IV

Five Years Later

It was just an average, sunny, breezy afternoon in Smallville, Kansas. Although the bright, hot sun in the sky and the fresh, cool breeze moving through every living thing—from the vast cornfields to the cows on the pasture—didn't matter all that much for Chip and Dale, two lively, troublemaking chipmunks that habituated within an oak tree standing on the front yard of a small farmhouse. All that really mattered to the two chipmunks were collecting enough nuts to get them through the rest of the summer.

While Chip was collecting mostly three nuts at a time, Dale had challenged him to carry more by carrying more nuts than his tiny arms could've allowed him. The only problem with Dale's "challenge" was that he needed to maintain a slow, steady pace along the branch he walked upon, in order to avoid dropping any of the nuts. And while Dale was still carrying the same ten nuts that he started out with, Chip had already gotten twenty-six of them in their home.

After getting in the last couple of nuts he could find in the tree, Chip looked back at Dale and watched him continue to move slower than a snail on the branch. "Of all the fine times to show off," he said with the shake of a head and the look of disgust registered on his face.

Then, suddenly, the tree shook violently. All of the nuts Dale had been carrying fell from his arms and dropped far down below. Both he and Chip fell flat on their backs, looking to one another in shock and utter disbelief. "What the heck was that?" Dale asked.

"I don't know." Chip remarked.

There was another quake, this time nearly knocking the two chipmunks from the tree. Luckily, they braced onto the branch to keep themselves from falling off, while they heard other branches snap and leaves brushing up against something that seemed to be way bigger than either of them, as it fell through the tree. A large thud came after the object that fell through the tree had landed. Chip and Dale looked over the branch and pass whatever leaves were left on the tree to see a 21-year-old blonde, blue-eyed girl lying on the ground, wearing a red, long-sleeved, plaid shirt, blue jeans, and black sneakers.

"You really nuked that landing, sis," came a voice that belonged to someone out of view of the chipmunks.

The blonde young woman looked pretty upset, as she got to her feet. "Really? Was it that obvious when my butt hit the ground first?" She made the sarcasm pretty obvious in her voice, as she addressed her companion.

"Sorry. I was just making sure you were okay."

The girl sighed and half-heartedly smiled. "I know, baby brother. But could you please just not be so vocal in your observations?"

An 11-year-old boy then walked up to her, wearing an orange t-shirt, beige pants, and white tennis shoes and carrying a stopwatch. "You've got it," he said in response to the girl's demand. "So what're you going to try out next?"

The blonde girl looked towards the sky in despair. "Well, until I can avoid fallin' on my butt again, flyin' is outta the question." She then looked around, seeming to be getting an idea for something. Once she finally found her subject of inspiration, she smiled and said, "How 'bout this?"

And then, the most surprising thing occurred before the very eyes of Chip and Dale. The blonde girl suddenly transfigured into a red and blue blur, leaving behind a huge dirt cloud that made her brother cough for a few seconds. This bizarre action left Chip and Dale in total shock. They'd seen their share of humans in the years they both had lived in the oak tree; but never had they seen one that could've done what that blonde girl did.

They climbed to the topmost portion of the tree to see where she was heading. With their small heads peeking out through the leaves, they looked over the magnificent view of the farmland, seeing the vast acres of corn directly ahead. Brushing past the corn faster than the wind itself was the unnaturally speedy blonde girl. They couldn't see her past the tall stacks of corn, even though there was no doubt she was there, from the brief gaps she put amongst them.

"Have ya ever seen anything like that before?" Dale inquired.

"Never in my whole life." Chip responded.


Time seemed to have suddenly stopped at the moment Heather Kelley entered her own personal hyper-speed. She felt her own legs moving really fast, but not fast enough to match the speed she was going. It was almost an ambiguous sensation that no one else in the world could possibly comprehend but her. Five years ago, this unnatural ability of hers would've freaked her out. But, at the moment, it made her feel like a goddess. If only those jerks at her college back in Metropolis could've seen what she was capable of doing.

But she made a promise to her mother—the night after she found out about her biological father—that she would never show off her "superpowers" to the rest of the world. It was a promise that she had no problem in keeping, considering how she never got along with any of the kids at school or in their neighborhood. But the real problem was controlling them at certain, unnecessary times. She could recall one day in which she sneezed and accidentally froze her chicken dinner, much to the dismay of her mother.

It was why she brought her and Sean to Smallville, the home she had before moving to Metropolis, after giving birth to Heather. The 21-year-old blonde needed an open area to practice using her abilities. Over the past five summers, it seemed to be all she would ever do down there in the south. The first summer she spent, she would practice on what she called her "heat vision" (the one ability that caused the accident on the rooftop of their apartment building). She would be given five buckets of water and practice turning the heat vision on and off at her chosen time.

The next summer, after she discovered her ability to blow at a high force, she practiced on freezing the buckets of water and blowing hay left all over the yard back into the barn. And then, on the third summer, she practiced using her then-new speeding ability by running through the cornfields, just as she was at the moment. It was by far her favorite of all her abilities, because she felt as if she could be anywhere in the world at any time.

However, when the summer of last year came, Heather came across her most difficult ability yet: the power of flight. She discovered it the afternoon she played a game of baseball with Sean. He was at the bat, while she was pitching. And after he hit a home run, Heather was forced to run and catch the ball. Unfortunately, the ball went a lot further than either Heather or Sean anticipated. It came close to landing past the wooden fence where Old Man Jenkins's prized wild bull was kept. But, lucky for the super-powered Heather, she jumped twenty feet into the air and caught the ball, before it could land anywhere near Jenkins's bull. Although it was more leaping than flying, she hovered in the air long enough to be able to consider it such.

And since then, controlling this flight ability of hers had been the most challenging task ever for her. She couldn't stay in the air any more than two minutes without falling back to the ground. But who cared about flying? She had so many other amazing things at her disposal, such as running faster than a jackrabbit being chased by a fox.

She wanted to run as far as north, moving past all the city states and heading straight to the North Pole. It confused her wondering why she ever wanted to be there of all places in the world. As much as she hated to admit it, she didn't really believe in Santa Claus; so she could rule him out as a possibility. No, it was something else. Something completely alien to her.

Unfortunately, she would've wanted to worry her mother and little brother. So, right before she got near the end of the cornfield, she skidded to a halt and arched her path right back into the direction of home. While on her way back home, Heather noticed something leap out from out of the cornfield. Despite the fact that everything around her was supposed to be moving at a slow pace, this particular object was moving just as fast as she was.

"What the hell…?" she muttered, before coming to an immediate halt.

She watched the object jump out again, soaring across the air at thirty-five feet and getting more airtime than she hoped for while practicing her flight. At first she thought it was a bird or maybe a plane; but it was too small to be a plane and yet too large to be a bird at the same time. It was only then, after getting a closer glance at the object, did she realized that it was a young man, not much older than Heather.

But it wasn't just any young man; it turned out to be Clark Kent, the son of Martha and Jonathan, whom Heather had the pleasure in meeting last summer. Of course, at the time of the meeting, Clark wasn't leaping over three acres of corn at a single bound. And neither was he doing what Heather noticed him doing after one huge, powerful leap:

Clark started to fly, higher than Heather had ever attempted. He reached the clouds high above and was practically petting the birds. Heather couldn't believe he was doing any of this, as she had figured that the only one capable of doing it all was her. And yet it didn't displease her one bit. It was finally a sign that she wasn't truly alone in the world. There was someone else who could relate to her mixed feelings of invincibility and vulnerability.

For ten minutes, she watched Clark soar under the beaming sun, like a wingless angel. She barely took notice of the wind blowing through her long, golden blonde hair or the sound of crows squawking in the distance. Everything around her was muted, as her only focus was on Clark. At least, that was until she heard the clear sound of her mother calling out to her, just as if she were standing right next to her.

"Heather!"

She turned her head, seeing her mother nowhere near her. The farmhouse was still miles and miles away from her. Not a single soul stood with her at the center of the cornfield. For a moment, she wondered if she was expecting the same supernatural occurrence that Kevin Costner had in Field of Dreams. But she soon came back down to earth once it dawned on her that this was no more than another ability manifesting within her.

"Super hearing" was what she decided to call it there and then.


"Heather!" The 46-year-old Alicia called again, staring directly at the cornfield ahead and knowing how her daughter could only be there. She suddenly began to get angry, noticing the sun starting to come down towards the horizon, nightfall only a couple of hours away. "Where is that girl?"

Sean, standing next to his mother, gazed upon his stopwatch and realized that his sister had been gone for nearly eighteen minutes. "Wherever she is, she's definitely not breaking her old record."

"I'll break her butt, if she doesn't get back her so…"

There was a powerful gust of wind that blew past them both, cutting Alicia off before the completion of her sentence. A huge dirt cloud engulfed them and they momentarily coughed, before seeing the figure of Heather right before their watery eyes. She stood with a massive wave of confidence overwhelming her, with both hands on her hips and a huge smile on her face.

"Heard ya callin' for me, Mama." She gleefully said.

"You did?" Sean remarked, sounding very surprised. "You had to be miles away from home. How were you able to hear Mama?"

Heather began to pick at her right ear. "I've picked up some sorta 'super hearing' just a little while ago. Pretty sweet, but pretty painful at the same time."

"Wow," said Sean, who smiled brightly from the idea. "Now we've got a whole new power to practice on for the rest of the summer."

"Maybe I can try finding hummingbirds roaming around the next county or something." Heather joked, and the two siblings chuckled with glee.

Their mother, only seconds ago feeling angered by her daughter's careless concept of time and responsibility, was willing to forgive her daughter, seeing that she's back home in one piece. But she grew tired of worrying over her safety, especially with her having mastered half of her unnatural abilities. The world wasn't ready to accept another super-powered being, especially with so many of them scarce at the time. Ever since Mr. Incredible's so-called "retirement," not one superhero had dared to come into action and carry over the mantle.

However, there had been just one in recent years—a bizarre hero (if people chose to call him that) named "Darkwing Duck." He recently attempted to foil a bank robbery plotted by the infamous Beagle Boys of Duckburg on Scrooge McDuck's second money bin, which was eighteen feet taller than the one he kept in Duckburg. Darkwing's attempt at stopping the Beagle Boys led to no avail and the extreme embarrassment of one Officer Navarro, whom at the time was just promoted to the rank of detective. Not only did she lose part of her dignity that night of the big heist, she also lost her job on the Metropolis police force—having been transferred to the one in Gotham City, as well as her right eye (courtesy of Darkwing Duck's gas gun).

It was only last year when the incident occurred and covered by The Daily Planet's lead reporter and Alicia's best friend, Louise Rogers. The story earned the then 27-year-old Louise a spot on The Planet's "Hall of Fame" and the respect of the Editor-in-Chief, Perry White. It was also the same year that the newspaper gained a fresh, young reporter named Lois Lane, whom was given the distinct pleasure of being Louise's personal pupil.

Alicia had worked on The Daily Planet staff for a lot longer than Louise, and she never once had gotten the great deal of respect that young Louise did. But it wasn't any bother to her, since it could've gone to a brighter, carefree, young woman. Although if she had, the story she would've given Mr. White would surely be the "immortal" being that was her daughter, Heather. And Alicia would never forgive herself if she had given up the most important secret in her family's life to the public like that. The only award that mattered to her was keeping a happy, healthy family like theirs together.

"Alright, alright, you hardheads." Alicia told her children. "Time to get inside and have dinner. I'd made our favorite: chicken sandwiches."

"Awesome!" Sean exclaimed, as they all began to walk back inside their old home.


The way their mother made chicken sandwiches was unlike any other made in the south. It was made in the same fashion of the "po' boy" sandwiches of Louisiana—a submarine sandwich layered with mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, and breaded chicken. Her sandwiches were so well-made and downright tasty that they wished she made them more often than on just Sunday nights.

They couldn't have eaten in a more comfortable kitchen like the one at the farmhouse. A small, round, wooden table sat in the center of the white-tiled room, which was complete with a 1950s style refrigerator, a centuries-old sink, and a window that always seemed to be left open with yellow, transparent curtains draped over it. An old fan circled slowly over them as they ate, offering what little breeze it could, combined with that from the night air blowing in from the window.

After a few small bites from her sandwich and a couple of sips from the lemonade in her glass—that was without any ice floating inside and extremely warm, before Heather chilled it with her breath, the young blonde stopped for a moment to think about what she witnessed that afternoon in the cornfield. The image of Clark Kent soaring higher than a kite never left her mind since she saw it. And as much as she waited to come out and ask her mother if she ever knew about the son of Jonathan and Martha Kent having unnatural abilities similar to her own, the thought of it cautioned her, especially right before she opened her mouth about it.

"Mama, had Mr. and Mrs. Kent ever mentioned much about Clark Kent to you?" She asked.

Alicia remained silent for quite some time before she forced an answer to come out. "Only good things, sweetie…like…bein' the all-star player on Smallville's high school football team or makin' all A's in every class he's had in school or…"

"Being special like me?" Heather interjected, causing her mother and brother to stare at her for a long, awkward time. Before either of them could even ask her what she was talking about, she answered for them, knowing just the question they were pondering. "I saw him flyin'…just like I've been tryin' to, since last summer."

Sean swallowed the piece of sandwich in his mouth very hard, the excitement from his sister's claim building up deep inside him. "Clark Kent's got superpowers, too?"

Alicia shook her head. "Sweetie, are you sure that you saw what you saw? I mean, it could've been one of the crows or…"

"It was Clark, Mama…I saw him." She looked down at her sandwich, suddenly not feeling as hungry as she was a few moment ago. "I think he might've come from that research place…the one you told me about a long time ago?"

Again, Alicia shook her head negatively. "No, he wasn't, darlin'. I would've remembered seein' his parents there, if he did."

"But even you said that you couldn't remember all of what they did in the…"

"I thought we agreed never to talk about that!" Alicia retorted with a tone in her voice that immediately silenced her daughter. "Dammit, Heather! We're supposed to be on vacation here! We're supposed to be havin' fun!"

"What fun, Mama? All I've been ever doin' here is workin' my tail off tryin' to control these stupid powers of mine! I never have time to play with Sean, never have time to meet the other kids in town, and never have time to have a normal freakin' life!"

In great frustration, she slammed her hands down on the table and unintentionally made it collapse, throwing their food, plates, silverware, and glasses all over the air. The food and silverware were scattered in a huge mess all over the broken table, while the plates and glasses sat in pieces on the tiled floor that was flooded with lemonade in less than a second.

Alicia, Heather, and Sean all looked at the messy scene before them in shock and anger. Heather was almost embarrassed to look at her, who she knew couldn't have been all that pleased with what she had just done. She and her brother expected her to break out into one enormous tirade. However, the only reaction Alicia had to the incident was one hysterical laughing fit. She put her head into her hands to hide the goofy expression her face had registered from the laughter.

After sharing a few awkward, clueless glances, Heather and Sean broke out into laughter themselves, despite the fact that they had no idea why they were doing so. In curiosity, Sean asked his mother, "This is pretty silly, ain't it, Mama?"

Between chuckles, Alicia was able to reply, "Not as silly as watching you two hardheads clean this mess up."

That was the moment when the siblings' laughter subsided, leaving their mother the only one still going on. They looked to each other—Heather giving Sean an apologetic look, while Sean was practically giving her the evil eye.


It had taken the two siblings up past midnight to clean up the mess that Heather was responsible for. By the time they had finished, it was close to four o'clock in the morning. And even at that hour in the evening, after all the hard work she had to endure, Heather's mind was still racing with excitement over the events of the previous day. She spent the rest of the morning sitting on the section of the roof outside her bedroom, watching the cornfield near their home and thinking about Clark Kent.

In her moment of being lost in thought, she almost didn't see Clark himself, standing right in the middle of the cornfield and looking in the direction of their farmhouse. It suddenly dawned on her that Clark wasn't staring at any random part of their house; he was actually looking directly at Heather. Realizing this and not wanting to be a rude neighbor, she waved at him. And much to her delight, he waved back, right before his form levitated out of the cornfield and hovered several feet into the air.

Heather stared in awe, as Clark Kent flew gracefully into the morning sky and right towards the sun rising up from the horizon. It was an incredible sight to start the day with and enough encouragement to help Heather realize that not having such a normal life wasn't as bad as she believed. She welcomed whatever the future had brought for her and her family and hoped that Clark Kent would be involved in it in some way.