[Chapter 12: Taunt]Kal stayed close to Henderson after the call to his father. Bill and the others didn't know exactly what his father had told him, of course, but they were relieved it soothed Kal well enough to be okay with staying at the Foundation, at least for now.
"Bernie is here now," Julie said. "I'm not sure what he might be able to find, but he should make sure Kal is okay."
"Come, Kal. Let's go see Bernie," Bill said.
"Bernie?" Kal asked, hurrying to keep up with Henderson's longer strides.
"Yes, he's going to check you over," Henderson said, not seeing Kal's very confused expression.
They entered the other area of the third floor and into Dr. Klein's lab with Mav holding the door open for them. Kal's eyes were wide as he looked about.
"Kal?!"
Kal jumped and turned toward the startled voice, finding a man in a lab coat by a counter with a wide range of equipment all over it. Everything from fancy electronics to crystal beakers, it was reminiscent of an elaborately equipped mad scientist’s lab.
Kal looked up at Henderson fearfully.
"Kal, it's okay. This is Bernie, Dr. Klein. He's your friend," Bill explained.
Kal took a step back and a jolt of emotion pulsed through the air as his aura flared, blanketing the entire space.
The terror was so heavy Mav and the others gasped at the intensity, but the panic on Kal's face was what was truly soul crushing.
"Kal! Kal! It's okay!" Bill exclaimed before Kal's form blurred.
He disappeared, the door to the stairwell slamming open a split second later and the patter of his exit sounding like a muffled thunder instead of rushed footsteps. Bill ran after him, dashing down the steps. He heard the door to the second floor slam.
Bill was horrified. How had they not anticipated this? They should have explained before just going to Dr. Klein. He couldn't believe he had been so stupid! Of course Clark would be afraid of doctors! How many times had he told them his parents had warned him against doctors and how he had feared being taken away as a child?!
"Kal!" Bill cried, stepping onto the second floor and finding the few volunteers there all standing around the table in shock.
He scanned the area before a few of the volunteers slowly pointed to a door on the far back wall. It was marked 'Supplies'.
A closet.
Bill sagged in relief, grateful Clark hadn't left the building.
Carefully, he approached the closed door.
Kal's aura brushed against him, shivering like a quivering bush just beyond the threshold. Bill knelt by the door.
He glanced back at the bewildered and concerned volunteers.
"Could one of you tell Mav I'm with Kal and that I want everyone to stay back?" he asked quietly.
An older woman nodded and swiftly left as the rest remained, transfixed.
Bill turned back to the door.
"Kal, it's okay. I'm sorry we scared you. We didn't mean to. No one is going to hurt you, I promise."
Kal's aura shuddered with fear and confusion as Bill heard a muffled sob.
"I don't want to be a frog!" Kal cried.
"Oh, Kal," Henderson breathed as the full realization of what Kal was thinking bashed into him. "No one is going to dissect you like a frog. I wouldn't let them. Please, believe me. You're safe here."
Fear continued to ebb through the door even as Bill placed his hand upon it.
"Kal, can I come in?" he asked, feeling Kal's aura tentatively wrapping around him, as if testing his intentions.
Kal didn't answer right away, but Bill was patient. It also helped that he could feel Kal's aura calming, if only barely. Bill took a deep breath, hoping Kal could feel his concern and genuine desire to help and protect him.
Finally, he heard a shuffle behind the door.
"Okay," a little voice said.
Bill took hold of the doorknob and slowly turned it.
"Kal?" he asked softly, opening the door and peering into the dark closet.
And there, huddled in the corner beside a metal shelf and wrapped in the famous red cape, was Kal.
Bill went forward and eased himself down to the floor beside him. Kal leaned over slightly, silently providing Bill with permission to do what he would do with any scared child.
He pulled Clark close and wrapped his arms around his small, trembling form.
"It's okay, Clark. Everything will be okay," he whispered.
O o O o O
Dr. Wilson glanced at little Kal seated at the table behind them, dutifully coloring a picture as the adults spoke.
They had collectively decided to not force the issue of Kal being examined by Dr. Klein. It was clear it would cause more harm than good, even after Bill had successfully calmed and reassured him.
His fear of doctors was just too ingrained at this point in his life for them to be able to expect anything less. And really, the fact he was using some of his abilities in their presence was already a big deal.
Dr. Klein did, however, use the special camera to see his aura from across the room. It was much like his adult aura, only scaled down and a bit more erratic.
"Ms. Lane told me she is researching this being," Mav said. "She'll call as soon as she uncovers anything."
"You know, this 'Mxyzptlk' reminds me of imps from certain ancient mythologies," Dr. Wilson commented.
"Oh?" Bill asked.
"Yeah, and according to some lore, they can be sent back to where they came from by getting them to say their name backwards," Wilson continued.
"Hm. Well, he did say no one would send him back 'this time', so there must be a way to do it. But how can anyone make him say his name backwards? Especially the name, Mxyzptlk?" Bill questioned.
"I don't know, but if that's what we need to do, we need to figure out how," Julie stated.
They nodded grimly as they looked back at Kal who was still happily coloring his picture of a dragon.
"We also need to give a statement," Mav said regretfully. "The world has heard what's happened, and if we don't provide some degree of reassurance. . . ."
"I'm not sure there's any way to positively spin this," Julie countered.
"No, but that hasn't dissuaded Kal from being upfront and honest in the past, and those previous times benefitted from that approach," Mav answered.
Julie nodded in grim agreement. "I'll let Stone and the others know, then."
O o O o O
Lois couldn't believe this was happening as she gathered with the crowd outside the Foundation. She spotted a reporter from the Planet with the rest of the reporters and couldn't begrudge Perry from covering his bases. There had been no guarantee that Lois would have made it to the press conference in time and, admittedly, she was too close to Kal to cover the story objectively anyway.
This fact was relentlessly reinforced when she saw Kal exit the building beside Mav and a few others. She gasped with everyone else, but unlike them, her heart and soul warbled.
His uniform was just as blue and red as ever, with the cape being weakly tossed in the breeze. But he was so young. So tiny!
She stared at his little form obediently and meekly standing beside Bill Henderson as Mav came up to the podium. She could hardly breathe.
She didn't pay much attention to Mav as he addressed the press and public, her eyes taking in Clark’s innocent wonder at everyone assembled.
Mav had of course kept her updated to what was going on, and she had tasked Jimmy with digging further into imp lore in case Dr. Wilson was correct. Perhaps they would find stories about how imps had been tricked in the past? At this point, any possible lead was worth pursuing.
"We appreciate the world's patience and the calm of the public. This has certainly been a shock for everyone, but remaining collected will enable us all to get through this surreal event," Mav said, his words making it through Lois' daze.
Suddenly, Kal's face lit up, his posture shifting from shy uncertainty to excited relief.
"Mom!" he shouted, before blurring through the crowd and appearing before a startled but kind looking woman.
He abruptly stopped and his elated expression dropped.
It was clear to all that he had instantly realized this woman was not his mom. The crowd pulled back.
He looked down, emotionally crushed, too sad to feel embarrassed by his mistake as the woman looked at him in solemn understanding.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart," the woman said.
Kal wiped his eyes, trying not to cry, and before Lois knew it she was making her way toward him. She eased through the astonished people as he looked up, suddenly realizing he was surrounded by strangers.
His tearful eyes darted over them all in wary nervousness, before his eyes found her a few paces away. Lois instinctively held open her arms and knelt down.
He blurred again and she instantly found his arms around her. She hugged him back, never minding the reactions around her as they recognized her as Lois Lane.
"Oh, this is the best entertainment I've had in ages!" a voice declared from above.
Everyone immediately looked up, finding Mxyzptlk bobbing in the air, chowing down on a bag of popcorn.
Kal pulled back from Lois with a sniffle.
"Aww, wittle Superman so sad wit'out his mommy," Mxyzptlk taunted with a singsong voice.
"You're mean! I don't like you!" Kal shouted from beside Lois.
"'You're mean! I don't like you!'" Mxyzptlk mimicked mockingly.
"I'm not mean, you are!" Kal returned.
"'I'm not mean, you are!'"
"Stop copying me!" Kal said, stomping his foot.
"'Stop copying me!'" Mxyz whined back.
"Enough, Mazeltov!" Lois shouted, standing straight.
"Mxyzptlk! Mister Mxyzptlk!" the imp heatedly corrected.
"Whatever. What do you want?" she asked daringly.
"Oh, straight to the point, I see. Okay, it’s simple. This is what I want: freedom to do what I want, when I want, and always getting what I want,” he said, grinning at the crowd who were shuffling uneasily. Fearfully. “Especially worship.”
“So you want to be a god,” Lois stated.
“I already am,” Mxyzptlk bragged. “Which reminds me, I came here to do something else.” He lifted his hand.
Snap!
“Lois!” Kal cried, suddenly pulling her to the ground behind his short form and raising his arm defensively above his head as his aura violently flared.
The air crackled with pulsating strength and protective power. It was so thick, the air felt like clay and it saturated the entire crowd for a long second before it pulled forward into an invisible wall, rushing up faster than a tidal wave.
Kal's eyes lit up in hot fury, one white, the other red, as his aura bashed against the imp.
Mxyzptlk rocked back in the air, stunned.
His magic was thwarted completely and he, for the first time, was physically impacted by a being of a 'lesser' dimension.
“H-how?! You . . . you’re supposed to be contained!” he stuttered.
“I broke through,” Kal stated, his voice dripping with a confidence that could not possibly be from a child, superpowered or not. His eyes continued to blaze with dangerous light.
The crowd didn’t move.
Mxyzptlk narrows his eyes. “Oh well, you can’t remain. You’ll be pulled back under before too long and the game will continue. I was going to give you a playmate to keep you company, but fine, stay alone. It’ll probably be more fun to watch anyway.”
He disappeared.
“Kal?” Lois asked as he turned to her, heat vision now all the way off.
“Yeah. It’s me, but he’s right,” Kal said, resigned, his eyes holding the age she was used to seeing before they rolled up to the back of his head and he staggered forward.
“Kal?” she gasped as she caught him.
“My head hurts,” Kal said, his voice nervous again. “What happened? Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m okay, thanks to you. Come on, you should go rest,” Lois said, looking up at Mav still at the podium before scooping Kal up. “It’s going to be okay.”
He closed his eyes and rested against her. The crowd parted for her and she carried him inside, his red boots and cape limply brushing against her as she walked.
O o O o O
Lois took a deep breath as she stretched. Sprawled in front of her, all over her desk and even scattered around her on the floor of her home office, were piles of myths and legends, as well as paperwork from companies concerning the other story she had been trying to break for many many weeks now before Superman being de-aged took all her attention.
She was home, and it had been a rough 36 hours.
Kal was still little and at the Foundation.
And the entire world knew.
Understandably, and unsurprisingly, the world was in hysterics. Granted, considering how badly the world could be reacting, she figured she should be grateful.
The UN and international leaders were deeply concerned over what would happen next and pleaded with citizens to remain calm. Along with statements from a number of world leaders, including presidents and heads of religious groups, their efforts went deeper.
Thanks to her connections, she knew the governments of the world were asking (begging and pressuring) media outlets to direct society's focus on things that would not increase panic.
Normally, such tactics would enrage her, but in this instance, she understood their motivations. After all, stirring up fear, as certain media agencies loved to do, was just as dangerous as government agencies trying to sequester the press.
Thankfully, the press had struck a sensible balance of keeping the public informed but calm, Lois could only hope it would keep working and that, when all of this was over, Kal would not feel too embarrassed by it all. Granted, he was remarkably good at taking things in stride.
The media was fawning over how adorable 'little-Superman' was and how, even as a child, he protected people.
The coverage of him defiantly standing up to Mxyzptlk and protecting Lois, his eyes blazing red and white, was
everywhere.
And so was talk of his apparent mental state. He was a child, but, deep inside of him, the adult Superman still remained.
Lois clung to that knowledge as she scanned the next text. They had to find a way to make this imp leave!
Suddenly, the power went out, plunging the whole house in darkness.
"Oh, you have
got to be kidding me," Lois groaned. She turned in her office chair. "Now where is that flashlight?"
She stood up, about to fumble her way through the dark. Outside, the night sky was cloudy, and even though there were street lamps, the office window faced an area devoid of exterior lights.
The door of her office slammed shut. A click of the lock followed.
With a gasp, she whipped around, her eyes struggling to make anything out in the black, but she knew she had seen movement.
"
I'm going to enjoy this," a voice hissed from the darkness.
Lois straightened with a gasp, backing up against the wall as her eyes adjusted just enough to see a humanoid shape. But what disturbed her the most was that it wasn't solid.
Her mind immediately connected the dots.
"You're the one who has been killing the people in the locked rooms," she breathed. "Dr. Hanson."
"
Indeed, I am, Ms. Lane, and you have been making it quite difficult for me to continue doing what needs to be done. You will now pay the price of your insufferable interference," he sneered. "
And your friend, Superman, is not going to save you."
Lois' adrenaline and fear both surged as full realization of the danger she was in fell upon her.
She was trapped, and she doubted she would be able to use karate moves against a translucent killer. She was in serious trouble.
And Kal was still little.
Tucked in bed at the Foundation.
Still, she sent out the strongest call for help to him that she could.
/CLARK! HELP!!/
But the familiar feeling of Clark’s presence that surfaced whenever she thought to him never came.
She was on her own.
Sorrow, fear, and rage saturated her whole being. She was going to die. But with all the emotions that came with that, one concern was above the rest.
How would Clark take this? Not well. She knew that much.
The shadow man advanced, his grin barely visible in the light from the window. But she could see it.
She ran to the cabinet behind her and ripped open a drawer, grabbing the first thing she could and chucking it at the shade.
It sailed through him as if he was made of air.
He laughed.
O o O o O
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