Fog From the Mirror
By Moonraker One
A/N: This chapter is short because it is a brief interlude between the previous arc and a major arc.
CHAPTER SEVEN – Periods of Time
Lana awoke. The field she lay in smoldered in a six foot circle where something had been burned. All that remained in the circle were ashes. What happened here? And my head, why does it hurt? Her thoughts got interrupted rather abruptly. All at once, every sound for miles sounded amplified more than a million times. She cupped her hands around her ears, only to find that it had no discernable effect. She tumbled over to her left from the noise, and found herself clawing the ground to distract her. A few moments passed before she managed to force herself to overcome the loudness in the air. Crawling a few steps before attempting to stand back up, she came across a metal container. It was opened, and seemed to be made of a strange metal she'd never seen before. The lid lay an inch from the box itself. On the ground, were an injection gun with an empty chamber, and a written letter of instruction. She read the letter silently to herself: "General Zod, use the orb to free Faora. The large machine I created was not necessary to free you, I simply used it as a distraction. The orb has enough power to open the Dead Zone one time. I managed to create the exogenes, which will grant Kryptonian abilities to whomever injected with it. Unfortunately, you cannot gain your original abilities. Saiyan cells are relatively unstable when mixed with the exogenes. Still, your Faora will have the same abilities she should."
Curious, she cocked her head to the right and squinted while she read. Who's General Zod? Wait, I remember Goku, or someone that looked like him, said HE was Zod, but what was that about? Her thoughts took a turn towards the truth. Wait, was Goku possessed? Was that a clone of him? Does this injector have something to do with everything being so loud? She folded the note and put it in her pocket. This would require her to do more research. She had to make sure that Whitney was ok. If it was Goku or not, he'd picked the football player up by his neck and thrown him hard. Looking around gave her the general idea of where she was, as she knew the Smallville area somewhat well. The tree near the dirt road was a familiar sight, after all, so she ran as fast as she could; she didn't know how long it would take her to find someone, where she was at.
Suddenly, the world turned into a blur with every color bleeding into one another as she at once moved across several hundred yards even though she'd only had the intent to move at her normal running pace. Unable to control her movement at supersonic speeds, She tripped over her feet and bounced several times, ultimately smashing through a large tree and coming to a stop a few feet past the wreckage. She stood up hastily. Her clothes dirtied and torn in places, she noticed several areas of dirt where the jagged parts of wood scraped her, but no damage could be seen. Wait! She recalled. That guy injected me with this stuff, and then some spirit entered me! That must be what caused this! She looked around. I hope this won't cause a problem. She walked a bit. Finally, she got her courage up to try the super speed again. At first, she found herself nearly colliding with every object in her path. After about thirty seconds, her senses adjusted to seeing at tremendous speeds, and found herself navigating large areas of Kansas countryside in moments.
After about five minutes of tracing pathways, she came across the area where Whitney's truck was. Apparently, the damage had not been enough to prevent him from taking himself to the hospital. There were still so many questions she had. What are "Kryptonians" and "Saiyans?" Is Goku one of them? She shook her head; these thoughts would have to be answered later; she didn't know where to go next. It was only after that bit of thinking that her thought process gave her an idea. Wait, she recognized, if Goku is either of these things, these alien races, then there'd be something at the Kent farm! She looked around quickly for a landmark to judge her position by. Then a trail of blur stretched for more than a mile for a brief second.
Martha and Jonathan Kent were enjoying a few brief moments of peace before having to move on to important tasks. This got prematurely interrupted due to a sudden gust of wind, and the appearance of Lana at the same time. The calm mother spoke first, preempting her husband. "Lana, what's going on? First Whitney drives by and he's banged up and mad as can be, accusing Goku of beating him up and kidnapping you by flying away," Lana tried politely to cut her off.
"Mrs. Kent," she began, "I really don't know everything that happened, but I think that the Goku that flew away with me wasn't Goku. He was spouting some nonsense about being Zod." She produced a note. "And I got injected with some stuff and then something entered my body, that's the last I know." She handed the written instructions to the Kents. "Then I wake up and have these strange powers. What are these 'Kryptonians' and 'Saiyans' this note speaks of? Is Goku an alien?" Her having figured it out caused the otherwise careful parents to look at each other.
"Lana," Jonathan entered, nervously, "I can tell you the truth, but you have to be extra careful. This isn't a secret we want getting out."
Lana nodded, acceptingly. "I've got strange powers; I think I can keep your secret a secret."
"During the meteor shower, we found a round pod with Goku in it," Martha explained. "The pod had kind of a spirit controlling it, and we found out that it was, in fact, a means of communication between Bardock, who is Goku's father, and us." She looked over at a bowl of potatoes on the floor. "I remember when we first brought him in and he started eating out of that because he was so hungry. Then we took him down to the cellar and the ship gave us a message." She looked at Lana. "Maybe he can give you the answers you want."
And so, they each went down to the storm cellar. Lana attempted to start communication. "I heard you might…"
A hologram of Bardock appeared. "I detect the energy pattern of a Kryptonian coming from a human. May I ask what's going on?" he pre-empted.
Lana laughed nervously; she wasn't used to people being so direct. "I, uh, this happened because of someone named Zod…"
Again, Bardock interrupted. This time, his expression soured. "General Zod," he angrily huffed. "He created a clone of my son's body to overcome his weaknesses. If you've got Kryptonian powers, it must be because of exogenes."
"Exo-what?" Lana shook her head.
"We Saiyans were at war with the Kryptonians for over four centuries. They were stronger and faster, but had two main weaknesses that allowed us to win," he explained. "They then took to experimenting on themselves using nanites called 'Exo-Genes,' which duplicate the powers of one of them in other species. Our DNA, however, was incompatible, and we thought they scrapped the project. Obviously if you have this energy pattern, we were wrong."
Lana pondered the implications of what he explained, but had a bigger concern. "So, your son, Goku, is a Saiyan? Why did you send him to Earth?"
"I sent him to Earth because of his destiny," Bardock admitted. "I foresaw that he would save countless lives with his heroism. Images in my mind showed me that this planet would cultivate his power and allow him to fulfill his destiny." His image paced back and forth. "If you are alive, and in command of your body once again, it means he has triumphed over Zod."
She shook her head, mildly confused. "Where is he right now?" She wanted to speak to Goku himself, find out exactly what his story was. She believed the hologram; certainly, she figured it wise to, but it would comfort her to hear it from her friend.
Jonathan entered. "He's training high above the Earth…for Piccolo."
Lana almost jumped. "Piccolo!" She barely righted herself at the last moment. "That…that green monster that nearly took over the world?" She had heard the bad news on the television broadcast years ago when King Piccolo had made his famous attempt to overthrow humanity. She had no idea Goku had been the one to take him on, but training to face him again? That unnerved her.
"No," Martha corrected. "His son. Piccolo is dead." She whispered, "Not that it is any consolation." Her concern for her son's well-being echoed in Jonathan's approaching to comfort her with a helpful hug. "I know he's just so powerful, our son, but he shouldn't have to face these things!"
"My son would probably have preferred not to have to deal with danger," Bardock replied, "but we don't get to choose our destiny most of the time."
Jonathan turned to Lana. "I know you got these powers because of Zod, but if you have them, it means you're going to have to be extra careful. Goku exercises a great deal of control so that people don't have the opportunity to make use of him." He wiped his eyes. "And your abilities, they seem to be harder to control than my son's." He really didn't know what to make of all this. His main issue of stress had always been the knowledge of Goku's secret. If there was a girl who knew-as well as had secrets of her own-it only meant that trouble abounded. How much he could trust Lana, he didn't know.
She noticed the concern written on the faces of the Kents. As she brought upon them unnecessary anxiety, she felt it her duty to alleviate some of it. "Mr. and Mrs. Kent, I swear I will never divulge Goku's secret to anyone." She tried to look as genuine as possible, slightly unnerved by not knowing how real she appeared.
"That makes us feel better," Martha responded. "You have no idea how frustrating it can be to wonder if it's going to get out."
"Well, you can trust me." She smiled her best as she hugged them.
High above the Earth, on Kami's lookout, Goku went back to his meditation. "So, Goku," Kami stated, "it looks as though both Lana and your parents will be fine. She still has the powers that Zod gave to her, but at least she isn't corrupted by them. Now, you must push them out of your mind for the time being and focus on Piccolo!"
Goku smiled. "I will!" He cleared his thoughts, and got down to the business of training as hard as he had ever done. And as his body hurt and healed, as his power lowered then got stronger by bounds, three long years passed as he trained above the planet. His friends and family would see him again, and would scarcely be able to imagine what they would witness with their own eyes. Also, a powerful evil from the past returned in a different form, and would meet him head on, on a stage where the entire planet would be watching.
