I Fear Only the Unexpected

Back home.

"You're saying you saw Catherine, but Catherine might already be dead?"

After hearing his wife and two sons' account—the green-tinged skeleton, the deformity, the corpse, the money—Jonathan was momentarily confused.

"The person who received us at the Antique Shop must be the one who robbed the bank."

Combining that with what Clark had said earlier, David thought it was obvious.

"First Lex Luthor, then Catherine. She has the ability to shapeshift, to become other people."

"Who could that person be?"

Martha was deeply unsettled, rubbing her arms. This was terrifying—someone could turn into a familiar face and slip right up beside you without a sound.

Just now, she hadn't realized at all that the person wasn't who she thought.

Clark frowned in thought. First, he was sure the skeleton was female. Next...

It seemed there were no other clues for now.

"It's Tina."

After a few seconds of frowning contemplation, David suddenly spoke.

The three family members shot him questioning looks.

Clark asked, "Why would it be Tina?"

"She has that ability. She could turn into anyone, kill someone, and run away. Why bother turning into Aunt Catherine's face? The police could never find her.

Unless—Catherine is dead, and the police would definitely come knocking on her door."

Through analysis and deduction, he concluded it was Catherine's daughter, and smiled.

Only Tina, Catherine's daughter—no matter who killed Catherine, the police would come to question her, because she was the sole relative of the deceased.

"Tina stole the money and killed her own mother. Guilt made her do this."

"Catherine!"

Martha grieved for the person she once knew well.

"Don't be too sure, son."

Jonathan gripped his wife's cold hand to comfort her, frowning.

"A daughter killing her mother... that's..."

A crime defying human bonds—too shocking to believe!

David raised an eyebrow at his father's instinctive reluctance to accept such a tragedy, but said nothing.

"I saw her skeleton was a bit off."

Clark carefully recalled his memory, finally remembering another clue—if it could even count as one.

"It had a strange green glow, and the bone structure was odd."

Unlike the smooth, natural lines of a normal ribcage, that person's ribs were uneven in thickness.

"When Catherine had Tina, she was already quite old. Tina was born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta."

Martha's face paled slightly, as if remembering something terrible.

"She and her husband went everywhere for treatment. Doctors said she wouldn't live past first grade. They spent money to get her experimental drugs still in development, but it didn't work."

Jonathan frowned, picking up the thread, his voice heavy: "In the end, they had no choice but to bring Tina back to the town. Somehow, a miracle happened—Tina gradually got better."

Now he was starting to believe his son's reasoning. The killer was Tina.

"Desperate people sometimes grasp at straws."

David rubbed his chin and looked at Clark.

"I heard that when the meteor first fell, some charlatans came to town, claiming the meteor was God's gift, and drinking water soaked with it could cure all ills..."

The rest didn't need saying.

It was easy to imagine—Catherine and her husband, with no other options, would have tried it in desperation. When they saw their daughter improve astonishingly, they wept and thanked God.

But Catherine probably never imagined she'd die because of her daughter.

"David's right. That person might be Tina."

Clark's eyes widened.

With his brother's analysis and the information from his parents, all the clues clicked together.

No wonder that person's skeleton glowed like the meteor—she'd been drinking meteor-soaked water her whole life, since she was a child!

"Since you saw the body, call the police first."

Jonathan thought for a moment—don't let the killer escape—and picked up the phone to dial.

He briefly explained the situation: at Catherine's Antique Shop, they'd found money that might be from the bank robbery, and smelled a rotting corpse.

The police immediately dispatched officers to the Antique Shop.

"Alright, kids, the police have already gone."

Caught red-handed, even if Tina could turn into someone else, she wouldn't escape.

David frowned.

This wasn't secure.

The couple didn't know that besides her shapeshifting ability, Tina's body was tough enough to withstand bullets—ordinary cops might struggle to handle her.

"I'm taking the afternoon off from school."

David suddenly said.

Kryptonite was undoubtedly the reason some people in town had gained abilities.

"So if I stay around Kryptonite longer, get more radiation from it, or even eat it, would that make me stronger?"

His eyes flickered. Was that how Tina had grown up drinking water soaked in meteorites?

"I'm taking time off too."

Clark followed up, equally vigilant, his gaze serious. He wanted to protect his parents from any harm.

David glanced at Clark.

If this were anywhere else, a random Metahuman from some small town making it hard for him—someone with a Thanos Physique—to keep his parents completely safe would seem absurd.

"But sometimes Superman faces enemies that even give him trouble or danger."

Better safe than sorry. He and Clark should both stay to protect the couple together.

Even if it turned out to be a false alarm, it was better than something he absolutely didn't want to see—something that would haunt him for life.

"Why?"

The two sons' reactions were a bit strong, and the couple looked puzzled.

"Are you afraid Tina will attack us?"

Thump, thump!

Just as they were about to explain, a knock came at the door.

Through the glass of the outer door, in the dim sunlight, Lex Luthor stood outside with a polite smile on his face, his voice friendly: "May I come in?"

Jonathan and Martha tensed up, rising from their stools. David and Clark stepped forward, shielding their parents.

David gave Clark a subtle look.

Clark tried again to use his X-ray vision to see Lex's skeleton through the door.

But he was a bit nervous and couldn't activate it.

"What's wrong?"

Lex Luthor opened the outer door, puzzled, and joked: "It's me, not my evil twin, and I'm not holding a gun."

He raised his hands, showing them to the family.

"Clark, David, Mr. Kent... you know I'm innocent."

"Come on."

Clark focused, straining to control it, and finally his vision turned X-ray-like again. He scanned Luthor from head to toe, sighed in relief, and gave his brother and parents a hint with a smile.

"Lex, what are you doing here?"

The skeleton was normal—it was the real Lex Luthor.

Jonathan and Martha relaxed too.

David quietly unclenched his tense body.

If he were facing them alone, even ten Metahumans wouldn't make him this tense, but his parents were right behind him.

"I came to thank Mr. and Mrs. Kent.

Without your testimony, I wouldn't have cleared my name yet."

Luthor smiled, a flicker of suspicion hidden in his eyes at the Kent family's strange reaction.

"Please come in, Mr. Luthor." Martha invited.

"I watched the CCTV footage. I don't know how that person did it—he looked almost exactly like me. If not for the Signature being different, I'd be broke by now."

Luthor voiced his genuine surprise and confusion.

"It's a strange feeling, watching someone use my face in broad daylight to frantically rob a bank."

He had planned to use this thank-you visit to get closer to Clark's family.

But after arriving, Luthor suddenly felt the atmosphere was heavy and odd—not a good time for a visit. His plan had hit a snag.

This time, he didn't show his usual sharpness or intelligence by offering help if there was trouble.

"If someone dislikes you, the smarter you act, the more wary and resistant they become."

After chatting for a bit and sincerely expressing his gratitude, his eyes flickered, and he took his leave.

A low hum echoed through the air.

Leaving the Farms, Lex Luthor climbed into his silver-gray convertible, glanced twice at the Kent family inside the house, frowned as if lost in thought, and drove off.

He told his parents that Tina might be a powerful Metahuman.

Jonathan thought it over and requested leave for both sons, citing the spring flu season as the reason.

He didn't send David to school, afraid he'd be attacked alone.

"David, you'll stay home with us. Clark will protect us. Later, I'll ask around to see what the police have found—maybe they'll catch Tina after all."

A bit late on the update, added six hundred extra words.