First off, I'm sorry this new chapter is really short. Second, because I'm told that Americans don't have custard with their apple pie, and because I want this story to be set in the U.S.A., I have changed the custard in the previous chapter of this story to ice cream.
So without further ado...
From last part:
So instead of eating more pancakes Batman cuts a small slice of Grandma's apple pie and puts it on the tiniest plate on the table. He scoops up some ice cream from a carton and puts it next to the apple pie and starts eating with a miniature teaspoon. And it's looking just as crazy as I knew it would. And Batman's spilling ice cream all right. I run off to get Mom's purse and her cell phone, and then I'm taking pictures like crazy so the kitchen is flashing like the fourth of July fireworks display. And I'm so happy, and I'm giggling, and my mouth is still full of pancakes, and suddenly I'm spluttering pancakes all over the kitchen table. And we're all laughing, Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, Batman, Rick and me, and Timothy is yipping and barking.
Then there's a knock on the door.
<> <> <> <> <>
New stuff:
At the sound of the knock, Batman oozes away. I really mean it. Imagine that you open a can of Coke and pour the Coke into a glass. Maybe you're spilling a little and leaving stains. Now imagine running time backwards, so the Coke is flowing back into the can again, every last drop of it. Afterwards the glass is empty and the table is dry and the tablecloth has no spots. Well, that's the way Batman left the table, I'm not kidding you. You can't believe what it looked like. One moment he was joking and goofing around with his ice cream and his apple pie, and the next moment he was gone - just like that. And it wasn't just he himself that disappeared. The plates he'd eaten pancakes and apple pie on, his coffee cup, his knife and fork, his spoon and napkin - everything vanished. Even the chair he'd been sitting on was gone.
At least - at the very least - there is still an empty space where he used to sit. He wasn't so magic that he could take his own space with him, after all. The rest of us stare at each other, kind of shocked, and I don't know how it happened, but suddenly we have all moved closer to one another, to take Batman's empty space away.
There's another knock on the door.
"Come in!" Grandma calls out to the visitor, and her voice is sounding almost normal. You've got to hand it to Grandma.
The door opens, and a man comes in. He's kind of old, but not as old as Grandma and Grandpa. He's carrying something in his hand, a sort of bag, like a really, really old-fashioned, dirty briefcase. I'm still jumpy and kind of scared because Batman disappeared like that, so I don't think I like this old man much.
"Wayne Irig, come in! We're all having breakfast, and there's an empty space at our table that we wondered how to fill.... Sit down and have a slice of my apple pie, will you?"
Wayne Irig is looking at the way we fill up the table, and we suddenly all start shuffling our chairs to get back the empty space that Batman left behind.
"W-Wayne?"
That was Rick. He sounded like he was choking or something.
"Yeah, and so?"
"Nothing, uh, it reminds me of.... Bruce Willis?"
Then he groans and turns away from the table like he wanted to disappear. Well, I guess Batman hasn't taught him how to pull that vanishing act yet.
"Well, dear, maybe Wayne Irig here reminds you of a sports star?" That was Grandma, doing her bit to help. "Let's see, that Canadian hockey player... Gretzky... what's his first name again?"
"Are you tryin' to be funny with me, Martha?"
"No, goodness, no.... Say, have you met our granddaughter? Clara, say hello to Wayne Irig, our neighbour."
"Hello," I say. "Pleased to meet you," I add, though I'm not.
"Granddaughter, eh? Well, well, well," he says, and grabs hold of my chin to lift up my face so he can see me better. "So Clark left you a little something before he went aways, eh?"
Suddenly Mom is standing beside me. She is removing Wayne Irig's hand from my chin.
"Mr Irig, nice to meet you," she says, smiling sweetly at him. "I'm Lois Lane from the Daily Planet. Clara's mother."
This nasty man is like blushing a little. My Mom, she's so classy. I love her.
"Hrrrmm, yes," Wayne Irig says. "And the youngster? He's your son?"
Rick comes to stand beside me, standing very straight. "I'm a friend of Clara's," he says. "I've come with her to Mr and Mrs Kent because... I'm going to help Clara with something."
"Say, Wayne," says Grandpa. "Always nice to have you over, you know, but - any particular reason today?"
"Hrrrmmmph. Yeah, well, I saw this real nice car come thisaways this morning. So I was wondering if ...?"
"What, you want to buy it, Wayne?"
"Naaahh. Don't know if he's selling. Guess the man has class...so I have a little sumthing to sell to him, p'raps."
"Yeah?" That was Rick, speaking up. "I'm his representative...."
"Don't bother, Rick," says a pleasant male voice from the stairs. "Mister Irig, nice to make your acquaintance. I'm Bruce Wayne."
And into Grandma and Grandpa's kitchen comes... Batman. Yeah, I recognize his mouth. And his chin. But he's dressed in normal clothes, a really nice looking gray suit, and he looks so cool, so... wow. Like a Hollywood actor, like... Bruce Willis, I suppose, but more handsome. Better hair. Batman's got a nice face and gray eyes. They're not white any more. I gasp.
I hear little gasps from Grandma and Grandpa, too. Rick is making a little sound of his own. Mom is the only one who looks as cool as ever. She and Batman. Uh, Bruce. Bruce Willis... no, Bruce Wayne. Mom is smiling at him.
"She your girlfriend?" Wayne Irig asks Bruce Wayne.
"No," Mom says, smiling sweetly.
"So, Mr Irig," says Bruce Wayne. "I heard you were interested in selling."
"Mmmm, yeah. Maybe I c'n show you in that car of yours...?"
"Ah, sorry, Mr Irig. That wouldn't be polite. I'm the Kents' guest now. Can't they see what you're offering?"
Wayne Irig is muttering something. But he's putting his briefcase on Grandma's kitchen table, just sweeping away the pancakes and bacon leftovers. He opens his bag and takes out....
....a little pearly white glass ball of some kind. Then he takes out kind of a glass shell of the same material. He puts the ball inside the shell and...
...and...
I'm feeling a little funny.
....interesting", says Batman. "What would you say this object is, Mr..."
Why is his voice tuning out like that?
...found it in Shuster's field," says Wayne Irig. "Back in sixty-s...."
"Clara?"
That's Mom.
"...'m all right...."
"....mmmm..... uuhhh.... uh...."
Who's that?
"....hurts....."
Wha....?
"...Cla... Clara...?"
"Who...?"
"...is it...you?"
"...Dad?"
"Clara? Clara!"
"...Wayne, I'm afraid you must leave...."
"Dad!!!"
"...if you'll come with me this way, Mr Irig...."
"Dad!!! DAD!!!!"
Someone's holding me, rocking me. Nooo!! Let go of me! I've got to go to Dad... to Dad...
The world gets sort of blurry. Grandma's kitchen is kind of shrinking.
What's happening to me?
I'm sort of falling. I can't feel my body.
"Clara... Clara... ClaraClara.... ClaClarara...."
Two voices calling me. Mom...
...and Dad?
"ClaClaClaraClararaClaraClaClarrara!!!"
I can't move. I can't speak. I can't see anything. But I can feel Mom hugging me, rocking me.
"Clara! Clara!" It's Mom. I can't leave her. I would kill her if I did.
"'s Dad, Mom...."
"Clara, baby... please...."
"Dad.... I felt him, Mom... I heard him...."
"Sssshh, honey.... talk... about it... later...."
"Noo... got to help him...Mom! We've got to help... please....."
Someone takes my hand in his. I know that hand. My hand has been in that hand before.
Rick. It's Rick's hand.
"'s all right," he says. "Alfred will be here... with our private jet... and we'll help you, and your Dad."
"R-Rick... hold me.... Mom... don't let go of me...."
Dad?
....don't leave me....
The world starts spinning. I...
...I....
<> <> <> <> <>
What... what happened? Where am I?
I'm in bed somewhere. Why am I in bed? I don't usually sleep this late, do I?
Well, it feels late...
Look! Look at all those faces all around me! There's Mom! And Rick! And Grandma and Grandpa! And Batman! It's really Batman, isn't it? He's got that cool Bat suit on. Wow...Batman. What's he doing here? He's come to tell me it's time to get up?
"Clara? Honey, you're awake!"
It's Mom. I love her. She's always taking care of me, isn't she? Now she's leaning down over me and hugging me like she thought she'd never see me again, and she's really crying all over me and I can hardly breathe and -
What's happened to me?
"Ah-hrrrmm...."
Well, there's a kind-looking sort of old man in a white coat who's looking at me. I mean that he's looking at me, not that his coat is looking at me. What does he want with me?
"I'm pleased to see that you are awake, Miss Lane," he says.
Miss Lane? Who's that? Isn't that Mom?
Is he talking to me?
"I'm Clara," I tell him.
"Hrrrmm, yes, of course," he says and looks kind of embarrassed. "I'm, hmm, I'm Doctor Klein. We are all pleased that you are awake again, Miss La - eh... Clara. You were exposed to a telepathic message channeled through a Kryptonian signalling device, and it temporarily overloaded your system."
Kryptonian signalling device?
I... I remember....
"Dad!!!! DAD!!!! He called me! We've got to help him!"
Doctor Klein is looking really serious.
"Yes, Clara. He did indeed call you. And he is on his way here in a Kryptonian spaceship. He is already quite close to the Earth. Unfortunately, something seems to have gone wrong. Chances are that the fuel used to propel his spacecraft from Krypton to Earth has become unstable, in which case it has begun to decompose into Kryptonite and Earthite. If so, your father is becoming slowly poisoned by Kryptonite even as we speak. Moreover, if his spacecraft lands on the Earth, it may bring Earthite to our world, possibly scattering it over fairly large areas, where it would be deadly to any human who came into contact with it."
"My Dad is getting poisoned? We've got to help him, Doctor Klein!"
Doctor Klein has been looking at me, really seriously, the whole time. He opens his mouth to answer. But before he can say anything....
"This incoming Kryptonian ship is a missile bound for the Earth, which may scatter deadly Earthite over large areas as it hits us? We've got to destroy the ship before it's getting much closer, Doctor Klein!"
That was Batman. I can't believe what he just said here.
Batman. Did I ever like him? Did I ever think he was cool?
Batman. He wants to destroy my father's ship. He wants to kill my father.
<> <> <> <> <>
tbc....
