Before We Grow

Day One

My childhood was pretty happy. I was adopted at five years old by Perseus Brimsey, a rich politician, and his wife Ann-Marie, a brilliant engineer. We all lived together in Baltimore, Maryland in a happy victorian home. My mother taught me everything there is to know about machines, and my father taught me everything there is to know about people. We were the picture perfect family in a less than perfect society.
Until the fateful trip to Metropolis.
It was supposed to be a casual business trip. We were going to ride in, stay one night in a hotel, and leave the next evening. Papa's business would only take a few hours, and then we even had time to see the sights. My number one hope was to see Superman, maybe even to talk to him.
"Do you think we'll see him?" I asked as we got off the train.
I was only ten years old at the time. At that age, everything is amazing. I wanted to know everything there is to know, and see everything there is to see. I was a short kid, barely coming up over my mother's hips. At my insistence, she had shaved off my chestnut hair. It had begun to grow out a little.
"Maybe we will, my darling," my Mother squeezed my hand.
Even to this day, I believe my Mother was the most beautiful woman on the planet. Her sunshine hair fell in perfect curls around her doll-like face. She had the most beautiful eyes, one the color of the sky and the other the color of obsidian. Her cheeks were always rosy, and she always was smiling. She was an engineering genius, graduating at the top of her class. She was beautiful and smart, the perfect combination.
"Maybe we can convince him to take you for a fly," my Father mimicked flying with his hands.
My Father was a handsome man. With perfectly defined features and rich brown eyes, he was the perfect man. His black hair spread to his chin, where a thick beard had grown. Just like my Mother, he was always smiling. He was the best politician on Capitol Hill. The President himself had shown up for dinner several times, just because he and my Dad were such good friends.
We were the perfect family.
Papa lead Mama and I through the train station. The glittering buildings of Metropolis stood like soldiers graves on a hill. They glittered and gleamed with supernatural sheen. It was more beautiful than my hometown.
The people there were just as beautiful. They smiled as we passed, a few even told us 'good day'. Mama held one of my hands and Papa held the other as we made our way through the city. It was a perfect day in paradise.
Until the screams came.
They started far away. We all turned around, curious as to what that was. I tried to walk in that direction, but Mama pulled me back. All three of us tentatively watched the street behind us.
He came out like a red and blue meteor. The tales were true, the marvellous hero of Metropolis was faster than a speeding bullet and ten times as strong. He sped directly over our heads, making Mama's hair fly up. The screaming seemed to follow him, but I didn't pay any attention. I quickly pointed my tiny finger at the hero and shouted, "Mama! Papa! Look! It's Superman!"
"Look out!"
A car came flying over our heads. Papa pushed Mama and me out of the way. We landed at the foot of a flower cart. I landed on top of Mama, and saw the creature flying out.
It was a man dressed in similar clothes to Superman, but black and without markings. He seemed angry, maybe even slightly terrified. He flew after Superman with rage in his shouts.
"We have to get to safety," Mama muttered.
Papa pulled her up with me in tow. Before I could question, he had pulled me up into his arms and began to run down the street. Mama held his free hand. They ran around corners, fighting against the crowd.
"Inside," Papa breathed, "Basement, maybe."
"That building!" Mama exclaimed.
I clung to Papa's neck for dear life. Before then, I hadn't been scared. I had faith that Superman would save us, but I could feel the fear my Father held. Never, in the time I had known him, had he ever been afraid. Even when I got so sick and had to go to the hospital, he wasn't afraid. Now, he trembled beneath my grip. That alone was enough to terrify me.
Mama and Papa ran to the foot of a large building. There was nobody else around that building, nor anybody that we could see inside. Just as we made it to ten feet away from the door, Superman crashed into the building, taking his enemy with him.
It came falling towards us like a domino. Time seemed to slow then. I remember looking up, seeing the bright Metropolis sun glinting off the windows of the building that was about to kill us. Dust and debris fell like raindrops. Mama and Papa tried to get away, to get to safety, but they weren't fast enough. The building kept coming faster, and faster, nothing could stop it!
I remember Papa pushing Mama on the ground, and throwing me on top of her. We landed at the base of a car. Papa flung himself on top of us, as if he could protect us from the monster building coming towards us.
"Close your eyes, my darling," Mama whispered.
That was the last thing she ever said to me. I did as she said, shoving my fists into them. With a crash, the world went away. I felt no pain, no fear. All I knew was darkness.
I don't know how long I was out. When I woke up, Papa was pressed against me. I felt his chill as well as that of my mother. Pushing against his chest, I managed to move out from between them. The rubble of the building was burying us, making it nearly impossible for me to see. One single streak of light was enough for me to see the glassy eyes of my parents.
Papa was covered in blood, his back twisted at an angle impossible for a human. His legs were gone, and his arms were loosely wrapped around Mamma, forever frozen in an embrace.
Mama was also covered in blood. Her glassy eyes stared at me, I could still see them smiling if I concentrated hard enough. Her arms looked as if she were still holding me. They both looked like they did in their last moments of fear.
"N-no," I whispered.
I grabbed Mama's face, but quickly jerked back. She was cold and lifeless, just like a rock. When I touched Papa, I realized he was exactly the same way. Tears welled up in my eyes, tracing paths through the inch-thick layer of dust.
"Mama!" I cried, "Papa!"
A mixture of their blood and dust covered my sweater and my jeans. I was miraculously unhurt, save for a few cuts. Mama and Papa's bodies had shielded me from the worst of the blow.
I pulled their heads to my chest, my sobs racking my entire body. They were all I had left, and now, they were gone. My parents were dead because of the hero I once idolized.
My crying was unparalleled that day. Nobody had ever cried as loud or as hard as I did that day. Underneath millions of pounds of rubble, I sobbed. The last of my family was dead. The two people who meant most to me in this world were gone forever.
"Help me!" I cried, "Somebody, please! Help!"
I sat like that for three days. Three whole days beneath rubble, cradling the dead bodies of my parents. Three days of torture all because of Superman.
When the rescue workers finally managed to dig the rubble out enough without caving in on me, I had cried every tear I had. They found me sitting in a pile of dirt, clinging to the dead bodies of Perseus and Ann-Marie Brimsey as if they were my life force. When one worker descended to get me, I didn't even look up. He landed next to me, with a wire strapped to his belt.
"Hey, it's alright," he knelt next to me, "You're safe now."
I glanced up at him. My face, frozen in shock, was covered in dried blood and dirt. Tear tracks marked my cheeks. I stared at him, "M-my Mama and Papa died."
"I know, I'm sorry, it'll be alright," he placed a hand on my shoulder, "My name is Davis, I'm going to get you out of here."
"I can't leave them."
"They'll come right behind you, I promise. Come on, we have to get you to safety."
Hesitantly, I wrapped my arms around the man's neck. He pulled me to his chest and held tight as his friend reeled us up. As we went up through the hundreds of yards of rubble, I watched the bodies of my Mama and Papa vanish.
Davis took me up to his friends where an ambulance was waiting. I was placed on a gurney, and they were about to wheel me into the car, but I shouted, "No! My Mama and Papa are still down there! You gotta get them up!"
The workers were reluctant, but ultimately, they let me stay. I sat in the gurney and watched as a crane was used to lift the bodies of my parents from the ground. They came up together, interlocked in an impenetrable embrace. As I saw them dangling above the ground, stone-cold and lifeless, an agonizing scream escaped my lips.
The emergency workers pushed me back on the gurney, trying to calm me down. I screamed and cried and fought, making them have to sedate me for my own safety as well as theirs. They stuck a needle in my neck, pushing the warm liquid in. As it settled in, I glanced at my parent's with blurry vision.
The last thing I saw was them embracing, even in death.
***
My parents were cremated, and buried next to the son they had and lost before finding me. It was in a quaint cemetery in their hometown of Gotham City. They had met there, married there, and had a son there before losing the son and moving to Baltimore. Now, they would forever remain there, entombed together in a ceramic jar.
More people had shown up to the memorial services than I had expected. Their 'funeral' was held in a nearby funeral home. Nearly one hundred people showed up, almost none of which I knew. Most were old friends of my parents, or co-workers. Some of Papa's politician friends showed up, as did some of Mama's university friends. They all made their rounds by the jar. Some stood in corners conversing. Every once in awhile, someone would come up to me an offer their condolences.
I sat in the corner the entire time, my eyes glued to the jar that held the remains of my parents. It was decorated like a vase found inside of Buckingham Palace. Tiles of ruby, emerald, and sapphire decorated the exterior.
They were the only ones who died that day. Everybody else, mostly native Metropolis citizens, knew what to do when Superman was in a battle. They made it to numerous safe houses that we didn't know about. Thousands were injured, but only my parents died.
"Hello, are you Lucille Brimsey?"
I glanced up at the newcomer. He was a man I didn't know, with jet black hair and black glasses. He wore a suit, and a small notepad peeked out from the chest pocket. I nodded slowly. Without asking, he sat next to me.
"My name is Clark Kent," he said, "I'm an old friend of your father's. I-I wanted to say how sorry I am that this happened."
I had heard a million and one condolences that day, but this one sounded different. Clark Kent seemed like he genuinely regretted this happening, even though he had nothing to do with it. His eyes held deep sorrow.
"You knew my Papa?"
My voice was tinier than it had ever been. Clark Kent nodded, "Yes, we went to school together. Your Papa was a good man."
"Did you know Mama?"
"Yes," he answered, "I attended their wedding."
I returned my gaze to the urn, "They were the only family I had left, and now they're gone all because of Superman."
Clark Kent stared down at me. I didn't blink, I barely even breathed. At that moment, I wasn't sure which was higher, my grief or my rage. My parents would still be alive if it weren't for Superman.
"He would never do this on purpose. You can't save everyone," Clark Kent tried to reason with me.
I flung my head up at him, "You know him?"
"N-not personally."
"Then, you cannot speak for him," I frowned, "My parents were the only death that day. They would still be alive if it weren't for The Man of Steel."
I scowled when I called him that. His heart was made of steel for doing this, it had to be. No human would orphan a child, unless they were seriously messed up. Then again, Superman wasn't human.
"He's a hero, I'm sure, had he known-"
"You speak as if you are in his head," I sneered, "This is his fault, and he has to pay. I will not rest until there is justice."
I stood. Pushing down the skirts of my solid black dress, I spun and left Clark Kent behind me. I left the funeral hall, and even left the entire building. I didn't stop until I was standing in the middle of the graveyard, rain pelting down on my skin.
My parent's souls would not rest until Superman was brought to justice, and I would be the one to do it. There was no way the police would bring justice upon The Man of Steel, I had to do it myself.
How does one kill a God? He was invulnerable, and stronger than any man alive. I was only a ten-year-old child, there was no way I could kill him. He had to have a weakness, everybody did. I just had to find it.