[Chapter 6: Feed]The last twelve hours were the worst in her memory.
No one knew where Superman was or if he was even still alive. All anyone knew was that the alien known as Ta'peel had him and could be anywhere.
She had been working with General Burton Newcomb and Mav for most of the night and early morning, while giving updates to Martha and Jonathan, who were barely keeping it together.
Within the first two hours, the coverage of the attack and abduction had been sent around the world. Every single government had offered their assistance and were scouring the globe for the invader and any sign of Superman. If it wasn't for the circumstances, the substantial efforts and unrestricted signs of cooperation would have been inspiring. However, as each hour passed, it just became more demoralizing.
Even with all their efforts, they still couldn't find him!
Dr. Klein was beside himself. Upon analyzing the trace of blood, skin, and cloth recovered from the shattered bat, as well as the video coverage, they knew Superman was literally being drained of his life force. Bernie didn’t know how long Kal would be able to survive under such assault or if he would be able to recover even if he managed to get away.
Jimmy did everything she asked and then some, getting her snacks, running errands and communicating back and forth between her and Perry.
She caught sight of Jimmy wiping his eyes when the television ran a replay of what had happened. She refused to watch and didn’t cry.
She did not have the luxury of giving into her emotions. There had to be something she could do instead. She had to find him.
O o O o O
[Saturday Afternoon]
A shape fell from the sky and it barely began to slow when it impacted the pavement of a busy road in the middle of Dallas, Texas. As it climbed out of the crater, everyone on the street was either frozen in disbelief or began to back up.
The creature named Ta'peel was there.
The running and panic started immediately after, with Ta'peel laughing as he strolled down the major street, flipping over stopped cars with barely any effort. He broke shop windows and doors he passed by with a flick of a finger, and stomped his feet off and on, cracking the sidewalks.
A police cruiser skid to a halt on the street and the officer leapt out and pulled out his gun.
"Stop!" he shouted.
Ta'peel smirked. "What are you going to do? I'm a god!" he declared with a gleeful gaze of red, thinly open eyes.
The cop emptied his pistol, but the bullets just ricocheted off the purple form, just like they would with Superman.
In cheerful retaliation, Ta'peel released a pulse of heat vision. The officer almost didn't dodge in time as his cruiser was sliced with the beam of heat and burst into flames.
Ta'peel went down another block, enjoying the sight of fearful and fleeing people.
His red gaze returned, randomly starting fires right and left. After the fourth burst, he blinked and shook his head.
"Well, I'd love to do this all day, but it's time to feed again! Hopefully my meal is ready," he said, before launching up again and disappearing with a sonic boom.
O o O o O
[Sunday Morning]
Kal opened his eyes once more. The smell of old paint and dust assaulted his senses again as the silence of the desert lay beyond the rickety walls of the abandoned factory in Arizona. The sunlight trickled in through the shattered window and the cool air of the morning brushed against the bare, raw skin of his partially exposed back and neck.
The top half of his uniform had been torn away, and his cape was now partially wrapped around his leg to staunch the bleeding from before, with the rest covering him like a blanket. Really, Jimmy had done him a favor. Without that injury, he likely wouldn’t have been allowed to keep the cape and the desert at night got very cold.
He closed his eyes and stayed as still as he could. He didn’t know where they were and didn’t want to reveal he was awake again. It would only lead to one thing.
There were two of them: Ta’peel and his adult son, Rimma. Thus far, they had each drained him twice, and each had been agony. Even now he couldn’t move much, and that was before including the chain welded around his ankle. He swallowed thickly.
They had his powers.
He extended what little he had of his senses. Thanks to the sun, they were returning. He knew he was in Arizona, but wasn't sure where exactly. He was miles from civilization, he knew that much.
And what little of the radio waves he had been able to hear, the world had no clue where he was. If only he could tell them or send a sign. . . .
And then, as more of his strength returned, a thought of hope came to him.
There was a way.
"Awake, I hope?"
Ta'peel's voice pierced through him, and thick apprehension clenched his heart.
He had no time. He had to try. He had to try now. NOW!
Ta'peel stepped forward, and he could feel his body heat right behind him, no doubt about to turn him over.
Clark balled up his aura, gearing up for one massive push.
/LOIS! ARIZONA, FACTO—/
The pain overtook all.
And he fought it, desperately trying to restrict and resist the pull, the extraction. But it was no use.
A burning suffocation that jabbed like countless needles pulsed through him, although it was concentrated around where he was touched. Wave after wave, Ta'peel, like a parasite, sucked his energy, ignoring his efforts to fight.
He didn't know up from down, in from out. He just wanted it to stop and he didn't care how.
He welcomed the darkness.
O o O o O
Lois looked up from her mug of coffee.
"Did you get any sleep, Lois?" Perry asked, stopping by her desk.
"Four hours, I think," she admitted.
He nodded his understanding. "The president will be giving a statement in an hour," Perry stated. "After the thing attacked Dallas. . . . You said you have a contact in the military?"
Lois nodded again. "One of Clark's contacts. They haven't given specifics, but they've promised they're working on something."
"Unofficial channels, old contacts. Good. We won't give up, honey. We'll get him back."
She nodded with a thick swallow as he went off to his office.
Burton had spoken to her briefly after news from Texas had broken out.
The General was confident Kal was still on Earth, and he was obviously still alive due to Ta'peel's callous words about feeding. Lois closed her eyes, trying not to picture what that monster was doing to Clark.
She looked around. Jimmy was home, sleeping, she hoped, but a fair number of others were in who normally wouldn't be. Even though it was the weekend, recent events trumped all normal schedules.
Many glanced her way and gave her supportive and sympathetic nods, not knowing what to say but wanting to show their support. They all knew she was friends with Kal and was likely one of his best friends. They all knew Kal was one of hers.
She looked back down at the trajectory data the General had given her. Due to reports received from observant citizens, they had a tentative flight direction. Hopefully it would help them determine where Kal was being kept.
Unfortunately, currently, all they were able to discern was that Ta'peel had flown west both times he had flown away. But how far? And had he changed direction at all after? Probably.
She scanned the map, wondering if Ta'peel had stayed within the US or if he had gone across the Pacific or even went down into Mexico or beyond. He really could be anywhere. There were so many places to hide, even in populated areas.
She glanced at her coffee, and her mind instantly went to Clark bringing her her special coffee whenever he could. She closed her eyes. She couldn't cry. She had more important things to do!
She paused. What was that smell? But it was gone as quick as it had come, and then it was followed by a strange sensation. It fluttered in what she could only label as the back of her mind, but then it began to grow. She quickly stood up and turned around, expecting to see something that would explain—
Focus. Insistent and unwavering. A rushing, crushing sensation from all sides as spoken words bellowed into her soul. She clasped her hands over her ears at the intensity, even though they weren’t audible.
/LOIS! ARIZONA, FACTO—/
She screamed as the worst pain she had ever experienced rushed through her for a fraction of a second before being abruptly cut off.
She had no doubt what had just happened as the whole newsroom turned toward her, alarmed.
"Kal?!
KAL?!" she called out, gripping the corner of the desk to keep herself upright.
"Lois, what–?" Peggy Stein, the new columnist, asked.
She didn't answer. Instead, she bolted to Perry's office and slammed the door closed behind her.
"Perry, I need to use your phone, now!" she declared, not bothering to ask as she pounded in the number to reach the General.
"What?! What happened?" he asked, even as he gave her room.
"It's Kal! He sent me a message!"
O o O
Melissa Henderson gasped loudly, clipping the table with her hip in fright.
“Melissa, are you okay? What happened?” her mother asked.
“I . . . I d-don’t know,” she stuttered, shaken. “I felt . . . Mom, I think I felt Superman!”
“
What?”
"I don't know. It was just a flash. I felt a flash of pain, but before that . . . I think I felt cold and I could smell . . . It sort of smelled like when dad finished the deck? And I could feel . . . Mom, it was him. I know it. I think he's trying to call for help. Tell us where he is."
"I'm calling your dad," Donna said, immediately picking up the phone.
O o O o O
"Martha!!" Jonathan bellowed, rushing through the back door.
"I felt him! Jonathan! Our boy, our boy!" she cried.
"I know! I know!" he said.
They hugged and went down to their knees in tears.
O o O o O
[Sunday Afternoon]
Mav took a deep breath with a glance to Dr. Klein. The past few days had been . . . the word 'intense' didn't even begin to describe them.
Lois Lane and Bill Henderson were at the Foundation, going over what had happened after Kal-El had apparently telepathically tried to reach out for help.
"A chemical smell, like old paint?" Mav asked thoughtfully.
“That’s what she told me,” Henderson said.
"That definitely matches what I experienced," Dr. Klein chimed in, pale.
“That also follows what the Ambassador of Spain told me over the phone. Dr. Alcon, who had treated Kal when his aura had torn, had contacted the US Embassy after she and a handful of others had experienced the . . . vision. Between them, they described smelling some kind of chemical, feeling cold, dry air, as well as having a tightness around an ankle, before a flash of pain ended it. I think it’s clear that Kal reached out for help,” Mav said. “Now, I’ve already updated the General, although I understand he’s already increased surveillance of the skies over Arizona thanks to your prior call, Lois.”
“I also have Jimmy gathering information on all factories there as well. I think that’s what he had been about to say from what he thought to me. When I get back to the Planet, I’m going to begin going through them,” Lois explained.
“Very good,” Mav said.
Suddenly, Julie rushed into the room.
“There’s two of them! A second one just flew to Japan and destroyed a bridge!” she said.
“What?! Another?!” Lois asked, already following her to see the television in the other room.
Sure enough, a second purple form was on the screen, different from the first but definitely of the same species. The news reporter was hiding behind debris as the parasite walked by.
The invader laughed, thoroughly enjoying himself before stretching with a sigh.
‘Well, need to feed again. I can’t wait til this is permanent! I would take a snack, but can't ruin my appetite for the good stuff,’ he said to the appalled people around before leaping up into the air and shooting off.
Mav felt as sick as Lois looked.
Six hours later, the other alien, Ta'peel, attacked another location.
O o O o O
[Tuesday Evening]
He didn't know how long he had been there, but he knew it was at least three days.
He glanced around. They had moved him again. They had learned the sun recharged him, so if they wanted to feed more often. . . .
Light from the setting sun trickled in, banishing the pain where it touched.
He almost didn't want it. It only meant more severe pain would come.
But he also knew it was his only chance.
He didn't know if his first attempt to reach out to Lois had worked, but he had to trust, had to hope.
He was more lucid than before the last few times they had come, which told him they would be coming again very soon. He had to try again now. He doubted he would be strong enough to try the next day. He was only growing weaker as time passed. He was running out of time.
His eyes latched onto an old rickety sign hanging over a wall with paint peeling off of it. Only part of it was legible, but he was certain part of a word and logo would be enough for Lois. Assuming he was able to send the image properly.
He closed his eyes, pulling at every ounce of strength he had to try to make the image as clear as possible, even as he heard their tread on the steps leading up to the level he was on in the factory. He focused.
His head swam once he released the mental pulse with the image at the forefront of his mind. His vision grew dark around the edges for a long, wavering moment. . . .
Distantly, he heard one word.
/Kal?/
Before he could respond, he was pulled out of the mental fog with rough, greedy hands.
Pain surged.
And with Lois' voice imprinted in his mind, assuring him he had reached her, he fought.
He fought until he couldn't anymore.
O o O o O
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