Fallout - 2016 - Matchmaker Chronicles Vol 1 CG3 13/15
Previously
Ben noticed it and demonstrating just how muddled his thinking was, jerked the gun away and shouted, “Hey, none of that!! You ruin this gun and I’ll never hear the end of it from my ol’ man.”
Bud had finished reloading by this time and again threatened Morgana. “She’s one of them, but the ones I want are really Kent and Kaplin.” Addressing the crowd, Bud announced, “I want Kent and Kaplin. Send them out and I’ll let the rest of you go.”
The words finally solved the puzzle of who this was for Jon. The voice had been somewhat muffled by the ski mask, but the animosity toward him and Hattie were a dead giveaway. He just hoped that no one would really die.
Over his shoulder, Jon said, “Stay close to me, but behind me. I won’t let him hurt you.”
Morgana replied, in a heartfelt whisper, “I know. This isn’t the first time.”
Kam-El replied, “I remember.”
“Looks like I’ll owe you another kiss.”
“Looks like.”
Just then, Bud loosed another fusillade at Morgana. This time, knowing that Morgana was close behind him and protected by his body, he again snatched the bullets from the air. It was comparatively easy since Bud was using a revolver as opposed to an automatic weapon.
When Bud had finished this cylinder, Kam-El said over his shoulder, “Start moving back, away from him. I’ll stay between you, don’t worry.”
Meanwhile the crowd was shouting, some incoherently, for Jon and Hattie. Fortunately Hattie was still unconscious and out of sight of the fear deranged crowd or they might have done as the gunman had asked.
Even with all the shouting, Jon heard Morgana say, “I stopped worrying as soon as you showed up,” as she slowly started to back up, putting additional distance between her and the gunman. His plan would work as long as the gunmen maintained their position, near the doors.
Jon was happy to see that the shooters realized that the doors were their only exit and instinctively were staying near them.
Jon smiled at this although, Morgana could not see it. He could hear her moving and kept pace with her. Jon’s hope was that by increasing the distance the angular difference in their relative positions was reduced and he would be able to more easily defend against all of the shooters at once leaving Lara free to deal with them, and possibly disarm them.
If he could keep their attention focused on him, Lara might just have a free hand.
Suddenly, Bud dashed his hopes by shouting, “Keep an eye on that miniature copy of Ultra Woman. You saw what she did to that gun. Don’t let her get near you.”
Indignantly, Lara replied, “The name is Ultra Woman 2, buster and I’m not a miniature copy of anyone.” She decided to play a bluff, “She happens to be my role model, like a mother to me and she and Superman should be here any minute.”
Jack, now weaponless and feeling very vulnerable, cried out, “Hey, she’s right. They could show up any second!”
Jon sent, /”Good goin’, sis. They’re starting to panic.”/
/”Yeah, but we know they aren’t on the way. What can we do?”/
/”I just had an idea. Watch them, closely.”/
Looking off slightly to one side and up, Jon focused his heat vision on the bell on the wall. That bell was used to signal class changes during the school day. It wasn’t supposed to ring on the weekend or at night. By heating up the coil he caused it to start to ring.
When it started to ring, the shooters became unnerved and in something barely less than a panic fled out the doors, slamming them closed and using poles to block the handles, effectively locking everyone in the gym.
Lara sped to the wall and pulled the fire alarm. Immediately the fire siren started and the enunciator stated “Fire, please evacuate the building!” The announcement looped.
Lara sent, /”That should bring out Mom and Dad.”/
/”Yeah, along with the fire company. Good thinking. I’m going after them.”/
/”Not without me, you’re not!”/
/”No, you need to stay here and make sure everyone gets out safely, besides, there’s an injury. You need to get him to the hospital.”/
/”Oh, okay, I’ll take care of the injured. Go get ‘em.”/
Moving to the doors, Kam-El pushed and the doors flew open, almost leaving their hinges, as if an explosive charge had been used. He did the same with all of the doors.
As he started down the corridor there was a concerted rush behind him as the hostages, seeing that escape was now possible, headed for the parking lot.
Breasting the wave of humanity, Ultra Woman 2 moved to the side of her injured classmate. He was unconscious and his date was pressing a linen napkin against the wound, but he was losing a lot of blood. Lara could see the fear and panic in the girl’s eyes as she knelt next to her. In a soothing tone, she said, “You can let go now. I’ll take it from here. I need to get him to the hospital.”
Carol was in shock about what had happened. She had had presence of mind enough to try and stop the bleeding, but she had fixated on that activity. “Oh, what? Oh, yes, yes, of course. Hospital.”
As Ultra Woman 2 picked him up, the girl’s hands dropped to her sides and Lara recognized her as Carol and the guy in her arms as Jed. Reassuringly, she said, “Don’t worry; I’ll take good care of him.” As she finished speaking, she shifted into super-speed and carrying the unconscious football player she started to run toward the hospital, dodging around their classmates as she exited the building.
As the crowd in the gym started to thin, JJ could be seen looking around and calling, “Hattie? Hattie?” Frantically, he grabbed arms as people passed and asked, “Has anyone seen Hattie?”
No one answered, concerned as they all were with escape.
When there was almost no one left he heard a groan and looking toward the sound saw part of a royal blue dress sticking out from under a table only a very few feet from the pool of blood from Jed. Rushing to it, he threw up the table cloth to reveal a still somewhat stunned Hattie, starting to sit up.
Kneeling beside her he helped her to her unsteady feet. Looping an arm around her waist, he started walking them from the scene of carnage.
They emerged from the building along with most of the rest of the attendees to see fire trucks and ambulances screaming up and Ultra Woman landing. Most of the attendees were single-mindedly scattering and heading for their cars so that they could get away.
Spotting her JJ bent their course in her direction.
And now
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Chapter 13 –
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Universal Locator designation
Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120 – Prime%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Sam and Ellen Lane had come over for the evening so that they could witness Jon and Lara in their Homecoming finery and were involved in playing board games with their grandchildren when the attack occurred. They didn’t know anything was amiss until Lara pulled the fire alarm.
Within seconds sirens could be heard and the kids at the school weren’t the only ones that heard them. Lois and Clark were at home with the rest of the family. Sean and Celeste heard the sirens at the same time as their parents. Four heads snapped up as one. Lois and Clark looked at one another and then at Sean and Celeste and shook his head. Clark said, “Sam, Lois and I have to go out for a bit. Can you and Ellen take care of the kids?”
Sam replied, with a wink, “Sure, Clark. We’ll take care of things. Go ahead.”
Clark was glad that as a result of their rescue in Afghanistan, Sam and Ellen had figured out the family secret. He knew that he could trust them to take good care of the kids in their absence. (See Christmas 2015 – Matchmaker Chronicles Vol 1 CG2)
Lois was already in motion while Clark was talking with Sam. Once she was out the back door, she spun into her Ultra Woman uniform. Clark was only a few seconds behind her, but she was impatiently tapping her foot, waiting for him when he arrived.
After a quick spin change the two of them went airborne and headed for the school. Seconds later they were over the school and could see the fire trucks and an ambulance a couple of blocks away, lights flashing and sirens wailing and the students in their party finery streaming out of the building. As they approached they could also hear the enunciator repeating “Fire, please evacuate the building!”
Using their super-vision they each zoomed in on the crowd of humanity streaming from the building. It looked like nothing more than a simple fire evacuation until a turquoise and pink flash of movement attracted their attention. Lois sent, /”There goes Lara. Looks like it’s more than a fire.”/
Clark replied, /”I think I’ll follow and see what our little girl is up to.”/
/”You go ahead. I’ll see what’s been happening.”/
As Superman peeled off to follow Ultra Woman 2 on her mission of mercy, Ultra Woman descended toward the school.
When she landed she was mobbed by the partygoers. When she finally managed to see a familiar face, she broke away and addressed JJ, “Aren’t you related to James Olsen the photojournalist?”
JJ knew just who was asking and played along, “Yeah, that’s my dad.”
“What has happened here?”
When JJ was addressed by Ultra Woman he was distracted and Hattie realized that she was missing Jon. She started looking around while Ultra Woman talked to JJ.
JJ started to relate the entire story to Ultra Woman.
Not seeing Jon, Hattie decided that he must still be in the building. As seconds passed and she didn’t see him, her worry increased. Finally she decided that she needed to find him and headed, unheeded, back into the building.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
As JJ finished telling Ultra Woman what had been happening, he looked around and saw that Hattie was missing. Not seeing her he started shouting her name, “Hattie! Hattie Kaplin! Where are you Hattie!” Then the thought hit him, <Oh, no. I hope she didn’t go back into the building.>
In a tone so low that only super-hearing could pick it up, he said, “Aunt Lois, Hattie is missing. I think she went back into the building.”
Hearing this, Lois nodded her head in understanding. She did a quick scan of the building with her x-ray vision. When she did, she saw Jon in pursuit of the quartet of individuals that JJ had told her about. She also saw Hattie on the other side of the building and took off in pursuit.
Just as JJ was about to head back into the building Mike Lee spotted him and approached, “JJ, have you seen Lara? In all the confusion we got separated and now I can’t find her.”
JJ, knowing that Lara was busy being Ultra Woman 2, knew that he needed to cover for her. “I’m sure she’s okay. Lara’s a smart kid. She’ll get clear and stay away. I’m sure she’ll turn up safe and sound. It’s Hattie that I’m worried about. She runs toward trouble rather than away from it.”
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Superman overtook Ultra Woman 2 as she neared the hospital. He flew beside her until she stopped and landed when she did. He said, “I’ll take over from here,” as he took Jed from her arms. Then he sent telepathically, /”You need to get back and change before someone misses you.”/
With a sigh of relief, she had handed over her burden and sent, /”Thanks, Daddy. I feel a lot better now that you’re here.”/
/”Go on, Pumpkin. You can relax now.”/
As Superman lifted off to finish the errand of mercy, Ultra Woman 2 retraced her super-fast steps back to the school.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Hattie had been looking for Jon for several minutes and was becoming more concerned as time went on. JJ had told her that he was a particular object of the gang’s hatred along with her. She started going through the school building looking for him. Her path led her far away from the gym. In the dark it was hard to tell just where she was, but finally as she went through a door, she recognized the open space and tables of the cafeteria. The shock and worry finally became too much for her and she just fell onto a bench seat at one of the tables. She didn’t start to cry. She was made of sterner stuff than that, but she was becoming overcome by worry for her friend.
Suddenly Hattie heard a high pitched whistling which suddenly transformed into a sound like a blow torch. Her curiosity piqued, she got up off the bench, her worry about Jon forgotten in the face of this mystery, and followed the sound to its source. The sound led her to the food preparation area.
As she approached, she could see an eerie blue light visible under the door. She approached with caution. As she approached the door, rather than just throwing it open, she first placed her hand against it to see if it was hot. If it had been hot, that would have been an indication of a fire behind it, but the door was cool to her touch.
Cautiously, an inch at a time, she pushed the door open. At first she couldn’t see the source of the light because the door blocked her view of it. When the door was open far enough, she slowly stuck her head around it. When she could finally see, she had a hard time believing her eyes.
What she saw made no sense. There was a Bar-B-Q gas cylinder sitting on one of the stoves and the range was on like someone was cooking the cylinder. She wasn’t sure, but she thought that this could only be a problem. Not sure if her movements could cause a problem, she slowly withdrew her head and closed the door softly. She was almost frozen in place as suddenly the whistling stopped.
The whistling had reached several other pairs of ears and one of those individuals had gone to investigate. Ultra Woman used her x-ray vision to examine the area that she had heard the whistling emanate from and saw the danger. She also saw Hattie in close proximity to the door and just on the other side of the wall separating her from the gas cylinder bomb.
She put on a burst of speed and crashing through the doors to the cafeteria grabbed Hattie and wrapped her up in her arms, placing herself between Hattie and the bomb, just before it detonated.
The integrity of the cylinder wall was disrupted at a seam that couldn’t handle the increased pressure and the cylinder simply came apart, flying into hundreds of pieces. When that happened the liquefied gas that had been boiling inside was instantly converted to vapor and expanded to fill the air around it. It was ignited by the gas flame of the range and turned into a very large ball of fire. Shrapnel that had been the cylinder wall was given extra speed by the explosion, penetrating the walls and doors in all directions. The force of the explosion itself was enough to blow the doors off their hinges and send pots and pans flying away from the center.
Secondary fires were started as a result of the fireball igniting other combustibles.
There hadn’t been enough time to fly Hattie to safety, but after the blast wave had passed, Ultra Woman could plainly be seen, standing there with her arms protectively around Hattie. One of her hands had pulled Hattie’s head into the shelter of her chest while the other had pulled her body close and her arms in close to her body. Hattie’s dress was a little singed, but for the most part, Ultra Woman’s aura had protected her from harm. By standing between her and the explosion, all of the shrapnel had simply bounced off of her invulnerable body.
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Jon had been in pursuit of the felons. Their attire had made it difficult because the lights were out and their black clothes made them almost invisible, but Kam-El’s uniform being mostly black gave him a similar advantage.
It took several seconds after opening the doors because of the flood of humanity and the noise they created and then sending Lara off with Jed before he was able to use his super-hearing and listen for the quartet of footsteps that gave him their location.
They had fled down a hallway, away from the cafeteria. He realized that in order for them to escape that way they would need to open a fire door and that would have set off the alarm, if it hadn’t already been blaring its warning.
Finally, he spotted them at the far end of a straight corridor. Instantly he decided on a course of action. He started to run, faster than he had before. He was happy to see that his super-senses kept up with his speed. He zeroed in on the guns in the hands of two of the group. As he passed them he grabbed the two weapons and kept going.
There were cries of anguish after he had passed his quarry. The two that he had snatched the guns from must have had good solid grasps on them because his forceful removal had injured their gun hands.
That still left one armed assailant, Bud with his revolver. He closed the distance until he could be seen by the gang. He said, “Give it up. You can’t get away.” To demonstrate what he could do, he held up the guns, one in each hand and clinched his fists, crushing the guns in the process.
He hadn’t noticed that they were standing in front of a doorway, a doorway to a set of stairs that led down to a basement. Suddenly, they bolted through the door, slamming it behind them.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Lara had made it back to the school. She found a dark corner and spun into her party dress and then merged with the crowd milling around in front of the doors.
Suddenly, her super-hearing picked up JJ and Mike talking and decided that it was time to put in an appearance. Moving slowly, she circled around groups that were milling around, talking and finally spotted JJ and Mike.
She shouted, “Mike!”
Hearing his name, Mike turned in the direction of her voice and started to smile.
JJ said, “See, I told you she’d be okay. My cousin is smart.”
When she closed the distance, Mike wrapped his arms around her and said, “I was worried about you. Where did you go?”
“Well, you see, I was in the Ladies’ room when they attacked so I just hid out till all the action was over.”
JJ said, “I sure hope that Hattie is okay.”
Just as he finished his statement they all heard the explosion.
Looking around, JJ exclaimed, “That was in the cafeteria!”
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The explosion happened as Superman was returning from the hospital. As he neared the building he used his super-vision. He saw Ultra Woman and Hattie in the cafeteria and that they were okay. Seeing that she had things under control on her end, he started scanning the other end of the building.
He spotted Kam-El confronting the gang and as he neared, he saw them flee down the stairwell, closing the door behind themselves. He scanned the basement area and saw some windows at ground level. Deducing that they planned to escape that way, he landed and allowed their fear of Kam-El to cause them to run right into his waiting arms.
While he waited, one of the windows opened and Jack slithered out. Grabbing him by the back of the collar, he pulled him out and upright.
Jack had gasped when he had been grabbed, but when Superman picked him up and turned him to face him, Superman put a finger to his lips in a ‘silence’ gesture and he quieted.
Next out was Ben. Superman repeated the process, but now he had two to deal with and didn’t dare let either go. He decided to let Kam-El handle the remaining two. In order to force them to stay and be caught, he placed a foot at the window, blocking it, preventing it from opening.
Bud was the next to try and escape. He pushed on the window, but it wouldn’t budge. In the dark it was hard to see, but he caught a hint of a red colored boot through the window pane. In his frustration, he brought up his gun and started firing. There was the crash of the shots and the tinkle of broken glass and then there was the metallic click as the hammer fell on a spent cartridge.
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Kam-El had been slightly delayed by the door, reluctant to do any more damage to the school building than was necessary, but hearing the gunshots, he redoubled his efforts. He made it through the door and to the bottom of the stairs just as Bud and Bill approached.
Bud hadn’t taken the time to reload and forgetting that he had spent all of his shells, brought up his gun and pulled the trigger. When all that happened was a metallic clicking, in frustration, he threw the gun at Kam-El.
Kam-El calmly snatched the gun out of the air and crushed it. He commanded, “Give it up. You’re caught.”
Bill, resigned to the situation said, “Okay, I give up.”
As he was saying this, Bud started to turn in another attempt to flee, but Kam-El caught the back of his collar, preventing him from going anywhere.
In a defeated tone, Bill said, “I’ll go quietly.”
“Okay, back up the stairs and out front, to the police.”
Keeping a hand on Bud’s collar, he followed Bill upstairs and through the winding corridors to the front of the school.
As they emerged from the doors, Superman met them with his two collars.
Superman and Kam-El marched their four captives over to Commissioner Henderson and turned them over.
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Once she was sure that the immediate threat had passed, Ultra Woman released Hattie and had her sit on a bench that was still upright. Then at super-speed she went from spot to spot and using her super-cold breath started snuffing the spot fires that the explosion had started. The sprinkler system had started spewing water when the explosion had occurred so a secondary effect of her super-cold breath was to freeze the water so that a sheath of ice covered all surfaces making it look like a crystal palace.
Once the fire was under control she moved to Hattie’s side. In an awed tone, Hattie said, “It looks beautiful.”
Ultra Woman replied, “It won’t when it thaws out. Then it will be a real mess. I think I’ll leave the rest for the fire department.” Reaching for her, Ultra Woman asked, “What were you doing in this part of the building to start with?”
“I was worried about my best friend, Jon Kent. I haven’t seen him since this all started.”
Ultra Woman placed an arm around her shoulders and said, “I’m sure that Jon Kent will be okay, but speaking about people worrying, JJ is worried about you.”
Eager now, Hattie said, “Yeah, I need to get back there so that he stops worrying and I need to start interviewing people. We need to get this written up. Maybe Lois Lane can help us get the story in The Planet!”
Ultra Woman asked, “Oh, you know Lois Lane?”
Hattie was serious as she said, “She’s my role model and mentor. She’s also like another mother to me. Sometimes I think that if I didn’t have the mom I do have, that I’d like her to be my mom.”
Lois had a hard time keeping the emotion she was feeling from her voice as she responded, “I’m sure that she feels the same way about you.”
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They had made quite a stir when they had brought the captives out and it had attracted a crowd. Among them was Morgana.
After Deputy Commissioner Henderson had taken charge, Morgana approached Kam-El and with quite a crowd watching, she threw her arms around his neck and saying, “My hero! I think I owe you another kiss,” and kissed him soundly.
Superman allowed nature to take its course, but only for so long, before he interrupted. “I think we have another emergency to deal with. You need to say goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Cynthia. It was a pleasure saving you, again.”
Smiling, she replied, “You can save me anytime you like.”
Superman put an arm around Kam-El’s waist and they took off.
After watching them take off, Morgana looked for her other friends. She spotted Lara, Mike and JJ off to one side. She headed in that direction.
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Under the cloak of darkness they looped around and landed in a dark area near the building. As soon as Jon’s feet were on the ground he did a spin change back into his tux.
Clark said, “You did really well, now, you need to get back to where you need to be to protect the secret.”
“Right, Pop. Thanks.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
As Superman took off again, Jon moved out from behind the building and merged with the crowd. Jon mingled as he made his way toward where Morgana, Lara, Mike and JJ were. He noted that Hattie was missing and he started to worry.
As he walked up, Morgana confronted him, “Where have you been?”
“Well, after we got separated…”
“After you shoved me under a table, you mean.”
“Well, yeah, I thought you’d be safer there.”
“Well, I wasn’t.”
“You might have been if you’d stayed there.”
“Well, I couldn’t, besides, how was I to know that I was one of the people they were after?”
After dealing with the cafeteria fire, Ultra Woman and Hattie had finally made it out of the building. Further discussion along that line had been derailed by Ultra Woman and Hattie coming out of the building.
Seeing her, JJ exclaimed, “Hattie! And Ultra Woman!” and started rushing in their direction.
As he approached, Ultra Woman said, “Not right now, JJ. Hattie needs to talk to the police. She needs to tell them what she saw.”
“Oh, yeah, right. Okay, Hattie, I’ll talk to you after you give your statement to the police.”
Ultra Woman took Hattie over to the police, “Commissioner Henderson, I’d like to introduce Miss. Henrietta Kaplin. Miss Kaplin has a story to tell you.”
Henderson shook her hand and then asked, “Well, Miss. Kaplin, what’s your story?”
“Well, Inspector, I was looking for Jon Kent and I wound up in the cafeteria.”
Henderson interrupted her, “Would that be the son of Lois Lane and Clark Kent?”
“Yeah, he’s my best friend. You know the family?”
“You could say that. His mother has been a thorn in my side for years. Oh, well, please continue.”
Lois had a hard time hiding the smile that his statement brought to her lips.
“Well, I was still shaken up from being knocked out in the initial assault so I sat down for a second. When I did, I heard a noise from the kitchen area. When I looked through the door I saw a tank like one of those used for a Bar-B-Q grill, but instead of being on the ground and supplying the flame, it was sitting on top of the stove with the fire under it. Suddenly it started to whistle. I got scared and decided to get out of there, but before I got too far, Ultra Woman swooped in and grabbed me. Just as she did the thing exploded! If she hadn’t been holding and protecting me, I might have been killed.”
Ultra Woman took over, “It was a BLEVE. They used a 25 pound propane cylinder to blow up the cafeteria.
Commissioner Henderson was grimfaced as he said, “That’ll add to the charges that they already face. Please pardon me; I need to see to it that they were read their rights. We don’t want to overlook anything. My guess is that they will be tried as adults. They could be facing significant jail time.”
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