In Brightest Day, In Darkest Night

by Gary D. Snyder

Part 12:

Jimmy and the Parkers were not the only ones viewing the events in downtown Retroville. At the Candy Bar many of Jimmy's classmates were also watching the newscast on the TV set Sam had recently installed. With the advent of Dyno Lad Sam had (correctly) decided that the possibility of seeing a report of the hero's latest exploits would attract generate more business as Sam's youthful clientele stayed to watch and discuss Dyno Boy's adventures. Present were Sheen, Carl, Cindy, and Libby.

"I wonder what's keeping Dyno Lad?" Cindy worried aloud.

"Relax," Sheen reassured her. "If he doesn't show there's always Jimmy. And in the extremely unlikely event that Jimmy can't handle it, there's always Ultra Lord."

At the mention of Jimmy Libby gave a sniff of disdain. "As if there were anything Jimmy could do that Dyno Lad couldn't. That teen machine has it all going on. Oh, yeah."

"Well," said Carl timidly, "maybe if he had a llama sidekick and named it Carlito and taught it to fly –"

"No sidekicks!" Sheen interrupted sharply. "And especially no llamas named Carlito."

Carl seemed ready to cry. "That's what you said about a sidekick for Ultra Lord!" he accused Sheen. He clenched his fist and screamed towards the ceiling. "Don't take this dream from me, too!"

"Well," Sheen said thoughtfully, "it would be kind of cool if he had a teen partner skilled in the ancient and deadly oriental art of origami." He pantomimed a number of thrusts and kicks to demonstrate.

"Origami is paper folding, Sheen," Libby corrected him, causing Sheen to freeze. "Cindy gave a class report on it."

"Oh," was all Sheen could say. "Is that true, Cindy?"

Cindy ignored him, as she was on her cell phone speaking in low tones. After a few minutes she disconnected, looking worried. "What's up, Cindy?" asked Libby, who knew the look.

"Nothing," replied Cindy. "I was just seeing whether…nothing at all." She turned to the TV set, looking more worried than ever. Where are you? she thought anxiously.

In downtown Retroville Calamitous continued his march along the upscale avenue, leaving a trail of destruction and ruin in his wake. As the newscaster had reported he was wearing a special harness that enhanced his abilities and he was using his increased strength to methodically smash into any building that might have something of suitable worth to add to his already sizable collection of loot. From time to time he would activate an alarm, but a blast from a device strapped to his arm would cause the electrical system of the alarm to overload in a shower of sparks, destroying it.

As he moved along the nearly deserted street police sharpshooters would occasionally fire from the rooftops as he passed, only to see brief winks of light appear near Professor Calamitous as the slugs impacted harmlessly against the invisible force field that surrounded him. Although the bullets could not possible hurt him, these attacks annoyed Calamitous enough for him to seize the nearest vehicle and hurl it at his assailant as a warning against any future attacks. His tactic seemed to be working, as fewer and fewer police were willing to attempt further attacks against him.

At the closest military base General Abercrombie was in close discussion with his aides about the situation. "Gentlemen," he said, "what is our current response to this attack?"

"Well, General," a young lieutenant answered, "we have a high-altitude reconnaissance craft keeping an eye on him."

"And?"

"Well, that's pretty much it." Prompted by the glare from the general the unhappy officer pressed on. "Sir, he's in a highly populated area. Any weapon powerful enough to take him out would potentially result in a great deal of collateral damage. A lot of innocent civilians could be killed or wounded."

The general was puzzled. "What's your point?" He spread his hands. "They're our own people, for crying out loud. It's not as though we'd start a war or something."

"Well, sir, the Commander-in-Chief would need to authorize action of that type. And I doubt that he or the public would be happy to see civilians injured, even eliminating a threat of this magnitude."

The general growled. "Confounded civilians. You'd think that they were running the military."

Another aide coughed hesitantly. "Technically, sir, they do. The Constitution was set up to ensure that war and other military action was a considered decision and that peace was the norm."

General Abercrombie struck the conference table with his fist in frustration. "Wild blue yonder!" he roared. "When will people ever learn that peace just doesn't work?"

Back in Retroville the situation continued to erode. A dozen stores and banks were already in ruins and Professor Calamitous showed no signs of ending his rampage through the city. Several dozen blocks away, where officials had ordered all civilians, the newscaster continued her dogged report of the evil scientist's wanton destruction as the cameraman alternated between close-up shots of her despondent face and telephoto images of Calamitous in the gathering twilight.

"We have just received word that the military is awaiting approval for any show of force against Professor Calamitous due to the close proximity of civilian installations and personnel, and that the police are suspending their own attacks to consider their options. At this point, however –" She was interrupted by a loud explosion, like a crack of thunder, and a gust of wind that caused paper and dust to swirl around her. A professional to the end, the reporter struggled to maintain her composure. "It seems that bad weather is also moving in now, making a bad situation…even…worse…"

Her voice trailed off as she turned to watch what her cameraman was following up in the air. Travelling down the street, several stories in the air, a crimson streak was moving towards the scene of Professor Calamitous' latest break-in, its deceleration from supersonic speed having created the sonic boom and its related turbulence. The streak slowed rapidly and took the form of a young figure in a bright red costume. The camera zoomed in dizzyingly to maximum magnification, capturing the sight of a scarlet figure with an incongruously large head hovering perhaps a dozen feet in the air outside the jewelry store, his arms folded determinedly across his chest.

"Professor," he challenged, "would you care to step outside?"

Back in the Candy Bar elated cheers erupted from the crowd at the appearance of Dyno Lad.

"Oh, boy!" crowed Sheen, leaning forward excitedly and rubbing his hands with delight. "This is gonna be good!"

End of Part 12.

Author's Notes:

In the sequel Superman II the best part of the movie, to me at least, was the return of the re-energized hero to Metropolis to take on General Zod and his cronies. No doubt a number of readers will recognize the allusions in this chapter.