878/The Bells: An Echo

The Bells: An Echo
Date of Scene:	31 March 2020
Location:	Westside - Queensland Park
Synopsis:	Clark and Lois encounter a strange shadow... with teeth.
Cast of Characters:	Clark Kent, Lois Lane

---

Clark Kent has posed:
Clark, having recovered enough to go to work, still had an 'easy' day at the office: taking it easy, so as not to stress his head injury too much. Still, he did plenty of work, but not enough to call attention to being anything other than in recovery. The work day has ended, though, and he catches a ride with Lois back to her place: plenty of excuse there, best to not drive with a head injury still so recent.

But when they park, Clark pauses in their conversation, and orients, looking out and away. It's that 'look' of remembering he left the stove on. Or more specifically, the Superman hearing something look. "Do you hear that too?" Clark asks Lois, staying where he is for the moment, looking out the window steadily. "It's loud, but a weird register."

Lois Lane has posed:
Turning the car's engine off, Lois sits for a moment in the car, doing her best to listen in. She shakes her head. "No, I think it's either farther away than you think or you're hearing tones I'm not able to. Kind of like how dog whistles are at a particular pitch."

That does give her a thought. "Have you ever tried to see what exactly your range of hearing is? Might end up being useful in a situation like this." She does peer out the window. "You think it's a thing you should go take a peek in on?" She jangles her keys. "We can always take a casual drive."

Clark Kent has posed:
"My range? Not fully. This is like... a vibration. I heard it before, on... Friday, I think, just before all of the crashes: that story I wrote. Let me see if I can pinpoint," Clark suggests, with a hand extended in a sort of 'just a moment' motion. He lowers his hand slowly to his leg, then seems to just listen, zeroing in on whatever it is.

Then Clark sits there a while, seemingly focused.

Lois Lane has posed:
A vibration? Lois peers over at him, shifting for a moment in her seat to study him as he listens. She puts her hands on her keys, ready to start the car again if he comes back with a hit on what is a general direction. She doesn't make a move to speak, instead just waiting on his results. She listens closely, but there's nothing. If it was anywhere nearby, she certainly couldn't pick up on it.

Clark Kent has posed:
Clark doesn't update her, and he doesn't do anything else. He just sits there, probably listening.

Lois Lane has posed:
It's kind of awkward, waiting. Lois waits a second or two more, figuring perhaps he's just listening intently. Eventually, awkwardness and impatience get the better of her and she pokes him in the knee with one finger. "Clark? You getting anything?"

Clark Kent has posed:
Clark's really good at responding to Lois, particularly when poked. He's not registering her there at all, though, but does seem to be breathing just fine. He's just somewhere else mentally, it looks like, as if daydreaming out the window.

Lois Lane has posed:
There's another pause. He's been just sitting there way too long. Lois gives him him a bit of a shake. "Smallville." She offers a second shake for good measure. "/Clark/, you're starting to weird me out a bit." She pauses. She's not entirely sure it's helpful, but she reaches over to try and cover his ears. Maybe it'd muffle superhearing somehow?

"Come on, don't leave me hanging here."

Clark Kent has posed:
There's a few minutes of it before Clark looks at her, and reports out of nowhere, "I thought I had it, but I think it moved," he says, entirely ignoring any of the actions she's made since, although he gives her a puzzled little stare. "Or stopped. I can tell where it was, I think --- what?"

Lois Lane has posed:
Lois eyes him carefully, one hand on his arm. "Clark, how long do you think you were listening to that for?" She pauses. "Because if you tell me you were only listening for a few seconds..." She lets out a deep breath, peering at him. "Please tell me you were just listening really intently."

Clark Kent has posed:
Clark abruptly looks alarmed, and sits back a little, looking at her critically. "A few seconds at the most," Clark agrees. But he's quick, and he /just wrote/ a story about people that were losing time in an unexplained way. "I placed it a few miles from here, faint, then suddenly it was entirely gone."

Lois Lane has posed:
"It was a good couple of minutes, Smallville," Lois points out. "So whatever that is, it doesn't have any problems getting to even you." She seems to be thinking for a moment. "You said it's gone now? We could risk it... go whever it sounded like it was at?"

There's a small pause. "Couldn't hurt to go make sure everyone's alright." An excuse to go into danger? Naturally.

Clark Kent has posed:
"Did I do anything? I just sat here?" Clark asks, critically, frowning. He's shed the 'Clark' persona he usually uses in public entirely, it's been replaced by a very Serious Face. "If there is some kind of mind-altering element, I have to be particularly careful. We can't afford for me to go out of control," he explains, and studies her, then looks out towards where he had been staring. "As I could make something simple a lot worse. Still, I think we should check. I don't hear any crashes or cries for help, though."

Lois Lane has posed:
"You sat there, zoning out. I thought you were really focusing for a minute there. You didn't react at all to anything I did... verbal, physical, you were just out of it." Lois does frown. "But I don't think /I/ woke you up from it, which is the scary part. I think you woke up because it ended."

She moves her hand back to turn the car on. "Alright, we'll go, but I'm counting on you to let me know if you hear it again so I can turn around and go the /opposite/ direction." She'll drive as far as she has to.

Clark Kent has posed:
"I generally sharpen my hearing on purpose, with focus, when I hear something. I'll be careful. But it's good to have learned that I'm not immune to whatever this is. Thinking I'm immune to things can get me in trouble," Clark says, but gives her a softened, small smile.

"Okay, just head northwest, I'll guide," Clark says, studying the street and thinking about the path; his was as the Superhero flies, not a car's path.

Lois Lane has posed:
"You got it," Lois replies, proceeding to bring the car around to start driving in a northwesterly direction. "Tell me when we're close, you think, and I'll keep an eye out for anything that seems, well, off."

Really, she's not sure what to look for. People seeming confused? Radio towers? Buildings selling guitars with amps? All she knew was that he mentioned vibrations and that could be almost anything. "If anything sounds or seems off, let me know." Well, and she plans on checking in on him frequently to make sure he's not a zombie again.

Clark Kent has posed:
"Sure," Clark says, sitting up in his seat more, and looking around them as they drive: vigilent. It might seem silly, except for exactly who she does have sitting next to her. He's going to pick up a lot of information, even just doing that.

"Turn left here, go up that way," Clark directs, as they get closer to where he expected. "I'm hearing a little bit of something. Let's stop the car, in case you start to hear it." No need to have a car accident, for sure. "Is that a park up ahead? That might be it."

Lois Lane has posed:
"Careful..." Lois warns, though she peers around, seeking out a parking spot where they can walk the rest of the way. Once she's parked, she glances over at him. "Getting anything? If you can hear something from way back here..." She certainly does want to go check the park out.

"Do you think it's a person or a device? You're the one that heard it. What impressions did you get? You said it sounded like vibrations." She's already starting to get out of the car.

Clark Kent has posed:
"I honestly don't know what's making it, it doesn't seem mechanical though. More like something alive, like if you were listening to whale-song. I don't speak whale." Clark gets out of the car as well, and heads towards the park a little way before he holds up to look back to her, then ahead at the park. They can go together.

Lois Lane has posed:
"So probably a person. I wonder if they understand what they're doing. Something like that could be accidental." Lois moves to catch up with him, locking the car behind them. She looks to the park in front of them. "Be my ears. If something sets you off, let me know." She pauses. "Or, better yet..."

She moves to grab his hand. "You let go of my hand, I'll know its got you, got it?"

Clark Kent has posed:
Clark blushes a little for a reason even he can't quite name, and accepts her hand, with a soft little squeeze. He nods once, eyes more outward to the park, as they walk over, looking like any couple just out for a stroll together in the March evening in Metropolis. There's a playground in front of them, but no children on it: a few are being bundled into coats to head home as Clark and Lois pass.

"It's faded out again, but this is as close an estimate as..." Clark trails off, but isn't inactive, he does squeeze her hand, and gesture minutely with his head.

There's a tall building beyond the park, and a weird shadow, black and tall, like a stretched person, plays across the surface of the building's mixed brick and windows, drifting unnaturally as if gliding, not walking. Yet there's no person, only the shadow. "I can hear it a little, too," Clark whispers.

Lois Lane has posed:
Lois keeps ahold of his hand. It's for both of their benefits, really. She's at least able to tell by the occasional squeeze that he's not lost in something she can't hear. When he mentions hearing it a tiny bit, she glances towards the shadow.

"Let's walk that way, you tell me if it gets louder."

Clark Kent has posed:
"I don't know about this," the cautious Clark answers quietly. There's no fear in the tone, but protectiveness, absolutely. They move closer, though.

The shadow seems to drift along the building further, casting a humanoid shape, yet the feet are also visible, as if it were standing on an invisible floating dias, as the shadow drifts to the side of the building and then disappears: perhaps still there, only there's no buildng next to it to show against. Clark slows to stop, scanning, still frowning.

"I can't hear it now." He looks to Lois directly. "I don't really know what to make of it."

Lois Lane has posed:
Lois comes to a stop as well, looking back and forth with a careful glance. "Well, this is a bit of a dead-end, I think. But you're right, it seemed like whatever it was... it was certainly here." She squeezes his hand. "We need to keep an eye on this, but I'm not sure how to... well, keep an actual ear out for this."

She peeks around. "I'd say you keep listening but I don't want what happened in the car to happen again. You were at least safe in the car."

Clark Kent has posed:
Clark considers, and lets go of her hand, to walk over towarrds the base of the wall, to get a look around there. He has his investigation hat on. "If it was over here, blocking light... where must it have been standing, to do that?" Clark asks, puzzling it out, looking for the light source that's on the wall.

Lois Lane has posed:
Lois crosses her arms over her chest, giving Clark a careful look as he goes to investigate. She stays where she's at, trying to get a better eye on things from more of a distance. She takes a look up higher, trying to see if maybe the shadow was cast from elsewhere.

Or, perhaps, she can get to a higher vantage point of nothing else.

Clark Kent has posed:
Lois, in going up higher, will deduce the spot: the top of the children's jungle-gym castle. There's big light up behind it, which suggests the thing blocking the light had been up there. They'd just walked past it...?

Clark returns to Lois, following her location, and looks around. He shakes his head. He doesn't see anything....

Lois Lane has posed:
Lois gives a glance to Clark before she moves towards the play equipment. While it does feel a little silly, she proceeds to scale the castle in an attempt to see if there's anything there... or, at the very least, get a better idea of where this person might have gone. A bit of a perspective change couldn't hurt...

Clark Kent has posed:
Clark watches Lois head up the castle, then suddenly gives a sharp warning. "I hear somehting up there," he calls to her urgently, jogging towards her, covering a good deal of ground with his rapid movement to catch up to her.

There's something weird up there, a round clump of shadow that slowly boils, covering a patch of the ground on top of the castle.

Lois Lane has posed:
Lois takes a long moment to study the shadow. "Uh, Clark, there's definitely a /thing/." She reaches into her purse, searching for something. Grabbing ahold of a pen, she creeps slightly closer and then just... chucks the pen at the strange shadow. "I'm not sure exactly what this /is/."

Clark Kent has posed:
Clark comes up right behind her, looming at it over her shoulder. It moves, pulsing in shadow, engulfing the pen thrown at it. There's a clack of sharp teeth and the pen is spit aside. It's not quite a creature: more like a ball of shadowy mass... with teeth. It orients towards Lois, and oozes her way, with a click of teeth.

Clark doesn't hold back: he releases a little pulse of red-hot laser right in front of it. It jerks back, and melts away into the shadows around it, disappearing. "Lois," Clark says warningly, trying to draw an arm around her middle.

Lois Lane has posed:
Lois is well aware that this is certainly not something she can reason with. As soon as the pen is discarded and it turns towards her, she takes a step back towards Clark. She's met by his arm and she glances over her shoulder. "I'm not sure what that is, but I don't think us being near it is a very good idea. Especially if it makes that noise again."

She's assuming that's what is making the noise, at least. It's the obvious threat.

Clark Kent has posed:
Clark's visually hunting for it, and listening. "I'm not sure where it went," he says, calmly, but with stress in his tone. "I think I scared it off. Let's go for now. Maybe.... talk to some of our magic contacts. They might make better sense of this," Clark suggests quietly, drawing back, and trying to bring Lois with him by the hand. He isn't afraid of it necessarily - he's afraid he can't protect Lois maybe.

Lois Lane has posed:
With no sights on it, Lois gives a small nod. "Yeah, I think it'd be wise to get out of here before maybe it starts making that sound again?" Oddly enough, she's more worried about him and potentially getting trapped by whatever kind of weird mind control that it was causing.

She follows him as he leads her by the hand away. "We should be careful with who we send in there for that."

Clark Kent has posed:
"It didn't appreciate my heat, but it could have been the light," Clark says, as they get away from the shadows in the park. "And yes, I agree. I don't want to put anyone in danger... but with the aggressive reasponse to you, I'll bet this will be something hostile. I'll see if I can find some earplugs that will work for me, as well. Better safe." Clark squeezes her hand as they head back to the car. Strange times: but Clark is, certainly, on the case, right alongside Lois.