Clark sped to a stop in the schoolyard, surrounded by children yelling at morning recess. He saw a woman with a messy bun and a clipboard. She seemed to be in charge, from the harried look of her. He made his way to her. He had to warn someone...
"Oh, there you are."
He stopped.
"You really are a dependable guy, Supes. I'll give you that."
He looked around, trying to find whoever might be staring at him. Unfortunately, considering he was dressed as Superman and in the middle of a schoolyard, every one was staring at him and suddenly very quiet.
"Oh, don't bother, big guy. You won't see me."
He clenched his fists and made his way to the harried woman again.
"Oh, and don't bother with that, either. You'll only make me trigger happy. Nobody likes a tattle tale." Another wheezing laugh.
Clark stopped short of the woman, who was gape-jawed in front of him. "S-Superman?"
He looked around and gave a weak smile, hoping to be reassuring. "Good morning."
"Look at ya. Smiling at all the kiddies. Ain't you sweet?"
"Stop playing and tell me where," he said as loud as he could, hoping that was vague enough and that the bastard could hear.
"Where's what?" a tiny girl chirped.
"But I don't wanna stop playing, Superman," a boy in front of him said with a slight whine.
"You know, I didn't quite catch that. But I can see you're getting antsy."
"Not you," he said, bending down. "Could everyone please be very quiet for me?"
The boy nodded solemnly, then turned to his friend. "Superman says be quiet," he yelled.
"I don't blame you, hero. I would be, too, looking at those sweet little faces and thinking about all that impending BOOM."
He stepped forward blindly as the sicko laughed again.
"Okay. Okay. I give. I'll tell you one thing. You are getting warmer."
He moved forward.
"Warmer..."
A rotund man was rushing out of the school with a briefcase. His eyes lit on it, trying to focus on what was inside as the man kept coming... and right for him. He stepped forward to meet him.
"Warmer..."
He sped to the man, who stopped short, staring wide-eyed at him. "Superman!"
He grabbed the briefcase, staring through it. "Papers, pens, a half-sandwich," he muttered.
"Uh... Well! You're certainly welcome to it. I can get something from the cafeteria."
Ice cold. But if you're thinking of blowing the whistle, I can tell you for sure that things'll get blazing hot around here. Why don't you act natural..." There was a snicker. "I mean, natural as a flying fairy like you can."
He took a deep breath and handed the briefcase back. "Not necessary," he said, trying to keep his voice neutral. "Just looking. It's a very nice case," he said, having no better explanation.
"My brother-in-law owns a leather goods outlet."
"Really. I don't need..."
"While I have you, I really should introduce myself." The man pumped Clark's hand with his free one. "Damon Watts. I'm the principal here and, I am just pleased as punch to..."
Aw, Looks like ya made a new Friend, there, Supey. But, if I were you, I wouldn't start carving your initials in the old oak tree just yet."
"Heh! Good one, Boss."
"Will you get the hell away, Abbot? I'm working, here."
"...children don't take safety issues seriously. We have Officer Friendly lectures, of course, but I really think the kids would respond wholeheartedly to the words of one of the greatest... No. The greatest superhero the world has ever seen. I've been hoping to contact you about this for some time. But there's no way to..."
Boy, you are just getting chillier, Supey. my boy."
"...if there's some kind of fee, we'd be happy to..."
"Shhh!"
Abbot. He knew that name. And not as the chubby half of a comedy team. He'd heard it somewhere... He stared at the chubby man before him. "I'm sorry." He touched the man's shoulder. "I'll get back to you on the lectures. But I really..."
"Aw, ain't he just sweet. You know, I can't hear a gosh darn word you say, Supey old pal, but I just know you're being every bit the boyscout they say you are. I almost don't wanna blow up the kiddies on account a' you being such a sweetie-pie. But your target is moving."
He growled and stepped away from the principal.
"Nope. Not that way."
He moved to his left.
"Oooh! He's on fire!"
He stepped again.
"Hot!"
He turned and moved forward as kids parted before him.
"Scorching, blazing hot!"
More kids moved away, whispering to each other about autographs and cape-touching. He kept moving forward.
As the last of the kids parted, he saw one tiny girl with very large glasses sitting cross-legged and leaning against the fence. She was cradling a teddy bear.
"Call the fire department, friends and neighbors! Our hero has beaten the odds."
He stared at the girl whispering to the bear and rocking it. Of all the sick... He reigned in his anger and moved to her, crouching down in front of you. She squinted up at him. "Hey. You're Superman."
"Yes," he said, trying to keep his voice calm. "And you've got a very nice bear." With a swollen belly.
"Thank you."
"Can I see it for a minute?"
She held it tighter. "No."
"I just want to..."
"This is my bear. He's special and he's just for me. The man said so."
"What man?"
She shrugged. "The man who gave me my bear."
"Might as well start counting down. Here it comes..."
"I just need to see it," he said, trying to keep a smile on his face.
She held the bear up. "There. See?"
Yes. He did. He looked through. He saw it. Something black and gray with digital numbers that went down to...
"Ten... Nine... Eight..."
"I'm sorry for this."
"Seven... Six... Five..."
He grabbed the bear, ripping it apart as he ran, trying to get at the bomb.
Three... Two... One...
He'd only got past the gates when he threw himself over it, trying to absorb the... strange squeaking noise.
He picked himself up and stared at the teddy bear skin still hanging onto the black and gray box... with a flag sticking out of it. A flag that said "Boom!"
"Kaboom!" There was more than one voice laughing. "I told you there'd be a big boom."
He tossed the box and decimated bear to the ground.
"Oh, Supey, my boy. You really are something. Now what kinda monster would blow up a bunch of kids with a teddy bear? You got a sick mind, there, buddy!"
"Son of a..." There were several gasps to his right and he saw many tiny faces at the fence across the street. "Of a gun," he finished loudly.
"And takin a toy from a little girl. Some hero you are." The laughter sounded up again.
"Good one, Bruno. The boys are all done. You can stop..."
Bruno? As in Bruno "Ugly" Mannheim?
"Will you get the fuck away from my mic, you imbecile, before I shove your head so far..." There was a loud whine and Clark winced, covering his ears, falling to the ground.
There was sudden silence. And everywhere. No voices or laughter echoing around him. No shouts of playing kids at recess. Because they were all staring at him, he realized when he looked up. Not just them, but several stopped cars and at least five women with strollers.
The silence was broken by a loud wail. The girl with the large glasses pointed at him through the fence. "S-Superman killed my b-bear!"
The harried woman with the clipboard ran to her. "Now, Lannie. I'm sure Superman had a very good reason..."
"He killed my bear," she sobbed.
Clark stood dejectedly, picking up what was left of the bear and the supposed bomb. He moved back to the fence and into the schoolyard, making his way to the principal, wincing as he passed the crying girl.
The man stood, as gape-jawed as the rest as he approached.
"I should explain. There was..."
"There was a hold-up at the First National!" He turned to the voice. A woman was coming out of the school. "It was just on the radio. They got..." She stilled, staring at Clark. "Superman?" She patted her hair. "Well... hello." She squinted at him. "Why aren't you at the bank?"
He supposed "I was too busy taking care of a phony bomb" wasn't the best answer. He moved toward her. "What did they get?"
************************
"I know," he growled into his cell phone, tightening his tie as he moved out of the alleyway. "I was an idiot. But how was I to know? Anyway, I've talked to Maggie Sawyer. Apparently, they didn't take any money. Just a box from Lionel Luthor's private vault."
"You know what that means," Victor said in his ear. "Lex hired some thugs to get at Daddy's..."
"It's not him. I know who it is."
"Who then?"
He blended into the crowd around him. "I can't talk about it now. I'll be by as soon as I can. In the meantime, I need you to place an order to Lacey's. Untraceable. Get the biggest teddy bear you can and send it to Lannie Cohen at John Byrne Elementary."
Victor laughed in his ear. "Are you serious?"
"Yes, I am." About that and about the speech he'd be giving next Monday in front of every kid at John Byrne about not taking toys from strangers. He had to do something after the mess he'd made. "Just put the order through. I'll pay you back when I see you."
"And when will that be?"
"I have to check in with Perry. I'm already late getting back from lunch." Not that he'd had any. "I have a story to..."
"Clark!"
He turned at the revolving doors. "Lois?"
She ran from the garage, wearing sweatpants and a baggy shirt. "I heard it on the news. You were right about the First National." She squeezed his arm. "But it looks like they got what they wanted this time. Why weren't you..."
"I had a situation at a school," he said as she pushed her way through the doors. He followed her in. "Lois, you should get out of here before Perry sees you."
"What? I want him to. I'm breaking vacay early. Word is this is tied directly to Mannheim and you know what that means."
"How do you know that?"
"I called my guy at the station. I've only been gone a week, Clark. Not like I've lost touch completely. Now we have a story here. We..."
He caught her arm at the stairs. "Lois, you can't just jump back into work. You've had a shock and..."
She grasped his arms. "Clark, jumping back in is exactly what I need. I can't sit around breathing deep while news is breaking around me."
He stared at her, saw the sort of... elation in her eyes. "No. I guess you can't." He found himself smiling. It was good to have her back.
"So between us, we probably have enough intel to get the word out. So how do you know about Mannheim? I can't cite my source, considering I'm not supposed to..."
"Clark?"
He turned at a voice behind him. Lana. He'd forgot. He was supposed to take her to lunch.
"I thought you'd never show." She clutched her purse and shook her head. "I was actually going to go in a minute, but I had no way to call you or..."
"This isn't a good time," he hissed, trying to block Lois.
But he felt Lois' hand on his arm. "Who's this?"
He closed his eyes and stepped back, wondering how to explain this to either of them. "Listen..."
"Hi, Lois."
He opened his eyes to find Lana holding out her hand. Lois didn't take it. She sort of stared at it. Then at him. Then back at Lana.
Then crumpled to the floor.
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Chapter Eight
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