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[b]Suicide Slum, Metropolis[/b]

A fire was raging in Metropolis. It had claimed the lives of three people and had place two more in the hospital. Rumour had spread that an unregistered mutant had caused it and the denizens of Suicide Slum had descended to the scene to exact some street justice. The six Metropolis City Police Department squad cards barricading off the source of the fire were struggling to hold the angry crowd back. The crowd shouted bloody murderer and threw bottles and bricks towards the building to express their impotent rage whilst the fire department tried in vain to tame it. Beside them SWAT officers prepared their service weapons in case of the worse. Though Magneto’s attack had been several years ago it was still fresh in everyone’s minds.

The thick smoke that filled Suicide Slum’s skies parted and through it appeared the Man of Steel. It took several seconds for his presence to register with the crowd below but once it had their anger seemed to fade. The shouting stopped for a moment, the bricks fell to the ground and even the police officers looked up in awe as Superman hovered to a stop beside them. He squinted in the building’s direction as he scanned it for signs of life and then paced towards it without offering a word.

Inside the building the smoke was thicker and heavier than it had been outside. A normal man would have struggled to breathe. Superman was no [i]normal[/i] man. He waded through the smoke and flames as if they were air whilst he tried to focus on the whimpering. It was faint and laboured but it was there. A heavy wooden beam stood between Superman and its source. He tossed it aside as if it were paper and then blew out heartily to clear the smoke.

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There huddled in the corner of the room was a small redheaded girl. She looked no older than ten years old and her hands and feet were covered in burns. His footsteps alerted the girl to his presence and she looked up at him with tearful brown eyes.

“I… I didn’t mean to hurt them,” Angelica Jones muttered. “I didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”

Clark nodded and knelt beside the girl with a gentle smile.

[color=SteelBlue][b]“It’s okay.”[/b][/color]

“My Nana,” Jones whimpered. “She was trapped. The smoke… S-she couldn’t breathe. What’s happening to me?”

[color=SteelBlue][b]“You’re a mutant,”[/b][/color] Superman said as he extended his hand towards the young girl. [color=steelblue][b]“That means you have special abilities. You’re going to need to learn to control them, Angelica.”[/b][/color]

There was a loud crack and the ceiling beside Clark and Angelica came through. A wooden beam crashed through the floor next to them and missed them by inches. Outside Superman could hear the shouting again. He squinted and focused on one of the MCPD officer’s voices. Word had reached the crowd that one of the hospitalized had died and it had breathed new life into their rage. He looked to Angelica Jones with her big brown eyes and extended a hand in her direction.

[b][color=steelblue]“We need to get out of here.”[/color][/b]

Jones shook her head.

“If I go out there they’ll take me away,” Angelica muttered. “I know what they do to people like… like me…”

[b][color=steelblue]“That's not going to happen.”[/color][/b]

The young girl looked unconvinced until Superman thrust his pinky finger towards her with a smile. She wrapped her own around Clark’s little finger and shook his hand with it. He smiled and wrapped his arms around the girl and lifted her from her feet. Once she was in his arms Clark took a deep breath in and exhaled as hard as he could. Within a second the lion’s share of the flames were extinguished and Superman descended down the building’s stairs with the girl in hand. He felt her tiny arms tighten around his neck a little as they drew closer to the exit. She was scared. So were the people outside. The difference was that they had guns and bricks. All Angelica had was Clark.

[b][color=steelblue]“It's going to be okay,”[/color][/b] Superman muttered to her as he planted a soft kiss on her forehead. [b][color=steelblue]“I'm not going to let them hurt you.”[/color][/b]

The door to the building opened and Clark stepped through it. The firemen on scene stepped back in shock and the MCPD officers cowered behind their patrol car doors reached for their service weapons. The crowd roared their displeasure upon seeing the girl in Superman’s arms.

“Hand over the girl,” Officer Diaz spoke through a megaphone to Superman. His weapon was trained on him. “She killed four people and put another in the hospital, Superman, and she’s unregistered. She’s not your responsibility anymore.”

[b][color=steelblue]“She's a child, Diaz.”[/color][/b]

Superman stepped further out into the street and there was a volley of clicks as the MCPD officers flicked the safeties off on their weapons. Angelica whimpered in his arms. Diaz lifted the megaphone to his mouth again and this time his voice was sterner still.

“We are authorized to use lethal force.”

A projectile hurtled through the air from the crowd and landed a few feet from where Superman was stood. It shattered as it made contact with the ground and Superman gritted his teeth. He blocked out the sound of the crowd and focused on Diaz. He was in his thirties, a heavy-set Latino man with a thick moustache, and had a faint smell of cigarettes to him. Clark could see the beads of sweat running down his forehead.

[b][color=steelblue]“Do you have children?”[/color][/b]

Diaz nodded.

“A son.”

[b][color=steelblue]“And you would do [i]anything[/i] to protect your son, wouldn't you?”[/color][/b]

Officer Diaz reached for his black Glock 19 from the holster and brandished it in Superman’s direction. Clark could see his hands shaking.

“My son is not a freak.”

[color=steelblue][b]“And neither is Angelica. She’s a ten year old girl that lost the most important person to her in the whole world this afternoon. Tell me, if this was your son in my arms, would you want me to slap a pair of handcuffs on him and put him in a cage or would you want me to help him?”[/b][/color]

“Don’t do this, Superman.”

Diaz’s finger pulled back on the trigger slightly as he weighed his options and Clark readied himself for action. At the last minute Diaz let his sweaty finger slip off the trigger and he forced the Glock back into its holster with a heavy sigh. He looked to his colleagues and with an emotionally exhausted wave signaled his intent to them.

“Stand down.”

Diaz nodded in recognition to Superman and Clark returned it with a nod of his own. He bent his knees as he prepared for flight until another bottle launched by the crowd crashed against his back. Angelica squealed in fear and Clark shushed her quietly as he stopped in his tracks and turned to face them. He walked towards the crowd slowly with Angelica still in his arms and the mob quieted. 

[color=steelblue][b]“You are better than this,”[/b][/color] Superman addressed the crowd. [color=steelblue][b]“I [i]know[/i] that you are better than this.”[/b][/color]

For the second time their anger faded as bricks and bottles clattered to the ground. The mob parted to let Superman through and he made a concerted effort to make contact with as many people as possible as he passed through it. Some met his gaze, others stared at the ground in shame, but all were taken aback by how small and helpless Angelica looked up close. Once he was through the crowd Superman dipped in preparation for flight again and Angelica looked at him.

“Where are we going?”

Clark smiled.

[b][color=steelblue]"Westchester, New York."[/color][/b]