Disclaimer: The television series "Smallville" is owned by the WB.
Characters on which it is based are owned by DC Comics and were created by
Jerry Siegler and Joe Schuster. This fanfiction is purely for
entertainment, and no profit is being made from it.
Confessions of a Superman
By Jeune Ecrivain
Rating: G, maybe PG
Genre: futurefic, drama, romance
Summary: When Superman comes up in conversation, 25-year-old Lana Lang gets the biggest clue of her life.
PART I
"Checkmate."
14-year-old Josh Harton looked impishly at his Big Sister. She had raven hair, a pair of captivating green eyes, and thin eyebrows. Were she not 25, he would've had a crush on her.
Lana Lang pouted. "You really are good at this!"
"Told ya."
Lana changed the subject. "How're things going with Jennifer?"
Josh blushed slightly, as he did whenever Lana mentioned his crush. "I still can't ask her out. I get too nervous."
Lana chuckled. "Don't worry. You'll get there."
Josh sighed resignedly. "I'll bet Superman would've had no trouble getting a girl."
"Don't be too sure," said a voice from behind.
Josh turned and Lana peered at the source of the unexpected comment. It was Arthur Frederic, Josh's friend.
"Hey, Art," Lana greeted.
Arthur shrugged. "Hey," he said. "Funny you should mention Superman and girls. I met him once."
Josh rolled his eyes. "He likes to brag about that."
Arthur glared at Josh. "Anyway, I was having a little girl trouble myself, so to make me feel a little better he told me a little story about when he was a teenager. His powers actually got in the way of him and this girl he liked."
"How?" Lana asked, intrigued.
Josh sat down, and assumed a sort of mythical air about him to complement his storytelling. "Superman grew up in a small town, I think on a farm," he began. "His entire childhood, even as a teenager, he was in love with the same girl."
"How sweet," Lana beamed. The Man of Steel suddenly seemed more human.
"But he had a lot of problems," Arthur continued. "He could never tell her the truth about himself. He only found out himself when he was 15 or 16, but still.He was always afraid that she would freak out if she found out he was from another planet. But even before that, for the longest time, this girl would wear this necklace with a piece of kryptonite in it, so he could never get close to her."
"Aw, why couldn't she have taken it off?" Lana said sympathetically.
"It was of great sentimental value. But she did. She stopped wearing it sometime after that. But even then, Superman had some bad people to deal with. Mutants and stuff It's probably how he developed his hero complex. And he figured, as he still does, that anyone who knows about him could be a target, so there was another reason he couldn't tell. Protecting the people he cared for. Plus, his parents were really cautious because they didn't want him to become some minion of science."
"I see," Lana said, slowly gaining a surprising awareness that being superhuman isn't all it's cracked up to be.
"So, he and this girl really started to become good friends after she stopped wearing the necklace. Eventually they did get together briefly, but then he went through this period where he ran away with this special kind of kryptonite that messed with his personality."
"Why would he do that? What did it do to him?"
"Apparently, he found out his biological dad had sent him to Earth to conquer, and he didn't want to. But his dad said if he resisted, those he loved would suffer. So, he tried to destroy the ship that he'd come to Earth in, which was the only link to his biological dad. He ended up blowing up his farm and killing his mom's unborn kid."
"Oh, my God!" Lana said. "He must've felt terrible."
"He did. Especially since his dad told him if he tried to resist he'd hurt the people he loves.Anyway, this special kryptonite basically makes him more and more aggressive, selfish, and just plain mean. It made him feel good, though. Kinda like a really bad drug."
"Wow!" Josh said, his eyes wide.
"When he finally came back, back to his normal self and to the town, he had done irreparable damage to some of his relationships. Him and this girl were back to being just friends. She had always been suspicious of him, always trying to get him to open up so they could become even closer, but after this she never trusted him quite as much again. And he was even more convinced that knowing would put her in danger. He said that the hardest thing he ever had to do was lie to her and keep pushing her away."
"I can imagine," Lana said.
"He even told me about this one time he saved her in a tornado. They announced about it at the Prom, and he had a bad hunch, so he had to leave his date, who was also a good friend of his! When he got there, she was up in the tornado, and he got up there and shielded her from flying stuff and saved her."
"So she found out?" Lana asked anxiously.
Arthur shook his head. "Later, he had to deny that he was ever there. He says that was probably the beginning of her growing distrust. He hated to lie to her, and she probably never truly believed him."
"Wow!" Josh said.
"I know," Arthur said. "Superman is more human than we tend to think."
"I know how that would be, too," Lana said. "I was in a tornado once too, and." she stopped in mid-sentence. That wasn't the only part of Arthur's story that aligned itself with one of her own memories. For starters, she too had once worn a kryptonite necklace. Suddenly, she was feeling stupid.
"What?" Josh asked, puzzled at Lana's bemused expression.
How could she not have recognized parts of Superman's reminisces earlier? At lightning speed, her mind was making connections between Arthur's tale and her own memories; seeing consistent analogies between the two; putting two and two together and coming up with a very shocking four.
"Oh, my God!" Lana said softly and bemusedly.
"What?" Josh asked again.
Lana shook her head. "Nothing," she said. But she was lying. Josh couldn't know. But she did. And as soon as she could, she was going to pay a visit to the man known as Superman.
Confessions of a Superman
By Jeune Ecrivain
Rating: G, maybe PG
Genre: futurefic, drama, romance
Summary: When Superman comes up in conversation, 25-year-old Lana Lang gets the biggest clue of her life.
PART I
"Checkmate."
14-year-old Josh Harton looked impishly at his Big Sister. She had raven hair, a pair of captivating green eyes, and thin eyebrows. Were she not 25, he would've had a crush on her.
Lana Lang pouted. "You really are good at this!"
"Told ya."
Lana changed the subject. "How're things going with Jennifer?"
Josh blushed slightly, as he did whenever Lana mentioned his crush. "I still can't ask her out. I get too nervous."
Lana chuckled. "Don't worry. You'll get there."
Josh sighed resignedly. "I'll bet Superman would've had no trouble getting a girl."
"Don't be too sure," said a voice from behind.
Josh turned and Lana peered at the source of the unexpected comment. It was Arthur Frederic, Josh's friend.
"Hey, Art," Lana greeted.
Arthur shrugged. "Hey," he said. "Funny you should mention Superman and girls. I met him once."
Josh rolled his eyes. "He likes to brag about that."
Arthur glared at Josh. "Anyway, I was having a little girl trouble myself, so to make me feel a little better he told me a little story about when he was a teenager. His powers actually got in the way of him and this girl he liked."
"How?" Lana asked, intrigued.
Josh sat down, and assumed a sort of mythical air about him to complement his storytelling. "Superman grew up in a small town, I think on a farm," he began. "His entire childhood, even as a teenager, he was in love with the same girl."
"How sweet," Lana beamed. The Man of Steel suddenly seemed more human.
"But he had a lot of problems," Arthur continued. "He could never tell her the truth about himself. He only found out himself when he was 15 or 16, but still.He was always afraid that she would freak out if she found out he was from another planet. But even before that, for the longest time, this girl would wear this necklace with a piece of kryptonite in it, so he could never get close to her."
"Aw, why couldn't she have taken it off?" Lana said sympathetically.
"It was of great sentimental value. But she did. She stopped wearing it sometime after that. But even then, Superman had some bad people to deal with. Mutants and stuff It's probably how he developed his hero complex. And he figured, as he still does, that anyone who knows about him could be a target, so there was another reason he couldn't tell. Protecting the people he cared for. Plus, his parents were really cautious because they didn't want him to become some minion of science."
"I see," Lana said, slowly gaining a surprising awareness that being superhuman isn't all it's cracked up to be.
"So, he and this girl really started to become good friends after she stopped wearing the necklace. Eventually they did get together briefly, but then he went through this period where he ran away with this special kind of kryptonite that messed with his personality."
"Why would he do that? What did it do to him?"
"Apparently, he found out his biological dad had sent him to Earth to conquer, and he didn't want to. But his dad said if he resisted, those he loved would suffer. So, he tried to destroy the ship that he'd come to Earth in, which was the only link to his biological dad. He ended up blowing up his farm and killing his mom's unborn kid."
"Oh, my God!" Lana said. "He must've felt terrible."
"He did. Especially since his dad told him if he tried to resist he'd hurt the people he loves.Anyway, this special kryptonite basically makes him more and more aggressive, selfish, and just plain mean. It made him feel good, though. Kinda like a really bad drug."
"Wow!" Josh said, his eyes wide.
"When he finally came back, back to his normal self and to the town, he had done irreparable damage to some of his relationships. Him and this girl were back to being just friends. She had always been suspicious of him, always trying to get him to open up so they could become even closer, but after this she never trusted him quite as much again. And he was even more convinced that knowing would put her in danger. He said that the hardest thing he ever had to do was lie to her and keep pushing her away."
"I can imagine," Lana said.
"He even told me about this one time he saved her in a tornado. They announced about it at the Prom, and he had a bad hunch, so he had to leave his date, who was also a good friend of his! When he got there, she was up in the tornado, and he got up there and shielded her from flying stuff and saved her."
"So she found out?" Lana asked anxiously.
Arthur shook his head. "Later, he had to deny that he was ever there. He says that was probably the beginning of her growing distrust. He hated to lie to her, and she probably never truly believed him."
"Wow!" Josh said.
"I know," Arthur said. "Superman is more human than we tend to think."
"I know how that would be, too," Lana said. "I was in a tornado once too, and." she stopped in mid-sentence. That wasn't the only part of Arthur's story that aligned itself with one of her own memories. For starters, she too had once worn a kryptonite necklace. Suddenly, she was feeling stupid.
"What?" Josh asked, puzzled at Lana's bemused expression.
How could she not have recognized parts of Superman's reminisces earlier? At lightning speed, her mind was making connections between Arthur's tale and her own memories; seeing consistent analogies between the two; putting two and two together and coming up with a very shocking four.
"Oh, my God!" Lana said softly and bemusedly.
"What?" Josh asked again.
Lana shook her head. "Nothing," she said. But she was lying. Josh couldn't know. But she did. And as soon as she could, she was going to pay a visit to the man known as Superman.