I didn't run away from home. I know, disappointing, but in the end, I still love my parents. Mom calmed down after going on some anti-anxiety meds, but it also killed her sex drive completely. Dad stopped drinking completely after he had a heart attack and ended up in the hospital for a few days. In order to take care of their son, the two of them got their fucking acts together and lived happily ever after.
It was all disturbingly mundane. Things didn't escalate any farther and Mom stopped molesting me. She also didn't let me see her naked anymore. Which was really annoying. Dad needed me to help out more and more around the farm in order to keep the place functional without hiring some farmhands.
We didn't just have cornfields by the way. We also had a bunch of chickens, a few cows and a cute black pony. The pony was actually a gift from Lex for saving his sister. She was adorable, but not really anything more than a pet. Sure, I could ride her, but I could also carry her above my head and run faster than she did, so it was kinda pointless. Well, not completely pointless.
"Maria, charge!" Lena shouted excitedly as I sprinted underneath the pony. She was riding on Maria's back and I was carrying them both, traveling nearly a hundred miles an hour through the grassy pasture. It was kinda silly, but still a great workout. Not just a matter of strength either. I had to use my biological forcefield to protect the two of them the entire time. It's funny how a big part of Superman's abilities were actually psychic bullshit.
"Eheeeheheh~!" Maria was excited too.
"Jump!" The little brat ordered as I approached a tall wooden fence. It was too high for the pony to escape, but even while carrying both of them, I easily hopped over it like a small hurdle. "Weee~!" It was always nice seeing her act like a normal kid.
My ankles and feet hurt a little as I landed, but with the sunlight above me, any muscle damage or bruising would heal almost instantly. It was stupidly overpowered. With the healing, I was getting stronger. Every sore muscle that healed instantly would be stronger immediately. I think that's actually the key to Superman's overwhelming power, or at least part of it.
It's not like exercise was meaningless for Kryptonians. Whether it's Superman, Supergirl or any of the other miscellaneous motherfuckers, they all needed to work out their bodies to a certain extent. I have a feeling the reason Zod and the others were so strong is because they grew up on Krypton under a Red Sun. Their bodies were compressed by 10x Earth's gravity without access to their usual superstrength, regeneration or other abilities. Of course, bathing in Yellow Sunlight is probably a better method of gaining power, but there are also instances of that backfiring. Like with Overgirl having heart problems because she literally flew too close to the sun or some bullshit.
People always used to say they'd just go up and sleep in the sun for a thousand years to become invincible, but what happens when some existential threat obliterates the universe while you're napping? You also need to be strong enough to make it to the sun and survive there. Superman took decades to reach that point. Golden Superman wasn't a fucking baby when he started sleeping in the sun, he was already like a hundred years old or some shit. He watched pretty much everyone he loved and cared about die from old age or violence, then decided he was done with it all and retired.
At least I think that's how that story went? Either way, I can't fly yet. I sprinted through the open field for a while and then made it into the woods, before I started running back to the pasture.
"Jon, Clark is a special kid. He's wasting the best years of his mental development in a regular elementary school." I could hear Lex talking with my father inside the barn from about a mile away. Dad was cleaning Maria's stable, while Lois and Martha were milking cows nearby.
"I'm not letting you turn my son into some science experiment or test subject in your damn lab." Dad was understandably paranoid, but he didn't really understand the situation.
"Do you think that Clark is unique?" Lex asked seriously, "Do you think he's the only special child in the world? Of course he isn't. What happens if he gets sick? If his powers come with some dangerous negative consequences? You know almost nothing about his abilities and you're just hoping for the best."
"Clark is a perfectly healthy growing boy. If he gets sick, I'll… Well, then I'll be desperate enough to come to you Luthors for help. Until then, he doesn't need any special schooling or testing. Just let him grow up normal and safe. That's all he really needs." My father was pretty stubborn and kinda dumb when it came to this kinda shit.
"Have you asked the boy what he wants?" Baldie made a good point, "My younger sister might not have superhuman abilities, but she's almost as intelligent as I was at her age. I wish my parents had given me the education back then that I've been giving her since she was a toddler."
"There's more to education than just math and science, Lex." Dad sighed dramatically, "Look at how happy the girl is just playing around and being a kid. It won't be long before she grows up and looks back at these memories fondly as the good old days."
"The Good Old Days where her mother was murdered, she was kidnapped by government agents and watched…" Lex cut himself off, almost revealing my secrets, though I have a feeling he did it intentionally. Lex Luthor didn't make mistakes. He made calculated decisions.
"Did you find out who those bastards were?" Dad scrubbed a little harder and louder, "Is it really the US Government or somebody else?"
"They're called Project Cadmus." Lois blurted it out.
"Cadmus?" Martha asked, "Like the monster slayer in Greek Mythology?"
"Let me guess. Those assholes consider our kids monsters?" Dad practically growled.
"They target metahumans primarily. People with special abilities and talents that make them a threat to national security." Lex explained calmly as I jumped over the fence again, putting the excited pony back down so that she could actually get some exercise herself.
"From my research, I've found at least 89 cases of missing children who showed strange abilities or special talents before their disappearance. That's just in the past two years. It might not sound like much, but it's probably just the tip of the iceberg!" Lois was getting louder. I looked over towards the barn and could see her through one of the windows. She was brushing a cow rather than milking now.
"Are there really that many children like Clark out there?" Martha asked as she stood up as well.
"Clark! Come ride with me!" Lena shouted and I brought my attention back to the cute kid. I hopped up on the back of the pony easily enough and then hugged her from behind as she giggled, "That's better!"
"You're so adorable." I had to be careful when hugging her because she was so fragile and soft. If I twitched, she would explode like a meat balloon. If I got a boner, I'd probably break her tailbone. I had a lot more control over my body than before though. My power was increasing rapidly, but there were never any sudden jumps. At least not yet.
"I love it when you tell the truth~!" The narcissistic brat shook the reins of her mount and shouted, "Onward my steed!"
"Neeeeiigh~!" Maria sprinted forward at a decent pace. It felt slow to me, but for the two of them it must've seemed pretty fast.
I looked over and saw those green eyes in the distance. Lex smirked slightly and then returned his expression to neutrality before anyone else would have noticed, "I'm not asking you to send your child away permanently. My house is only a thirty minute drive from yours. Clark comes over to play with Lena often enough as it is… I just believe that he would be safer if he wasn't running back and forth in the middle of the night."
"So that's where he's always sneaking off to?" Dad grumbled, "Why didn't he tell us about that?"
"Would you tell your parents every time you went out to play?" Lex retorted, "For Clark, that distance is nothing. If his powers keep growing at this rate, who knows where he'll wander? That's why he needs somewhere to spend that energy and proper adult supervision. He's only six years old."
"Jonathan…" Mom walked over to Dad and held his rough hand, "Lex has a point."
"Multiple points." Lois added, "I'll add a point of my own as well! We're talking about a sketchy government organization here that targets children! Even if they haven't done anything to Clark again yet, it's only a matter of time! Public schools aren't safe, neither are private schools!"
"And your fancy castle is?" Dad chuckled, "Didn't your sister get kidnapped from right under your nose?"
"I've made a lot of adjustments to the staff and facilities since then." Lex had a solemn expression on his face when he said that, "The traitors were found and dealt with. It will never happen again."
It would 100% happen again. I feel like that's Lex Luthor's whole shtick. Either betraying people or getting betrayed by his closest subordinates and friends. Over and over again. To be fair though, that's across multiple universes and iterations. Not necessarily the same dude.
"Yeah, sure." Dad was reasonably skeptical.
"Jonathan, I think we should let Clark do what he wants." Mom obviously knew my opinion on the matter, "I don't want him to resent us for holding him back."
"You can make up your mind before the new school year begins." Lex turned to my father, since he was the only one who was actually against it.
"I've already made up my mind. He'll go to school like a normal kid until he's old enough to make decisions for himself." My father was always so fucking stubborn, "If he wants to go over and play with his little girlfriend, that's fine by me. But I don't want you treating him like a damn puzzle to solve."
"Honey, you're being ridiculous." Mom grumbled and let go of him, walking over to the window and looking towards me. Then she smiled and waved, so I did the same.
"I love you." She whispered quietly, but I could still hear it so clearly. I blew her a kiss in response and she blew one back.
"Clark, do you think your Dad will say yes?" Lena suddenly asked.
"He will." I chuckled and rested my chin on her left shoulder, rubbing my cheek against hers as we bounced up and down on the back of a pony.
"Are you sure?" She knew how stubborn he was too. We tried to get him to agree last year. This is the second year in a row Lex failed to convince him.
"I'll make him understand why it's necessary." I didn't try hard enough last time. And I also enjoyed fucking around with my Mom. But she's just not horny enough and way too weak. She would always be my Mom, but she'd never be my mate.
"I can't wait! We'll get to spend so much more time with each other now!" Lena is so adorable. I don't know how she can remain so cute and innocent. I just hope she can actually stay that way. I know it's impossible though.
Innocence invites depravity.