It's a bright sunny morning in Smallville, Kansas, and things are looking
cheerful at the Kent farm. Ms. Kent is humming as she tends to the flower
garden, Mr. Kent is whistling cheerfully as he bucks hay, and 15-year old
Clark Kent is in the loft, enjoying the morning by avoiding his chores,
instead propped up on the loft's window's sill fiddling with the telescope,
thinking of doing some morning "sky-watching". He peers through the lens,
which is conveniently focused right at Lana Lang's front door.
Unfortunately, there is nothing transpiring on the Lang doorstep this early
in the morning. Everybody in that house is likely still in bed, Clark
thinks, not up so early doing the usual farm business on a Saturday
morning. Clark briefly wonders what his life would be like if he weren't
on the farm, if the Kent's had never adopted him, then immediately
dismisses the thought. After all, Clark is thankful he has such wonderful
family and friends, and he can't picture what his life would be like if it
weren't for the Kents.
"Clark!" comes his dad's voice from the bottom of the loft stairs, "Not avoiding your chores are you I hope?"
"No dad!" Clark replies with an inaudible groan. "Just um…cleaning up the loft first!"
"Well come down here as soon as you're done, which should be soon right? Your mother and I have a surprise for you."
Clark is suddenly curious. It's not often his parents have surprises for him. There's usually just work to be done, or things they need him to lift or chop or crush. Clark quickly cleans up the loft (this takes about three seconds in regular time), one last uneventful peer through the telescope, and glides downstairs.
"I want to thank you once again for letting me stay here," Lena says, pushing her long red hair behind her ear.
"It's no trouble at all," Mr. Kent replies, albeit a bit apprehensively, "We're not going to turn away our own family."
"I just wish I had given you a bit more notice, instead of just popping in like this."
"Don't worry about it, Lena. There's plenty of room here," Mrs. Kent adds, "And I'm sure Clark is going to be thrilled to see his favorite cousin again."
Lena smiles. "Favorite cousin? Well that is flattering, even considering I'm his only cousin!" They all laugh.
At that moment Clark appears from the barn, surveying the scene outside. His parents are standing by the driveway, talking to a red haired girl that looks about his age, but a bit older and worldlier than him it seems. Clark's dad calls him over.
"Clark," he says, "Remember your cousin, Lena?"
"Lena?" Clark says stunned. Suddenly, a shooting pain sears across his forehead. Clark grimaces and tries not to double over.
"Clark," Lena says lovingly, then steps forward and wraps her arms around him. Clark winces in pain, as his insides seem to burst into flames. "It's been so long."
She lets go and steps back. The pain subsides a little, but Clark still feels off. His parents look at him a bit worriedly, but say nothing.
"Lena will be staying with us for awhile," his mom says, then looks sideways at Mr. Kent. "We'll leave you two to get reacquainted," Mr. Kent says, and the two go off to leave Clark and Lena alone on the front lawn, Clark struggling not to show the pain he is feeling.
"Clark," Lena says, looking admirably at him, "You look so….different!" She manages not to say what she is really thinking, which is "drop-dead sexy".
"So do you," Clark replies. He thinks she has become quite beautiful herself, much different from the red haired eleven-year old who used to tease him and call him booger-face. He attempts to stifle thoughts that make him wish she were not his half-cousin.
Lena moves away from him, examining the wide array of flowers that are growing alongside the fence. Clark's pain subsides, although there is still a mild burning sensation in his insides. "So what brings you back to Smallville?" he manages to say, "Tired of life in the big city?"
Lena turns and smiles coolly at him. Clark's stomach lurches.
"I'm just thankful to be there," Lena says, "I mean, that they let me in to Metropolis University, what with…" she hesitates for a moment, "Well, since I didn't get the scholarship I was hoping for. But I will admit I have sometimes wondered about returning to the small town life, seeing all my old friends, and especially my family." Clark watches as she stops and looks up at the barn and the Kent house, and the open sky, with an expression that Clark cannot understand.
"I'm glad you're back too, Lena," he says, "It's been too long."
Clark's memory brings him back to one day, when he is eight years old. He's playing out in the field, running and chasing his cousin. He has not yet developed most of his abilities, but they are starting to appear little by little, at unexpected times. Mr. and Mrs. Kent, knowing that their son is different, are doing the best they can to protect him and keep his developing powers under-wrap.
"Tag, you're it!" Lena screams, punching Clark in the arm and running off. Clark rubs his arm expecting the punch to sting but it does not. He often wonders now why other kids can get hurt and he can't. There're a lot of things that Clark is able to do that other kids can't. For starters, he can lift really heavy things, like cars and his father's farm equipment, and he never gets injuries, even little things like cuts and broken bones like most kids get. His parents have told him it's because he is special, and explained to him why he cannot tell other kids about his abilities because he might accidentally hurt someone. And Clark, who at eight years old is way above average in intelligence and compassion, understands this and promises not to tell other kids about his special secret.
"Ow," Clark says, just because he hears other kids say it when they're punched, "You booger-face. I'm going to catch you." Clark sprints off toward his cousin who is now about twenty feet ahead of him. Clark often comes out into the fields with Lena, who is eleven but still willing to play with Clark. She's in a higher grade at school than him though, and makes a point of ignoring him there (because in school it is not "cool" to associate with lower grades) but Clark knows she still loves him, because after school they often spend the whole time playing together until they have to go home for dinner. At the time, Lena had been living on and off with Clark's family. Clark's parents told him she was her half-cousin; Mrs. Kent's sister's adopted daughter. A few years ago, though, Martha's sister had died in a car accident, leaving Lena with no real home, so she came to live with the Kents when she was ten. Clark knew by this time that he too was adopted, so really neither or them were related. But to Clark it didn't matter, because he and Lena were best friends, and nothing could tear them apart.
"Clark, you're slower than a turtle!" Lena calls from up ahead of Clark as he ran, pumping his legs trying to catch up to her. "Look at me, I'm faster than…than a speeding bullet!" And it was true. Lena is an extraordinarily fast runner. She was on the elementary school track team (although it wasn't much of a track team) and always came in first in school competitions.
Clark pouts to himself. He wonders why he isn't as good at running as he is at other things, like lifting and throwing. Just as he is thinking what it would be like if he could run faster, a strange thing happens. He is thinking at the time that it would be real neat if he could make time slow down around him, then he could run faster than everybody. And as he thinks of this, all of a sudden around him things start to go…weird. Clark feels like he is almost running through a big glob of jelly. Things around him look weird too. Nothing looks too different, just kind of blurry, until he noticed the birds. A bird is flying up above him in slow motion, or at least it looks like it. And some other birds are doing that too. But I'm still running normally, he thinks. Then he looks up ahead and sees Lena. She too appears to be running in slow motion. But Clark feels like he is moving at regular speed. He keeps running, and soon, he has caught up to Lena! She still looks like she's running really, really slowly. "Hey," he calls to her as he actually passes her, "Who's the turtle now!" Laughing at his cleverness, he runs past her and gets all the way to the house. It isn't until he stops running that things go back to "normal". Clark turns around and waits for Lena to arrive so that he can gloat about having beaten her. He waits for what seems like ten minutes. Finally, Lena appears through the tall rows of corn, looking bewildered and even a bit frightened. "How…she begins, "What….." but stops because she is breathing too hard from running. Clark realizes just then that he had not been out of breath at all. All of a sudden, the strangeness of what has happened hits Clark. How had he out-run Lena, and why had everything gone in slow motion? Lena continues to look perplexed, and Clark suddenly doesn't feel very good. Clutching his stomach, he runs toward the house, and inside to tell his parents everything that just happened.
Clark realizes that he has been staring at Lena for a while not saying anything. Lena is also looking at him, not saying anything. The sound of a truck backfiring on the road seems to bring both of them back down to earth.
"You're right Clark," Lena suddenly says, "It has been too long. Ever since…" She stops talking, when she sees a truck pull into the Kent driveway. The truck has Smallville Police Department written on the side. Clark looks over at the truck, where local sheriff Jim Stanley is getting out. Jim waves to Clark, and Clark smiles back. "Lena," he says, "This will only take a second. Mr. Stanley stops by on Saturday mornings for vegetables and…" Clark stops when he realizes that Lena is no longer standing beside him. Using his x-ray vision, he sees her running behind the barn and into the cornfields. Strange, Clark thinks, than goes over to help the sheriff.
Meanwhile, at the Luthor Corp Fertilizer Plant, Lex Luthor is walking down a steel connector bridge on his way between the Head Offices and the Department of Safety Office. His right hand-man of the day, Joe Strafford, trails beside him, spouting off the most recent figures and statistics obtained from the Department of Figures and Statistics. "And yesterday's accident report shows a 43% decrease in all minor plant accidents, and the report on productivity shows that 51 % of the…." Joe rambles, although Lex is barely paying attention. His mind is elsewhere today. All Lex has been thinking about for the past few days is today- the anniversary of his mother's death.
"Joe," Lex finally says, "Take the rest of the day off" Joe looks taken aback.
"Mr. Luthor, I don't think that's a good…" Lex turns and shoots him a patented Luthor look which means "do not question my authority". "Don't worry, Joe," Lex says self-assuredly, "I've got everything under control. The plant will be fine. Trust me. I'll put Gabe Sullivan in charge."
Joe gives him one more questioning look, then says, "If you say so, Mr. Luthor," and scuttles ahead of him and through the doors to the Head Office.
Good, Lex thinks, I couldn't stand another minute of that mindless jabbering. Not today. I just need some time alone, to think. With that, Lex heads toward the Head Office, to tell his people he will not be available for the rest of the day, and to let them know that if his father calls for him, he's to leave a message.
Chloe Sullivan flips through her index file of all the names, phone numbers, and addresses of every business in Smallville and it's surrounding areas. She lets go of a heavy sigh she has been withholding for some time. She has been working on this same story for days, and the whole vagueness of information is starting to drive her mad. Chloe is known for being able to retrieve any information on just about anything from anywhere, but this…it seems like any information pertaining to the story she is doing has been blown clear off the face of the earth. She rips out the card saying "Zed's Laundry Service" and dials them up. A man answers, and Chloe asks them if they have any information pertaining to a Les Lowry ever having been employed there. The man says the name is not familiar, but that he will check and phone her back. Chloe says thank you and hangs up with another sigh. That's the last business in Smallville, she thinks, and still no trace of the elusive Les Lowry. She has called everywhere, checked every file she could find on the Internet, even hacked into the city's employment records, to no avail. No sign of a Les Lowry ever working in Smallville, or even existing outside of that one article. "Thinking of which," Chloe mumbles as she pulls out the article from a folder, the most interesting article she may have ever found from the Metropolis Daily Planet, which she originally thought contained no interesting information. She decides to read over it for the millioneth time.
SUNDAY, APRIL 19th, 2001, Metropolis: MYSTERIOUS MAN FOILS CHAIN-ROBBER. In what can truly be called a surprising turn of events, wanted criminal Jed "Bulldog" Hartley was finally captured by police after a string of mysterious break-ins throughout Metropolis. Yesterday morning, Metropolis Police busted into Jed's secret hide-out, arresting him and discovering the whereabouts of more than 50 million dollars worth of stolen laboratory equipment. Police say the discovery as to Jed's whereabouts was made after a helpful stranger alerted officer-on-duty Stan O'Riley, who was on-call near the scene of Jed's most recent crime, a break-in of the LuthorCorp Labs. The man did not identify himself, but after receiving the information on the Bulldog's whereabouts, Officer O'Riley recognized the man as being Les Lowry, a wanted criminal who he had been looking for during his previous position as Assistant Deputy Sheriff of Smallville. O'Riley said the man had fled before he had time to take him in, but that Lowry could most likely be found in Smallville, where he had, according to local records, been previously employed. Lowry is wanted on charges of burglary and conspiracy.
Of course, a story like this is naturally of interest to Chloe, who revels in unraveling complicated mysteries that involve little known information about people, or searching for clues in unlikely sources. Especially since this one involves the LuthorCorp plant, which Chloe suspects is responsible for causing more harm than good. Ever since her summer internship at the Daily Planet, she has been more and more focused on trying to solve bigger mysteries, and write stories that will impress the editors at the Daily Planet, in hopes that as soon as she graduates high school, they'll offer her at least a part time job. She's willing to do just about anything to get out of Smallville and back into the big city where she grew up. Even though she's made some great friends here, like Clark Kent and Pete Ross, even Lana Lang more recently, Chloe knows her true calling lies in big-time reporting
"But this one…" Chloe sighs. She knows she cannot figure out this story without the one missing clue, and that is just who this "Les Lowry" person is. But it seems, if Les Lowry ever was really employed in Smallville, somebody's doing their best to cover it up, or else lead people on a wild goose chase. I vow I'm gonna discover who this Les Lowry character really is, she thinks, and when the Daily Planet reads the knock- your-sock- off article I'm going to write, they'll be bound to hire me!
"Clark!" comes his dad's voice from the bottom of the loft stairs, "Not avoiding your chores are you I hope?"
"No dad!" Clark replies with an inaudible groan. "Just um…cleaning up the loft first!"
"Well come down here as soon as you're done, which should be soon right? Your mother and I have a surprise for you."
Clark is suddenly curious. It's not often his parents have surprises for him. There's usually just work to be done, or things they need him to lift or chop or crush. Clark quickly cleans up the loft (this takes about three seconds in regular time), one last uneventful peer through the telescope, and glides downstairs.
"I want to thank you once again for letting me stay here," Lena says, pushing her long red hair behind her ear.
"It's no trouble at all," Mr. Kent replies, albeit a bit apprehensively, "We're not going to turn away our own family."
"I just wish I had given you a bit more notice, instead of just popping in like this."
"Don't worry about it, Lena. There's plenty of room here," Mrs. Kent adds, "And I'm sure Clark is going to be thrilled to see his favorite cousin again."
Lena smiles. "Favorite cousin? Well that is flattering, even considering I'm his only cousin!" They all laugh.
At that moment Clark appears from the barn, surveying the scene outside. His parents are standing by the driveway, talking to a red haired girl that looks about his age, but a bit older and worldlier than him it seems. Clark's dad calls him over.
"Clark," he says, "Remember your cousin, Lena?"
"Lena?" Clark says stunned. Suddenly, a shooting pain sears across his forehead. Clark grimaces and tries not to double over.
"Clark," Lena says lovingly, then steps forward and wraps her arms around him. Clark winces in pain, as his insides seem to burst into flames. "It's been so long."
She lets go and steps back. The pain subsides a little, but Clark still feels off. His parents look at him a bit worriedly, but say nothing.
"Lena will be staying with us for awhile," his mom says, then looks sideways at Mr. Kent. "We'll leave you two to get reacquainted," Mr. Kent says, and the two go off to leave Clark and Lena alone on the front lawn, Clark struggling not to show the pain he is feeling.
"Clark," Lena says, looking admirably at him, "You look so….different!" She manages not to say what she is really thinking, which is "drop-dead sexy".
"So do you," Clark replies. He thinks she has become quite beautiful herself, much different from the red haired eleven-year old who used to tease him and call him booger-face. He attempts to stifle thoughts that make him wish she were not his half-cousin.
Lena moves away from him, examining the wide array of flowers that are growing alongside the fence. Clark's pain subsides, although there is still a mild burning sensation in his insides. "So what brings you back to Smallville?" he manages to say, "Tired of life in the big city?"
Lena turns and smiles coolly at him. Clark's stomach lurches.
"I'm just thankful to be there," Lena says, "I mean, that they let me in to Metropolis University, what with…" she hesitates for a moment, "Well, since I didn't get the scholarship I was hoping for. But I will admit I have sometimes wondered about returning to the small town life, seeing all my old friends, and especially my family." Clark watches as she stops and looks up at the barn and the Kent house, and the open sky, with an expression that Clark cannot understand.
"I'm glad you're back too, Lena," he says, "It's been too long."
Clark's memory brings him back to one day, when he is eight years old. He's playing out in the field, running and chasing his cousin. He has not yet developed most of his abilities, but they are starting to appear little by little, at unexpected times. Mr. and Mrs. Kent, knowing that their son is different, are doing the best they can to protect him and keep his developing powers under-wrap.
"Tag, you're it!" Lena screams, punching Clark in the arm and running off. Clark rubs his arm expecting the punch to sting but it does not. He often wonders now why other kids can get hurt and he can't. There're a lot of things that Clark is able to do that other kids can't. For starters, he can lift really heavy things, like cars and his father's farm equipment, and he never gets injuries, even little things like cuts and broken bones like most kids get. His parents have told him it's because he is special, and explained to him why he cannot tell other kids about his abilities because he might accidentally hurt someone. And Clark, who at eight years old is way above average in intelligence and compassion, understands this and promises not to tell other kids about his special secret.
"Ow," Clark says, just because he hears other kids say it when they're punched, "You booger-face. I'm going to catch you." Clark sprints off toward his cousin who is now about twenty feet ahead of him. Clark often comes out into the fields with Lena, who is eleven but still willing to play with Clark. She's in a higher grade at school than him though, and makes a point of ignoring him there (because in school it is not "cool" to associate with lower grades) but Clark knows she still loves him, because after school they often spend the whole time playing together until they have to go home for dinner. At the time, Lena had been living on and off with Clark's family. Clark's parents told him she was her half-cousin; Mrs. Kent's sister's adopted daughter. A few years ago, though, Martha's sister had died in a car accident, leaving Lena with no real home, so she came to live with the Kents when she was ten. Clark knew by this time that he too was adopted, so really neither or them were related. But to Clark it didn't matter, because he and Lena were best friends, and nothing could tear them apart.
"Clark, you're slower than a turtle!" Lena calls from up ahead of Clark as he ran, pumping his legs trying to catch up to her. "Look at me, I'm faster than…than a speeding bullet!" And it was true. Lena is an extraordinarily fast runner. She was on the elementary school track team (although it wasn't much of a track team) and always came in first in school competitions.
Clark pouts to himself. He wonders why he isn't as good at running as he is at other things, like lifting and throwing. Just as he is thinking what it would be like if he could run faster, a strange thing happens. He is thinking at the time that it would be real neat if he could make time slow down around him, then he could run faster than everybody. And as he thinks of this, all of a sudden around him things start to go…weird. Clark feels like he is almost running through a big glob of jelly. Things around him look weird too. Nothing looks too different, just kind of blurry, until he noticed the birds. A bird is flying up above him in slow motion, or at least it looks like it. And some other birds are doing that too. But I'm still running normally, he thinks. Then he looks up ahead and sees Lena. She too appears to be running in slow motion. But Clark feels like he is moving at regular speed. He keeps running, and soon, he has caught up to Lena! She still looks like she's running really, really slowly. "Hey," he calls to her as he actually passes her, "Who's the turtle now!" Laughing at his cleverness, he runs past her and gets all the way to the house. It isn't until he stops running that things go back to "normal". Clark turns around and waits for Lena to arrive so that he can gloat about having beaten her. He waits for what seems like ten minutes. Finally, Lena appears through the tall rows of corn, looking bewildered and even a bit frightened. "How…she begins, "What….." but stops because she is breathing too hard from running. Clark realizes just then that he had not been out of breath at all. All of a sudden, the strangeness of what has happened hits Clark. How had he out-run Lena, and why had everything gone in slow motion? Lena continues to look perplexed, and Clark suddenly doesn't feel very good. Clutching his stomach, he runs toward the house, and inside to tell his parents everything that just happened.
Clark realizes that he has been staring at Lena for a while not saying anything. Lena is also looking at him, not saying anything. The sound of a truck backfiring on the road seems to bring both of them back down to earth.
"You're right Clark," Lena suddenly says, "It has been too long. Ever since…" She stops talking, when she sees a truck pull into the Kent driveway. The truck has Smallville Police Department written on the side. Clark looks over at the truck, where local sheriff Jim Stanley is getting out. Jim waves to Clark, and Clark smiles back. "Lena," he says, "This will only take a second. Mr. Stanley stops by on Saturday mornings for vegetables and…" Clark stops when he realizes that Lena is no longer standing beside him. Using his x-ray vision, he sees her running behind the barn and into the cornfields. Strange, Clark thinks, than goes over to help the sheriff.
Meanwhile, at the Luthor Corp Fertilizer Plant, Lex Luthor is walking down a steel connector bridge on his way between the Head Offices and the Department of Safety Office. His right hand-man of the day, Joe Strafford, trails beside him, spouting off the most recent figures and statistics obtained from the Department of Figures and Statistics. "And yesterday's accident report shows a 43% decrease in all minor plant accidents, and the report on productivity shows that 51 % of the…." Joe rambles, although Lex is barely paying attention. His mind is elsewhere today. All Lex has been thinking about for the past few days is today- the anniversary of his mother's death.
"Joe," Lex finally says, "Take the rest of the day off" Joe looks taken aback.
"Mr. Luthor, I don't think that's a good…" Lex turns and shoots him a patented Luthor look which means "do not question my authority". "Don't worry, Joe," Lex says self-assuredly, "I've got everything under control. The plant will be fine. Trust me. I'll put Gabe Sullivan in charge."
Joe gives him one more questioning look, then says, "If you say so, Mr. Luthor," and scuttles ahead of him and through the doors to the Head Office.
Good, Lex thinks, I couldn't stand another minute of that mindless jabbering. Not today. I just need some time alone, to think. With that, Lex heads toward the Head Office, to tell his people he will not be available for the rest of the day, and to let them know that if his father calls for him, he's to leave a message.
Chloe Sullivan flips through her index file of all the names, phone numbers, and addresses of every business in Smallville and it's surrounding areas. She lets go of a heavy sigh she has been withholding for some time. She has been working on this same story for days, and the whole vagueness of information is starting to drive her mad. Chloe is known for being able to retrieve any information on just about anything from anywhere, but this…it seems like any information pertaining to the story she is doing has been blown clear off the face of the earth. She rips out the card saying "Zed's Laundry Service" and dials them up. A man answers, and Chloe asks them if they have any information pertaining to a Les Lowry ever having been employed there. The man says the name is not familiar, but that he will check and phone her back. Chloe says thank you and hangs up with another sigh. That's the last business in Smallville, she thinks, and still no trace of the elusive Les Lowry. She has called everywhere, checked every file she could find on the Internet, even hacked into the city's employment records, to no avail. No sign of a Les Lowry ever working in Smallville, or even existing outside of that one article. "Thinking of which," Chloe mumbles as she pulls out the article from a folder, the most interesting article she may have ever found from the Metropolis Daily Planet, which she originally thought contained no interesting information. She decides to read over it for the millioneth time.
SUNDAY, APRIL 19th, 2001, Metropolis: MYSTERIOUS MAN FOILS CHAIN-ROBBER. In what can truly be called a surprising turn of events, wanted criminal Jed "Bulldog" Hartley was finally captured by police after a string of mysterious break-ins throughout Metropolis. Yesterday morning, Metropolis Police busted into Jed's secret hide-out, arresting him and discovering the whereabouts of more than 50 million dollars worth of stolen laboratory equipment. Police say the discovery as to Jed's whereabouts was made after a helpful stranger alerted officer-on-duty Stan O'Riley, who was on-call near the scene of Jed's most recent crime, a break-in of the LuthorCorp Labs. The man did not identify himself, but after receiving the information on the Bulldog's whereabouts, Officer O'Riley recognized the man as being Les Lowry, a wanted criminal who he had been looking for during his previous position as Assistant Deputy Sheriff of Smallville. O'Riley said the man had fled before he had time to take him in, but that Lowry could most likely be found in Smallville, where he had, according to local records, been previously employed. Lowry is wanted on charges of burglary and conspiracy.
Of course, a story like this is naturally of interest to Chloe, who revels in unraveling complicated mysteries that involve little known information about people, or searching for clues in unlikely sources. Especially since this one involves the LuthorCorp plant, which Chloe suspects is responsible for causing more harm than good. Ever since her summer internship at the Daily Planet, she has been more and more focused on trying to solve bigger mysteries, and write stories that will impress the editors at the Daily Planet, in hopes that as soon as she graduates high school, they'll offer her at least a part time job. She's willing to do just about anything to get out of Smallville and back into the big city where she grew up. Even though she's made some great friends here, like Clark Kent and Pete Ross, even Lana Lang more recently, Chloe knows her true calling lies in big-time reporting
"But this one…" Chloe sighs. She knows she cannot figure out this story without the one missing clue, and that is just who this "Les Lowry" person is. But it seems, if Les Lowry ever was really employed in Smallville, somebody's doing their best to cover it up, or else lead people on a wild goose chase. I vow I'm gonna discover who this Les Lowry character really is, she thinks, and when the Daily Planet reads the knock- your-sock- off article I'm going to write, they'll be bound to hire me!