Chapter 1
*Present day*
The Kansas air reflected the mid-fall season status: crisp and chilly, yet brisk and energizing. The harvest would be coming up soon, but at the moment that was the last thing a certain alien teenager was interested in.
Clark Kent walked out into the middle of a field, quite some distance from the house and the barn behind him and the woods around him. He carried a large piece of rock that resembled some sort of totem pole on his shoulders, using his extraordinary strength to keep from dropping the stone.
He slammed it into the ground and brushed the dirt off of his gloves. He looked around him using his x-ray vision to make sure no prying eyes were spying on him. The last thing he needed was another reporter like Perry White discovering his secret, and that had happened only yesterday.
X-ray vision revealed no one watching, satisfying Clark. He pulled back his fist and pummeled it into the stone totem. With a pleasing CRACK!, it shattered into several different pieces of small rock, much to Clark's delight. In a blur, Clark disappeared and was replaced by a plaid tornado that spun quickly around the rubble. A second later, the tornado was replaced by Clark, who looked admiringly at his work: a pyramid made of dust.
Good, my powers are completely back to normal, thought Clark to himself. Even though the recent solar flare – which had caused Clark's powers to increase, disappear, and act without warning – had passed, Clark found himself weakened from the ordeal and had not yet been able to perform his abilities to the maximum until this moment. This crude test had successfully proved his powers were recharged.
Deciding to clean the rubble later, Clark super-sped back into his house and straight to the kitchen. His mother was at the stove cooking pancakes while his best friend Pete Ross sat at the counter already eating the first batch.
"Haven't I experienced this scene before?" asked Clark. "Only Pete was munching on Mom's waffles instead of the pancakes."
"Clark! Where were you?" asked Martha Kent, his mother. "Pete's already eaten five pancakes, and is on his sixth and seventh."
"Yeah, there'll be none left for your dad," added Pete.
"Not after I'm done," smiled Clark. He pulled up a chair and sat at the table next to the counter. Martha stacked three pancakes onto a plate and handed it to Clark. He took it and began eating immediately. "Mmm. Thanks, ma'. Seven pancakes, Pete? Where does it all go?"
"It's for an upcoming growth spurt, for your information."
"How long have you been expecting this growth spurt?"
Pete chuckled, "Two years. But I can tell that it's coming up real soon."
"Sure, Pete, whatever you say."
After breakfast, Pete and Clark got up, said good-bye to Jonathon and Martha, and headed for the driveway. Pete's car was waiting for them and eagerly purred to life when Pete put the key in ignition.
"Great folks, man," commented Pete as he drove the car out of the driveway.
"You've mentioned that before," smirked Clark.
"Powers working all right?"
"More or less. I tested them earlier. They're working at standard performance, but it's the least the of my worries anyway."
Pete was puzzled, "Why?"
"I have to find a way to either fix the tractor or get a job to score some money and buy a new one. The insurance company called. They said that they didn't want anything to do with us after the explosion. It's a miracle that they agreed to pay for the truck damages."
Pete gave a low whistle, "That sucks. Wish I could help.
"You can," a mysterious grin emerged on Clark's face. "You can help me find a job after school today."
"Sorry, not today."
"Why not?"
"This new kid just moved here from Ireland. Sheriff Adams found out pretty soon, and you know how wary she gets when it comes to people who move into this town. Anyway, she slipped the info to my mom after a trial. Now she wants me to show him around Smallville today."
"That should only take an hour," said Clark. "All there is in Smallville is the Talon and the tour's done. Speaking of which, drop me off there."
Pete's car pulled up in front of the Talon building, allowing Clark to get out. He said a brief good-bye to his friend before entering the coffee shop. The marquee above him read "TONIGHT – WOLF MAN". Clark chuckled, "Is it still fright week?"
He was shocked to see how crowded it was this morning. In the corner he spotted Chloe, who gave a polite wave to him. Lana was serving a mug of coffee to a customer, but saw him. She smiled and walked over to him. "Hey, Clark."
"Lana, hey. Busy morning. I thought you'd already be at school."
"I should be. Chloe drove me over here and offered to wait for me. Then," she glanced around, "everyone arrived. I can't leave until my replacement gets here."
"I'll wait for her," offered Clark. "You'll be late if you don't leave soon and I've worked here before. I think the sooner Chloe gets out of here, the happier she'll be."
"Won't you be late?"
"I've got a ride," Clark lied.
"Well, my books are in the back. Do you want coffee?" she offered. Clark nodded, but Lana was already on her way to the back. She returned with her books in one hand and a to-go cup for Clark. "Just put it on my tab. Mona should be here soon."
"See you at school." Clark found an apron and began taking customers' orders. Ten minutes later and Mona hadn't shown up. In ten more minutes, the school bell would ring. If Clark didn't make it to school on time, the gate to the school would be locked and Clark would be suspended for being late.
Finally, two minutes before school started, Clark heard a car park behind the Talon building. Mona rushed inside through the back apologizing, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! My car wouldn't start this morning!"
The instant she finished her words, Clark through off his apron and ran out of the Talon, accelerating to super-speed once he was outside.
Thirty seconds later, he was calmly (whistling leisurely, in fact) walking into his homeroom with his schoolbooks in hand.
* * *
Miles away, in Metropolis, Lex Luthor stepped out of his Porsche and looked up at the LuthorCorp building. He murmured to himself, "Thanks, dad."
The moment he stepped into the hall, everyone snapped to attention. Lex had to chuckle to himself when he thought about how easily he could command attention and the people it came from.
In the elevator on the way up, no one dared to press the buttons until after Lex had. No one stepped out of the elevator until he did, and they dutifully made way for him to walk through.
On the way to his office, people were less respectful. Oh, they were polite, yes, but most were not afraid to speak up to him and they didn't rush to open doors for him. He stepped into his office, which was the most spacious one in the building...except for his father's.
He sat down at his desk and shuffled through some papers. The one he was looking for was a list of the people that had been employed in the last month. Lex had made a note to memorize each and every one of their names, but he had to make sure that no error had occurred. It was a standard procedure.
He found it under the book he was reading, Gone With The Wind (one he found rather uninteresting) and skimmed through the names. One in particular caught his eyes: Drake, Sara. The amount she was making was incredible for a mere employee. It nearly rivaled his own salary. Under status, it read "temporary employee", meaning that she was probably a scientist being funded for a personal project. Anything Lionel was interested in, however, was probably of interest to Lex. He made a note of the name and wrote it down on a post-it sticky.
* * *
"The Talon, local hangout for teens," introduced Pete. He gazed admiringly at the building, truly appreciating all the effort and hard work that Lana had put into it.
"I was wrong," mumbled Edward. "There is a town smaller."
"What?" asked Pete.
"Nothing. So... this is it? No pizzeria, no video store, no movie theater..."
"This is the movie theater. It's behind the coffee shop. There's pizza at the Italian restaurant down the street and we do have a video store over by the library," said Pete, annoyed.
Edward looked up. "'Wolf man'. Gee, how long before Star Wars premieres here?"
Pete grew extremely annoyed and nearly assaulted Edward right there on the spot, but he managed to keep self-control. Edward was looking up and down the street when he caught sight of an old-looking warehouse. "Pete, is that building over there abandoned?"
"Yeah, so?"
"No reason."
* * *
It was happening.
The night that Edward had been attacked by the wild dog, he found himself lying in a pool of his own blood. He should have died from the loss, but he miraculously recovered. When he awoke, about an hour before dawn, he found his wounds completely healed and the dog gone.
I thought it was dead. Who...what moved it? thought Edward to himself. He got up and ran the rest of the way back to the cabin.
The night after, he found his room in shreds when he woke up. Luckily, that was the last full moon night, and he stopped waking up to strange environments.
The move to Smallville had occurred a week before Pete gave him a tour, and he spent it mostly shut up in his new room at his computer, searching for details on the moon. Tonight would be the first night of the full moon.
He told his mother and father that he'd be out for a stroll and would be home soon. It was a lie, of course. He went straight to the warehouse and shut himself up in one of the cold, empty rooms. Edward had no memory of any transformations, nor did he want to, so he forced himself to sleep.
That didn't stop the change. The clouds cleared and the full moon was like a sun in the night sky. Though he didn't know it, Edward's hair was growing; his fingernails were becoming claws; his teeth transformed into fangs; his feet were powerful enough to send him high if he were to jump; his ears sharpened.
A second mind was created – one ruled by pure instinct. It told him to go out and hunt. Fresh meat would be the only thing that satisfied his twisted mind. Go out now. Hunt.
The door was no match for the wolf's incredible strength. He ripped it off of its hinges and leaped out the doorway. His nose led him outside to the bare Main Street. There would be no prey here.
His nose led him into the countryside, where he found farms. Instinct told him there was blood flowing through the veins of some poor, unlucky animal – or human.
He found a victim, but he didn't care whether it was sentient or instinct-based like him. He tore through the neck and licked the blood, tracing it to its source. After a moment of embarrassing struggling, he found the heart and yanked it out with his powerful jaw. It filled his stomach satisfyingly. Now for the liver.
The Kansas air reflected the mid-fall season status: crisp and chilly, yet brisk and energizing. The harvest would be coming up soon, but at the moment that was the last thing a certain alien teenager was interested in.
Clark Kent walked out into the middle of a field, quite some distance from the house and the barn behind him and the woods around him. He carried a large piece of rock that resembled some sort of totem pole on his shoulders, using his extraordinary strength to keep from dropping the stone.
He slammed it into the ground and brushed the dirt off of his gloves. He looked around him using his x-ray vision to make sure no prying eyes were spying on him. The last thing he needed was another reporter like Perry White discovering his secret, and that had happened only yesterday.
X-ray vision revealed no one watching, satisfying Clark. He pulled back his fist and pummeled it into the stone totem. With a pleasing CRACK!, it shattered into several different pieces of small rock, much to Clark's delight. In a blur, Clark disappeared and was replaced by a plaid tornado that spun quickly around the rubble. A second later, the tornado was replaced by Clark, who looked admiringly at his work: a pyramid made of dust.
Good, my powers are completely back to normal, thought Clark to himself. Even though the recent solar flare – which had caused Clark's powers to increase, disappear, and act without warning – had passed, Clark found himself weakened from the ordeal and had not yet been able to perform his abilities to the maximum until this moment. This crude test had successfully proved his powers were recharged.
Deciding to clean the rubble later, Clark super-sped back into his house and straight to the kitchen. His mother was at the stove cooking pancakes while his best friend Pete Ross sat at the counter already eating the first batch.
"Haven't I experienced this scene before?" asked Clark. "Only Pete was munching on Mom's waffles instead of the pancakes."
"Clark! Where were you?" asked Martha Kent, his mother. "Pete's already eaten five pancakes, and is on his sixth and seventh."
"Yeah, there'll be none left for your dad," added Pete.
"Not after I'm done," smiled Clark. He pulled up a chair and sat at the table next to the counter. Martha stacked three pancakes onto a plate and handed it to Clark. He took it and began eating immediately. "Mmm. Thanks, ma'. Seven pancakes, Pete? Where does it all go?"
"It's for an upcoming growth spurt, for your information."
"How long have you been expecting this growth spurt?"
Pete chuckled, "Two years. But I can tell that it's coming up real soon."
"Sure, Pete, whatever you say."
After breakfast, Pete and Clark got up, said good-bye to Jonathon and Martha, and headed for the driveway. Pete's car was waiting for them and eagerly purred to life when Pete put the key in ignition.
"Great folks, man," commented Pete as he drove the car out of the driveway.
"You've mentioned that before," smirked Clark.
"Powers working all right?"
"More or less. I tested them earlier. They're working at standard performance, but it's the least the of my worries anyway."
Pete was puzzled, "Why?"
"I have to find a way to either fix the tractor or get a job to score some money and buy a new one. The insurance company called. They said that they didn't want anything to do with us after the explosion. It's a miracle that they agreed to pay for the truck damages."
Pete gave a low whistle, "That sucks. Wish I could help.
"You can," a mysterious grin emerged on Clark's face. "You can help me find a job after school today."
"Sorry, not today."
"Why not?"
"This new kid just moved here from Ireland. Sheriff Adams found out pretty soon, and you know how wary she gets when it comes to people who move into this town. Anyway, she slipped the info to my mom after a trial. Now she wants me to show him around Smallville today."
"That should only take an hour," said Clark. "All there is in Smallville is the Talon and the tour's done. Speaking of which, drop me off there."
Pete's car pulled up in front of the Talon building, allowing Clark to get out. He said a brief good-bye to his friend before entering the coffee shop. The marquee above him read "TONIGHT – WOLF MAN". Clark chuckled, "Is it still fright week?"
He was shocked to see how crowded it was this morning. In the corner he spotted Chloe, who gave a polite wave to him. Lana was serving a mug of coffee to a customer, but saw him. She smiled and walked over to him. "Hey, Clark."
"Lana, hey. Busy morning. I thought you'd already be at school."
"I should be. Chloe drove me over here and offered to wait for me. Then," she glanced around, "everyone arrived. I can't leave until my replacement gets here."
"I'll wait for her," offered Clark. "You'll be late if you don't leave soon and I've worked here before. I think the sooner Chloe gets out of here, the happier she'll be."
"Won't you be late?"
"I've got a ride," Clark lied.
"Well, my books are in the back. Do you want coffee?" she offered. Clark nodded, but Lana was already on her way to the back. She returned with her books in one hand and a to-go cup for Clark. "Just put it on my tab. Mona should be here soon."
"See you at school." Clark found an apron and began taking customers' orders. Ten minutes later and Mona hadn't shown up. In ten more minutes, the school bell would ring. If Clark didn't make it to school on time, the gate to the school would be locked and Clark would be suspended for being late.
Finally, two minutes before school started, Clark heard a car park behind the Talon building. Mona rushed inside through the back apologizing, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! My car wouldn't start this morning!"
The instant she finished her words, Clark through off his apron and ran out of the Talon, accelerating to super-speed once he was outside.
Thirty seconds later, he was calmly (whistling leisurely, in fact) walking into his homeroom with his schoolbooks in hand.
* * *
Miles away, in Metropolis, Lex Luthor stepped out of his Porsche and looked up at the LuthorCorp building. He murmured to himself, "Thanks, dad."
The moment he stepped into the hall, everyone snapped to attention. Lex had to chuckle to himself when he thought about how easily he could command attention and the people it came from.
In the elevator on the way up, no one dared to press the buttons until after Lex had. No one stepped out of the elevator until he did, and they dutifully made way for him to walk through.
On the way to his office, people were less respectful. Oh, they were polite, yes, but most were not afraid to speak up to him and they didn't rush to open doors for him. He stepped into his office, which was the most spacious one in the building...except for his father's.
He sat down at his desk and shuffled through some papers. The one he was looking for was a list of the people that had been employed in the last month. Lex had made a note to memorize each and every one of their names, but he had to make sure that no error had occurred. It was a standard procedure.
He found it under the book he was reading, Gone With The Wind (one he found rather uninteresting) and skimmed through the names. One in particular caught his eyes: Drake, Sara. The amount she was making was incredible for a mere employee. It nearly rivaled his own salary. Under status, it read "temporary employee", meaning that she was probably a scientist being funded for a personal project. Anything Lionel was interested in, however, was probably of interest to Lex. He made a note of the name and wrote it down on a post-it sticky.
* * *
"The Talon, local hangout for teens," introduced Pete. He gazed admiringly at the building, truly appreciating all the effort and hard work that Lana had put into it.
"I was wrong," mumbled Edward. "There is a town smaller."
"What?" asked Pete.
"Nothing. So... this is it? No pizzeria, no video store, no movie theater..."
"This is the movie theater. It's behind the coffee shop. There's pizza at the Italian restaurant down the street and we do have a video store over by the library," said Pete, annoyed.
Edward looked up. "'Wolf man'. Gee, how long before Star Wars premieres here?"
Pete grew extremely annoyed and nearly assaulted Edward right there on the spot, but he managed to keep self-control. Edward was looking up and down the street when he caught sight of an old-looking warehouse. "Pete, is that building over there abandoned?"
"Yeah, so?"
"No reason."
* * *
It was happening.
The night that Edward had been attacked by the wild dog, he found himself lying in a pool of his own blood. He should have died from the loss, but he miraculously recovered. When he awoke, about an hour before dawn, he found his wounds completely healed and the dog gone.
I thought it was dead. Who...what moved it? thought Edward to himself. He got up and ran the rest of the way back to the cabin.
The night after, he found his room in shreds when he woke up. Luckily, that was the last full moon night, and he stopped waking up to strange environments.
The move to Smallville had occurred a week before Pete gave him a tour, and he spent it mostly shut up in his new room at his computer, searching for details on the moon. Tonight would be the first night of the full moon.
He told his mother and father that he'd be out for a stroll and would be home soon. It was a lie, of course. He went straight to the warehouse and shut himself up in one of the cold, empty rooms. Edward had no memory of any transformations, nor did he want to, so he forced himself to sleep.
That didn't stop the change. The clouds cleared and the full moon was like a sun in the night sky. Though he didn't know it, Edward's hair was growing; his fingernails were becoming claws; his teeth transformed into fangs; his feet were powerful enough to send him high if he were to jump; his ears sharpened.
A second mind was created – one ruled by pure instinct. It told him to go out and hunt. Fresh meat would be the only thing that satisfied his twisted mind. Go out now. Hunt.
The door was no match for the wolf's incredible strength. He ripped it off of its hinges and leaped out the doorway. His nose led him outside to the bare Main Street. There would be no prey here.
His nose led him into the countryside, where he found farms. Instinct told him there was blood flowing through the veins of some poor, unlucky animal – or human.
He found a victim, but he didn't care whether it was sentient or instinct-based like him. He tore through the neck and licked the blood, tracing it to its source. After a moment of embarrassing struggling, he found the heart and yanked it out with his powerful jaw. It filled his stomach satisfyingly. Now for the liver.