"So this year, Clark Kent was the Scarecrow." Chloe said, looking at me as she went through the pictures. "I got to say, from what I see, I'm shocked that you got away with it, and even one of Jeremy crashing into a wall!" She said, looking at the next picture.
"I was more surprised to find Clark there." I said, with her looking up. "From what I can figure, he pulled Jeremy out of the wreck, and after getting a major discharge of power, Jeremy is back to being human." I said, with her nodding.
"So, no more lightning." She said, Picking one of the pictures out and handing me the rest. "I'm going to have to dismiss the Jeremy story and put it on the wall, but I will be taking the Scarecrow one!" She said, with me smiling. "Good job." She said, giving me a smile as well.
"No problem, I'll keep an eye out for anything else that's weird." I said, waving her off as I went around the farmers market for something interesting. I kept the Clark Pictures, the one of his powers, to myself as it was his call to show the world, not mine. I was going to respect his privacy, and I hoped he respected mine.
Walking around, nothing seemed to catch my eyes, but one person did. The previous day, his skin had a lot of pimples on it, and now, he had none, not even a mark telling that he had them. I didn't know his name, but I did remember that he had glasses. Taking a picture of him, I got it at the right moment, his eyes blinking vertically. It had caught me off guard, because it made me think of bugs or some kind of frog.
Seeing him tailing the queen from yesterday, I took a picture of him standing right behind her, and it didn't look like she knew he was there. Seeing him sniffing her hair, it disgusted me but I took the picture anyways. This guy was a true creep. Seeing him gain her attention, I watched her back away from him and he started talking. I was too far to hear anything, but it looked like she agreed to something. I then watched as the king from yesterday, I was going to need to learn there names eventually, and had some small talk with the guy, where it looked like he told him to stay away from her. After getting all the pictures I needed, I felt best that I follow the kid to make sure that he didn't do anything.
Later
He was faster that I had given him credit, I had to use the muscles in my legs to jump high into the air to keep up with him, and even then that was a challenge as I had to use my flight to keep me from crashing down onto the ground and gaining his attention. After a good ten minutes of tailing him, he climbed a tree, with me climbing another tree and taking his picture. Seeing him looking down the road, I followed his gaze, seeing the king kid driving down this way. Getting a feeling that he planed on killing him, I hung my camera up and jumped at him.
Seeing him turn to me, I grabbed him, but he ended up jumping anyways, taking me with him. We landed on top of the truck, where he started punching me, where I started denting the roof of the truck. Hearing a shatter, I knew that we had broke the driver side window before we started flipping.
It didn't end well as the Truck landed on my leg, and I knew it was broken. Holding back the scream of pain, I bit my hand to do so. Looking around, I saw that the kid was gone and that the driver was passed out. I went to pick the truck up, when I suddenly heard breaks, meaning moving the truck was out of the question or me. Looking at the front of the truck, I saw Clark run over to the window shield. 'Oh, its just Clark, I'm good.' I thought, lifting the truck up enough to slid my leg out. Standing up, I limped away from the crash, when suddenly the truck exploded, sending me flying a good distance away.
Landing in the grass, I groaned as my leg had landed against a rock, with me feeling the full intensity of the pain. "Clark!" I heard a women call out, with me looking up and seeing a man and a women walk around the truck to see, Clark holding onto the boy while his back was to the destroyed truck. Seeing the man touch Clark, he brought his hand back, with me taking it that Clark was hot form the flames.
"First Aid please!" I said, gaining there attention as the man ran over to me, looking at my leg as he knelt down beside me. "Got any sticks and rope, that would do well." I said, looking down at my leg.
"You're going to need more than that, try screws, your bone is sticking out!" He said, with me shacking my head.
"Not the worst thing I've been through, I just need a day and I'll be healed." I said, placing my hand on his shoulder. "Help me up, this is unconfutable. I said, with him nodding and wrapping his arm under mine, where he helped me stand. Making our way to the other three, I looked around, keeping an eye out for the kid.
"What are you doing all the way out here?" Clark asked, standing up and taking me from the man, with me standing on one leg.
"Long story short, this was no accident." I said, looking down at the driver. "He was attacked, someone jumped onto his car and had a crazy amount of strength." I said, looking at the man. "Really, I could use that rope and sticks, I'm not too keen with Hospitals." I said, with the man shacking his head.
"No, you have to stay here to get checked out!" He said, checking on the kid.
Looing at Clark, I needed his help to get away. "Its ok, I'll take him back to his place so he can rest." He said, with the man looking at him.
"No Clark, he needs a doctor!" He said, looking at me. "Don't try getting away from this, you have to give a statement on what happened, and you need to get that leg checked out!" He repeated, making me groan.
"Clark, super speed me out of here, I'll owe you one!" I whispered, with him looking at me then at the others.
"Clark!" They yelled, with him looking between us. "You know better than to show your powers!" The women said, with me looking at them and then Clark.
"We both have powers, mines strength and healing, and if I get caught and sent to the hospital, who knows what they will do to me!" I said, with them looking at the other, then looking at Clark.
"Its true, he has powers, I just don't know what all he can do." Clark said, looking between us.
"We don't even know where you live, or who you are!" The man said, with me rubbing the back of my head.
"Right, I'm Dakota Feichko, I live with-"
"Rebecca Cage, your her son?" The women asked, with me nodding. "I haven't seen her in a long time, let alone heard her name." She said, looking at the man then back at me. "I didn't even know she had a son." She said, with me nodding.
"Ya, she hasn't been doing well, medical bills and all." I said, looking at Clark. "So, can you super speed me out of here?" I asked, with him looking at me then at the others.
"Go ahead, but this stays hidden between us!" The man said, with me nodding as Clark started running, with me giving him directions as fast as I could as to not miss my stop.
Two days later
Walking down the hall, I stopped once I saw the driver from a couple of days ago at his locker, talking with the girl. I took a drink from the container, a 34 Oz. Giara Water Bottle, it had a similar design to the Wicked energy drink, but the dragon was blue and wrapped around the entire bottle, the tail at the bottom and the head at the top. It used to be a plain grey bottle, so I messed around with it and that was what came out.
Seeing the girl storm off, I made my way over to him. "Trouble in paradise?" I asked, gaining the kids attention.
"Ya...Who are you?" He asked, with me sticking my hand out to him.
"Dakota, I started here last week." I said, with him shaking my hand. "I'm also a reporter for the Torch, and heard of your accident." I said, with him nodding.
"Ya, something hit my truck, might of been a deer." He said, with me nodding. "I'm Whitney Fordman." He said, with me taking out a recorder. "What do you need that for?" He asked, with me smiling.
"I'm going to interview you on everything that happened before the crash, who knows, might be something worth while?" I said, with him nodding.
"Ok, what do you want to know?" He asked, with me smirking.
"I saw you at the farmers market a few hours before the crash, you were talking to another kid and looked upset, what was that about?" I asked, with him rolling his eyes.
"Gregory, but everyone calls him "Greg", but almost everyone calls him Bugboy." He said, with me feeling the anger from him. "He was making a move on Lana, so I told him to leave. He thinks he has a shot with Lana, claiming that he was "Competition". Like that would ever happen." He said, with me nodding.
"You didn't realize anything different about him, was he acting different, or has he always had a thing for Lana and figured that he now had a shot with her, not that he doesn't." I said, with him thinking about it.
"Ya... Ya he did look different, he usually wears a grey hoody, but he went with all black. His glasses were also missing, he also had this strange stench on him." He said, with me nodding.
"Anything you would like to say to him, any tips on better hygiene?" I asked, joking about his stench.
"Ya, use Old Spice." He said, were the bell rang. "I have to head to class, I'll be sure to keep an eye out for this story!" He said, with me nodding as he ran to class. I stayed put, watching as the Greg stood next to the stairs, watching me. Turning off the recorder, he took off, with me heading to class my self, knowing he knew we were talking about him.
The next day
"With everything that Dakota has done, Photos, Recordings, and from what Clark had gone through." Chloe said, turning to us as we sat in the Torch. "I found a passage on Amazonian tribesmen who took on traits of insects that they had been bitten by, but nothing as extreme as what you two are talking about." She said, with me going through the pictures I had taken. "What about you, any luck?" She asked, looking at Clark.
"Only that Greg moved in after the meteor showers, so he couldn't of been exposed to the blast." He said, with me looking at Chloe.
"But the bugs could of been." I said, gaining there attention. "Sure bugs have a short life span, but if were talking genetic mutation, then it changed there off-springs. From what everyone has told me, he collects bugs, bugs start a revolt, boy plus radioactive bug, you get bug boy." I said, with them looking at the other then at me. "What, am I off?" I asked, wanting to be sure I hadn't messed up.
"You cant even go outside without getting bit by a mosquito, why don't we have a whole town full of bug people?" Clark asked, with Chloe looking at Clark.
"For a mutation, you need a certain amount of toxins, maybe Dakotas right, all the bugs staged a revolt and attacked him, giving him enough toxins to change Greg into a living Bugboy!" She said, with me nodding.
"Bugs also have a short life span." I said, thinking about it. "They hatches, eats, molts, and finally the mating phase." I said, frowning as I didn't like what I said. 'Whitney said that Greg had taken an inters to Lana, maybe I need to keep an eye out.' I thought, looking at Clark. "Hey, why don't we check out his place after school, his mother should be home." I suggested, standing up and grabbing my container. "I'll meet you guys there, and if you don't show, then I'm on my own on finding out what's going on!" I said, leaving the room.
Later, Greg's house
Walking up to the door, I knocked on it, but got no answer. Looking in the drive way, I saw that the car was there. Knocking again, I didn't get an answer. Moving over to the window, I peeked inside, where I saw water on the window, meaning that it was hot inside, steaming hot. grabbing the window, I YANKED it up, breaking the lock that was on it.
Climbing in and closing the window, I had to take my coat off with how hot it was. Making my way to the thermostat, I saw that it was 110 degrees. I took a picture of it, then looked around and saw that the place was a mess. Taking more pictures of the place, I knew this wasn't normal. Making my way up stairs, I saw hand prints on the walls and celling, with me taking pictures of those as well. Once I got to the top, I made my way to the bathroom first, where I saw that it was a normal looking bathroom. Walking over to the shower, I opened it, with me seeing steel wool up by the shower head. They were bloody, and I knew that Greg had molted, with me looking down and seeing the skin.
I nearly threw up, but held it down and took some pictures of the skin and bloody steel wool. Making my way out of the bathroom, I approached the bedroom, the one with all the hand prints leading to. Opening the door, I saw that it was infested with spider webs, and I flipped out. I JUMPED away from the room, looking at each and every corner of the door to spot a spawn from hell, Spiders, crawling out of the door. Seeing as nothing was moving, I took a picture from outside the room, where I saw the TV was on, where I saw Lana.
'So I was right, he has chosen his mate.' I thought, making my leave. Once I got down stairs, I saw Chloe, Clark and Pete at the window looking in. Walking over to the door, I unlocked it and opened it, with all three of them jumping in front of the door to greet the mother of Greg. "Sorry guys, place is empty, no sign of the mother, nor Greg, but you guys might want to check out the bathroom and his room, the place is a mess!" I said, letting them in while I left. "I'll see you guys later, I have to go talk with Whitney!" I said, rushing to my car so that I could find said person and warn him about what had happened, and knowing him, he was going to head to the Lang house to talk with angry girl, good thing I had broke into the schools records, learning the address of everyone at school.
Later, Lang barn
Approaching the barn, I jumped out of the car and quickly made my way to the barn as I saw Clark speed his way inside. Once inside, I saw Whitney coming out of one of the horse pins. "Greg's got her!" He said, with me running up to both him and Clark.
"Did you see where he took her?" I asked, with him looking at the way that I came.
"Ya, he took her into the woods!" He said, with me looking at Clark as it looked like he knew where she was taken.
"I know where he's going." Clark said as we followed him.
"We'll come with, he's dangerous enough!" I said, grabbing Whitney by the back of his coat, dragging him over to the passenger seat. "You're not driving, you might be suffering from a concussion." I said, opening the door and tossing him in, shocking him as I made my way to the driver seat and hopped in. "Where to Clark?" I asked, looking at him from the window.
"Creekside foundry, and be quick!" he said, taking off while Whitney searched his pockets for his keys, with me reaching into his coat pocket and taking said keys before taking off like a raging bull.
Later
Reaching the gate of the Creekside foundry, I looked up at the tree house, seeing a hole in the side of it. "Found it!" I said, with Whitney stepping out and quickly rushing over to the ladder. I followed, camera in hand and wanting to get this story. Once we reached the top, I moved over to the corner, seeing Lana completely covered with webbing, like she was sleeping beauty. Taking my camera, I snapped a few shots of Whitney removing the webbing. Looking out the hole, I knew that Clark was dealing with Greg and decided that it was best that I leave the two alone.
Once I had gotten down, I made my way over to the gate, where I saw Clark jogging out, but stopping as he was looking over my shoulder. Looking behind me, I saw Whitney and Lana hugging each other, and I understood what was going on. "Lana is a special girl." I said, looking at Clark as he looked hurt. "Love is war, don't forget that." I said, patting him on the shoulder as I turned and walked away, knowing that my fellow hero wasn't taking the loss well, but at least he took care of Greg, dead or not.
Later
'Cant get that stench off me!' I thought as I had taken a fifth shower, and was still smelling like rotten eggs. Walking down stairs, I dried my hair as I made my way to the kitchen to make some dinner, my mother being in Metropolis Hospital for her health as it was bad enough and was on Paid Leave from the Daily Planet, which is where I also got the hobby of being a reporter.
Once in the kitchen, I grabbed the meat that I left out to defrost, seeing that it had done so enough to cook easily. Tossing it into the frying pan, I planed on making spaghetti, as I had skipped out on lunch earlier and was rather hungry. Hearing a knock at the door, it confused me as it was late at night and my mothers friends wouldn't show up this late either, to check up on me.
Taking the towel, I wrapped myself in it and made my way to the door. Looking though the curtain, I saw blonde, and knew that none of my mothers friends weren't blonde. Raising an eyebrow, I opened the door, where I saw Chloe standing there, confusing me even more. "Chloe, what are you doing out here, no, how do you know where I live?" I asked, not sure what was going on.
"I may have taken your address from the school records!" She said, smiling. "I actually wanted to come check up on you, seeing that you ran away, freaked out on what happened at Greg's house!" She said, with me nodding.
"I wasn't freaked out, I was grossed out." I said, seeing her staring at my chest, with me hiding behind the door out of self-esteem. "What really brings you here?" I asked, knowing that wasn't the only reason.
"I... Kind of wanted to check out your collection on the weird?" She asked, with me rolling my eyes.
"Couldn't you of asked me tomorrow?" I asked, knowing that was only a small portion of why she was here.
"Would you call me a true blonde if I told you I locked myself out and left my keys inside?" She asked, where I backed up and let her in. She quickly came in and looked happy.
"I'm in the middle of making dinner, I'll set out another plate for you as I don't know how long you're going to be here." I said, walking back into the kitchen. "My collection is up stairs, first door on the left, under my bed, and don't go taking anything!" I said, seeing her running up stairs like a kid in a candy store. 'She couldn't of gotten her parents to let her in?' I thought, shrugging as I went to make dinner.