Clark Kent grabbed his JL communicator as soon as he heard the familiar beeping and quickly switched it on. Raising the device toward his ear he vaguely wondered just what damn crisis had chosen to strike precisely on his rare holiday. His slight annoyance immediately turned to foreboding when he realized who was on the other line.
"Superman." From the speaker came a deep gravelly voice which Clark could instantly identified as the friendly caped crusader all leaguers knew and loved (sarcasm, sarcasm) "I need your help."
At that last sentence, Clark pulled his communicator away from his head and stared at it like it was going to blow up on him. Batman's direct requests for aid always unnerved him, mainly because the chance of this actually happening was about the same as Darkseid and Superman being best buddy: it was ridiculous to think about, but considering the vastness of the universe and the infinity of time, it was worth considering as a possibility. One thing both above scenario had in common was that they defied logic and were bound to bring destruction. Okay, now he was just being dramatic. But seriously, Bruce asking him for help made Clark feel sorry (for himself, not whichever soon-to-be-dead villain they were up against). The Man-of-Steel sighed and answered.
"What's wrong, Batman?"
"Three Meta-humans. I want your assistant in containing them."
"Okay, so what am I up against here?" Clark inquired.
"Flight, super speed and most likely high durability." Batman informed him "I hasn't had enough time to gather all the info yet."
"Not enough info for you to handle this yourself, I assume."
Batman's voice was an unchanging monotone.
"I don't exactly need your power. I need a Boy Scout." Before Clark could ask what he meant, Batman continued "Targets are within Gotham city zone. If you fly fast you should be able to catch up with them before they go too far. Bring them back to the cave."
And-of course- he hung up before Clark could get another word in. Clark sighed and changed into his costume. Would it kill Bruce to be a little more civil? Batman had saved his life numerous time before and Clark was glad to have the man watching his back but he was just insufferable sometimes.
It was a quite short flight to Gotham. Even in the broad daylight the city had some kind of shade that made it look darker. It definitely was no Metropolis, that was for sure. Coming to a halt and hovering over a building, Superman concentrated. If there was any abnormality, his super hearing would definitely pick it up.
Sure enough, there was a whizzing sound overhead that Clark could identify as something moving at high speed. The source was somewhere to his left. Taking off in said direction, it wasn't long before he spotted what Batman was talking about. Three blurs were rocketing toward the city border. The blueish one was in the lead, while the green and orange ones zigzagged close behind. They were fast. Putting on a burst of speed himself, he raced forward, stopping right in the middle of their flight path. Inevitably, not a second later, he felt something slammed into his middle.
"Ouch!"
Superman blinked at the high-pitched, girlish squeak. Not quite what he was expecting. He spent about ten seconds staring ahead, anticipating a face before he realized that he was staring at thin air. He lowered his line of vision…
A tiny little girl of about four or five years old was hovering inches from him, rubbing her head. She had a doll-like face and the biggest blue eyes he had ever seen. A bit farther away, the green and orange blurs had also stopped, revealing two other girls of similar age and features, albeit the different coloring.
Well, he guessed he understood why Batman needed a Boy Scout now.
The girl in the orange dress flew up to the blonde with a worried expression on her face.
"Bubbles, you can't just run off like that!" she admonished.
The blond girl-Bubbles-was shuffling her feet.
"But…but… the Boogie man…" she stuttered, sounding a tad frightened.
The remaining girl threw her hands up in frustration and joined the conversation.
"That wasn't the Boogie man, Dummy. He's a man in a suit!"
Clark had to stifle a laugh when he realized who the girls were talking about. This was just too good a teasing material, he bet it would be worth the dose of kryptonite he would be getting later.
The girls seemed to have finally registered his presence as they all turned to look at him.
"You are flying!" Bubbles exclaimed.
"Well, you are flying too." Superman said.
The girls stared for a few seconds before looking back at each other, then the girl in orange flew up to him. She cleared her throat.
"Excuse me sir, but who are you?"
Superman was surprised. Not many people knew Clark Kent, but he didn't think that there was anyone who wouldn't recognize Superman.
"I'm Superman." he answered.
The dark-haired girl crossed her arms.
"What kind of a name is Superman?"
"Buttercup, don't be rude!" Buttercup huffed and turned away. "I'm sorry sir, but can you tell us where we are?" she asked politely.
"You are in Gotham city. Have you never been here before?"
The girl looked thoughtful.
"I've never heard of Gotham city before." She turned back to him "Can you tell us how far it is from Townsville?"
Superman frowned, the name unfamiliar to him
"I'm sorry, but I don't think there is a Townsville here." he delivered the news in the softest voice he could manage.
The three girls looked flabbergasted.
"But we live there. How can it not be here?"
Bubbles seemed to be on the verge of tears.
"I want the Professor." Her voice quivered. The girl talking to him patted her back soothingly.
"Don't worry, we'll get home. I promised." She said confidently.
Superman was starting to feel sorry for the little girls. Superpower or not, they are just children-lost children, by the look of it-and it doesn't look like they mean any harm. But anyways, he still needed to get them to the cave.
"I know someone who might be able to help." He assured.
"Really."
"Yeah." Superman confirmed "You've met him. He's all black and scary, but he won't hurt you, I promised."
With some reluctance, the three girls agreed to follow him back to the cave. Then Bubbles piped up.
"Why do you dress so funny, Mister? Is it Halloween? Do I get to have candy?"
Children.