[Chapter 13: Shadow]Clark woke up, his heart hammering in his chest.
Lois! She was in trouble! He didn't know how he knew, but the woman who had gently tucked him into bed was in trouble!
He could feel her fear.
He needed to help her! He needed to find and get to her!
Urgency so intense yanked his center.
There was no time!
He clamored out of bed.
Maybe this was part of being a superhero? He just
knew when someone was in trouble? Well, whether that was true or not, he wasn't going to ignore it. He closed his eyes, willing himself to sense where she was.
He couldn't stop the sob that tore from him as fury, terror, and deep sadness abruptly overflowed. But it revealed the direction he needed to go.
He shot off before he could second guess himself, not bothering to change out of the pajamas Ms. Julie had given him.
Doors slammed open, startling the Foundation’s security.
"Kal?!"
But it was too late. Kal was already gone.
O o O o O
Lois backed up to the far corner of the room, throwing everything within reach, but it was useless. He just kept walking forward as he laughed.
He advanced and she tried to dash away, around her desk, but it was no use. He was faster. He grabbed her, somehow making his hands solid against her throat as he slammed her into the wall.
"
And now, you die!" he bellowed.
But then the office door was thrown open, nearly snapping off its hinges with a resounding crash as the lock snapped free.
"Lois!" Kal cried, his small form at the threshold.
He blurred and attempted to push the man away, but he only ended up running through him.
Kal stopped and turned around before he would have bashed through the wall, visibly confused and scared.
And Lois instantly knew. This was young Clark, not her husband.
A new type of fear surged.
Would Clark now witness her death, powerless to stop it?
Hanson laughed, joyously, as his hands tightened, choking Lois.
But only for a second.
The air in the room hardened as Kal gave a furious cry.
Lois flinched as a red and white flash of power shot right across her vision, cutting through the shadow man. She fell to her knees, his hands releasing her as he screamed in pain. Lois didn't care as she immediately began gasping for breath.
Hanson shot away as the blaze from Clark's eyes faded.
"Lois!" he cried as he appeared right beside her. "Are you okay?!"
She nodded, her hands rubbing her throat as she struggled to catch her breath. "Yeah," she croaked.
At that, he clung to her and let the tears flow.
"It's okay. It's okay. You saved me. I'm okay," she said, still breathing heavily but trying to comfort him.
"Was he a ghost?" Kal asked fearfully.
"No, he was in some kind of accident that changed him," she said between breaths, slowly collecting herself. "He was just a messed up man. Really messed up."
Kal suddenly gasped. "I hurt a person?! Will I get in trouble?"
"Kal,
Clark–" she began but was interrupted by a telephone ring on the floor, making Clark jump.
It was the emergency Foundation phone that had fallen in the struggle.
She got up with him close to her side and quickly answered it.
"Hello?"
'Lois! Kal . . . he just–" Mav said, trying to keep himself calm but not quite achieving it. "He just ran away!'
"Mav! Mav, it's okay! He's with me. He just saved me. A man, a man I've been investigating had broken into my house and tried to kill me. Kal stopped him," Lois quickly explained.
Kal looked up at her in weariness. Lois opened her mouth to reassure him, but froze when the lights suddenly turned back on and another form appeared in the room.
“You!” Lois snarled. “Leave us alone!”
Mxyzptlk ignored her and sat on the corner of her desk, looking down at Kal.
“Ooooh, you’re in trouble now!” Mxyzptlk taunted, grinning. “They’re going to lock you up just like your daddy warned because of what you did.”
Kal's eyes were wide with dawning horror.
“No they won’t! He saved my life!” Lois argued.
“That doesn’t matter. As soon as they hear he hurt someone, they won’t like him. And then you know what they’ll do to you?” he questioned, leaning forward. “They’ll probably try to figure out how you work by taking you apart.”
“No!” Kal cried, before blurring away.
“Kal! No, come back!” Lois called out, terrified.
But it was too late. Kal had shot out of the house, down the street, and beyond. He was now far away and only getting further.
Lois tried to call him mentally, but she once again couldn't get through.
Mxyz laughed. "Trying to think to him? Sorry, can't do that. Only grown up Kal can receive and send thoughts. Something about mental maturity and development. Little Kal is just too young."
He disappeared, chortling.
"Mav!" she cried into the phone.
"I know. I heard," he uttered into the phone, just as demoralizingly struck.
O o O o O
Mayson and an officer drove swiftly down the road before turning onto a residential street. The car's bright headlights illuminated the quiet neighborhood where the Kents lived.
"She was attacked by that doctor-turned-shadow man?" the officer, Davis, asked.
"That's what Henderson told me. We learned Dr. Hanson was killing those people for revenge. Apparently, he didn't appreciate Lois interfering with that work," Mayson explained as they came upon the driveway. "What the–!?" Mayson exclaimed as Davis slammed on the brakes and gasped, horrified at what was in front of them.
A transparent form was screaming and writhing on the pavement, bathed in light from the police cruiser's headlights.
Mayson moved to kill the lights, but it was too late. The shadow man dissolved right in front of them, unable to handle the brightness.
"Was that . . . ?" the disturbed officer asked after a long moment.
"Yeah. I think so," Mayson breathed.
Unfortunately or fortunately, the patrol car did have a camera that ran continuously, so they had proof of what they'd report, but. . . .
Mayson and the officer looked at each other.
"Come on, we still need to speak with Ms. Lane," Mayson said, deciding to push everything else aside. It wasn't like there was anything they could do about Dr. Hanson anyway. There was nothing left.
They made it to the door and knocked.
Lois answered it a moment later, and Mayson was astonished to find her so disheveled. Lois took a deep breath to collect herself. It only partially worked.
"Hey, Mayson. Thanks for coming. It was definitely Dr. Hanson, but he was a shadow. Insane, I know, but that's what he was. I doubt there'll be any prints to gather. . . ." She rubbed her throat before she turned and led them down the hall, a cell phone clasped in both of her hands. It was clear she had been crying.
Mayson looked at her in sympathy.
"But feel free to take pictures or whatever," Lois said, opening the door of her office.
Mayson and Davis blinked at the devastation. The desk had been shoved haphazardly a few feet over and had nothing on the surface. Everything had been knocked to the floor. The cabinets and bookshelves beyond were askew and pictures and things that had been on the far wall were scattered all over.
Their eyes, however, were quickly drawn to two burn marks on the wall.
Lois followed their gaze.
"Oh. That . . . that was Kal. He, uh, that's how he got Hanson to drop me," Lois explained.
Mayson's eyes widened, suddenly understanding what they had been told. "That's what that imp used to scare him. This is why he ran away," she said. "He really does have the mind of a child right now. He thought he would be in trouble, didn't he?"
"It's worse than that," Lois managed, devastated beyond words. "He thinks he'll be locked away and experimented on."
Mayson straightened, the reality of it all really coming into focus now.
She grabbed Lois' arm. "We'll find him, Lois. By morning, the whole world will be looking for him."
Lois took a deep shuddering breath, praying Mayson was right.
O o O o O
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