07/10/07
As far as the TOSoP Fanart contest goes TandyMastaofchu hasn't decided what she wants for her oneshot yet, Darkj3's request will be put into a future chapter of UC, Serebronaga just wants a fluff Superman/Brainy drabble and I have yet to hear back from SaintAsh. As for the numerous fifth place winners three people have opted to drop out so I'll just be giving a drabble to Yu-Gi-Ah who has decided to wait to make her decision on what she wants after the UC and MP contests are over.
I'd like to dedicate this chapter to FunkyFish1991, Fuzzlespup, and Yu-Gi-Ah for their entries for the UC fanart contest. I still have no entries for the MP fanart contest. Due dates for both of these contests is on July 13th unless someone asks for an extension.
At this time I'd like to recommend some LOSH stories here at that I REALLY enjoy but don't get much attention (Not in any particular order):
Sickness by Tseecka (B5/SM. Also at deviantart where I first fell in love with it.)
Harvest by Yaoifanforever (B5/SM. Oh, the angst! -heart- Really a falling off the edge of your seat sort of story.)
Maps by GNT613 (Recently new B5/SMX. Eventually anyway, maybe... gotta love one sided love!)
It's All in Your Head by virtgrad (Not B5/SM but has hints of TW/PG and focuses mostly on Cham. Finished and a heart stopping read)
Alive by Shugi (in B5's pov, angst and slash. What could be better?)
I'm Not Okay by Noriko Sakuma (Seems to be onsided B5/SM. Set around Dark Victory. I really, really, really want to see this one continued. -hearts everywhere-)
Drabbles Set by Noriko Sakuma (Sorry, let me wipe the drool off the screen... Seriously, go see her at LJ, she has some great fanart there.)
50 Drabbles, A Hero's Theme by Sakkashinn (Has everything a LOSH fangirl could need.)
Glasses, Spill, and The old film strip by shaman3 (B5/SM. I really wish she would write more...)
Desire by Lil' Pup (Under MatureThe two Supemans fighting over Brainy. I really want to know where this is going.)
Fools for Love by Amarin Rose (Under Mature Lots of Brainy/Lyle oneshots, and yes I do like this pairing too. Don't hate me! And go see her on LJ!)
Brainiac 5's Lame Vaction by mudling. (I really like this story but sadly I'm not allowed to talk to her anymore...)
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Enough shameless advertising for stories I like! Lets get on to shameless self promoting! Enjoy the chapter and please review. Reviews make me happy inside.
Chapter 37
"Zel-Kar? Oh yeah, that girl you played with all the time," began Tweek, rubbing his chin, gazing at the ceiling. "Heh, sounds good. I'll bring the boiling oil."
"That's enough, both of you," said Jor-El, shaking his finger at Tweek while giving his son a disapproving look. "No revenge schemes that will get you locked up!"
Ignoring him, Tweek looked at the current board for a second before hopping on again and taking a couple laps around the workshop.
"Sorry, just wanted one last go. This is the only prototype I have."
Brainy smiled.
"There's something freeing about flying, isn't there?"
Smiling dreamily, Tweek hugged his board – admittedly a bit awkwardly because of its size – and sighed.
"Yeah, whenever I take this thing out for a test, and I'm way up there, feels almost like I'm completely free from everything else... no more things trying to weigh me down."
He looked at the board nostalgically and kissed it before returning to hugging it.
"Is he-" began Kal-El, but stopped abruptly when Tweek wrapped his leg around the object and held it closer. "…nevermind."
"I remember when the flight ring was still in testing, I was ecstatic when all I could do was hover. And when flight was finally successful the steering was so off I crashed into the wall and ceiling for a few hours straight before I could get back to the ground. But it was all worth it to have that feeling of no boundaries," smiled Brainy, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.
"I know what you mean. I remember I flew a huge canyon on this thing when I first started. Conked out about half way over," laughed Tweek.
Kal-El tried to imagine it and started to laugh as well.
"Tweek! You promised you'd be careful," Jor-El exclaimed, eyes refusing to shut, along with his slackened jaw.
"I was. I wore a helmet," Tweek looked up as his hands ran themselves over the board, and grinned. "Good times. Oh well, I'll just start over."
Jor-El pressed both hands against his temples and took in a deep breath.
"When I said 'be careful' I meant test it over a river or something that couldn't break every bone in your body if something went wrong!"
Removing his leg from around it, Tweek set the board against the table and started to look over his notes and schematics again; humming his 'I'm not listening' song.
"The mini generator is still pretty powerful, so I'll have to figure a way to tone it down... find a way to get the current into your stems without damaging any tissue around them... build apparatus…" He sighed. "We might have to postpone that dinner, Jor."
Hearing Jor-El growl, Tweek turned to face him and took a precautionary step backwards.
"Uh... I found out the parachute worked that day."
"You found out that it worked that day?!" yelled Jor-El, stepping a step forward.
"Now Jor, remember your blood pressure," Tweek stepped back into the table.
Brainy, not listening to their conversation, touched the corner of his eye and gazed down at the floor. Lowering his hand, he looked up.
"My eyes won't go to the point where it gets hard for me to see for at least a month. Going to dinner tonight won't make a difference."
Forgetting about Jor-El, Tweek turned to Brainy.
"Are you sure? I mean, they're your eyes, if you think we can wait…"
"I'm sure they'll be fine. Besides, I don't want to be the one who tells Laura that you couldn't come because of me. And then I wouldn't want to be you if you didn't come," he smirked.
"Yeah... that wouldn't be good for any of us," shivered Kal-El.
"Um," began Tweek, looking between them and Jor-El's crossed arms. "Fine: I'll come boys. Hey, don't tell Laura I'm coming. I want it to be a surprise!"
Taking in a very deep breath Jor-El said, "Fine! But you'd better come or I'll send Laura after you."
"Do I really deserve that?" swallowed Tweek.
There was a knock at the door.
"Thank the King of Rock 'n' Roll!" exclaimed Tweek, running around Jor-El to the door. He pressed his nose up against it and yelled; "If you're a solicitor, I'm firing up the lasers."
From the other side of the door a female voice yelled back; "Wow, you really haven't changed a bit Tweek. I, Zel-Kar, sister of Kal-El, request permission to enter and kick his sorry butt!"
Eyes widening, Tweek threw open the door.
"How'd you find me? And when did you get so tall?!"
"I asked Mommy Laura where they were and she gave me directions. And I got tall when I got older, silly Tweek," Zel-Kar pinched his cheek. "Now please excuse me, I must maim my brother."
"Oh sh-" began Kal-El but he had barely run two steps before he was tackled to the ground.
"How dare you not tell me Brainy was awake! Do you know how worried I was?!" shouted Zel-Kar, grabbing the red material on Kal-El's chest and literally shaking him. She paused and turned to Brainy, smiling pleasantly. "Not that I blame you, Brainy." She swung back on Kal-El and began to shake him again, more violently than before. "Give me one good reason not to kill you right now!"
Kal-El's mouth twitched. "Because I'm your brother and you love me?"
Zel-Kar's glare intensified.
"And if I died you'd have no one to annoy?" asked Kal-El.
Her eyes narrowed even further.
"And... Brainy has finally admitted that he loves me so it would be a waste of a lot of time and effort for me to die now?" Kal-El commented with a tiny smile.
"Really?" asked Zel-Kar. She dropped Kal-El, sprung to her feet and, heedless of her brother falling brokenly to the floor, rushed over to Brainy and hugged him tightly. "I'm so happy for you!"
Blushing, Brainy wasn't sure how to reply to that.
Kal-El remained in a ball on the ground and closed his eyes.
"You can get up now," Jor-El told his son.
"No," whispered Kal-El. "Chimeras won't attack if they think you're dead."
Rolling his eyes, Jor-El couldn't understand why Kal-El let Zel-Kar walk all over him all the time.
"It makes her happy," whispered Kal-El, as if reading his father's mind.
Tweek was still by the door, rubbing his cheek and grumbling. "I hate having my cheeks pinched. Reminds me of university when those ladies would do it and talk to me funny. Ickle sweetums my a-" He turned to see Zel-Kar hugging Brainy and the 'fainted' Kal-El. "Whoa, what did I miss?"
"You missed Kal-El talking his way out of being murdered for not telling Zel-Kar that Brainy had woken up," said Jor-El, trying not to sound too amused.
"Inherited your ability to talk your way out of trouble I see. Or was it that you usually talked your way into trouble?" chuckled Tweek.
"No, I believe that it's that I always walked into trouble and talked my way out... And in some cases, was punched when someone," Jor-El narrowed his eyes on Tweek. "Kept antagonizing the people I was trying to calm down."
"Oh, who was that?" asked Tweek, walking over and smiling charmingly.
Jor-El began to glare again but then smiled. Quickly springing forward, he messed up Tweek's hair with both of his hands.
"Ack! C'mon, man, my hair is messed up enough as it is," laughed Tweek, batting Jor-El's hands away. Taking a few steps back for safety, he tried to salvage what he could before turning to the three teenagers in the room. "Hey you three, be careful! Some of my equipment is still in a delicate stage. I've already had one explosion today; I'd like to hold off another until after dinner!"
"Until after dinner," laughed Zel-Kar. "I don't think you'll have a problem with that. Kal-El is still faking unconsciousness and I'm not letting go of Brainy any time soon." She grinned toothily, petting Brainy's hair, tossing a final look at Kal-El. "He knows it's safer to play dead."
"Is that so? Well, maybe I can use this time to steal a hug," Tweek walked over to the two by the stools. "May I cut in?"
Kal-El sprang up and glared at Tweek.
"Hell no!?"
Zel-Kar swung around so fast she smacked Brainy in the face with her ponytail, and glared at her adoptive brother.
Instantly Kal-El's face fell. "You've got to be kidding me."
"Consider this your punishment," Zel-Kar seethed.
"If it's my punishment, why does Brainy need to suffer?" asked Kal-El.
Not wanting Zel-Kar to think of a worse punishment, Brainy quickly stepped in.
"It's just a hug, besides it can't be worse then Triplicate Girl: three hyper girls tackling you at once while squealing incessantly." He shivered.
Zel-Kar released Brainy from her own embrace, giving Tweek a warning look.
"One platonic hug for Tweek."
"I can't watch this," groaned Kal-El, covering his face.
"Actually, I was talking to you, sweet thang," Tweek grinned at Zel-Kar.
"Sweet thang?" Zel-Kar questioned, tapping her fingers on her arm.
Kal-El uncovered his eyes.
"Did you. Just call me. 'Sweet thang'?"
"Answer carefully Twen-Cam," warned Jor-El.
"Answer normally Tweek!" Kal-El cheered.
Tweek looked back and forth between the two Els before turning back to Zel-Kar
"Uh... would you have preferred babycakes? Sweet cheeks? Dollface? Good golly Miss Molly?"
Jor-El and Brainy simultaneously smacked their foreheads.
"Yes!" celebrated Kal-El, jumping to his feet.
"Die!" was Zel-Kar's war cry as she grabbed the front of Tweek's shirt and slapped him viciously several times on each side of his face.
Tweek was still standing when it was over but was rubbing his abused cheeks in surprise.
"Wow. I almost felt that. You're pretty strong, Zel. A lot stronger than when you were a kid."
"Yes I am! Just remember two things: Number 1, my heart belongs to my darling Luff-Ke and Luff-Ke alone. He is the only one allowed to call me pet names. Number 2, I'm old enough now that I know where to kick when I get mad," snickered Zel-Kar in a way that made the Els wince and Brainy rub the bridge of his nose to stall off a headache.
"Where is that?" asked Tweek slowly.
"Would you like me to show you?" asked Zel-Kar sweetly.
"Zel-Kar. No," scolded Jor-El.
The girl pouted, as did Tweek.
"But I want to know! Oh never mind. Anyone got the time? I had to use my clock's parts to fix... something," said Tweek with a quick look away.
"Half past noon," Jor-El said, looking at the timepiece on his wrist. "Kal-El, we need to get you back so you can take your test, and I should probably go back to work." He turned to the two blond geniuses. "Do you two want to stay here and keep working on Brainy's eyes until dinner?"
"What's wrong with Brainy's eyes?" asked Zel-Kar, taking her first good look at his face.
"I don't feel safe leaving Brainy alone with him," protested Kal-El.
"I said 'what's wrong with Brainy's eyes?'!" growled Zel-Kar, pausing to listen to Brainy's explanation before pouting. "Poor baby!" She narrowed her eyes at Tweek. "You'd better fix them."
"Zel-Kar, don't threaten Tweek. It wouldn't be his fault if my eyes can't be fixed. The procedure used to integrate technology into my organic systems hasn't been invented yet so the tools to fix problems haven't been invented either. In fact some of the materials used haven't been discovered yet. And-"
"La! La! La! I'm not listening," sang Zel-Kar, plugging her fingers into her ears.
"If you never listen you'll never learn," chuckled Tweek. "Or so they kept telling me. I think… I'm fine with Brainy hanging around the rest of the afternoon, Jor, but if he does I won't be able to bring him back till dinner. Considering I have to ask permission to enter the city." He spat out his tongue and squinted his eyes as if tasting something extremely sour.
"Well Brainy can fly back himself if you need him to leave or if he want to come back early. Make sure to give me a call if you can't make it, and I'll make sure not to tell Laura so it will be a surprise," said Jor-El.
Zel-Kar turned to Tweek.
"Why do you need permission to enter the city? It's not like you'd take your experiments there with you."
Tweek blushed and rubbed the back of his head.
"Well… there was this time I wasn't paying attention and walked out in the middle of traffic…"
"Were you okay?" asked Zel-Kar worriedly.
"Oh yeah, I was fine. But cars kind of went everywhere… and several people made complaints about me being a 'menace'," sniffed Tweek, making a motion as if wiping away a tear. "So now I have to phone in when I come to town, tell them exactly where I'm going, and promise to stay there or risk being sued." He sighed. "It got to be such a hassle, with them denying me half the time, that I finally just had anything I needed delivered out and stayed here."
"That sucks!" exclaimed Zel-Kar, before turning to Jor-El. "We should complain to the council!"
"I have, many times-" began Jor-El.
"Then we should complain more to the new council. Pri-Nox is cool. I bet she wouldn't let someone be isolated from society. That stupid, arrogant Dickhead– I bet he made that order!" spat Zel-Kar.
"He did but-" Jor-El tired again.
"He should have his ass kicked even more before he dies the worst death possible!" Zel-Kar said with angry enthusiasm.
"I volunteered the oil, for the boiling," laughed Tweek. "Really though, Swee-er, Zel, I'm used to being singled out for one reason or another. I don't want anyone getting in trouble on my account, like I've told Jor many times."
Jor-El rubbed his ear absently.
"Sorry, my hearing goes bad whenever you talk nonsense."
"Then you must go deaf a lot," said Kal-El.
"Okay, I get it, I get it. Big brother Jor-El looking out for little Twen-Cam, just like always. Wasn't there something you said about a test?" asked Tweek.
"Crap! We have to go. Now!" exclaimed Zel-Kar, grabbing Kal-El's and running him out the door.
"See you both later," Jor-El ran after them.
"She came all this way just to try and kill Kal-El even though she also had a test…. That's what I call dedication," said Brainy in awe.
"That's what I call a sister! So, you want to throw some more ideas around about your eyes? Or... go flying?" Tweek picked up his current board again with a grin. "We can do both of course, but I need time for a shower before we go back to Casa d'El."
"Flying usually clears my mind for ideas. Let's go," smiled Brainy as he stood. "And, so you know for your plans, the insignia on my forehead can work as a hook up: you can connect wires to me there to send in the electric pulse if that would work. I can also hook up to a computer to download or upload a program if that would help. And-" He hesitated. "I could download myself to the computer as a backup if surgery becomes necessary; that way you don't have to worry about… hurting me."
"That first part I'll keep in mind, and that stuff in the middle, but the last thing I won't need to remember. 'Cause it won't come to that, I promise you. I'll find a way to save your sight that won't put you in danger in any way. You're part of the El family now after all, so you're part of my family. And family looks out for each other. So I'll find a way," said Tweek, placing a hand on Brainy's shoulder. "There's too much stuff you haven't seen yet, right? And stuff you want to keep seeing. Like a certain someone." He winked.
"More then anything," Brainy blushed.
Tweek smiled and suddenly started running to the door with his board.
"Last one to the canyon is a rotten keg!"
"Egg," shouted Brainy, running after him.