“You know, you’re not nearly as mad at me as I thought you’d be,” he said. “How’s your hand?”
She flexed it experimentally. “Nothing broken.
So funny!!!
Three figures, a man, woman and small child, all dressed in form-fitting black, stood on the porch. The man was holding a metal case about a foot high and wide and two-feet long.
I don't know why, but that metal case seems ominous to me.
“Kindred in the bonds, I greet thee thrice,” Clark greeted the newcomers with the slightest of bows, hands held out in the Kryptonian fashion. “Lady Zara, welcome to my home.”
Zara smiled, moved forward and gave Clark a hug. “Clark, it’s so good to see you,” Zara said. “But we need to talk privately when this is done.”
I find this a bit strange. Clark is formal and Kryptonian, but Zara is warm and human.
“This is Jos-Ra, heir to the House of Ra. My son by my consort Ching.”
The boy looked to be Lara’s age with medium brown hair and hazel eyes like CJ. His long hair was secured by a blue headband.
Wow! A boy of about six who has long medium brown hair! And his name is Jos-Ra. Does this boy remind me of Jason in Superman Returns or not???
Clark gave him a crooked grin. “Among other things, I happen to be the equivalent of the Consul General for New Krypton,” Clark said. “I have been asked to facilitate such fosterage on Earth on behalf of the House of El. I wasn’t going to go into details until they got here.”
I agree with Terry, the idea of fostering a Kryptonian child on the Earth and teach him human customs, only to have him sent back to Krypton after a few years... well, that idea really troubles me.
“Does he, I mean will he, have Superman’s powers?” Penny asked. “He’s so small.”
“Superman has said his powers didn’t fully manifest until he was nearly eighteen years old. So it’s unlikely Jos-Ra will show any powers or anything to mark him as being anything other than human until he’s an adult,” Clark explained.
“Unless he’s under great stress,” Kal-El added. “Strength shows up first and it is possible for that to manifest at an early age if he is under life-threatening stress.”
More references to Superman Returns. I'm assuming that you are saying that Jason probably didn't have any superpowers until circumstances forced him to use superstrength to save his mother.
“Lady Zara, may I present Charles King and Wanda Detroit,” Clark said. “They’re new here.”
Ching had moved closer to Lois and now leaned over to speak with her. “Lady Lois, which house is he with?” Ching asked softly.
Interesting. Ching immediately realizes that Kal-El is Kryptonian, even though Clark introduces him as Charles King.
“The House of El from an alternate time-line,” Lois said. “It’s complicated.”
Ching stared at her in obvious disbelief.
“Clark and I have had some experience in this sort of thing,” she explained. Ching didn’t look convinced.
Talk about taking weirdness in your stride! And I don't blame Ching for finding this story hard to believe.
Lois’s attention was drawn to Zara crouching down beside her son. “Jos, this is Richard and Penny. Lord Protector Kal-El, Superman, has arranged for you to stay with them.”
The child looked at his mother with wide worried eyes. “But I want to stay with you and father and Suren. Why can’t you stay with me?”
Talk about horrible treatment of a young child! Imagine taking your six-year-old to
another planet and leaving him there!!!
Lois wasn’t sure how she would act if their positions were reversed. Her heart broke at the thought of leaving one of her children with strangers, giving them up for treaty obligations, even if it did make political sense. Children shouldn’t be pawns in political games, and if that was the price of being royalty, she wanted no part of it.
I hope Lois would never leave one of her own children on Krypton.
In the documents, the child’s name was now ‘Jason Ryan White’.
And the little Kryptonian boy is named "Jason", too. I love it.
As soon as the papers were signed, Clark hurried Richard, Penny, Jason, and Constance out the door. “File the rest of the Goldman murder story tomorrow from home then take the next couple days off. Family leave,” Clark ordered with a smile.
I'm glad Clark is giving Jason a chance to get to know his foster parents (and the Earth) as soon as possible. This is still a very weird and troubling situation, though.
Aside from meeting Superman/Clark Kent earlier today, Kal-El had never met another Kryptonian. Had never dreamed that such was possible. But now, two Kryptonians who had evaded the holocaust that had brought Krypton low, that had blasted the planet into poisonous shards, were here, on Earth.
They were both a little shorter than he had expected
I like the fact that you have Kal-El notice Clark's, Zara's and Ching's unimpressive height. Very interesting. You make me feel that Kal-El has just assumed that Kryptonians were naturally superior to humans in every way, and therefore they would also inevitably be taller than humans. (Of course, Kal-El himself is tall.) Anyway, very interesting! Perhaps Kal-El has unconsciously been looking down on the human race, and perhaps that was part of the reason why he rejected Lois and stole her memory? And perhaps that is the reason why he turned his own human persona, Clark Kent, into such a hopeless klutz?
And then various trouble is brewing on Krypton. Sigh. I've never liked that world. How much trouble is someone like Xon going to cause before this story is over?
I'm not looking forward to a lot of Kryptonian stuff, but otherwise I find this story totally fascinating.
Ann
