Chapter 4: Secret Life of a Guardian Angel
Disclaimer: All things Supergirl/Superman belong to DC. No infringement is intended.
Smallville, Year 1 BSW
Pretty much everyone around the town of Smallville knew the story of Karen Kent. She was the daughter of Samuel Kent, older brother of Jonathan Kent. Only her father died in Vietnam before he ever knew of her existence and her mother, one Ayla Jones, raised her by herself. Then Ms. Jones died in a car accident and young Karen ended up in the foster system. Eventually the authorities sent her into the care of her uncle Jonathan and his wife Martha, but by that time something else had happened. Under undisclosed circumstances, young Karen had gotten pregnant while in foster care and when the 13-year-old arrived in Smallville, she had a newborn son with her, baby Clark.
Six years had gone by since then and despite the weirdness of her situation, young Karen had become the darling of the town. The girl had tested out of High School and gotten her GED at the tender age of 14 and by the age of 19 she had a physics doctorate and an engineering degree to her name. She was also a doting mother to her son Clark, no one was able to deny that, and she was active in the community as well. So while people were still occasionally commenting on her scandalous past (only when they thought she couldn't hear them, of course), Smallville had long accepted her as one of their own.
Of course no one really knew that most of the story of Karen Kent was a lie and that her true story was far, far weirder than that.
Forest Fire extinguished under mysterious circumstances
Ventura County Star
The fire that threatened a large portion of the Los Padres National Forest yesterday evening has been completely extinguished overnight under what the local fire chief described as very mysterious circumstances. More than three dozen firefighters were busy just trying to keep the fire from spreading any further. But around three in the morning something very strange happened.
"There was a sudden gust of wind," Fire Chief Banks told our reporter. "I've never seen anything like it. Like someone uncorked a hurricane for just five seconds or so and then it died down again just as quickly. Took most of my boys and I right off our feet and when we recovered, the fire was out. Just like that."
While the fire fighters are busy cooling down the area to prevent any new flare-ups, meteorologists are trying to make sense of this weird wind phenomenon that proved to be such a blessing last night. Our reporters could not find any records of previous occurrences of this "Five-Second-Hurricane" in the area.
"Whatever it was," Chief Banks commented, "I am very thankful for it. Some of my boys were cut off by the fire and it was getting to be quite dangerous for them. At the very least it saved us a lot of work. So, whether it was a freak accident of nature or God sneezing for us, I'm just grateful it happened."
Citizens are advised that the affected area is still off-limits to the public until the fire fighters officially declare it safe.
Smallville
"Big day today, eh Clark?" Jonathan asked, clapping the young boy on the shoulder.
"I guess," Clark said, not sounding all that enthusiastic.
Jonathan and Martha shared a smile over the boy's head.
"First day of school is something special," Martha reminded him, tugging his collar straight to the boy's dismay. "You'll make new friends, learn so many new things..."
"They can't teach me how to fly," Clark muttered under his breath.
Jonathan laughed. "No, I'm sure they can't. And remember, Clark, ..."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm not allowed to tell anyone. I know! You told me. Mom told me. Aunt Martha told me."
"Just as long as you remember it, Clark!"
Everyone looked up to see Karen walk in through the front door. Part of her blonde hair was dark with sooth and the red jacket she wore looked singed on one side.
"What happened, Karen?" Martha asked, looking over her daughter to check for injuries. It was nonsense, of course, as there was very little in this world that could injure Karen (at least physically), but she couldn't really help it. This was her daughter, after all.
"Big forest fire in California. A couple of fire fighters were boxed in, so I quickly lent a helping hand."
Martha made a mental note to find an article about the incident for her clipbook later on.
"Are you okay, mom?" Clark asked, looking her over as well. The look of love and worry on his young face was so utterly adorable to Martha, she had to repress the impulse to go coo at her young grandson.
Karen knelt down in front of him, giving him a big smile. "I am great, Clark. A little fire is not going to hurt your mom, you know?"
Clark finally nodded after a moment. "I wish I could help you when you go help other people."
Karen tucked him under the chin until he met her eyes. "Clark, we talked about this. It will take some time until your powers start to develop. But it will happen, I promise you. And then you and I can go and save as many people as we can, okay?"
"Okay."
"But remember rule number one," she reminded him sternly.
"No one can be told," he dutifully repeated.
"Not even…?" Karen prompted.
"Not even Lana," Clark finished.
"Good," she said, ruffling his hair. "Give me a minute to get myself presentable and then we are off!"
Half an hour later Martha had to suppress a chuckle as she watched Karen watching Clark as he walked into the building. She kept looking long after he had disappeared inside, and she knew she was using her amazing vision powers to keep track of him.
"He will be fine, Karen," Martha assured her.
"You said the same about Kindergarten," Karen said, her voice strained.
"He was fine in Kindergarten," Martha reminded her. "Besides, he is in the same class as Lana. Those two will have each other's backs, no matter what."
She could see her daughter wringing her hands, clenching her fists, and knew it was taking all of her will power to keep herself from just flying into the school and bring Clark back out. Probably at super speed and by smashing through walls, too.
"You're doing great," Martha whispered to her, squeezing her shoulder.
After another minute or so Martha began to turn away, but Karen wasn't moving.
"Do you plan to stay here for the next four hours until he gets off again?" Martha asked her. She meant it as a joke, but there was actually a pretty good chance that Karen might do exactly that.
With a huge sigh Karen finally turned away from the building. "I cannot. I have that thing in Metropolis today."
"Ah, yes," Martha said, putting her arm around her daughter's shoulder and guiding her towards the waiting car. "Karen Kent is about to conquer the business world by storm."
Karen made a face at her. "Hardly. But it is my first big product presentation. This needs to go well."
"It will," Martha assured her. "You will dazzle them!"
With one last longing look back at the school building, Karen finally got into the car, and they drove back towards the farm.
Of course the moment they were safe from onlookers, Karen got out of the car and thundered off into the sky.
Tourist group saved from drowning by good Samaritans
The Laker News
A tourist group travelling along the shores of Beaver Bank Lake almost fell victim to tragedy yesterday when the riverbank they were walking on suddenly gave way. Weakened by the previous week's rainfalls, the bank collapsed, and the seven tourists were pushed underwater by the mudslide.
Some guardian angel was watching out for them, though, as all seven tourists report being pulled from the mud in rapid succession and delivered safely to the shore. Park rangers think that another group of hikers must have been close by to save the day, but no one has come forth to claim credit. The tourists themselves have not been able to identify their saviors due to being covered in mud, only reporting that it all happened incredibly fast and that whoever did it did not stick around.
The Beaver Bank community and the staff here at the Laker News wishes to thank these unknown heroes, who were in the right place at the right time and did the right thing. We need more people like you.
The Arctic
Using low-level heat vision, Kara burned the last remnants of mud off her boots before striding down the pristine corridors of her polar fortress. She was in a bit of a hurry, as the unplanned detour had delayed her a bit.
"Prototype blueprints have been downloaded to the native data storage device in a simplified form compatible with the local computers," the Fortress' AI reported.
Kara almost chuckled. Could a non-sapient artificial intelligence sound arrogant? The "native data storage device", otherwise known as a computer disc, was extremely primitive compared to the Kryptonian data crystals in use here at the Fortress, of course, but she could hardly turn up in Metropolis with one of those. So for now the Fortress' AI would just have to live with using "native" data mediums.
Pocketing the disc, Kara spent a few minutes looking around the Fortress. It had only been a year ago that she had finally made use of the construction crystals that had come with her from Krypton to construct this place. Before that, the very thought of walking through a place that looked so much like it belonged on her lost home... she was sure she would have broken down crying the moment she entered. It had still been a close thing, to be honest.
Even now it was difficult to be here, which was why she didn't come here that often. She kept expecting to hear the sounds of other people speaking Kryptonian, kept expecting to see red sunlight shining in through a window. Closing her eyes, she reminded herself that, one day soon, another Kryptonian would walk these halls. It was Clark's heritage as well as hers, even if he didn't know it yet.
For now, though, she was alone in this place. She had briefly considered bringing Martha and Jonathan here but had eventually decided against it. Clark deserved to be the next one to see it. She already had several ideas on how to improve this place before she took him here the first time, though she was unsure whether she could really go through with programming those avatars of their parents. It would be a great way for Clark to see the family he never had a chance to really get to know, but for her... she needed to think more on this.
Shaking her head, she headed towards the exit. She still had several stops to make today.
Incident report, Metropolis Police Department
David Morton, male, 28 years old, previous arrest record for petty thievery, burglary, and assault, was apprehended today when he attempted to steal the briefcase of a young woman on 7th Avenue. When the officers arrived, the perp had already been disabled by the intended victim, as the young woman had thrown her assailant to the ground and held him by his twisted arm. Morton himself was screaming bloody murder as he was put into the squad car, later revealed to result from a broken shoulder.
The intended victim, identified as Metropolis resident Karen Kent, only gave a brief statement to the police, citing the need to be on time for a meeting, but has agreed to come by the station later today for a full statement.
Metropolis
After a brief detour over Kansas to check on Clark with her enhanced vision, Kara made her way to Metropolis. Her company, K-Solutions, had already enjoyed some modest success with several patents to her name, but today she would enter the big leagues. Thankfully the short incident on 7th Avenue had not made her late.
"Karen Kent of K-Solutions," she introduced herself to the woman sitting behind the reception desk. "Here for the presentation meeting with Mr. Sloane."
The woman facing her gave her a curious look, which Kara did not mind. It was a curious sight, she figured, seeing a 19-year-old walk into a corporate office to see the CEO of a multi-billion-dollar company for a product presentation. Kara was dressed for the occasion, wearing a sharp business suit, high heels (and thank Rao for invulnerable feet), and glasses that changed her eye color. The latter was probably superfluous, but she did not want anyone to connect Karen Kent, owner of K-Solutions, with Karen Kent, resident of Smallville. She even had an official address here in Metropolis, just to be safe.
"Mr. Sloane and the others are in the conference room, down that corridor, last door on the left."
Kara gave the woman a thankful smile and walked in the intended direction. Her enhanced vision showed her a room filled with men of various ages in suits, all of them at least two decades older than her. At the head of the table was Terrence Sloane, CEO and majority shareholder of Sloane Industries, a man in his fifties with greying hair at the temples.
She entered the room, projecting an air of confidence that was almost genuine.
"Gentlemen," she greeted the board members of the company, "thank you for inviting me."
"The pleasure is ours, Ms. Kent," Sloane replied, shaking her hand, and doing the introductions around the table. "Now, I believe you have something marvelous to show us?"
She smiled, recognizing Sloane's attempt to put her at ease. From what she had read, he had been something of a boy genius, having completed college at age 12 and amassing a vast personal fortune before he even hit 20. So she doubted that he would hold her age against her. Her gender, maybe, but not her age.
Her mind briefly strayed as she took the computer disc out of her briefcase and loaded it into the computer connected to the room's large projection screen. It was cutting edge technology, actually, to make a presentation via a computer screen instead of spreading huge pieces of paper on the tables, but compared to the things Kara had access to, it was still very primitive. This would be so much easier if she could have used one of her data tablets from the fortress instead. Maybe that could be K-Solutions' next project? It was worth a thought.
First, though, she would have to focus on her current project. Sloane Industries was an old, established company, but with their newest subsidiary, Sloane Aerodynamics, they wanted to branch out into the market of aviation for the first time. They were already building their first prototype of a new, high-altitude passenger jet. They were only missing one thing.
"Gentlemen," she began, "I give you the design for the next generation of navigation systems for your new fleet of state-of-the-art aircraft."
Damaged oil tanker miraculously reaches Metropolis harbor.
The Metropolis Daily Planet
At 2 o'clock yesterday afternoon, an emergency signal came in from the Swedish oil tanker Sea Symphony, still about an hour out from Metropolis harbor. The panicked radio message spoke of a fire in the engine room and damaged turbines. Rescue ships were scrambled immediately, easily able to spot the ship's location by the huge plume of black smoke visible above the horizon.
Miraculously, though, the raging fire was put out and the Sea Symphony resumed her course towards Metropolis harbor despite the damage to the turbines.
"It was the strangest thing I have ever seen," the ship's chief engineer told our reporter later on. "The turbine was totaled. But the propellers just kept turning. If I didn't know better, I'd say someone was turning them by hand."
The fire on the ship was apparently caused by accident, no evidence of foul play was found. Experts have no explanation so far, though, of why the ship's propellers continued to turn, as the damage to the engine room should have disabled the ship. Additionally, numerous crew members report that the fire in the engine room simply went out from one moment to the next with no explanation.
As experts continue to look for a logical explanation for these miraculous events, the crew members of the Sea Symphony are simply happy to be back on land, safe and sound.
"You hear all kinds of weird tales when you spend your life at sea," the ship's captain commented. "Never really put much stock in it myself. Still, clearly Njǫror [old Norse god of the wind and sea] was looking out for us today. And personally, I will raise my glass tonight in gratitude."
Smallville
"Why do you smell of fish, mom?" Clark asked, wrinkling his little nose.
"Long story, Clark," she laughed. "Let us just say that a single shower is not sufficient if you spend the better part of an hour submerged in ocean water. Far more importantly: how was your first day?"
Kara had arrived at the school a few minutes before the bell sounded. The moment Clark came out of the building, she hugged the stuffing out of him. Thankfully he was not yet of that age where being hugged by his mom was considered childish or embarrassing.
"It was okay, mom," he replied. "Mostly getting to know the teachers and other students. Me and Lana are sitting next to each other."
"I am not surprised," she chuckled. She would have bet money on the two of them sticking close, but no one in Smallville would have been stupid enough to take that bet. "I want to know everything. What lessons did you have today? What do you think of your teachers? What is on the plan for tomorrow? What..."
"Mom, can we go home first?" Clark interrupted her with a pleading gaze. "I'm really hungry."
"Of course we can. Come on."
"Can we run?" he asked, hopefully.
Nodding, she took his tiny hand into hers and together they walked into the direction of the Kent farm. The moment they were out of sight, she took him into her arms and ran through the wheat fields at super speed, Clark laughing all the way.
"Dinner is here," Karen announced as she came into the Kent farm.
"Finally," Jonathan huffed, getting up from the couch. "What did you do? Go all the way to China to get this food?"
Anyone outside the family would have taken this for a jest, but given who she was, Jonathan knew that it was entirely possible that his daughter had done just that.
"No, do not be silly," she told him, setting down the containers. "I went to that fabulous place in Coast City. No one makes a green curry duck like they do there."
Jonathan shook his head. Even after six years he still was not quite used to how casually his daughter did things like flying halfway across the continent simply to get dinner for them. Not to mention that she was back home before the food was even remotely cold.
"How did your presentation go?" Martha asked as they sat down to dinner. Clark was already wolfing down his share of the food. With his ability to metabolize solar energy not yet developed, he needed regular food like any other growing boy.
"I think it went very well," Karen told them, grinning. "Mr. Sloane already told his legal department to write up a contract. If all goes well, Sloane Aerodynamics will launch their first prototype plane with my navigation system installed less than a year from now."
"Congratulations, Karen," Martha said, squeezing her shoulder. "No problems then? I mean... given your age?"
She waved her off. "Some of the suits in the room probably thought the whole thing a joke at first, but once we got to the details and questions, they all realized that I was not just a pretty face for the presentation; I actually know what I am talking about. They were all ecstatic by the time the meeting ended."
"I am so proud of you, my girl," Jonathan told her, and he was. Sure, Karen had the advantage of hailing from a culture with a tech base centuries ahead of Earth's, but she wasn't simply handing out advanced technology that someone else had created. She was adapting the advanced principles discovered by her people so that they could work with the technology and materials available here on Earth, which was far from easy. Besides, they did not hand out master's degrees in engineering or physics doctorates to everyone with a pretty smile.
"To Karen Kent then," Jonathan said, raising his glass. "Genius engineer and inventor who will no doubt change the world."
"Hear, hear," Martha said.
Metropolis, one year later
Terrence Sloane, CEO of Sloane Aerodynamics, stared in shock at the TV screen in front of him. He had, of course, watched the launch of their new airplane. When the engine had exploded, his mind had already begun to calculate the horrendous damage the plane would do if it crashed straight into midtown Metropolis.
Then the impossible had happened. Someone had flown up from the ground, a young woman by the looks of it, to catch the tumbling plane in mid-air and deliver to safely to the ground.
All around him his fellow board members and employees were chattering like crazy, amazed at this development. Some were already on the phone, trying to get ahead of the inevitable media storm and find out what exactly had happened to their plane.
Sloane, though, simply stared at the image of the flying woman for a good while longer. When he finally took up the phone, it was not to call the media or some of his employees. No, he had a far more important call to make.
"Ted, it's Terry. Are you watching the news? No? Turn them on, right now!"
End Chapter 4
Author's Note: There are certain parts in my original story "Adventures of a Super-Family" where, looking back, I wish I had spent some more time in. Such as Kara's pre-Superwoman life (we're between chapters 1 and 2 of AoaSF here), where she already had to balance quite a few different things, but without the pressure of being a public superhero to boot. So here is a brief look at all the things Kara was up to before she started putting on the cape and the famous S-symbol. Also, any chance to revisit little boy Clark is welcome as well, of course. Though I have to keep reminding myself that Kona is not around yet.
Any particular missing scenes from the original story you would be interested in, der Readers? Don't get me wrong, I have quite a few more ideas for these Tales, but I am also constantly looking for inspiration. Oh, and for all those who recognized the name Terry Sloane, yes, that's him. Not just name recycling, either, as I have an idea for Terry and some of his buddies to appear in this story at some point.