Chapter 28
Capes and Cowls
The night of the Halloween party arrived quickly, without any further 'help' from Zatanna. She'd been doing a magic show up in Grandville, and had hurried back to Smallville for Oliver's party. The leggy sorceress insisted on a few dozen candles for atmosphere, and Clark grew weary of arguing with her. He said it was her responsibility to see that no fire was started in the barn.
Lois finished helping Chloe get into her costume back at the Talon apartment. "Are you sure that Oliver won't mind, me helping myself to his quiver and costume shtick?" She asked her older cousin. "No, he won't mind. Besides you look adorable!" Lois praised, and hugged her.
Lois had picked a spare green leather outfit out of Oliver's secret closet. She'd spent most of the day tailoring it to fit Chloe, green tights and all. Lois saddled Chloe with the arrow quiver, adjusting it to swing lower down Chloe's mostly bare back. She added a common bow, unlike Oliver's high tech one, and a waist length dark green hooded cape.
"Voila! Chloe, the Green Arrow…Arrow-ette?" Lois joshed as she spun her younger cousin in front of a full-length mirror. "Awww! That's so cute!" Lois snickered. "Now for the final touch." Lois made a big show of tying a brown cloth mask over Chloe's eyes.
She adjusted the fit so that Chloe could peer through the eye slits. "Thanks, cuz!" Chloe chuckled, despite being down in the dumps over Jimmy. "You look great!" Lois remarked. "Now what about your costume?" Chloe inquired. "That'll just take a few moments." Lois replied.
Lois disappeared for a good ten minutes, as Chloe continually adjusted her outfit. Unfortunately, the tights had begun to 'ride up', when Lois reappeared, Chloe was just getting them settled. "Ta Da! The return of Stiletto!" Lois exclaimed, striking a hammy superhero pose.
"Whoa! You have made some…uh…adjustments…to the costume." Chloe observed. Lois had added softer leather material, and had purposely cut it low to reveal cleavage. She'd also opted to lengthen the black cape, and trim the leather pants into a thigh-high length, and buy new softer leather boots that were calf length.
Lois tied her cloth black mask on, and adjusted the eyelets. "Yeah, I found that the original Stiletto get up was fairly uncomfortable." She commented, admiring her job in the mirror. "Actually, I may add the miniskirt for next Halloween."
Chloe whistled playfully. "No one's going to be looking at your face, cuz!" She teased. "What time is Clark picking you up?" Lois flipped around to view her backside in the mirror, straightening the pants a bit. "Supposedly about seven forty five. Knowing him, I planned to be fashionably late." Lois sniped.
"So this is actually a date." Chloe fished for info, and put aside her lingering feelings for Clark, with some effort. "Yes. Clark made it a point to call it a date, and pick me up, rather than me spinning over there like I own the place." Lois answered. "I don't know where it will lead."
"Is this the part where you tell me about Clark's track record, and not to get my hopes up?" Lois asked cynically, as she flipped her lengthy hair over her shoulder, and down the back of the cape.
"No." Chloe snapped. "I'm staying out of this one. You two will have to work it out on your own." Lois didn't really care for that appraisal of the situation, but said nothing.
"Really?" Lois prodded her cousin, knowing that she felt bad about her own failing relationship with Jimmy. "Yeah, after spending half of my fleeting youth following the Clark and Lana debacle from a distant second, I'm swearing off Clark's relationships." Chloe was slightly bitter.
"Understandable." Lois wanted to go on to another subject. "I really feel like this is right, Chlo', meaning Clark and I. After my porous record on failed relationships, I'm trying to get settled down." Chloe's eyes lit up. "You mean that you'd consider marrying our favorite farm boy turned wanna be journalist?" Lois shuddered. "Let's not use the 'M' word just yet." She joked.
After that, the girls turned to more mundane subjects like work and salaries. Meanwhile, Oliver's crew had begun to gather just outside of Metropolis. Clark checked his watch, and it was approaching six o'clock. "Well Kara, here goes. We'll see if this party slash meeting works out."
His young cousin sighed. "All things considered, I'd rather be talking to Uncle Jor El at the Ice Fortress in the cold solid comfort of the Arctic." Kara whined. Clark hugged her. "Just be yourself, well, your Earth self, whatever, just do your best and it'll all work out." He encouraged.
Clark zipped into his costume, a sky blue and red Warrior Angel outfit that he'd created from memory, recalling the brief bout with fame when he saved the Warrior Angel's sexy costar. She'd given him a souvenir red cape, which he added to the colorful ensemble.
Kara quickly put together her salute to Gold Wing. The costume was a midriff baring, black leather two-piece, complete with a cropped gold tee shirt, black leather boots, and her contribution was a simple leather mask that covered her sky blue eyes. She'd tied her lengthy blonde hair into a tight ponytail.
Oliver was the first to arrive, wearing a campy but appropriate Robin Hood outfit, complete with brown fake beard, feathered green hat, and brown cape. His quiver and arrows were wooden and plastic. His date was Mia, the street girl turned hero wanna be. She wore a gold cape, lengthy blonde wig, red tights, black boots, and topped it off with a black cloth mask across her eyes.
They looked to Clark like a young couple. He just shook his head. "Whatever works." He muttered to Kara who looked decidedly amused. Next, came Victor Stone in a truly campy 'Terminator' outfit complete with red laser eye patch, black sunglasses, and a plastic robotic face.
Clark couldn't believe the irony. A tall, muscular, young African American woman, whom Clark had never seen before, accompanied Victor. "Hey Boy Scout!" Victor pleasantly shook his hand. "This is Amari McCabe, also known as Vixen." He introduced her. "Nice to meet you." Clark grinned cheerfully, as the couple made their way to Kara, Oliver, and Mia.
"Hey Amigo!" Bart Allen suddenly appeared next to Clark, startling Kara. Bart was wearing a slick red outfit with a gold lightning bolt on his chest. His mask was tacky, a red and black wraparound with a plastic winged golden helmet reminiscent of the Greek God Mercury atop his head. "Bart! Good to see you!" Clark shook his young friend's hand.
His limited attention span led Bart to size up Kara. "Hello! Mon ami!" The speedy rogue kissed Kara's hand, and she gawked at him. "Es muy buena, yes?" He glanced at Clark, who rolled his eyes. "Bart, this is my cousin, Kara." Bart was unusually silent.
"You mean…from up there?" He quietly added. His eyes wide open. "Yes. Kara was also saved from Krypton's destruction." Clark answered. "Amazing!" Bart commented, offering Kara his elbow, locking arms with the alien beauty. "Can I get you a drink?" He flirted. Kara stared at him blankly. "She's not going to melt me into a smoldering pile of goo, is she?" Bart quipped, glancing at Clark.
"Not if you don't piss her off." Clark chuckled as Kara let Bart guide her to the drinks and snacks table. Next to arrive were three girls, Abby Fine, Sara Conroy, and young Maddie Van Horn, who'd now grown from a child into a woman of eighteen or so.
Abby was dressed as a sexy demon, complete with a red cape, pink tights, and creepy looking crimson mask. Her ensemble also included a metallic pitchfork and cute spaded tail. Sara had gone with the Bride of Frankenstein shtick, with a ratty looking gray gown and multicolored beehive hairdo wig piled high atop her head. This elicited a snicker from Clark.
"Sara, you look great!" He hugged her. "Thanks for coming, although I don't really comprehend why. No offense." Sara nodded sheepishly. "Chloe talked us into coming. She mentioned something about joining Oliver Queen's group?" Clark gaped. "Really?" He'd missed a lot.
Just behind her came lovely Maddie, dressed as a sexy angel, complete with a lengthy blonde wig, and colorful sparkled wings. Adding her own touch, Maddie had turned her halo into a stained glass work of art. "Wow! Maddie! It's good to see you. You're all grown up."
Clark commented as he hugged her. "What've you been up to?" Maddie flushed, unsure of how to face Clark, whom she'd had a schoolgirl age crush on for a few years. "I'm doing great, actually, though I still miss my dad. He's got three more years to go on his prison sentence."
"I understand, Maddie." Clark reassured her. "Your dad did some bad things, and he has to pay for them." Maddie nodded solemnly. She quickly brightened though, as Clark walked her further into the barn party. "I'm a sophomore at Metropolis University, majoring in what else, advanced art." The pretty co-ed informed him.
"Chloe somehow managed to grab all our attention. She'd put up an advertisement at all of the Met U dorms to call her…if we exhibited any further strange abilities, or had any trouble adjusting to our allegedly normal lives." Maddie rambled, excited by her proximity to Clark.
"That's brilliant." Clark praised his long time sidekick. "She'll develop a sort of farm team for Oliver's main group. It's risky, though." He added as Maddie slowed her pace a bit. "There's always the chance that an evildoer with exceptional abilities could get involved."
"That's why she's been adamant about us showing up here." Sara added, butting into their conversation, as Abby joined them, shaking hands with Clark. He still felt a twinge of the kryptonite poisoning that her mother's surgery had caused, but Clark could deal with short-term exposure. It was safe to say that unlike Lana had; Clark wouldn't be kissing Abby tonight.
Clark waited for the quick wave of nausea to subside, before leaving Maddie and the girls and returning to his post as greeter by the barn doors. Oliver, Bart, and Kara busily set up the DJ setup that the young billionaire had bought for this special event. It included a microphone and makeshift podium for Oliver to deliver his speech from.
Next to arrive were Arthur Curry, Dinah Lance, and Chloe. "Hey Boy Scout!" AC greeted Clark, as Dinah hugged him. "Great outfits!" Clark praised. AC wore a long white fake beard, and skin tight multicolored leather pants, capped off by a golden trident.
"I take it that you're King Neptune?" Clark asked as AC waved the trident around playfully. "That's right, Bro'! I'm god of the sea!" He quipped. "Somehow that seems appropriate." Dinah joshed. The Black Canary had worn an older version of her alter ego's costume.
The leggy beauty donned a lengthy blonde wig, golden bracers, and a black cloth mask to her usual outfit, that being the black tights, fishnets, and glossy black boots. For a joke, she'd added a gold cape, which she'd thrown over her mostly bare shoulders.
"Chloe! You didn't!" Clark laughed. She was quite the sight in the hastily tailored green leather outfit. "Hey, it was Lois's idea!" She crossly defended. "It looks great!" Clark said as he kissed his best friend on the cheek. He noted that Chloe had come alone, sans Jimmy.
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