After returning home, the Kent family gathered in the living room.
"You're saying you saw Catherine," Jonathan said slowly, trying to sort through the information. "But Catherine might already be dead?"
The explanation from Martha and his two sons had been overwhelming—glowing skeletons, strange transformations, a hidden corpse, and money from the bank robbery. Jonathan rubbed his forehead as he tried to make sense of it all.
"The person who greeted us at the antique store must be the same person who robbed the bank," Victor said calmly.
When the clues were laid out together, the answer felt fairly obvious to him.
"First Lex, then Catherine. She has the ability to shapeshift and turn into other people."
Martha wrapped her arms around herself uneasily.
"But who could it be?" she asked quietly.
The idea alone was terrifying. Someone capable of transforming into anyone could approach you while wearing the face of someone you trusted. Just moments earlier, Martha had been chatting with a woman she believed was her old acquaintance.
Clark frowned deeply as he thought about what he had seen.
First, he was certain the skeleton he had observed belonged to a woman. Beyond that…
For the moment, he had no additional clues.
"It's Tina."
Victor suddenly spoke after a few seconds of silence.
The entire family turned toward him in surprise.
"Why Tina?" Clark asked.
Victor shrugged lightly.
"She has the ability to become anyone. If she killed someone, the easiest way to escape suspicion would be to disguise herself as strangers."
He paused briefly.
"So why transform into Aunt Catherine?"
Clark blinked as he followed the logic.
Victor continued calmly.
"If Catherine were alive, turning into her would be pointless. The police could immediately expose the lie. But if Catherine is already dead…"
His lips curved slightly.
"The police will definitely investigate her daughter first."
He tapped the table lightly.
"Tina robbed the money and killed her mother. Now she's pretending to be her out of guilt."
"Catherine…" Martha murmured softly.
The realization that her longtime acquaintance might already be dead filled her with grief.
Jonathan frowned deeply.
"Don't jump to conclusions just yet," he said quietly.
He squeezed Martha's cold hand in an attempt to comfort her.
"A daughter killing her own mother… that's…"
The thought alone was difficult to accept.
Victor noticed the instinctive reluctance in his father's expression but said nothing. For many people, crimes that violated basic human morality were simply too shocking to believe.
Clark suddenly spoke again.
"I noticed something else," he said carefully.
Victor looked toward him with interest.
Clark tried to recall the image clearly in his mind.
"The skeleton I saw had a strange structure," he explained. "It was glowing green, like meteorite radiation. And the rib bones weren't shaped normally."
He hesitated.
"The ribs looked uneven, like they had grown abnormally."
Martha's face suddenly turned pale.
"That reminds me of something," she said slowly.
"When Catherine was pregnant with Tina, she was already quite old. Tina was born with severe rickets."
Clark and Victor listened quietly.
"Catherine and her husband went everywhere searching for treatment," Martha continued. "Doctors said Tina probably wouldn't survive past first grade. They spent huge amounts of money trying experimental medications that were still being developed, but nothing worked."
Jonathan nodded grimly.
"In the end they gave up and moved back to town," he added. "And somehow… a miracle happened. Tina gradually started getting better."
He paused before speaking again.
"Now that I think about it, Victor's reasoning makes sense."
Victor rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Desperate people sometimes try anything."
He looked toward Clark.
"When the meteorites first fell here, I heard that some traveling 'miracle healers' came to town. They claimed the meteor stones were gifts from God."
Victor's eyes narrowed slightly.
"They told people that drinking water soaked with those stones could cure any illness."
He didn't need to finish the rest.
Anyone could imagine what desperate parents might do.
Catherine and her husband had been cornered with no other options. If someone told them the meteor stones could save their daughter, they would certainly try it.
And when Tina suddenly began recovering, they must have believed it was a miracle.
But Catherine likely never imagined that her daughter's survival would one day lead to her own death.
Victor's reasoning connected all the clues.
Clark's eyes widened as realization struck him.
"That explains it," he said.
"If Tina grew up drinking water soaked with meteorites, that's why her skeleton glows like that."
Jonathan slowly picked up the phone.
"If there's a body in the store, we need to call the police immediately."
He spoke calmly, determined not to give the killer a chance to escape.
Jonathan quickly explained the situation over the phone. He reported that money from the recent bank robbery might have been found inside Catherine's antique shop, and that there was also a suspicious smell that could indicate a corpse.
Within minutes, the police were already on their way to investigate.
Jonathan hung up the phone and turned toward his sons.
"Alright, boys. The police will handle it from here."
If Tina was caught inside the shop, she wouldn't be able to escape easily—even with the ability to transform.
Victor frowned slightly.
That assumption was too optimistic.
His parents didn't know the full situation. Tina wasn't just capable of shapeshifting—her body was strong enough to withstand gunfire. Ordinary police officers might struggle to deal with someone like that.
"I'm taking the afternoon off from school," Victor said suddenly.
Kryptonite was almost certainly the source of the strange abilities appearing around town.
A thought flashed through his mind.
"If exposure to kryptonite gives people powers… what happens if someone is exposed for years? Or even consumes it regularly?"
Victor's eyes flickered with curiosity.
Perhaps that was exactly what had happened with Tina.
"I'm staying too," Clark said immediately.
His expression turned serious.
If something dangerous happened, he wanted to make sure their parents were safe.
Victor glanced sideways at him.
Normally, Victor would have laughed at the idea that a random superpowered individual in a small town could threaten someone like Clark.
But even Superman sometimes faced enemies capable of harming him.
And when the safety of their parents was involved, even a small risk wasn't worth ignoring.
Better to stay cautious.
"Why?" Martha asked in confusion.
Jonathan looked equally puzzled.
"Are you worried Tina might attack us?"
Before the brothers could answer—
Boom.
Someone knocked on the door.
Through the glass panel, a familiar figure stood outside under the dim afternoon sky.
Lex Luthor.
He wore a polite smile as he raised his voice slightly.
"May I come in?"
Jonathan and Martha immediately grew tense and stood up from their seats.
Victor and Clark stepped forward at the same time, instinctively positioning themselves in front of their parents.
Victor quietly glanced at Clark.
Clark understood the signal immediately and tried to activate his X-ray vision again to examine Lex outside the door.
But his nervousness made the ability harder to trigger.
"What's wrong?" Lex joked as he opened the outer door.
"It's me, not some evil twin," he said lightly. "And I'm not carrying a gun."
He raised both hands to show them.
"Clark, Victor, Mr. Kent… you all know I'm innocent."
Clark concentrated intensely.
"Come on…"
Finally, his vision shifted again.
The world faded into an X-ray image, and Clark quickly scanned Lex from head to toe.
A moment later, he relaxed.
The skeleton was normal.
Clark smiled and spoke naturally.
"Lex, what brings you here?"
Jonathan and Martha also relaxed slightly.
Victor quietly released the tension in his muscles.
If he had been alone, even ten superpowered opponents wouldn't have made him nervous.
But his parents had been standing right behind him.
"I came to thank Mr. and Mrs. Kent," Lex said sincerely.
"Without your testimony earlier, I might still be under suspicion."
He studied the strange reactions of the Kent family with faint curiosity flickering in his eyes.
"Please come in, Mr. Luthor," Martha said politely.
Lex stepped inside.
"I watched the security footage from the bank," he explained. "I still can't understand how that man managed to look exactly like me."
He shook his head slightly.
"If the signatures hadn't been different, I might have ended up completely bankrupt."
Lex laughed lightly.
"It's a strange feeling watching someone rob a bank in broad daylight using your face."
Originally, Lex had planned to use this visit to build a stronger relationship with the Kent family.
But now that he had arrived, the atmosphere inside the house felt tense and strange. Something clearly wasn't right.
Lex quickly adjusted his approach.
"When people already feel suspicious toward you," he thought calmly, "showing too much cleverness only makes them more defensive."
Instead of asking questions or offering help, he simply expressed his gratitude politely.
After chatting for a few minutes, Lex stood up.
"Thank you again," he said sincerely before leaving.
Outside the farm, Lex climbed into his silver-gray convertible.
He glanced once more toward the Kent house, frowning slightly before driving away.
…
Afterward, Clark and Victor explained to their parents that Tina might possess extremely dangerous abilities.
Jonathan thought carefully for a moment before making a decision.
He called the school and requested leave for both of his sons.
The official reason he gave was the spring flu season.
In truth, he simply didn't want Victor leaving the house alone if someone like Tina was still nearby.
"Victor, stay home with us," Jonathan said firmly.
"Clark will help keep everyone safe."
He paused briefly before adding,
"I'll contact some people I know later to find out what the police discover. Maybe they'll catch Tina."
....
Join my P*atreon for 100 premium chapters ahead of the public release.
Link: pa*treon.com/MysticVerse (Remove the *)
Free members also get 2 advanced chapters for free.