Here's ch12 of Wormholes&Meteor Showers.
I own nothing except how I put these together.
Enjoy!
Thanks to every one who's been reading and reviewing.
Hope you enjoy.
7987987987987987987
Clark moved through the rubble of the cave cautiously. He was well aware that he didn't know the full capabilities of the being known as Fine. Fine on the other hand, knew more about Clark's abilities then Clark did. After stapling the machine to the wall,he would have thought Fine damanged enough for the fight to be all but over. Unfortunately, he hadn't counted on the AI's being able to assimilate the metal of the pipes, having never been much of a fan of science fiction while growing up.
The AI had broken down the metal that impaled him, using the new resources to heal his wounds. Clark hadn't noticed as Fine absorbed only the metal that was piercing his simulated form, leaving the outer parts to appear to restrain him. Clark had thought Fine pinned and had approached, intending to question the monster about his earlier claism relating to Clark's biological mother.
He never saw the attack. One second he was gripping Fine's shoulder and opening his mouth to ask a question, the next he was slamming into the ground at least 30 to 35 feet away. Before he could recover, he'd been grabbed by the feet, thrown at the roof where he slammed painfully into the rocky surface, causing some of the loosened stalagmites to crash down to the ground with him.
He managed to slow his fall, but as he neared the ground, Fine appeared from below, adding the strength of his entire form into a punch that sent Clark flying back into the ceiling of the caves. He was moving so fast and so powerfully, that this time the impact was enough to force his body to crash through the ceiling of stoen and dirt, nearly 8 feet thick. He continued flying up and back through the air to slam into the roof o the rented SUV. The poor vehicle didn't stand a chance, shattering under his mass and the speed of the impact, exploding as the heat of the friction of his movement ignoted the gasoline in the tank.
Clark shook his head to clear it of the memory and focused on the present. Fine was in the caves somewhere and he had to find him. He knew he had to find a way to slow Fine enough for the others plan to work. He might not have felt it, but he knew that Pete aand his Father would have not come without at least one weapon known to affect Kryptonians and their constructs. If a green Kryptonite copy of the key could destroy his ship and a black kryptonite stone kill Kal-El, then green and black kryptonite should be able to stop Fine. He couldn't think of that could stop the war machine.
"Why are you doing this? Why can't you just let Krypton go? It's gone, and nothing you do can bring it back." He stated as he moved to the center of the shaft of light coming from the new skylight.
Clark grunted as something slammed into his back, sending him crashing into and through several stalagtites. He hammered into a boulder and slid over it, landing on his back, out of breath and certain that his ribs had been broken once again. Not that it mattered. They'd broken and healed several times during the battle, but each time it took longer to heal and he was more tired after wards. Usually, it only took a few seconds once he was clear of the range of Kryptonite for even the most severe injuries to heal. Especially if he could get some time taking in the rays of the sun.
But this time, there was no kryptonite involved. And there was some sunlight streaming in from the hole he'd made in the roof, it wasn't enough to really help unless he could spend at least 20-30 minutes in it's rays. He would be lucky ot have a few seconds to rest while he waited for Fine's attack. Once he was able to get Fine into the circle of light from the opening, he'd have to find a way to keep him within that circle so that the other' scould take advantage of the fact that they could see him since his dark clothing blended in so well in the dark recesses of the cave.
"Your mind is too poluted by humanty's weakness to understand, Clark Kent. You are no kryptonian. You are a perversion of what you could be. It would have better if you had died with your parents. Your ancestors souls tremble in the Beyond. You bring shame to the house of El. It is too late for Krypton. I mourn who you could have been, I mourn the glory and honor you could have brought your family. Kal-El is dead and there is only Clark Kent, parading around in his form, tarnishing his heritage. If you will not join in your destiny, Clark Kent, then I must bring about your destruction. It is the only way to save what little is left of Kryptonian honor. Perhaps from the ashes of this life, I can bring about a new saviour for the Kryptonian race. One raised as a true Kryptonian instead of the mongrel half-breed you have become."
Clark tried to hone in on Fine as the being spoke, but the echos and distortion of the cave made it impossible even for his hearing. He turned slowly, trying to see if he could make out Fine in the shadows. "I won't let you win, Fine. Even if you kill me, I'll still find a way to stop you. Earth had nothing to do with Krypton's destruction. That was by those Goauld you mentioned. Earth shouldn't suffere because of another race's actions. They simply wanted what every living intelligent being wants: freedom."
Fine appeared out of the shadows across the small circle of light from Clark. "Their rebellion was the spark that reawoke Goauld interest against Krypton. They had forgotten our people until then. But the selfish apes of this world decided that they thought they were smarter then the Goauld and deserved this freedom you cherish. And look at what they've done! They've had nearly 10000 years in which they could have bettered themselves. But each time a society seems poised to take to the next level, it falls apart because of their greed and fear. It's a miracle that they have managed what progress they have, especially in the last two centuries. It is their one worthy trait as well as being their damnation."
Clark stared at the other being, wondering if Fine trully was a representative of what Krypton society was like or if he was merely the result of a one track programming to gain revenge for his creators destruction. From his conversations with the holographic Jor-El, he wasn't sure if Fine really was that far off. Yet his experience with the memory device that had shown him so clearly what the youn Jor-El ahd experienced during his time on Earth and meeting Lana's grandmother showed that there was another side to Jor-El. One that was more concerned with emotions and desires then about logic or control. It was almost like he'd encountered 2 different versions of Jor-El, one who cared about him and his well being and the other who simply wanted him to obey his orders and become the ruler of Earth by giving into his darkest impulses.
"And that's why we should leave them alone. If they can get this far so quickly, think about how much farther they can advance, especially if instead of conquering them, we guide them and help them learn about some of the things Kryptonians take for granted. Show them by Krypton's example what they might become someday if they work together instead of fighting each other."
Fine snorted. "Lead by example? What nonsense is cluttering your head, Clark. If I had known what kind of foolishness you would be reduced to by this planet, I would have broken free of the debris field and freed you from these earhtly concerns and raised you as a true Krypoptonian."
Clark opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off as Fine's fist landed in his stomach. He bent double, the air driven from his lungs, then staggered back as Fine caught him with a cross from his other fist. The fight was back on and the talk was over. Each knew that there would be no more talking. Each ahd said whatever they had needed to say, and now was the time for action.
The two exchanged blows at a speed just within the human mind's ability to comprehend. Though the watchers who were silently taking up their positions couldnt' really see the blows, teh ycould hear the impacts of strikes and blocks and could see from the combattants expressions and gestures where and how much each strike impacted. Again, it was done to Clark's strength and speed against Fine's knowledge and experience.
Fine switched from boxing to grappling and soon the two were twisting and turning around, trying to twist the other into a move that would injure or slow the other enough to land a more powerful moves. Though Fine was unaware of it, they resembled a pair of professional wrestlers trying to set their opponents up for their finishing move. This thought had barely crossed Clark's mind before his body reacted instantly. He and Pete, like many typical young boys,m had had a youthful fascination with the colorful world of wrestling and each had had their own favorites.
Pete had always been found of the underdog and the high flying actions of the cruiser and lightweight divisions, but Clark, with his fear of heights, had not found the same fascination. No for Clark, it had always been the grabbling throws of suplexes, backdrops, and powerbombs, with a healthy respect for those who specialized in submission wrestling.
He used his adolescent knowledge now to reverse the grapple Fine had him in, which was a slight modification of a standard Earth headlock, into a belly-to-back lock. Then using his enhanced strength, he lifted Fine up and drove himself back, retaining his lock around Fine's waist. Fine's upper back, shoulders, and neck area slammed into the ground, driving several inches into the stone and sending a rippling of cracks exploding in a circular formation nearly ten feet wide from the surrounding area. His legs followed him, and the impact drove them above the bend at the waist basically folding the artificial being in two.
Clark didn't stop there. Retaining his lock, he quickly turned over, got to his feet and slammed Fine down again, causing another rock shattering impact, this one even larger. He repeated this process several times, each time driving Fine's upper body deeper into the stone and causing a larger circle of destruction.
One final time, Clark used the move, who for those with knowledge of the wresting world would call a german suplex, to drive Fine into the ground. He put every ounce of strength, reaching as much into his core as he could to drive Fine into the ground. The impact drove Fine's entire upper back area, from the beginning of the shoulder blades and his head into the stone flooring nearly a foot and a half. His arms were sticking straigth up, most of the upper arm stuck in the stone. The impacted created a tidal wave in the stone flooring, sending shrapnel at incredibly speeds and finaly ending nearly thirty feet away from the center of the impact. Luckily those watching had taken cover.
Clark rolled away, knowing that at least for the moment Fine was likely incapacitated. What he didn't count on or had forgotten was that Fine wasn't an organic being. While even the most powerful being in the universe would have been rendered nearly unconcious from the pwoer of the move, Fine being a machine was able to absorb it without it affecting his mental state. Yes, it did cause some significant damage, but based on his molecular design, it was easily repaired and didn't do more them slow him a few moments.
As Clark rolled to his feet, he was stopped as Fine's feet locked together around his neck, tightening enough that even Clark could feel. Clark instinctively pulled away, unknowingly pulling Fine's body free from it's stone prison. Fien's hands came crashing down on the top of Clark's head, then he fell back, using the momentum of his fall and the full length of his form and power in his body to flip Clark head over heels and send him flying back to slam once more into the wall. As he hit the wall he noticed Fine landing on his feet. The robots arms hunh very loosely, and his neck was tilted at an odd angle. A quick twitch of his form though, and Fine was again standing at near parade ground precision.
They stared at each other for a moment, before moving towards each other. They slammed into each other, Clark's larger mass giving him an advantage. He bowled over Fine, but Fine's experience and knowledge allowed him to roll with the strike, lock his legs around Clark's and trip Clark face first into the ground. Fine then spun sto straddle Clark's back and grabbed his hair. He lifted Clark's head as high as he could and drove him forward into the ground. He continued to do so for several blows, driving Clark's face into the ground. It was impossible to tell if the cracking sounds were Clark's nose and cheek bones or if it was the ground breaking under the impact of the substitute jachammer that Fine was turning Clark's face into.
He lifted Clark's head again, and leaned forward to whisper in his ear. Blood streamed down the youth's face, his nose hanging crookedly and gashed accross his forehead and cheeks. "Fare well, Clark Kent. And know that your foolish humanity has cost this world all hope of salvation. Once you are dead, I will kill those who raised you and poluted your mind with their filthy human values. Then I will contact the Goauld and give them whatever they need to destroy this planet before I wipe them out."
There was a blast of thunder and Fine was slammed back off of Clark, rolling in the rubble for several feet before coming to a stop. He easily took to his feet, looking down and seeing the huge number of impact marks from a mid range shot gun blast. He looked in the direction the impact and his tumble followed and saw Jack ONeill holding the literal smoking gun still pointed swarely at his chest.
"That hurt, General, but it won't stop me. Your primitive firearms will not do more then slow me down. I suggest you wait your turn while I finish with your Mr. Kent. I'll get around to snapping your neck after I put him out of his misery." Already you could see the holes closing as Fine's body repairedd itself.
"Aw hell, Ssparkey, I know this won't stop you. I'm just slowing you down enough for Clark to sneak up behind you and crack you open like a lobster claw." ONeill stated as he pumped the shotgun, arming another shell.
Fine laughed. "Clark is finished. He is laying there like a sack of fertilizer." Fine pointed then looked to where he had left Clark. Surprise appeared on his face, and he quickly spun around to face Clark, only to have his balance thrown off as both ONeill and Carter started firing, sending shell after shell of the ammo into his form. Fine was driven forward by the blasts against his back. He Stumbled forward until Clark appeared before him, still bleeding but obviously less so and with more looseness in his form then he'd shown previously.
Clark slammed a punch as hard as he could into Fine's face, sending him skidding back through the rubble from the impact. He stopped pretty much in the center of the shaft of light. He glared at Clark, taking a moment to allow his damaged systems and overworked repair network to rest befroe beginning the process of repairing the damage that had been inflicted from teh shotgun blasts and Clark's punch to his torso.
"Open!" shouted Pete from his location. Sure enough, the shotguns started firing again and were joined by John and Daniel from above, who were taking careful aim to strike at key locations, emptying the first clip of normal ammo before turning to the next clip which included the green and black Kryptonite. They paused before firing the black, having pumped all the green bullets into the android.
Fine fell to his knees, pain apparent on his face as the radioactive substance began to exert it's effect on the being of kryptonian origin.
The pain turned to startle ment as the others slowly came out of hiding and neared to the edge of the circle of light. Clark remained well back as each unwrapped the green kryptonite from its tinfoil prison. One by one, the human and Jaffa warriors tossed their stones to land on top of the rubble at Fine's feet. The android let out a scream as the poison began to slwoly affect his systems, not as quickly or as lethally as it worked for Clark, but more then enough to render Fine to nearly human level.
"But how?" he asked gazing at the green crystal. "This is kryptonite. Why is it causing me . . . pain?" his expression was an odd mix of surprise, puzzlement, and pain as he stared at the hypnotic glow of the crystals.
Before Sam could give some long winded explaination, Jack spoke up as he loaded the last of his shells into the shot gun. "Long story short, sometime between leaving your homne system and landing on earth, the crystal became radioactively lethal to Kryptonians and any of the kryptonian tech. Including yourself."
Every looked at him, none of them noticing Fine palming a short spike of stone that had broken off from a stalagtite. "What, I'm not stupid. I can understand things like this."
Everyone took a second to think about then turned back to Fine, who was turned slightly away from the others now, hiding one arm and the potential weapon it contained. Clark approached as near as he dared, worried for the human contigant. He didn't trust Fine's apparent weakness. Even if the kryptonite was affecting the AI, then it couldn'tbe affecting him as much as it did Clark, since Clark would have been totally out by now due to the exposure length.
"So even the remaining pieces of our world are rendered impure do to the world's location. Zod was right, we should have come here centuries ago and wiped you out so that the Goauld would never again be able to use you for their hosts." He chuckled. "This has been an interesting experience and I am pleased that you are not as pathetic as I feared, Clark. Perhaps some part of you is indeed worthy of the name Kal-El. To bad neither of us will ever know if you will grow into that worth." Fine moved, faster then any of them expected. One hand grabbed several of the green Kryptonite stones and threw them in Clark's direction. This forced Clark back. Fine faked heading to Jack who reaimed and fired the shotgun, just missing the wiry AI.
Instead of heading to Jack though, he moved to Pete and his arm flashed, driving the spike of stone deep into the youth's lower abs. At the first sign of movement, John had fired his black K bullet, but missed by less then an inch, doing nothing more then kicking up a small spray of stone shrapnel. Fine used the spike, grabbed Pete's shoulder and spun, putting the youth between him and the guns. The one thing he hadn't counted on was Tealc experience and speed, adn Daniel's markmanship. Before he was fully set with Pete as a human shield, the young man was pulled away from his grip by Tealc, who took a second to slam his black K stone into Fine's hip.
Fine screamed in pain, trying to pull out the stone, only to watch in shock as his hand melted away as it touched the black crystal. His body jerked twice as Daniel fired his last two shots, one black bullt piercing dead center of Fine's chest, and the other nailing him just off center between his eyes. He dropped to his knees, his body now melting around the three crystals. After that, Jack and Sam approached and drove their own stones into the melting form as Johnathon and Daniel disappeared from view, headed towards the nearest entrance.
His form melting, Fine was still capable of speech. "What? How?" the voice trailed off into a whisper as his body continues to liquify.
Pete chuckled from Tealc's arms, grapsing the spike and pulling it out. "Black..black kryptonite. Lionel Luthor tryied...duplicate the green stuff, . . . but it . ... didn't work out quite right. Instantly fatal to Kryptonians, and can break down any kryptonian tech. Including whatever type of nanotech you're made of."
What was left of Fine's head turned to Pete. The eyes were gone, and only the empty sockets still remained. His mouth was also long disolved so he couldn't say anything, but it didn't matter. Everyone knew what the android was thinking. How could I be destroyed by a human boy using a pathetic human made object? In only second's Fine was nothing more then a puddle of black goo, sizzling as though it was burning.
Clark tried to approach, but the green k was still around. "What happened? Are you okay Pete? I couldn't stop him, the kryptonite, there's still too much lying around."
Tealc and Jack shared glance and Tealc lowered the younger boy to a somewhat flat surfice as Sam and he gathered the scatter green kay and rewrapped it in the tinfoil. Once the edge of the wave was blocked, Clark moved foreward, kneeling next to his friend as his father and Daniel entered the cave.
Clark's eyes watered as he his his hand against his best friend's abs, exerting as much pressure as he safely could to slow the bleeding. His father and the other's had taken positions nearby, close enough to offer support but with enough space to provide a semblance of privacy.
"Why'd you do it, Pete?" Clark asked, ignoring the pain of his own wounds as they slowly knitted together thanks to the healing light of the sun.
Pete gave a raspy, rattling chuckle, the best effort his slowly filling lungs could manage. "Cou...coulnd't let you... be beat. You...you're gonna...do great things... Save the world kind of things... Me, I wouldn't . . . .even be here now. . . if you . . . hadn't saved me so often... Just. . .my turn. .. to save you."
"You've save me at least as often as I've saved you, Pete. Lionel and Lex would both have learned about me a long time ago without your help. How many times did I rush into a situation like an idiot, only to be stopped by the meteor rocks? Only for you to show up just in time to get rid of the rocks and save me from them. We're even on that. You never needed to even a score that never existed."
Pete's lips twitched in a msile that fell into a grimace. "Don't matter now. Looks . . .like I'm being . . . .called up for the. .. big time. Know you can't. . .. tell whole story.. . . but make sure the girls.. .know I went out. . ... saving your sorry ass again."
"I'll make sure everyone knows you saved a hell of al ot of people, not just me Pete. There's no way to hide everything here. I'll need to make up a story. Maybe a deranged racist wanting revenge against teh Kawatche. He saw the news reports and articles about us finding hte caves and decided that the best revenge would be to blow them up. Wemanaged to stop him, but he set off a bomb and you were caughti nthe blast knocking me and dad away."
Pete grinned. "Sounds good.. you're getting better at this. . .. secret stuff. Must be. .. from spending so much time ... with Lois."
Clark blushed slightly, wondering if he'd really mentioned Lois that often during their conversations. The energetic brunette that had stumbled into their lives had become a source of immense annoyance and frustration to Clark, as well as confusion. He had been told often by Chloe and others that he acted differently around Lois, more open and free. He just couldn't understand why the thought of her always brought along such intense emotions. He had never in his life met anyone quite like her and something about her drew his attention whenever she was within earshot. Which for him, was a pretty good distance.
987987987987987987
As Clark and Pete had what each felt to be their final conversation, the others moved slightly further away as their topic became more personal and private.
"Is there anything we can do?" asked Daniel, not as experienced at assessing damage as the others.
The others exchanged glances and turned away, avoiding Daniel's gaze. The archaeologist's face fell and he glanced over his shoulder at the teens as they spoke quietly, Clark's wounds all but vanished and Pete's remaining incredibly visible. He turned back to the others. "Surely there's something we can do, Jack? What about a healing device? Or a sarcophagus?"
Jack shook his head. "A sarcophagus might work, Daniel, but we don't have one. I'm no expert, but I've never seen a healing device heal this much damage. It might be enough to stabalize him so that we could move him to a sarcophagus if we had one, but we don't."
"Still, even if it can delay, givce us time, maybe we can contact one of our allies and they could save him." Daniel suggested hoepfully. "Come one Jack, pull some strings and call in some favors. His plan saved us and most likely a large portion of Earth's population. He deserves to live."
Jack sighed, partly in annoyance at Daniel's insistence, and partly because he knew that Daniel was right. And he hated when Daniel was right. "Carter, call the General and have him send out a med team with the healing device. Advise him to take quickest means available and to risk potential security breach. Tell him we've found those Kryptonians from teh recording and that we need a med evac base. Advise him to contact the Tokra, Tollan, and the Nox and let them know that we have a live Kryptonian, but we also have adying man who needs their help ASAP." Carter nodded and moved to the center of the light, flipping open her cell as she did.
"Tealc, you and me, we'll make sure that the roads are clear for the teams that are already on the way. Mr Kent, as of now, this is officially a US Air force matter is is subject to the highest levels of security. Once it gets here, I'm going to need you to sign the standard disclaimer forms and advise me of anyone else you think should be notified of Pete's condition and for inclusion into the situation."
"Right now, contact his parents. His mother is a judge, and his father is working a small business west of town. I think we also need Martha, Clarks mother, and Clark's friend Chloe Sullivan. She's a reporter, but she knows Clark's secret andd is trustworthy, and if we disappear to somewhere without her, she'll jsut end up tracking us down anyway." he paused as another thought entered his head. He was hesitant to add the next person to the growing list, but in some ways it would make this transition a lot easier for his son.
Jack could sense John's hesitation. "Might as well spill it out. The whole secrecy thing is kinda shot right now and if there's gonna be a leak, we might as well set the limits on our own terms."
"I'm a little worried about it, but Chloe has a cousin who's been hanging around recently. As much as they both deny it, Clark and her have grown close. She pushes him out of his isolation in ways he's never had anyone push before or let draw him out. He's always been a bit moody but especially since we had to tell him the whole truth about how he came into our lives."
Jack raised a brow, already getting interested in what kind of girl could draw out and open up a guy like Clark. He hadn't known the youth long, but he had known right away that Clark Kent was a brooder who thought the weight of the world was on his shoulders. His every word and movement was used to distance himself from contact and limit how much of himself he showed to the world. And with a secret like his it was somewhat understandable that Clark wouldn't be completely open with his peers, but he took his behaviour past caution and into paranoia.
"So who is she?"
"Lois Lane."
79879797979798798798798
Lois Lane? I can't have heard that right. Jack though as he turned to glance at Clark and Pete. "Did you just say Lois Lane?"
Johnathon nodded, also turning to face the pair. "Yes sir." He winced as he replied again in military fashion. He thought he'd outgrown those habits years ago. "Her father's a general in the army. I actually served under him for a bit during my time in the Rangers."
Jack chuckled, though there was little reason to chuckle in this situation. "I'm gonna take a guess and say that you're talking about General Sam Lane?" At John's nod his grin widdened. "And they say there's no sense of humor in the world. That makes this whole thing easier in some ways. Getting approval for his daughter to be given clearance should be easy, seeing as how he's already fully aware of the program. In fact, at one time, hew as supposed to take command of the posting, but he declined because it would have been the third move in a year, nad his daughters had already had to change schools twice. As far as I know, he's been kept up to date on the SGC and is in commnad of a troop he's been training to join the SGC. We have Marines and Airforce, and are only now branching into theother services, and Sam Lane is in charge of recruitment and training prior to transfers to the local base near Norad." Seeing John's blank look, he continued. "Norad is the location of our base, the SGC. We have a couple dozen underground levels as well as a section of Patterson."
John nodded. "Just one more question."
Jack nodded and glanced over his shoulder, watching as Tealc came in followed by black BDU clad soldiers with the crests of SG2 and 3. "What's that?" Jack asked as he allowed Tealc to deploy the men to guard the various entrances.
"What's SGC?"
798798798798798798
So how did you like it? Hope you did. It might be a bit before I get the next one out, since I have some ideas for the other stories I'm working burning in my head that need to get out. That's not to say I won't be working on this one, just that I want to spread a bit of work around to all the current stories instead of the focus I've had on this one.
