onepassingnight | Candyland?

Entry tags:

Candyland?

Heavy footfalls resounded through the halls of the Fortress of Solitude, the cavernous halls of the building magnifying the sound. They sped up as Superman felt something was just a bit off, and when he entered the main hall he stopped and stared. The gigantic memorial of Krypton, supported by statues of Jor-El and Lara, his long dead parents, had been replaced…

By a gigantic jawbreaker being held aloft by peanut brittle likenesses of his parents.

“What,” he all but shouted, looking around the room for intruders. And it was then that it hit him. It wasn’t just the memorial, it was the entire fortress. The ice caverns had mysteriously changed into translucent rock candy, the chairs were constructed entirely out of solid peppermint, and there were boxes upon boxes of sweets of all shapes and sizes all over the floor, stacked neatly into every open space.

“…What’s going on here?”

He had to be dreaming. There really couldn’t be any other explanation, but then again maybe Mr. Mxyzptlk was up to his old tricks…

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Most teenage girls would probably react to a literal cavern of sweets with more than a flat expression and a certain wariness. Most teenage girls are not Homura.

She turned sharply when Superman came in, and despite the obvious clue of the outfit, she treated him with a faint wariness as well. She was somewhere she didn't understand, and the overabundance of sweets... had associations in her mind. There'd been a witch's barrier like that.

Still, her note was cautionary rather than accusative. "This has the semblance of a rather sweet trap."

Superman eyed the girl dubiously as well, his own expression interested and not particularly worried. She was a kid, after all. But something in her tone...that accusation made him raise a brow.

"It does. How'd you get into my home, miss?"

If this was his home, then this barrier was his doing, if it was a barrier. However, first of all, he was male; and a witch would have been born from a magical girl. Besides that, a witch capable of this rationality and conversation would be rare indeed.

"I walked," she answered him, which was not a particularly thorough explanation, but she had no better one. "I did not intend to intrude."

"You walked? Young lady, do you know where you are at all?"

His tone was curious, but there was a hint of concern. If she was lost and ended up here...then that could mean a great many things. Dreams are so strange sometimes...

"I do not." This did not seem to trouble her. It only earned Clark a serious, thoughtful look. "I wonder if perhaps you would be able to tell me."

"Even for me, a place such as this is a rarity." Especially now that it increasingly seems to be real and not some warped dimension.

"You're in my home, the Fortress of Solitude. And it's not really the sort of place you can just...walk into." He gestured to the ceiling, "and...it's usually ice, not rock candy."

He shakes his head and unfolds his arms, walking a little closer.

"Where do you usually live?"

This certainly seemed far out of the way, so Homura was more specific than she might have been another time. "I live in Mitakihara, in Japan."

"Since this is not the season for this type of cold yet, I believe we are somewhere else." For someone saying she essentially had no idea where she was, she was remarkably calm.

"Yea, you're at the North Pole. Would you like a ride home?" Superman asked gently. Intruder or not, she was a teenage girl removed from home. He gave her his most congenial smiles and offered one large hand.

"And what's your name, miss?"

There was a part of her that had trouble accepting that unless she desperately needed it.

Stranded at the North Pole with no clear idea of how she got there might just count as desperate need.

"A ride home?" she asked. "That would take quite some. There shouldn't be any airports near here."

Clark shook his head and smiled, his hand still extended.

"Not really. I can have you home in no time at all."

"That would be kind of you." She wasn't stepping closer just yet, though. Instead, Homura fixed Clark with a long look. "What do you require in return?"

Nothing comes without its price. People are not altruistic or kind-hearted. Not without bringing troubles on themselves.

"Your name, for starters. Beyond that? A thank you is always nice, but it's not really necessary. It's my job. Helping people that is."

He was definitely not Japanese, and Homura admittedly tended to group most foreigners together in her mind. So she gave her family name last. "I am Homura Akemi," she answered Clark.

She wouldn't stint on the thanks, either. "I appreciate your willingness to help."

"It's nice to meet you, Miss Akemi. I'm Superman, and we can leave whenever you're ready. It won't take long, but I'm going to carry you."

After a moment's consideration, Homura simply accepted this. It was no stranger than other situations she'd encountered. Even for a girl of her slight frame, she turned out to be lightweight.

"I should be ready now."

"Alright, let's go. Hang on tight."

Superman picked her up in his arms without any apparent effort at all, and floated up, a panel in the roof sliding open. She was light, he could feel that, but he figured she would be and didn't really notice anything off.

Out into the Arctic air he hovered, giving Homura a wide view of the frozen landscape before shooting off in the direction of Japan...

The roof's construction was convenient. And then Homura found herself looking down not on the tall buildings of the city, or even the landscape of the countryside, but a frozen land buried in ice and snow.

It was cold, for a girl wearing a simple school uniform. She didn't complain, however; in a way, it felt pleasant, the sting of her body's reaction.

"You were telling the truth," she admitted.

"I was."

And then they're off, whisking across the planet at absolutely insane speeds. Fortunately for Homura, Superman's forward-pointed fist and firm grip on her kept the wind from whipping too much.

"First time flyer?"

Fast! - even by the standards of a magical girl. She supposes she could have gotten herself home as easily; but perhaps not as quickly.

"No," she tells him, in fact. "However, I have not used a method like this or made such a long journey before."

"Oh, you can fly too?"

He kept going, blasting out over the Pacific, holding her tightly still.

Well, if he dropped her right then, she wouldn't fall to her death; but she certainly couldn't fly like he could.

"What you are able to do is different," she said at last. "And my own powers are likely different from yours. I have not met someone like you before this, in fact."

It wasn't entirely a compliment, or flattery. It was the truth, and in her mind still something to be watched.

"No? Most people haven't I guess. What can you do, Miss?"

He didn't really have much of a response for that, but by now they're whisking over the tail end of the Aleutians.

"Their precise nature is not something I feel compelled to share with a stranger." Some of them are useful in battle as secrets, and she certainly does not trust them to a man she's only just met.

There is only one person in any world she truly trusts.

"That's up to you Homura, I'm not in the habit of being terribly nosy. Just curious."

A part of her found it strange that, even seeing this much of her, he treated her so normally. Homura supposed it was due to Superman's own powers. It was... a nice feeling, she had to admit to herself; soothing, to be treated frankly.

"I have my reasons for my actions and decisions," she said mildly, which was as near as she came to saying she appreciated his willingness to accept that.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject