79. Kara's Visitor part 5
"Now…the accuracy of the results may be in question…."
"Naturally," Raven rolled her eyes.
Cyborg continued as the T-Car produced a 3-D hologram of Smallville just like the night previous. The seven of us gathered around the vehicle in the center of the barn. The morning light and smells of the farm filtered in and out through the open doors to the structure.
"The computer analysis has scanned our shard of Kryptonite and has searched the local geography for similar traces of the green material. So far there are five possible locations within the local vicinity, and…um….eighteen probable sources."
"I'm guessing……w-we're gonna go for the five ones," Beast Boy nodded.
"I would have to agree with the elf boy on that one," Kara remarked.
"Is it possible that these readings suggest where Kryptonite has been?" Robin asked. "And not where it presently is?"
"Intergang could have swept them up by now," Raven added.
"Sorry, folks," Cyborg pressed a button and highlighted the five sure samples. "The computer laid out a simple blueprint. It's up to all of us to do the thinking."
"Well…let's see where the stuff may be, shall we?" Kara folded her arms and smiled.
Cyborg singled out each of the five locations as he spoke: "Johnson's Recreational Park…eight miles west of here. August River, nearby a metal bridge three miles north of here. Some farmland belonging to a family called the Brendersons, three miles north. A field right beside the interstate, fifteen miles east, and Jacob's Plaza…just off of downtown Smallville, a mile and a half southeast from here."
"Wonderful," Starfire smiled and held her hands together. "Surely we can attend to each of those locations! Perhaps even in a single day!"
"You're right, Star," Robin nodded. "We can't waste any time on this. I suggest we split into groups."
"One group per location?" Raven asked. "There are only seven of us working together. Isn't that stretching it a little bit thin?"
"We'll attend to three at a time at first. So that means three groups initially. Then we'll form two groups to go after the last two locations."
"Well, allright," Cyborg smiled. "Where to first?"
Robin scratched his chin as he looked at the 3-D hologram map. "Hmmmm….We don't want to attract too much attention. Not from the public, and certainly not from Intergang. So we should probably save Johnson's Park and downtown Smallville for some time after dark."
"That leaves the Brendersons, the August River, and the field by the Interstate."
"I know the Brendersons!" Kara hopped up and down and waved her hand. She smiled and said, "Used to babysit for their kids."
"Did you truly?" Starfire asked.
"Yes. Little Mable and Leslie. Sisters."
"Awwww! They sound adorable!"
"Oh, they are! You should see them at harvest time, riding the back of a hay wagon toget—"
"Ahem," Robin cleared his throat. "Sorry to interrupt but….Kara, could you take on that part of the assignment?"
"What….go to the Brendersons?"
"Yes."
"By all means! It shouldn't be too difficult."
"Um….," Beast Boy sweatdropped. "You're gonna somehow end up digging Kryptonite from out of their backyard, you know that…right?"
"Most likely their precious farmland," Raven added.
"Oh…that….well…," Kara blushed. "I'll work that out. Don't worry."
"……."
"But I'll need some help."
"Well, naturally," Cyborg gestured. "We're talking about Kryptonite. You can't handle that on your own. I-I mean, you could perhaps…if it's not to much of it and stuff…you being Arganoid and all…"
"Argosian," Kara corrected.
"Yeah, that."
"One of us should go with you," Robin said. "But even if you are to approach the Brendersons about it, it'd be best not to reveal to them the true thing that you're seeking."
"Why not?"
"Well…you shouldn't reveal yourself as Supergirl and—"
"Why doesn't she just fly in and snatch the stuff from the farm?" Beast Boy interrupted.
"At this time of year?!" Kara remarked. "Pfft! They'll be working those fields! I don't want them to see me! I'd feel like trespassing!"
"That's rather unavoidable…," Raven droned.
"Kara's right about one thing," Robin nodded. "It's best that we not let the public see us digging up Kryptonite. If they realize there's some wyrd plot afoot concerning the green stuff, the word could somehow get to Intergang. And that wouldn't be pretty. 'Loose lips helps the enemy' and all that…."
"Heheh," Cyborg chuckled.
"No problem!" Kara did a thumb's up. "I'll do it…ya know…undercover! I've done undercover stuff before!"
Beast Boy chuckled. "I'd love to have seen that."
"Whoever goes with me should be good at keeping his mouth shut too," Kara said. She blinked. The girl then beamed, hopped over, and hugged my arm. "I think I got my moving buddy!"
I did a double-take.
"Noir??" Cyborg remarked.
"Good choice!" Beast Boy winked. "He made a good Mr. Allenthorpe way back when in Westhaven. Say, those are good memories…ain't they, Nooby?"
I shuddered forth a sigh. I looked at Kara who was hugging my side…then at Robin and Cyborg. I gestured.
"Good point," Cyborg nodded. He looked over at the Boy Wonder. "Noir can go through the Brendersons' farm in stealth form while Kara distracts them."
"Perfect," Robin folded his arms and smiled. "I think that more than settles it. The two of you go and acquire the Kryptonite from the Brendersons then meet us back here at the farm."
"You said the Brendersons would recognize you, am I correct?" Starfire asked Kara.
"I should hope so. I sure changed enough diapers for their offspring."
"How will they react to Noir's new face?"
I looked at Kara.
The girl was still hugging my shoulder. She shrugged. "I'll improvise. I'm good at that."
"I bet you are," Raven muttered.
I glanced at Beast Boy. He had a devilish look of amusement on his face. I blushed and smoothly disentangled myself from Kara's grip.
"Touchy….," the Girl of Steel remarked with a sly wink.
I bit my lip.
"What about the Interstate?" Cyborg asked.
"That shouldn't be too hard to acquire," Robin said. "Let's think about the August River first."
"Ooh! Ooh! Me!" Beast Boy hopped. "I can scour the river like nobody else! Who here can grow scales from his skin on the fly?!'
Starfire smiled. "Well, there was that one time during my Transformation when—"
"No, Starfire," Robin smiled. "That surely doesn't count."
Kara seemed curious…amused.
"Admittedly…I'm a little out of practice in fresh water lifeforms….but…," Beast Boy sweatdropped. He shook it off. "The heck am I talking about?! I'm built for the job!"
"Anyone wanna go with him?" Raven droned boringly.
"How about you and me, Robin?" Cyborg asked. "We'll take the T-Car."
"And leave the girls to the Interstate sample?" Robin remarked.
"It is the furthest target from us," the android Titan replied. "And with their flight, they'd get there much faster than we ever could."
"That sounds like it would be the best alternative," Starfire smiled. "You boys stick to the bridge over the August River. Perhaps if Raven and I are finished with our task promptly enough, we can fly back and assist you!"
"Yeah…," Cyborg nodded. "It could take a while to search the August River."
"Hey!" Beast Boy planted his hands on his hips. "You doubting my searching abilities?"
"No…I'm doubting our constraints of time," Cyborg retorted. "Who knows…I may need to help you and stuff. This is an issue of how swiftly we can recover this stuff, after all."
"And we'd benefit from getting it all before dark so we can go after the two more sure targets," Robin said. "Then we can conduct a greater search with the analyses from our bigger samples."
"All right!" Kara rubbed her hands together. "Let's get this plan into action, shall we?"
"Not so fast," Raven said. "Not all of us are Cyborg. How're we going to track down the Kryptonite, exactly?"
Cyborg rubbed his chin. A beat. He turned around. He pressed a button in the console of the T-Car's dashboard. He pulled out three sensors."
"By now…these things should be calibrated to factor in the analyses we just took overnight," the android Titan remarked. He tossed one to Starfire…and another to me. He kept one to himself before slowly handing it to Beast Boy. "When you press the red button, the device should beep and flash its red light. The closer you are to Kryptonite emissions, the faster the beeping and flashing."
"Oh….kinda like in that movie 'Alien'! When the extraterrestrial freak got closer to them, the sensors clicked faster and faster!" Beast Boy remarked. Starfire and Kara glared at him. "What?! For crying out loud, it's just Hollywood!"
"That settles that," Raven nodded. "How soon do we set out?"
Robin smiled. "How soon can you take off into the air?"
I took a deep breath and looked at Kara.
The girl giggled. "Care to go for a walk, Jordan?"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
The T-Car's engine hummed as the convertible rolled on down a dusty road at fifty miles per hour. The rolling hills gradually sloped down and down as they approached a distant river bed that would hopefully house the Kryptonite that they were after. Cyborg was at the wheel, Beast Boy sat in the rear. Robin busied himself in the front passenger's seat with a communicator.
"That's gonna be a long flight you girls take," the Boy Wonder spoke. "Keep in touch with us and let us know if you need anything."
"I'm sure we'll be fine, Robin," Raven's voice responded firmly through the tiny speakers. "We're called 'superheroes' for a reason, ya know."
Beast Boy leaned in from the backseat. "Don't ya mean 'superheroines'?"
"Robin, is that Beast Boy?"
"Uh….yeah it is."
"Do me a favor and hit him for me."
BONK!
"Owie!!" Beast Boy rubbed his forehead and leaned back.
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it."
"Raven out."
Robin pocketed the communicator.
"Sometimes, dude…I swear. You and Raven are joined at the hip."
"Yeah…well…duh." Robin then looked over at the driver. "How close are we, Cyborg?"
"Should have brought a Game Boy, man," Cyborg shook his head. "Gonna be a while."
"All right," the Boy Wonder nodded. He leaned back in his seat and placed his arms behind his back. "I'll admit…..we've been through more pressuresome straits before."
"Uh…dude…," Beast Boy blinked. "You're not pressured at all by a fruity robot running around with a hydrogen bomb strapped inside his chest?"
"Well, besides that…," Robin hummed. "I like to think this is still a vacation."
"Man…I wished I had your tenacity," Cyborg smirked.
Robin glanced at him through his eyemask. "Am I hearing this from the same hero who's had his fair share of 'dying' in multiple contexts of the term and surviving long enough to eat pizza and play Xbox?"
"Yes….well, granted, I'm more tenacious than the two of you combined…," Cyborg chuckled.
"Oh really," Robin and Beast Boy uttered at once.
"What I envy is your spirit—though it's usually a pain in the ass—it's commendable, Robin."
"This must be vacation still," Beast Boy looked out at the passing scenery and wind. "We're getting all mushy and crap. Intergang, do us a favor and ambush the nest intersection or something."
"Man, don't jinx this mission!"
"Uh uh! I ain't jinxing nothing! I'm finding you some Kryptonite under the river if it means my swimming limbs falling off!"
"Yeah, you do that."
Silence.
Kansas blurred by.
"So…," Cyborg began. He glanced at the rear view mirror. "Anyone else beside me notice that Kara's being really friendly…?"
"Sure! She's a nice gal."
"……with Noir?"
"Oh." Beast Boy blinked.
Robin smirked. "So what?"
"So nothing," Cyborg shrugged. "Just remarking…"
"If you ask me," Robin gestured. "It's about time. Noir was due for a girl finding him and stuff."
"Dude, are you being sarcastic?" Beast Boy folded his arms and pouted. "You were there at the fundraising events! Girls flocked all over him!"
"That's not what I mean," Robin shook his head. "When you become famous…stuff like that is bound to happen."
"No…when you become famous and handsome!" Beast Boy cackled. "When was the last time you saw a bunch of girls swooning over….um…Martian Manhunter!"
"What about Raven?" Cyborg lifted a finger from the wheel.
"Yeah….but….she's Raven, dude."
"True…..true…."
"Supergirl is….the first person on Noir's level—how about that? The first person his level to….I dunno…am I assuming things?"
"Maybe," Cyborg said. "I don't think Supergirl's the first."
Robin gave him a side glance. "Who?"
Cyborg looked aside. "Never mind," he uttered.
"…….."
Beast Boy moaned and leaned over a seat. "Dude….when's it gonna be my time?"
"Erm….," Robin thought of the best way to say it. Eventually he uttered, "Weren't you and—"
"Besides that." The changeling glared.
Robin cleared his throat.
"How about Batgirl?" Cyborg smirked.
"Dude! She's superhot!"
"And she's superNOT in the equation!" Robin grumbled.
"Why, Robin??" Cyborg remarked. "You got your heart set on her?"
"No! That's not what I meant! She's just—"
"Too Gotham City?!"
"Too old!"
"Dude! I thought she was sixteen!"
"No, she's……….older," was all the Boy Wonder would say.
"Care to tell us how old?" Beast Boy slyly smirked. "Or would that go against your vigilante 'prime directive' or something?"
"She'd be illegal, Beast Boy," Robin said. "Isn't that enough for you to know?"
"Illegal! Cool! All the more adventurous!"
Robin's jaw dropped in a ridiculous show of shock.
Cyborg couldn't help but laugh. "Oh man….B.B., you're evil!"
"Dude! It's just worth it for the look on your face!"
Robin grumbled, folded his arms, and frowned out at the blurring landscape. "I hope you grow up some day, Beast Boy."
"What? So I can take Batgirl without fear of the FBI or tabloids?!"
"That's not what I meant! I meant—daaah, forget it!"
"Hehehehehehe!!"
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Far east of the route the Titan boys were taking, Starfire and Raven were in a hurried flight towards a distant interstate next to which they hoped to find one of the samples of Kryptonite. The wind kicked at Starfire's flaming red hair and the edges of Raven's dark blue hood. The dark girl had the sensor strapped around her on her belt. She embraced the whipping winds of their attitude with thin, bored eyes.
Silence.
At some point in the middle of the journey, a hidden exhaustion seemed to take ahold of Raven. She sighed, shook her head, and lowered herself down.
Curious, Starfire gave her a concerned glance before slowing her flight and descending to join the sorceress.
They floated towards a flock of lonely trees in the middle of an enclosed field by a two-lane road. Raven settled down atop the branch of a tree and leaned gracefully against its trunk. She looked out at the horizon…silent.
"Raven?" Starfire lowered down and sat beside her. "What is wrong? You look suddenly overcome by something…"
"I dunno, Starfire I just….," the dark girl sighed again and lowered her eyelids. "I just want to rest for a minute. That's all."
Starfire leaned her head to the side and placed a gentle hand on Raven's shoulder. "What is the matter, Raven? Do not hesitate to share if need be. I am here for such a necessity."
"I know I don't say it much, Starfire…but I hate to always be the stick in the mud," Raven mumbled.
Starfire blinked. "But…y-you do not resemble a wooden branch suspended within moist soil at all!"
Raven couldn't help it. She smirked slightly and opened her eyes to glance at Starfire.
"You know, Starfire…I may have once considered you annoying. But I think I grew out of that by now."
Starfire smiled. "Do we not all have the capacity to change?"
"I would hope so….sometimes," Raven said. She looked down at the grass far below her dangling feet. "All this business with the Kryptonite….it's really starting to bother me."
"In what fashion?"
"Supergirl is hiding something….I know it!" Raven exclaimed. She bit her lip. "I wish I could explain it. I-I just have a feeling….she's not being honest with us."
"I do not see how she could be deceptive," Starfire gently replied. "What would she have to gain?"
"Heck if I know," Raven droned. "And why am I bring you into this topic? You two have gotten really close to each other within the past few days. It wouldn't be right of me to get in the way of that."
"Raven…," Starfire looked into the dark girl's face as she spoke, "…the friends I choose, I choose through passion. And even the most naive Tamaran will tell you…passion is as easily receptive to fallacy as logic can be. But only if passion is applied with a certain level of diligence so as to see past obscurity. I've learned to hone in on such an art through my exposure to Terra and Noir in turn. I feel I am capable of discerning what is or what is not honest in a person. Even if Supergirl was hiding something…I feel I would have detected by now whether or not she had malignant intentions."
"Funny…," Raven chuckled dryly. "I thought I was the one with empathic abilities."
Starfire giggled. "I am sure you are still most adept at such powers, Raven. But this is 'vacation', is it not?"
Raven looked at the Tamaranian. She said: "Tell me, Starfire. What do you sense in Kara?"
Starfire's green eyes trailed the sky. "I sense….wonder…..energy….enthusiasm….vulnerability…and a strong and remarkable attachment to Noir."
"Yes…," Raven looked off. "…she does seem to be taking a liking to Noir, isn't she?"
Starfire looked at Raven. She tilted her head to the side. "Is that the reason for your supposition into her 'dishonesty', Raven?"
The dark girl looked at Starfire in recoiled horror and uttered: "No!!"
Starfire held her hands up. "I did not mean anything bad by that!"
"What difference does it make if that's the case?" Raven said. She stared off again. Her voice was a bit lower as she added: "What difference does it make if they're falling for each other…"
"Erm…," the alien girl blinked. "I-I wasn't aware that the latter situation was established."
"Oh….um….," Raven blushed.
"Is there something that you know about which I am oblivious to?" Starfire asked. "I do hate it when I overlook things—"
"I think I'm well rested now," Raven stood up and floated off the tree branch. "Come on, Starfire. L-Let's go….um….dig up a green rock." She flew away.
"…..," Starfire blinked. "I wonder if this has something to do with 'that time of the month' that Beast Boy always refers to…," she said to herself.
The alien Titan rejoined her companion and the two were off.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"The reason why we're walking….," Kara explained, "…is because the Brenderson's isn't too far off compared to the locations the others are going to. Besides…we're pretending we're not superheroes, remember? I'm Kara Kent. And you're….um…..Jordan. How about that?"
I shrugged as I strolled alongside her. I could be 'Jordan'….
Kara and I walked down the country road. The hills making us slowly go up and down. Every now and then a tractor or a pickup truck would cruise past us. The sun bore down warm and inviting. Kansas in the summer time.
Every now and then, there would be a lone cow or horse peering over the edge of a farmside wooden fence stretching on and on and on. I couldn't help but stare at such livestock. Kara—on the other hand—seemed used to it. She spoke on as if this was just an ordinary walk that we were on and not a mission to find Kryptonite.
"When I first came to Earth…," Kara went on…smiling, "…Clark was always telling me to stick to the ground. To not fly during the daytime—'going vroom' is what I called it—or running with superhuman speed. I couldn't understand why he was making me hold back. Why he insisted that I…ya know…hide my powers and stuff. Then I realized that it wasn't a matter of 'hiding' as it was 'preserving'. There's a certain sense of power in keeping one's identity secret from the very world you're trying to protect. As much as I hate to admit it, assumed identities is a good tool in fighting crime and evil and stuff. Robin's not as wacky as he seems."
I nodded listlessly. I never bothered with keeping my identity secret. Well, yes I did—but only to live up to the code of confidentiality that both Robin and Raven insisted be governed at the Tower. If any Joe Blow on the street knew I was Jordan, it wouldn't really matter. 'Jordan' didn't really exist much anymore anyways. I would have happily accepted a life that was as nameless as I was voiceless hadn't Janice at the City apartment complex so wooed me with the possibilities of the name 'Noir'. God rest her soul…
"Anyways…I felt so cooped up in the early days," Kara said. "And in Kansas of all places, I naturally felt like my head was gonna explode n'stuff. But over time…I got to appreciate 'this'."
She twirled around in mid walk, gestured towards the landscape, and smiled. She was dressed in jeans, a white t-shirt, and a cardigan sweater. Her platinum blonde hair was still kept in a hairband. It seemed to be her trademark accessory—in and out of costume.
"It feels good to slow down when you know perfectly well you can scale the landscape in one fatal swoop. I don't mean to brag, Jordan, but I'm practically a goddess on this planet," she lightened up her statement with a smile and a 'Kara' wink as she spoke. "I can plow through stuff and….um….throw cars at people. Not th-that I would do th-that to just any person, of course. Just….ya know…a bad one here or there."
I smirked and nodded. I was wearing Clark's old clothes—dry now—with a denim jacket over them to hide Myrkblade's scabbard hanging on my back.
"Things seem so infinitesimal when you're a 'Supergirl' or a 'Superman'. You start to appreciate the small stuff, ya know? Like doing chores around the farm. Jogging for exercise. All that good stuff. It's like sometimes I try to make things harder than they really are to accomplish. And in so doing, I learn to appreciate my gifts. You ever do the same?"
I looked off towards the blue horizon. I thought about the times I tried fighting without the aid of Myrkblade. I was quickly reminded of how soon my ass had been handed to me on a plate. I looked at her and shook my head.
"No??"
I shrugged and simpered.
"Well, that's too bad," Kara said. "Cuz me? I like walking. I like walking a lot. It just feels….nice. I wish you could understand that…"
For the first time since we met, I wanted desperately to tell Supergirl something. Naturally, I couldn't. But still, I wanted her to know. I was in love with walking too. I loved to explore the urban and natural jungles of our world on foot. I was absolutely, positively fond of……..this…..
"We'll get to the Brendersons," Kara mused. "Just a matter of time. Good…lazy…self-sufficient time…"
And silence ensued for a few minutes as we walked. The two of us. Alone.
I glanced at Kara. She was quiet. Peaceful. Serene. Not the blonde chatterbox that she so easily persuaded others that she was. That she so easily impressed upon the Titans that she was. Every cutting remark of Beast Boy's and every glare of Raven's fell into the fire in my head as I saw Kara melt away all stereotypes and morph into what we all really are on the inside.
Aimless, mute souls.
I took a deep breath as the wind kicked at my hair and her hair alike. I never knew it was so windy this time of year. Must have been a Kansas thing. The air brushed away our exteriors and underneath I was the same old ghost afraid of the West and Kara was…..Kara was haunted by something herself. I couldn't quite put my finger on it. But something was troubling her. Beneath the extroverted party-goer and the lonesome naturalist was a layer of anxiety. And I wondered—in the suspicious corners of my mind—if the very same Supergirl I was infrequently infatuated with in days of old was truly nothing more than the vomiting-in-a-Denny's-bathroom prisoner to the past as I was.
It was through this fissure of awkwardness that my muteness converged with Supergirl's sudden solemnity and someone's soul braved the chance to squeak through.
Kara's….
"You wanna know how else I'm similar to Blueboy, Jordan?"
I looked at her curiously.
Her blue eyes darted at me. "I'm the last of my kind too."
My lips parted somewhat.
"I'm the only Argosian there ever will be," Supergirl said. "The last of my people. The soul survivor of a planet obliterated by Krypton's devastation."
I swallowed a painful lump in my throat. That was utterly inconceivable…
Kara hugged herself as she walked against the wind with me. "It's not so bad when you start to embrace it," she said. "Putting it into harsh terms…we're all the last of our kind. In that 'our kind' never goes beyond who we are when we are born and who we are when we die." She glanced at me again. "Even if I was to live a life long and happy on my planet and with my family all around me and stuff, I'd still be destined to live and die as myself and myself alone. Nothing would have changed that. Not even the destruction of my planet. I'm the same girl I always was and always will be. And I'm the same girl I always would have been…"
I listened silently. It was what I was good at. I never complained…and with Supergirl of all people—I wasn't about to start.
"I guess it's because I see my life as such a limbo because of what happened to me…," Kara went on, "…that I feel the need to help people. My life may remain static…but by being a hero I can help others along, right? If I can't change myself, at least I can change things so that other people have it better. I-In a way…it kinda sorta makes up for the fact that I was powerless on my dying planet when everyone around me…………….a-around me……."
Her words lingered.
I took a deep breath and politely looked towards the horizon again.
Kara sighed. A beat. "Enough of that." She then smiled suddenly and looked at me. "So how do you like being Supergirl's counsel slave?"
I mocked as if I was 'thinking', snapped my finger, and pretended to hang myself with an invisible rope.
"Oh come on!" she shoved me. Lightly, thank god. She giggled. "That's mean!"
I smirked.
"I know…I know…I can take it," she mused. "I'm Supergirl, after all. The Girl of Steel. Can leap twenty jocks with a single bound. Hehehe! I just made that one up!"
I chuckled breathily.
A beat.
Kara paused in her walk.
So did I.
She sauntered over and sat on a wooden fence. She sighed, took her hairband out, and ran a hand through her platinum blondeness in the relentless wind.
"To be honest….I-I never talk about it much with ayone."
I leaned my head to the side…listening. Paying attention to her.
"I could talk about Argos with Clark and all. But somehow it doesn't feel right. He's lost a whole world of people like me. But he's built his entire life upon it. He's practically a legend. And his parents put so much faith and trust in him and stuff. I think he's too sensitive to talk much of Krypton, much less Argos. And Ma and Pa…th-they're so nice to me, I wouldn't ever want to burden them with my homesickness. Especially with how nice they've been to me and stuff. Besides, I don't think they'd understand."
I was silent.
She looked up, twirling her hairband around in her nervous hands. "Maybe I'm looking for the wrong thing? I don't need to talk about my past. Talking gets a person nowhere. It's action that's important. Action and decision-making. Not lying around and being pointlessly emotional."
I shrugged.
A beat.
She chuckled a bit. "Tell me, Jordan. Do the other Titans do this to you?"
I raised an eyebrow.
"I mean…dump on you all their problems because you can't talk back?"
I smiled. It wasn't a fake smile, but a genuine…knowing grin.
"Heh….I thought so," she uttered. She twirled the hairband some more. "And with such an eccentric group as the five of them, it must be downright torturous."
I shrugged.
Her blue eyes thinned suspiciously. "How could you be that humble?"
I made a face. I never once said I was 'humble'…
"Tell me. Who yaps on the most about his or her feelings?"
I scratched my chin. A beat. I smiled. I held my flesh and metal hands over my ears and made them appear pointed.
Kara chuckled. "Beast Boy, huh? Why am I not surprised?"
I chuckled breathily.
Kara looked down at her hands. "I suppose…after making you listen so much….it's fare to share something interesting."
I blinked from under my shades.
"Hehehe…I know…I bet you've been dying to know why I always wear these things," she held the hairband up.
I looked at it. I looked at her.
She smiled. "Kinda old-fashioned and juvenile, I know. But that's only on this planet."
I raised an eyebrow.
"On Argos….we got something akin to hairbands. But they have….um….religious significance, I guess you could say. Girls wear them as a sign of ascension towards womanhood. Then—once at the right age—they enter the nearby Temple for the first time and have the hairband replaced by a gemstone placed in the forehead. Kinda like Raven's…only god knows what hers is supposed to means."
I nodded. I never truly understood….
"But for Argosians," Supergirl smiled, "It means a central focus of energy….familial energy. The dedication to one's family and kin. A boundless love….almost equal to Tamaranian adoration."
I smiled.
She sighed. She eyed the accessory in her fingers. "But there are no Temples now. And there is no family left. Perhaps…perhaps I am cursed to never reach womanhood…."
I slowly looked down towards the roadside grass.
A beat.
Kara cleared her throat. She gently placed the hairband back on, smoothed her bangs back, and stood up. "Well…enough sappiness. The Brendersons' is just beyond the hill!"
I blinked. I looked down the road. Indeed—over a bend in grass, fence, and asphalt—I saw the top of a silo. A farmhouse was just nearby. I glanced at Kara curiously.
She giggled. "Well, naturally I wouldn't have wasted all your time with reminiscing if I knew the destination was so far away yet!"
I rolled my black eyes under the shades and joined her side as we ventured over the hill, down the slope, and in through the open gate in the nearby fence.
The Brendersons' house was larger than the Kents'. In fact, they had two barns—both of which were larger than the Kents'—and a silo and a plethora of farm equipment. The tradeoff? They had roughly one fourth of the land that the Kents had. But most of that land was chock full of crops of some kind or another. They seemed like a diligent bunch of people.
As we stepped onto the porch of the place together, a shaggy dog barked loudly from the side. I eyed it viciously. It started to growl.
I felt a tug on my shoulder and looked over at Kara.
"Remember…I know the Brendersons," she said in a hushed tone. "So let me just do the talking."
Duh.
"I'll get all friendly and….um….distract them. And when I give you the signal, you go all cloaky and stuff and check out the back for the Kryptonite. You got the sensor, right?"
I nodded, patting a hand over my pocket. I then gestured at her curiously.
"What?" A beat. "Oh….um….the signal will be…um…you'll know it when I give it."
I sighed.
"Hey! Don't worry!" she winked. "I got this under control!" She turned and knocked on the door.
The shaggy dog barked louder.
I bit my lip.
There was a creaking set of footsteps against wooden floorboards, and then the inner door opened and we saw a middle-aged woman's face through the screen.
"Heya!" Kara smiled with a friendly wave.
The woman gasped. "Kara! Kara Kent! Well, a fine good day it is to see you! How've you been?"
"Just fine, Mrs. Brenderson! We were just in the area and I thought we'd stop on by and say 'hi'!"
The woman beamed and looked in my direction. "And who's this with you?"
Kara swiftly hugged my arm and smiled proudly. "What? You haven't met Jordan?"
"Jordan??"
"My boyfriend from out of town, of course!!"
I went pale. Sweatdropping….
"Oh, well if this isn't a pleasant surprise?! Well, why don't you two come on in! I was just about to make some lemonade for the girls!"
"Mable and Leslie?! Omigosh! I haven't seen them in ages!! I wonder if they've grown—"
"Come see for yourself!"
"Awesome!" she hugged me harder. "Come, Jordan!"
I numbly followed her through the doorway, wheezing as if I was about to faint from something…
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
The T-Car rested off the road between the start of a metal bridge and a slope in the ground that sunk down towards a river. The August River, to be exact. Approximately one hundred feet wide. There had been lots of rain recently, and the river run deep.
"I just thought of something…," Cyborg said, eyeing the sensor and its quickly blinking light. They had to have been close. "For a piece of Kryptonite to have settled around here about thirty-odd years ago and yet not have been swept off by the river's currents…it must have dug deep into the earth. Like…underneath the riverbed itself."
"It's not something that can be seen by the eye, no doubt,' Robin said from the back of the T-Car. He looked over at Beast Boy. "The best you can do is locate a spot underwater that's closest to where the sensor detects the Kryptonite and leave a marker somehow."
"What then?" the changeling asked.
Cyborg switched his hand into a laser cannon. "Forced extraction!" He smirked.
"Great….," Beast Boy folded his arms. "Share the spotlight, why don't ya?"
"Don't complain so much, Beast Boy," Robin said. "We're still depending on you. Sure…Cyborg and I could try diving. But we couldn't do it as efficiently as you can."
"Damn straight!" the green elf smirked. "So what are we waiting for?! Lemme go sploosh already!"
"Before the sploosh…," Cyborg held up the sensor. "You're gonna be needing this."
"Oh yeah. Oops…heheheh."
Robin pulled out a cord and gestured for the sensor. Cyborg handed it to him. The Boy Wonder stringed the cord through a handlepiece of the sensor and then promptly wrapped it lightly around Beast Boy's neck.
"There…," Robin said. "The cord's tactile enough that whatever animal you morph into—providing it's not a whale or a dinosaur or something—the neck won't be big enough to snap it."
"Besides," Cyborg shrugged. "Why the Hell would you turn into a whale in a river?"
"Dude…," Beast Boy frowned. "This is so like a leash! You know that!"
"Yes."
"Yes."
Beast Boy rolled his eyes. "Glad Raven's not here. She'd say something off hand that would really really make this embarrassment worse."
"Don't sweat," Cyborg smirked and pointed at his red eye. "I'm recording as we speak."
"Dude!!"
Robin chuckled. "Go on, Beast Boy. In the meantime, Cyborg, let's you and I move the T-Car behind those trees. It's best we not reveal ourselves too much out here."
"Sure thing. Good luck, B.B."
"I have all the luck I need," Beast Boy winked. He walked over towards the river's edge, pointed his hands out like an expert swimmer, and leapt outward. He flipped in mid air, morphed into a salmon, and—with the sensor still attached—he plunged deep into the murky waters of the August River."
"Show off…," Cyborg muttered.
"Let him have his fun," Robin said.
The two put the T-Car into neutral and pushed it behind a set of trees besides the base of the bridge's north side.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Kara and I sat on stools besides the counter of a well-furnished kitchen. We had glasses of iced lemonade before us. Mrs. Brenderson filed about in the kitchen, smiling and pleasantly going on and on about some local fair going on that very day. Two adorable little sisters—Mable and Leslie—played with dolls in the corner. In the adjacent room and sitting in an easy chair with a newspaper was an old man with a gray beard and an egg-like head. Grandpappy Brenderson…I rightfully assumed. Every now and then, Mr. Brenderson and a young, well-built cousin of theirs wandered in and out of the house and managed a scant 'greetings' and 'good afternoon' before swiftly going back to their farm duties of the day.
"..and they're even having a pumpkin contest! Though this year, it's rather lackluster. From what I hear, that is. The Jenkins' family aren't entering. And you know as well as everyone else how they've been undefeated for the past eight summer fairs."
I stared intently into the glass of my lemonade, trying to stay sane. Snug in my pocket, the sensor clicked muffledly against the material of Clark's old slacks. We were close to the Kryptonite. But not too close. Otherwise, Supergirl would be showing signs of some fatigue at least. Instead, she was energetically playing the part of…..being herself.
"Oh, those Jenkins'! You know they're just boasting about it all!" Kara exclaimed. She cupped her hands under her leaning chin and smiled pleasantly over the counter at the woman. "The only reason they've won the pumpkin competitions so much is because their daughter has married into the Alberts' and their farm!"
"The Alberts?" Mrs. Brenderson remarked.
"Yeah! Ya know…the old lady Albert? She's one of the judges every year!"
"Wow….I never thought of that."
"Word travels around in high school that she's taken a liking to that one Jenkins' girl married to her grandson, and you KNOW what that means!"
"Yes…heheheheheh!"
I looked boringly into the other room.
The old man was glaring at me. Suspiciously. He did not seem like a pleasant man at all.
I gulped. I looked out the window.
The loud shaggy dog was pressed against the pane. Eyeing me. Bloodthirsty.
I took a shaky drink of lemonade.
"So….Jordan, is it?" Mrs. Brenderson folded her arms and smiled. "You've got a lucky catch with Kara! The kindest creature in the world. I swear. She's made us so happy with the way she takes care of little Mable and Leslie…."
I smiled. I gulped. I returned to the lemonade.
"………," Mrs. Brenderson blinked. "Certainly a quiet type, are you?"
I bit my lip.
Kara cleared her throat and said—smiling: "He….um….has made a vow of silence."
"A vow of silence?"
I raised my eyebrow at Kara.
"Y-Yeah!" she hugged my arm and beamed. "He's practicing to….um…..become a monk!"
"Oh….you don't say!"
"Y-Yeah! In….um….Timbuck!"
I coughed.
"Tibet! I-I mean Tibet!"
Mrs. Brenderson blinked. "Oh…..fancy that."
"What's so fancy about it??"
"Oh, n-nothing. Only….I thought Tibetan monks shaved their heads and stuff."
"Oh…y-yeah….um…."
"And aren't they also celibate?"
I sweatdropped.
Kara stuttered: "O-Of course they are! But not Jordan's sect!"
"Oh?"
"Yeah! It's a new wave! Um……Neo Raft Buddhism or something. Started on the Internet. They got a new Dalai Lama and he plays guitar…and stuff."
I gulped down some lemonade eagerly.
"Remarkable….the world is certainly changing," Mrs. Brenderson said. "I sure hope it's not a cult or something!"
"HA!!" Kara barked forth a laugh. "A clan! That's just…just……HA!"
I cleared my throat.
"Ahem…," Kara let go of my shoulder. "Really, it's all very experimental. I tried to talk Jordan out of it…but he was patient when I went through……..um…….military school. So I guess I owe him the figure."
"I didn't know you went through military school!"
"Oh yeah!" Kara beamed. "I can bayonet a sack of potatoes from twenty meters! I swear to God!"
"Pfft!" Pappy Brenderson from the other room ruffled his newspaper and grumbled. "That's not regular army! Bah!"
Mrs. Brenderson sighed and called forth from the kitchen. "Of course it's not regular army, Pa! It's military school!"
"Sack of potatoes my wrinkled arse! When I was in Sicily, bodies were flying everywhere from the Lutwaffe's bombardment and we wished they were only potatoes!"
"Pa, watch your mouth! Not in front of the children!!"
"Hehehehe!" little Leslie giggled. "Pappy's cussing!"
"I am not! I have every darn right to say what I want to in this house! Lord knows your momma's just waiting for me to turn over into the grave!"
"For the last time, Pa," Mrs. Brenderson cackled, "—we're not waiting for you to die! I wish you'd wipe that out of your head!"
"Pfft! Fine subject to be talking about in front of a bunch of strangers!"
"They're not strangers! You remember Kara, don't you?"
"Like Hell, I don't! I don't even remember the lines on my right palm! You ever think of that!"
I was horrified. But Kara and Mrs. Brenderson were laughing.
"Ahhh….I miss having him around," Kara said.
"We only hired you at first cuz he couldn't keep taking care of the girls by himself," Mrs. Brenderson said.
"I heard that!"
"I know you did, you old coot!"
I rattled the ice in my jar. I glanced out the window. The shaggy dog was still staring. Evilly. I glared back at it.
It was high time for me to do some digging around…
Kara must have sensed it too. She glanced at me and mouthed something.
I wasn't as good at lip syncing as my friends. I raised an eyebrow.
She pointed at my pocket…where the sensor was.
Was that the signal? Regardless, I nodded.
Kara flashed a look at Mrs. Brenderson. She cleared her throat. "Say…would you mind if Jordan used your restroom?"
I winced.
Mrs. Brenderson glanced curiously at me…then back at Kara. "You're speaking for him?"
"Vow of silence, remember?" Kara smiled.
"But how did you know—"
"Telepathy."
Mrs. Brenderson gasped. "No kidding!"
"Yup!"
"That's just like those books at the supermarket!" the woman breathed. "D-Did you know that the Pope got hit by a meteor for the second time in his life?!"
"No way! Really?!"
"Yes! They say Satan and Osama Bin Laden are launching them from Mars!"
"Well….I suppose we should all get new roofs then," Kara remarked. She swiveled to me and pointed down the hall. "Down that way….honey."
"Trust her," Mrs. Brenderson winked. "She's been here plenty a time before."
I nodded.
I got up.
Kara put a hand on my wrist. "Hey! Pay the toll!"
I glanced at her funny.
"Ya know, honey. The toll!" Kara smiled. Then she leaned in and gave me a light peck on the cheek. "Silly! So forgetful."
"……………..," I stared at her and then….more or less 'fell' towards the next room on my way out. I was blushing like a beet.
"Hehehehehe!" Mrs. Brenderson giggled. "He may have made a vow of silence, but it doesn't take a mind-reader to know when he's in love!"
"Um…yeah…," Kara herself blushed—out of character—and leaned over the counter. "…fancy that…"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
I teetered into the adjacent room.
I shook my head.
I took a deep breath.
"……."
I glanced over.
Grandpappy Brenderson sat in his easy chair. He glared at me from over the pages of his newspaper.
"Some monk….," the old man grumbled.
I frowned at him…shrugged it all off…and made my exit. I walked well past the obvious door to the bathroom in the hallway and ducked out under the rear of the house and made my way into a cornfield, following the guidance of the madly clicking sensor in my pocket.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Starfire and Raven touched down in a field just off the interstate. It was a very wide and….flat field. The soil was soft and partially covered with patches of green and white. A less-than-fertile mass of land in Kansas. Perhaps a leftover from the Dust Bowl.
"Forgive me if I say that this is not the most aesthetic feature of your planet I have seen…," Starfire muttered.
"Make that the two of us," Raven droned. She looked around. Then held up the sensor. A beat. She sighed. "Let's dig."
"Dig?" Starfire gulped. She raised her immaculate, girlish hand to her face and looked at Raven with big doe eyes of green. "Are you certain that is our only option?"
Raven rolled her eyes. "Fine…," she said. "Blast."
"Blast?"
"You know…blast!"
Starfire beamed. "Blast!!" She charged a starbolt, aimed at the ground, and let it loose.
FLASH!!
Dust, dirt, and grass flew…and conveniently landed across Raven's cloak and face.
"……..," Raven blinked. "This….will be rapturous…."
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
I took two steps forward and stopped.
I eyed the sensor in my hand.
It was clicking like mad.
I looked up.
Stalks of corn stretched before me.
I took a deep breath.
I walked forward. I stepped in between stalks. Pushing bodies of green and yellow away. Leaves and stringy plant material batted across my arms and face. I gritted my teeth and pressed forward. Row after row. Line of stalk after stalk. Rustling…stumbling. Hoping nobody would see me venturing into this forbidden landscape.
The clicking increased tenfold. I stopped.
The red light was perpetually on. No longer blinking. Slowly, a shrill electric tone filled the air…and I knew that I had to have been at the site.
I pocketed the sensor away and looked straight down. I was standing in between two rows of corn…in the middle of the crop. Stalks stood up all around me. It was like a forest. The earth below was rich, dark, and deep. I pulled Myrkblade out of the sheath underneath my jacket and slowly dug it into the ground. I poured murk out and into the earth. I sensed the soil's contents with a spatial aura. I took a deep breath.
There……
About four feet down. There was something. Something the size of a softball. Hard. Smooth between jutting crags.
Kryptonite.
I smirked.
I prepared to jab down and start digging when--
WHACK!!!!
My legs were tripped out from underneath me by a metal rake.
WHUMP!!
I landed hard on my butt, gasped, and vaulted myself up athletically. I landed on my feet and twirled Myrkblade at ready…frowning.
And then I gasped.
"What in the Sam Hell are you doing there, kiddo?!" Grandpappy Brenderson growled. He held the rake at me and frowned with his liver-spotted face and white, scraggly beard. "This here your cornfield all of the sudden?"
I sweatdropped. I slowly sheathed Myrkblade away and sighed.
"What you puttin' your weapon away for?! Can't you see I'm in the fightin' mood?!" he sputtered. His wrinkled eyes narrowed and he breathed; "You ain't Sam'rai…ain't ya?"
I blinked under my shades.
"My brother was over there in Jap country during the Big One!" he trembly said. He brought the rake down to his side and leaned on it. "But me, I was bogged down in Europe with nothing but Sauerkrauts! I didn't get to see all the swords and heads flyin'! So answer me boy! You Sam'rai or ain't ya?!"
I closed my eyes and took a deep, exasperated breath.
"Ah…so you are the silent type after all….must be a monk. I don't know of no Jap monks. Yer must be a chinaman! Lemme see them eyes of yers!"
I stood absolutely still.
"Heheheheh!" he chuckled and hobbled over towards the edge of the cornfield. "Stubborn type! I like that! My family's gone all softy on me! It's a damned shame! But you and me…we people of the earth, ain't we?!" A beat. He scratched his beard. "Say….when you were diggin' here….were you tryin' to find my stuff?"
I raised an eyebrow.
"Ya know about my stuff, don't ya?! Well…all you had to do was ask, boy! I could have gotten it for both of us!" He then proceeded to approach the hole I was forming and dig into it with his rake.
I bit my lip. I looked around. I glanced back at his digging.
I couldn't let him find the Kryptonite! But….the way he was talking…could it been he already knew about—
But he stopped digging only half of the way to the green stone. He stood up and with a dry, toothless chuckle held up his treasure in question. A black bottle of…..questionable liquid.
"Kept her safe here for a special occasion! That daughter-in-law of mine…she says I should stop drinkin'! Says it's bad for my health! What does she know about health?! While she's makin' lemonade and changin' diapers and a little bit of both in between, I've been livin' my life to the ripe age of eighty-two! Ain't nothin' wrong with that! And ain't nothin' wrong with this here stuff either! It be my fuel, son! Can't live a good life without fuel, can ya?!"
I gulped and shook my head with a nervous smile.
He sat down with a sigh and popped the cork of the bottle. "Have a seat, boy!"
I anxiously sat down across him.
He took a big swig and handed it to me. "Here…have yaself a sip!"
I eyed the bottle. I was underaged. Besides….it was alcohol. Not my bag.
I politely shook my head and pushed it back towards him.
"Oh right…yer a monk. Well…your loss." He took another swig and exhaled with a wheeze. "Mother of Methuselah! After all these years, she still hits the spot!"
I bit my lip.
His lazy eye dangled down and rested on my left arm. "That some fancy hook you got ther on your arm."
I glanced at my metal arm. I flexed the titanium fingers. I shrugged.
"Mark of the Beast…that's what they call it."
I looked at him funny.
"What?! Yer don't believe me?! It's true! It's what them end time prophecy folks say on the Christian T.V.! Some bad guy in Rome's gonna make us all put chips in our arms n'stuff! Gonna say it helps us by vegetables at the grocery store without carryin' wallets! But no! It's all about fire and brimstone and the anty-Christ and locusts with the heads of men flyin' around and raising Hell! Ha! Just you wait and see!"
A beat….I slowly nodded. I tapped my fingers against my knees and watched as he took another swig.
"Ah…never thought I'd live to see the day…the Mark of the Beast and a monk who acts like a sam'rai! But I'll drink to that nonetheless! Hehehehehehe!"
I slowly eyed the hole in the earth next to the stalks of corn as Grandpappy Brenderson got drunker and drunker…
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Robin yawned and sat straight up in the T-Car. "How long has he been at it?"
Cyborg glanced down at the river. After a little while, the dorsal fin of a sailfish appeared from the waters.
"About twenty minutes…"
"Dear lord…I wonder if we got that sensor fixed right?!"
"Well, man, it is Beast Boy after all."
"You say that like it's a bad thing."
"Well…not necessarily bad. I think 'incompetent' is the word for it."
"Pfft…whatever," Robin closed his eyes under his mask and sighed. "The one consolation I have is that no matter how long this may take—we're still beating out Metallo and his crew."
"You can say that again, man."
As if on cue…a mysterious, white van drove up in the distance and stopped at the edge of the bridge.
The two Titans were completely oblivious to it…especially when a half-metal figure stepped out alongside the others.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Underwater in the August River, a green sea otter darted about. Bubbles trailed from its snout. Its beady eyes scanned the floor.
The communicator around its neck started clicking like mad. And the aquatic mammal stopped in the middle of its swimming.
Beast Boy's otter eyes darted down. There was a patch of mud barely seen in the filtered sunlight from above. It was soft and seemingly pliable.
The otter swiftly turned into a green platypus and dove down…beak first. The creature dug into the mud with its teeth, twirled, used its beak like a drill, and jabbed deeper and deeper. As the creature's oxygen ran out, Beast Boy swiftly turned into a gilled lifeform. A grouper. With big fish lips pursing, the changeling eyed its handiwork. There was now a tiny bit of green light streaming up from underneath.
If it's possible to imagine…the grouper smiled. It turned into a sawfish and continued the mad dig.
The Kryptonite would soon be in its grasp…er….fins…
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Hic!!" Grandpappy Brenderson shook. He leaned from side to side in his seat between the corn and smiled drunkenly. "And so I says….'Sprechen sie shrapnel'! And I tossed the grenade into the pill box and—land of goshen!—you should have seen the helmets fly! I swear…they were like salad bowls of blood when you turned them over!"
I winced and managed a brave smile as I listened to the old man.
"Dawson…my war buddy…he made a game of collecting as many helmets as—hic!—he could. But one day we were ambushed by this panzer division. And you know what he does?! He tosses the damned helmets at the tank and these dumbarse sauerkrauts start running out thinking we were hurling grenades at their hull!! Haw haw haw haw haw….oh h-hey…bedtime."
PLOP!!
He fell over with his bottle and was immediately snoring. His beard flapping from his drunken breath.
I sweatdropped.
I slowly stood up, recovered Myrkblade, and went back to my task at hand. A few minutes passed and I was frantically digging towards the hidden Kryptonite in the Brenderson's crops.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
FLASH!!!!
"Try again."
FLASH!!!!
"Nope…none here. Try again."
FLASH!!!!
"Well shoot…the sensor says it's here somewhere."
Where Starfire and Raven stood, there were now twenty-something holes in the earth of the field. Deep craters from Starfire's starbolts formed all around them. The sensor clicked like mad with each successive burst. And yet….still no Kryptonite.
"Perhaps this is the wrong field?" Starfire panted.
Raven shook her head and eyed the device in her hand. "It's this one, all right. If I didn't know better…i-it's almost as if the Kryptonite keeps moving around."
"But how is that possible?" Starfire pouted. "No mineral on your planet is capable of sentience and animalistic movement!"
"But remember…Kryptonite is not from this planet…," Raven said. A beat. The sensor suddenly beeped and blinked like mad. Raven's blue eyes bulged. "Now! Starfire! Beneath you!"
"EEK!" the girl floated up and unleashed a starbolt.
FLASH!!!
Dirt and grass flew.
Raven shielded herself. She grit her teeth and looked at the fresh hole. Her eyes narrowed. "Starfire…look."
"What? It is another hole, courtesy of my administrations!"
"No…look closer."
Starfire narrowed her eyes. "A….tunnel?"
Indeed, a thin passageway in the white earth was formed beneath the ground. It began at one edge of the new hole and ended on the other side.
"Hmm….," Raven scratched her chin. "Starfire, I have a plan."
"I am 'all the ears'."
Raven motioned for Starfire to step back a few feet. She stood in place and stared at her sensor.
Seconds passed.
A half a minute.
A minute.
The sensor started to click and flash like mad again.
Raven lowered her eyes. She concentrated. "Azarath…Metrion…Zinthos…," she breathed. A beat. Her eyes opened. They were glowing gray. She suddenly aimed her wrist at a patch of soil three feet away. A black dome formed over a spot of grass. "Starfire! There! Now!"
"Raugh!!" FLASH!!
A stream of green flew. The soil around the dome of Raven's black telekinesis exploded. With the soil gone, the two could see a green object rattling inside the body of the black sphere. But it wasn't alone. There was a small orange creature inside. A prairie dog. And the Kryptonite was stuck to its fur.
The thing chattered and clawed at the sides of the black sphere in desperation.
Raven's lips curved ever so slightly. "Get out of there, you little varmint…"
"Awwwwwwww!!" Starfire clasped her hands together. "It was helping us!!"
"Hardly…," Raven droned. She floated the creature into the middle of them. "Okay, Starfire….I'm going to lower the shield and I want you to grab the prairie dog and pluck the Kryptonite off its back. You understand?"
"Affirmative," she nodded.
"Don't try to scare it too much," Raven said. "The poor creature doesn't know that we mean it no harm. Let's just be gentle with it…remove the Kryptonite…and let it go back to the earth."
"Okay…"
"Here we go," Raven lowered the shield.
The creature plopped down to the earth, shook its fur, and with white incisors barred and beady eyes demonesque it pounced at the two girls with a hellish warcry.
Raven and Starfire shrieked. "AAAAAAAAAAAAIEEEEE!!!!!"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Maybe I should go and help him?" Cyborg suggested to Robin.
Robin sighed. "He can handle it. Just…give him a few minutes!"
"Man…we don't have a few minutes!! What if Intergang catches up with us?! What if his taking too long ruins everything?!"
A voice from behind: "Well then…"
Robin and Cyborg gasped. They turned and looked out the back of the T-Car.
Five Intergang thugs stood with laser guns drawn. In the center stood Metallo with his arms crossed. He smirked.
"If that be the case, you can just cry me a river and build a bridge over it!"
ZAP!!!
ZAP!!!
ZAAAAP!!!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Beast Boy surfaced at the edge of the River in the form of a turtle. He had a green, glowing rock in his mouth. He set it down on the river bed, turned into a dog, and shook all the water off him. Then he turned back into elf mode, chuckled merrily to himself, and picked the Kryptonite up. He tossed it up and down in his hands like a baseball and began his climb back up to the T-Car's location--
ZAAAAP!!
The changeling gasped. He looked up and saw the bodies of Cyborg and Robin fly across the bridge and land hard on the ground. The two weakly stood up and faced off against the unmistakable forms of Metallo and his Intergang sidekicks. More laserfire exchanged, and the two Titans in the distance had no choice but to retreat. They hid behind pylons of metal in the bridge's framework as the laser fire streamed around them. Beast Boy noticed a brown van drive up and park besides a white one. More men with laser rifles filed out. Intergang backup. Soon, twelve men and the robot fiend that was Metallo were slowly advancing on the two heroes.
The changeling gulped. He hid behind a nearby bush and reached into his communicator. He desperately held his breath quietly and relayed the only morse code he had ever memorized.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
'—S—O—S—'
"So….how long have you and Jordan been together?" Mrs. Brenderson asked.
"Oh…," Kara leaned against the counter and smiled with a shrug. "Feels like only yesterday! Hehehehe!"
"Ah. I know the feeling."
'—S—O—S—'
Kara was becoming growingly aware of a vibration in her pocket. It was the Titans' communicator. She swallowed and looked around.
'—S—O—S—'
Kara could distinctly make out the vibrating morse code. And she understood its urgency…if not the implications.
"Um….hey…c-can I make a call to my folks?" Kara asked.
"Sure thing, dear!" Mrs. Brenderson wandered over to a kitchen phone and pulled it off the hook—
"No no no," Kara waved her hands. "N-No need!" She smiled expertly and pointed in her pocket. "I was gonna call them on the cell, and I need to step outside to get the best reception."
Mrs. Brenderson blinked. "Cell?"
Kara stared at her. "Ya know…a cell phone!"
"Oh…one of those walkie talkies….pfft! All for city slickers, if you ask me."
"Eh heh heh heh," Kara sweatdropped and smiled. "Well…you never know. I'd say there's salvation in just about everybody!"
"Except Methodists."
"Yeah…whatever," Kara jumped up. "I'll be back! Promise!"
"Take your time."
The Girl of Steel scurried frantically….towards the rear of the house.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
I dug three last times…sweating.
Finally!
I gasped, smiled, knelt down, and pulled the green chunk of Kryptonite out from the ground. I stood up and looked it over in my hands. It was quite a finding. Very large and whole indeed. It was a good thing Metallo didn't get his hands on it first…
"Jordan! Jordan!!" the stalks of corn parted as Kara bounded towards me.
I turned around from where I stood besides the gaping black hole and the sleeping old man.
Kara jumped out of the rows of corn, panted, looked around, saw me, and ran towards me. "Jordan! Trouble! I just got---nnngh," her sprint suddenly turned into a stumble and she practically flew into my arms.
I jolted and held her by her sagging shoulders as she suddenly leaned against me. Her soft chest to my firm stomach. I blushed. I tilted her head up at me.
She was thin eyed. She smiled. "H-H-How ya doin'?" she slurred tiredly. "Um…I know this feels special and all…but…I-If you don't mind…."
"???" I pushed her back and realized that I still had the Kryptonite resting directly against her tummy and mine.
Crud!!
I gasped and immediately flung the object fifteen feet away between the rows of corn with an expert pitching arm. I steadied Supergirl and looked in her eyes with an expression of concern.
She breathed easier and stood up straight. "Whew…," she shook the dizziness out of her head. "What a rush! Thanks for caring."
I shrugged nervously.
She looked up. "Where was I?"
I looked at the direction of the house…then at her again.
"Oh yeah!!" she jumped. "I got a signal on the communicator! Morse code! 'SOS'!"
My jaw dropped.
"I think the Titans may be in trouble somewhere. It came from Robin's group. So either he, Beast Boy, or Cyborg needs our help! We gotta do something!"
I nodded. I looked at the Kryptonite lying on the ground several feet away. I pointed at it and then at her.
"Yeah…I can't do anything with that close by. And we can't just leave it lying around! I-I know. You….like…take it back to Ma and Pa's place and hide it in the barn! Then you can rejoin me!"
I glanced at her curiously. I gestured.
She didn't have to read me to explain: "Silly! I'm going to go save your friends' butts! Boys these days…never can keep out of trouble!" she winked. "Good luck! Lord knows we all need it!"
And still wearing her casual 'Kara' get up, Supergirl flew north towards the August River.
I mouthed something and waved for her to come back. But she was gone. I sighed. I hoped my friends were okay.
I looked tiredly over at the Kryptonite…
…it was gone.
My black eyes bulged under my shades. I ran over to where I had tossed it. I spun around, panting, looking for the faintest hint of green glow.
A snarling sound….
I spun. I sweatdropped.
The Brenderson's evil, shaggy dog was chewing on something a few rows of corn away. Chewing on something green and bright…
I gritted my teeth and marched over towards it.
The dog paused with the Kryptonite in its mouth. I looked up at me through shaggy hair.
I pointed at it and snapped a finger.
The dog blinked….then promptly ran off with Superman's bane in its mouth.
I mouthed 'hey!'. I whistled. I ran after it through the farmland.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Ackies!!"
WHUMP!!
Starfire plopped down—back first—on the earth. She held in her hand a struggling, clawing, shrieking orange rodent.
"This is an unusually fierce enemy than what I am accustomed to!!" the Tamaranian trembled.
Raven stood up and dusted herself off from where she had been grounded from the scuffle. She had claw marks on her pale arms and legs. With a blue strands of hair falling lightly over her frowning face, she uttered: "Allow me…" She marched over, glowed her eyes a bright gray, and lifted the evil prairie dog up with a wave of black telekinesis.
The creature kicked and screamed as it floated over towards the blue sorceress.
Raven lightly plucked the Kryptonite out of its orange fur. She pocketed the green object…then swiftly kicked the rodent hard in the side with a growl.
"Rgghh!"
WHAM!!!
The small mammal shrieked its away through the air and landed with a bounce across a circle of white soil. It shook its head, chattered, and dug quickly into the ground.
"Mangy furball…," Raven groned.
Starfire stood up and straightened her hair. "Effective method, Raven. But I must say…was that not most cruel?"
The dark girl put her robe on and glared at Supergirl. "Let's hope you never see 'cruel'."
Suddenly, both of their communicators vibrated.
'—S—O—S—'
The girls gasped.
'—S—O—S—'
"Trouble!" both exclaimed…and they simultaneously took to the air.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Kara flew like a comet. Her right fist stretched out beyond her like a tomahawk missile. She gritted her teeth against the biting wind over the Kansas air as she raised altitude and 'vrooomed' in an arc that would take her to the bridge….literally.
She didn't have time to waste.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Drooling and panting over the Kryptonite in its mouth, the shaggy dog bounded over farm equipment and lumber and mounds of mulch in the Brenderson's backyard with ease.
I tumbled and stumbled and limped my way through the perilous landscape, trying to catch my breath in my pursuit.
At one point, I dove for the elusive canine but only got a mouthful of dirt.
THWUMP!!!
The dog barked, picked up the Kryptonite, and bounded off again.
Like this was a game.
I stood up, wiped the soil off my face and shades. I made a snarl of my own and leapt up to my feet and sprinted after the damn dog.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
ZAAP!!!
ZAP!!
ZAAAAAP!!!
"Ya know, Robin…," Cyborg exclaimed flinchingly from behind a metal bulkhead of the August River bridge. "Normally I would give you some sonic for your boom…but I don't think either of us are in any position right now to do fancy tricks!"
Robin replied from a bulkhead across the two lanes of the bridge. "Agreed…if we're gonna counteract these creeps…we gotta forego style!"
"How about I sneak out with a strobe of light that'll blind the laser-toting creeps while you swing in with your staff?!"
ZAP!!!
"A flash attack isn't going to blind Metallo any!"
"Duh! That's why you swing in for! While the other thugs are blinded, you take on Metallo one on one. Then I pick off the thugs one on one while they're disoriented and join you in putting down that tin can!"
ZAP!!!
ZAP!!!!!
"Did you see our fight the other day?!" Robin cackled. "He practically leveled me in every context of the term there is!! If we take on Metallo, we gotta do it both! At once!!"
ZAP!!!
"We ain't got no time to do anything but divide our energies! Come on, man!! Let's worry about the whole and work on the center later!"
"Have you no concept of time?! Those lasers are eating into these bulkheads as we bicker! Soon they're gonna melt into us and there's gonna be no more 'later'! Much less a now!"
ZAP!!
Metallo's voice rang forth: "Are you boys done flirting?? I can get this sort of mush on T.V.! So if you would do us all a big favor by coming out into the open so that we can blow your bloody heads off, that'll make things a heck of a lot simpler!"
Cyborg gritted his teeth and stared at Robin. "Well….what'll it be man?"
"Okay…on the count of three---"
SMASH!!!!!!
The top support of the bridge shattered and a green triceratops flew down.
THUD!!!
It roared and bore its way down the bridge. Intergang members shouted and either jumped out of the way or were tossed aside by the changeling's menacing horns as it bore down on their metal-skinned leader.
"Ah…," Metallo smiled. "How quaint."
SMACK!!!!
He was pushed mercilessly into the side of one of the group's vans. The metal fiend let out a growl and pushed back on the emerald dinosaur. Soon he and Beast Boy were having a wrestling match.
Cyborg and Robin sweatdropped. They looked at each other.
"When all else fails…," Cyborg said.
Robin smirked lightly and whipped out a fan of birdarangs. "Go berserk!!"
Cyborg switched his arm into a laser rifle and ran growling alongside the Boy Wonder. With the Intergang members recovering and aiming their laser rifles and Metallo and Beast Boy going at it, a maddening fray ensued.
SMASH!!!
ZAAP!!!
ZAAP!!!
FLASH!!!
SWISH-SWISH-SWISH-SWISH-CLANK!!!
"Augh!!"
"RAAAAUGH!!!"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
The dog backed up against the barn. It shook the Kryptonite in its mouth and reared its body. Snarling.
I marched towards it. Fuming. Panting.
The dog's teeth barred around the Kryptonite. It barked once…twice.
I frowned. I unsheathed Myrkblade in a flash.
CHIIIIIIIING!!!
I pointed it at the dog.
"……..," the canine blinked.
PLOP!!
The Kryptonite dropped to the ground and the dog was soon running off with its tail between its legs, whimpering.
I took a deep breath. I marched over, picked up the Kryptonite, made a face from the dog spit all over it, and sheathed Myrkblade away.
With a deep breath, I ran off towards the Kents. Blurring with the full extent of my power. It wouldn't take so long now.