05/09/14

Happy Piccolo Day.

Chapter 2

At the diner Clark sat at the counter across from Imra, whom had gotten an after school job as a waitress, eating his chocolate shake instead of his dinner as he whined.

"I can't believe my folks left me with a sitter."

"I'm not your sitter Clark, I live with you," Imra reminded him.

"But they left you in charge," Clark tried to express his feeling of betrayal.

"Because the last time you were in charge of yourself you had Twinkies, pumped full of even more whip cream than normal, for dinner," Imra frowned at him when it looked like he would protest, "Twice."

"I have a high metabolism," Clark stirred the whip cream on top of his shake to keep himself from meeting Imra's gaze.

"Uh-huh," Imra tapped her finger in front of Clark on the counter near his plate. "Eat your green beans."

"Yes Ma," Clark teased.

"What it there Clarkie, Martha left me the power to ground you," Imra warned.

It was tempting to ask Imra, her and what army could ground him but Clark figured it was best not to push his luck and scooped up some green beans buried in mash potatoes to eat.

"We should get a pet while they're off talking to lawyers," Clark suggested.

"Are you trying to get me grounded?" Imra asked, "No pets."

"Yeah, she has enough problems cleaning up after you Clark," Garth slid into the seat at the counter next to Clark, chuckling at Imra rolling her eyes. "But you guys should have a party."

"No parties," said Imra, ignoring Garth's protests.

"Not even a scary movie marathon?" asked Chuck, bouncing into the seat on Clark's other side.

"Anything but scary movies," Luornu sat beside Chuck, all in one form for the moment. "A party would be more fun."

"Then you can clean up after it and explain to the Kent's why their furniture is broken," Imra smiled when Luornu immediately lost interest.

"We can have a party at my place," Tinya suggested, standing behind the group since the rest of the counter seats were taken. "My Mom is always saying I need to let her meet my friends; we can get it all done and over with at once."

"Are you trying to get back at her for forcing you to go to that fundraiser?" asked Brin, though he had a knowing smile on his face.

"Maybe," Tinya grinned.

Plans for a party were discussed but no concrete plans made before Clark finished eating and Imra got off of shift and they headed back to the farm together. After they were out of sight from the town, Clark picked Imra up and they flew the rest of the way to the farm.

At school the next day Chuck told Clark about a movie that was going to be on TV that sounded pretty good and Clark decided to watch it when Imra called and said she's be staying to help out at the diner longer and that there was chicken in the fridge for dinner. After getting out the whip cream and twinkies, Clark tuned into the movie. It was old, corny and campy but funny, especially when you made fun of it as you watched. The movie was just getting to the "scary" bits when the TV went out.

"Seriously," Clark groans and got to his feet. He went outside and flew to the roof to look at the TV antennae but it was gone, cut off its pole in a jagged manner. "Who could have done this and so quickly?"

There was a loud thump in the distance and Clark looked around to see the wooden fence broken, a big chunk missing out of their neighbor's tractor and what looked like a path divided in the trees of the nearby woods. Though Clark remembered Chuck taking about the meteor and what it could be, whether a new form of aliens or machine from space, Clark flew into the woods without hesitation.

Trees were bent and broken where they had grown densely in the forest but where they were ore spread out it was hard to tell where the path went. Clark used his super hearing to tune into the distance sound of thumping further in the words and flew after it.

Soon enough Clark came to the power station but saw nothing unusual in sight. He was about to listen again when the thumping approached without him having to tune in. The Kryptonian turned to see a giant metal man walking toward him.

The robot was massive, tall as the biggest building in Rockwell and green where human skin would be and purple where clothes would be. There was an insignia of three white dots on the robot's chest, connected by black lines that vaguely reminded Clark of Mickey Mouse's head. Its eyes glowed white, lighting its way as it walked and Clark could see how Chuck could mistake it for a light house.

Paying Clark no mind, the robot went up to the power station and began to eat its metal towers. It was getting dangerously close to the power lines.

"Stop," Clark tried to shout but the robot had already taken another step forward, snapping the power lines and getting wrapped up in them.

The robot almost seemed to scream as the snapped power lines electrocuted it, struggling to free itself.

Clark looked around, trying to find something to make the electricity stop. He spotted the emergency shut off switched and ran for it, turning off the power as soon as he was close enough to pull the lever.

For a moment the robot went still, then its eyes went dark and it fell over. As it fell the power lines came loose and the robot landed on the ground with a loud thud.

Slowly, Clark approached the robot, looking it over before flying up to its head. The eyes were still dark and he looked into its mouth, dark and seeming to echo forever when he dropped a rock inside of it.

Suddenly the robot shifted and Clark fell off its head, losing his glasses as he flew just in time to keep himself from hitting the ground. When he looked up again the robot's eyes were lit and getting to its feet, looking right at him.

"Clark, where are you?" Imra's voice shouted from somewhere nearby.

"Imra, stay away," Clark looked around for her, "It's dangerous!"

"I can help," Imra was running toward him. "What's so dangerous?"

"Can't you see," Clark turned to point to the giant robot but it was gone. He listened in but couldn't hear any thumping to indicate its departure.

Imra walked the rest of the way to stand near where Clark was floating, her voice confused, "Clark, what is it?"

Slowly Clark turned to look at her, able to see fine without his glasses and unsure of where they had fallen, "I think I found Chuck's meteor."