Smallville: Apocalypse Rising

Chapter Two
"Fate"

The door creaked open, and the moonlight illuminated the figure emerging from outside.

Chloe Sullivan entered the room, a torch in hand. She shoots its light through the room, searching, walking. She moves through the museum quickly, but carefully, passing the doors with her sights set on one room in particular. Pushing the double doors apart, she finds herself in the JSA Brownstone, flashing her torch around at the stored costumes and masks.

One particular thing in the room catches her eye as she walks passed the round table.

The Helmet of Nabu.

Setting her torch down, she approaches it. A small sigh escapes her lips, opening the glass case, and reaching for the helmet. Suddenly, as she holds it out in front of her, the lights in the room flicker on, and she turns to face Carter Hall, also known as Hawkman.

"What are you doing, Chloe?" he questioned, approaching her.

With a small exhale, she sets the helmet down and faces Carter.

"Oliver is missing, and I have to find him," she explains.

"And you're going to use the Helmet of Nabu to help you find it?" he puzzled, shaking his head at her attempt.

"Doctor Fate told me that I was on the same path as him. Maybe this is my destiny," she protested, "maybe I am fated to be the next called."

"But the helmet hasn't chosen you," he sharply said, "until it does, that is if it does, you can not wield its power."

"You can't stop me, Carter," she said, slowly backing away as he moved towards her, "we may be on the same side, but I won't let you get in the way of saving the man that I love."

"I was in love once. She meant the world to me. Both fighting for justice, doing what was right," he began, "but there's a limit to how far you can go to protect the one's you love. And when you cross that line -"

"You failed to save her. I won't make that same mistake."

Bringing out her taser, she sends high voltage charges through Carter's body, crippling him to the floor. He hunches over, grunting, and Chloe steps over his pain ridden body. Reaching for the helmet, she runs towards the round table, Carter slowly regaining feeling in his legs.

"Chloe, don't!" he shrieked, managing to turn around and see her, "the kind of power that helmet possess will drive you insane."

"I was bound to go crazy sooner or later."

Suddenly, the doors explode open, and Clark enters the room. Chloe's eyes dart over toward him, and she gasps, surprised.

"Clark?" she asked in total disbelief.

"Chloe, what are you doing?" he quizzed, slowly forwarding towards her, "don't do this."

"Clark, its the only way I can find him," she cried, "you know I have to do this."

"We can find him together!" he assured her, "but not like this."

"You may have superspeed, Clark, but even you can't find Oliver this fast if you don't know where he is," she continued, "this helmet will take me to him."

"But at what cost? Chloe, I can't lose you!" he said, scared.

"Sometimes sacrificing yourself for the greater good is necessary. You of all people should understand that" she whimpered, "goodbye Clark."

"No!"

Chloe pulls the helmet up to her face, and a bright yellow light begins to emerge, exploding over Chloe. She gasps, her body jolting from its energy, and suddenly she is bathed in a beautiful light, which forces her to close her eyes. She is consumed by its glory.

As her eyes peel open, the future of what's to come explodes in her mind.

Tess Mercer enters the Luthor Mansion, bloody, torn. As she enters the library, she finds a man standing behind her desk, looking out at the window. Everything lies in ruins, destroyed. Chaos consumed everything. Fear quivered through Tess' lips, as she realised who the man was. His baldness setting it off.

"Lex..." she mumbled.

That was enough to grasp his attention, and he turned, gun in hand.

"I was waiting for you to show your face, Tess," he smiled, "I was hoping you weren't dead."

"How are you -"

"Still alive? Thats just it, Tess..." he began, "I was never dead to begin with."

He aims the gun at her, and she merely flinches.

"So you're here to kill me, huh. And with a gun? Thats low, even for you," she mocked.

"I was going to let you die with the rest of your friends, but I wanted your pathetic life to end by my hands," he explained, "such a pity that even Superman can't save you now."

The bullet fires out of the gun, and moves at a rapid pace, straight towards Tess. She closes her eyes, and the bullet punctures straight through her head, right between the eyes. Dropping to the floor, she bleeds out over the floor, giving Lex a sweet victory. He turns to his side, as a figure approaches.

Brainiac.

"Its time."

The light surrounding Chloe disappeared, the helmet rolling away from her. She drops into Clark's hold, who cradles her pale body. Staring into her now-white covered eyes, he is scared for her life.

"Chloe?" he asked, shaking her to try and bring her to wake, "Chloe!"

Carter Hall steps in from behind them, looking down at Chloe, also puzzled. Snapping his head up, Clark looks to Carter for his answers.

"What was that?" he questioned.

"I don't know," he replied, "that's never happened before..."

Gravity eases Clark's head back to face his best friend, who lay unconscious in his arms. With a small look of panic, he stands, still holding her in his arms. Without so much as a goodbye to Carter, Clark zooms off, out of sight ...

A/N - The implications of putting on the helmet will be shown in the next chapter, as well as finding out where Tess is, and all of that. The stories that will begin to unravel itself as it goes on will be mainly about this apocalypse, and what is on its way. Lionel Luthor will show up a few more times, as he's also apart of a completely different plot that will weave through this. I'm not sure how many chapters there will be, but as you can see, not everything is happening in each chapter, and each chapter revolves around one thing, sometimes two - so there'll be quite a lot. Thanks guys, hope to hear your thoughts on the story soon! XD