Fallout - 2016 - Matchmaker Chronicles Vol 1 CG3 10/15
Previously
Because of the cheating scandal, Bud and his friends were barred from participating in school activities, so that night, Bud and his cronies had gotten together to make sure that they had everything that they would need. Bud had made good on his plan to steal a propane gas cylinder from the Kent’s back yard. He had waited until they had all gone out for an evening’s entertainment before he committed his theft.
They gathered at Jack’s house. After he sat the cylinder down, he was handed a glass of liquor which he downed in a gulp. Looking around he saw that each of his friends had already imbibed before he got there. Jack said, “Ben brought the booze.” He looked around in a paranoid fashion and then pulled out a bag of leafy material and a pipe. “I found where my old man keeps his stash. He’s such a hypocrite! Tells me that he’ll beat me black and blue if he catches me smoking weed and he does it all the time, like I couldn’t tell!” As he was talking he was filling the pipe with the dried flakes of weed. Picking up a lighter he struck the flame and applied it to the bowl of the pipe. He inhaled deeply and then, holding his breath, passed it over to Bud. He followed suit and passed it on. When that bowl was finished, Ben refilled it and they passed this second one around.
By the time they had finished five pipes they were all happy.
Bud reached into his back pocket and pulled out Smith and Wesson .38 special that he had stolen from his father’s gun locker. Waving it around, negligently, he bragged, “My old man won’t even know that this is gone. I found where he put the key to the lock-up and let myself in. I got a box full of bullets as well. How’d you guys do?”
Jack sat down his glass and produced a semi-automatic version of an AR-15 and said, “I got this and two extra clips.”
After setting down his glass, Ben produced and automatic pistol, a 9mm Glock 19 and said, “I got this and two clips.”
Smiling, Bud said, “Nobody better get in our way. We’ll show ‘em.” He looked around conspiratorially and said, “Okay, we meet here tomorrow at six. Bring everything. Dress all in black and wear ski-masks so that they can’t tell who it is on the security cameras. I’ll take care of the bomb then we meet in the hallway outside the newspaper’s office. We trash it and then move on. By that time that the dance is well underway and we can move on the gym. It’ll be just like WOW. Just remember, Kent, Kaplin and that new girl are mine.
They spent some time finalizing their plans, smoking additional weed as they did.
As they were finalizing their plans the hate they felt was exacerbated by what they planed and also the drugs they were consuming. By the time they were finished they were all consumed with a red hot fury at the school, and especially those that had perpetrated their exposure which resulted in their removal from the team and the revenge they would exact.
And now
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 10 –The Big Game
November 2016* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Universal Locator designation
Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120 – Prime%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Saturday, November 19, 2016 dawned slightly overcast, threatening rain, but as the day progressed the sky slowly cleared.
That same morning, after breakfast, Clark called Jon to the office for a pep talk. “Come on in Sport and close the door.”
Jon entered and closed the door before taking a seat. Clark leaned back against the desk and thought for a few seconds before speaking, “Jon, I can’t tell you how proud of you your mother and I am of how you’ve handled yourself on the field. Personally, I think you couldn’t have chosen a better position. Quarterback enables you to avoid most possibilities of hurting someone. How did you make that decision?”
“Well, Pop, like you said, this way there isn’t much chance of my hurting anyone. As long as JJ does his job and protects me the way Uncle Pete did for you, there isn’t much chance of my being sacked and once I get rid of the ball the chances are I won’t get hit. The other team doesn’t want to be hit with roughing the passer.”
“I must say, it has worked out well. You’ve run up some impressive statistics already and it’s only mid-October. It was a shame that Matt King got hurt in the second game, but that gave you your chance. You’re on track to set a school record for passing TDs.”
Jon smiled and said, “The nice thing is that I don’t even have to depend on my abilities, well, maybe just a little. My vision abilities are coming on and I can use my telescopic vision to see where the receivers are. Beyond that I just use my normal agility to avoid tacklers. That way I don’t attract too much attention.”
“Are you worried?”
“About what, Pop?”
“The MVP in today’s game is going to be Homecoming King at the dance tonight.”
“Why would I be worried about that?”
“Who is the Homecoming Queen this year?”
“Morgana, Cynthia Winley won the contest. She’s another junior. She’s actually pretty nice. Most of the pretty girls are total airheads, but she is sweet and brainy. Actually, I see a lot of her. She comes with Hattie to karate class and we all study together and she works with Hattie and JJ on the school paper. Aside from that, I’ve run into her a few times when I’ve gone to see Hattie or JJ in the paper’s office. She’s also one of the cheerleaders.” Jon thought for a second before he finished up, “She was also one of the people we rescued from that cruise ship on the Fourth of July holiday.”
“Isn’t she the one that kissed you?”
Jon started to blush as he replied, “Yeah, she’s the one.”
“If you’re chosen MVP, won’t that create a problem?”
“Why would it?”
“Well, Hattie … she’s your best friend. I thought you might have asked her to the dance.”
“Nah, I was going to, but JJ already asked her. I plan on being MVP so that I can take Morgana.”
“Oh, okay then, go out there and do your best.”
“I will, Pop, I sure will.”
A short time later Jimmy Olsen and JJ picked up Jon to take them to the field house to suit up.
After the typical locker room pep talk from the coach it was time to take the field.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Homecoming game was between the traditional rivals, the Metropolis Wildcats and the Gotham Grizzlies.
Metropolis had taken a page out of the Pro’s book and had a large paper barrier stretched across the exit from the locker room. Two of the male cheerleaders were holding the sides. The rest of the pep squad formed an aisle and when the announcement was made, Jon, as the quarterback, led the squad out, breaking through the barrier and passing between the two lines of cheerleaders as they charged onto the field. Each player was named as they entered the field. Jon was so excited that he had to use extra caution to prevent himself from using his super-speed and waved to the fans in the stands. Rather than their normal home jerseys which were white, they had opted to wear their more colorful red and gold travel uniforms.
The pep squad uniforms consisted of red sweaters with gold arms and red wrap skirts with red socks and athletic shoes. The mascot, a wildcat, was pictured in gold on the chest of the sweater. The wrap skirts were designed so that as the girls walked the slit would open and reveal their left leg. The tights they wore we red to match the skirts. The two squad leaders had gold scarves tied around their necks. The male members wore red slacks, and similar sweaters. All had golden pom-poms.
Hattie had convinced Morgana and Lara that joining the pep squad would be fun so they were side by side as the team passed.
As Jon passed he received the biggest cheer from his sister and friends.
The mascot was a member of the pep squad dressed up in a wildcat suit with a red and gold uniform.
Once the home team was at their bench the same activity was repeated with the visitors who were wearing their gray and black uniforms. The jerseys were gray as were the leggings with black trunks. Centered on the chest was a yellow oval with their number in black within it.
The Gotham pep squad was dressed in grey unitards with black trunks over and black pom-poms. The mascot was a pep squad member in a grizzly suit with a grey unitard, black trunks and a black cape with a scalloped edge.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Metropolis won the toss and opted to take the initial kick-off and the game was underway.
Metropolis took the kick off at the 20 yard line and ran it forward to the Metropolis 42 where they ran the first play from scrimmage.
On the first play, Jon took the snap and faded back for a pass. With his telescopic vision he spotted his wide receiver in a crossing pattern and floated the ball over the line for a catch and a 15 yard advance. The next play was from the Gotham 43. Taking the snap, Jon faded back and faked a pass, handing off to the full back for a dash up the center, but he was stopped after a gain of only 2 yards.
On second and 8, Jon again faded back to pass. This time the wide out was running a fly pattern down the sidelines. Jon timed the throw so that he caught it on the 10 yard line and was knocked out of bounds on the 3 yard line. The next play from scrimmage resulted in 6 points on the board for Metropolis. After a good kick the score was 7-0.
The lead changed several times during the first half with the half-time score being 14-10 Metropolis.
As the team was leaving the field for the half-time festivities, Jon was passing Hattie and noticed that she was wearing a gold scarf. He stopped and asked, “When did they make you one of the squad leaders?”
She shouted, “At the last practice. Joanie said she couldn’t be here.”
Jon laughed and said, “Bad for Joanie, good for Hattie!”
After a half-time pep talk where the coach cautioned his players about becoming complacent because they had a lead, they took the field again.
The second half kick-off was taken by the Gotham Grizzlies and they marched straight down the field in fourteen plays to score a touchdown. After the point after that made the score 14-17 Gotham.
In the fourth period, Metropolis managed to put three more points on the board to tie it up at 17 all.
In the last two minutes of play, Metropolis had needed to punt and had gone for the coffin corner with the ball going out of bounds on the 4 yard line.
The Coach called a time out. During the time out, he called JJ over and after a whispered conversation, sent him in to replace the left tackle and take in the play. This was unusual because JJ was an offensive lineman.
At the end of the timeout the two teams lined up. At the snap Metropolis pulled a trick play. Instead of dropping back into their usual zone defense, they blitzed. JJ’s deceptive quickness got him through the line and he sacked the quarterback in the end zone for a safety and the referee blew his whistle, signaling the end of the play.
Once he was sure of the sack and hearing the whistle, JJ jumped up and threw his arms over his head in a victory gesture as 2 points were put on the board. Play had stopped and the rest of the team looked at the end zone. Seeing JJ standing over the Grizzlies’ quarterback who was on his back, ball still clutched in his hands they all charged into the end zone. They picked JJ up and carried him off the field on their shoulders.
While this was going on, the crowd went wild! As they watched the play go down, the cheerleaders all sprang to their feet and started jumping exuberantly. Once it was finished and the whistle had blown, it took several seconds for the pep squad captains to regain order and call for a particular cheer. The cheer called for Morgana on one side and Hattie on the other side to be catapulted into the air and caught by the male members. It was one of the more dangerous moves that they executed and they performed it flawlessly.
The touchback forced the Grizzlies to turn over the ball with a free kick.
The Grizzlies didn’t have enough time outs to prevent it so Metropolis froze the ball on successive downs and left the field with a 19-17 victory.
The cheerleaders all formed two lines that the team passed through on their way back to the locker room.
As Jon and JJ passed through could each pick out the voices of Hattie, Lara and Morgana shouting their names.
There was jubilation in the locker room. There was a lot of back slapping and high fiving.
When the players finally left the locker room they were greeted by the cheerleaders once again as well as many of the students that were celebrating the win. Jon looped an arm around his sister, Lara and another around Morgana while JJ looped an arm around Hattie and they moved to the parking lot where they met Lois and Clark with the rest of the family. Jon had his own car as did Hattie.
As Lara detached herself from her brother, Jon introduced them, “Mom and Dad, this is Morgana. Morgana, my mother and father, Lois Lane and Clark Kent.”
Lois reached for Morgana and said, “Jon has told us a lot about you. I’m happy to finally meet you,” as she wrapped her up in a warm hug.
Morgana smiled at the affectionate greeting and instantly knew how Jon and Lara had become such nice people. Once she was released, she said, “It’s a pleasure to finally meet Jon’s parents.”
Jon interrupted and said, “If it’s okay, I’m gonna take Morgana home. She has to get ready for the dance.”
After the game the sportscasters and commentators all voted to decide who the MVP would be. The vote was surprising, in view of his performance in protecting the quarterback, enabling him to connect on so many passes and his performance on the last defensive play from scrimmage where he sacked the opponent’s quarterback in the end zone, JJ was voted MVP!
As soon as the decision was made the coach made a call to the Olsen home to give JJ the news.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
When JJ got the news, he was elated, for a second and then it suddenly dawned on his exactly what that would mean.
“Oh no! I’ve been voted MVP!”
Lucy and Jimmy were standing there as he had taken the call and when he announced this, Jimmy clapped him on the back and said, “Congratulations! This is quite a feather in your cap! Not many linemen get selected as MVP!”
Lucy said, “That’s nice, honey. Quite an honor. What goes along with it?”
“That’s the problem; I get to be the King for the Homecoming Dance. Morgana was voted in as the Queen. That means that I’ll be with Morgana when I was supposed to be with Hattie. Jon was supposed to be with Morgana! I guess he’ll have to go with Hattie.”
Lucy suggested, “Do you have to be with her the entire night? Perhaps you could switch off.”
As what Lucy said sank in, JJ brightened and said, “Yeah, thanks, Mom. That should work! Well, I guess I should go and get ready.”
Jimmy said, “Don’t you think you should call Jon and let him know? And what about Hattie? I think you guys need to get this straightened out before you get there, don’t you?”
“Yeah, you’re right, Pop. I guess I have some calls to make.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
When Jon answered the phone, he said, “Hi, JJ! What’s up?”
“Jon, everything is messed up.”
“What? What’s messed up?”
“Jon, they picked me to be MVP!”
“That’s great, JJ!”
“No, Jon. No it’s not! It means that I’ll be with Morgana!”
It finally hit him and Jon said, “Oh, wow! That’s right!”
“Look, my mom suggested that we could switch after we start the dance.”
“Yeah, that’ll work. Okay, I’ll pick up Hattie and you pick up Morgana. We’ll meet at the dance.”
“Okay, Jon. You’re a pal.
comments go here TBC
