The first day that the huge Lamborghini tractor was delivered to the Smallville garage, it caused quite the sensation in the whole town. However, the stir grew even more when it became known that the Kent father and son were the ones receiving it.
Everyone knew that the Kent Farm led the crop production in the area, and Old Kent was a lifetime farmer, not the kind of wealthy person who needed to flaunt his wealth with flashy vehicles.
Moreover, Jonathan's somewhat frugal lifestyle was quite famous throughout Smallville. Everyone wanted to know what provoked him to buy such an expensive tractor.
As Jonathan walked into the garage, he lectured Clark even as a smile of genuine happiness was impossible to hide from his face. What made him happy was not owning a Lamborghini tractor, but rather the fact that his son had made such good friends who would actually exchange gifts.
Standing before this gigantic tractor, with his eyes filled with tears, Jonathan said: "When you were small, Martha and I were so concerned about others discovering your anomalies that we rarely took you out to socialize."
"There aren't that many people in town, and young people are not willing to stay here to farm, which resulted in a lack of peers for you locally. Those you do know are either your high school classmates or people of my generation."
"I am truly glad that Martha and I decided to send you to college in Metropolis rather than keep you here in agricultural vocational school. The big city broadened your horizons and allowed you to make many good friends. I was really worried that you wouldn't be able to make friends..."
Clark hugged Jonathan, patting his back reassuringly. He knew what Jonathan was worried about.
The meteor that fell that night completely changed the trajectory of the young farming couple's lives. They loved this child so much, but they also understood he wasn't part of the human race. To blend into human society, he would have to pay an extra price.
Jonathan wasn't concerned about Clark making friends; he was worried that any deep interactions with humans would reveal Clark's anomalies. The human race instinctively rejects anything foreign, and Jonathan worried that Clark would get hurt once he invested his feelings.
Jonathan often warned Clark not to accept pricey gifts from others. The value of the gift represented the giver's deep affection, indicating the significance Clark held in their hearts.
In Jonathan's eyes, Bruce and Diana were wealthy city dwellers who likely had no knowledge about tractors, so they chose the best one in their capacity. This represented their precious feelings towards Clark, thus Jonathan didn't mind the skeptical gazes around them.
The garage mechanic drove the massive tractor to the Kent Farm. A joyful Martha greeted it. Diana, who followed, elbowed Bruce and said, "This will probably be the most unique luxury vehicle you own, right?"
"Exactly, it's too tall, probably won't fit in the Wayne Manor garage."
"What I mean is, this is a super cool gift you gave to your friend. If I were him, I'd remember this all my life."
Bruce remained silent and didn't answer. Diana continued saying, "Your playboy persona portrayed by the media is just a cover-up, isn't it? You don't seem to be extravagant, talkative, social, and you're even a bit reticent."
"What was your major in college?" Bruce asked.
"History."
"I thought you studied psychology."
Finishing his sentence, Bruce walked over to the Lamborghini tractor. Seeing Bruce approach, Clark extended his arm. Bruce grabbed Clark's arm and with a jerk, got into the vehicle, sitting in the passenger seat.
Clark, rubbing his hands excitedly, looked at the array of buttons but soon became at a loss. He held the joystick and said, "Well, I know these two buttons are for forwarding and reversing...and this metric should represent the speed, this one is for checking connections, and also this one ..."
"Good, I know about a dozen keys and six kinds of data on this machine." Clark touched his mouth and continued, "So the question is, what do the remaining 40 or so buttons, 60 gears, and more than 20 types of indicators do?"
"So, you don't know how to drive a tractor?"
"I don't know how to drive a Lamborghini!"
The two stared at each other. After a few moments, Bruce waved Clark off and said, "Move aside, let me handle this."
They swapped places. Bruce examined the joystick and some buttons on the dashboard.
Clark leaned in, pointing at the readings and said, "All these are in German. That panel over there has Italian, and here are strange German abbreviations. Are those Latin? Why there is no English?"
"Stop talking, I'm researching." Bruce operated the joystick and glanced at the rear view mirror before pressing a button on the joystick and pulling it back forcefully. With a "bang", the vehicle jerked.
At this point, Clark still hadn't realized the severity of the situation. He was trying to understand the complex data on the panel.
Bruce glanced at the panel buttons. He knew German and Italian, but the inscriptions on these buttons were just abbreviations – a few uppercase letters. Bruce didn't know what they stood for, but he tried to interpret them based on his assumptions.
The most significant lesson that Bruce got from the Battle of Hell was to be less overly cautious and have more reckless courage.
Bruce pressed down a button, gripped the joystick, jerked it to the right, and then pushed it forward. With a roar, the tractor charged forward.
An intense force on the back nearly dislocated Clark's waist. His head hit the back of the seat with a thud. A "snap" sound followed, and the metal rod behind his head broke. The headrest flew off like a leaf caught by wind and fell by the road as the tractor sped away.
The Lamborghini tractor shot straight down the road in front of the Kent Farm, making a louder rumbling noise than a spring thunderstorm.
Over the roar of the engine, Clark shouted, "Why did you start with the maximum power??!! You said you could drive a Lamborghini, didn't you?!!!"
"But I don't know how to drive a TRACTOR!!!"
"Roar roar roar roar roar roar roar!!!!"
"What on earth are you two up to?!"
Diana swooped to the side of the speeding tractor, tightening her arms to streamline her body, she followed the vortex created by the tractor, turning to look at the two men gripping the controlbars inside the cabin, she yelled, "You guys like drag and dripping?: It's a Lamborghini, but it's a tractor! Stop it now!!!"
"Boom!!! Boom!!! Boom!!!!"
The intense sound made both Diana and Clark grabbed their ears. As the giant tractor raced along the rural road, the dust was as heavy as a missile blast. Diana inhaled a mouthful of dust, coughing continuously, covering her mouth with her hand.
"Brake! Brake fast!" Clark yelled in horror, "We're approaching a turn, steer the wheel!!!"
Hearing Clark's command to brake, Bruce swiftly complied, but the upcoming bend forced him to continue turning the wheel before the tractor could slow down.
While steering and braking simultaneously, the Lamborghini tractor smoothly drifted around the bend.
Finally, the irritable Amazon Princess could no longer hold back. She soared behind the vehicle, reached into the air with her right hand and threw out a whip-like rope, swiftly, the Lasso of Truth latched onto the racing tractor from a few hundred meters away.
Diana grabbed the tail of the rope with both hands, yanked hard, the screeching brakes filled the air, smoke billowed from underneath the tires, and this raging bull of a tractor finally came to a halt.
Clark, slumped over the dashboard, managed to reach out a hand, giving the distressed Bruce a thumbs-up.
Bruce touched the cut on his forehead where it had collided with an iron frame, drawing his hand away, he found it covered in blood.
The deafening roar of the massive steel machinery and the trembling sensation generated by the fully powered engine caused the eardrums and muscles of the vehicle's occupants to vibrate intensely.
But at the same time, such tremors also ignited a flame in their blood. Clark, on the side, was the first to burst into laughter. The rhythm of his laughter was as fast and enthusiastic as his heartbeat. Bruce leaned back his head on the seat and his laughter, slow and powerful, echoed his heartbeat.
Driving a Lambo tractor on a country road for a joy ride, they couldn't explain why it was so enjoyable.
Yet, this absurd joy, akin to a newly planted wheat sprouting in the heart, was simple and pure. It made one want to laugh, yet also want to cry.
The laughter abruptly ceased when Diana, dirty and disheveled, stood on the tractor's hood with her arms crossed. Under Diana's Death Stare, Clark coughed twice, pushed open the car door and stepped out, saying,
"The tractor is fine, just a bit complex. We may need a manual. I'll go fetch it and will be back soon."
Diana sighed deeply. The way she looked at them was like looking at two puppies that had just torn apart a couch.
After Clark flew away, Diana sat in the driver's seat, when Bruce turned his head, Diana saw the blood on his forehead, she gasped, then a glimmer of light appeared at her fingertips.
She pressed her lit-up fingertips gently to the cut on Bruce's forehead. When Bruce glanced up at her with his blue eyes, Diana quickly retracted her finger in embarrassment.
She anticipated a flirtatious response from Bruce, but instead, he looked seriously at her and asked, "You stopped the tractor with a rope?"
"Oh, yes, that rope is... well, I don't know how to explain it to you, but... yeah, actually, I can do magic..."
"What I meant was, if you could stop it once, you could stop it twice, right?"
Diana narrowed her eyes, a bad feeling filling her. Sure enough, her forebodings came true again soon.
Clark, jotting down notes from the manual, quickly returned. The Lamborghini tractor's manual was indeed a "book," thicker than an average novel. The three gathered to study it.
During theory learning, everyone felt capable, Clark felt even more so. After not even three minutes, he raised his hand saying, "Good, I've completely understood everything! Now let's drive back!"
Finishing his speech, he switched places with Diana and slid back into the driver's seat.
A red sundown settled on the Kansas horizon. Along the flat country road, a giant tractor hauling three occupants sped along. Dust billowed behind them, swept away by the wind, resembling a cloud.
"We're here, stop now!"
"How do I stop! The brakes aren't working!!!"
"You pressed the wrong button! Press the blue one!"
"You two are hopeless! Leave it to me!!"
"Whoosh! Screech-!!!"
"Bang!"
"Ah!"
"Uh-oh!"