[Third Person Pov]
After Clark's cape finished sealing up the last of Momo and Lala's superficial wounds, the fabric fluttered up from their shoulders. It returned to its rightful place around Clark's back, settling with a soft, self-satisfied ripple.
Before either girl could speak, Clark's voice cut through the room—calm, but heavy.
"Before we get into whatever changes you made to the place, Lala… we need to have a serious discussion about what just happened."
His frown deepened as he looked back over his shoulder. Lala instantly shrank, her posture folding in on itself. She already sensed the reprimand waiting to hit her like a falling anvil.
"Oh come on, Clark," Momo interjected, stepping half-forward as if to shield Lala with her body. "Don't be too hard on her. She meant well."
"Good intentions don't justify reckless action," Clark countered sharply, his tone leaving no room for argument. He finally turned around fully to face them, cape swaying behind him. "I don't think either of you understand the extent of the danger you were just in."
Lala swallowed. Momo clenched her jaw. Clark's eyes swept over the two of them—frustrated and undeniably serious.
"If I hadn't shown up when I did," he continued, voice steady but firm, "either of you could've been seriously hurt… or worse. Killed."
"You're exaggera—" Momo started, but she froze midsentence when Clark's gaze locked onto hers. His serious expression always unnerved her; it stripped away the playful bravado she usually hid behind.
"I'm not denying you're strong, Momo—anyone with half a brain can see that," Clark said, tone easing only slightly. "But you're not invulnerable. You're not invincible. And if I hadn't been around, you had no way of stopping those things. You would've died in there. No buts. No ifs. No clever excuses."
Momo fell silent, lips pressing tightly together.
Clark shifted his attention to Lala, whose eyes were glued to the floor.
"The same goes for you, Lala. You could've been seriously injured. You're my responsibility. My duty. And if something happened to you—if you ended up hurt or killed—that wouldn't have been your fault. It would've been mine."
He crossed his arms, exhaling through his nose. For a moment he shut his eyes, fighting the instinct to cave the moment he saw her crestfallen expression. He knew if he let himself see it for too long, he'd fold. And she needed to hear this—not the softened version, not the sugar-coated version. The truth.
"I know you meant well, Lala," he said, his tone turning quieter, gentler. "I know you wanted to help me. Do something nice. I appreciate that more than you think… but that doesn't mean you get to be careless. You're brilliant—honestly, you're probably the smartest person I've ever met. But you're also short-sighted. You do things without thinking them through."
Lala flinched when Clark raised his hand, instinctively bracing for a flick to the forehead—or worse, a bonk to the head. But instead she felt something warm and gentle settle on her hair.
She opened her eyes in surprise. Clark was… petting her.
Her shoulders loosened as she stared down at the floor, cheeks warming.
"So," Clark continued calmly, still ruffling her hair, "the next time you get a big idea in that giant head of yours, run it by me first. And if I'm not around, ask Sol or my mother."
He let out a long, exhausted sigh, lowering his hand. "Better yet—make a blueprint. Bring it to me. We'll look at it together and point out anything you missed. It takes a smart person to fix mistakes…" His voice softened into something almost teacher-like. "But it takes a wise person to learn from them. Let's not repeat this again."
Lala's face was glowing a deep rosy pink now. She reached up and touched the spot on her head where he had petted her, smiling shyly as she nodded.
"Okay, Mr. Philosopher," Momo chimed in before he could enjoy the moment too much. She curled her fingers into circles, placed them over her eyes, pretending they were glasses, and mimicked his voice in an exaggerated nerdy tone. "It takes a smart person to fix mistakes, but it takes a wise person to learn from them—"
Clark's eye twitched. "Shut the hell up, will you?" he muttered under his breath, cheeks reddening just a fraction.
Momo burst into cackles, clutching her stomach as she walked ahead, her laughter echoing down the hall.
Lala was still touching the top of her head where Clark had patted her, her fingers lingering there as if trying to trap the warmth. She wore a faint, bashful smile even as Clark started to walk away.
But she hurried a step forward and reached out, gently catching his hand.
Clark paused mid-step. His brow arched curiously as he looked back at her. Lala kept her head lowered, her bangs hiding most of her expression except for the trembling of her lips.
"I'm… I'm sorry," she murmured, voice small. "I didn't mean to add more trouble onto your shoulders."
Clark let out a breath—not annoyed, not angry, just tired in that patient way. "Like I said… I know your intentions were good, Lala. So we're fine." He squeezed her hand lightly before adding, "Just make sure it doesn't happen again."
He draped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her comfortably against his side. Lala brightened instantly, her tail swaying behind her like an excited metronome.
"Now come on," Clark said, "show me all these changes you and your hyperactive brain cooked up."
Lala perked up, energy instantly restored as if someone rebooted her. She hurried beside him, talking animatedly with her hands as they walked. "Okay! So you know how you used to have separate rooms for things? Like your laboratory, your crime lab, your training room, your garage, and all that?"
"Uh huh…" Clark nodded, cautious and curious in equal measure.
"So!" Lala continued with a brilliant smile. "Instead of making them rooms, I thought—why not make them floors?"
Clark blinked. "…Floors?"
"Yep! Entire floors!" she chirped. "I reorganized everything to make the place more efficient. The top floor—the entrance—is now the main hall. And I moved your garage all the way to the bottom floor."
Clark opened his mouth to respond, but Lala was already speeding ahead mentally.
"And then I reorganized the lab, expanded the storage, updated the training hall as you saw, and—oh! Oh oh!" Lala went on and on and on.
"Okay wait, hold up—" Clark held up his hand. "What do you mean there are over a hundred floors in here?"
Lala froze mid-gesture.
Then she laughed nervously, scratching the back of her head. "W-Well… when I started designing them I kinda… lost track of how many I was making. And before I knew it… um… one hundred. Maybe a few more."
Clark stared at her as though she had lost her entire head.
"What is seriously with you?!" he groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "What am I supposed to do with one hundred floors?!"
"Don't worry!" Lala said proudly, giving two huge thumbs-up. "I fixed the problem!"
Clark didn't dare hope—but asked anyway. "…How?"
"I added an elevator!"
There was a long, silent pause.
"Wow," Clark said in a perfect monotone. "How fortunate for us."
Lala nodded enthusiastically and continued, "I already thought of ideas for the extra rooms. Momo told me you love animals, so one room could be a big reservoir habitat! And since you're always catching bad guys, another room could be a prison—"
"A prison?!" Clark tilted his head. "Why would I need a prison?! If I wanted to actually lock someone up, I would use the Phantom Zone projector"
"Well…" Lala tilted her head. "In case what they did wasn't bad enough for the Phantom Zone. I mean, you wouldn't send a purse snatcher to the Phantom Zone, right?"
"I would take them to the local authorities" Clark stated, rubbing his forehead. "Not keep them locked in my own base"
Lala placed a thoughtful finger on her chin. "I suppose that's true… oh well. I'm sure you'll find something to use it for."
Clark groaned just as he nearly tripped—because Lala casually added:
"Oh! I also made a sex dungeon."
Clark's soul left his body.
"WHAT?!" he shouted so loudly his voice cracked. "WHAT WOULD POSSESS YOU TO MAKE THAT?!"
Lala just blinked at him in confusion. "Momo said you really wanted one."
Clark snapped his head around so fast he almost got whiplash—only to find Momo rolling on the floor laughing, hands on her stomach, slapping the ground like a seal.
"Mother…" Clark muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose so hard he might bruise it.
A soft chime echoed as Lara-El materialized at his side, smiling warmly. "Yes, my son?"
"Why," Clark growled through clenched teeth, "did you allow them to tarnish the sanctity of our home?"
Lara-El lifted a delicate hand over her mouth, giggling. "Fufufu~ It was a very amusing prank."
Clark's eye twitched. "Fufufu my ass. I cannot believe there is a sex dungeon in my base now. If ANYONE sees that, my reputation will be destroyed."
Momo shrieked with laughter in the background.
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