Chapter Nine: Catacomb Rescue: The Good of the Story

Clark quietly sped to the catacomb entrance and lit a light to make sure he could see inside the dark passages as it was already eight in the evening.

()()()()()

"But we've looked everywhere." A guard said to Imperiex.

"I don't want excuses!" Imperiex snapped. "I want that Christian! And if I want your opinion, I'll give it to you! NOW GO!"

After that, Imperiex noticed a light near an abandoned road as he smirked.

"Oh Brainiac 5, I think I've found our man." Imperiex said with a sneer as Brainiac 5 walked up. "Come. I'll show you how to deal with these Christians."

The two then walked off.

()()()()()

In the catacombs, Clark met up with Kent, Garth, and Imra as they all smiled at the sight of each other.

As they were about to rush off, Clark noticed Kent clutch his chest.

"Imra slow down!" Clark called out.

"Sorry." Imra said weakly.

"Are you okay, Kent?" Clark asked.

"Yeah." Kent sighed. "These old bones aren't what they used to be, though. I need a minute to catch my breath."

Suddenly, Clark's super hearing picked up something.

"Listen." Clark whispered.

Now they all heard footsteps.

"We're being followed." Clark said. "Run!"

They all rushed off when Kent began breathing hard.

"Clark, it's me they want." Kent breathed. "You and the children go on. You've got a better chance of making it without me."

"No, Kent." Clark said. "Imra, hold onto the traveling papers Kell got for Kent. Kent, hop on my back. The lord blessed my people with the strength of twenty men while on this planet."

Kent hopped on as Clark fell over.

"Yeah, but you've also been known as a bit of a butter fingers." Kent said.

"Good point." Clark said as he took off his glasses to see better. "Now hop on my back."

Kent did so, and they sped off.

()()()()()

Imperiex and Brainiac 5 were walking when Imperiex heard hastened footsteps to their left.

"Come!" Imperiex said as he turned his sabers on and rushed after them.

()()()()()

At a bridge, everyone crossed single file for fear of over loading it as Imra slipped before Garth caught her, and a rock fell into the chasm.

"I wonder how deep this goes." Imra wondered.

"I don't intend to find out." Kent said plainly.

"They're getting closer." Clark pointed out.

"I've got an idea!" Imra said.

"Oh no." Garth groaned.

"Just help me with this beam!" Imra said as she and Garth grabbed a beam and pulled.

"What are you doing?" Clark asked.

"If we pull out the support, we can pull the roof in behind us." Imra explained. "I've seen it happen before."

"Oh yeah." Garth said sarcastically. "That'll stop them."

They pulled out the support beam, but the cave stood in perfect condition.

"I don't understand." Imra said. "Maybe the foundation needs to be loosened.

Imra kicked the area where the beam was, and the whole tunnel began shaking.

"Okay, sorry about earlier." Garth said.

()()()()()

As Imperiex and Brainiac 5 began crossing a plank over a chasm, there was a slight tremor, and Imperiex lost his footing, barely holding onto the plank.

"Brainiac 5!" Imperiex called out, and Brainiac 5 quickly helped him up.

()()()()()

Unfortunately, Imra's plan worked too well, and the cave in separated Garth and Imra from Kent and Clark.

"Imra, Garth, are you two alright?" Clark called out.

"We're fine!" Garth shouted back.

"You and Mr. Nelson go onto the cave!" Imra called out. "We'll meet you there! I know another way!"

"Imra!" Clark called out, but there was no response. "Imra?"

With no answer, Clark was forced to continue onward with Kent.

()()()()()

As Garth and Imra rushed on, they stopped to listen.

"I don't hear the guards anymore." Imra said.

"Maybe they were buried alive." Garth said bitterly. "That's what they deserve."

Suddenly, there was another cave-in.

"Uh-oh." Garth groaned.

()()()()()

As Imperiex and Brainiac 5 continued on, the tunnel began shaking even worse than before.

"The tunnel is collapsing!" Imperiex called out as they rushed off, and both men got on the plank at the same time, causing it to break, and Brainiac 5 was barely able to hold onto the edge.

"Imperiex!" Brainiac 5 called out. "Help me!"

"Help yourself." Imperiex said plainly as he rushed out.

Brainiac 5 fell and landed on an outstretching rock, as he felt a snap in his leg, as he knew it had been damaged, and he reverted to his usual form, a robot the size of a standard eighteen-year-old with blond hair. Then, everything was darkness.

()()()()()

Imperiex rushed out of the cavern. The rule of the soldier was survival of the fittest, and he was more fit to be a soldier than Brainiac 5.

()()()()()

The cave-in stopped without any more of the tunnel falling in on them.

"Are you okay?" Garth asked.

"Yeah." Imra replied when they heard a groan. "What's that?"

They went to the chasm, which had lost the plank as they saw Brainiac 5 lying there small and weak, clutching at his leg as they saw blue liquid coming out of it.

"It's him!" Garth said. "He's one of the soldiers that-"

"Imperiex, is that you?" Brainiac 5 asked. "My circuitry's been damaged, so I can't extend my hands up, but you can grab my whip!"

Brainiac 5 tossed a dusty whip at the edge of the cavern for them to grab hold of.

"What do we do?" Imra asked.

"Nothing!" Garth said angrily. He was about to walk off when Imra stopped him.

"We've gotta help him!" Imra called out. "He'll die!"

"So?" Garth asked. "Leave him there!"

"Garth, it's not right!" Imra argued.

"What they did to our families wasn't right!" Garth snapped back when he heard Brainiac 5's voice again.

"Imperiex?" Brainiac 5 pleaded. "Please help me!"

Imra rushed at the whip as Garth sighed and knew Imra was right about helping Brainiac 5, and he helped her pull the whip up when it suddenly gave a little, and the traveling papers for Kent fell into blackness.

"Oh, that's just perfect!" Garth groaned, but he and Imra continued pulling.

()()()()()

At J'onn's cave, Lois rushed up to Clark and Kent as they arrived.

"Thank goodness you're here!" Lois sighed. "We were so… Where are the children?"

"There was a cave-in." Clark explained. "We got separated, and they're trying to find another way. Kell, some of you search the catacombs for them."

"Right." Kell said calmly as he and a few others headed off.

()()()()()

Eventually, Garth and Imra managed to pull Brainiac 5 up as he collapsed on the floor breathing heavily as Garth saw that the blue liquid appeared to be blood.

"Oh Imperiex, I didn't think you'd come ba-" Brainiac 5 said before he noticed Garth and Imra. "You? You saved me?"

"Yup." Imra said plainly.

"But… You're Christians." Brainiac 5 said confusedly.

"Uh-huh." Imra agreed again.

"Imra!" Garth shouted.

"I came here to arrest you." Brainiac 5 continued in shock. "Why would you risk your lives for me?"

"We were just doing what the Samaritan did." Imra explained.

"What Samaritan?" Brainiac 5 asked.

"The one in the story Mr. Nelson told us." Imra explained.

"Ah… Kent Nelson." Brainiac 5 said. "The Story Keeper. He's the man I'm after."

"Well you shouldn't have any trouble now!" Garth said moodily. "Thanks to you, we just lost his traveling papers."

"Please take me to him." Brainiac 5 said without any hesitation in his voice.

()()()()()

In J'onn's cave, the Christians were getting restless.

"First they burn our houses, now they take our children!" A woman shouted.

"How much more are we supposed to take from Brainiac's thugs?!" A man called out.

"Please!" Clark said, trying to calm everyone down. "Kell and the others will find them!"

"There are only two soldiers there, and there are fifty of us!" J'onn shouted. "I say we go in there and get some revenge!"

"Friends!" Kent called out. "Friends, we mustn't be like other people! We must learn to forgive!"

"Yes, but how many times do we have to forgive them?!" J'onn asked.

"Disciple Peter asked the same thing!" Kent called out before calming down. "Come and listen. They were walking in the hillside, and Peter said, 'But lord, when someone treats me badly, how many times do I have to forgive them? Is seven times enough?'

"'No.' Jesus responded. 'Not seven times or seventy, but seven times seventy.'

"Jesus then told his disciples a story to explain his point.

"'There once was a king who wanted to settle the accounts for the men who worked for him. One man owed him thousands of silver coins, but he didn't have any money to pay him.

"'"Then everything you own will be sold to pay your debt." The king said. "Even your wife and children."

"'"Give me time!" The man pleaded. "I'll pay you back. I promise."

"'The king felt sorry for the man, crossed out his debt, and let him go, but on the way home, the man met another of the king's servants who owed him a small amount.

"'"Pay me what you owe me!" The man said.

"'"Give me time!" The other man pleaded. "I'll pay you back. I promise."

"'However, the man tossed the other into prison. When the king found out what the man had done, he was furious and brought both men before him.

"'"You wicked man!" The king snapped. "I wiped out your debt when yo begged for time to pay! You should have done the same for this man! Guards, take him to prison until he pays all of his debt!"

"You see what Jesus was saying?" Kent asked. "We must forgive those who wrong us just as God has forgiven us."

()()()()()

"Are you Kent Nelson, the Story Keeper?!" Brainiac 5 asked as he walked up to Kent with Imra and Garth behind him.

"I am Kent Nelson." Kent said calmly.

"Are you the one who told these children the stories of Jesus?" Brainiac 5 asked.

At that moment, Kell and several others walked up and held out their swords when Clark stopped them.

"If the people who hear your stories become like these children," Brainiac 5 began. "Then all of the galaxy should hear about your Jesus."

Brainiac 5 then handed Kent his traveling papers.

"Here." Brainiac 5 said. "You'll be needing these papers."

Kent took them and smiled.

"You're drawn to him, aren't you?" Kent asked.

"A fellow soldier left me to die, but these children saved my life because of Jesus." Brainiac 5 said as he smiled.

"Come." Kent said. "We'll talk."

"No." Brainiac 5 said plainly. "It isn't safe now, and my men will be looking for me."

"Then I leave you in the hands of my friend, Clark." Kent said.

Clark walked up and made the sign of the fish on the ground as Brainiac 5 stored the image in his memory banks.

"Look for me at my farm in Smallville, Brainiac 5." Clark said.

"Please." Brainiac 5 said as he shook Clark's hand. "My friends call me, Brainy."

"Definitely easier to say." Kent said with a smile as Brainy smiled too.

"May your god go with you, Mr. Nelson." Brainy said.

"He will, my brother." Kent said with a smile. "And also with you."

Kent then walked off as Brainy turned to Garth and Imra.

"And as for you," Brainy said. "I don't know how to thank you, but I promise you, I will find a way."

"Hey, don't mention it." Garth said with a smile as he and Brainy shook hands before Brainy headed out.

Hooray for Brainy, Garth, and Imra!