Superman: The Ark of Krypton
Chapter 126
by
Jason Richard
Kara had spent the night in the Kent farmhouse, in Clark's old room. This morning, as the sun was beginning to rise above the horizon, she stood on the porch and just took it all in. She'd been so concerned with getting things done before that she hadn't really taken the time to get a feel for everything her new powers could do. As she tapped into that well of energy that filled up more and more by the minute as she stood in the sun, Kara could hear the sounds of animals all over the farm and the wind blowing through the nearby crops. She could see another farm off in the distance, right down to the individual rocks on the gravel driveway. She could feel the strength coursing through her limbs, her eyes, and her lungs.
"Exhilarating, isn't it?" said Clark, dressed in a shirt and blue jeans as he stood behind her.
"Yeah," said Kara. "I…I think that's why I froze. I had all this power, but I didn't know what to do with it."
"Well," said Clark. "That's why we're here. I practiced a lot in these fields. They're far enough away from civilization that we shouldn't be noticed."
"I thought this was where I'd be living," said Kara. "You know, a safe place to get used to Earth culture."
"It's definitely an option," said Clark. "I think Ma and Pa miss having a kid around. We'll discuss it when they wake up. Would you like to get started?"
"Yeah," said Kara, floating into the air. "What's first?"
Clark floated into the air with her and said, "Follow me."
Clark led her to a clearing with beams of wood standing on end by a fence. Kara wondered what they were for, but then wondered something else entirely.
"Wouldn't this be better in the artic?" said Kara. "There'd be no one for miles."
"We have our hearing and X-ray vision," said Clark. "We'll be fine. I used to practice on this farm all the time. Now, what I'd like you to do is grab a beam of wood at high speed and place it by that tree."
Kara wondered what the point of this was, but did as he said. She rushed forward and grabbed a beam, but was surprised when her grip both broke the wooden beam and put a hole in the fence where the wood pushed through it. She dropped the wooded beam pieces, letting them fall to the ground, and looked at Clark in surprise.
"Lesson one," said Clark. "It's a lot easier for us to use too much energy than not enough. If you're not careful, you can destroy everything around you. When you're forced to fight in a populated area either you need to get the fight out of the city as fast as possible or be wary of any innocent bystanders, and if you need to carry a civilian to safety you need to be able to do so without breaking any bones."
"Lesson learned," said Kara, looking at the damage she'd caused. She'd known she was strong, but she'd still unprepared for just how easy it was to break solid objects. It occurred to her that the dimensional shifter the Ark of Krypton's AI had made had been intentionally adjusted to account for her strength. If it hadn't, then the battle at the Phantom Zone could have gone very wrong.
"So we practice here," said Superman. "Try to grab the wood fast enough to get it to your destination in an instant, but gently enough so that the wood itself doesn't break.
Kara nodded and got to work. At first, wood broke every time she tried it, but she did begin to adjust. She did manage to grab pieces of wood without breaking the fence and even managed to pick them up without breaking the beams themselves. It wasn't perfect yet, as she still left marks in the wood where her fingers grabbed at it, but it was an improvement nonetheless.
"Did you have to learn this the hard way?" Kara eventually asked, setting a piece of wood down by the tree.
"I'm afraid so," said Clark. "I broke my fair share of farming tools when I first got these powers. I remember saving one person from a car wreck when I first got my powers, and the more I think back to that moment the more I realized I was lucky not to injure him myself, never mind the car wreck."
"What are you going to do about the fence?" asked Kara, looking at the broken wood as it stuck out of the ground."
Clark grinned, then sped away, coming back with wood and a hammer. Within seconds he had fixed the fence, and not a single piece of wood was broken.
As Clark finished up, he turned to Kara and said, "I broke plenty of things when I was out here. My Pa showed me how to repair it, and after working with it long enough, I got to the point where I could handle this stuff at full speed without breaking it, though it took a while. Anyway, lesson two."
Clark reached out his hand.
"Try to move my hand," said Clark.
Kara obliged, grabbed his hand and trying to push it away, but found she couldn't. No matter how much energy she pulled from her reserve she couldn't get it to budge.
"I've been using this energy a lot longer than you have," said Superman. "It's not just about how much you use; it's about how much you put to a specific task. Right now I suspect the energy you're putting out is going everywhere, even parts of your body you aren't using, and powers like heat or x-ray vision. You'll need to learn to put energy only to what you're doing and not waste it."
"Lesson two learned," said Kara. "What…"
"Clark!" called Ma Kent. "Kara! I've made breakfast!"
Kara frowned, "Do we even need food?"
"Yes," said Clark. "And even oxygen. Brainiac says that when we survive in space, or when hungry and thirsty, we're actually just healing our bodies faster than the lack of nourishment can damage us. That's fine for the short term, but Brainiac says that if we do it for too long…"
"Let me guess," said Kara. "We start to age rapidly."
"How'd you know?" asked Clark.
"Our bodies heal with the same process that ages us," said Kara. "Cells splitting and replacing old ones. We heal when new cells replace damaged ones, but the new cells are inevitably weaker than the old ones. If the body constantly has to replace old, damaged cells, and can't send that energy to keeping us young in the first place, then eventually the aging process will accelerate."
"They must have had some good schools on Krypton," said Clark.
"The best," said Kara, a hint of sadness in her voice.
The stand there in silence for a moment and Clark felt an urgent need to change the subject.
"Well," said Clark. "Even if we could go entirely without food, trust me. You don't want to pass up the food my Ma makes."
Clark turned towards the farmhouse and Kara followed. As they approached the smell of sausages, eggs, and freshly baked bread filled their senses. For Clark, it was a reminder of the countless mornings he spent on that farm growing up. Kara, meanwhile, had no idea what she was smelling. All she knew was that it smelled great.
…
Lois Lane would have laughed out loud at what she was seeing if her pride wasn't so injured. She sat at her desk, looking at the information in disbelief. Luthcorp's stock had dropped. Not by much perhaps, but enough. On top of that, Lex Luther was in huge legal trouble, as the military was backing out of their Lexcorp contracts. Apparently, the information that someone had leaked had been more damaging to Lex's image than anyone thought. Knowing that anyone could use this Kryptonite substance to fight Kryptonians made Lex Luther himself less of a necessity. On the one hand, Lois was relieved.
On the other hand, it wasn't her that had brought about Lexcorp's downfall. It had been Corbyn, a skilled mercenary who didn't understand business, nor did he understand the law he so regularly broke. It seemed the all intelligent Lex Luthor had finally made a big miscalculation. She wished it could have been one of her stories that had done it. After all, she'd spent so much time trying to do just that. All that effort now felt wasted.
Even so, Lexcorp was under, and that is what mattered.
What she should be focusing on was how her coverage of the Kryptonite story would reflect on Superman. People were talking about that, and not all of the conversation was positive. Many were upset that he kept such a pivotal piece of information about Kryptonians hidden, even when Kryptonians were the ones threatening Earth. Honestly, Lois herself wasn't sure what to think.
She needed to talk with Superman, and soon.
She went to the roof of the daily planet, the noon sun shining high above, and started calling out his name.
"Superman!" she said. "I know you can hear me! Superman!"
WHOOSH! Superman appeared in front of her, his hands on his hips as he floated a few feet away from the roof.
"Can I help you?" asked Superman.
"People have been saying things about you," said Lois.
"So I hear," said Superman, sighing. "All the time. I can hear, at this very moment, a conversation about how the run sun technology was fake, and that by hiding our real weakness I was just spearheading this alien invasion."
"That's ridiculous," said Lois, who heaved a sigh of her own. "But not surprising. Superman, why did you hide this weakness from us? This Kryptonite might have helped us in the battle. I thought the point of sharing the red sun technology was so you'd earn people's trust."
"I do want people's trust," said Superman. "That's why I told people about the run sun, but I also want to be able to protect them. If bank robbers have access to kryptonite, then my job has just gotten harder. I mean do you really think that Lex Luthor knowing this weakness is a good thing?"
Lois shrugged and said, "You've got me there. That's kind of a moot point though. Lex Luthor found out about it anyway."
"I suppose he did," said Superman. "And now everyone knows. I'm surprised he didn't announce this to the world himself."
"He probably didn't authorize it," said Lois. "Someone on his payroll must have done it behind his back. Without something that's exclusive to Lexcorp, Luthor can't sell his brand. I think he planned to play up the cyborg rather than the power source, but now that the power source is exposed as the real anti-Kryptonian weapon it makes Lexcorp less unique. I'm hoping Luthor gets his pardon revoked over this."
"That would be good news," said Superman. "So, do you have any other questions?"
"Just one," said Lois. "What are you going to do now?"
Superman nodded and said, "I'm going to earn back people's trust. I intend to hand over some Kryptonite from the Ark of Krypton to STAR labs, as much as I can spare."
"Well," said Lois. "Sounds like a good a start as any."
"Thanks for understanding," said Clark.
"Understanding?" said Lois. "This was an interview. This is article gold right here."
Superman chuckled a little and said, "Alright miss lane."
Lois chuckled a bit back, then got serious, saying, "Take care of yourself."
"You too," said Superman.
Lois turned and went back to her office, ready to write her article as Superman flew away, keeping an ear open for more people who might need his help.