Disclaimer: I own jack squat.
Chapter 6: Baptism by Fire
May 5th, 2006, Smallville, Kansas
Let me light up the sky,
Light it up for you.
Let me tell you why,
I would die for you.
Let me light up the sky,
Light it up for you.
Let me make this mine,
I'll ignite for you,
-Light up the sky, Yellowcard
The clouds floated lazily above Kansas, back dropped by a clear blue sky. A gentle wind blew across the countryside, causing the corn rows of one particular farm to swish and sway. At the center of the corn field sat a water tower roughly 20 feet in height. On top of the tower, a figure lay, watching the clouds roll by. The figure was a young man, roughly 16 years of age. He was tall for his age and of average build. He had short, wavy black hair and amazingly blue eyes. He wore an open flannel shirt with a white t-shirt beneath it, blue jeans and white sneakers.
Clark Kent sighed as he felt the warm spring air blowing across his face. He had his hands behind his head as he spent his Saturday morning watching the clouds float by. Suddenly, his ear twitched, as if it was picking up a noise. Sitting up, Clark looked off in the direction of the noise, eyes narrowed in concentration. A black Sedan was driving down the road. The thing was that the Sedan was still a long ways off. Farther than a normal person could see. But Clark had never exactly been 'normal.'
As Clark recognized the vehicle, his face lit up with excitement. He stood up and took a few steps back from the edge, before running full sprint and leaping off the edge. Clark soared through the air, covering an incredible distance, rising a good ten feet above where he had leaped at the peak of the jump. As he came down, he merely stumbled a little, as one might when one leaped off a 5-ft wall, before he continued running, oblivious to the fact that he had just survived a fall of 30 feet unscathed or that he had covered half a foot ball field horizontally in his leap. Running at incredible speeds, Clark tore through the corn field, causing the stalks to ripple in his wake. As Clark continued to increase in speed, his feet seemed to skim over the ground…and then they weren't touching at all. Clark flailed his arms about as the sudden disorientation from his unplanned takeoff. Quickly, he steadied himself, holding his arms above his head and snapping his feet together. His flight steadied, Clark took off even faster than before.
Seconds later, Clark burst through the fields and out onto the road…and right into the path of the oncoming Sedan. Clarks eyes widened in surprise as the car bared down on him. The driver slammed on the breaks, but could not stop fast enough. Just as the car was about to hit him, Clark took off from the ground, flying a good 10ft into the air as the car passed harmlessly beneath him. The two men in the car breathed a sigh of relief before continuing on towards the house. As the drove, Clark flew up next to them, looking through the passenger window. Grinning widely, he waved at the occupants. The passenger smiled and raised his hand in greeting. The driver just gave him a stern glance before turning his attention back to the road. Clark chuckled before taking off ahead of the car, touching down and racing up the front porch.
Throwing open the door, he shouted into the house, "MA!! PA!! The agents are back!!"
Turning back around, Clark rushed off the porch as the Sedan pulled into the driveway. Moments later, Martha and Jonathan Kent came out as well. The two had grown older since adopting Clark. Both now had graying hair and wrinkles upon their skin. A pair of glasses now sat on Jonathan's nose. As they descended from the porch, the two men in the Sedan were just stepping out of their car. Both Agent's K and D had grown older as well, each sporting more wrinkles along with D's now gray hair. As they stepped out, Clark rushed to greet them.
"Agent K! Agent D! It's good to see you again!" exclaimed Clark as he reached out his hand to shake their hands.
Smiling, D took the youth's hand, "It's good to see you again to Clark. Wow, that's quite the grip you got their son! Be careful not to break anything!"
Clark smiled sheepishly, before turning to Agent K with his hand out stretched. Receiving only a stern stare, Clark immediately stopped smiling before saying, "Uhhh….good to see you Agent K, sir."
"That was a dangerous stunt you pulled back their son, I would hope you don't go racing around town with as much reckless abandon, do you?"
"N-no sir."
"That's good. See to it that it doesn't happen again."
"Yes sir."
Nodding his head, K turned his attention to Martha and Jonathan. "Mr. Kent, Mrs. Kent." K greeted them with a nod.
"Agent K, Agent D," replied Jonathan, nodding to each in turn.
"It's good to see you folks again." said D with a smile.
"It's good to see you two again as well," responded Martha, before turning to head back inside, "Now, you two must be hungry after your long trip. How about I go cook something up while you two talk with Clark?"
"That would be great Mrs. Kent," replied D as the four men turned to follow her inside.
"So these things leap on your face…and lay legs in your body?" asked Jonathan. The five of them were sitting at the Kent's dining room table, the remains of their lunches in front of them. Clark had begun asking questions about K and D's time with the MIB. D was currently describing one of the nastier creatures that he and K had encountered.
"Yep, then in a few hours the egg hatches and the larva eats your eternal organs before bursting out of your chest, a couple hours later and you've got yourself a fully grown Xenophage running around," explained D.
"These creatures sound horrible!" exclaimed Martha.
"Indeed they are," continued K, "their like insects, they only exist to feed and multiply. If left uncheck they could overrun an entire planet in a matter of weeks."
"So you've fought these things before?" Clark asked wide eyed.
"Yeah, there was a small infestation in New York a few years ago. God, that was a nasty clean up. Though if you want to see nasty, let me tell you about these things called the Brood…"
Before he could continue, a beeping sound came from K and D's pockets. Reaching into them, they both pulled out small devices. Pushing a button on the device, the round screen at the top of the device flashed on. Clark looked over D's shoulder to get a better look. He saw a man around K and D's age dressed in a similar black suit. He was stout with brown hair and a trim beard.
"What's up Zed?" asked D
"K, D, you still at the Kent residence?" Zed asked.
"We are," responded K.
"Good, I've got a mission for you around there."
"What is it?"
"We have received information that the renegade Lantern Sinestro maybe in the area. Lantern Jordan and Nova Rider have been sent to apprehend him. You are to rendezvous with them at the following coordinates in two hours and aid them in his capture. Any questions?"
"No sir," replied K and D.
"Good," said Zed before looking over D's shoulder at Clark.
"Good to see you son," he said with a smile before the screen turned off. Clark just waved, a stunned expression on his face.
"Come on D," said K, rising from his seat and heading for the door.
"Sorry to cut this short guys, but you know, duty calls." D apologized with a sheepish grin on his face.
"Think nothing of it D," replied Jonathan, holding up his hands in a calming gesture, "You to just go protect us from the scum of the universe or whatever it is that you do."
"Hey D, when Zed said 'Lantern', did he mean 'Green Lantern' as is in the Green Lantern Corps?" asked Clark with wonder.
"Sure did, kid!" replied D, with a smile.
"Wow! That's awesome!" Clark replied excitedly. He remembered all to well the stories that the agents had told him about the fabled Green Lantern Corps. Long ago, a group of highly advanced aliens known as the Guardians of the Universe, decided to take it upon themselves to try and rid the universe of crime and corruption. To do so, they created a powerful energy source with which they powered a set of weapons known as power rings. A wielder of one of these rings could perform a countless number of feats with the energy, from simple blasts and shields to intricate constructs. They called these wielders, Green Lanterns after the color of the energy and the lantern-like shape of the 'power batteries' that the Lanterns' used to recharge. The Guardians divided the space controlled by the Alliance of United Planets into 3600 sectors, assigning two Lanterns two police each sector. The Lantern was chosen by the power rings themselves, which were programmed the bravest and honest person in a sector and present itself to him or her. Since its inception, the Lanterns have been celebrated across the universe as heroes and law bringers.
But the Green Lantern Corps wasn't the only group of intergalactic law enforcement. Working alongside the Lantern Corps was a group known as the Nova Corps. The Nova Corps was set up in response to the overwhelming number of people who wished to become Green Lanterns, but couldn't because of the Corps' strict two per sector rule. The Guardians realized that these eager applicants could be used to fight evil just as much the Green Lantern Corps could. So the Guardians set up the Nova Corps, a brother group to the Lantern Corps whose membership was open to all willing to serve. Each member, known simply as a Nova, were equipped with a suit of specialized armor, which increased the wearers physical abilities to incredible levels as well as granting them interplanetary flight. This choice of weaponry was made in a similar vein as the choice to have two Lanterns per sector. The Guardians wished to remain a benevolent entity in the eyes of the people and so by limiting the power of their agents they hoped to been scene in the image they strived to attain, guardian rather than authoritarian.
D smiled before following K out the door. Before leaving, D called over his shoulder, "We'll check back with you in a few months. See you guys then!"
"We hope to Agent D," replied Martha as D walked through the door.
After they left, Clark sat back down, a smile on his face. Turning to Jonathan he said, "They're really something, aren't they Pa?"
"They sure are, son."
"I hope I could be like them when I get older. You know, use my powers to protect people like they do."
"That's a wonderful thought, dear" said Martha, who had begin to clear the dishes.
"Who knows maybe you'll go on missions with them someday," stated Jonathan, who had taken out the paper and begun reading it.
A look of realization spread across Clark's face. Looking over at Jonathan he said excitedly, "You're right Pa!"
Clark jumped to his feet before racing out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Reaching the top he raced down the hall, he ran into his room, closing the door behind him. Clark's room was modest, with a bed, desk and a dresser. A closet sat in one wall and a window looking over the corn fields sat in another. Above Clark's bed hung two posters, each depicting one of Clark's role models.
The one to the right was the oldest and depicted Captain America, holding his shield above his head, with rays of light streaming from behind him. Jonathan had told Clark many stories about the Captain and his Howling Commando's and how they had fought to defend America's freedoms. It always saddened Clark when he thought of how Cap had died during the war, though not many people knew the exact details.
The one on the left, however, depicted Clark's personal hero. The poster showed a man with shoulder-length, wavy blond hair and blue eyes. He wore a yellow costume with a pair of blue short shorts, blue boots, and a blue cape. On his belt buckle was a stylized 'S'.
This was the hero known as the Sentry. He was a hero who had lived in Metropolis during the early 90's. He had been gifted with a number of great powers, which, as Clark always loved to point out to his parents, where remarkably similar to his own developing powers. Nicknamed, "the Golden Guardian" by the media, he had defended the people of Metropolis for years from the worst the criminal underworld had to offer. Then after a battle with his archenemy, a being known only as The Void, on the outskirts of Metropolis, he simply disappeared, without any explanation as to how or why. The Void also suddenly disappeared and thus the people of Metropolis believed that either they had destroyed one another in their final battle or that the Sentry defeated the Void and took him somewhere far away, for the greater good of all. Either way, Metropolis mourned the loss of its hero and held out hope that one day he would return to defend them again.
Clark quickly went to his closet and took a duffel bag out of it. He raced over to his dresser and pulled out some close which he stuffed into his bag. Zipping it up, he threw it over the shoulders. He threw a glance at the posters on the wall before running out of his room, down the stairs and out the door.
"MA! PA!" he yelled over his shoulder, "I'M GOING TO PETE'S HOUSE!"
"ALRIGHT CLARK!" Martha shouted back, "MAKE SURE YOU'RE BACK BEFORE SUPPER!"
"OKAY!"
With that, Clark ran off, sprinting at full speed…only he wasn't headed in the direction to Pete's house.
That Evening
The sun had gone down over Kansas and the stars were jest beginning to come out. In an empty field patiently stood two men, both dressed in black suits and sunglasses, looking up at the evening sky.
"They're late," muttered K, glancing at his watch.
"They'll be here." spoke D.
"They were supposed to be here two minutes ago."
"Sorry that we're not all as punctual as you, Agent K." stated a voice from behind the agents. Turning they saw a man floating in the air, slowly descending to the ground. He was a Caucasian man, apparently in his early twenties, with short brown hair and an athletic build. He wore a form fitting green uniform with black leggings and arms and a green, lantern shaped symbol displayed on his chest, green boots, white gloves and a green domino mask on his face. He was surrounded by a bright green glow which seemed to emanate from the glowing green ring on his clenched right hand.
Following him was another Caucasian man. He appeared to be of the same age as the first man with an athletic build. He wore a blue uniform with s gold belt and gold gloves that ended in spikes at the elbow. He wore a golden helmet with a red star-shaped design on the front that concealed most of his face, except for his mouth. There were three disks in a triangle pattern on his chest and two on the back of his hands that glowed green with power.
"Lantern Jordan and Nova Rider?" asked D.
"What took you?" asked K.
"Are you kidding?" asked Nova, incredulously.
"Does it look like I'm kidding?" retorted K, giving Nova a stern glance.
"That's enough K," said D, trying to turn the conversation away from where it was headed, "How has Alan been doing, Hal?"
"He's doing fine, D. He and his wife just had twins, a boy and a girl."
"Wow, that's great! Looks like he picked a good time to retire. Tell them I say congrats."
"Sure will D."
"How's his replacement coming?" asked K in an impassive tone.
"John Stewart? He's coming along nicely; hopefully he will be ready for active duty in a few months."
"Well I hope you can handle being the sole Lantern in the sector until then."
"Don't worry K;" stepped in Nova, "Hal can handle himself, besides he has the likes of me to back him up."
"If I'm not mistaken, this is your first mission, isn't it Nova Rider?" retorted K evenly. Nova scratched the back of his head and said nothing, obviously embarrassed.
"I don't think you have to worry K," Hal said, stepping to Nova defense, "Rick scored highest in the Nova Corps academy and was chosen by Rhomann Dey himself, one of the best Nova's in the business. Besides, it was the M.I.B's request that the Guardians only send human members of the Corps to Earth, and Rick is the only human in the Nova Corps."
"Sounds good enough to me." stated D.
"Well, if we're done fraternizing here, how about you tell us more about our mission." said K.
Hal's face became hardened, before he nodded and began his explanation. "We have received reports that the renegade Lantern Sinestro was spotted coming to Earth and we were able to track him to this area."
"How were you able to track him?" asked D
"Sinestro's Qwardian power ring gives off a very unique energy signature, making him easy to track." explained Nova.
"Qward?" asked K, "I thought that was the planet he was sentenced to after his trial for enslaving his home planet."
"It was," elaborated Hal, "As you know, the residents of the planet Qward have had a long standing feud with the Guardians. They thought that by sentencing Sinestro to the planet that the residents would carry out the punishment for them. What they didn't expect was that Sinestro's own hatred of the Corps would cause them to embrace him instead of hate him. So they designed a power ring of their own, running of a power source we have yet to identify and gave it to him. Since then, he's been terrorizing the galaxy, doing as much damage to the Corps and the Alliance as he can."
"And that's what's brought you here." finished K.
"Precisely."
"But why come to Kansas? What can he do here?" asked D.
"Sinestro doesn't know Earth that well. He never had to come here and there aren't many Alliance files on it, seeing as were still very small on the galactic scene. He probably just came here because it was the closest side of the planet to him upon his arrival."
While Hal was explaining things, there was an odd rustling in a nearby bush. The others took no notice of it, but K eyed it suspiciously. Bending down as if to tie his shoes, he picked up a good size rock and palmed it, before straightening up. As Hal finished his explanation, K began to nonchalantly walk around the group, getting closer to the bush.
"Well," he began, "It seems now we know everything we need to know. We should begin our search. But first." K suddenly whirled around, flinging the stone at the bush. Instead of a rustling and the sound of the stone hitting the ground, there was a cracking sound as the stone burst into tiny pieces. The sound of a muffled "Uh-oh" could be heard coming from the bush.
"Come out Clark, I know you're in there," ordered K. As he did, Clark emerged from the bush, wearing a pair of black sweatpants and a black sweatshirt with the hood pulled up.
"What are you doing here, kid?" demanded D.
"I-I wanted to see if I could help. This Sinestro sounds like a really bad guy." Clark explained
"Who's he?" asked Nova.
"This is Clark Kent, he's one of the M.I.B's charges. He lives in the area." explained K, a stern look on his face.
"You're an alien?" asked Green Lantern. Clark nodded in response. "We're you from?"
"He doesn't know." answered K, "He arrived as a baby and we've never been able to crack the technology that came with him, nor the identify any of the substance that piggy-backed on his space ride here."
"That's a really good disguise you've got there." commented Nova. Clark only looked at him with a confused look on his face.
"It's not a disguise," explained D, "That's what he really looks like."
Green Lantern looked shocked, "He looks exactly like a human naturally?" he asked, before an idea struck him, "What did the ship he come in look like? What was the substance you said came with him?"
"His ship was far beyond anything we've ever scene, including any incredibly advanced engine we believe could move far faster than any other ship, far beyond the speed of light. As for the substances, they where a large number of glowing crystal minerals, most green in color, that were scattered all across the planet when Clark's ship arrived. We're not sure of their properties, only that it hurts the kid if he gets near it." explained D.
Green Lantern had a very thoughtful look on his face, "Would you mind if I had a look at your ship after this is all over?" he asked Clark.
"Sure, the M.I.B could never figure out how to get it to work, so they hid it in the back of our barn. But why do you want to see it?" questioned Clark.
"Because I think I might now where you came from." answered Green Lantern, placing his hand on Clark's shoulder.
"R-Really!?! Y-you can?" Clark stammered, a shocked look on his face.
"Too bad you'll never get to tell him, my old pupil." a sinister voice said from the shadows. Suddenly, a man appeared, outlined in a yellow light. He had short black hair and glowing yellow eyes. His skin was dull red and he had pointed ears. He wore a black bodysuit with blue shorts, boots, wrist guards and collar with a jagged, spiked design. The bodysuit showed off his athletic physique. On his clenched right hand he wore a glowing yellow ring.
"Sinestro!" shouted Green Lantern. He raised his hand and fired a beam of green energy. Sinestro merely raised his hand and a globe of yellow energy formed around him, causing the beam to ricochet harmlessly off.
"Firing the first shot Hal, that's against Corps policy. Besides you know that your power ring doesn't work against anything yellow. I thought I taught you better than this."
"What are you doing on Earth?" demanded Nova.
"Oh and you've brought one of those useless Novas with you. Tell me son, what's it like when you fond out you weren't good enough to be a Green Lantern." Sinestro mocked, ignoring the question. Nova visibly shook with anger.
"You didn't answer his question." stated K, who had drawn a futuristic-looking hand gun and pointed it at Sinestro. D had done the same.
"And you must be the local law enforcement. Well if you must know, I've come to do what your kind have failed to do. From what Hal's told me about this planet, you are a horribly backward and barbaric race. You can't make a decision as a race without killing each other first. So I've come to change that. I've come to bring peace to this mud ball of a planet." explained Sinestro, a malevolent grin on his face.
"By enslaving it like you did your own!?!" shouted Green Lantern.
"I did what was necessary to bring order. That's our job remember? To bring order. It's just that realized that meant through any means necessary. Like this." As he said this, he raised his hand and fired a bolt of energy at Green Lantern. He dove to the side, but the bolt still grazed his shoulder, leaving a small cut.
"Face it Hal, you can't beat me." mocked Sinestro, "You can't even touch me because of your ring's, 'yellow imperfection.'"
"He might not be able to," roared Nova as he flew at Sinestro, "but I as sure as hell can!"
Cocking his arm back, Nova threw a haymaker punch at Sinestro, only to have it blocked by the glowing energy surrounding Sinestro. Sinestro smiled wickedly before he made an energy construct in the shape of a fist and smashed it into Nova's face. As Nova stumbled back, the fist opened up and grabbed Nova's head. It pulled him sharply down, smashing his face into Sinestro's knee. Sinestro then tossed Nova viciously to the side, sending him sprawling to the dirt ground. As Nova tried to get to his feet, Sinestro formed a hammer above him, preparing to crush him, when he was struck in the back by two energy blast sending him falling to the ground with a grunt, the low-level energy shield constantly covering his body taking most of the impact.
Turning, Sinestro glared at the two M.I.B. agents standing a few feet away, pointing their weapons at him.
"Don't even think about it," K said.
Sinestro raised his hand to fire at the agents, but stopped when he saw a large sized chunk of stone wrapped in green energy came screaming at his head. Snarling, Sinestro swung his arm at it, causing a sharp blade of energy to slice it in half, causing it to miss him entirely.
"Very good, my old student," praised Sinestro as he looked at Green Lantern standing a few feet away, another chunk of earth floating in a green bubble nearby, "Using indirect forms of attack to overcome your ring's innate weakness. I'm glad you picked up something as your time as my pupil."
"I'm just glad that I didn't pick up your twisted sense of-" Hal's retort was interrupted when Sinestro was blindsided by a black blur. Sinestro flew through the air a few yards before he righted himself midair, in time to see Clark stumbling as he slowed down.
"You shouldn't interrupt your elders, boy," Sinestro snarled, raising his hand and firing a blast at Clark, who quickly leapt out of the way. Sinestro followed up with a series of rapidly fired energy blast, forcing Clark to retreat using his super speed. Sinestro moved to follow but was forced on the defensive when K and D opened up on him with their laser guns as Green Lantern formed a few energy claws which were throwing large chunks of earth at Sinestro.
Sinestro threw up an energy shield to defend himself from the onslaught. Keeping the shield up, Sinestro charged up some energy before he slammed his fist into the ground, dispersing the energy.
"Move!" shouted Green Lantern as he grabbed the two agents and flew into the air, just as a huge spike of yellow energy shot out of the ground where they had been standing. As Green Lantern flew to safety, the spike grew smaller spikes off the larger one, like an old tree and they continued to split off in Green Lantern's direction. Right as they were about to skewer him and the agents, it suddenly stopped growing. The spike began to glow and hum with power as the air sparked with energy. Hal's eyes widened before he threw up an energy shield right as the spike exploded into a huge fireball, lighting up the surrounding field and creating a huge shockwave that knocked Green Lantern out of the air and Nova and Clark back a few yards. The explosion also left a large crater in the ground, and burned off a lot of the surrounding foliage. The smoke cleared to reveal Sinestro floating above the crater with a smug look on his face.
Nova rose to his feet and looked at Clark, who was a few feet away and virtually unscathed.
"Hey kid," Nova called, catching Clark's attention "are you just fast or do you have other tricks up your sleeve?"
Instead of answering, Clark just smiled before he began to hover above the ground and smashed his fist into his hand.
"That's what I like to hear." Nova replied with a grin.
Sinestro floated in the air, surveying the landscape when suddenly he was tackled by two flying figures. Nova and Clark began beating on Sinestro's personal shield as they rocketed through the air. As they attempted to break through his shield, Sinestro gathered his energy and expanded the shield outward, sending Clark and Nova flying back. As the two recovered midair, Sinestro struck them with two energy fists, slamming both of them into the ground. The hands the grabbed them both by the throats and began to squeeze. Both Clark and Nova struggled against the hands, grasping at the energy strands that connected the hands to Sinestro's power ring.
"Stop struggling," commanded Sinestro, "not even Nova's power armor is strong enough to…"
Sinestro stopped as Clark's muscles began to bulge…before he literally, ripped the energy construct in half, dispersing it. Sinestro was so shocked that he lost concentration on the other hand, dropping Nova to the ground, where he began gasping for air. Right after he broke through, Clark flew full throttle at Sinestro and threw a punch at his jaw. The punch was stronger than before as it was able to just break through the shield, causing Sinestro to lose his yellow outline, and clip him in the jaw which sent him tumbling to the ground.
Sinestro lifted himself to his feet and wiped his hand on the back of his fist. Looking at his blood, Sinestro began to smile. Clark froze when he saw this.
"So," stated Sinestro, "looks like Hal was right. You're one of them."
"One of who?" asked Clark
"Strange though," Sinestro continued, ignoring Clark's question, "seeing as there's suppose to be extinct."
"W-what?" asked Clark, stunned.
"You didn't know? Well I guess news doesn't get around much in this backwater corner of the universe." Sinestro commented.
"What are you talking about!?!" Clark roared.
"You're the last one, boy" Sinestro, said buntly, "There are none of your kind left. You're all alone."
Clark stood rooted in place, took shocked to speak.
"I can't imagine the pain you're in right now. The knowledge must be horrible. Here," said Sinestro, raising his hand and pointing his ring at Clark, who stood their stunned, "let me put you out of your misery."
A pointed bolt of energy shot out of his ring, straight at Clark's chest.
During the time that Clark and Sinestro had been talking, Hal and the agents had recovered from Sinestro's attack and rushed up to aid Clark. Just as the bolt is about to strike Clark, D tackled him out of the way.
"Wake up, Clark!" D shouted after they landed, trying to shake Clark back to his senses, "This is no time to be day dreaming."
Leaving Clark lying on the ground, D got back to his feet and rejoined K and Hal who had begun attacking Sinestro. Sinestro put up an energy shield before he formed a large energy hand swung it horizontally, sweeping Green Lantern and the agents aside and sending them tumbling to the ground. Clark got to his feet just in time to see Sinestro point his ring at D, who was lying on the ground, struggling to get up.
"I grow tired of your meddling, Earthling." he snarled, "Now die!"
A bolt of energy shot out from Sinestro's ring, heading straight for D's chest.
"NO!" shouted Clark, racing towards D at full speed. Clark dove towards D, desperate to intercept the attack, but just as he reached D the bolt struck him in the chest, punching a hole in his chest and through his back.
"D! D! Come on D! Don't die! DON'T DIE!!" cried Clark, cradling the older man in his arms, his blood soaking into his sweatshirt and on his hands. But D just laid there, his mouth agape and a glassy look in his eyes. He was already dead. K, Green Lantern and Nova stood frozen in place, to shocked to do anything.
Sinestro laughed maniacally. "Give it up boy." he said, "The wretch is dead. And soon, you will be too."
He raised his hand and fired another bolt at Clark. Clark didn't even budge when the bolt struck him. There was now a large hole in his sweatshirt and smoke was rising from his back, but other then that, he was completely unharmed. Clark slowly turned his head to look over his shoulder at Sinestro, tears streaming down his face and rage in his eyes.
Slowly, Clark placed D's body on the ground and standing up, turned to face Sinestro. Sinestro looked at Clark shocked, before he snarled at him and shot a continuous beam of energy at Clark. Clark took the attack fully in the chest, the beam destroying his sweatshirt but not budging him an inch. Still staring daggers at Sinestro, Clark began marching towards him, fighting through the beam like someone wading through a river. Stopping in front of Sinestro, Clark grabbed his ring hand, the energy pouring out through the gaps between his fingers, and squeezed. Sinestro cried out in pain as Clark crushed his hand. Clenching his free hand into a fist, Clark pulled back and uppercut Sinestro in the chin, destroying his shield with ease, breaking his jaw and sending him flying through the air to land a few yards away in a disgruntled heap, unconscious.
Clark felt a hand on his shoulder. Whirling around he grabbed the person by the throat, only to meet the glowing eyes of the Green Lanterns.
"It's alright son," Green Lantern said in a calming voice, "It's alright. You got him."
"H-he killed him," stammered Clark, releasing Green lantern, sadness replacing anger in his eyes, "He killed D. And it's all my fault."
"No son, it's not." explained Green Lantern, placing his hands on Clark's shoulders, "Sinestro killed him, not you."
"But if I hadn't been here, D would never had had to pushed me out of the way and Sinestro wouldn't have-" Clark rambled.
"Clark," Hal interrupted, "you can't go thinking like that. In my line of work you learn a hard truth. You can't save everyone."
"Why can't I!" roared Clark, "What's the point of having these powers if I can't do anything right with them! I should have been able to save him! If I'd just trained my powers I would have been able to do something. I could have saved D."
"Beating yourself up over this won't bring D back, Clark." Green Lantern said calmly, "You can point out all your flaws, state everything you could have done differently but in the end it doesn't matter. You can't change what's already been done."
Clark just looked at his feet, tears streaming down his face.
"Come on son, let's get you home."
A week later
Clark sat on his bed, dressed in a black t-shirt and black pants. His curtains were drawn, casting the room in a strange twilight. He had a far away look in his eyes, deep in thought about what he had learned two days ago.
"I'm a what?" asked Clark. He was currently seated at the kitchen table; the only other person in the room was the Green Lantern, seated in the chair across from him.
"A Kryptonian." repeated Green Lantern.
"Who are they?"
"They were a great race, allies of the Guardians of the Universe and one of the most advanced peoples in the entire universe."
"Wait." Clark held up a hand, confusion on his face, "You said 'were'. What do you mean 'were'?"
Green Lantern sighed, averting his eyes from Clark before continuing, "Around the year 1940, their planet, Krypton, was destroyed, killing them all."
Clark merely sat in his chair, shock apparent on his face.
"H-how?" he managed to choke out.
"It was destroyed by a being known as Galactus."
"What! Why!?!"
"Galactus requires the energy of planets that can support life to survive. It's what he is. You must understand this Clark. He didn't do it out of spite, he did it out of need."
"SO THAT JUSTIFIECS KILLING AN ENTIRE PEOPLE!!!" Clark roared.
"No Clark it doesn't!" exclaimed Green Lantern, "But think about this. Do get mad at the clouds when there's a hurricane, the ground when there's an earthquake, the mountains when there's an avalanche? No! Well you can't get mad at Galactus either. He's a force of nature, a natural disaster. In fact he's better because he gives people warning before he comes, giving them time to get off the planet."
"Then why didn't the Kryptonians leave when they had the chance?" asked Clark.
"There were a lot of reasons. Part of it was history. Krypton had been their home since before Earth was even formed. Another part was their arrogance. They thought they were advanced enough to keep Galactus at bay. And part of it was that they didn't want to go back on their self-exile." Green Lantern explained.
"Self-exile?" questioned Clark.
"Centuries before, the Kryptonians retreated to their home system. They adopted a philosophy of noninterference. They had had a few bad experiences were their attempts to try and aid another race ended horribly. So rather risk it again they vowed never to interfere with another race again. This meant that every Kryptonian was either on Krypton or its sister planet of Argos at the time of its distruction."
"Sister planet! Couldn't that mean-" Clark was stopped as Green Lantern shook his head.
"The force of Krypton's destruction knocked Argos of orbit. Any Kryptonian on the planet was killed when it froze over in a matter of days."
Clark was very still. Tears were building up in his eyes. Slowly Green Lantern placed a hand on Clark's shoulder.
"I'm so sorry Clark."
Clark looked in Green Lantern's eyes before wrenching his shoulder from his grip and bolting out of the room.
"Clark!" Green Lantern shouted as the sound of the black door slamming shut reverberated through the room.
Clark sped across the field behind his house, racing towards the barn. When he got there, he threw open the barn doors and made his way to the back of the barn. He stopped in front of a large, tarp covered object hidden behind some haystacks. Grabbing the tarp, he ripped it off, uncovering an alien object. The object was reminiscent of a football in shape, roughly five feet in length and constructed out of a sleek, silver-colored metal. A dome of tinted glass was located near its rear, close to the ship's single engine. Two grooves flanked its sides, where Clark knew wings folded out from. Across its front was painted in black, the shape of a stylized S contained in a diamond.
Clark fell to his knees in front of the ship, tears streaming down his face. His hands began to shake, before he clenched them into fists and began to beat them against the front of the ship, which remained miraculously undamaged.
"WHY!?!" he screamed, beating the ship, "Why!?! Why!?! Why!?! Why!?! WHY!?! Why me!?! Why was I sent here!?! Why am I so special!?!" Clark then collapsed into a weeping fit, hugging the ship tightly, "Who am I?" Clark wheezed. Suddenly, the symbol, which Clark currently had his face pressed against, began to glow brightly. Clark pulled back from the ship, a surprised look on his face. A hissing sound came from the ship as a panel, located on the symbol, receded into the ship, revealing a hidden compartment. The churning of motors could be heard as a glowing crystal was raised up. Slowly, Clark reached out and took the crystal. He felt a buzzing sensation in his hand as he did so. Suddenly, a blue cone of light shot out and scanned the room, including Clark's face. The crystal flashed green as it made a sound in confirmation. Then a blue light shot out of the tip of the crystal and continued on past the horizon. It was at this moment that Clark realized that he was looking through the barn wall. The crystal had somehow triggered his ability to look through solid objects. Closing his eyes, Clark concentrated. Opening them again, he found that his vision had returned to normal and the beam of light had disappeared. Clark stared at the crystal in wonderment
Clark sighed, before reaching under his pillow and retrieving the crystal. Since he found it the day prior, he thought long and hard about what it all could mean. He had looked at the crystal with all his other superhuman visions powers but the only thing he could see was the single blue beam stretching out to the horizon under X-rays. Finally, he had come to one final and hard solution…he had to follow it.
Reaching under his bed, he grabbed his backpack and duffle bag, which he had stuffed with everything he thought he would need and put on his brown winter jacket before walking towards the door. He paused at the doorway, taking the time to look back at the posters of his two idols before nodding in confirmation of his own thoughts and walked out, closing the door behind him.
Slowly walking out the back door, Clark found his parents waiting for him…as well as Agent K. Green Lantern and Nova had already left, taking Sinestro to Oa for punishment. Clark had already told his parents of his plans, and after some arguments and tears, convinced them to let him go. Afterward, Clark said goodbye to his friends, stating he had to go away on a trip. K on the other hand was steadfast in his belief that Clark should stay. Though, to Clark, that meant it was the M.I.B.'s belief that he should stay. And why wouldn't they? He was stronger, faster, tougher, and could do things no one else could do. What self-respecting government agency would want someone like that running around uncontrolled? This made Clark wonder how much of K's apparent conscious had actually been D's. After his partner's death, K seemed to become even more unemotional than before. Clark didn't even remember seeing K cry over D's death.
He slowly walked down the porch stairs to bid his family-and K-goodbye. Jonathan had an arm around the weeping form of Martha, Clark's ship was bundled up in a tarp behind them.
"Ma, Pa, I guess I've got to be going," said Clark.
"I guess you do, son," answered Jonathan.
"Please Clark, there must be some other way," wept Martha.
"No, Ma there's not. I've got to find out where this leads me. This is my chance to learn more about where I come. To learn who I am."
"Your our son, isn't that enough?" begged Martha.
"I'm sorry Ma, but it's not. I have to do this."
"The boys right," stated Jonathan, "we agreed on this and we have to stand by our agreements."
Martha merely nodded, tears still streaming down his face.
"You may have agreed to this," spoke up K, "but I haven't."
"You mean the M.I.B. hasn't agreed to this," spat Jonathan.
"Clark isn't your property! He doesn't have to do what you say." said Martha bitterly.
"And I can't let someone like Clark run around unsupervised," retorted K.
Clark hugged both his parents before he brushed past K, picked up his ship with ease and rested it on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry K, but I have to do this, whether the M.I.B. likes it or not." he said.
K walked up and placed a firm hand on Clark's shoulder, "Son, I really I can't let you leave."
"Sir, there really isn't anything you can do about it." Clark retorted.
"That's where you're wrong Clark," K replied, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a lead case. Opening it, he revealed a green glowing rock. Clark gasped, before he felt all the strength leave his body and he collapsed to the ground.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!" screamed Martha.
"What's necessary," K replied, before pulling a device out of his pocket and pushed a button. Instantly, a number of M.I.B. agents poured out of the Kent's fields.
"What is this, K!?!" Jonathan demanded.
"If Clark isn't willing to stay with you, then we're forced to bring him to a place where he will stay." K explained coolly as agents moved in on the weakened Clark, weapons drawn and handcuff prepared.
"The hell you are!!" shouted Jonathan as he dove at K. Caught off guard, the agent was helpless as Jonathan tackled him to the ground, causing the Kryptonite and its case to slip from his grasp. Punching K in the jaw in order to make him stay down, Jonathan scrambled to his feet and rushed over to the Kryptonite shard. Stooping to pick it and its case up, he put the shard back in the case, pulled his arm back and threw the case as far as he could into the nearby field.
"Clark!" he yelled, "Go! Get out of here!"
Clark eyes snapped open as he felt his strength return. He quickly stood up and knocked the two closest agents away with his returned strength, sending them both sprawling. Quickly securing his bags and hoisting his ship back onto his shoulders, he raced into the fields before he soared out of them a few seconds later, flying into the sky and out of sight.
"DAMN IT!" cursed K as he got back up and wiped the blood from his busted lip. He ran over to an agent who wasn't currently pointing his weapon at Jonathan, who had his hands over his head.
"Please tell me that tracking chip I placed on his bag is working," he said.
"We're bringing it online right now," replied the agent, pulling out a hand held object with a digital screen and pushed a button, causing a yellow light to appear on the screen with coordinates to its location.
Meanwhile
Clark was tearing through the sky at speeds approaching the sound barrier, his bags and the tail of his jacket trailing behind him. Unbeknownst to him, an object the size of a pin head on the bottom of his backpack began to blink rapidly. It continued to blink before it suddenly began to spark and then stopped blinking entirely and fell off like an old scab. Clark continued to fly over Kansas at breakneck speeds, not knowing where he was going; only that he was going north.
At that time,
K began to smile as he looked at the blinking dot, before the screen went black except for the words "Signal Lost" flashed on it in red. Scowling, K swore under his breath as the agent tried to get the tracker working again.
"I-I don't understand, s-sir," the agent stammered, "It was working perfectly a second ago."
"The kid must have disarmed it somehow." elaborated K.
"What do we do now, sir?"
K sighed as he surveyed the situation. The agents currently had Jonathan in handcuffs while they were visibly struggling to control an enraged Martha.
"Pack up," he said after a few seconds, "we're heading back to HQ."
"What, sir?" asked the agent, surprised.
"We've lost the target. Zed isn't going to be happy, but there's nothing we can do about it."
"What are we going to do with them, sir?" the agent asked, gesturing towards the Kents.
"Nothing. We misjudged how long it would take the Kryptonite to affect the target. He was able to fight off our agents and escape. Understand?" demanded K.
The agent nodded dumbly.
"Good," replied K "Now take those cuffs of him and send someone to go find that case. The rest of you, ship out!"
The fields were busy with activity as the agents poured back into them, while K made his way over to Jonathan and Martha.
"Agent K?" asked Jonathan, rubbing his wrist.
"Consider us even." K replied bluntly
"Excuse me?" questioned Martha.
"Trust me, Mrs. Kent, I could have tried a lot harder to catch your son."
"So why didn't you?" asked Jonathan.
"Chalk it up to whatever sliver of humanity D was able to keep alive all these years. Trust me, I may not show it, but I miss him as much as any of you. I owed him this much."
"So you had to make it look like you tried to capture Clark to save face?" Martha asked, shocked.
"Yes." K replied, bluntly.
"Did you rig that tracker to break when it did?" Jonathan asked with a smile.
"What do you think, Mr. Kent?" retorted K, though he knew Jonathan already knew the answer.
"Where you expecting Jonathan to do something like that?" asked Martha.
"I was expecting him to knock me down, that's why I let go of the case. But I wasn't expecting him to punch me out as well," K answered neutrally. Jonathan scratched the back of his head and adverted his eyes, a slight blush on his face.
"So now what?" asked Martha, a slight grin on her face.
"Now I leave," K stated evenly.
"That's it?" asked Jonathan, "No more check ins or anything?"
"I don't see why," replied K "there isn't anything to check up on any more."
"Your not going to…erase our memories, are you?" asked Martha nervously.
"Now, Mrs. Kent why would I do something like that?" questioned K with a smile before turning and walking to his car.
"I guess will see you around, Agent K!" shouted Martha in goodbye.
"No, Mrs. Kent, you won't," said K with a smirk, before he got in his car and drove away.
"Well," said Martha with a sigh, "I guess that's the end of that."
"Actually Martha," retorted Jonathan, looking off towards the horizon that Clark flew towards, "I think this is just the beginning."
He hugged Martha before turning and leading her back towards the house, though not before they both took one last look at the horizon.
A/N: I DID IT! I DID IT! Two chapters in one month baby! I'm getting better. (And don't get on my case that it's the 31st, I still made it.)
Any way I'm happy with this one and I hope you are too. I tried to but the character introductions into dialogue after some people helpfully pointed out that my old way slowed the story down. If you have any questions or comments please review or PM me, though I prefer reviews.
Last thing: Bonus points to those who figure out who Hal's partner was before the chapter. (Hint: he's retired now).
I'll get started on the A.S.A.P. And to head off those who've already asked this question, yes Thor will be in the next one, along with the introduction of one of my favorite Dark Horse superheroes.
Until then, Later True Believers!