Tweet
Here is a novel I have been writing. It is a novelization/revamp of Smallville Season 4 finale, Commencement.
Let me know what you think.
______________________________________________
PROLOGUE
Eighteen years ago, a lone ship sailed across the stars from the planet Krypton to the world of Earth cloaked in a meteor shower covered with the pieces of a broken planet. The infant child, Kal-El, was found by an Earth family, Jonathan and Martha Kent, in the Kansas farmtown of Smallville. They took him unto their own, raised him as a humble farmboy and they named him "Clark".
The broken pieces of the planet had a strange effect on the people of Smallville, and scarred the town forever. Smallville was indeed in need of a hero, if not a superhero.
Four years ago, Clark Kent discovered miraculous abilities, that of a super man. He was able to run faster than the fastest man alive. He learned that he could lif up a tractor without even breaking a sweat. He was able to see through solid objects, just by staring at it. He was able to shoot fire from his eyes by looking at it. He was able to listen carefully, and hear amplified sound, just like a dog can. Being endowed with all these super-abilities, he took those abilities and tried to help people and save them from fear and darkness, while trying to please his true love and forge a friendship with an outsider. So, he made a promise to himself that he would never tell anyone this deep dark secret until he himself could come to terms with it. But he held onto the hope that there were others in this world like him. But his father told him that he was from another planet, and that there might not be others like him. But Clark still hoped . . .
Three years ago, Clark Kent found Dr. Virgil Swann, who would change Clark's life forever and learned of his true roots, that he was a survivor from the planet Krypton, which cemented his vow to keep these roots and abilities a secret to his friends. DR. Swann told him that he was the only one from his home planet, and urged him to write his own destiny as Kal-El, the Last Son of Krypton. His biological father, Jor-El, called to him and begged him to fulfill his destiny. He refused and there were dire consequences.
Two years ago, Jonathan Kent made a deal with Jor-El for the custody and destiny of their son. The effects of this deal had serious implications on Jonathan. After these incidents, Clark wanted to shut out his past, and live a normal life. Then in the next year, Jor-El took the boy and reprogrammed and sent him on a crusade to find three crystals. With the help of his mothers' love, he was able to break free from Jor-El's power. But, Clark learned that these crystals has encoded within them the knoweldge of a great civilization, which Clark is the sole survivor of, which were brought to Earth many years ago and hidden across the Earth. Clark is told that if he does not find them, there will be dire consequences.
Meanwhile, a family, the Luthors, whose son, Lex, is a good friend of Clark's but is constantly fighting the darkness bent on finding these crystals and what they mean to life on Earth also hoping to discover how it connects to the young farmboy Clark Kent, and are willing to get them by any means necessary, even pitting themselves against each other. Meanwhile, a rival family, the Teagues, appears in Smallville, whose son Jason is courting Clark Kent's true love also seek the crystals for power. Greed is driving these two families to hunt the crystals. Also, Clark Kent's true love, Lana Lang, is also in search of these crystals, as her ancestor, the Countess Isobel, sarched for them in several hundred years ago. But the search for these crystals drives Lana and Jason further apart.
In the midst of all this, Chloe Sullivan, longtime friend of Clark, sees Clark use his abilities and discovers the secret of his power, but not knowing the shole truth. But she vows to keep to herself that she knows the secret of Clark Kent. She will continue to keep it a secret until Clark decides to tell this secret to her himself. To make things even more complicated, Chloe's cousin, Lois Lane, enters Clark's life and adds a little spice to it as well. After having no place to live, the Kents offer a home to young Lois. So, Clark must try to embark on the Kryptonian Crusade to find these lost crystals before anyone else does. But he has only managed to find one. Lana Lang traveled to China and obtained the second crystal. But the location of the third crystal remains a mystery to Clark, Lana, the Luthors, and the Teagues.
But as Jason's search for the crystals deepens, his relationship with Lana rifts away, thus bringing Clark and Lana closer together. But can Clark and Lana have a truly meaningful relationship with the burden of Clark's secret looming over them like a cloudy day?
After torturing the Luthors, the Teagues manage to learn that Lana Lang has obtained one of the ancient crystals from Lionel Luthor, Lex's father. But Jason Teague has learned the truth, that Lana Lang is not the chosen one these stone are meant for, but actually the Smallville farmboy, Clark Kent, is the chosen one. Jason shares this with Lex, but before Lex can digest it, Lionel kills Jason Teague, sending him plummeting down a waterfall. Meanwhile, Genevieve Teague, Jason's mother, heads to Lana's apartment to get the crystal from her. Will she obtain it?
That is where this story begins.
Truly, a commencement is upon the small town of Smallville, Kansas. Will anyone survive its power? One thing can be said though, after this great commencement is over, no one in Smallville will be the same, ever again.
CHAPTER ONE
Lana Lang walked itno her apartment at the Talon. It had been a loing day. She had been all ovwer Metropolis and everywhere trying to prepare for her graduation that was tomorrow. It was a big day for her, for all the students of Smallville High, especially her dear friend Clark Kent.
Clark, she thought. He had always been there for him. For the past 4 years, he had always been there for her, saving her. She and Clark had always tried to have a relationship. But Clark had so many secrets. Neither of them could commit to a relationship. But she knew how she fwelt about him. She loved him dearly. But she also worried about the opther man in her life, Jason Teague. Jason had come from Paris to Smallville at the beginning of Lana's senior year, but his search for some ancient crystals had divided their relationship. She smiled.
She just needed to get some rest so she wouldn't be dozing off tomorrow when she was handed the diploma that said that she would be able to graduate. Lana then locked the door. She was about to move over to the oither part of the apartment in the Talon when she heard a voice.
"I have to applaud you, Lana."
Lana about jumped out of her skin when she heard someone's voice in her apartment. She then saw a lady dressed in very fashionable clothing, come out from behind the shadows of her apartment. It was Jason's mother, Genevieve Teague!!! What was she doing in her apartment. Jason had told Lana all about his mother. He told him that she was not a force to be reckoned with. She said that she was manipulatiuve, devious, and was able to hold her own in war of words. But why was Jason's mother in her apartment? What did she want from Lana? Genevieve moved from the shadows into the light, and continued speaking.
"I raised my son to have a willpower that couldn't be broken by anything. Except his love for you, apparently."
Why was Genevieve going on this huge tirade? She hadn't done anything to her or to Jason, so she still wondered wehat Jason's mother was doing in her apartment. Lana looked down and couldn't help but notice the gun in Genevieve's hand. Apparently, she wasn't messing around. So why was Genevieve in her apartment, with a gun no less? If there was one thing that Clark had taught her it was to be brave. So Lana decided to be brave and she stood in front of Genevieve and decided to confront her and ask her herself.
"What do you want from me?"
Genevieve just smiled at Lana, as if it were obvious, and replied simply, "The crystal."
Lana looked at Genevieve with a look of absolute shock. So apparently Genevieve shared Jason's obsession with those ancient crystals that were linked to the mysteriopus tattoo that appeared mystically on her back. Like mother, like son.
Then Genevieve continued, "The one Lionel gave you."
Now Lana was beginning to wonder if Jason's mother was a lunatic. Because it was true she had one of the ancient crystals. Jason had retrieved one earlier this year in China, and she had stolen it from him, but Lionel - - and she was referring to Lionel Luthor, resident billionaire of Smallville, rivaled only by his son, Lex - - had not given her any of those crystals. So Lana had no idea what Genevieve was talking about. So Lana thn moved to call Genevieve on her bluff.
"Lionel? He never gave me any - - "
Apparently, Genevieve wasn;t going to have any of that, because Lana hadn't even finished her sentence before Genevieve cocked the gun and pointed it at her forehead. Lana was really starting to get scared now, but she couldn't let that show. She had to try to stay as brave as long as she could. That's what Clark would do.
"I'm going to find it whether you help me or not. Without my help would take longer, my dear Lana, and I don't have a lot of time."
Then, Lana realized that there was no way out of this mess other than to do what Genevieve wanted , and that was to give her the crystal. She didn't want to do it, as she felt that the crystals could point her to her history, her present, and even her future destiny. But, maybe it wasn't worth it. After all, it was just a little piece of rock. So, Lana opened her purse and pulled out a small red handkerchief. As she pulled out this red handkerchief, Genevieve lowered her weapon, as she was finally beginning to be pleased that Lana was doing what she wanted. Lana then opened the handkerchief, as it had been folded rather neatly, to reveal a small crystal. It was a triuangular-shaped crystal that had a crest, that looked like a triangular shape with an eight in the center. She revealed it to Genevieve, and Genevieve looked at it like that thing in those Lord of the Rings movies. Genevieve just smiled and was about to reach for it and grab it when she did a roundhouse kick and kicked the gun oiut of Genevieve's hand. She was about to make a break for it when Genevieve grabbed Lana from behins and puller her back. Genevieve has grabbed by her hair. She then proceeeded to knock Lana against a lamp, and then continued to hold her tight grip, but let it go as she pushed her to the ground.
Lana was beginning to think that Genevieve was a psychopath after all. But Lana still has grip of the crystal. So at least she still had some leverage against Genevieve. She disn;t get to think about that too much longer because Genevieve grabbed Lana anbd pushed her against a shelf in the apartment. Both Genevieve and Lana grabbed each other by the forearms and tried to push each other. Lana tried to push Genevieve but apparently Genevieve was the stronger woman. Then Genevieve pushed Lana to the ground, and Lana figured it must have taken a lot of strength on both their parts, because they were both on the ground.
As Lana hit the ground, the crystal fell out of her ground. So much for leverage, thought Lana. Genevieve was truly on the brink of madness thorighout his whole escapade. Lana was kind of glad that she broke with up with Jason a few months back. As she didn't want to get tangled with Jason's mother, oir get on her bad side, now that she had seen the madness of Genevieve Teague. Lana Lang began to wonder
what Genevieve would be willing to do to get that crystal on the ground.
Lana's question was soon answered when Genevieve proceeded to grab her by the neck and began to choke her. Genevieve was going to kill her. She was beginning to lose her breath, as her throat was being cut off by Genevieve's hold on her. Genevieve obviously didn't see the crystal on the ground, as she was choking her. Or maybe she did see on the ground, adn was just going to kill Lana so she could never have the crystal, and Genevieve could have it for herself. Whatever was going through Genevieve's mind wasn;t good.
As Genevieve's hold on Lana grew stronger, Lana began to feel something in her heart and mind, wanting to break free. She feared that it was the Isobel persona that had been injected into her with the strange tattoo. That persona had always emerged when Lana was in physical danger, almost as a protector. Isobel had arisen when Lana was threatened by Chinese guards a few months ago. She could feel Isobel's burning a way in now, trying to break out and save Lana once again, as Genevieve continued to strangle her with her strong grip.
As Genevieve's grip grew tighter, Lana could feel the beast persona that was Isobel gaining total control. I guess the old saying is true. "Sometimes when you cage the beast, the beast gets angry." Because Lana's goodness couldn;'t seem to hold back Isobel's aggressive nature.
Lana's eyes burned with a flourescent fure. It was at that moment Lana knew. Isobel was free!!!!
*******
Isobel couldn't believe that she was finally free again!!! Free to roam the earth and use the crystals of power to seek revenge on those who had wronged her. She had begun this plan to a small scale on two other occasions. On both occasions, she had been thwarted by that extraordinarily remarkable, yet meddlesome, individual named Clark Kent. She would deal with Clark later. But now she had to take care of the descendant of that meddlesome Duchess Gertrude, who had a hand on having her burned all those 400 years ago. Isobel wondered what the human Lana had done to incur her warth. But she would deal with that later. She was being choked to death.
As Isobel stared at Gertrude's descendant who she surmised to be named Genevieve, she couldn't help but notice the look of shock on Genevieve's face. Apparently, Genevieve didn't know what the Countess Isobel was made of. Now she would feel her fury firsthand. She was such a privileged mortal, thought Isobel.
Isobel then grabbed Genevieve's wrists and threw her on her back. Now Isobel lay on top of Genevieve. She had been inside Lana, dormant and had watched the battle between the mortal Lana and Genevieve. Genevieve had put up quite a fight for the crystal. Her ancestor, Gertrusde, was just the same way. It was no matter now. She would never get the crystal anyway. For the crystals of power were hers and hers only.
As Isobel sat on top of Genevieve, having subdued her, Isobel realized that she would now get her chance to exact revenge on the mortal family of the Duchess Gertrude. Part of her mission would be complete. Her next stage would be achievong all the crystals of power and ruling the world. She knew now that Genevieve Teague had to die. But she could find no suitable weapon to complete this task. She looked over beside Genevieve's body, and saw the Crystal of the element air. It had a sharp point and could suffice as a weapon to complete the task that she had traveled so far to accomplish.
Isobel used her witch-like power to grab the crystal. She held it to the sky, and smiled at Genevieve. Genevieve had a look on her face of absolute dread, as she knew what was coming. Isobel then placed the sharp edge of the crystal into her Genevieve's heart. Genevieve Teague would not survive this. She was after all, a mere mortal.
As Isobel continued to do this, a look of absolute dread and shock pepetrated her face, as Isobel could feel the crystal draining the life out of Genevieve's body. Isobel smiled, as the first part of her mission was complete.
As the crystal embedded itself further into Genevieve's heart, Isobel could feel power, slowly creeping from the stone's edge to her hands, flowing into her body. Then, suddenly, the crystal's power transferred an onsaliught of energy, power!!! She could feel it. It was as she was being charged like what Lana would call a "battery." Something like that. She din;t understand 21st century mortal temrinolfy really. All she knew was that it felt good With this kind of power in her body, there was no telling what she would do.
But as the power flowed thorugh her body, Isobel could feel the power siphoning her away. The crystal was not only killing Genevieve, but it was killing Isobel. NO!!!!! She would not let the fire of Isobel die out like this. But it mattered not. She had completed her mission. Genevieve Teague was murdered, and her revenge was complete.
She no longer cared for anything else. And with that thought, the spirit of Countess Isobel Thoreaux died.
*******
Lana woke up. She had no idea what had happened in the last two minutes. Isobel must've taken control of her body again. But as she woke up, she felt a branding on her lower back, where the mysterious tattoo was. She reached behind her back and felt the tattoo was no longer there. Finally, the Isobel crisis was now a thing of the past. She could now just forget that it ever even happened. She then looked down at Genevieve and saw her eyes close. Lana feared the worst, as she looked down on her hands.
They were drenched in blood. No, thought Lana, I couldn't have done it. It wasn't possible!!!! Genevieve Teague was dead. She didn't remember anything. What had Isobel done???
She couldn;t believe it. If anybody knew, she could possibly end up in prison, just after her graduation. Lana began to shake and tremble after learning of the deed she had just done. Genevieve's blood was on her hands. She also saw the crystal embedded in Genevieve's heart. She had done the deed right too. But she still wouldn't believe it. Then she looked up and saw something dreadful.
It was a man. It was Lex Luthor. Lex now knew that she had killed somebody. What was she to do now?
******
"Lana?"
Lex couldn't believe that Lana was standing over Genevieve Teague's dead body. Lex had just witnessed the murder of her son, Jason Teague, by his father. After his dad killed Jason, he rushed over to the place he thought Lana would most likely be: the Talon. He had hoped that Genevieve hadn't killed Lana and gotten the crystal. But apparently, Lana had killed Genevieve. Why would Lana kill Genevieve? Now both Teagues, Genevieve and Jason, were dead. Lex figured it was just as well. Now Lex was able to find those other crystals without the interference of the Teagues. But there was still the interference of his father. But he would deal with that later. He had to get Lana to safety.
Lex could see that Lana was in shock. It was like she hadn't done the killing. Lana looked as if she was shocked that she had done it. Lex had read that many people after they kill people, they go into utter shock. One classic example was in Macbeth when Lady Macbeth killed Duncan, she went into so much shock that she couldn't stop seeing the blood. But Lana wasn't a murderer. She was normally a strong, sweet-hearted woman. She would never murder anyone, at least not to his knowledge.
As Lex stood there, he watched Lana remove the weapon that had been used to kill Genevieve from Genevieve's heart. From a peripheral view, he saw that the weapon was one of the crystals!!! Lana had had one of the crystals the whole time. Lex could not believe it, but Lex instantly decided that he would not take the crystal from Lan. He cared about her and his friendship with her too much to resort to stealing a little crystal. Even if one of the crystals did contain a key of knowledge greater than the library of Alexandria.
Lex watched Lana put the crystal and wrapped it around a red handkerchief, red as the blood that almost drenched the crystal. Then she placed it in her purse. Then Lana walked up to face Lex.
"Lex, I - -"
"Lana, I understand Genevieve Teague almost tried to kill you. She almost tried to kill me and my dad. I understand yopu had to defend yourself. Now, let's get out of here, okay? I'll have some of my people cleaning up this mess in here. We'll pretend it never happenedn okay? We can go to my mansion and get you cleaned up. Okay?"
Lana nodded stiffly, as she was still in shock. Then, Lex gently moved Lana to the door, and Lana walked quickly out of her apartment in the Talon. But, Lex, however, couldn't stop looking at the body of Genevieve Teague. That body may be the leverage that Lex needed to try and get Lana to give him that crystal in her posession. He wouldn't resort to stealing, but a little friendly shove never hurt anybody.
Lex just smiled and walked down the stairs of the Talon with Lana.
CHAPTER TWO
It was a quiet night at the Kent farm. All was quiet, which was pretty unusuual, considering that the Kent farm was in the town of Smallville, Kansas where nothing was normal or as it seemed. The Kent farm had been quite a buzz the past few yars, especially once that crazy symboln had been burned into the face of the Kent barn, and when the symbol was burned into the field of the Kent farm. It had been a crazy year in Smallville.
But for now it was quiet. Jonathan and Martha Kent slept soundly upstairs in their room. The visitor from Metropolis, Lois Lane, was also asleep upstairs. All this was going on while the Kents' 18-year-old son, Clark, slept soundly on the living room couch. Clark had been sleeping very soundly this night. The fact that he was able to was a miracle in itself. A lot had happened this year in Smallville, and it all had to do with Clark.
Clark Kent was not an ordinary young man. Some would say he was very "special." To Clark, that would be a matter of opinion. Clark Kent was actually a strange visitor from another planet. He was in fact Kal-El of Krypton. This fact had separated him friom his family and close friends. This fact explained a lot about Clark. He had abilities far beyong those of mort al men. He could run faster than anybody, was stronger than anybody, could see through things, was invulnerable, could shoot fire from his eyes, and could hear thing better than any hound dog. This fact had embarked him on a crusade to find the three crystals which were from his home planet. The spirit of his biological father, Jor-El, had told him that these stones contained the knowledge of the universe, and most importantly, the knowledge of his home planet, Krypton. But Clark didn;t worry about it so much, after all Krypton was destroyed. Jor-El told him that if the crystals were found by humans first, it would lead to the world's destruction. So that gave him a little incentive to find the crystals. But he wasn't worried about it. Right now, he'd rather dream of Lana.
He was trying to dream of Lana when suddenly he heard something! Imeediately, he stumbled out of his sleep and awakened. He could;ve sworn he hard a voice saying, "It's coming, Kal-El." It sounded like the voice of his biological father, Jor-El of Krypton. What was coming? Was there anything he could do to stop it? He immediately rose up and looked about to see what exactly was coming. He was not only awakened by the voice but also by a series of colored light. Then, as he looked around, he saw the television set flcker on, and produce nothing but static. He also looked to see the alarm on his dad's grandftaher clock go off. The hands on the clock were moving all over the face of the clock. What was making these clocks go off? Clark wondered. He also saw all the lights in the house flicker. Then, a fire started in the fireplace. What the heck wasa going on? Was this some sort of warning from Jor-El?
Clark then turned to see the radio go off, and he heard nothing but static. Even with his super-hearing, all he could hear was static from the radio. All this electric jumble was beginning to scare Clark a little bit. And after all he had been thorugh the past four years, not much scared him anymore. As he was trying to piece what was going on in his head, he saw his dog, Shelby, move toward the front door, and stand on top of it, clawing at ti, and whining.
Obviously, his dog, Shelby, could sense what was going on, and could sense that it was not normal, especially for Smallville.
Clark arose from the couch and started to walk to the front door, still trying to piece together what was going on. In his head, he could hear the voice again.
"It's coming, Kal-El. It's coming."
What was coming? he asked himself. What was going on with the electricity in the house and why was Shelby acting weird. Maybe if he went outsuide and could see where all the colored lights were conming from, he'd get his answers. He looked ourside and saw many colored lights such as red, blue, and yellow. He didn't know to make of it. So, he pushed Shelby aside and opened the door. Clark didn't get any answers, but he got something.
As he opened the door, a huge white light engulfed him and Shelby and seemed to engulf the whole Kent farm. This light was grander and lighter than anything he'd ever seen before. It almost defied description. Clark couldn't see anything beyond the light, but there had to be some darkness at the end of the light. It was 1:46 AM, though the way the clocks were working or weren;t working right now, he wouldn't have been able to say what time it was. So, Clark just walked through the light to see what it was.
"It's coming."
That voice kept saying that. WHAT WAS COMING? Maybe he'd find the answers at the other side of the light.
Then, in a flash, Clark Kent was outside his house. He was surrounded by yellow, blue, and red light. He looked upward to the sky and saw what looked like . . . oh, what was it called? Northern Lights? Chloe had told him what their official name was. Oh yeah, Aurora Borealis. It looked like one of those. It seemed to be traveling through the sky just a piece of light.
He wondered what this strange light in the sky was supposed to mean. Was it a warning of some kind? Was something deadly coming towards Smallville? If so, what was it? As Clark looked upward, he heard Shelby barking nonstop at the light. He wondered why Shelby was abrking at it. Apparently, he sensed something wrong with the light, as well.
As Clark continued to look upward, he saw the light forming three different colored streaks of light: red, yellow, and blue, start to coalesce together. At that moment, Shelby ran inside the house, as if retreating from something. What was Shelby running from? It was just a light.
"It's coming."
Then, Clark began to look up again and saw the streaks start to coalsesce and again and form a triangular shape, similar to the triangular shape that was a symbol from his homeplanet. Then the shape condensed itself into an orb of light. Then, the orb of light released a wave of destructive force!!!!!! Then, Clark was consumed by it!
********
Then, Clark immediately woke up! He was relieved to see that he was still sleeping on the couch, and that nothing strang was happening. It had almost seemed too good to be true. This, after all was Smallville. He also noticed that he was drenched in his own sweat. It must have been only a nightmare. A truly intense one, at that. Then, soon after he woke up, his parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent, rushed to his side.
"Clark! Clark! It's okay! It was just a bad dream." confirmed his mother.
"You scared the daylights out of us, yelling like that." said his father.
Clark was barely getting his bearings after waking up from that horrible nightmare. Clark didn't know what was going on. He was glad that everybody was allright, especially his dog, whom he saw clutched under his mother's arm. But apparently he had been yelling all night. But he wondered what had he been yelling?
"What?" Clark groggily asked.
"You kept screaming 'it's coming' over and over."
It's coming. That's what the voice inside Clark's head kept saying to him. He thought it was Jor-El's voice. But maybe it was himself speaking what he faered, only amplified in his thoughts. It scared Clark and confirmed what he had feared and dreaded - - that something was coming for Smallville. If something was coming for Smallville, what was it?
********
Space. It is a big place. It was also very peaceful place at this moment in time. Space was home to billions upon billions of stars and millions of planets. But there were rubble of destroyed planets. Planets such as Krypton, Argo, and the like. But there were many planets that still continued on. Planets such as Mars, Apokolips, Jupiter, and most importantly, Earth.
But space was also home to space trash such as metes, asteroids, and such. One such meteor was floating through space. Then, in an instant, the meteor burst into many pieces, small meteorites. Then these meteorites, as if on command, started on a course, and began making their way towards a small moon and its neighboring planet.
That planet was Earth.
CHAPTER THREE
Clark Kent sat with his parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent, at 2:30 in the morning, all taken abacvk by Clark's nightmare. They had poured Clark a cup of milk in the hopes that it would take his mind off the dream. It wasn't working. He thought that they would know this by now. Ever since Clark found out by the billionaire scientist Virgil Swann that he was actually a strange visitor from the planet Krypton, these strange things had been kind of a normal thing. Not to mention that Clark did live in Smallville, KS, kind of attracted these kinds of things. Clark had witnessed these things first hand.
Clark had ony taken one, maybe two sips from his milk that his parents had poured for him. He was just staring out into space, thinking about the nightmare. It seemed that with every minute that passed, the dream seemed to fade so he tried to hold onto it as long as he could.
His parents obviously noticed this, because they shouted, "CLARK!!!"
He still stared out into space, trying to piece it all together. "I can't help but feel this is some kind of warning."
Martha just shrugged off that comment. "Now, Clark, it was nothing more than a bad dream."
"You used to have nightmares all the time when you were little, remember?"Jonathan then chimed in, as if in agreement.
Clark shook his head. "This time's different. It felt so real. And if it is a warning, I need to do something."
"No. What you need to do is get some shut-eye so you're not half-asleep tomorrow when they hand you that diploma," interrupted Jonathan.
"Your dad's right. Don't let a little nightmare spoil your high school graduation."
Clark had almost forgotten all about graduation. That was tomorrow, wasn't it? Soon, he would be graduating from Smallville High. It all happened so fast when he entered high schoiol with Chloe and Lana, and everything. It was truly a commencement day for him.
"A nightmare? So that's what this commotion is about," called a voice from behind.
Both Clark and his parents tunred around to see who it was. They shouldn'e have been surprised when they saw a 19-year-old girl right behind them. It was Lois Lane.
Lois Lane was a young city-girl who was just staying in Smallville to be with her cousin Chloe Sullivan, who was one of Clark's triuest friends. Something Lois was not. Clark did like Lois, but he didn't really have a bond with her as he did with Chloe or Lana.
As Lois came down the stairs, she headed to the refrigerator, obviously to get a drink as they were doing. Then, Lois leaned in to talk to Clark
"Clark, if it makes you feel any better, I have nightmares all the time."
Then she leaned back. Clark should've known that Lois would make one of her outgoing remarks. That was just who Lois Lane was.
"In fact, Smallville, I had this one last week. It was really scary. It was about this guy in a red cape."
Clark wasn't overall comforted by this. In fact, it didn't comfort him at all. It didn't make his ordeal any better. A dream about a guy in a red cape didn't even compare with Clark's nightmare. It just seemed to him like a girl fantasy dream. After all, what did Clark Kent care about a guy in a red cape anyway? But he decided to just to let it go with a sarcastic remark.
"Oh, that sounds horrible, Lois."
But, Clark could tell from the look on Lois' face that she didn't particularly care for his sarcastic remark. But, Clark didn't really particularly care about Lois.
"Well, there's something I wsnted to tell you guys, so I guess two in the morning is good a time as any."
"What is it, Lois?" asked Martha.
"Oh, the general's recruited me for a recon mission to locate my sister, Lucy. So we're headed for Heidelburg tomorrow."
Martha expressed her sadness. "Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that, Lois."
Clark remembered trying to help Lois help her sister Lucy earlier in the year. Now Lucy apparently was on the run again. But this tim Lois was going to Europe to locate her. Last time Clark checked, Europe was as far from Smallville as Krypton was from Earth. He just stared at Lois and tried to cover his delight, as Lois would finally be out of his hair.
Lois must've saw Clark's delight, because she just sighed, smiled at Clark, and said, "Clark, I know how devastated you must be but if you could just keep your tears to a minimum, I'd appreciate it."
Clark just smiled giddily and replied, "I'll try, Lois."
"Thanks," Lois said, and then turned to Clark's parents. "Mr. and Mrs. Kent, I just wanted to thanks for everything. You guys are like the mom and dad I've always wanted to have."
Clark's parents smiled at Lois, as if humbled by the comment. Then, Jonathan put his arm over Lois. "Lois, I just want you to know that you are welcome back here anytime."
"Well, actually - -," Clark interjected, not quite ready to let Lois come back so easily as she had fallen out of his hair.
"We'll all miss you, Lois," interjected Martha, giving Clark a nasty stare.
Clark just nodded and smiled at Lois. Lois just smiled right back at him, that little snarky smile he had come to despise ever since Lois walked into Smallville earlier this year. Then, Lois gave a sincere smile, and said, "I'll miss you all, too."
Then, Shelby the Kents' dog jumped up at Lois, as if to say that he would miss her, as well, as if he knew of Lois' allergy to dogs, but loved her just the same. Then, Lois replied to Shelby. "No, I won't miss you, dog. No, not at all."
Clark couldn't help but laugh. In this moment with Lois and her farwell, he had almost forgotten about his nightmare the night before.
Almost.
CHAPTER FOUR
Lex had taken Lana to his mansion and had her cleaned up. Lex had his butlers get a basin full of water so that Lana could wash her hands and had them bring the basin to his study.. This they did immediately as Lex and Lana went to the study inside the Luthor mansion. As soon as they got there, Lex directed Lana to the basin and Lana put down her purse and proceeded to wash her hands vigorously and furiously. Lex stood aside and let Lana wash her hands. But as Lana washed her hand, she was very much like Lady Macbeth when she had killed Duncan in the Shakespearean play, Macbeth.
Then, Lana startted to talk again since the incident. Lex knew why Genevieve had attacked Lana. Earlier that day, both Genevieve and her sin Jason had kidnapped Lex and his father for knowledge of the location of the crystals that the Teagues seemed to be so obsessed about. Lex's dad told Geneveieve that Lana had had the crystal that he stole from the Genevieve and she wanted it back. She also wanted the crystal that Jason got from China. But Lex believed that he had lied to save his own skin and that he had put Lana's life in danger. He hated his father for that. Finally, Lana spoke, and it was frantic.
""S-she was c-coming out me s-so fast. I-I-I don't even remember stabbing her," said Lana frantically, as she tried to rub her hands clean of the bloodstain from Genevieve's body.
Lex then got a pitcher and started pouring more water into the basin, and knew he had try and calm Lana down for a few minutes. "Lana, I want you to take a deep breath and try to relax."
But it seems that Lana wouldn't relax nor let this go. "Lex, a woman is dead because of me! I killed her!"
Lex then pulled out a towel and continued to calm Lana down from the incident, as she was still shaking very violently still even though it had been several hours since the incident. Lex then directed Lana to sit on the couch in the Luthor mansion study where they were. "No,no, Lana. You had no choice. You did what anyone else would do if their life was at stake."
Lana was srtill shaking a little bit, but not as much as she was a few minutes ago. She started to breath slowly and relax a little but more. But Lex could tell that Lana was a still a little on edge from the murder. "I have to tell Jason. She was his mother."
Lex just looked at Lana, unsure of that was a good idea, for Jason Teague was also dead. When the Teagues had kidnapped Lex and his dad, Lex and his dad escaped, and Jason tired to kill them., But Lex cornered Jason to a cliff's edge, and was about to kill him. Then, Jason informed Lex that Clark was more connected to the crystals than anybody in Smallville, more so than Lana. But before Jason could tell him more, Lex's father shot Jason. So, Jason was dead. So, all Lex could tell Lana was, "I'll deal with Jason."
But Lana wasn't satisfied with Lex's answer, as she immediately resumed her hysterics and began walking out of the study room. "Lex, there's a DEAD BODY in my apartment! I - I have to go to the police, and tell them what happened!!!!"
Then, Lex stood up and stopped her from doing so. "Lana, I'm not sure that's such a good idea."
Lana turned around and stopped dead in her tracks, wondering what Lex could possibly mean. "Genevieve Teague was a powerful woman," contineud Lex, "married to a extremely powerful lawyer. Even though it was clearly self-defense, Edward Teague is going to make sure that the jury sees otherwise."
Lex could see the look of perplexment on Lana's face. "Then what's going to happen to me? Am I going to go to prison?"
Lex only smiled at Lana and said, "No. I've retained one of the best defense attorneys in the country, and as soon as he arrives from New York, we'll go to the authorities."
Then, Lana sank deep into Lex's arms, in gratitude for what Lex was doing for her. Lex cared for Lana very much, and would do anything to help her. But he also knew that Lana had one of those crystals that the Teagues, and his father had sought. He wanted that, too. "Now, you have to trust me. Until the lawyer arrives, I want you to stay here and talk to no one."
As soon as Lex said that, Lana had a look of desperartion on her face, as if she had just remembered something immediately. "My purse. Where's my purse?"
She started to search frantically for it until she found it at the floor, where she obviously dropped it when she came in. She then proiceeded to open it very quickly, as if to see somethign was still there.
"Don't worry. It's still there," said Lex, as she looked at him with a look of distrust. "I'd never take it from you."
Then, suddenly, the door in the study room opened, and it was one of the Luthor mansion security people. He stood and went to Lex and whispered in his ear, "Mr. Luthor, we have a situation."
Lex just looked at Lana and only smiled. "Don't worry, Lana. It's going to be okay."
Lana just sat hereslf at the couch, after removing a small object covered by a red handkerchef, that Lex knew was the crystal. But he didn't get to see it again before he left.
*****
Lex walked out of the Luthor mansion study room and followed his guard out into the hallway and stopped him. "What's the situation, guard?"
"It's the body, Mr. Luthor," said the guard.
"The body of Genevieve Teague?" asked Lex.
The guard then nodded, as if to confirm it.
"What about it?" asked Lex.
"It's gone, sir. Cleaned up and removed from the sight."
Lex couldn't believe this. Who would take a body in the middle of the night? thought Lex. Besides, he needed that body. That body was his leverage to Lana so she could trust him to give him that crystal.
"I'm going to downtown Smallville to investigate. Keep an eye on Ms. Lang. Make sure she doesn't leave the mansion and taks to no one but me. Understood?"
"Yes, sir."
The guard went down the hall to keep an eye on Lana, while Lex went the other way down the hall to get his Mercedes-Benz and take it to downtown Smallville to investigate what had happened to Genevieve's body. He had an inkling who might've taken it. But it was only an inkling.
*****
Lana was left alone inside the Luthor mansion study room, holding the object in her purse that she feared might've been lost in the frantics of the murder. It was a crystal that Jason had obtained in China. She felt she was somehow connected to these ancient crystals. She didn't know how but she was connected to them somehow. She felt it in her bones. That was why she had stolen the crystal from Jason shortly after he got it.
She opened the handkerchief to reveal the triangular-shaped crystal that she had. The tip and most of the crystal was drenched in blood. She had not cleaned the blood, and she didn't know if she was going to. It was a reminder of the deadly sin that she had committed earlier that night. She was unsure if she was willing to let that go just yet.
She observed the crystal carefully. She saw the symbol on the front of the crystal. The cymbol was a triangular-shaped crest with what looked the number eight in the center. She stared at that symbol for a long while. Just looking at the symbol made her feel good. The way she felt when Clark was around.
Clark, she thought. How would she explain this to him? How she needed Clark. She cared for Clark very much. But whether Clark card back was a mystery to her. He seemed to, but Clark had these other sides to him that made it difficult for her to know the real Clark Kent. He had so many secrets in his life. But she loved him just the same. Even when she was with Jason, those feelings for Clark were still there. She didn't know if Clark would still love her now that she had done this.
She continued to observe the crystal and noticed that it was not the only of its kind, but everyone knew that. Even she did. But the interlocking part of the crystal seemed to glow a white color. She touched the interlocking part to see what that glow was. She touched it and then - -
"LANA!!!!!!!!"
Lana jumped out of her seat on the couch, startled by the flash that she just saw, dropped the crystal on the floor. She then moved over to pick it up. She was still jumping from that flash, and then picked up the crystal and covered it in the red handkerchief she had in her purse.
She still couldn't believe what she had just saw. She tried to piece together what she saw, as it happened so fast. It was a person was the first thought that came to her. She felt the person she saw was the one whom these crystals were truly meant for. Lana's eyes widened. She began to tell herself that it was impossible. The person she saw was one she was very well-acquainted with. If the person she saw was meant to have the crystals, she had to give the crystals she had to the person she saw. But she just could not believe it.
The person she saw in that brief flash was her dear friend, Clark Kent.
*****
Lex walked into Lana's apartment above the Talon, the hottest coffeeshop this side of Smallville. Lex normally didn't like coffeeshops, as they were not good for business. But Lex kept it running, as it was Lana's dream to revitalize the old Talon Theater-coffeeshop of the 50's. He liked Lana's enthusiasm for it, so he kept it, because he did care for Lana.
It was that care for Lana that drove him to the Talon now, as he received word from his security guard that the body of Genevieve Teague was missing. The disappearance of Genevieve Teague's body would ensure Lana's guilt before a jury. It was also his leverage to obtain Lana's crystal for himself.
He looked around Lana's apartment and saw the place was empty. No body, no nothing. Lex then leaned down where the body was. He felt where the blood shoud've been. The blood was gone. Whoever evacuated the body had cleaned the place . . . clean.
As Lex was investigating the crime scene, he heard a voice that made him shudder. It was a voice he recognized too, which made him cringe even more.
"I thought I'd do Miss Lang a favor and tidy up the place a bit. She left the place in quite a mess."
The figure in the dark who the voice belonged to was sitting on a couch in the middle of the room. He turned on a lamp to reveal who he was. He was a man in a black suit, with a white shirt, and purple tie. The man was elegantly dressed in the suit. He had a scruffy beard and bushy brown hair with some gray linings in between. Lex knew who the man was. It was his father, Lionel Luthor.
So his father had cleaned the body from Lana's apartment. Once again, Lex was pushed against his father.
"What are you looking for, dad? The Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval?"
Lex's dad seemed unaffected by Lex's snide question. "You know, Lex, for a woman without a heart, Genevieve Teague certainly had a lot of blood"
Lex was very angry with his dad for going behind his back on this. So he decided to get straight to the point on why his father was so generous to clean up Lana's apartment. His dad always had an ulterior motive for things. Always, and just when you think he had none, he always had something up his sleeve. "You didn't come here to do a postmortem on Genevieve Teague, dad. What is it you want?"
Lex's dad stopped his tirade for a minute, and crossed his hands, looking directly at Lex thoughtfully. "I'd like to offer a trade, Lex."
Lionel Luthor walked up to his son, Lex, to deal with him. Lex was very skeptiocal of this trade. Whatever it was, Lex had a very bad feeling about it. "Lana Lang's freedom for the artifact she has in her possession." proposed Lionel, and he smiled after he proposed the trade.
Lex knew his dad wanted those crystals just as badly as he did. But he wasn't about to let him have them. "Dad, don't you think your search for these three ancient crystals are starting to border on the fanatical?"
Lex's dad smiled and chuckled a bit at Lex's remark. "Is that what you think? Well, let me remind you, Lex. It was you who looted the ruins of Egypt to get your hands on one of those crystals. Who's more fanatical, you or me?" Lionel said, as he continued to tidy up, picking up an apple that obviously fell during the murder.
Lex turned around to face his father and firmly said, "Trust me. Lana Lang has nothing to do with this, despite what you think, dad."
Lionel smiled, and went up to Lex's face and said, "Oh, how chivalrous of you. You are the gallant hero trying to protect the damsel in distress but - - "
Lex interupted his dad's tirade and said, "Dad, I'm warning you. Leave her alone."
Lionel Luthor continued, as if not hearing Lex, "--but all your life you've had a tendency to let the damsel lead you straight into the mouth of the dragon. Your feelings for Miss Lang, don't let them cripple your common sense, son." Lionel smiled at his son, hoping he would see past his son's love for Lana Lang and do what was necessary to succeed. Lionel then turned to walk out the door, which was still open from when Lex entered. "Lex, I expect to see that crystal in my hands by noon tomorrow."
Lex was not too happy about his dad's proposal, and was not sure he wanted to agree with it. "Oh, Lex," his father said, "in case you're having second thoughts about my trade, just remember I have the evidence that points to Miss Lang's guilt. It would be a shame if the corpse of Genevieve Teague were delivered to the sheriff with Lana Lang's DNA as postage." Lionel chuckled as he left.
Lex would try to double-squeeze out of his father's trade, as best as he could. He would not give in to his father's demand. But, now he knew what bhe had to do. He would protect Lana from his father's maniacal treasure hunt, but he would see to it that he would get the crystal before his father ever could. He, after all, had Lana Lang in his mansion this very moment.
Lex smiled at himself. His father thought he had the upper hand, but it was really he, Lex Luthor, who was on top of things.
CHAPTER FIVE
In the depths of space, clusters of meteors flew on a straight course, making its way to the planet Earth, as if the metoeirs were plotted on that straight, slipstream course.
Many meteors had fallen on a nearby moon that neighbored Earth. But a huge percentage of those meteors were propelling themselves towards Earth.
*****
Meanwhile, in an STAR Labs solar observatory in Metropolis, a young tech named Joe Jurgens was just sitting, relazing, and reading Adbusters. Not much happened on his shift in the three months that he had been working at STAR LABS. So he wasn't too worried about anything big happening. So he just relazed and his desk. Then, he heard a BEEP!!!!
On his computer radar screen, he saw an unbelievable sight. It looked like a cluster of unidentified space debris. He thought that was strange because he had looked at his screen not five minutes ago, and there was nothing there. Now there was a whole cluster of activity. He immediately began to panic.
"Dr. Loeb, sir?" Joe called out.
Dr. Jeph Loeb was a respected scientist at STAR Labs, and was commissioned to the solar observatory after Dr. Virgil Swann left, and went into personal exile after he was paralyzed in a car accident. Dr. Loeb had not seen any abnormal activity since Dr. Swann claimed to have seen a clister of space debris sixteen years ago. It was as if the phenomenon had just . . . died.
Then, Dr. Loeb got a call from one of the techs that worked in the solar observatory. So he went to see what the disturbance was about.
"Sir, you better check the screen, here. Look. I've never seen anything like this," replied Joe.
So, Loeb went over to check out the screen, not expecting to find anything really. It was probably just some prank by local kids. But as soon as Dr. Loeb looked at the screen, his eyes widened. It was unbelievable. He had never seen anything like it. It was almost the same thing that Swann had described sixteen years ago. Immediately, Loeb asked the tech, "How long has there been activity, Jurgens?"
"There was nothing there five minutes ago. It just . . . came out of nowhere," asked Jurgens. Jurgens thought it was nothing, but then he saw the look on Loeb's face. It was a look of shock. "Sir? What's going on?"
Loeb just couldn't believe it. When Swann said he saw a cluster of space debris in '89, he thought, like everybody else, that Swann had just gone nuts and decided to follow little green men. But now Loeb knew that Swann must've been telling the truth the whole time. "Sir?"
The tech's question brought him back to reality. "Jurgens, I want you to get on the horn with the military services in all surrounding areas. Got that?"
Jurgens nodded and called all military personnel in areas such as New York City, Edge City, Coast City, Keystone City, and Gotham. Loeb saw him call those military personnel for those cities. Then Loeb intejected. "Jurgens! Call Metropolis Military Services and have them go to Smallville, Kansas."
Jurgens just gave Loeb a perplexed look. "Sir? Smallville is the smallest town this side of the US. Why do you want the City of Tomorrow's top military service to go there? What's going on?"
Loeb told Jurgens. "Jurgens, that cluster of space debris is a meteor shower headed for Earth. Now, sixteen years ago, Virgil Swann tracked a similar meteor shower in '89 and tracked it to Smallville, Kansas. Everyone, including myself, thought he was crazy. But the meteor shower hit Smallville just as he predicted. So, I figure lightning is due to strike again. So just get on the horn with MMS. 'Kay, Jurgens?"
Jurgens nodded and made the call to MMS, and said a prayer in his heart for all the people in Smallville, Kansas, who would be devastated by this cosmic disaster. Surely, something huge was about to commence in Smallville . . .
Let me know what you think.
______________________________________________
PROLOGUE
Eighteen years ago, a lone ship sailed across the stars from the planet Krypton to the world of Earth cloaked in a meteor shower covered with the pieces of a broken planet. The infant child, Kal-El, was found by an Earth family, Jonathan and Martha Kent, in the Kansas farmtown of Smallville. They took him unto their own, raised him as a humble farmboy and they named him "Clark".
The broken pieces of the planet had a strange effect on the people of Smallville, and scarred the town forever. Smallville was indeed in need of a hero, if not a superhero.
Four years ago, Clark Kent discovered miraculous abilities, that of a super man. He was able to run faster than the fastest man alive. He learned that he could lif up a tractor without even breaking a sweat. He was able to see through solid objects, just by staring at it. He was able to shoot fire from his eyes by looking at it. He was able to listen carefully, and hear amplified sound, just like a dog can. Being endowed with all these super-abilities, he took those abilities and tried to help people and save them from fear and darkness, while trying to please his true love and forge a friendship with an outsider. So, he made a promise to himself that he would never tell anyone this deep dark secret until he himself could come to terms with it. But he held onto the hope that there were others in this world like him. But his father told him that he was from another planet, and that there might not be others like him. But Clark still hoped . . .
Three years ago, Clark Kent found Dr. Virgil Swann, who would change Clark's life forever and learned of his true roots, that he was a survivor from the planet Krypton, which cemented his vow to keep these roots and abilities a secret to his friends. DR. Swann told him that he was the only one from his home planet, and urged him to write his own destiny as Kal-El, the Last Son of Krypton. His biological father, Jor-El, called to him and begged him to fulfill his destiny. He refused and there were dire consequences.
Two years ago, Jonathan Kent made a deal with Jor-El for the custody and destiny of their son. The effects of this deal had serious implications on Jonathan. After these incidents, Clark wanted to shut out his past, and live a normal life. Then in the next year, Jor-El took the boy and reprogrammed and sent him on a crusade to find three crystals. With the help of his mothers' love, he was able to break free from Jor-El's power. But, Clark learned that these crystals has encoded within them the knoweldge of a great civilization, which Clark is the sole survivor of, which were brought to Earth many years ago and hidden across the Earth. Clark is told that if he does not find them, there will be dire consequences.
Meanwhile, a family, the Luthors, whose son, Lex, is a good friend of Clark's but is constantly fighting the darkness bent on finding these crystals and what they mean to life on Earth also hoping to discover how it connects to the young farmboy Clark Kent, and are willing to get them by any means necessary, even pitting themselves against each other. Meanwhile, a rival family, the Teagues, appears in Smallville, whose son Jason is courting Clark Kent's true love also seek the crystals for power. Greed is driving these two families to hunt the crystals. Also, Clark Kent's true love, Lana Lang, is also in search of these crystals, as her ancestor, the Countess Isobel, sarched for them in several hundred years ago. But the search for these crystals drives Lana and Jason further apart.
In the midst of all this, Chloe Sullivan, longtime friend of Clark, sees Clark use his abilities and discovers the secret of his power, but not knowing the shole truth. But she vows to keep to herself that she knows the secret of Clark Kent. She will continue to keep it a secret until Clark decides to tell this secret to her himself. To make things even more complicated, Chloe's cousin, Lois Lane, enters Clark's life and adds a little spice to it as well. After having no place to live, the Kents offer a home to young Lois. So, Clark must try to embark on the Kryptonian Crusade to find these lost crystals before anyone else does. But he has only managed to find one. Lana Lang traveled to China and obtained the second crystal. But the location of the third crystal remains a mystery to Clark, Lana, the Luthors, and the Teagues.
But as Jason's search for the crystals deepens, his relationship with Lana rifts away, thus bringing Clark and Lana closer together. But can Clark and Lana have a truly meaningful relationship with the burden of Clark's secret looming over them like a cloudy day?
After torturing the Luthors, the Teagues manage to learn that Lana Lang has obtained one of the ancient crystals from Lionel Luthor, Lex's father. But Jason Teague has learned the truth, that Lana Lang is not the chosen one these stone are meant for, but actually the Smallville farmboy, Clark Kent, is the chosen one. Jason shares this with Lex, but before Lex can digest it, Lionel kills Jason Teague, sending him plummeting down a waterfall. Meanwhile, Genevieve Teague, Jason's mother, heads to Lana's apartment to get the crystal from her. Will she obtain it?
That is where this story begins.
Truly, a commencement is upon the small town of Smallville, Kansas. Will anyone survive its power? One thing can be said though, after this great commencement is over, no one in Smallville will be the same, ever again.
CHAPTER ONE
Lana Lang walked itno her apartment at the Talon. It had been a loing day. She had been all ovwer Metropolis and everywhere trying to prepare for her graduation that was tomorrow. It was a big day for her, for all the students of Smallville High, especially her dear friend Clark Kent.
Clark, she thought. He had always been there for him. For the past 4 years, he had always been there for her, saving her. She and Clark had always tried to have a relationship. But Clark had so many secrets. Neither of them could commit to a relationship. But she knew how she fwelt about him. She loved him dearly. But she also worried about the opther man in her life, Jason Teague. Jason had come from Paris to Smallville at the beginning of Lana's senior year, but his search for some ancient crystals had divided their relationship. She smiled.
She just needed to get some rest so she wouldn't be dozing off tomorrow when she was handed the diploma that said that she would be able to graduate. Lana then locked the door. She was about to move over to the oither part of the apartment in the Talon when she heard a voice.
"I have to applaud you, Lana."
Lana about jumped out of her skin when she heard someone's voice in her apartment. She then saw a lady dressed in very fashionable clothing, come out from behind the shadows of her apartment. It was Jason's mother, Genevieve Teague!!! What was she doing in her apartment. Jason had told Lana all about his mother. He told him that she was not a force to be reckoned with. She said that she was manipulatiuve, devious, and was able to hold her own in war of words. But why was Jason's mother in her apartment? What did she want from Lana? Genevieve moved from the shadows into the light, and continued speaking.
"I raised my son to have a willpower that couldn't be broken by anything. Except his love for you, apparently."
Why was Genevieve going on this huge tirade? She hadn't done anything to her or to Jason, so she still wondered wehat Jason's mother was doing in her apartment. Lana looked down and couldn't help but notice the gun in Genevieve's hand. Apparently, she wasn't messing around. So why was Genevieve in her apartment, with a gun no less? If there was one thing that Clark had taught her it was to be brave. So Lana decided to be brave and she stood in front of Genevieve and decided to confront her and ask her herself.
"What do you want from me?"
Genevieve just smiled at Lana, as if it were obvious, and replied simply, "The crystal."
Lana looked at Genevieve with a look of absolute shock. So apparently Genevieve shared Jason's obsession with those ancient crystals that were linked to the mysteriopus tattoo that appeared mystically on her back. Like mother, like son.
Then Genevieve continued, "The one Lionel gave you."
Now Lana was beginning to wonder if Jason's mother was a lunatic. Because it was true she had one of the ancient crystals. Jason had retrieved one earlier this year in China, and she had stolen it from him, but Lionel - - and she was referring to Lionel Luthor, resident billionaire of Smallville, rivaled only by his son, Lex - - had not given her any of those crystals. So Lana had no idea what Genevieve was talking about. So Lana thn moved to call Genevieve on her bluff.
"Lionel? He never gave me any - - "
Apparently, Genevieve wasn;t going to have any of that, because Lana hadn't even finished her sentence before Genevieve cocked the gun and pointed it at her forehead. Lana was really starting to get scared now, but she couldn't let that show. She had to try to stay as brave as long as she could. That's what Clark would do.
"I'm going to find it whether you help me or not. Without my help would take longer, my dear Lana, and I don't have a lot of time."
Then, Lana realized that there was no way out of this mess other than to do what Genevieve wanted , and that was to give her the crystal. She didn't want to do it, as she felt that the crystals could point her to her history, her present, and even her future destiny. But, maybe it wasn't worth it. After all, it was just a little piece of rock. So, Lana opened her purse and pulled out a small red handkerchief. As she pulled out this red handkerchief, Genevieve lowered her weapon, as she was finally beginning to be pleased that Lana was doing what she wanted. Lana then opened the handkerchief, as it had been folded rather neatly, to reveal a small crystal. It was a triuangular-shaped crystal that had a crest, that looked like a triangular shape with an eight in the center. She revealed it to Genevieve, and Genevieve looked at it like that thing in those Lord of the Rings movies. Genevieve just smiled and was about to reach for it and grab it when she did a roundhouse kick and kicked the gun oiut of Genevieve's hand. She was about to make a break for it when Genevieve grabbed Lana from behins and puller her back. Genevieve has grabbed by her hair. She then proceeeded to knock Lana against a lamp, and then continued to hold her tight grip, but let it go as she pushed her to the ground.
Lana was beginning to think that Genevieve was a psychopath after all. But Lana still has grip of the crystal. So at least she still had some leverage against Genevieve. She disn;t get to think about that too much longer because Genevieve grabbed Lana anbd pushed her against a shelf in the apartment. Both Genevieve and Lana grabbed each other by the forearms and tried to push each other. Lana tried to push Genevieve but apparently Genevieve was the stronger woman. Then Genevieve pushed Lana to the ground, and Lana figured it must have taken a lot of strength on both their parts, because they were both on the ground.
As Lana hit the ground, the crystal fell out of her ground. So much for leverage, thought Lana. Genevieve was truly on the brink of madness thorighout his whole escapade. Lana was kind of glad that she broke with up with Jason a few months back. As she didn't want to get tangled with Jason's mother, oir get on her bad side, now that she had seen the madness of Genevieve Teague. Lana Lang began to wonder
what Genevieve would be willing to do to get that crystal on the ground.
Lana's question was soon answered when Genevieve proceeded to grab her by the neck and began to choke her. Genevieve was going to kill her. She was beginning to lose her breath, as her throat was being cut off by Genevieve's hold on her. Genevieve obviously didn't see the crystal on the ground, as she was choking her. Or maybe she did see on the ground, adn was just going to kill Lana so she could never have the crystal, and Genevieve could have it for herself. Whatever was going through Genevieve's mind wasn;t good.
As Genevieve's hold on Lana grew stronger, Lana began to feel something in her heart and mind, wanting to break free. She feared that it was the Isobel persona that had been injected into her with the strange tattoo. That persona had always emerged when Lana was in physical danger, almost as a protector. Isobel had arisen when Lana was threatened by Chinese guards a few months ago. She could feel Isobel's burning a way in now, trying to break out and save Lana once again, as Genevieve continued to strangle her with her strong grip.
As Genevieve's grip grew tighter, Lana could feel the beast persona that was Isobel gaining total control. I guess the old saying is true. "Sometimes when you cage the beast, the beast gets angry." Because Lana's goodness couldn;'t seem to hold back Isobel's aggressive nature.
Lana's eyes burned with a flourescent fure. It was at that moment Lana knew. Isobel was free!!!!
*******
Isobel couldn't believe that she was finally free again!!! Free to roam the earth and use the crystals of power to seek revenge on those who had wronged her. She had begun this plan to a small scale on two other occasions. On both occasions, she had been thwarted by that extraordinarily remarkable, yet meddlesome, individual named Clark Kent. She would deal with Clark later. But now she had to take care of the descendant of that meddlesome Duchess Gertrude, who had a hand on having her burned all those 400 years ago. Isobel wondered what the human Lana had done to incur her warth. But she would deal with that later. She was being choked to death.
As Isobel stared at Gertrude's descendant who she surmised to be named Genevieve, she couldn't help but notice the look of shock on Genevieve's face. Apparently, Genevieve didn't know what the Countess Isobel was made of. Now she would feel her fury firsthand. She was such a privileged mortal, thought Isobel.
Isobel then grabbed Genevieve's wrists and threw her on her back. Now Isobel lay on top of Genevieve. She had been inside Lana, dormant and had watched the battle between the mortal Lana and Genevieve. Genevieve had put up quite a fight for the crystal. Her ancestor, Gertrusde, was just the same way. It was no matter now. She would never get the crystal anyway. For the crystals of power were hers and hers only.
As Isobel sat on top of Genevieve, having subdued her, Isobel realized that she would now get her chance to exact revenge on the mortal family of the Duchess Gertrude. Part of her mission would be complete. Her next stage would be achievong all the crystals of power and ruling the world. She knew now that Genevieve Teague had to die. But she could find no suitable weapon to complete this task. She looked over beside Genevieve's body, and saw the Crystal of the element air. It had a sharp point and could suffice as a weapon to complete the task that she had traveled so far to accomplish.
Isobel used her witch-like power to grab the crystal. She held it to the sky, and smiled at Genevieve. Genevieve had a look on her face of absolute dread, as she knew what was coming. Isobel then placed the sharp edge of the crystal into her Genevieve's heart. Genevieve Teague would not survive this. She was after all, a mere mortal.
As Isobel continued to do this, a look of absolute dread and shock pepetrated her face, as Isobel could feel the crystal draining the life out of Genevieve's body. Isobel smiled, as the first part of her mission was complete.
As the crystal embedded itself further into Genevieve's heart, Isobel could feel power, slowly creeping from the stone's edge to her hands, flowing into her body. Then, suddenly, the crystal's power transferred an onsaliught of energy, power!!! She could feel it. It was as she was being charged like what Lana would call a "battery." Something like that. She din;t understand 21st century mortal temrinolfy really. All she knew was that it felt good With this kind of power in her body, there was no telling what she would do.
But as the power flowed thorugh her body, Isobel could feel the power siphoning her away. The crystal was not only killing Genevieve, but it was killing Isobel. NO!!!!! She would not let the fire of Isobel die out like this. But it mattered not. She had completed her mission. Genevieve Teague was murdered, and her revenge was complete.
She no longer cared for anything else. And with that thought, the spirit of Countess Isobel Thoreaux died.
*******
Lana woke up. She had no idea what had happened in the last two minutes. Isobel must've taken control of her body again. But as she woke up, she felt a branding on her lower back, where the mysterious tattoo was. She reached behind her back and felt the tattoo was no longer there. Finally, the Isobel crisis was now a thing of the past. She could now just forget that it ever even happened. She then looked down at Genevieve and saw her eyes close. Lana feared the worst, as she looked down on her hands.
They were drenched in blood. No, thought Lana, I couldn't have done it. It wasn't possible!!!! Genevieve Teague was dead. She didn't remember anything. What had Isobel done???
She couldn;t believe it. If anybody knew, she could possibly end up in prison, just after her graduation. Lana began to shake and tremble after learning of the deed she had just done. Genevieve's blood was on her hands. She also saw the crystal embedded in Genevieve's heart. She had done the deed right too. But she still wouldn't believe it. Then she looked up and saw something dreadful.
It was a man. It was Lex Luthor. Lex now knew that she had killed somebody. What was she to do now?
******
"Lana?"
Lex couldn't believe that Lana was standing over Genevieve Teague's dead body. Lex had just witnessed the murder of her son, Jason Teague, by his father. After his dad killed Jason, he rushed over to the place he thought Lana would most likely be: the Talon. He had hoped that Genevieve hadn't killed Lana and gotten the crystal. But apparently, Lana had killed Genevieve. Why would Lana kill Genevieve? Now both Teagues, Genevieve and Jason, were dead. Lex figured it was just as well. Now Lex was able to find those other crystals without the interference of the Teagues. But there was still the interference of his father. But he would deal with that later. He had to get Lana to safety.
Lex could see that Lana was in shock. It was like she hadn't done the killing. Lana looked as if she was shocked that she had done it. Lex had read that many people after they kill people, they go into utter shock. One classic example was in Macbeth when Lady Macbeth killed Duncan, she went into so much shock that she couldn't stop seeing the blood. But Lana wasn't a murderer. She was normally a strong, sweet-hearted woman. She would never murder anyone, at least not to his knowledge.
As Lex stood there, he watched Lana remove the weapon that had been used to kill Genevieve from Genevieve's heart. From a peripheral view, he saw that the weapon was one of the crystals!!! Lana had had one of the crystals the whole time. Lex could not believe it, but Lex instantly decided that he would not take the crystal from Lan. He cared about her and his friendship with her too much to resort to stealing a little crystal. Even if one of the crystals did contain a key of knowledge greater than the library of Alexandria.
Lex watched Lana put the crystal and wrapped it around a red handkerchief, red as the blood that almost drenched the crystal. Then she placed it in her purse. Then Lana walked up to face Lex.
"Lex, I - -"
"Lana, I understand Genevieve Teague almost tried to kill you. She almost tried to kill me and my dad. I understand yopu had to defend yourself. Now, let's get out of here, okay? I'll have some of my people cleaning up this mess in here. We'll pretend it never happenedn okay? We can go to my mansion and get you cleaned up. Okay?"
Lana nodded stiffly, as she was still in shock. Then, Lex gently moved Lana to the door, and Lana walked quickly out of her apartment in the Talon. But, Lex, however, couldn't stop looking at the body of Genevieve Teague. That body may be the leverage that Lex needed to try and get Lana to give him that crystal in her posession. He wouldn't resort to stealing, but a little friendly shove never hurt anybody.
Lex just smiled and walked down the stairs of the Talon with Lana.
CHAPTER TWO
It was a quiet night at the Kent farm. All was quiet, which was pretty unusuual, considering that the Kent farm was in the town of Smallville, Kansas where nothing was normal or as it seemed. The Kent farm had been quite a buzz the past few yars, especially once that crazy symboln had been burned into the face of the Kent barn, and when the symbol was burned into the field of the Kent farm. It had been a crazy year in Smallville.
But for now it was quiet. Jonathan and Martha Kent slept soundly upstairs in their room. The visitor from Metropolis, Lois Lane, was also asleep upstairs. All this was going on while the Kents' 18-year-old son, Clark, slept soundly on the living room couch. Clark had been sleeping very soundly this night. The fact that he was able to was a miracle in itself. A lot had happened this year in Smallville, and it all had to do with Clark.
Clark Kent was not an ordinary young man. Some would say he was very "special." To Clark, that would be a matter of opinion. Clark Kent was actually a strange visitor from another planet. He was in fact Kal-El of Krypton. This fact had separated him friom his family and close friends. This fact explained a lot about Clark. He had abilities far beyong those of mort al men. He could run faster than anybody, was stronger than anybody, could see through things, was invulnerable, could shoot fire from his eyes, and could hear thing better than any hound dog. This fact had embarked him on a crusade to find the three crystals which were from his home planet. The spirit of his biological father, Jor-El, had told him that these stones contained the knowledge of the universe, and most importantly, the knowledge of his home planet, Krypton. But Clark didn;t worry about it so much, after all Krypton was destroyed. Jor-El told him that if the crystals were found by humans first, it would lead to the world's destruction. So that gave him a little incentive to find the crystals. But he wasn't worried about it. Right now, he'd rather dream of Lana.
He was trying to dream of Lana when suddenly he heard something! Imeediately, he stumbled out of his sleep and awakened. He could;ve sworn he hard a voice saying, "It's coming, Kal-El." It sounded like the voice of his biological father, Jor-El of Krypton. What was coming? Was there anything he could do to stop it? He immediately rose up and looked about to see what exactly was coming. He was not only awakened by the voice but also by a series of colored light. Then, as he looked around, he saw the television set flcker on, and produce nothing but static. He also looked to see the alarm on his dad's grandftaher clock go off. The hands on the clock were moving all over the face of the clock. What was making these clocks go off? Clark wondered. He also saw all the lights in the house flicker. Then, a fire started in the fireplace. What the heck wasa going on? Was this some sort of warning from Jor-El?
Clark then turned to see the radio go off, and he heard nothing but static. Even with his super-hearing, all he could hear was static from the radio. All this electric jumble was beginning to scare Clark a little bit. And after all he had been thorugh the past four years, not much scared him anymore. As he was trying to piece what was going on in his head, he saw his dog, Shelby, move toward the front door, and stand on top of it, clawing at ti, and whining.
Obviously, his dog, Shelby, could sense what was going on, and could sense that it was not normal, especially for Smallville.
Clark arose from the couch and started to walk to the front door, still trying to piece together what was going on. In his head, he could hear the voice again.
"It's coming, Kal-El. It's coming."
What was coming? he asked himself. What was going on with the electricity in the house and why was Shelby acting weird. Maybe if he went outsuide and could see where all the colored lights were conming from, he'd get his answers. He looked ourside and saw many colored lights such as red, blue, and yellow. He didn't know to make of it. So, he pushed Shelby aside and opened the door. Clark didn't get any answers, but he got something.
As he opened the door, a huge white light engulfed him and Shelby and seemed to engulf the whole Kent farm. This light was grander and lighter than anything he'd ever seen before. It almost defied description. Clark couldn't see anything beyond the light, but there had to be some darkness at the end of the light. It was 1:46 AM, though the way the clocks were working or weren;t working right now, he wouldn't have been able to say what time it was. So, Clark just walked through the light to see what it was.
"It's coming."
That voice kept saying that. WHAT WAS COMING? Maybe he'd find the answers at the other side of the light.
Then, in a flash, Clark Kent was outside his house. He was surrounded by yellow, blue, and red light. He looked upward to the sky and saw what looked like . . . oh, what was it called? Northern Lights? Chloe had told him what their official name was. Oh yeah, Aurora Borealis. It looked like one of those. It seemed to be traveling through the sky just a piece of light.
He wondered what this strange light in the sky was supposed to mean. Was it a warning of some kind? Was something deadly coming towards Smallville? If so, what was it? As Clark looked upward, he heard Shelby barking nonstop at the light. He wondered why Shelby was abrking at it. Apparently, he sensed something wrong with the light, as well.
As Clark continued to look upward, he saw the light forming three different colored streaks of light: red, yellow, and blue, start to coalesce together. At that moment, Shelby ran inside the house, as if retreating from something. What was Shelby running from? It was just a light.
"It's coming."
Then, Clark began to look up again and saw the streaks start to coalsesce and again and form a triangular shape, similar to the triangular shape that was a symbol from his homeplanet. Then the shape condensed itself into an orb of light. Then, the orb of light released a wave of destructive force!!!!!! Then, Clark was consumed by it!
********
Then, Clark immediately woke up! He was relieved to see that he was still sleeping on the couch, and that nothing strang was happening. It had almost seemed too good to be true. This, after all was Smallville. He also noticed that he was drenched in his own sweat. It must have been only a nightmare. A truly intense one, at that. Then, soon after he woke up, his parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent, rushed to his side.
"Clark! Clark! It's okay! It was just a bad dream." confirmed his mother.
"You scared the daylights out of us, yelling like that." said his father.
Clark was barely getting his bearings after waking up from that horrible nightmare. Clark didn't know what was going on. He was glad that everybody was allright, especially his dog, whom he saw clutched under his mother's arm. But apparently he had been yelling all night. But he wondered what had he been yelling?
"What?" Clark groggily asked.
"You kept screaming 'it's coming' over and over."
It's coming. That's what the voice inside Clark's head kept saying to him. He thought it was Jor-El's voice. But maybe it was himself speaking what he faered, only amplified in his thoughts. It scared Clark and confirmed what he had feared and dreaded - - that something was coming for Smallville. If something was coming for Smallville, what was it?
********
Space. It is a big place. It was also very peaceful place at this moment in time. Space was home to billions upon billions of stars and millions of planets. But there were rubble of destroyed planets. Planets such as Krypton, Argo, and the like. But there were many planets that still continued on. Planets such as Mars, Apokolips, Jupiter, and most importantly, Earth.
But space was also home to space trash such as metes, asteroids, and such. One such meteor was floating through space. Then, in an instant, the meteor burst into many pieces, small meteorites. Then these meteorites, as if on command, started on a course, and began making their way towards a small moon and its neighboring planet.
That planet was Earth.
CHAPTER THREE
Clark Kent sat with his parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent, at 2:30 in the morning, all taken abacvk by Clark's nightmare. They had poured Clark a cup of milk in the hopes that it would take his mind off the dream. It wasn't working. He thought that they would know this by now. Ever since Clark found out by the billionaire scientist Virgil Swann that he was actually a strange visitor from the planet Krypton, these strange things had been kind of a normal thing. Not to mention that Clark did live in Smallville, KS, kind of attracted these kinds of things. Clark had witnessed these things first hand.
Clark had ony taken one, maybe two sips from his milk that his parents had poured for him. He was just staring out into space, thinking about the nightmare. It seemed that with every minute that passed, the dream seemed to fade so he tried to hold onto it as long as he could.
His parents obviously noticed this, because they shouted, "CLARK!!!"
He still stared out into space, trying to piece it all together. "I can't help but feel this is some kind of warning."
Martha just shrugged off that comment. "Now, Clark, it was nothing more than a bad dream."
"You used to have nightmares all the time when you were little, remember?"Jonathan then chimed in, as if in agreement.
Clark shook his head. "This time's different. It felt so real. And if it is a warning, I need to do something."
"No. What you need to do is get some shut-eye so you're not half-asleep tomorrow when they hand you that diploma," interrupted Jonathan.
"Your dad's right. Don't let a little nightmare spoil your high school graduation."
Clark had almost forgotten all about graduation. That was tomorrow, wasn't it? Soon, he would be graduating from Smallville High. It all happened so fast when he entered high schoiol with Chloe and Lana, and everything. It was truly a commencement day for him.
"A nightmare? So that's what this commotion is about," called a voice from behind.
Both Clark and his parents tunred around to see who it was. They shouldn'e have been surprised when they saw a 19-year-old girl right behind them. It was Lois Lane.
Lois Lane was a young city-girl who was just staying in Smallville to be with her cousin Chloe Sullivan, who was one of Clark's triuest friends. Something Lois was not. Clark did like Lois, but he didn't really have a bond with her as he did with Chloe or Lana.
As Lois came down the stairs, she headed to the refrigerator, obviously to get a drink as they were doing. Then, Lois leaned in to talk to Clark
"Clark, if it makes you feel any better, I have nightmares all the time."
Then she leaned back. Clark should've known that Lois would make one of her outgoing remarks. That was just who Lois Lane was.
"In fact, Smallville, I had this one last week. It was really scary. It was about this guy in a red cape."
Clark wasn't overall comforted by this. In fact, it didn't comfort him at all. It didn't make his ordeal any better. A dream about a guy in a red cape didn't even compare with Clark's nightmare. It just seemed to him like a girl fantasy dream. After all, what did Clark Kent care about a guy in a red cape anyway? But he decided to just to let it go with a sarcastic remark.
"Oh, that sounds horrible, Lois."
But, Clark could tell from the look on Lois' face that she didn't particularly care for his sarcastic remark. But, Clark didn't really particularly care about Lois.
"Well, there's something I wsnted to tell you guys, so I guess two in the morning is good a time as any."
"What is it, Lois?" asked Martha.
"Oh, the general's recruited me for a recon mission to locate my sister, Lucy. So we're headed for Heidelburg tomorrow."
Martha expressed her sadness. "Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that, Lois."
Clark remembered trying to help Lois help her sister Lucy earlier in the year. Now Lucy apparently was on the run again. But this tim Lois was going to Europe to locate her. Last time Clark checked, Europe was as far from Smallville as Krypton was from Earth. He just stared at Lois and tried to cover his delight, as Lois would finally be out of his hair.
Lois must've saw Clark's delight, because she just sighed, smiled at Clark, and said, "Clark, I know how devastated you must be but if you could just keep your tears to a minimum, I'd appreciate it."
Clark just smiled giddily and replied, "I'll try, Lois."
"Thanks," Lois said, and then turned to Clark's parents. "Mr. and Mrs. Kent, I just wanted to thanks for everything. You guys are like the mom and dad I've always wanted to have."
Clark's parents smiled at Lois, as if humbled by the comment. Then, Jonathan put his arm over Lois. "Lois, I just want you to know that you are welcome back here anytime."
"Well, actually - -," Clark interjected, not quite ready to let Lois come back so easily as she had fallen out of his hair.
"We'll all miss you, Lois," interjected Martha, giving Clark a nasty stare.
Clark just nodded and smiled at Lois. Lois just smiled right back at him, that little snarky smile he had come to despise ever since Lois walked into Smallville earlier this year. Then, Lois gave a sincere smile, and said, "I'll miss you all, too."
Then, Shelby the Kents' dog jumped up at Lois, as if to say that he would miss her, as well, as if he knew of Lois' allergy to dogs, but loved her just the same. Then, Lois replied to Shelby. "No, I won't miss you, dog. No, not at all."
Clark couldn't help but laugh. In this moment with Lois and her farwell, he had almost forgotten about his nightmare the night before.
Almost.
CHAPTER FOUR
Lex had taken Lana to his mansion and had her cleaned up. Lex had his butlers get a basin full of water so that Lana could wash her hands and had them bring the basin to his study.. This they did immediately as Lex and Lana went to the study inside the Luthor mansion. As soon as they got there, Lex directed Lana to the basin and Lana put down her purse and proceeded to wash her hands vigorously and furiously. Lex stood aside and let Lana wash her hands. But as Lana washed her hand, she was very much like Lady Macbeth when she had killed Duncan in the Shakespearean play, Macbeth.
Then, Lana startted to talk again since the incident. Lex knew why Genevieve had attacked Lana. Earlier that day, both Genevieve and her sin Jason had kidnapped Lex and his father for knowledge of the location of the crystals that the Teagues seemed to be so obsessed about. Lex's dad told Geneveieve that Lana had had the crystal that he stole from the Genevieve and she wanted it back. She also wanted the crystal that Jason got from China. But Lex believed that he had lied to save his own skin and that he had put Lana's life in danger. He hated his father for that. Finally, Lana spoke, and it was frantic.
""S-she was c-coming out me s-so fast. I-I-I don't even remember stabbing her," said Lana frantically, as she tried to rub her hands clean of the bloodstain from Genevieve's body.
Lex then got a pitcher and started pouring more water into the basin, and knew he had try and calm Lana down for a few minutes. "Lana, I want you to take a deep breath and try to relax."
But it seems that Lana wouldn't relax nor let this go. "Lex, a woman is dead because of me! I killed her!"
Lex then pulled out a towel and continued to calm Lana down from the incident, as she was still shaking very violently still even though it had been several hours since the incident. Lex then directed Lana to sit on the couch in the Luthor mansion study where they were. "No,no, Lana. You had no choice. You did what anyone else would do if their life was at stake."
Lana was srtill shaking a little bit, but not as much as she was a few minutes ago. She started to breath slowly and relax a little but more. But Lex could tell that Lana was a still a little on edge from the murder. "I have to tell Jason. She was his mother."
Lex just looked at Lana, unsure of that was a good idea, for Jason Teague was also dead. When the Teagues had kidnapped Lex and his dad, Lex and his dad escaped, and Jason tired to kill them., But Lex cornered Jason to a cliff's edge, and was about to kill him. Then, Jason informed Lex that Clark was more connected to the crystals than anybody in Smallville, more so than Lana. But before Jason could tell him more, Lex's father shot Jason. So, Jason was dead. So, all Lex could tell Lana was, "I'll deal with Jason."
But Lana wasn't satisfied with Lex's answer, as she immediately resumed her hysterics and began walking out of the study room. "Lex, there's a DEAD BODY in my apartment! I - I have to go to the police, and tell them what happened!!!!"
Then, Lex stood up and stopped her from doing so. "Lana, I'm not sure that's such a good idea."
Lana turned around and stopped dead in her tracks, wondering what Lex could possibly mean. "Genevieve Teague was a powerful woman," contineud Lex, "married to a extremely powerful lawyer. Even though it was clearly self-defense, Edward Teague is going to make sure that the jury sees otherwise."
Lex could see the look of perplexment on Lana's face. "Then what's going to happen to me? Am I going to go to prison?"
Lex only smiled at Lana and said, "No. I've retained one of the best defense attorneys in the country, and as soon as he arrives from New York, we'll go to the authorities."
Then, Lana sank deep into Lex's arms, in gratitude for what Lex was doing for her. Lex cared for Lana very much, and would do anything to help her. But he also knew that Lana had one of those crystals that the Teagues, and his father had sought. He wanted that, too. "Now, you have to trust me. Until the lawyer arrives, I want you to stay here and talk to no one."
As soon as Lex said that, Lana had a look of desperartion on her face, as if she had just remembered something immediately. "My purse. Where's my purse?"
She started to search frantically for it until she found it at the floor, where she obviously dropped it when she came in. She then proiceeded to open it very quickly, as if to see somethign was still there.
"Don't worry. It's still there," said Lex, as she looked at him with a look of distrust. "I'd never take it from you."
Then, suddenly, the door in the study room opened, and it was one of the Luthor mansion security people. He stood and went to Lex and whispered in his ear, "Mr. Luthor, we have a situation."
Lex just looked at Lana and only smiled. "Don't worry, Lana. It's going to be okay."
Lana just sat hereslf at the couch, after removing a small object covered by a red handkerchef, that Lex knew was the crystal. But he didn't get to see it again before he left.
*****
Lex walked out of the Luthor mansion study room and followed his guard out into the hallway and stopped him. "What's the situation, guard?"
"It's the body, Mr. Luthor," said the guard.
"The body of Genevieve Teague?" asked Lex.
The guard then nodded, as if to confirm it.
"What about it?" asked Lex.
"It's gone, sir. Cleaned up and removed from the sight."
Lex couldn't believe this. Who would take a body in the middle of the night? thought Lex. Besides, he needed that body. That body was his leverage to Lana so she could trust him to give him that crystal.
"I'm going to downtown Smallville to investigate. Keep an eye on Ms. Lang. Make sure she doesn't leave the mansion and taks to no one but me. Understood?"
"Yes, sir."
The guard went down the hall to keep an eye on Lana, while Lex went the other way down the hall to get his Mercedes-Benz and take it to downtown Smallville to investigate what had happened to Genevieve's body. He had an inkling who might've taken it. But it was only an inkling.
*****
Lana was left alone inside the Luthor mansion study room, holding the object in her purse that she feared might've been lost in the frantics of the murder. It was a crystal that Jason had obtained in China. She felt she was somehow connected to these ancient crystals. She didn't know how but she was connected to them somehow. She felt it in her bones. That was why she had stolen the crystal from Jason shortly after he got it.
She opened the handkerchief to reveal the triangular-shaped crystal that she had. The tip and most of the crystal was drenched in blood. She had not cleaned the blood, and she didn't know if she was going to. It was a reminder of the deadly sin that she had committed earlier that night. She was unsure if she was willing to let that go just yet.
She observed the crystal carefully. She saw the symbol on the front of the crystal. The cymbol was a triangular-shaped crest with what looked the number eight in the center. She stared at that symbol for a long while. Just looking at the symbol made her feel good. The way she felt when Clark was around.
Clark, she thought. How would she explain this to him? How she needed Clark. She cared for Clark very much. But whether Clark card back was a mystery to her. He seemed to, but Clark had these other sides to him that made it difficult for her to know the real Clark Kent. He had so many secrets in his life. But she loved him just the same. Even when she was with Jason, those feelings for Clark were still there. She didn't know if Clark would still love her now that she had done this.
She continued to observe the crystal and noticed that it was not the only of its kind, but everyone knew that. Even she did. But the interlocking part of the crystal seemed to glow a white color. She touched the interlocking part to see what that glow was. She touched it and then - -
"LANA!!!!!!!!"
Lana jumped out of her seat on the couch, startled by the flash that she just saw, dropped the crystal on the floor. She then moved over to pick it up. She was still jumping from that flash, and then picked up the crystal and covered it in the red handkerchief she had in her purse.
She still couldn't believe what she had just saw. She tried to piece together what she saw, as it happened so fast. It was a person was the first thought that came to her. She felt the person she saw was the one whom these crystals were truly meant for. Lana's eyes widened. She began to tell herself that it was impossible. The person she saw was one she was very well-acquainted with. If the person she saw was meant to have the crystals, she had to give the crystals she had to the person she saw. But she just could not believe it.
The person she saw in that brief flash was her dear friend, Clark Kent.
*****
Lex walked into Lana's apartment above the Talon, the hottest coffeeshop this side of Smallville. Lex normally didn't like coffeeshops, as they were not good for business. But Lex kept it running, as it was Lana's dream to revitalize the old Talon Theater-coffeeshop of the 50's. He liked Lana's enthusiasm for it, so he kept it, because he did care for Lana.
It was that care for Lana that drove him to the Talon now, as he received word from his security guard that the body of Genevieve Teague was missing. The disappearance of Genevieve Teague's body would ensure Lana's guilt before a jury. It was also his leverage to obtain Lana's crystal for himself.
He looked around Lana's apartment and saw the place was empty. No body, no nothing. Lex then leaned down where the body was. He felt where the blood shoud've been. The blood was gone. Whoever evacuated the body had cleaned the place . . . clean.
As Lex was investigating the crime scene, he heard a voice that made him shudder. It was a voice he recognized too, which made him cringe even more.
"I thought I'd do Miss Lang a favor and tidy up the place a bit. She left the place in quite a mess."
The figure in the dark who the voice belonged to was sitting on a couch in the middle of the room. He turned on a lamp to reveal who he was. He was a man in a black suit, with a white shirt, and purple tie. The man was elegantly dressed in the suit. He had a scruffy beard and bushy brown hair with some gray linings in between. Lex knew who the man was. It was his father, Lionel Luthor.
So his father had cleaned the body from Lana's apartment. Once again, Lex was pushed against his father.
"What are you looking for, dad? The Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval?"
Lex's dad seemed unaffected by Lex's snide question. "You know, Lex, for a woman without a heart, Genevieve Teague certainly had a lot of blood"
Lex was very angry with his dad for going behind his back on this. So he decided to get straight to the point on why his father was so generous to clean up Lana's apartment. His dad always had an ulterior motive for things. Always, and just when you think he had none, he always had something up his sleeve. "You didn't come here to do a postmortem on Genevieve Teague, dad. What is it you want?"
Lex's dad stopped his tirade for a minute, and crossed his hands, looking directly at Lex thoughtfully. "I'd like to offer a trade, Lex."
Lionel Luthor walked up to his son, Lex, to deal with him. Lex was very skeptiocal of this trade. Whatever it was, Lex had a very bad feeling about it. "Lana Lang's freedom for the artifact she has in her possession." proposed Lionel, and he smiled after he proposed the trade.
Lex knew his dad wanted those crystals just as badly as he did. But he wasn't about to let him have them. "Dad, don't you think your search for these three ancient crystals are starting to border on the fanatical?"
Lex's dad smiled and chuckled a bit at Lex's remark. "Is that what you think? Well, let me remind you, Lex. It was you who looted the ruins of Egypt to get your hands on one of those crystals. Who's more fanatical, you or me?" Lionel said, as he continued to tidy up, picking up an apple that obviously fell during the murder.
Lex turned around to face his father and firmly said, "Trust me. Lana Lang has nothing to do with this, despite what you think, dad."
Lionel smiled, and went up to Lex's face and said, "Oh, how chivalrous of you. You are the gallant hero trying to protect the damsel in distress but - - "
Lex interupted his dad's tirade and said, "Dad, I'm warning you. Leave her alone."
Lionel Luthor continued, as if not hearing Lex, "--but all your life you've had a tendency to let the damsel lead you straight into the mouth of the dragon. Your feelings for Miss Lang, don't let them cripple your common sense, son." Lionel smiled at his son, hoping he would see past his son's love for Lana Lang and do what was necessary to succeed. Lionel then turned to walk out the door, which was still open from when Lex entered. "Lex, I expect to see that crystal in my hands by noon tomorrow."
Lex was not too happy about his dad's proposal, and was not sure he wanted to agree with it. "Oh, Lex," his father said, "in case you're having second thoughts about my trade, just remember I have the evidence that points to Miss Lang's guilt. It would be a shame if the corpse of Genevieve Teague were delivered to the sheriff with Lana Lang's DNA as postage." Lionel chuckled as he left.
Lex would try to double-squeeze out of his father's trade, as best as he could. He would not give in to his father's demand. But, now he knew what bhe had to do. He would protect Lana from his father's maniacal treasure hunt, but he would see to it that he would get the crystal before his father ever could. He, after all, had Lana Lang in his mansion this very moment.
Lex smiled at himself. His father thought he had the upper hand, but it was really he, Lex Luthor, who was on top of things.
CHAPTER FIVE
In the depths of space, clusters of meteors flew on a straight course, making its way to the planet Earth, as if the metoeirs were plotted on that straight, slipstream course.
Many meteors had fallen on a nearby moon that neighbored Earth. But a huge percentage of those meteors were propelling themselves towards Earth.
*****
Meanwhile, in an STAR Labs solar observatory in Metropolis, a young tech named Joe Jurgens was just sitting, relazing, and reading Adbusters. Not much happened on his shift in the three months that he had been working at STAR LABS. So he wasn't too worried about anything big happening. So he just relazed and his desk. Then, he heard a BEEP!!!!
On his computer radar screen, he saw an unbelievable sight. It looked like a cluster of unidentified space debris. He thought that was strange because he had looked at his screen not five minutes ago, and there was nothing there. Now there was a whole cluster of activity. He immediately began to panic.
"Dr. Loeb, sir?" Joe called out.
Dr. Jeph Loeb was a respected scientist at STAR Labs, and was commissioned to the solar observatory after Dr. Virgil Swann left, and went into personal exile after he was paralyzed in a car accident. Dr. Loeb had not seen any abnormal activity since Dr. Swann claimed to have seen a clister of space debris sixteen years ago. It was as if the phenomenon had just . . . died.
Then, Dr. Loeb got a call from one of the techs that worked in the solar observatory. So he went to see what the disturbance was about.
"Sir, you better check the screen, here. Look. I've never seen anything like this," replied Joe.
So, Loeb went over to check out the screen, not expecting to find anything really. It was probably just some prank by local kids. But as soon as Dr. Loeb looked at the screen, his eyes widened. It was unbelievable. He had never seen anything like it. It was almost the same thing that Swann had described sixteen years ago. Immediately, Loeb asked the tech, "How long has there been activity, Jurgens?"
"There was nothing there five minutes ago. It just . . . came out of nowhere," asked Jurgens. Jurgens thought it was nothing, but then he saw the look on Loeb's face. It was a look of shock. "Sir? What's going on?"
Loeb just couldn't believe it. When Swann said he saw a cluster of space debris in '89, he thought, like everybody else, that Swann had just gone nuts and decided to follow little green men. But now Loeb knew that Swann must've been telling the truth the whole time. "Sir?"
The tech's question brought him back to reality. "Jurgens, I want you to get on the horn with the military services in all surrounding areas. Got that?"
Jurgens nodded and called all military personnel in areas such as New York City, Edge City, Coast City, Keystone City, and Gotham. Loeb saw him call those military personnel for those cities. Then Loeb intejected. "Jurgens! Call Metropolis Military Services and have them go to Smallville, Kansas."
Jurgens just gave Loeb a perplexed look. "Sir? Smallville is the smallest town this side of the US. Why do you want the City of Tomorrow's top military service to go there? What's going on?"
Loeb told Jurgens. "Jurgens, that cluster of space debris is a meteor shower headed for Earth. Now, sixteen years ago, Virgil Swann tracked a similar meteor shower in '89 and tracked it to Smallville, Kansas. Everyone, including myself, thought he was crazy. But the meteor shower hit Smallville just as he predicted. So, I figure lightning is due to strike again. So just get on the horn with MMS. 'Kay, Jurgens?"
Jurgens nodded and made the call to MMS, and said a prayer in his heart for all the people in Smallville, Kansas, who would be devastated by this cosmic disaster. Surely, something huge was about to commence in Smallville . . .
Comment