Luthor family’s new world order

chapter 12: one little slip

School finally let out (for real this time) and summer descended upon Kara’s hometown. Despite all the gloom and doom that was being caused by the country’s current president, there was something so warm and merry about summer that even the most miserable, hopeless and afraid of people couldn’t help but lighten up (physically and emotionally). Kara was amongst this blessed number, feeling rejuvenated by the prospect of having an entire summer to relax, explore and play. For the first time in a long time, she felt happy, and excited.
“WHAT TIME IS IT?!” Alex bellowed playfully as school let out for the very last time.
“SUMMER TIME!” her peers echoed back in song, and although Kara had no idea what was going on, she joined in all the fun and laughter as students flooded the gates out. She and Alex raced through a throng of other eager, smiling students, all of them practically racing to be the first one to taste the summer sun.
“FREEDOM!!!” Kara heard one of her peers scream as he made it outside and she laughed at him, feeling just as young and careless and free.
The entire summer passed beautifully. Kara got to travel and explore and she was finally able to be free and happy. Her depression lightened considerably as she and her foster family took a little trip to some of the nearby states in order to explore and allow Kara the chance to see life outside of their tiny hometown. And all the while, Kara and Alex grew even closer.
Eliza had once joked that they if they grew any closer, they would be at risk of physically merging together! Kara had been horrified at the idea until Alex explained that such a thing didn’t actually happen and that their mom was just making a stupid joke. This relieved Kara quite a bit, and she continued on enjoying her glorious first summer with her beloved foster family at her side.
But it wasn’t even just the Danvers that Kara grew closer to. She even managed to mend her bond with Lena, the summer sun making her feel happy and trusting again.
“Sorry I’ve been so distant lately!” Kara apologized as she went over to visit Lena.
“It’s ok,” Lena replied easily. “I know how the end of school can get!”
“Yeah, but now that it’s all behind us, do you wanna hang out with Alex and I?” Kara asked eagerly and Lena nodded, eyes brightening up at the prospect. She took Kara’s proffered hand with a smile and all but dragged Kara back outside to meet up with Alex at the town’s pool. Any misgivings between the two were gone and Kara had gone back to trusting Lena completely, a fact which relieved both of the girls immensely.
“I’ve missed you!” Lena declared as she and Kara swum around the town pool
“And I you,” Kara smiled back fondly before playfully splashing her.
“Hey!” Lena pretended to shriek in disgust before splashing Kara right back. A playfully little back-and-forth ensued between the reunited friends until Alex came along.
“CANNON BALL!!!” she bellowed before jumping into the pool, narrowly missing Kara and Lena, both of whom had shrieked and dived out of the way at the very last second.
“Alex! You jerk!” Kara pouted as all three of them resurfaced. Alex only responded by spitting some water into Kara’s face, an action which earned a laugh from Lena. The old trio was reunited once more and things could’ve have been going better.
Which was a bad thing because, one day, Kara decided to grab some ice cream. She had been coming back from a walk in the park with Lena when she decided to make a pitstop on the way home at the local Dairy Queen. She, literally, zipped in and out of the store, going in and then emerging with an ice cream cone all in literally five seconds. She giggled to herself, ecstatic and enlivened by the feeling of getting to use her superhuman abilities once again.
Although it was practically a law in her eyes to NEVER reveal her superpowers, she had been feeling a bit giddy and cocky that day and figured that a five-second dash wouldn’t hurt. For a time, this proved correct, but eventually, that little stunt managed to catch up to her, and then, it ran even faster than she ever could. It was one little slip, but sometimes the smallest of mistakes were the most fatal.
When school started up again a couple months later, so did all the drama and politics. They had never truly gone away, but the summer had managed to nullify some of their effects. Now that everything was back in business once again, though, heated and passionate debates about alien rights rose up again. This time, though, Kara felt brave and strong. She no longer felt despondent or scared. She felt ready and willing to fight.
It was as if the summer sun had burned a permanent mark of courage onto her heart, and now she was far more active and vocal in her local politics than ever before, and she vowed that she would never ever go back to being the sniveling, cowering, crying, frightened little mouse she used to be. Instead, she, alongside all of her loyal friends, continued to protest for alien rights, standing up against all of the dangers and toils and snares that Lex and his politics could make. Kara wasn’t afraid anymore, and as far as she was concerned, she never would be again!
“Wow! Lena! What is this?” Kara walked into school one day to see the Luthor sitting at a table just inside the school doors. On the table were boxes and boxes of pastries.
“Fundraiser for alien shelters and the deconstruction of all of Lex’s evil laws,” Lena replied proudly, gesturing for Kara to take a look at what she was selling. All around, other students were eagerly observing Lena and her goods, some of them occasionally making a purchase, much to the envy of all their friends without money.
“Lena! This is amazing!” Kara breathed and Lena grinned smugly back.
“I told you I didn’t agree with my brother’s politics!” she cried and any doubt Kara had ever had about the young Luthor died right then and there.
And the rest of the world continued on with little rebellions of their own. All the aliens still hiding away in the USA were privately being sent over the borders to other countries across the globe that were offering asylum. There were times when Kara and her family considered trying to move Kara on out of the country as well, but it involved a lot of time, effort, money and planning, so any plans to send Kara away were all only speculative. It would take at least a year to get everything finalized, so there was no rush on anyone’s part.
“I’m kind of glad,” Kara confessed one day. “Because if I did move out, I’d have to leave all of you behind!” she gestured gratefully to her foster family and they did not hesitate to take her in their arms and hold her tight. For once, life was good.
By the time Halloween rolled around, however, that one little slip of Kara’s finally reared its ugly head. Lex had since made it mandatory for all aliens to be registered as such. And as such, it became the legal obligation of figures of power within the country to report any and all aliens under their jurisdiction. In Kara’s case, this meant that all of her teachers and school staff would've been legally obligated to report her secret identity to Lex. It was then that she really thanked her lucky stars that she had kept her secret so well.
“No one knows!” she told herself happily. “And no one ever will, so I am safe!” But she wasn’t. Not even close.
“Ms. Danvers? My office,” the principal of Midvale Middle spoke to Kara, voice soft but firm. In another time, Kara might’ve been terrified at the prospect of needing to go to the principal’s office, but now?
“Yes sir,” her voice was calm, relaxed and totally unsuspecting. She almost sashayed into the principal’s office, certain that he only had good news to tell her because, as of this year, her track and academic records had been perfect. There was no reason for him to be mad at her, so she wasn’t even a little bit concerned. At least until she noticed the two large goons standing behind him, all clad in black and toting guns.
“Who are they?” Kara asked, just a tiny note of fear creeping into her voice.
“They? Uhhh, yes, uhh, they are a new part of our staff now,” the principal sounded distracted.
“Well, what have you brought me in for?” she asked. Even though the soldiers wore solid black masks that concealed their faces, Kara could feel it that they were glaring at her.
“They wished to have a word with you,” the principal wiped his sweaty brow as he gestured to the large men.
“They? Would do they want with m-” Kara didn’t even have the chance to blink before she was suddenly on the ground and writhing in pain. She couldn’t even scream because of how much it hurt. She could only convulse, tears streaming down her face as the pain continued to grow. She could feel large, heavy, solid objects colliding with her face over and over and over again.
Stop! Stop!!! STOP!!!! She thought, but there was no mercy to be found anywhere. Just pain. Endless pain. Raining down on her like hailstones, or bullets. Pain. Endless pain. Punches and kicks that normally wouldn’t have affected her. Now all she could do was lie there in pain and take it. Sharp pain. Hard pain. Bruising pain. Blistering pain. Sharp pain followed by dull, throbbing pain. Pain that was sure to be leaving a mark, a scar. Pain consistent and repetitive. Over and over again. She began to feel fuzzy with pain, then that fuzziness took total control of her being until it was all she was aware of, until she was aware of nothing at all.