While the fanciful Kryptonian pondered the feasibility of making himself a Ten Thousand Souls Banner battle suit, Skye skipped over to Henry and proudly showed off the learner's permit in her hand.
"Look, I've got my permit now. Hand over your car keys. I'm taking it out to practice."
Henry lay on the living room sofa at the Hepburn family's home on East 49th Street, watching television while his mind wandered. Skye stepped right onto the Kryptonian's stomach and bounced up and down, utterly thrilled.
Henry's stomach was no trampoline. It was more like a solid block of iron, so Skye couldn't bounce any higher. She kept hopping happily anyway, purely to annoy him.
Looking at the impudent little brat, the Kryptonian chose not to subdue her with force. Instead, he twisted the knife with his words. "I thought you'd go get your learner's permit on your birthday, July second. Why did it take you until today? How many times did you fail?"
Lorna Dane, who had been just as happy a moment earlier, suddenly couldn't bear to look at her best friend. She lowered her head and covered her face, unsure how to save Skye from the embarrassment.
The bristling girl promptly smothered his face with her hands again. "I got careless that day! I didn't read anything before going in for the test. I thought they'd only ask common-sense questions. Who knew they'd test me on a bunch of stuff I might never use in my entire life?"
"No, the driving test does test common sense. You didn't think common sense just meant knowing the difference between red and green lights, did you?"
"Ah! Mind your own business!" Humiliated and furious, the girl erupted, pawing at the Kryptonian's face as though he were Kitty.
Henry grabbed the increasingly