Chapter 10
It looked like the other guy easily stopped the lightning with his hand.
Jerome was shocked!
Is this even possible?
I thought lightning was supposed to be powerful, but this guy made it look weak!
"Did he get his power from a mutation related to kryptonite?" Mitch asked Jerome, who was still confused.
"I... I don't know," Jerome stuttered, unsure how to answer.
"Hey, Mitch!" Clark's weak voice came from the distance.
Seeing Mitch distracted, Jerome took the chance.
He covered himself with a silver glow and whooshed away, powered by the lightning.
Despite not being much of a fighter, Jerome's speed surprised Mitch.
Mitch shook his head, fixed his hair, and discarded his damaged coat from the lightning. He then walked toward Clark.
"Hey, Mitch."
Clark, who had been tied up and tormented, breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing his brother.
"That was tough, right? Clark," Mitch said, watching Clark's discomfort with interest.
Clark regretted Mitch saving him. He knew his brother would tease him endlessly. Maybe he should have pretended to be mute and not asked for Mitch's help.
"Was it Whitney who did this?" Mitch asked, seeing Clark looking down.
"Yeah, it was Whitney and his buddies on the football team," Clark confessed, finally free of the kryptonite's effects. He quickly untied himself and explained.
"Really? Need help dealing with those guys? Teach them a lesson, end their careers, or let them face a 'scarecrow' treatment?" Mitch suggested, half-serious.
Clark declined, knowing his brother's methods.
After things settled down, Clark noticed Mitch was shirtless like him and asked, suspiciously, "What happened to your clothes earlier?"
Clark had seen lightning in the nearby cornfield.
"It's nothing. Ran into some guy who's kinda like you. Clean up and head home so Mom and Dad don't worry," Mitch said as he sped away.
"Whoosh!"
The air shook as Mitch disappeared from view.
Standing there, Clark wiped the paint off his chest and sighed. He knew Peter was right; he had become the "scarecrow" this time.
The next morning, at school.
At the entrance of Smallville High School, Peter nervously pulled Clark aside.
He looked around and asked quietly, "So, you were the 'Scarecrow' last night?"
"Yeah, it was Whitney's gang," Clark explained.
"Okay, I agree with Chloe now."
"What?"
"You shouldn't have stopped Mitch from going after Whitney yesterday. Even though you made five bucks off me, Clark, I gotta say it," Peter defended Clark.
"Come on!"
Chloe, a reporter from the Torch Newspaper, greeted the two of them.
Chloe, with her backpack and coffee cup, seemed to be in high spirits. "Clark, Peter, I've got another scoop on the football team. Coach Watt apparently supported players cheating on their midterms, and when some of them reported it to the school, they got threatened by the coach."
"That's a big deal," Pete agreed.
"How about titling the report 'Football Team Scandal: Coach Watt's Cheating'?" Chloe suggested.
"I think you need less coffee, Chloe."
Clark grinned, pointing to her coffee cup.
As they talked, Chloe's phone rang.
She pulled out her phone, and her expression turned serious as she read the text message.
"Hey, Chloe, what's up?"
Seeing Chloe's reaction, Pete asked quickly.
"Dan Brown is dead."
"Dan Brown?"
"Yeah, that guy from the football team who threw the football at me yesterday and got a 'sweetheart hit' from Mitch. They found him murdered in his house this morning!"