Problem Child 3

(I re-did my plot a bit and realized that this will take more than 4 chapters to resolve to my satisfaction, so it will be 5 at the very least.)

Attacking Superman was probably the best thing that Aiko had done in this lifetime. Her parents gave her so much attention now, and also lots of other adults wanted to hear what she had to say all the time. She was pretty sure that President Luthor had been talking about her on TV when he said nice things about the new generation standing up against megalomaniac aliens!

Most relevantly, she got to stay out until 8 pm three days every week now, gallivanting around with a superhero mentor. Sure, the guy was a really boring straight-laced goodie two shoes, but Aiko was pretty sure she could improve him, given enough time. With that end in mind, she was playing it safe for the time being to lure him into a false sense of control.

“So, Aiko!” Captain Marvel rallied his good spirits for the billionth time. “What do you like to do? Is purple your favorite color?”

God, he wanted her approval so bad. “Let’s stay on topic.” Aiko kept up her easy jog around the clean streets of Fawcett City. They were looking for trouble. She pretended not to see his dismay at the brush off.

They were about an hour into their second probationary patrol around Fawcett City when Captain Marvel stopped mid word and swiveled his head. His gaze went distant, his jawline hard.

Aiko trained her attention in the same direction. She was too disciplined to ask a question– if he was hearing something, that would be counterproductive. She strained, but heard nothing under than the pleasant rumble of railcars and calm chatter from the early evening foot traffic. 

‘If he’s hearing anything, his senses are better than mine.’

Ugh. She hid her malcontent. She didn’t want this big golden retriever to be better than her at anything. He was kind of uncool. He was obviously stressed about mentoring her.

Captain Marvel looked down at her, obviously stressed. “I can sense black ad– I need to deal with this alone.” She could see his pulse jump at his neck. He hesitated, caught between wanting to leap away and wanting to stay. 

Aiko scrunkled her face up into a frown even though the little ninja outfit from Batman had a mask that hid most of her face. Why was she even there if he was going to leave her when a villain showed up?

“Is it really that important?” she asked.

Captain Marvel seemed to find his nerve. “It really is. I’ll be right back!” Captain Marvel didn’t even wait for an answer. He was off so fast that Aiko’s hair blew back.

She let out a sigh and settled in to wait against the gate for the Fawcett City Zoo. “In his defense, he doesn’t know my capabilities yet,” she said to herself and tried not to sulk too much. The only thing she’d gotten to do so far today was help a lady leaving the airport carry a big bag. 

Aiko let out a big sigh again. Lightning cracked across the blue sky. Thunder roared a moment later. She scraped her little shoe against the sidewalk mournfully. None of the people passing by paid her any mind. They were also unbothered by the signs of a magical fight in the distance. “It’s probably more responsible not to bring a trainee to a combat situation unless the conditions are controlled.” She watched a man’s form fly up into the growing storm. Blegh.

The ground shook. She idly adjusted her footing to keep balanced. The gate behind her creaked ominously as the metal was forced in a new angle. Hmm. She twisted around to peer at it, looking for the warped metal. The little latch was bent. Would it open like that?

Metal scraped again, but it was from behind her. Someone screamed. Aiko turned around to see a gigantic man in a suit climbing out of the sewer.

More people screamed. The street emptied very quickly until there were only two people standing out in the open.

Aiko cocked her head to the side. “You have a crocodile head, like Sobek,” she told the new guy. Cool.

He flashed a great wealth of teeth at her in a grin. “And a tail!” He whipped it at her. Aiko stepped over it without even thinking about it. It was an easy dodge. His tail hit the gate at high speed with a monstrous clang that reverberated through her teeth.

She looked at him. He looked at her. Slowly, sheepishly, he withdrew his tail back into his personal space.

“That was supposed to send you flying,” he told her. 

Aiko shrugged. “Whatcha doing?” A happy thought occurred. “Are you a villain? I’m allowed to kick your butt if you are.” She perked up.

The Crocodile man looked at her again, clearly thinking it over. Then he decided to go bombastic with it, throwing his arms out. “My cause is just! I have come to release my brethren. The age of the crocodile begins today!”

Oh. An environmental activist. That was pretty cool of him, actually. But-

She blinked at him. “You want to just let them out into Fawcett city?” she checked. Aiko felt wrinkles forming on her forehead. “Don’t crocodiles thrive in swamps? Wetlands? Something like that. I don’t think it’s ecologically sound to just release them into a modern city.” Her tone came out more than a little dubious. She didn’t want to discourage a good impulse, but he really needed to plan better.

“You cannot dissuade me to save your pathetic city with such-” He cut off with an insulted little urk sound of shock. His yellow eyes trained on where Aiko was making a dismissive motion to shut him up.

“I don’t mean that,” she said scornfully. “But you have to follow through. Is there a dam you can break or something to flood the streets?” She lifted an eyebrow at him in challenge. Duh. “If you just let them out like this, they’re probably going to dry up or something.”

Crocodile Man froze, comically still. “...Oh.”

Aiko crossed her arms and brought one hand up to cup her cheek as she thought. “I think the ph of the water matters, too,” she said. “Or is it salinity? Maybe both. And what are they going to eat?”

“They will dine on the miserable residents of Fawcett city-”

“They’re not all going to be willing to switch from a pescatarian diet on day one,” Aiko scoffed. “You can’t starve them out into trying something new. That’s so shitty.”

Crocodile Man slunk away from the utter scorn in her eyes. “I will consider this.” He edged backwards and stepped back into the open manhole. For one incredible moment, he teetered. Then he lost his balance, fell in, hit his head on the rim, and landed somewhere below with a squelch and a splash.

“…I don’t want to go and get him.” Aiko frowned. Yuck. She unhappily shuffled a little closer to the open manhole. Should she? It seemed like she should do something.

After a few seconds, a pained groan echoed up.

Aiko relaxed. Cool, he was alive. That meant she was in the clear. He was fine and he was better educated now. Aiko kicked the manhole cover back into place, content that she was doing a good job.

Aiko was trying to fix the zoo gate again when Captain Marvel came back, hairstyle a total mess from the wind. “Sorry about that- what happened?” He looked at the gate. He might, Aiko thought, look guilty.

She shrugged. “Not much.” 

He frowned. “If you say so. Here, let me-” Aiko stepped back and let him fix the gate mechanism. “Shall we?” He swiped his hair back into place and gave her a smile that was at least a little bit fake.

Ugh. New coworkers. Aiko gave her own fake smile back. “Do you think there’s any crime for me to fight?”

“I’ll let you know as soon as I hear something.” Marvel’s posture relaxed and it was obvious that he was relieved she hadn’t made a fuss. Ugh, he would not stop showing weakness.

She endured him for another hour, in which time she got to ominously appear behind a teenager keying a car and scare the delinquent out of them by reciting information about the fines that had been given for similar offenses.

Marvel rescued the jerk from her after a few minutes, peeling her off of his back and letting the teenager out of the chicken wing hold she had him in for his lecture after he had tried to leave. 

Job done, Aiko was willing to go home and brush her teeth for bed. She had to get up on time for elementary school in the morning. She slept easily and got through her morning routine without any issue. In fact, she felt magnanimous enough to let Nathan choose the cartoon they watched at the kitchen table. 

It was Mom’s shift, so Dad walked them both to school. The twins were in different classes so Aiko told her brother goodbye and went off for a normal day. 

“Alice, honey, can you go to the office?” The teacher’s aid told her as soon as she got in. “There’s a visitor for you.” She paused, still taking off her outside shoes at the top of the staircase.

Okay, that wasn’t normal. She put her shoes in the cubby and switched them out for her indoor shoes.

“Alright. Don’t call me that, Eric,” Aiko reminded him. She flounced off to the office without waiting for a reply. 

The office lady was sweating. 

“You look wet,” Aiko told Miss Mari admiringly. “Why are you so wet? Are you nervous? The air conditioning is on.” 

Miss Mari stood up jerkily. Her chair wheeled away a few paces, forgotten. “Aiko, let’s go to the meeting room. If that’s ok?” Her pitch was high and nervous. Wow, what was going on with her this morning?

Aiko nodded and followed. Miss Mari pushed open the door with fingers that trembled just a little. That made more sense when Aiko looked inside and saw the President of the United States was inside her elementary school at 8:15 in the morning with his scary lady bodyguards on either side of him.

“Oh, are you here to make sure I have the right opinions about Superman?” Aiko casually walked in while Miss Mari sputtered behind her.

Lex Luthor blinked and then smiled at her. He was sort of snakish, Aiko thought. She liked snakes. “You’re a clever young lady,” he said. “Yes. Why don’t you have a seat?” The door shut quietly.

Aiko clambered up onto the chair next to him. “That’s fine, but I have to be back in class pretty soon,” she told him. “We practice the melodian at 9.”

His smile twitched.