventually wear them all the time."
"And we'll have to get you some more plaid shirts with pocket-protectors!" Lois chimed in. "The farmboy look with intelligence."
"You're having *way* too much fun with this, hon," Clark said with a wide grin. "Mom, do you mind if we stay for supper?"
"I'm counting on it, honey."
~~~~~
TBC
