Can You Fly?

Li Ang hung up and marveled. So this was the power of money?

The principal of Louis Memorial Middle School had not only called personally to invite Kara to attend, but had been practically deferential, afraid she might turn them down.

It was an elite school in Gotham, one ordinary people had no chance of getting into.

And now?

They were not only begging Kara to enroll, but also offering her a full scholarship, waiving all her tuition...

Naturally, all of it was funded by Wayne Enterprises.

Clearly, it all came down to one name.

Bruce Wayne!

If he hadn't known Batman's true identity, Li Ang would probably have thought the same as Kara: that happiness had come knocking.

Could such incredible luck really have landed in their laps?

Still, Li Ang kept that thought to himself.

Kara smiled. "Godfather, don't worry about me. I'll be really careful this time."

Li Ang nodded.

Even if Kara revealed her powers this time, he figured the principal probably wouldn't expel her. They'd just set up a class of her own...

"Wayne Enterprises really does contribute to society."

Kara's goodwill toward Wayne Enterprises was now through the roof.

They immediately looked it up online, and sure enough, they found a news story about this "charitable initiative."

Kara wasn't the only one who'd received help. Quite a few other people had, too.

The Gotham Daily was lavishly praising Wayne Enterprises' decision.

Seeing that, Li Ang couldn't help marveling at Bruce Wayne's generosity.

He'd gone to all that trouble just to make an excuse to help them.

But that was what it meant to owe someone a favor.

For Li Ang, it was still better than going to Penguin or Sofia Falcone.

At least Wayne Enterprises was a legitimate, law-abiding company, not a gang.

With his worries eased, Li Ang announced, "Let's go out and have some fun today."

"What are we going to do?"

Kara was delighted.

She was still a girl in her teens, after all. Loving to have fun was only natural.

"Test out your abilities."

Li Ang gave Kara a playful head rub.

"Huh? Godfather, haven't you always told me to hide my powers?"

"Sure, but you need to know your limits first. Then, when you need to use them, you'll be able to handle them with ease."

Kara felt her godfather had changed a little.

It seemed he wasn't just telling her to protect herself anymore.

For Kara, who dreamed of becoming a superhero, that was certainly a good thing.

Even ordinary children dreamed of becoming superheroes at some point. For someone as extraordinary as Kara, it was all the more natural.

Li Ang figured that if he didn't help Kara master her abilities, she'd end up as the "Shame of Krypton" again someday.

After all, he'd just told Batman that he'd make Kara their god.

The God of Man!

So the two of them left Gotham and headed to a remote part of New Jersey.

Gotham was actually in New Jersey, and it was one of the state's few major cities.

Many places in America were vast and sparsely populated.

As long as Kara didn't make too much of a scene, there wouldn't be much of a problem.

"Godfather, what should I do?"

In the deserted area, Kara asked her godfather eagerly, itching to give it a try.

Li Ang simply said, "Can you fly?"

Kara's eyes went wide. She'd never thought of that before, and now she was even more excited.

With no equipment at their disposal, there was no way for them to measure the limits of her strength, speed, or anything else.

Besides, Li Ang remembered a saying.

The sky was the limit for humanity!

Of course, that definitely didn't apply to Kara.

Encouraged by Li Ang, Kara crouched down.

As her body tensed, an invisible field seemed to wrap around her, while dust swirled about her.

The "Bio-force Field."

It could help Kara fly, and she could also extend it over anything she wanted to cover—for instance, to catch someone or something plunging toward the ground at high speed.

Most importantly, it could protect Kara's clothes from being torn apart by the wind as she raced through the air.

"Boom!"

Kara released the tension in her body, and her figure shot skyward like a cannonball.

A deep crater was left in the ground.

Even with Li Ang's keen eyesight, he could only watch as Kara disappeared into the distance.

Kara's first attempt at flying was really just an instinctive leap, but she soared at least several hundred, maybe even a thousand meters into the air.

To Kara, it felt as though Earth's gravity were gradually fading away. The world grew smaller and smaller beneath her, yet she could still see every corner of it clearly.

For a moment, she felt as though she'd broken free of all limits, soaring through the sky like a fledgling eagle eager to discover just how high it went.

But before long, Kara felt gravity take hold again.

She plunged downward at high speed and slammed into the ground with a "crash," leaving a crater. Seeing that she'd startled some people, she stuck out her tongue, then leapt up again.

Kara was having so much fun that she didn't head back right away. On her second leap, she went even higher than before, but still hadn't learned to fly.

The Bio-force Field wrapped around her, keeping her from getting hurt.

On her third leap...

She shot straight through the clouds and spotted a passenger plane cruising through the sky.

"Mom, there's someone on top of the clouds!"

A child sitting on the plane, bored out of his mind, saw what was outside the window and immediately shouted to his mother.

His mother turned to look, but there was nothing outside the window except a blanket of white clouds.

"You must have imagined it. How could anyone be up that high?"

His mother smiled, gently stroked his hair, and began to explain.

"No way! I saw someone. It was a pretty girl, about my age."

The child insisted.

"Oh, maybe you're entering puberty. Is there a girl you like?"

At his mother's words, the child's face turned red.

Mom had guessed right. There was a girl he secretly liked.

Could there really be something wrong with him?

Before long, he started wondering if he'd imagined it.

"Was it a bird? Or a plane?"

The child was plunged into deep doubt.

Kara had no idea anyone had seen her. She was already plunging back down at high speed.

And the worst part was that New Jersey was on the East Coast, with nothing but ocean to the east.

So when Kara leapt this time, she had no Bio-force Field to keep her aloft, and she went straight into the sea.

"Boom!"

The enormous splash was like a nuclear bomb going off in the ocean.

Any professional judge would have given that dive a zero.

"Pfft!"

Kara popped her head out of the water. Fish scattered around her in every direction, swimming frantically to get away.

"Ha!"

"Hahahaha!"

Kara burst out laughing, feeling happier than she had in a long time. She'd been on Earth for so long, but she'd never felt this happy before.

Freedom was in her nature. So this was what it felt like to use her superpowers without holding back. It was amazing.

Too bad she still hadn't learned how to fly.

Just then, Kara spotted a fishing boat approaching in the distance. She quickly snapped out of it and hurriedly swam toward shore.

She still had to drag herself to school tomorrow!