Chapter 47: The Unyielding Clark

The next day, early morning.

Peter received a phone call from the school while at the farm.

"Dad, what's wrong?"

After Peter hung up the phone, Homelander rubbed his eyes and asked curiously.

Last night's flight training had left him feeling somewhat drained.

"The school bus got into an accident. The radiator dropped out, so you won't be able to ride the bus to school for the next few days."

Homelander nodded. "Well, actually I don't need the school bus anyway. I can run much faster than it."

"Running to school is a great way to exercise, but next time..."

Peter placed a slice of toast on the plate in front of Homelander and twitched his eyebrows. "You cannot just start flying while you're running, John."

"I know, Dad."

Homelander picked up the toast with a wry expression.

Last night's special training had ultimately ended in failure; he still hadn't found that elusive feeling of flight.

This made him begin to doubt whether he would ever be able to fly at all.

"Dad, about the school bus accident—was anyone hurt?"

Homelander pushed his worries to the back of his mind and asked about the school bus crash.

"Probably not."

"Well, that's a bit of a shame."

Peter: "?"

He suspected that this rascal's skin was itching again, uttering such politically incorrect nonsense.

Catching Peter's hostile glare, Homelander felt his heart skip a beat and quickly explained, "I mean... Dad, Ms. Rachel must feel disappointed. She's always yearning for normal patients."

"Who is Rachel?"

"Rachel is the nurse at the school infirmary. She says the school infirmary only ever sees two kinds of abnormal patients."

Homelander repeated the complaints of Nurse Rachel that he had overheard with his super hearing.

Peter asked with interest, "Oh? Which two?"

"One kind consists of athletes who want to play despite contusions, bursitis, or other injuries; they just don't want to sit on the bench, completely ignoring the long-term danger to their athletic careers."

Homelander took a bite of his toast and continued, "The other kind consists of girls with all sorts of 'mysterious illnesses.' They visit the infirmary very frequently right before exams. Before finals, they'll claim to have otitis, pneumonia, or bronchitis as a last resort."

"Teachers who make exams are full of tricks. Once they fall ill, they get to take much easier makeup tests. If students knew exams would consist of objective multiple-choice questions instead of essay writing, their illnesses would miraculously become much more severe."

Homelander had never been sick in his life, so he didn't understand the correlation between illness and exams.

He asked Peter curiously, "Dad, can being sick really help you dodge exams?"

Hearing this, Peter fell into silence.

Is this trick just as popular in America too?

Shaking his head, he decided to nip Homelander's dangerous ideas in the bud.

"No, cheating through such dishonest means is shameful, John."

Homelander indicated that he understood.

He said in a serious tone, "If I encounter an exam question I don't know, Dad, my eyes can see other people's answers, so I won't need to cheat by pretending to be sick."

Peter: "?!"

He glanced at Homelander's punchable backside. It seemed the kid had pulled this stunt more than a few times.

Your cheating behavior is even more shameful than those faking illness!

...

Having received a few swats on the bottom from Peter, Homelander grimly set about herding the cows into the paddock.

"Come on, cows, let's go."

He drove the leading cow forward, only to find that it completely ignored him.

"Into the paddock, cows! Hurry up, time to move!"

He patted the cow's rump, but it remained motionless.

A helpless Homelander put his hands on his hips, momentarily unsure of what to do.

Maybe... a little superpower could help.

Homelander suddenly hatched an idea.

He walked over to the cow and wrapped his arms around it.

"Moo!"

The cow, currently chewing its cud, suddenly felt its balance disappear as it was hoisted straight up into the air.

Lifting the cow, Homelander walked toward the exit of the barn.

"Thump! Thump!"

Heavy footsteps pounded against the ground.

Just as Homelander was feeling immensely pleased with his own cleverness, the cow suddenly squirted milk directly onto his face.

Taking a sudden hit, Homelander froze in place.

Subconsciously, he stuck out his tongue and licked the milk off his face.

An expression of astonishment, disbelief, and a tiny hint of excitement washed over his face.

"John?"

Hearing Peter's voice, Homelander snapped out of his daze, hurriedly set the cow down on the ground, and tried to act as casual as possible.

Stepping outside, Peter looked at the milk on Homelander's face and then glanced at the cow on the ground.

Giving the boy a suspicious, probing look, Peter asked, "Are you alright, John?"

This brat didn't just do something perverted, did he?

Why did the scene before him feel inexplicably familiar?

"I'm fine, Dad."

Homelander looked at Peter nervously.

"Uh-huh. You should get to school."

"R-right, Dad."

Granted a reprieve, Homelander immediately bolted from the farm at top speed.

Peter watched Homelander's retreating back and fell into deep thought.

It seemed that future chores involving cows could no longer be entrusted to this kid.

...

Smallville Elementary School.

Homelander and Clark put their backpacks into their lockers.

"Homelander, have you heard about the alien spaceship?"

"No, I'm not interested."

Homelander shook his head; right now, he cared far more about how to make himself fly.

"They say the blurred shadow that fell from the sky was an extraterrestrial creature."

Clark was clearly fascinated by science fiction stories. "Some people in class are planning to start a science club to investigate and explore this."

"Besides, lately people in town have been saying they've lost farm animals and livestock."

Clark turned around and said excitedly, "Maybe aliens really do exist in this world, John. Didn't the science exploration show say that many cases of cattle mutilation are related to aliens?"

Annoyed by the chatter, Homelander slammed his locker door shut with a loud "bang," turned to Clark, and said, "There are no aliens in this world. I'd rather believe vampires exist than aliens."

Homelander scoffed at Clark's "alien theory."

As an avid fan of horror movies, he found vampires much more believable than extraterrestrials.

In the afternoon.

After school.

Because of his curiosity about the science club, Clark lingered at school a bit longer.

By the time he left, Homelander had already gone.

"Well, with no school bus, I can run home with a clear conscience."

Clark muttered to himself as he walked forward.

After taking a few steps, he heard a commotion coming from the nearby parking lot.

Curious, he walked over and discovered that some upperclassmen were bullying a classmate wearing a baseball cap.

Clark remembered his name was Adrian.

A large, tall upperclassman punched Adrian right in the face.

With a heavy thud, Adrian crashed into the wall behind him.

He let out a moan, covering his mouth with both hands as blood gushed between his fingers.

Another upperclassman kicked him in the abdomen with his shoe, sending him stumbling back a step.

Seeing this, Clark couldn't help but step forward to intervene. "Hey, stop it!"

The three upperclassmen turned around to look at the sudden appearance of Clark, exchanging glances.

"Who the hell are you? This faggot's little accomplice?"

"I'm his classmate."

Clark walked closer, bravely shielding Adrian behind him, and glared angrily at the trio.

"I'm Clark Patrick Kent."

"I don't know you, little punk, but if you don't want to end up like him, get lost."

The ringleader, a tall bully wearing two large rings, threatened Clark.

"No!"

Clark said in a firm tone, "You can't hurt him!"