Night had fallen over Smallville as Cecilia stepped out the front door of her house, wearing a black sparkly halter with a matching pleated micro skirt, black knee socks, and black on white saddle shoes; her hair was styled into two curly pigtails, held in place with red ribbons. The gold and diamond tennis bracelet on her right wrist sparkled from the streetlights as she opened her black clutch and rummaged for her car keys; she pulled them out as she reached the driver's side of red Lexus convertible parked on the curb.
"Going somewhere?"
Cecilia quickly turned around and saw a dark figure standing right in front of her. He wore a dark, armored suit and boots—complete with a black belt, cowl and cape; he stared at the teenager, his eyes narrowed. Cecilia's eyes widened in horror as she turned around, intending to run, but she found herself staring at Superman; he glared down at her, his arms folded.
"What do you want?" Cecilia asked, gasping, her heart pounding as she backed against her car. "I didn't do anything!"
"Now, why would you say that?" Batman asked.
"Unless you actually did do something," Superman added.
Batman leaned in toward the teenager, stopping a few inches from her face. "Why don't you just save everyone the trouble and talk," he said, his voice low.
"About what?" Cecilia asked softly.
"About why you tried to kill Linda Kent," Batman replied.
Cecilia glanced at Superman quickly then looked back at Batman. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said.
"Don't lie to me," Batman said through clenched teeth as he edged closer. "I hate it when people lie to me."
"Yeah, then he gets really cranky," Superman added.
"You attacked Linda after school in the parking lot on Friday," Batman said. "You kidnapped her, taped a meteor rock on her chest, and threw her into the Elbow River. We traced the meteor rock to your father—who hasn't reported it stolen. Why is that?"
Cecilia shook her head. "I don't know—" Batman edged closer, and the teenager could have sworn she heard a small rumble in his throat; she whimpered a little in fear, her eyes darting between the two heroes, and her chin quivered. "Okay, okay, I did it!" she said, almost in tears.
"Why?" Batman demanded.
"Because that little bitch deserved it!" Cecilia answered. "Things were fine until she showed up, but then she wouldn't leave well enough alone: she got first place in the art contest I should have won, and then she couldn't mind her own business with the Scarecrow and ended up getting our star players expelled."
"Seriously?" Superman asked, frowning in disbelief as his eyes flashed with anger; he took a step toward her. "You tried to kill her over an art contest and football?!"
"Who helped you?" Batman asked, shifting himself slightly between Superman and Cecilia.
"You think I'm gonna turn on my friends?" Cecilia asked. Batman narrowed his eyes, growling, and the girl's heart skipped a beat. "Amy Poland and Kristi Robertson, but it wasn't our idea, honest."
Batman reached into a compartment on his belt and pulled out a small recorder. "Tell us everything," he said before pushing the 'record' button.
Liam Bounder walked along the exterior of the long brown motel building, whistling softly; he wore a blue button down shirt, khaki slacks, and dark brown loafers. He stopped in front of a door with a sixty-nine on it and reached into his pocket, pulling out a room key; he stuck it in the lock and twisted it when he suddenly found himself heading skyward. He shouted loudly in fear, his arms and legs flailing as the ground zoomed away from him, his stomach clenched tightly.
After a few seconds, he suddenly lurched to a stop, and Liam stared down at the ground thousands of feet below him, his heart pounding, gasping loudly. He felt something holding onto him, and he slowly craned his head; Superman floated behind him, glaring at the businessman as he held him by the back of his shirt.
"Superman!" Liam yelped in fright.
"I'm only going to say this one time," Superman replied, his voice deadly serious. "I'm going to ask you some questions, and you're going to answer them—truthfully; if you don't, then I'm going to get really cranky. Why did you want Linda Kent dead?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Liam said, panting.
"Wrong answer," Superman replied before letting go of Liam's shirt.
Liam shouted loudly as he plummeted toward the earth like a rock. Superman just stared down at him, arms folded. After a few seconds, he zoomed down after the man and promptly caught him by his ankles; Liam gave a small 'oof,' the wind knocked out of him as he dangled.
"Try again," Superman said, "but remember this: I'm usually a good catcher, but I have been known to miss on occasion."
"What do you want to know?" Liam wheezed, the blood rushing to his head.
"Why you wanted Linda Kent dead," Superman replied.
"It was to send them a message," Liam wheezed, the blood rushing to his head.
"Who?" Superman demanded.
"Those two punks who roughed up my son," Liam replied, "and Clark Kent." Superman looked a little confused. "They humiliated me and my son—they had to pay. Linda Kent was the one thing they all had in common: she's Kent's cousin, and my son told me Malverne and that Olsen punk both had a thing for her. If something happened to her, it'd be like getting even with all three of them at once."
Superman ground his teeth and narrowed his eyes, his blood boiling. "So, instead of facing one reporter and two teenage boys, you went after an innocent teenage girl…by getting another teenager to do your dirty work—all because you couldn't keep it in your pants." He saw Liam's face pale by three shades. "Yeah, I know everything: after your wife left you last month you befriended Cecilia Brighten. You saw how much she hated Linda Kent, but—more importantly—she was attractive and under twenty, huh?"
"Th-th-there's nothing illegal about what we did," Liam stammered. "It's not like she's a minor."
"Well, no, that is true," Superman replied, shrugging. "Technically, it's not illegal for a married man in his late forties to sleep with an eighteen year old—it's just extremely disgusting, and I'm tempted to cauterize a few things myself right now." He glared down at Liam. "What made this whole thing illegal is when you asked Cecilia to kill Linda Kent for you—and she agreed if you did something for her." He let go of one of Liam's ankles and reached down, grabbing the front of Liam's shirt with his free hand; he let go of the other ankle and quickly pulled Liam up until the businessman was nose to nose with the hero. "Is that what a person's life is worth to you? An eight thousand dollar tennis bracelet?"
"It was n-n-nothing personal," Liam said softly.
"The Kents are my friends," Superman growled softly. "It is personal." He let go of Liam's shirt. For a split second, the businessman's eyes widened in fear; the sound of his scream slowly faded as he plummeted like a stone toward the ground.
(End of Chapter 10)