When Clark flew into his son's flooded school, he expected everything! But what he definitely didn't expect and what caused him to freeze in shock for a moment was this view.
He stormed into the building to keep sure that everyone was fine. But not to witness his soaking wet, seven-year-old son carrying his teacher up the stairs as if she weights nothing.
Clark's mind went black… Thousands of thoughts ran through his head… He remembered Lois' panic from last night… the boy had powers… someone will see him…
A loud scream from Johnny when the boy slipped on the wet stairs and fell backwards tore him out of his thoughts. In a blur, Clark rushed to him to catch the boy from behind before he, or Mrs. Stone could fall into the water again.
Full of adrenaline, Johnny didn't realize what was going on. Only when he felt two big, strong hands holding him he noticed that something was going on and that he was not feeling the floor below his feet anymore. The boy turned his head to see a muscular arm in a blue cloth and part of a very famous s-symbol on a muscular chest. And then he looked up to see the very famous face of Superman.
"I got you!" Clark yelled. He was so full of fear over his son, that he used his Clark-voice instead of his slightly deeper Superman-voice.
Johnny began to cheer…
"SUPERMAN! WOW!"
"Don't look at me…" Clark wailed, turning his head away while floating with Johnny and his teacher upstairs.
"Wow… this is so cool… I am flying with Superman!" Johnny cheered so loud, that he caught the attention of other students.
Clark floated with his son and the woman to the second floor where a lot of other students and teachers gawked at them with big eyes when Superman landed with his two passengers. Many kids began to cheer loudly and got closer. But most excited was Johnny, who felt suddenly so powerful and so big…
"THAT WAS SO AWESOME!" Johnny yelled against the loud cheers of the other kids.
"Ehm… Stay here, where it is dry!" Clark murmured, now with his Superman voice. "And… no comment!"
And in a blur Clark was gone…
Just seconds later, he came back to the office where Lois just finished a call with Jimmy, who promised to rush to the school, immediately…
"Lois…" Clark said totally pale and in fear. "…we have a problem…"
The water was gone as fast as it arrived. And it left a lot of mud, debris, damages, and a flooded schoolhouse full of wet children behind… some traumatized, but mostly full of joy about seeing Superman in person…
Fire brigade, police, paramedics and countless of worried parents surrounded the school quickly. After a quick check-up, many students were sent home. Press arrived, too. And as 'press-representatives' of the Daily-Planet and parents of an involved child, Lois and Clark of course had a reason to be there, too. It looked like a scene from a disaster movie. And maybe it was irony, but only minutes after the school got flooded, it stopped raining, and the sun came out…
Johnny at least was shining brighter than the sun. After years of begging his mom, he finally met the famous hero. And he didn't know why, but he felt this connection to him. He ignored that he was dirty and soaking wet. He just continued smiling. His parents meanwhile had no reason to laugh or to smile. They stood next to their son, in his damaged classroom in front of his wet teacher, who had a blanket from the Red Cross over her shoulders and looked as if she got spin in a washer…
"Do you have an explanation for this?" Mrs. Stone asked.
Lois and Clark looked on each other with big eyes, wondering what the woman meant.
"What? Do you think our son is responsible for this flash flood?" Lois asked shocked.
"No… the other thing!"
"You need to explain that?" Clark asked nervously. He looked ever and ever again to his son, hoping that the boy did not recognize him before. But he knew what the woman meant.
"I… I don't know… if it is the shock… or if I imagined it… but… I can swear… your son pulled me out of the water and carried me up the stairs…"
"Ehm… seriously? I thought Superman carried you?" Clark asked innocently.
"Mr. Kent, I weigh 178 pounds!"
"And… you tell me that why?" Clark asked nervously. He was also shocked about that his son was able to lift her. "Not even my wife tells me how much she weighs when she steps on a scale!"
"I tell you that… because no child that age should be able to lift me!" the woman said. "What is going on here?"
"Well… my son never lifted you! I am sure Superman did that and you just imagined…" Clark told, still praying that Johnny didn't recognize him.
The boy didn't stop smiling…
"Mrs. Stone, look at him. My son is not that strong!" Lois smiled.
The teacher looked on Lois in a way that let her shiver. So harsh and so urgent. Then the woman looked on Clark in a way that let the man shiver. Johnny ignored her glares. He was still totally euphoric about his flight with Superman. Even if it was a very short one…
"Johnny… isn't it…" Lois hissed nervously to the boy who start to cheer immediately again.
"I FLEW WITH SUPERMAN! WOOHOOO… THAT WAS SO COOL!"
"Ehm… yeah… flying is cool!" Lois said nervously.
The teacher noticed that something was wrong with the Kents. They hide something! Looking on Johnny and on Clark reminded her on Superman. This was such a stupid idea… but she didn't get it out of her head. But seeing the boy's reaction let her believe that he might not know it!
"Mr. Kent… why you don't bring your son to the Red-Cross-tent, so they can check him before you take him home?" the woman told. "Mrs. Kent… I just have one final question."
Clark nodded for this welcoming opportunity and took his wet son by his hand to leave with him. He nodded to Lois encouragingly. Hoping that it was nothing serious. Lois meanwhile felt her heart drop at the sight of Mrs. Stone's face…
"You know… I like Jonathan! He is smart, quiet, he makes no trouble, he is helpful and open-hearted… taking his stubbornness aside…some would consider him as… perfect!"
"Thanks for the compliment! We… we are very proud on the boy! He's got that from his father's side! The stubbornness honestly, he got from me!"
"Guess so… well… I know your articles and your works, Mrs. Kent! I know… about your achievements and your… ehm… 'relationships'. I mean… you know a lot of famous people and… ehm… Superman…"
Lois' face became pale…
"Mrs. Kent… the hole in the wall… and now today's incident… I… I am doing this job for over 20 years now and I see it when there is something going on with my students. I don't want to say that you are… ehm… you know… but… could it be that your son is… well… the son of…" the woman stuttered and discretely pointed on a Superman-poster on the wall.
Lois looked over on the wall. It was one of countless of posters of Clark's alter-ego. 'Learning makes your future SUPER' was written on it to motivate kids. Lois was terrified. They were struggling about the decision to tell their son the truth, and now his teacher figures out by herself. Every other woman would have start to cry, but Lois reacted the same way, she reacted the last time someone accused her of this matter…
"Listen, I don't know what you think but I am not cheating on my husband, and I never did. I know Superman in person, I don't deny that! But I would never do that to my husband." Lois said angrily.
"I understand that!" Mrs. Stone answered and continued whispering. "I just mean… If there is anything you might need to tell me… for your boy's and the other kids' safety… I can keep a secret!"
"There is nothing to share!" Lois ranted before she looked around to keep sure that nobody was nearby. "If you would excuse me now, I need to check with my husband and my son!"
"Mrs. Kent, this matter is not finished! I don't tell anyone, but you can't hide it forever!" the woman said.
Lois' pale face turned deeply red now…
"I guess… since the school will be closed for a while now, I think the fieldtrip to LexCorp next week will be no matter anymore!" Lois said. "And in the meantime, … I need to clarify some things…"
"In that case, I think we postpone our parent-teacher-meeting to next week!" Mrs. Stone said.
Lois nodded and left the classroom… hiding her tears…
Lois rushed to get out of the damaged schoolhouse and the stench of sewage and mud inside to leave the building through the main entrance. She saw firefighters using hoses and pumps to pump out the flooded basements of the school and surrounding homes. Debris and mud needed to get brought away. Damaged cars were loaded on transporters to get brought away, too. It was a miracle, that in all this chaos nobody got seriously injured. Mainly because of Clark's efforts.
Lois put on her best poker-face when she went to Clark, but latter could hear parts of Mrs. Stone's words and knew that they were facing more trouble than they already had…
As soon as they were home, Lois and Clark sent their son to the bathroom to take a hot shower and to give his parents some time to freak out. Jimmy was still on location to take pictures and collect statements. Lois and Clark didn't want to think about the article they had to write now. Or about how mad Perry will be when they don't send the article to him before the deadline. Jimmy's help with their job was no help for the current chaos they faced.
"This is not good, Lois!"
"I know, Clark!"
"Do you think we can trust Mrs. Stone?"
"She won't be Johnny's teacher after summer-break anymore!"
"Nobody is ever going to be his teacher if it comes out! Because he will never ever be able to go to a school anymore. Lois, we need to tell him!"
"Suddenly you agree, Clark? What about your reservations?"
"Lois, he carried her. And Mrs. Stone weighs 178 pounds! Do you know what that means?"
"That she is overweight for her size?!"
"Lois, it's not time for gallows humor!"
"Sorry, Clark… I just think about how weird all of this is!"
"Shhh…" suddenly Clark hissed and pointed on the ceiling. "…he is coming out of the shower now! Stay cool and calm down!"
"What? Calm down?" Lois hissed before suddenly Johnny came down the stairs.
"Mommy, Daddy… that was so cool! I flew with Superman! That felt so awesome!" the boy cheered.
"Yes, sweetie… flying with Superman is really something special!" Lois smiled.
"He is so awesome! And so cool… but he was also a bit strange!" the boy said.
"Strange?" now Clark became curious. "What… what do you mean with that?"
"Yeah… as if he does not want to get cheered to! And he was odd!"
"Ehm… I guess Superman was only very upset, after he flew all the way to your school to help you after witnessing you all in danger!" Clark said, trying not to sound too upset. "Ehm… Johnny, please do me and your mommy a favor and go down to the basement to see if it got flooded, too!"
The boy nodded and left. Giving his parents some time to walk up and down again…
"What now, Clark?" Lois said. "I mean… we have to find a solution!"
"Aww… I could hear Principal Mercer talking to the other teachers before we left! The school is definitely closed for tomorrow and next week! They fear the damage could be so big that the building needs to be demolished."
"Oh… that is so sad! Not to forget that Johnny would need to go to another school!" Lois said. "And what do we do now? Get Johnny to your parents earlier?"
"And how? We both need to go to work tomorrow! Perry won't take the excuse!"
"Right! Well… But we can't leave him alone! And I don't want to leave him with a babysitter now!"
"Me, too… We…" Clark said before the boy came back.
"Daddy, there is water in the basement…"
"Oh… go to your room! Your mother and I will look for it!" Clark said.
Indeed, there was a bit water in their basement, too. Just a little bit, that was gone after a bit mopping. Their house was far away enough from the disaster-zone, but the whole event itself didn't give Lois and Clark any rest, too.
"You have been there, Clark! What do you think have caused it?"
"The water didn't flow away. Something blocked the sewers and caused it to jam and to flood the area. But when I flew through the sewers, I couldn't see anything?" Clark told while filling the last bucket with water from their basement into the toilet.
"I don't know why… but it feels like an odd circumstance that our son's school was affected directly."
"What about the surrounding homes?"
"Collateral damage?!" Lois guessed.
Suddenly the front-door opened, and Jimmy entered with his key…
"Hey, guys… are you home?"
"In the kitchen, Jimmy!" Lois yelled back.
Jimmy joined them and told them what he figured out and showed them the photos he took around the school. Most of them he already sent to the Daily-Planet…
"Nobody seemed to have witnessed how Johnny… you know…" Jimmy whispered, keeping sure that the boy was not nearby. "… and of course the people are happy that Superman prevented worse…"
"The house would have collapsed if the bus crashed into it…" Clark murmured.
"And what now?" Jimmy asked.
"Well… tomorrow we need to show ourselves at work. At least for a few hours. Looks like we must take Johnny with us to work. After that, we head directly to the farm!" Lois said.
"And then we discuss it with my parents! But after what happened today…" Clark murmured and looked up to the ceiling to use his x-ray-vision to check that the boy was still in his room. "…I guess we have no other choice!"
After that sentence it became silent…
Dinner was awkward for Lois and Clark, since Johnny couldn't stop raving about his 'flight' with Superman. Or about that special feeling in his body when they did so. Lois and Jimmy, who both flew with Clark often, realized that it was one more trait only the boy had. Lois and Clark both got constant messages from Perry who demanded the article about the flashflood. An article, both didn't want to write, but had to write.
Once Johnny was in his room again, Lois, Clark and Jimmy came together in the home-office, right next to Johnny's room. Clark typed on the computer, while Lois walked up and down and dictated him what to write. Jimmy in the meantime looked back and forth between the screen of his camera and the screen of the small TV, they had here in the office to watch the news…
It rained outside again. Not as strong as in the morning, but hard enough to wake up some bad memories on today's flashflood. Clark had to leave three times, to help with more Superman-emergencies but always came back quickly to don't leave Lois alone with their son for too long. Clark's parents called, too, to ask if Johnny was okay. Clark didn't dare to tell them over the phone what he saw…
"Hey, look…" Jimmy said and grabbed the remote controller for the TV. "…they report about Johnny's school…"
Suddenly all eyes were fixed on the small TV and Jimmy turned it louder…
"…that the damage is expected to run into millions. The schoolhouse is unusable. Also, in total 25 private houses have sustained partly severe damage. Dozens of people are forced to spend the night in emergency shelters…"
The pictures were awful. They all were happy that Johnny was not hurt. The news also showed a video of Superman how he stopped the school-bus from crashing into the house.
"…thanks to the quick intervention of Superman and the quick evacuation of the students, nobody was seriously hurt. Investigators are looking for the reasons for the disaster. The mayor has announced that a commission of inquiry will be formed to find the…"
"Mommy, Daddy…" suddenly Johnny came into the room.
"Oh, Johnny…" Lois said surprised and turned around. The boy meanwhile looked on the screen to recognize his school.
"Hey, that's my school!"
"Yes, they report about it!" Clark told.
"SUPERMAN!" the boy suddenly yelled when Clark's alter-ego was shown again.
"…the authorities hereby ask Superman to give a statement about today's events to help in the investigation…" the reporter on screen continued.
"He is so cool!" the boy raved with big eyes.
Clark had no clue if he should be jealous or flattered…
"Johnny, your father and I need to write down what happened today, so the people can read it tomorrow in the newspaper." Lois said.
"You have to write how cool Superman was! And how he stopped the flood with his coolness!"
"We will, Johnny! Go to your room, again! We come to you in a few minutes!" Lois said and nodded.
The boy left again with a bright smile. The adults were upset again. Their focus changed quickly back to the TV when suddenly a picture of Lex Luthor was aired…
"…Lex Luthor, CEO of LexCorp, has announced to donate one million dollar to the victims of the flash-flood and to the affected school…"
"What a hypocrisy?!" Lois murmured…
In the meantime…
In the top-floor of the LexCorp-tower, Alexander 'Lex' Luthor (formerly known as Alex in the past), sat in his wide, expensive leather-chair at his desk and looked on the screen of his big TV at the wall to watch how they report about him. But he was more interested in what was about to happen with this school…
"…structural engineers are currently at work to check the schoolhouse's damages. The old building, that was already in need for renovation before, sustained severe damage. The principal, who didn't want to talk in front of the camera, has told us that she fears that the building will need to be demolished, which would have bad consequences not only for the students, but also for the whole neighborhood…"
A weak smile appeared on Lex' face… this was actually what he was looking for…
Suddenly the phone on his desk began to ring and his secretary called…
"Lex, a Mr. MacGowen is here. He said it is urgent!"
Lex leaned forward to push the button to talk to her.
"Yes, Miss Teschmacher… let him in!" Lex said before using his remote to turn off the TV.
The big double door opened and Lex' secretary escorted a man with curly red hair, and dressed in a cheap men's suit inside. The heavy working-boots he wore didn't fit to his outfit. He was visibly nervous, and he scratched his head.
"Thank you, Ms. Teschmacher. You can leave now! But before you go home, please call Lena and tell her that I will come twenty minutes later!"
"I'll do that, Lex! Good night!" the woman said and left.
After she closed the door, Lex pressed a button on his desk to close the curtains. Then he crossed his arms and looked harshly on the man who pulled off his wig, since it was itchy. Revealing that he had actually very short dark hair. Lex had mixed feelings. Sure, he told him to come here. He even wore the clothes he told him to wear, to look like a normal employee and not like a criminal. Lex eyes wandered down to the working boots that ruined the picture. But he decided to not to ask. He was not in mood, and he had other plans for tonight, so this meeting had to went quickly…
"I told you to flood the basement of this school to cause structural damages and not to cause a natural disaster!" Lex said.
"I am sorry, the rain was harder than expected and I blocked the sewer a bit too long… It was not my purpose to cause that much chaos…"
"But…" Lex raised his hand to interfere. "…I admit that we can use this to hide our plans. So, your little mistake has some benefits in the end. I am only concerned about Superman's interference!"
"He… he didn't see me… I managed to get away before he appeared! Everyone will think that everything was only a force of nature!"
"It has to be only a force of nature! Do you remember Lois Lane? The woman who caught you breaking into her neighbors' house?"
"How could I?" the man said ashamed and lowered his head. "My brother and I…"
"Her son is a student at this school!" Lex revealed.
"WHAT? She will send Superman after me, again!"
"Don't worry… as long as everyone thinks that the flashflood was only a force of nature and a result of a chain of unfortunate circumstances, Lois Lane has no reason to believe that this was an attack on her family. We need to hold back a little bit…"
"Why… Why you asked me to flood the school of the son of Superman's press-agent? Was that a late revenge for her making you wet at…"
"Don't even dare to speak it out!" Lex ranted harshly.
It was true, that Jonathan Samuel Kent was always connected to Lex by this incident when his mother jumped on him, and her water broke in this moment. He was so embarrassed, that he sneaked out, burned everything he wore and took a shower. It was also the day, the people figured out that he was bald. Since then, he was not wearing wigs in public anymore. And today, seven years later, he wondered why he didn't test the amniotic fluid to find anything he could use against the boy…
"When I have learned one thing about Lois Lane, it is to don't mess with her! She might be looking harmless and petite. But she can cause more trouble than anyone else… even more than her caped friend in his ridiculous red trunks. But I wouldn't care if her son must go to a school at the other end of the city, making her everyday life more complicated." Lex said.
He turned around to look outside, watching the rain over the bright illuminated city…
"So… if it is not about Lois Lane… why her son's school?"
"It is not about the school! Or the boy! It's about the building!" Lex smiled and turned back to the man. "I don't expect you to understand… and not that I would tell you! I would recommend you leaving now! You will find a bag with cash in a locker at the central station. But don't forget to put on the wig before you leave this room. And keep sure that you are seen by the security guards downstairs for your alibi."
The man obeyed, put on the wig again and left the office silently. Lex turned back to the window to look over to New Troy… a place he had big plans for…