Chapter 13

Summer

Location: Smallville, Kansas – Earth – 1999

In the months that followed Apollo stopped having questions about himself but he also became a lot more withdrawn. It was like he was drifting away from everyone he knew and although he had made friends who tried to keep him tethered Apollo it only did so much because Apollo couldn't help but feel like he was destined to be separate from everyone. Like he was cursed to watch from afar unable to get closer and connect.

Spring rolled into summer and one afternoon Apollo was waiting for his Dad with Pete and Chloe while his Dad was inside the Sullivan's garage talking to Chloe's Dad. Pete and Chloe were hanging out with him reading, Pete was reading some sports magazine, Chloe was reading an actual newspaper and Apollo was reading Plato's The Republic. Apollo had began reading a lot of philosophy lately hoping that one day it would help him figure out his place in the world and not only what he wanted to be but what he was meant to be and what was expected of him. He figured starting with Plato was the best bet. The Republic posited that the highest form, the ideal form was The Form of the Good and that should be what people should strive for. The Form of the Good…Apollo had been thinking a lot about it. It was the form that was the source of the other forms. Like the sun was the source of sight in the physical realm the form of good was the same in the intelligible realm. It was what allowed people to give 'truth to the things known and the power to know to the knower'. And that allowed people to understand what is and isn't justice, what is and isn't moral and what is and isn't good. In essence, Plato was suggesting that justice, truth, equality, beauty, and many others ultimately derive from the Form of the Good. Apollo didn't know what to make of that but he figured that was the point of philosophy to question and discover and Apollo definitely had a lot he wanted to discover about himself.

Apollo wanted to think more on the concepts in The Republic but soon Whitney and his gang came to the car to harass Apollo. This had been going on for quite some time at this point, ever since he saved Pete from the fire. And while that event had helped make he and Pete closer it made Whitney convinced Apollo was a freak and that label might as well have been a giant neon come and bully me sign that hung over Apollo's head. Whitney banged his hands on the car window and then opened up the door and dragged Apollo out of the car. Whitney and his goons took turns pushing Apollo around while saying "get the freak" all the while Pete and Chloe were trying to stop them by saying "leave him alone this isn't cool guys" but they ignored them continuing to push Apollo before Whitney threw Apollo into a fence. Apollo fell to the ground letting himself be manhandled. His glasses fell off his face and he dropped his book. Apollo quickly put his glasses back on before picking up his book. He tried to stand up but Whitney pushed him down to the ground again. Apollo stayed there looking up at Whitney through his glasses, he held his book in one hand and a metal pipe for support in the other.

"C'mon freak fight back" Whitney shouted to Apollo and Apollo felt himself growing angry.

"You get the freak Whitney" Kenny Braverman added.

"Get up Kent, fight back. Or are you too much of a freak to do even that. You and your weird friends like Chloe and Pete. Did you do something to make them friends with a freak like you those time you were 'saving them'." Whitney said doing air quotes when he said 'saving them'.

"What about his Mum, from out of town and everyone acts like she's sweet but aren't her kind known for drugs. Maybe that's why she's a doctor so she can pocket some drugs to sell on the side" Kenny added and Whitney and his goons laughed.

"Maybe that's why you're a freak" Whitney suggested.

Apollo was borderline enraged now and he wanted nothing more than to punch Whitney and Kenny's faces. He gripped the metal pipe tighter doing his best to keep his anger at bay. Whitney saw the anger in Apollo's eyes and smiled.

"C'mon freak fight back" Whitney repeated.

And Apollo wanted to punch Whitney and knock him on his ass, show him what it was like to be bullied and make him feel small. It would be so easy to, he wouldn't even have to use a lot strength to do it, he could humiliate Whitney and make it so he knew not mess with Apollo. After all Apollo was stronger than him, he could use his power and show Whitney and Kenny just how strong he was and how weak they were, he could make them cower in fear of him for the rest of their lives. The rage continued to build but Apollo held back he knew his Ma wouldn't approve.

Whitney faked a punch to try see if he could get Apollo flinching and Apollo instinctively braced himself so if Whitney did punch him he wouldn't break his fist when he punched him. Whitney however saw that as Apollo flinching and smirked to himself and his buddies.

"So is that it? Is that all you've got?" Whitney asked crouching down while staring into Apollo's eyes and Apollo considered hitting him for a final time his rage still there.

"C'mon Kent, c'mon" Whitney shouted before Kenny placed his hand on Whitney's shoulder urging him to stop because Apollo's Dad had walked out of the garage. Whitney and his gang promptly left and Pete and Chloe came to help Apollo up.

"Try and ignore them" Chloe said. "They're just jerks".

Apollo nodded and Pete and Chloe left him alone as they noticed his Dad come up to him.

"Did they hurt you?" Jonathan asked.

"You know they can't" Apollo replied trying to push down his feelings and his rage.

"That's not what I meant. I meant are you alright?" Jonathan clarified.

"I wanted to hit that kid. I wanted hit him bad" Apollo admitted the anger still festering a little in him.

"I know you did. I mean...part of me even wanted you to, but then what? Make you feel any better? You just have to decide what kind of man you want to grow up to be, Apollo. Because whoever that man is, good character or bad, he's...He's gonna change the world." Jonathan told his son.

Apollo listened to his father and the anger in him left. Apollo didn't know yet what type of person he was going to be but he knew he didn't what to be a bully and using his strength to humiliate Whitney or have him cower in fear of him would make him a bully. The two of them then got in the truck and he and his father drove home and had dinner with his Ma, Pa, Sprite and his Aunt Sersi who was visiting while Ikaris travelled through space at Ajak's request for Doctor Vanderspeigle. The events of the day left Apollo deep in thought and the feeling that he was drifting away from everyone without any ability to come down and be with them only grew. Here he was having dinner with his family, most of which had powers like him but somehow he still felt lonely, because he was so different even from them. He wanted to return to them, to have everything be like it was before he discovered he came from a world none of them had ever heard about but he didn't know how. Apollo ate silently while his Aunt Sersi and Mum were talking about married life and teasing Jonathan and even mentioning some similarities they shared. Sprite was bored of the conversation and was making illusions of cartoon characters whacking each other cartoonishly with mallets as if to say 'kill me' to save me from this conversation. Apollo weakly smiled at that before walking out to put his plate in the sink. Apollo heard his Mum come behind him and she tussled his hair playfully.

"Are you okay? You seem detached and your Dad told me what happened earlier today." Ajak asked softly.

Apollo looked at his Mum, after he found out the truth he was worried that they would start to treat him differently now that they didn't have to pretend that Apollo was their biological son but they still loved him as much as they always did and that brought Apollo comfort. However sometimes that wasn't enough and he had moments where he felt separate from them but when his Mum looked at him like that he found it hard to feel alone. Apollo smiled at her.

"I'm fine Ma, I just feel…different. Like I am not meant to be here, or rather that nobody wants me here. Maybe it's even both" Apollo admitted.

"Oh honey, you know that's not true. You're exactly where you're meant to be and everyone in this house and all of your friends want you here. The day I found you was the best day of my life and I wouldn't want to live in a world that you weren't in" Ajak said to Apollo.

Apollo smiled again at his mother then a strange sensation fell over him. He began to feel odd, he felt weightless, like he was going to float away and never come down like he'd been fearing. He looked at his Mum and was shocked she seemed to be getting shorter.

"Oh my god!" Ajak shouted out as Apollo noticed she wasn't getting shorter he genuinely was floating.

Apollo began to get very scared as Ajak grabbed him wrapping him in a big hug to try keep him on the ground. However, it seemed Apollo's body had other ideas as he suddenly shot up, smashing right through the roof and floating upwards each moment getting further and further from the ground. The sudden acceleration and flying through the roof caused Ajak to slip and she was now holding onto Apollo's foot dangling dozens of feet above the ground and only getting higher by the moment. Apollo's fear of heights kicked in and he felt genuine fear for the first time in a long time as he looked down and saw the ground only get further and further away.

"Don't let me go. Ma please don't let me go!" Apollo frantically shouted to his Ma.

"Apollo stay calm. I'm here" Ajak reassured him as she held onto his foot.

Jonathan walked into the kitchen having heard a loud crashing sound.

"Hey I heard some loud noise, are you guys…okay?" Jonathan questioned before noticing the hole in the roof and hearing Apollo's screams.

Without even noticing Jonathan grabbed his flashlight and ran outside barefoot terrified of what could be transpiring. Sprite and Sersi who noticed Jonathan's sudden fear followed him outside wondering what was happening.

"Ajak. Apollo. Ajak. Apollo!" Jonathan shouted out into the night as he looked up to see his son and wife floating up in to the sky.

"Oh my goodness" Sersi said shocked to see Apollo floating in the sky like Ikaris usually did.

Apollo meanwhile was continuing to freak out as he went higher and higher. Apollo didn't know what to do or how to stop what was happening to him and he desperately wanted it to stop. Unfortunately, no matter what he tried to do he kept shooting upwards and the higher they got the more scared Apollo became.

"I can't stop it! We're still going up. Ma, we're still going up" Apollo said emotionally almost in tears.

Ajak had began slipping the higher they got and was even herself concerned on how she could save her son. Her grip weakened and Ajak also began to freak out a little.

"I can't hold on much longer Apollo but you can. You're strong enough to reach down and-" Ajak started to stay hoping that she could talk Apollo into flying them down once he was they were both more stable.

"I can't we keep going up" Apollo fearfully shouted interrupting her. They shot up even further and Ajak's grip loosened again.

"Apollo Joseph Kent grab my hand right now" Ajak commanded her son.

However, it was a little too late as they shot up once again and Ajak felt her grip give way. She began to fall towards the ground her hand still outstretched trying to reach her son. Suddenly she saw Apollo lurch downwards and he grabbed her hand.

"Mum. Mum. Don't fall I'm sorry" Apollo said as he grabbed his mother's hands tightly.

"It's okay Apollo. I'm okay, we're okay. Just focus on going down alright? Try to guide your body towards the ground" Ajak told him.

"I'm trying" Apollo said as he closed his eyes and tried to do exactly what his Mum was telling him. He tried to command his body to go down with as much focus as he could muster. He didn't want to be in the air, he was afraid and he didn't want to float away from his family. He didn't want to fly. Suddenly the weightless sensation he had been feeling left him.

"Oh no" Apollo said.

"What's oh no?" Ajak asked right before she got her answer and the two fell to the ground.

The two plummeted towards the ground and they heard Jonathan, Sprite and Sersi freaking out as they did so. Sersi immediately ran to where they were falling to on the field and quickly placed her hands on the ground and turned the soil there into water. She focused her power downwards trying to create as deep a pool of water as she could.

The two fell into the pool of water and soon came out wet but unharmed. Apollo began profusely apologizing as Sprite and Jonathan came up to them. Everyone quickly went back inside having had enough excitement for one night and Sersi turned the water back to soil.

They all sat in the living room shocked at what had just transpired. Apollo was flying now, Sersi had always been surprised by how many abilities he had manifested but this new one was truly something else. She had only ever seen Ikaris and Thor fly unaided and even Thor needed that hammer of his. Apollo looked very shook about everything that happened and Sprite went to the kitchen to make him hot chocolate. Sersi smiled a little at that, after centuries of being viewed as the youngest she finally got to be the older sister and it seemed like she genuinely did love Apollo like he was her younger brother. Sersi was glad that little by little Sprite was coming out her shell. As someone who was well versed in change she couldn't believe how much Apollo had changed the family he encountered. Ikaris came back to her and Sprite was becoming happier, even Makkari seemed less reclusive than before and had visited her and Ikaris after her encounter with Apollo. Ikaris had invited her and they all caught up and Makkari said Apollo had reminded her how happy she felt when she was with family.

"I don't know what happened. I'm sorry" Apollo repeated having apologized several times in the last few minutes. Sprite came into the room holding hot chocolate and handed it to him.

"Please stop apologizing for being you" Sprite told him.

Apollo just looked at her still freaked out, he wanted to agree but he couldn't. What was he? What was he becoming? He looked down ashamed and meekly drank his hot chocolate.

"It's alright Apollo, I know you're freaked out but just like everything else that happened in the past year we'll figure this out okay. We're here" Jonathan and Ajak reminded him.

Apollo looked at them and felt slightly better for a moment before he noticed his Mum was healing his Dad's foot.

"Dad what happened to your foot?" Apollo asked concerned.

"Your father cut his foot when he ran outside looking for us. Don't worry he'll be alright" Ajak told Apollo as she effortlessly healed him.

"Why didn't you put shoes on" Apollo said looking at his father who just smirked at the question.

"I guess I was too scared. Too scared of losing you two to really care about footwear" Jonathan answered.

Apollo nodded before looking down at his hot chocolate. He made his Dad hurt himself and he almost hurt his Mum by letting them fall. The two people he loved most in the world and who loved him unconditionally and he hurt them. Apollo began to cry.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry" Apollo said once again and his Mum hugged him.

"My sweet Apollo, Sprite is right you don't have anything to apologize for. It's okay" Ajak said comforting him.

Apollo went to bed feeling better than he had earlier in the evening but more terrified of himself and while he had a dreamless night Jonathan Kent dreamt of the night they had adopted Apollo. Ajak had soothed him into sleep and Jonathan had stared at him scared of what they had gotten themselves into raising a baby from the stars. Jonathan worried what they would face raising him especially since they knew nothing about him, however he also knew that he loved him and he would rather roll the dice on whatever the future held than let someone else raise Apollo. Jonathan's dreams were filled with memories of his son as Jonathan subconsciously wished he could go back to when things were as simple as they could be. He wanted his son to be happy, to feel at peace and it seemed no matter what he did he couldn't help him feel that and it broke his heart. Jonathan awoke troubled by the feeling of sadness that had filled him as he slept. He walked to Apollo's bedroom and watched his son sleep. Apollo levitated a little bit off his bed while he slept and Jonathan went to him and gently guided him back to his bed and tucked him in again.

"I promise you son, no matter what I will help you have a happy life. No matter the cost" Jonathan promised his sleeping son before heading back to bed.

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