Feral
A few days had gone by since Clark's talk with his father out on the stoop. Since then he had begun to use his powers more openly on the farm. Like when he needed to plow the fields he did it himself instead of using Carrie, the horse that their neighbor's let them use in exchange for a few of his mother's salads.
But that didn't mean he was reckless with his gifts, he only uses them when he was absolutely sure no one would see him. Just because he was free to use his powers didn't mean he could use them carelessly after all.
"I'm thinking we may need to retire the tractor at this rate." Jonathan said as his son zoomed by in a blur, dropping seeds as he ran by. He went over the field in a pattern, left to right over and over until he was finished. After the last seed empires from his hand, he abruptly turned and slowed down as she approached his dad.
"Don't count it out yet, there's a reason we're only doing this plot. Besides I love old Ness." he said, referring to the tractor by the nickname he gave it when he was a small child.
The man wrapped his arm around Clark's shoulders, "We all do but that's she's not exactly fast as you." he noted.
Clark smirked, "I'm pretty sure there's no one faster than I am." he pointed out. The fastest Clark ever ran was maybe three hundred miles a hour, but at that speed he had burned his shoes to ashes from the amount of friction he caused.
"You're right about that. Besides when you leave I'm gonna need all the help I can get." he said jokingly. But he did notice his son go rigged, Clark had always been somewhat nervous about the idea of leaving Smallville. "Look son, you know that me and your mother only want you to be happy, but we don't want you to be locked here in Smallville."
Clark nodded, "I know dad but..."
"It's a big world out there I know. And I'm not saying you need to find your place in it right this moment, but one day you will." he explained, causing his son to nod in understanding with his words. "And until then, don't you have a job to get to?" he asked.
Clark's eyes widened, "Crap! You're right. I'll see you later dad." he said before running to the house. A second later he was going down the driveway and out onto the road leading away from the farm.
Traveling down the road, Smallville came into view. He abruptly fired to the left, ducking into the cornfield outside town, he ran through the crop with the sales bending out of his way as he ran before returning upright.
He came to a halt outside town, behind the post office where no one could see him. Walking out from around the corner, he walked into the small building next to it.
The building was the Weekly newspaper that published stories about what wa going on in the town. Clark had begun working during his sophomore year of high school so he could get some income.
Of course it wasn't a big league paper like the ones in the Kingdoms but it still got the job done. Even if it was a single story, ten room structure.
Entering through the front doors, Clark his way towards the room where he worked from, the archives. His job was to to both wrote stories and sort through older stories and document them digitally, for most people this would be a boring task, which it was, but not so much the case for Clark.
He did enjoy reading the old stories, but he could also type around a hundred words a second on the old computers. He could only imagine how fast he could go on a more modern one.
As the farmer sat down, he grabbed a file and started to read it, "Hey Clark! Can you come in here?" The young adult looked to the door then to the paper, he quickly red over the paper in a matter of milliseconds and typed it into the paper before standing up.
Entering the office across from his he gave a friendly smile, "You called Ms. Mills?" he asked the editor. The middle aged woman sat behind a desk with a computer and her name on a small rage in front of her desk with the word 'Editor' in front of it.
She had brown hair tied back in a bun, and a pair of glasses on as well, she also had a distinct tiger tail wafting behind her. "Clark, sit." she offered, the young man sat in the chair across from her desk, "You know Trevor Barns?" she asked.
Clark nodded, "Yeah, he lives just near the town border right?" he asked, thinking of how everyone used his home as a landmark when going so far away from town.
"Well the police were called there earlier today and they found his whole herd of cattle shredded to pieces." She explained, causing Clarks's eyes to widen.
Having an entire herd killed? That was uncommon for Smallville, even being outside the safety of the Kingdoms they never had the treat of being overrun with Grim. But something like this, that usually meant that something bad was coming.
"Look this could be a pack of normal wolves for all we know, but I'd rather have someone on it. I know you're piled with the database entries more than usual Clark-" Ms. Mills started .
Clark shook his head, "No it's fine. I can do that later, besides this seems more important." he said as he stood up. "I'll head over now." he said as he walked up the door.
"Thanks Clark." his boss replied gratefully as the young admit waved her goodbye. Once he was outside her office, he ran towards the back exit, opening the door he entered the cornfield and began to circle around Smallville.
There was a number of farmers around the town, Clark's parents included, but none of them went more than a mile or so away.
The one Clark needed to get to was the farthest from Smallville, which only took a few minutes with his speed off-road.
The farm was larger than his on account of the cattle, but glancing at the remains of the animals in the field, Clark had to look away. He had seen dead animals before of course, roadkill and such, but the way that it was so on display, it unnerved him.
Walking up to the door, he knocked on the wood. A few seconds later he heard shuffling from the other side, "Who is it?" a voice from the other side asked.
"Mr. Barnes? It's Clark Kent, I heard what happened and I was wondering if you'd want to comment on what happened?" Clark offered.
A few seconds ticked by before the door opened, Trevor Barns was older than Clark's parents, his hair starting to recede back over his slightly wrinkled skin. He wore overalls and a beige plaid longsleeve and work boots, "Sure...why not. What do you want to know?"
Clark shrugged, "Well...how did you discover your...cattle?" he asked, trying to be respectful as he could.
Trevor sighed, "This morning, I came out early to give them their hay when I found them like that." he explained, thinking back to the state he found his livestock in.
The young adult gave him a look of sympathy, "I'm sorry...did you see what could have caused this?" he asked.
Trevor shook his head, "No, it must have ran off before I came out. I can tell what it wasn't, wolves don't do that. They only kill one steer once in awhile and a whole pack usually does that." he explained.
Clark mentally crossed that possibility off the list, "Ok, one more thing, has anything happened like this before?" he asked. He knew it was a long shot but he did need to ask.
"Well...a few days ago I found something near the woods." Trevor said, gesturing for him to follow, the farmer led Clark out back behind the house. As they approached the thick forest, Clark kept his ears peeled for anything out of the ordinary. "Here it is."
Clark looked down to the ground where the man pointed, in the dirt was embedded a footprint. But what was strange is that it actually looked human like, "I came out here to put down some stakes for a fence when I found it." Trevor explained.
Clark nodded absentmindedly, "Did you report it to the police?"
The man shrugged, "I think it's a Beowulf track, but they're only dangerous in packs. Looks like one just got separated." he explained.
Only if Beowolves gained another mandible. Clark thought as he shook Mr. Barns' hand, "Thanks for your time, and I'm sorry about your cattle." he said before making his way back to the house.
(000)
After getting back to work, Clark easily typed the story into his computer. But he left out the part about the tracks.
He was currently looking at a photo of a Beowulf, the creature of Grimm was a fairly common species from what he's heard. But they are somewhat similar to wolves in many ways.
Including their paws.
Wolves and other canines had four paw pads, but the one on Mr. Barn's property line had five imprints in the ground. "This is nuts..." he muttered as he rubbed his sore eyes.
"Ok maybe it's something else?" He asked out loud, trying to think of another possibility. He shook his head, this was bugging him sure but it wasn't important, what was important is that he had gotten his story done and now he could get back to work.
Clicking the window closed, he pulled up his workspace on the computer and opened the next file containing a story. He sped read through the story and typed it in after words, he repeated the process as he went along until he came across a certain file.
The article was from a few months ago, how a butcher's store was raided. The rear doors were torn open by something with claws that cut through steel. "What?" the young man muttered to himself as he look at a picture taken at the scene.
On the ground was paw print, exactly like he had seen earlier. But that's all the way in Vale! So what this thing traveled two hundred miles just to get some steak? Clark thought skeptically.
He shook his head, "Not my problem. Grimm are weird anyway...ok that's ironic coming from me." he muttered when he realized how hypocritical that sounded.
After getting a few dozen more stories typed into the database, he decided to call it a night. Shutting down the computer he turned off the lights and closed the door behind him. Exiting the building, Clark smiled at the sight of the sunset, he would be just in time for dinner.
Running around the side of the of the building and out into the fields, getting onto a side road he ran down the length of it before shutting through the brush onto the road leading home. Slowing in front of the fence's opening, he walked over towards the house and entered. "Hey guys I'm home." he called out.
"Clark! Just in time, dinner is almost done." Martha called from the kitchen as Clark walked into the dining room and sat down beside his father as tinkered with the remote to the TV.
"Did you guys hear what happened to Mr. Barn's cattle?" he asked.
"No what?" Jonathan asked.
"All his cattle were attacked by something." Clark explained, making both his parent's eyes widen at the news.
"Trevor's heard!? The whole thing?" Jonathan asked with surprise. "I knew him back in high school, he was always a little isolated but a nice guy." he said, remembering back to his younger years.
"I think we should send Trevor something." his wife suggested as she put dinner on the table. Tonight was pasta, one of Clark's favorites, and Martha Kent knew how to make some good pasta.
Clark began to dig into his food, "We should. He was a good man, and I think we owe to ourselves to help him when he needs it." Jonathan said, nodding in agreement. He looked to his son, "Would you mind running over there and delivering him some extra pasta Clark?"
Before he could respond, a loud of wood splintering made the three's heads snap towards the front door. "What was that?" Martha asked as Jonathan stood up and walked towards the side of the staircase where he kept his rifle.
Jonathan was a peaceful man, that was the specific reason he became a medic during the war, but that didn't mean he never used his gun.
As he wakes to the door, Clark stood and followed closely behind him. As he opened the door and stepped outside, the pair looked around for any sign of the noise. "Think it was a animal?" Clark asked.
"No, because last time I checked a animal can't do that." he said, gesturing to the barn with his rifle. Clark looked and nearly gasped.
The doors were torn open, "Dad stay here." he said, rushing over to the front of the barn in a second and pushing them open.
The barn was dark, but the constant rustling told him that there was something in here. Reaching to his left, he felt around for the light switch. Feeling the small plastic lever, he flipped it.
Just to see a set of fangs close to his face.
Clark backpedaled away, getting a better look at the intruder. It had black fur completely covering it head to toe, but it's hands looked humanoid with long claws on the end of it's fingers. It's head was also humanoid, no snout, but it did have canine ears and teeth.
But it's eyes, they were orange, not red like Grim's.
It jumped to the right so it was in the center of the barn before lunging at the young adult. The force sent them flying through the air so they where in between the house and the barn with the creature on top of Clark.
He grabbed the beast by it's wrists, his strength managing to keep its claws off him. A shot rang out, hitting the creature in it's shoulder, "Get the hell off him!" Jonathan shouted as he trained the sights on the beast's head. It crouched before lunging at Jonathan.
Clark quickly grabbed it by it's hind leg from the ground and threw the beast forward, clipping it on the edge of the barn's rooftop.
Scrambling onto his feet, Jonathan came to his son's side, "Dad you need to get back inside-"
"Clark I'm not letting that thing hurt you or your mother, now stay behind me and-" he started as he loaded another clip into the gun before Clark grabbed it.
"I can take care of this, that thing is from fast for you, get inside and protect mom. I can deal with this." he said, looking his father in the eye.
Jonathan wanted to protest, but the stall look in his son's eyes made that seem...small. "Ok...but be careful son." he said, putting a hand on his son's shoulder as he turned back and ran towards the house.
Clark looked up to the barn rooftop. With this strength also came another ability, one that he wasn't exactly fond of using. Not because he didn't like it, but he didn't use it as much as he did his other abilities.
He crouched down close to the ground, and jumped. He overshot the top of the barn by about ten meters, but landing on the roof was easy, dispersing his edit over his limbs by landing on all fours so he didn't come down through the roof.
Clark looked up, the creature was somewhat struggling to stay upright on the slightly slanted roof. "I don't know if you can understand me, but if you can, then I got one thing to say." the creature looks at him directly and let out a low growl. "Get the hell off my farm!"
The creature charged at him and lunged like before, landing in front of the young man it slashed its claws upwards, tearing into Clark's chest.
Well it tried to anyway.
But Clark's skin acted like armor, nothing could really pierce it, but depending on what he gets hit with he can still feel the impact through the armor. So he can still feel pain, but it's dulled significantly.
But his 'shield' didn't cover his clothes unfortunately.
Clark slightly stumbled from the claws, the beast slashed its claws again, this time Clark was ready and grabbed one of the beast's hands and jabbed his fist out into it's chest, making it dub over in pain and have Clark's knee connect with it's head, sending further back onto the roof.
Rolling onto it's paws, it looked at Clark with bewilderment. That was the first time a human hit him that hard, and it didn't like it.
It once again lunged at Clark as he wound his fist back, as the beast closed in on slow motion, Clark swung the uppercut as he turned, sending the beast up into the air over his head.
The creature flew over the farm and into the fields. Launching from the top of the barn, Clark rose through air as he closed in on where he predicted where the creature landed. Landing on the ground, he looked at the scuffed ground where the beast must have landed.
Claws ripped over his back, making him stumble forward. As he turned around another strike ran over his face.
The beast kept up the assault, pushing Clark back. And it was starting to hurt.
Clark swung his fist blindly, he knocked the beast back. Clark's clothes were practically shreds now, and he wasn't happy about that. "Ok. You had your fun. My turn." Clark said just as the beast lunged at him once again.
Clark landed a haymaker on top of it's head mid air, making it bury it's head into the ground. Clark circled around it and grabbed it's legs, he lifted them from the ground and begun to swing the creature around, crashing it into the ground occasionally before flinging it into the tree line, sending it through a few tries that toppled.
"...I may have overdone that." Clark admitted as he rushed into the forest.
Fallowing the broken trees, he stopped at the last fallen trunk, with no sign of the beast to be found. But Clark was satisfied, the beast was out of his family's property and that thing would have to be stupid to come back.
So he turned around and sprinted back towards home, not seeing the orange eyes watching him from the branches high above.
(000)
"Are you sure you're ok honey?" Martha asked as she circled around her son, looking him over for any injuries. It always seemed that no matter how many times it was proven that he was practically invulnerable, Martha has to make sure her son was indeed all right.
"Sweetheart I think Clark has had enough things pawing at him tonight." Jonathan said as he handed Clark a new shirt to replace the tattered one.
He smirked at his dad's joke, "You're know you're starting to sound like a certain someone I know." he pointed out as he slipped the green shirt on over his head. "But...I think that thing was what are Trevor's herd." he said, making his parents eyes widen.
"You think so?" Jonathan asked.
Clark nodded, "It makes sense, that thing wanted food, and his herd was pretty good food source." he pointed out. It had also made sense with the butchery in Vale months ago, but why did it go to the barn?
But...if it had intelligence, then it could have thought that there were animals in there. But Grimm are mindless. Clark thought as he made his way up to his room after telling his folks he was alright.
Clark's room wasn't all that special in his opinion. His computer was on the desk that sat in front of the window looking out to the driveway, his closet was on the wall opposite of the desk.
His bed was made of oak, a gift from his parents, sitting beside the wall opposite of the doorway he stood. Beside it was his dresser which had his alarm clock and scroll charger.
Laying down on his bed, Clark didn't bother covering himself with a blanket before letting himself fall asleep.
(000)
The next day, the sheriff made his way down to the Kent farm just as Clark and Jonathan were patching up the barn. "And you managed to nick it in the shoulder?" Officer Bailey asked as he scribbled the information into his notepad.
Jonathan nodded, "Yea but the thing didn't stop. I'd be careful Paul, that thing didn't look it, but it's tough." he said as he finished sawing another plank. Clark picked up the piece and walked to the door and grabbed the hammer on his tool belt.
The officer nodded, "I will John. And if you see it again call us right away ok?" he asked.
Jonathan nodded, "Of course Paul." he agreed, shaking the man's hand.
The sheriff turned to Clark, "And nice going driving that thing off son, but next time leave it to the proper authorities." he advised, the young adult smiling before returning to work.
As the sheriff drove away, Clark frowned. "You think he can handle it?" he asked.
Jonathan leaned into the board in front of him, "I don't know son...I've been around for forty years and I've never seen anything like this Clark." he said before looking up at his son. Clark gave him a look, "Well maybe one other thing...but other than that nothing else."
Clark smiled with satisfaction at the answer, "Mr. Bailey is smart and he knows that if things are tougher than they look he'll call in a huntsman or a huntress to take care of it." he said with a shrug.
Jonathan didn't look convinced, "And if that doesn't work?" he asked, making Clark slow his nailing.
"Well...I guess they call in the military then." he assumed. We wasn't exactly clear with the chain of law enforcement, he knew that kingdoms had special teams to handle certain situations but other than that nothing much.
"And then?" Jonathan repeated.
Clark ceased work altogether. "Dad what are you getting at? I only know so much about this stuff." he asked.
Jonathan pushed himself up from the work beach and made his way over to his son. "Clark I've probably told you this a million times and I'll say it again. Whatever you do I'll be proud of you for it, but last night when you fought that thing, I saw something." he explained.
Clark felt butterflies in his stomach, "I saw a man that stepped in front of me and told me to go protect my wife and went to go fight something to protect me and her." he continued as he put a hand on his son's shoulder. He smiled, "And I couldn't even begin to tell you how proud of you I was."
Clark finally smiled at that, "Clark I want you to know that I always want you to be safe but...I don't think anyone but you can handle this thing." he explained.
Clark sucked in his lower lip, he was happy that his dad felt that way but honestly? He didn't see how this was his concern. He used his abilities to protect his family and people who were in trouble. But he can't just take on everyone's responsibilities, it's not his fight.
But can I really walk away when I know that people are in danger? he asked himself.
For what seemed like hours, but what was actually a few seconds, he weighed his options. Then he finally spoke, "Ok...but I don't think this thing should be killed." he said honestly. Jonathan said nothing but the questionable look on his face said it all, "Dad this thing hasn't attacked anyone until last night, and I accidentally provoked it to anyway. All it's been doing is trying to find food. And I don't think it should be killed for that."
Jonathan let that sink in, "Well that's true Clark. But not everyone thinks like that. I was willing to put an end to it's life to protect you and your mother, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. And I think everyone who see's that thing will agree with me."
Clark nodded, that thing looked like a monster, it almost looked like Grim. But it wasn't, "Ok so what can I do? If I fight it I could end driving it to another town." he pointed out.
Jonathan sighed, "I'm sorry Clark, but I don't know the answer to that one." he said sympathetically. As the two got back to work, Clark tried to think of what to do, not coming up with a answer for a while.
But what he needed to do now was figure out where the monster could strike next. Thankfully, he found out a pattern pretty quick.
One of his lesser used abilities was his brainpower. Well not exactly brain power but his intelligence, Clark had a photographic memory, so much so that he can remember anything and store it for later. Like the map of Smallville for instance, and how Trevor Barns lived lived a relatively close to Kent Farm, and that if it was going around Smallville then he knew were the beast's next target would be.
Oh...wow I figured it out. Like a detective and stuff...cool. Clark thought with a small smile at his accomplishment.
(000)
Clark's planning may need some work.
Because of as right now all his plan was to sit up in a windmill overlooking the Tula house. They were incredibly nice people, Clark had gone over to their house to play with their niece when he was little.
It was hard to think that they actually may be in danger was somewhat weird considering he knew them.
"Ok Clark, if you weren't a alien and instead was a monster wolf or something, how would you go about this?" he asked himself as he looked over the property. This time he wore his old work clothes in case things became a repeat of last night.
He waited for a few more minutes before a moving black mass caught his eye. "Got you." he muttered before dropping to the ground and rushing towards the creature as it got close to the house.
Stopping in front of it, "Clark crouched and launched himself into the beast, sending them hurdling into the air. Clark wasn't sure just how far he went away from they oust but when they came crashing into a forest he was sure it was least as far as he could jump.
So he was a eighth of a mile away, that was a good start.
The ground crushed under the weight of their impact. The creature scurried away from Clark a few feet as the young man stood up. It growled at him, "I know you need to eat, but I can't let you hurt anyone else." Clark said as the beast lunged at him.
Clark made no attempt to defend himself, letting the claws try and cut him, Clark was pushed back a few feet until he finally grappled the beast and started to run forward, hitting the beast against trees, rocks, and anything else he could see.
But the beast kept up its assault, it's claws raked over Clark's face, not enough to blind him but it did hurt.
He kept running, he watched as the forest became thicker, the plains became scarce, and his face start to become more bruised.
But he could take it.
Finally, Clark abruptly stopped, the sudden lack of speed, sending the monster off him and crashing into the base of a rock. Clark let himself catch his breath as the beast tried to stand up but fumble.
"There's plenty of game here...fresh water...and no one here to your to hurt." he explained. The beast's eyes locked with his, almost as though they understood what he was saying, "I don't know what you are, and honestly I'm not sure if I should care. But if you come back to Smallville, I'll throw you so far you'll see Atlas." he said before timing and running away in a blur.
The beast sat there for a few moments before getting on all fours and walking into the thicket.
(000)
"That was good thinking son." Martha praised as she put a plate of bacon and eggs in front of him. Clark's face was still somewhat bruised from last night, but he was healing pretty fast considering.
"Well I figured all that thing wanted was food, so I put him where the nearest home is ten thousand miles away in any direction." she explained with a shrug.
Honestly it wasn't the farthest he's gone before, one day he wanted to see just how fast he could run for the fun of it. So he took off in a single direction for about an hour before he had to stop in front of the ocean.
Obviously he came back but he never told his parents about that little experiment.
"I still don't know what that thing was." Clark said before eating another thing of bacon.
"We may never know Clark. But it's gone now, and that's the important part. All thanks to you." he said with praise.
Clark smiled out of modesty, just as he was about to take another bite, there was a knock at the door. Clark got up, "I got it." he said before quickly taking a bite of bacon again and walking to the door.
Opening the door, he was greeted to the sight of two old friends, one with long golden blonde hair and violet eyes, the other with black hair cut short up to her jawline with red tips. She also had silver eyes and red hood and cape.
"HelloooooooOOOHHHH MY GOD WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED TO YOU!?" the blonde said in a sing song voice that quickly turned up shock when she saw Clark's bruised face.
He nervously smiled, "Yang...Ruby...heyyyyyyy..." he trailed off, giving them his best smile as he tried to think of a excuse for the bruises.
This was going to be a bit of a challenge.
AN: So how does Clark know Yang and Ruby? Well you'll have to wait until the next chapter comes out to learn.
Ok sorry I took so long to update, between this, writing my Legend of the Spider-Man story and watching Gargantian on Netflix it's been a busy few days.
And yes I saw Vol. 3 premier and I loved it!
So until next time guys and don't be afraid to review, follow and favorite!
