Chapter Two of The Flaming Knave from Krypton, by John D. Taylor
SUPERBOY'S DATE WITH DEV-EM
At 7:00 that evening, Superboy steeled himself for the uncomfortable experience that awaited him, and sprang into the air, headed for the roof of the Daily Planet. To his surprise, there was no restaurant; instead, Dev-Em had spread out a picnic supper on the building's roof.
"Uh... this wasn't what I was expecting," Superboy said.
"Relax," Dev-Em told him. "This way we can be private, without the crowds of onlookers wanting your autograph." He spread a blanket out next to the tablecloth loaded with strange dishes, and indicated that Superboy should sit down. When the boy of steel seated himself, Dev-Em immediately sat on the same blanket next to him.
"Here," he said, pouring a liquid from a bottle into a champagne glass. "Have some wine. It'll help you relax."
Superboy took the glass and drained it. "I'm from Krypton," he reminded the knave. "I'm invulnerable. Alcohol doesn't affect me."
"Yes, I know," Dev-Em said. "So am I. But this is a very special vintage, illegal for humans. It's from Daxam, Mon-El's home world. It packs quite a wallop under a yellow sun."
Superboy glared at Dev-Em suspiciously. But the older youth merely spooned something that looked like pasta from a large serving bowl into a smaller dish. "Try this," he said, holding the bowl toward Superboy. With a fork he snared some of the strands. "It's from Titan. It's called Loveroni." He held the fork toward Superboy, who bit off the sample. It was delicious.
"That's great," Superboy said. "Let me have it."
"No, no," Dev-Em admonished. "We only use one bowl." He gave Superboy the fork, and then with another pulled up another mouthful. "You eat it like this," he said, and demonstrated by slowly sucking the pasta off the fork. The long strands unwound slowly from the bowl into the youth's mouth. Superboy took a forkful himself, and watched Dev-Em sensuously suck in the long strands and tried the same thing himself. The flavor was intensified by the unconventional method of eating. But anyone who has seen "Lady and the Tramp" knows what was about to happen; Superboy and Dev-Em had opposite ends of the same strand, and as they sucked the pasta into their mouths, the middle came up from the bowl and slowly drew them together, until the last bit brought their lips together for a slow kiss.
Superboy's eyes widened. "No," he thought, "this is wrong. I've got to break this off... but how?" To assist, his forkless hand came up and clutched the back of Dev-Em's head. To his dismay, the boy of steel realized that it wasn't helping... just the opposite. The kiss increased in intensity as he pulled Dev-Em closer, and the other boy put his arms around Superboy's shoulders, holding him in a warm embrace. His foot kicked over the glass of wine and it spilled on the tablecloth. Terribly symbolic, don't you think?
At last Superboy was able to break free. "Whoops," he said. "No more Loveroni for me, thanks."
Dev-Em laughed. "Come on, Kal," he said. "You know you enjoyed it."
"Yes, I did," Superboy confessed. "But that doesn't make it right."
"Wrong, right, who cares? We're here together on the highest building in Metropolis. Let the world go away, relax, enjoy..."
"Right," said Superboy. "Did you bring any potato salad?"
Dev-Em laughed again. "Okay. Here's some fried chicken. And there's Plain Vanilla pudding for dessert, unless you'd like to try something more exotic."
"Plain Vanilla sounds perfect," Superboy said. He tore some meat off the chicken bone, and watched as Dev-Em did the same. But the knave from Krypton made a much more sensual presentation of the meal, letting his lips slide over the greasy meat before biting off a piece. Superboy looked away.
After a moment Dev-Em said, "It's cold up here, and I'm wearing short sleeves. Why don't we snuggle underneath your cape?"
Superboy glared at him. "You're a Kryptonian," he said. "Cold doesn't bother you."
"You don't know that," Dev-Em said. "Maybe the pink kryptonite also messed up my ability to withstand the temperature."
"Or maybe you're just trying to trick me into snuggling."
"Would I do that?" Dev-Em said innocently. He held out his bare arm. "Look! Goosebumps!"
There were a mass of tiny bumps on Dev-Em's arm, but Superboy glared at him. "You're doing that yourself," he said. "You're concentrating, mind over matter."
"Are you sure?" Dev-Em asked, shivering.
"Great Krypton!" Superboy exclaimed. He threw his long cape over the knave from Krypton's shoulders, and Dev-Em immediately snuggled closer. The boy of steel put his arm around Dev-Em's shoulder to push him away, but then, for some reason didn't. It felt 'right' having the other boy cuddled against him. Dev-Em raised his face to look up into the super-hero's face, and Superboy lowered his face until they were sharing another open-mouthed kiss. It lasted for several minutes, until Superboy suddenly pushed away.
"Enough!" he cried, standing up. "I don't know what's going on, but I'm sure that something's not right. In some way you're affecting me, making me want to do things I don't want to do!'
Dev-Em chuckled. "Your lips say 'no,no', but there's 'yes yes' in your briefs!"
Superboy turned away from Dev-Em and looked out over the city. "Stop it," he ordered. "The pink kryptonite that affected you is having some kind of remote affect on me, too. This isn't real. In the morning we'll be sorry."
"Maybe you'll be sorry," Dev-Em said, "but I'll be happier than a Kryptonian Grinner." He saw Superboy's back stiffen, and immediately apologized. "I'm sorry, Kal. You're right. We won't push this night. Come on, let's go for a little flight around Metropolis." He stepped forward, grabbed Superboy's right hand, and pulled him off the edge of the skyscraper. A moment later the two boys were flying, hand in hand, over the great city.
It was exhilarating, flying high in the sky with the boy you loved ... liked ... were fond of ... whose company you enjoyed ... actually, Superboy didn't like Dev-Em that much at all. Superboy fought to control the feelings that were flooding through them. He barely noticed when Dev-Em's hand released his, and the knave flew closer, wrapping his arm around Superboy's shoulder. And Superboy slipped his arm around Dev-Em's waist, and the two flew through the night together, wrapped in a romantic haze.
"This is great," Superboy thought happily. "I'm flying with somebody with whom I'm equal. Somebody with whom I don't have to hold back, someone who can share the full power of my body, someone who can take everything I can give, and who can give back with equal measure!"
Suddenly, once again, the boy of steel shook off the foreign thoughts and pulled free of the Knave from Krypton. "That's enough," he said. "Dev-Em, I've had a wonderful time, really, but... that's enough. I want to go back to being the REAL me. I'll see you at Legion HQ in the morning." With that Superboy lifted into the sky, and soon left the Earth's atmosphere. Dev-Em watched him fly away, and sighed for what might have been.
Superboy landed on the Moon, and found an abandoned lunar module. He crept into it and wrapped himself in his cape. "What's wrong with me?" he wondered. "I know I'm a low number on the Kinsey scale, but when I'm with Dev-Em, I feel incredibly free. It's got to be some kind of pink kryptonite affect. Could it be his whole body has become a radiator of p-k rays? Impossible."
And on Earth Dev-Em watched his Kryptonian comrade using his super-vision. "Come on, Superboy," he thought. "Shuck out of those super-jammies and pleasure yourself. Please!" But he was disappointed; the boy of steel curled up under his cape and went to sleep. And if he dreamed of Dev-Em, no one will ever know.
The next morning, Superboy reported to the Legion club-house, where he met with Brainiac 5, Saturn Girl and Cosmic Boy. "I didn't find out anything about Dev-Em's condition, but I can tell you this -- it was affecting me as well. I checked to see if his costume had fragments of pink K attached to it, but no go."
"That is strange," Saturn Girl said. "Pink Kryptonite's effect is temporary, and you have to be in very close proximity. Maybe the Pink Kryptonite isn't responsible at all."
"Or maybe," Brainiac 5 started, and then turned to a monitor. He touched some keys, and the face of Duo Damsel appeared.
"Duo Damsel, where is Dev-Em right now," he asked.
"He's in lounge # 2," the girl replied. "He's having a candle show."
"What!" exclaimed Superboy. "A candle show! Saturn Girl, is this one of those perversions you didn't tell me about?"
Saturn Girl rested her head on her hand. "No, Superboy. It's a candle show. Dev-Em has been using his heat-vision to melt wax to make exotic and beautiful candles, which he then sells for charity. I was going to go myself, but I had to be at this meeting."
"I did go," Duo Damsel said. "One of the advantages of having two bodies is that you can combine business and pleasure."
"Thanks, Duo Damsel," Brainiac 5 said shortly, and turned off the monitor. He then lifted his flight ring and spoke into it. "Ultra Boy! Channel C."
A second later a voice spoke out of the ring. "Ultra Boy here. I'm in the gym. What's up?"
"Would you meet us in Lounge 2 as soon as possible?" the Legion's leader asked.
"Sure thing," Ultra Boy replied. "Let me put the weights away, take a quick shower, and put on my uniform. 30 seconds, max."
"Right. Out." Rising, Brainiac 5 said, "Let's go to the lounge. I think I've figured out the mystery."
The little group walked to the lounge, where they found Ultra Boy waiting. Inside, Dev-Em sat in front of a large round table with candles spread out on it. Several Legionnaires, including Duo Damsel, Element Lad, Shrinking Violet and Phantom Girl, were gathered around the table inspecting the wares.
"Ultra Boy," Brainiac 5 said, "I want you to use your penetra-vision to x-ray Dev-Em in minute detail. Start with his head. I think he has a piece of pink kryptonite lodged in his brain. That would explain why the effect doesn't wear off, and why it affects Superboy when he's near him."
Ultra Boy peered at the knave from Krypton for a few moments, and then said, "You were close. It's lodged in a sinus cavity. Probably went up his nose when he shattered the large fragment. Being invulnerable, he didn't even notice."
"How will we get it out?" Saturn Girl asked. "We can't use surgery, since we can't cut his invulnerable skin. Do we need to take him to a red-sun world?""No," Brainiac 5 replied. "If it got in, it will come out. And don't forget, we have the world's greatest micro-surgeon right here in this room." Raising his voice, he called, "Oh, Shrinking Violet. Would you join us for a minute?"
An hour later, Dev-Em lay on a cot in the Legion's infirmary, while Shrinking Violet donned a protective uniform. On a console in front of her was a diagram of the human head, with the path to the sinus cavity plainly marked. "Are you ready," Brainiac 5 asked.
"Ready," the girl replied, and began to dwindle in size. Soon she was extremely tiny (although not microscopic), and using her flight ring began the journey into Dev-Em's nose. (Perspicacious readers might want to know: this story took place before the events of Adventure Comics # 350, so Violet did not take a piece of green kryptonite with her. However, she wasn't small enough to trigger Dev-Em's immune system.)
The miniature maid flew along the inside of the knave from Krypton's head, while outside Brainiac 5 warned, "Whatever you do, don't sneeze, or you could squash Violet like a bug." Dev-Em laid very still, and in a few minutes Shrinking Violet located the tiny pebble of pink k, blocking one of the sinus passages. It was too large for her in her small size, so with a tiny hammer she broke it into two pieces. But then, to her horror, the backup of sinus drainage broke loose, and came pouring down the tunnel toward her. Ignoring the kryptonite, she turned and flew down the sinus, with the avalanche of mucus following. But she wasn't quite fast enough, and she was engulfed by the wave of thick fluid just as she ejected from Dev-Em's nostril. Quickly she flew to a table, assumed the size of a doll, and stripped out of the fouled uniform. As Dev-Em wiped his runny nose, everyone laughed.
"Stop it!" Violet cried. "It's not funny!"
"No," agreed Dev-Em. "It's==s==not! But look!" He held up the handkerchief, and displayed the two tiny chunks of pink kryptonite. "She did it. I'm myself again."
A few hours later, Superboy was ready to return to the 20th century, but he looked up Dev-Em in the infirmary first. "I'm keeping him under observation for a while," Brainiac 5 explained. "I don't know if such a prolonged exposure to pink kryptonite might have a permanent effect."
"Whatever you say, B 5," Dev-Em agreed. "Superboy, thanks for your help in figuring out what was wrong. And thanks for a wonderful evening. I'll never forget flying with you."
"There's a lot I won't forget, either," Superboy replied. "But I'll try." But secretly, when he remembered how he felt when he was with Dev-Em, he realized that the memories were good. Shaking his head, he walked out to the observation deck, where Saturn Girl was waiting.
"Hi, Superboy," she said. "Ready to head for home?"
"Yes, indeed", he said. "And I'm looking forward to when your post-hypnotic suggestion kicks in, and I forget anything that I learned that will affect my future."
The girl smiled. "Yes, you may forget about the Sexual Revolution and the Kinsey Report, but I think as a result of your experience, you'll be a more tolerant, supportive person, and not quick to condemn."
"I hope so," Superboy said. "But there's still an awful lot that I will remember that I'm not comfortable with. Dev-Em and the Pink Kryptonite touched some places that I'm not sure I wanted touched."
"Don't worry about it," Saturn Girl said. "Remember, what happens in the 30th Century... stays in the 30th Century."
"That's comforting," Superboy said. "Just as long as Lana Lang never finds out. At least not until she's more tolerant and supportive. Uh... Saturn Girl?"
"Yes?"
"According to Dr. Kinsey, 10% of males are homosexual or have homosexual feelings. There are twenty boys in the Legion. Does that mean that two of them..."
"Two things, Superboy," Saturn Girl replied. "First of all, later research indicated that some of Kinsey's test results were flawed; he was pulling from too small a test pool. And second of all..."
"Yes?"
"Yes." She grinned at the expression on the boy of steel's face.
"Which two?" he asked.
Saturn Girl reached up and patted his cheek. "Guess," she said. Then she turned and went back into the clubhouse, while Superboy leapt into the air and headed for his own time.
That evening, in Smallville, as Clark Kent was eating his supper, he fell into a reverie, remembering his picnic with Dev-Em. Although he knew that his reaction had been triggered by his closeness to the Pink Kryptonite, the memory was still sweet, and he smiled dreamily. He was awakened by a sharp remark from Ma Kent.
"Clark Kent! That is NO WAY to eat spaghetti! What is the matter with you? Are you learning bad habits with that Legion?"
Clark grinned. "I'm learning a LOT from the Legion."
THE END
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