Chapter 77
"Poor guy," was all Lois had said when they had passed the old, broken-down car by the side of the road fifteen minutes before Oliver did. At that particular moment, Lex had been reaching down deep into the trunk to retrieve his spare, hiding his bald head so completely by the trunk hood that neither Lois nor Chloe had any idea who the unfortunate man was.
A full minute passed before Lois, talking to herself, said aloud, "Clark flew this way. He must have seen him. I wonder why he didn't stop to…"
"Lois, you've got to be kidding me. It's just a guy with a flat tire. It's no big deal. You just said Clark has other things on his mind tonight. I mean, you're so worried, you're speeding like…Lois, you can't really expect Clark to—"
"I know, but it would have only taken him a split second to have… it was an old car. The guy's probably an old man…and the highway is really deserted tonight..." She frowned, "Odd… because it's a Friday night… Do you realize we've only seen that one car since…It's just odd, that's all."
"Well, just be glad the cops aren't out tonight. You aren't exactly—"
"Yeah, and I so don't need another ticket. Clark would…"
"Another? Just how many tickets—?"
But Lois was still thinking and mumbling out loud. "A second. That's all it would have taken him. I mean, he probably knows the guy if he's traveling this close to the farm…" Lois was still wondering about the driver, the broken down car, and Clark as she pushed down even harder on the gas pedal.
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Superman's immediate anxiety over Shelby's safety had been stilled the moment he'd become airborne again and sized up the situation in the barn. He had stopped himself from flying in about a mile away from the farm just in time. The men weren't trying to hurt the dog. Even armed with 9mm guns, for some reason, they seemed to be actually scared of Shelby.
From miles away, Superman could see very plainly the heavy, steel chain the two men had used to tie Shelby to one of the wooden posts. The dog was straining against the chain and growling at the men, but his real attention was riveted upon the third man standing about ten feet away, casually leaning against the stairway to the loft.
Lex coming to seek him out at the farm he had expected. This man he had not.
Superman glowered in anger. He might allow himself to be a target tonight; his dog was another matter. He wanted Shelby out of there. Knowing it would be quieter and quicker if the chain was already severed before he flew in to remove the dog, he decided to burn through the chain first.
Flying lower so that the angle was just right, and with great concentration, he shot a thin beam of his heat vision at one of the links of the chain holding Shelby. Every time he'd used his heat vision before, he'd been closer to the target, so it barely surprised him when the attempt failed. Only a thin wisp of smoke rose from the spot on the metal link he'd tried to melt.
Thankfully, none of the men noticed it. So he tried again, this time concentrating even harder, knowing that with the increase in all of his other powers lately, he should be able to do this, even at this great a distance. "Just hang on, Shelby," he whispered as he fired up his heat vision once more.
That's when it happened.
In one instant, it was as if a kaleidoscope of light had exploded before his face. From every direction, knives of bright streaks of strange, iridescent purples and reds careened all around him, bouncing off every surface below him, bolting in new directions, and bombarding his eyes with a brilliance he'd never encountered.
Each slash of every light wave was accompanied by its own stab of strange, high-pitched sound that reverberated within and throughout his brain. His eardrums were battered with a kind of terrific, shrill screaming that reminded him of one he'd heard only once before in his life – that of Black Canary's.
In defense, Superman used his hands to cover his eyes and his ears, trying his best to quell the chaotic assault on his senses, even as he fell from the sky into the cornfield below him.
Several minutes ticked by while he lay there, flat on his back, before it dawned upon him what had just happened. As with every other time in his past when there had been a tremendous upgrade in his powers, he heard the quiet voice of his dad reach out to him.
"Focus. Just focus on my voice."
The voice in his head continued for quite a while until slowly his heart calmed, and the onslaught of what he could only guess was a slight feeling of nausea passed. The waves of light and sound around him slowly resolved into a pattern that made a little more sense to his beleaguered brain.
"So that's what a gamma ray look like," he said quietly to the night sky. He looked a little to his right. "And I'm guessing you must be a radio wave. And you…maybe a cell phone transmission?" He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Man, this is going to take some getting used to," he said to himself as he got slowly, and a little unsteadily, to his feet. Knowing this new complicated addition to his sight and hearing was going to be more of a hindrance than a help in the next few hours, he asked, "Why tonight?" as he lifted himself into the night sky and headed for the farm, determined to carry through with his original plan.
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It took all of the Martian Manhunter's speed and strength to stop Superman before he reached the barn. Arguing, they both touched down several thousand yards from the farm where the other League members had gathered.
"But Shelby—"
"—Is fine. Zatanna imbued him with some magical … protection just in case things—"
"Just in case?" Superman's eyebrows dipped with his doubt. "No, no, I just want to go in there, and—"
Zatanna stepped out from the darker shadows and cautioned, "Not like that, you can't. Superman is Act II. Clark Kent is Act I. We have it all prepared."
As she spoke, Clark saw a large man emerge from behind them, and, despite himself, his eyes grew round, and he pointed. "That's…Oh w-wow." He was embarrassed to hear himself stammer, "You…you're—"
"Yes, exactly," John Jones said, "And now you know why we don't want you flying in there just yet. That man in there has a piece of blue Krypt—"
"No, he doesn't. Look, you don't understand. That crystal he has…it's not—"
"We know. Different shade, and it's not a threat to you, but it is valuable for other reasons, and we can't risk—"
"How do you know—?"
Zatanna began, "Once we get it back—"
Jones interrupted her, "She can do what you wish with it."
Superman shook his head, "How do you guys know—" He looked back at the Martian and understood. "Oh, right. You read my mind."
"I just hope," Zatanna spoke up softly, directing her comment toward Jones, "you don't mean tonight. I can only do so many spells in such a small amount of time."
"Believe me, there's no hurry," Superman said, and his sad tone caused all three people to look at him in unison.
Another yelp from the barn caused Superman to react swiftly and take a couple of steps further toward the barn. It wasn't so much the strong arm on his that held him back as the commanding, deep voice from the large man he'd only known, until now, by reputation.
"Wait!"
"Look, that's my dog in there. I'm not standing here chatting any longer about whatever plans you guys have made for tonight when they could hurt Shelby!"
"He isn't hurting Shelby. Shelby is…helping us."
"Helping?" Superman looked from one face to another. "He's a dog."
"Yes," the Martian who had been his friend longer than any of the others stepped forward, "but he's an intelligent dog. They do understand much more than you give them credit for. Besides, he wanted to help."
"And they can't hurt him for the next three to four hours," Zatanna added. "The spell will last that long."
"You really used a spell? On Shelby?" His eyes widened. Magic was one thing he would never understand. "They can't hurt him? Could you…uh…Lois..."
"No. Sorry. I only had time to prepare two spells. This one and one other. They each took a lot of preparation time."
Superman's face fell. A back-up plan would have been so nice…Then the words sank in, and he turned to the large man once again to look him up and down, from head to toe. "It's obvious what the other spell was." He walked up to him and looked him square in the face. "Just for the record, I think it's a lousy idea, and you must be as crazy as I've heard you are!"
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Author's notes: Englemohr2004 – glad you found the story and thanks for the comments! Chewbie, I think I'm glad you don't know where I'm going with all this. Isn't that what makes the ride fun? So far, everyone has been wrong about what I thought about the bracelet. I can't believe none of you have really come up with my take yet. Thanks for the comments Glykera, BrianBach5 – (another newbie?) Callista update, Princessbella, and waffleNinja! I do have a bit more written, but I'm still working on polishing it out a bit…but the next update shouldn't be so long in coming! I keep promising anyway…
