Something I couldn't resist writing.
Disclaimer: Mickey and the Beanstalk belongs to Walt Disney, and Legion of Superheroes and any other Marvel character I use belongs to DC Comics and Warner Brothers. Oh, I just realized something! I'll tell you about it at the end of the chapter.
Superman and the Beanstalk
Chapter 1: My What a Happy Day
Clark Kent was putting his son Conner to bed with his friend Garth Ranzz as he was putting his daughter Dacey to bed as their wives Lois and Imra were about to leave.
"Now boys, for once get them to sleep by their bedtime." Lois said with a smile.
"Good night sweeties." Imra said as she blew both children a kiss.
"Good night Aunt Imra." Conner said.
"Good night Mommy." Dacey said.
"Now go to sleep kiddo." Clark said.
"Could you tell me and Dacey a story, Daddy?" Conner asked.
"Well, I guess one wouldn't hurt." Clark answered.
"Yay!" Conner called out. "Isn't that cool Unca Garth?"
"Well…" Garth said. "Uh… No."
"This is a story everyone should hear." Clark said.
"Yeah, but not everyone should tell it, and you know who." Garth said.
"Well I'm gonna tell it anyway." Clark said.
"Alright, suit yourself." Garth said with a sigh.
"Now, once upon a time there was a place called Happy Valley." Clark began. "It was called Happy Valley because everyone who lived there was happy."
"That makes sense." Garth said with a smile.
"Okay kids, now close your eyes and tell me if you can picture it." Clark said.
"I think I can." Conner said.
"Me too." Dacey added.
"It's all nice and green with a lot of hills." Conner said.
()()()()()
Happy Valley was often called Nature's garden spots, nestled among green rolling hills. A lovely brook, the laughing brook, flowed through the valley. Winding roads connected the valley with stately trees lining them. They also connected the lush fields and prosperous farms that dotted the landscape, and on a hill top over-looking the valley and shining like a jewel stood a magnificent castle, and two precious princesses lived in the castle. One was the fair maiden Imra Ardeen who made fair rules and kept the country clean. Her fellow princess, Lois Lane, kept the country bright, cheerful, and happy with her beautiful singing voice. Men, women, and children came from all over the world, feeding the country's trade, just to hear her beautiful voice.
My… What a happy day.
What a sunny sky.
Kinda make you sigh
In a happy way.
What a very merry day…
All the world is gay.
When your cares are light.
And your heart takes flight.
And you're swept away.
The air is sweet with clover.
The clouds are turning over.
Oh yes they're turning over
Just to show their silver lining.
My what a happy day…
Never knew such bliss.
Never read of this in a book or play!
What a lovely day!
What a great big gorgeous, sumptuous, thumping, bumptious, hum-galumptious, simply scrumptious!
My what a happy day!
When Lois would sing, all the farmers would join in as well, and their work got twenty times quicker.
My what a happy day…
Never knew such bliss.
Never read of this in a book or play!
What a lovely day!
What a great big gorgeous, sumptuous, thumping, bumptious, hum-galumptious, simply scrumptious!
Oh me, oh my, what a happy day!
The voice of Lois cast a magic spell of joy and prosperity throughout the land, but it was too good to last, for one day a mysterious shadow crept over the valley and something dreadful happened.
()()()()()
Lois and Imra were talking. They weren't biologically sisters, but they had been raised in the same home for so long that they couldn't have been closer if they were. When they sky got surprisingly dark, Lois and Imra both screamed and tried to run, but they were caught when the creature who had caused the darkness grabbed them, and they knew no more for a long time.
()()()()()
When the shadow lifted, Lois and her sister were gone. No longer was the valley happy, for without the magic of Lois' voice and Imra's wise guidance, all was misery… Misery… Misery.
The grass fields and trees all became a depressing reddish color as the desolation spread throughout the land and everything dried up. The fields of corn turned to dust almost before you could say kerplop. The Laughing Brook flowed no more, and what little water remained fell down the cracks that appeared in the river bed.
To think that this land was once happy valley, and now it was little better than gruesome gulch.
Days passed. Then weeks passed. Then months past.
()()()()()
A group of humble peasants, three orphaned boys, were hit the hardest. All they had was a cow who had dried up with the Laughing Brook. The three boys were all that were left of two proud families who had tilled the land together. Among them were Clark Kent and his brother Kell and their closest friend, Garth Ranzz. The house was so much to handle for the three boys that it was in a derelict state with one of the doors having fallen off very recently. The three poor farmers sat at the dinner table as they were on the edge of starving to death. By some combination of miracles and careful planning, the three were still alive, still breathing, and sharing a pitiful crust of bread between them. Clark made as thin cuts with his knife as he could to save the last loaf of bread they had for as long as they could.
Were their spirits broken? Did they lose hope? Yes. The three teenagers were facing famine and were left only with beans… Well a bean by now. One bean to split between three people. Clark cut it as thinly as possible until there were three semi-thin bean slices that barely made the bread bulge. The only bright side anyone could have found was that at least the bean didn't have any bones. Kell, though still muscular, had become gaunt from lack of food, becoming a bag of bone and weakening muscles. A true picture of despair, but Kell never whimpered. Kell never gave up.
"SHUT UP!" Kell called out. "I CAN'T STAND IT!"
Kell then grabbed as many plats as he could and attempted to eat them like a sandwich before Clark and Garth grabbed him and pulled the dishes away.
"Okay Kell, easy now." Clark said as Garth and Clark rubbed his back in an attempt to calm him. "Easy now."
"Don't worry guys." Kell said with a heavy sigh as he breathed hard from the rush of adrenaline. "Yeah… I'll be alright. I'll be alright."
Kell said he'd be alright, but Clark wondered. Kell had suffered too much. Garth, knowing how Kell got when he was riled wondered what plan was forming in the mind of the desperate Kell.
Kell meanwhile saw the axe they had used to chop down wood and got a sinister smile on his face as he slipped away and grabbed it.
"KELL NO!" Clark called out in alarm when he saw the empty space where the axe usually hung.
()()()()()
"Here cowsie-wowsie." Kell said in a raspy, demented voice as he approached the cow. "Nice old cowsie-wowsie."
"Kell!" Clark called out as Kell suddenly shouted out and lunged at the cow with the axe. The cow mooed in alarm and jumped onto a tree as Clark pulled the axe out of Kell's hand, and he then began chewing on the tail before Garth and Clark grabbed Kell and held him down.
"But guys…" Kell panted as he began to come back to his senses. "I've just gotta eat. I'm so… Hungry."
Garth and Clark helped Kell into the house where he rested on the couch.
Aw, poor Kell.