Fallout - 2016 - Matchmaker Chronicles Vol 1 CG3
Previously
Lois looked around and didn’t see Lucy or Sam. She addressed Lara, “Where are Sam and Lucy?”
Lara replied, “We knew that you were tied up in your meeting, so we didn’t bother you. We just put them to bed when they were supposed to go down.”
Lois said, “Thanks, Kiddo. You did good.” Turning to Hattie she asked, “Have you been having a good time? What have we missed?”
“I’ve been having the best time ever. Jon was telling me about your scrap book.”
Lois got a worried look as she asked, “Which scrap book would that be?”
“The one with all of the pictures of you flying with Superman.”
Lois knew that no such scrap book existed. She realized that Jon must have come up with this to cover up something and she wondered just what that something was. She knew that she’d have to play along so she said, “Oh, that old thing. How did that come up?”
“Oh, Lucy said she was looking forward to when she could fly like you. Jon explained what she meant you flying with Superman. By the way, when you fly with him, does he feel, I don’t know, normal? No extra arms or tentacles or anything?”
Lois started to laugh, “Extra arms or tentacles?”
Jon explained, “We watched ‘Galaxy Quest’ earlier and Hattie has this theory that Superman and Ultra Woman could be using appearance generators to look like Earthlings.”
Hattie added, “Yeah, you see, that would explain the new superheroes. If that was actually Superman and Ultra Woman they could be changing their appearance to make the world think that there are more superheroes around and then crooks would have more to fear.”
Clark nodded and said, “That’s an interesting theory. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if, maybe sometime, some new superheroes will make their debut and Superman and Ultra Woman might be standing there next to them.”
Hattie was surprised. She said, “But, that would mean that there really are new heroes. Maybe they are really their children. Do you think that is possible?”
Clark replied, “I guess anything is possible, especially when it comes to superheroes.”
Hattie was looking directly at Clark so she didn’t see Lois wink at Clark. She also didn’t see Jon smile at Lara.
Hattie finally looked around and caught Jon’s smile fading and started to get angry, “You guys are just pulling my leg! Was that a phony copy of the Planet with that story inserted to get me going?”
Lois tried to mollify her, “No Hattie, we aren’t. That was right from the newsstand. We wouldn’t do anything like that. We all heard about the new heroes. We just don’t know when or where they will show up again. From what we heard they are a lot like Superman and Ultra Woman. They show up when and where they are needed. In this case, Maisie was in real trouble and they showed up to help her out.”
“But, how did they know she was in trouble? Were they there to see it? Were they flying overhead and saw her with their x-ray vision? Did they hear something?”
Lois laughed, “Whoa, slow down Hattie. So many questions! The only ones that could answer them aren’t even here. I think we can possibly make some guesses. Did they see what was happening? Perhaps … we don’t know the extent of their powers; after all they were only there for a short time. We do know that they are fast and strong from what Maisie and the sheriff said. Those are two of the powers that Superman and Ultra Woman possess so it could be logical to assume that they have the same powers.” Lois knew that she was treading a very fine line so she had to be careful. “Based upon that assumption, they could have been flying over and saw what was happening with x-ray vision as you suggest because those are also powers that Superman and Ultra Woman possess.”
Deciding to use this opportunity to its fullest, Lois continued, “We know that Superman showed up about sixteen years ago and Ultra Woman made her first appearance about fourteen years ago and then came back, apparently to stay about three years ago.”
Hattie interrupted, “I wonder where she was all of that time. Do you think she went back to New Krypton?”
“Well, Hattie, you’d have to ask her that question. All we know is that now she is here and it looks like she will be sticking around.”
“Do you think that these new superheroes are their children?”
“Well, Hattie, has Superman been away for any long periods of time?”
“He went missing for a while back when the Nightfall asteroid was a threat.”
“Right, but that was only a few days.”
“Then he went to New Krypton.”
“Right, but that wasn’t for a long period of time.”
“You mean that these new heroes might not be their children? They could be some new visitors from New Krypton?”
“Well, I don’t know. I guess that would be a possibility. What do you think?”
Hattie was shocked speechless. She finally said, “Wow, more Kryptonians and kids, like us. I wonder how many more will join us.”
Lois said, enigmatically, “Only time will tell,” as she thought of each of her eight children and how each of their spouses would eventually become super through exposure to the Kryptonian aura and the use of the pendant. Then she thought of that peek she’d had into Hattie’s future and started to smile. Hattie would become a member of the family. She had seen Hattie interact with JJ whenever he was over at the same time as her. She knew that Hattie liked him and he liked her. It made Lois happy that they would eventually marry and that they would both become super. “Only time will tell.” She repeated with a shake of her head.
Without them realizing it the memories of the trip began to fade. Eventually the block that Herb had initiated was in place and they forgot that they had even been away.
And now
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Chapter 02 From Prologue 1 - Thanksgiving 2015 - Matchmaker Chronicles Vol 1 CG1
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Universal Locator Designation
Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120
Local designation - Canon Universe also called Prime
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It had been a crazy week at the Planet and a frustrating week for the superheroes. There had been more terror attacks at scattered locations across the globe and there had been little or nothing that they could do about them. Accidents can be dealt with, most of the time a in a car wreck the victim will be there until rescued, but a terror attack happens and is over so quickly that there is no stopping or preventing it. Superman and Ultra Woman had been able to airlift some of the victims to hospitals, but that was all.
Things had quieted, somewhat, and by Wednesday the 25th, Lois and Clark were happy to be heading home with four children in tow.
They were actually going to be having a rather large gathering, JJ Olsen, his brother and sister were joining them as were Jack and Mel Kaplan and Hattie. Jimmy and Lucy frequently availed themselves of the time that their children spent with Lois and Clark to have some alone time together. Added to that, recently Jimmy had started a new tech company and was busy getting it off the ground. He had kept his job at the Planet so that they would have a steady source of income until the business was bringing in enough of a cash flow. That made eighteen mouths to feed so they were actually cooking three turkeys. With four cooks it was going to be somewhat crowded in the kitchen so a division of labor was devised. One was an oven roast, one was going to be smoked and one was scheduled to be deep fried. The smoking and deep frying were going to be done out back and that was where Jonathan and Clark would be doing the cooking leaving Lois and Martha in the kitchen to make the oven roast, stuffing, sides and deserts. Martha was doing the turkey, stuffing and some pies in the oven while Lois worked on the vegetables.
Jonathan had the smoker set up with mesquite chips for flavor and once it was ready he hung the cleaned turkey inside.
Clark had the deep fryer set up on a stand over a propane fire. That was going to be the trickiest of all, because you had to guard against hot spots and an improperly thawed turkey because any ice (water) can cause geysering when it flashed to steam. If there was an oil geyser it could ignite. Clark made sure that the bird was properly thawed by using his heat vision on it and was able to lower it into the oil without incident.
The time that each bird was started were staggered due to the different cooking times so that they would all be finished at about the same time.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Kents had borrowed a number of folding tables and chairs and the children were in charge of setting them up and putting out the place settings. Sam's highchair would be at Lois's side.
Just before the first of the guests was to arrive, Lois, Clark and the four oldest kids heard voices raised in fear and they sounded fairly close.
Jon and Lara immediately went to Lois and said, "That sounds like the Livingston's, down the street. We want to help."
Lois nodded and they spun into their uniforms as did Lois. They joined Clark in the back yard. Clark put an arm around Jon while Lois did the same for Lara and then they took off, straight up, travelling too fast for the eye to follow and arced back down from a slightly different direction.
As they approached, Lois saw Karl and Carol Livingston and their two older children on the sidewalk and smoke billowing from the house. Carol had her head buried in her husband's chest and was weeping inconsolably. Before they landed, Lara said to her mom, "I don't see the baby. I want to go for her. I babysat her just last week. I know where her room is."
"Okay, Sweetie, go get her," and as they landed, Lois placed Ultra Woman 2 on the ground. As soon as her feet had touched the sidewalk, Ultra Woman 2 used her super-speed to enter the house at a run while Ultra Woman stopped to talk to the family.
Carol Livingston was frantic and seeing Ultra Woman screamed, "My baby's still inside. The smoke was too much. It drove us out of the house. I couldn't go for her."
Ultra Woman placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder and a restraining hand on Karl's shoulder as he started to move in the direction of the door, and in somewhat stilted phraseology said, "Ultra Woman 2 has gone in to see if there is anyone left inside. I am sure that she will find her."
While Ultra Woman and Ultra Woman 2 were dealing with the family, Superman and Kam-El went in to see what was happening to the house and found that the kitchen was in flames. Superman immediately saw a deep fryer on the gas stove in the kitchen and picking up a large lid used it to smother the fire in the pot. Kam-El turned off the gas supply to remove the source of ignition and then Superman carried the pot out the back door while Kam-El tried to use his super-breath to put the flames out. The problem was that this power wasn't fully developed in him as yet so all he did was fan the flames. Before it became a problem though, Superman reentered and said, "Hey, sport, not that way. Watch." Leaning in close to the flames he inhaled sucking away the oxygen and heat, snuffing the flames."
"Thanks, Pop. Guess I've got a lot to learn. Hey, I hear a siren approaching."
"That's what I'm here for, to teach you," and he put an arm across Jon's shoulders and gave him a man hug. "You're doing just fine. You'll learn all the little tricks. It just takes time. Yeah, the fire truck should be here shortly. I guess we are finished here. We may as well go outside. I'll have to talk to the firemen."
Meanwhile, Lara had sped directly to one year-old baby Virginia's room and bundled her up in a blanket. Virginia had been crying, but Lara had spoken to her in a low soothing tone. That and the fact that the baby recognized the voice quelled her fears and she settled down. Covering the baby's face with the blanket and throwing her cape over her, Lara shifter to super-speed and took her out of the house. As she exited the door she slowed to a walk and approaching Carol first removed her cape to reveal the bundle that she carried and then handed the baby over, opening the blanket to reveal the smiling baby's face as she saw her mom.
Carol hugged her baby to her chest and looking at Ultra Woman 2 said, "I don't know how to thank you."
Lara lowered her voice a tone to disguise her natural voice and replied, "No thanks are necessary. Just knowing that she is safe is enough."
A few seconds later, just as a fire truck pulled up out front, Superman and Kam-El came out of the house. Kam-El stepped over to where the family was standing while Superman moved over to talk to the engine captain.
Several residents were out in the street; some of them had their cell phones out and were taking pictures of the superheroes.
Amber, the oldest Livingston girl, who was a year younger than Jon, seeing Kam-El approach screamed, "Oh, Kam-El," threw caution to the winds and quickly stepping over to him, threw her arms around the young superhero's neck and kissed him on the lips. There was more than one flash as pictures of the incident were taken. As he disengaged himself from her she rushed on, "Could we go out on a date? I know all about Emerson. I'm not famous like her, but could we?"
The color in his cheeks could be seen beneath his mask. Without hurting her he pushed her gently away and lowering his tone a bit said, "Uh, thanks, but, uh, I don't date."
Just then Superman finished with the engine captain and joined the rest of his family. Standing next to Jon and placing an arm around him, he said, "I think we need to go."
Placing an arm around Ultra Woman 2, Ultra Woman joined Superman in waving to the Livingstones as they took to the air and making a wide circuit they returned home.
They immediately spun back into their regular clothes and moving through the house and into the street made their way to the crowd around the Livingstone's house.
Addressing the first person she met, a neighbor named Donna Jordan, Lois asked, "Hi Donna, what happened?"
"Oh, hi Lois. The Livingstones had a fire. The superheroes just left. Say, Lois, you're a close friend of Superman's. You just missed him. Hey, wait a minute; didn't you have a thing for Superman some time ago? Are you disappointed that he married Ultra Woman?"
Lois smiled and replied, "Let's see, I'll try to answer your questions in order. Yes, Superman and I were friends and still are. I am sorry I missed him, but oh well. Yes, a long time ago I had a ‘thing' for Superman, but I got over it. I'm married to Clark now and I am happy that Superman is happily married too. Now, how are the Livingstones?"
"They seem to be okay, but it doesn't look like they will be having a happy Thanksgiving."
Lois thought for a second and then said, "We'll see about that."
As she made her way through the crowd she telepathically called Clark, /Clark?/
/Yes, Lois./
/Are they going to be able to have Thanksgiving dinner?/
/I'm afraid that their turkey was ruined along with most of their kitchen./
/Let's invite them over. We will have plenty./
/If you want to, okay by me./
By this time she was standing next to Carol Livingstone and Lara was at her side. Lara held her hands out to baby Virginia and the baby reached for her in turn so Carol let Lara take her.
Lois put her arms around Carol as she began to cry and mutter, "Ruined. It's all ruined. Dinner, the house, everything is ruined."
Clark had gone over to stand by Karl and heard what the engine captain said after his inspection. "The kitchen sustained some damage. Fortunately Superman got here and put the fire out quickly. I think you will need to replace the range, some of the tile, perhaps a couple of cabinets. Most of the other damage is from the smoke. You may be able to get away with cleaning the drapes and such, to get rid of the smoky smell."
"Can we return to the house?"
"I don't see why not. Thanks to Superman and Kam-El we didn't have to go in with water. They had the fire out before we even got here so there's no water to sop up or soaking your carpets. What happened?"
"I was deep frying our turkey."
The captain interrupted him, "Inside? On the range?"
"Yeah, is that a problem?"
"I'll say that's a problem. Always do that outside. You need a burner stand to hold the pot and a gas tank for the burner. Let me guess, the oil sprayed out and ignited."
"Yeah, I was careful, but it happened anyhow."
"It only takes a little water in the bird for that to happen. Okay, I think I have enough to complete my report. We have to return to the barn in case we are needed elsewhere. Have a good day, what's left of it." (Barn is a nickname firemen use for the station house. It is a nickname dating back to the days of horse drawn fire engines)
As the fire truck drove off, Lois turned to Carol and said, "You, Karl and the kids are joining us for Thanksgiving dinner. Go lock up and come with us."
"No, Lois. No, we can't. That would be too much of an imposition."
Lois countered, "It's no imposition. Look, Clark and I have been meaning to have you guys over for a while now. This is a perfect opportunity."
"Well, I have to check with Karl."
"I think Clark is talking to him."
In fact, Clark was talking with Karl. "Karl, you guys will be needing something to eat. We'd like to have you over for Thanksgiving dinner with our family and friends."
Karl was hesitant and said, "Thanks, Clark, but that would be too much of an imposition."
"It's no imposition. We are inviting you and your family to join us."
"I'll need to check with Carol."
"I think Lois is already talking to her."
In a defeated tone, Karl said, "Okay, okay, you win. We'll come over for dinner."
"Good, we'll set a few extra places."
"I really need to call my insurance agent."
"Okay, we'll expect you in about an hour."
"One hour it is."
Carol looked over and saw Karl talking to Clark and catching his eye, looked questioningly. He nodded and she turned to Lois and said, "Okay. We're coming."
Since Lara had been the one to rescue the baby, she was feeling somewhat possessive of her and asked, "Since you are coming for dinner, can I take Virginia with me?"
Carol looked at her daughter, the daughter that she almost lost in the fire and seeing how contented she was in Lara's arms said, "Sure. You can take Virginia."
Jon asked, "Can Amber and Karl Jr. come now?"
Carol looked at her kids and said, "I don't see why not. We have to do some things here before we can come over, but they are free."
Amber had something of a crush on Jon and was happy to hear that they could go early and moved next to Jon. As soon as Karl Jr. joined them they along with Lara and Virginia headed for the Kent residence.
When they got there they found that JJ and his siblings were already there and a few minutes later Hattie Kaplin and her parents arrived.
Amber knew Hattie from seeing her at the Kent's home on other occasions and apprised her of what had happened. "… Then Superman and Kam-El swooped in along with Ultra Woman and Ultra Woman 2 and we just knew that everything was going to be all right. Sure enough it only took a minute for Ultra Woman 2 to find baby Virginia and bring her out. Then Superman and Kam-El put out the fire." She paused and took a deep breath before she continued and almost screamed as she said, "Then I kissed Kam-El!"
Hattie was flabbergasted and burst out with, "You what??"
"I kissed Kam-El! Can you believe it? Right on the mouth! Wow, he's a dreamboat."
Hattie was disgusted and muttered, "I keep missing him. This is the third or fourth time he's been seen and I haven't seen him yet!" Then she raised her tone and said, "And you got to kiss him!"
Amber could see that Hattie was bothered by her revelation and couldn't help rubbing it in as she reiterated, "Right on the mouth," in a somewhat dreamy tone.
Hattie was steamed, but Jon didn't let it ruin the day. With the help of JJ, he quickly brought her out of her dark mood.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
As they sat down to dinner, Lois looked around at her family and friends and said, "We have so much to be thankful for."
Standing, Clark nodded his agreement, "Yes, we each have a lot to be thankful for, even Karl and Carol. They can be thankful that even though they went through this trial, no one was hurt. The house can be repaired, but there will not be any hospital time for anyone."
Karl and Carol each reached for and clasped the hand of the other as they both nodded their agreement.
Martha stood as Clark sat back down and said, "Jonathan and I have been around for quite a long time. There for a while, all we had to be thankful for was each other and then suddenly, Clark joined our little family. Then we became that much more thankful for what we had. It was about thirty years later that Lois joined our family which only increased out thankfulness that much more. Now we have eight lovely grandchildren and our thankfulness cup overflows."
As Martha sat down, Mel Kaplin spoke up, "When we finally had Hattie, we thought that there wasn't much more that we could be thankful for, then Hattie made friends with Jon Kent. Through Jon we met this marvelous family. At first we weren't sure about their relationship because of what we had heard about," she nodded at Lois, "the famous Lois Lane and how she was always getting into scrapes that Superman had to get her out of. Once we got to know Lois and Clark though we saw how the stories were all blown out of proportion. We saw their family and realized that a family that demonstrated so much love for each other couldn't be nearly as dangerous as the papers made them out to be. We are thankful to be associated with the Kent family, all of them."
JJ as the oldest of the Olsens, felt it was incumbent upon him to speak for his family, "We are very thankful for our aunt and uncle and our cousins," he looked directly at Hattie as he finished, "and the friends we have made."
Hattie blushed prettily as she took his meaning. She really liked JJ and she felt a little sorry for him. She knew that he had a poor self-image because of his weight and hoped he would get over it with time.
Standing, Jonathan, as the senior man present, said, "Let us bless this food," and proceeded to pronounce the blessing before starting to carve one of the birds. As he did, he smiled and said, said, "You have a choice to make; we have three different birds …"
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
After the dinner, the kids helped to clean up and then they went to the play room while the adults adjourned to the living room for coffee and wine.
Clark addressed Karl, "Did you get hold of your insurance man?"
"Yes, he'll be out tomorrow morning to inspect. He said that I can probably expect a check for the repairs in a week, but that I should go ahead and start the work."
"How long do you think it will take?"
"At least a week. There will be a lot of clean-up and some cabinets need to be replaced, the range and some of the tile on the floor as well."
"What are you going to do for meals in the meantime?"
"I don't know. Take-out I suppose."
Lois said, "Let me handle that."
Carol, gulped, "What?"
Lois reiterated, "I said, let me handle that. I'm going to talk to our neighbors about providing meals. That's what neighbors do for each other."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Lois called all of her neighbors and arranged a meeting. A couple of hours later they were all assembled in their living room and Lois addressed them, "I want to thank you all for coming out on such short notice. As you all know, one of our neighbors had an unfortunate incident today. As a result, they are not able to prepare any meals. This situation could pertain for a week. Perhaps, we, as their friends and neighbors could get together and share the load to provide them with the meals that they would need. Breakfasts and lunches don't necessarily need to be cooked so we will concentrate on dinners."
Florence Rose, one of the neighbors grumbled, "Why can't they just order take-out?"
Lois looked at her and asked, "If it were you, would you like to depend on take-out for a week. Or would you appreciate your neighbors chipping in and providing meals?" Lois looked around and caught the eye of Donna Jordan. She addressed the crowd, "When we got there to see what was happening, I spoke with Donna. Donna remembered that I am a close friend of Superman's. I want to point out something, all Superman does is help people. He takes people to the hospital when they need it, he prevents crime, he pulls people from mud-slides and floods, he even prevented a huge asteroid from crashing into the Earth and killing almost everyone and Ultra Woman, ever since she arrived, is right there beside him, also helping out. I realize that those are big saves, saves on a global scale, but in our little corner of the globe, helping out our neighbor in need is every bit as important as those flashy rescues. Now, I ask you, what would Superman and Ultra Woman do? Would they say to the Livingstones, ‘Order take-out,' or would they help?"
Looking around at her gathered neighbors, Donna spoke up, "Lois is right. What would Superman and Ultra Woman do? I think they would help and I for one want to follow that example. Carol, I'll be providing your dinner tomorrow night. In fact, why don't you guys come over for dinner and the evening? It'll be fun."
Following Donna and Lois's example, it had not been mentioned, but everyone knew that the Kents had invited the Livingstones to their home for Thanksgiving dinner, the Livingstones were scheduled for visits for the rest of the week. One of the invitations came from Florence Rose.
After the meeting broke up, Carol turned to Lois and said, with a tear in her eye, "Lois, I don't know how to thank you. I'm overwhelmed. You really have made a difference here. I know I can speak for Karl when I say, we appreciate all that you have done for us."
Lois shrugged it off, "It was nothing, Carol. It's just neighbors helping neighbors."
"But you did it. If not for you we'd be eating take-out and be miserable. This way, we can concentrate on the repairs."
Lois gave her a hug and said, "It's just what Superman or Ultra Woman would do, Carol. Wouldn't it be nice if everyone did it too?"
"Yeah, you're right. You know, I haven't been the best friend I could be to some of my neighbors, but that is going to change. I'm going to use Ultra Woman as my example. I'm going to try to be more helpful, be a better neighbor."
"You do that, Carol. I'm sure that would make her happy."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
In the evening of Friday, the twenty-seventh, the doorbell was rung and when Lois answered it, Bud Kyle was on the stoop, holding a pumpkin. When she had opened the door, she said, "Well, Bud, did you want to see Jon?"
When he looked up she could see that he had some healing bruises on his face and around his eyes and he said, "I came to replace the pumpkin I ruined." He proffered the large orange squash to her, "and to say that I'm sorry."
Lois accepted the pumpkin and said, "I hope you have learned a lesson."
In a somewhat belligerent tone, he replied, "Yeah, I have." As he turned away, she saw that he moved stiffly, as if her were in pain. Using her x-ray vision, Lois checked and saw bruising and red welts on his back and ribs.
Bud didn't hear her gasp of dismay. She stopped him, "Bud!"
He turned back to her as she asked, "What did your father do to you?"
He hung his head and said, sullenly, "Nothin'. He didn't do nothin',' as he turned away and left.
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Lois placed the pumpkin on the porch where the other had been and then stepping back into the house, called her husband, /Clark!/
Having just returned from a rescue, he replied, /I'm upstairs./
She rushed upstairs and plopping down on the side of the bed, she said, "I think we have a major problem."
"What would that be?"
"Bud Kyle was just here to deliver the replacement pumpkin. Clark, I think he is a victim of child abuse. I think his father beat him because of what he did. His face was bruised and when I checked using my x-ray vision, so is his body and he had red welts on his back."
"Lois, you know we aren't supposed to violate individual's privacy by using our x-ray vision on them."
"This was justified. That kid was injured."
"I know and I sympathize, but there are just some things we don't do."
Chagrined, Lois replied, "I know. It's just like old times. I was jumping in before checking the water level, but it was probably my fault! I was the one that took him to the police."
He could sense that she was on the verge of breaking down, so taking her in his arms, he said, "Look, maybe the appearance in family court will help. We can only hope that it will and that they will be ordered into counseling."
Lois relented and slumped in his arms, "Yeah, you're right. I guess we'll just have to wait and see."
TBC
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