Chapter 3 – Awakenings

Jonathan Kent moved through the kitchen door into the living room, two steaming mugs of coffee in his hands. Clark was perched on the couch, and Jonathan set a mug down in front of him before sitting down next to his son.

"Okay," he began, "Explain this to me again."

"I told you,' said Clark, "The rock was glowing and having its... usual effect on me. But then he touched it. That's where it gets really weird. His touch just disintegrated it."

"It's a fragment of a meteor Clark," said Jonathan, "It can't just disintegrate."

"Dad, I know what I saw. He touched it, it blazed for a second, and then it was just gone. When I felt for his pulse I couldn't feel the meteor rock's effects."

"And you say Tyler and his family have never lived here in Smallville?"

"As far as I know he's lived in Metropolis his whole life. Dad, he couldn't have been affected by the meteor rocks in just one day. Its got to be something else, something in his past."

Jonathan nodded and sipped his coffee, then he asked: "What was Lex doing with a meteor rock in the first place?"

"He says he knew nothing about it. I guess his father must have had the sceptre made years ago."

They were interrupted by a knock at the front door.

"I'll get it," said Clark.

He stood and went to open the door. Tyler was standing on his porch.

"Hey Clark," he said, "Um, is there somewhere private we can talk?"

"Sure, my loft. Follow me."

He led the way out back and into the barn. They climbed the steps to what used to be the hayloft. It had been cleared, and converted into a type of den. There was a huge, west-facing window where Clark had set up a telescope.

"Nice place you have here," said Tyler, looking around.

"My Fortress of Solitude," said Clark, "What do you want to talk about?"

"About Kansas City's Superbowl chances, what do you think I want to talk about, Clark?"

"Alright, I'm listening."

"I want to know if anything like this has ever happened before," Tyler explained, "From all the things I've heard, all the reports I read in Metropolis these, meteor fragments, are supposed to be harmless."

Clark sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Yes," he answered, "Its happened before. Ever since the meteor shower there've been some, unusual incidents."

"How do I find out what's happening to me?"

"I'm not the person you should be talking to."

"Who should I be talking to?"

"Chloe."

"Chloe?"

"She's the editor of The Torch, the school paper," Clark explained, "She's been collecting stories on this kind of thing for a while now. She sticks them up on this bulletin board. What she calls her "Wall of Weird"."

"You think she'll let me see it?"

"We could ask her tomorrow."

"Great. Maybe this has happened to someone else, you know?"

"To be quite honest Tyler, I doubt it."

"What do you mean? You just said..."

"Yes," Clark interrupted, "A lot of strange things have happened in Smallville. People going through weird changes, but that's the whole point. The meteor rocks affect them, not the other way around. Tyler, I don't think anyone's ever reduced a meteor rock to ashes before."

Tyler sighed and leaned against the frame of the window, staring hopelessly out into the night. Clark stood next to him,

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"Did you and your family ever live in Smallville?"

"No. My mom did, years ago. But she moved to Metropolis after high school."

"Oh," said Clark, disappointed, "So you couldn't have been here at the time of the shower."

"Actually, I was."

"What?"

"My mom was visiting Nell that day. She brought me along. I was here but..." he hesitated, "But I don't remember anything about it," he said at last.

"Something must have happened to you that day," said Clark, "Its being triggered now that you're back in Smallville."

"Something happened alright," whispered Tyler.

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing," said Tyler quickly, "Well, thanks for all your help Clark. I'll see you in school tomorrow."

"Yeah, see ya."

Tyler walked away and started down the steps, where he paused, as if suddenly recalling something.

"Why do they do that to you Clark?" he asked, "The rocks. Why do they hurt you?"

"I don't know."

They stared hard at each other for the longest time. Then Tyler just nodded, and left. Clark watched him go.

He couldn't help wondering if Tyler was telling the truth or not. And Tyler, for his part, couldn't help but wonder the same thing about Clark.

-----

Tyler wandered across the fields, trying to lose himself in the gloom of dusk. He strolled across the farm towards Nell's. The events of the day bothered him greatly, and he felt a deep foreboding that whatever was happening to him had only begun.

Suddenly he stopped, staring at a grove of trees to his left. They were familiar. He turned and headed towards them, feeling his heart quicken with every step. He got to the trees and stopped to look around. This was definitely the same spot, but nothing around it was recognisable anymore. There was a new fence running west behind the grove, obviously this site had been turned into a pasture sometime in the last twelve years.

Tyler walked into the trees, inhaling sharply as the darkness fell over him. He stood perfectly still and closed his eyes. He could still hear the awful wailing of the meteors as they dropped from the sky. He felt again the terrible tremors as they ripped up the earth around him. Tyler shivered. He opened his eyes, took one last look around, and left the trees.

The porch light was on at home, and he made his way towards it. Lana was sitting on the porch-bench, and she looked up as Tyler approached.

"Hey," she greeted, "Where have you been?"

"I was over at the Kents'," he told her, "Then I took a little walk."

He came over and sat down beside her, putting his leg up on the rail. Tyler just sat there, staring out at the night, lost in thought.

Lana frowned at him.

"Where are you?" she asked.

"Excuse me?"

"You're a million miles away," she said, "Where are you?"

"A million miles away," he answered, looking up at the stars.

"So you're friends with Clark Kent now?"

Tyler shrugged, "He's a good kid we, uh, we seem to have a lot in common."

"You and Clark?" Lana laughed, "That's unlikely."

"People can surprise you," said Tyler, "Have you known him long?"

"All my life," she answered, "But we've only recently become friends."

"Why is that?"

"I don't know," she leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees, "Its funny how you can live so close to someone for so many years and never really notice that they're there."

"But you're noticing him now."

Lana looked at him and cocked an eyebrow.

"That's a barbed comment," she said, "Something I'd expect from Lex."

"Lex?"

"He's been trying to get Clark and I together ever since he got here."

"Well, Lex has always been a really good judge of character."

"I'm happy with Whitney."

"Are you really?"

"Yes!" she snapped.

"Whoa!" said Tyler, putting up his hands, "I'm just being the concerned cousin. And you're being a little too defensive about this."

"I'm sorry. Can we talk about something else?"

Tyler sighed, shaking his head, "Okay."

"Are you bringing anyone to the party?" she asked him, "Chloe?"

Tyler grinned at her, "I'm thinking about it."

"I knew it!" she squealed, "I think its fantastic you two are into each other."

"She's into me?"

"Tyler, she can't stop staring at you."

"Yeah, but that's true of any girl."

Lana laughed, and slapped his leg. "Well, I really think you should go for it," she said, "Just one thing though, don't celebrate your eighteenth birthday with her."

"Why not?"

"You can get arrested for that kind of thing."

"Lana!"

"Tyler!"

He smiled and leaned back on the bench. Lana leaned back too, laying her head on his shoulder.

"I'm glad you're here Ty."

"Glad to be here Lana."

-----

The dream came out of nowhere.

A sharp, chilled wind gushed past his face, whipping at his hair. He felt sunlight on his face, fighting the biting wind.

Tyler opened his eyes.

He inhaled sharply, shock hitting him like a blow. He stood high on a mountain top, threatening to touch the clouds. He breathed deeply, relishing the crispness of the air. Around him rose a mighty range of mountains, piercing the sky with their craggy, ice-covered peaks.

A large, alien sun burned overhead, illuminating the vista set out below. Tyler drank it all in. Spread across the plain was a city, a mighty city. The buildings were massive domed structures, alabaster white and adorned with gold and silver that glinted in the sunlight. Magnificent ivory towers reared above them, also the purest white, like the first fleeting snowfall, and the glare from them made Tyler squint his eyes. The city was impossibly large, dominating the plain from horison to horison.

Far off in the distance, he could see the source of a mighty river that cut through the city, dwindling off to a forest barely visible in the distance.

"Look upon it and despair," said a voice.

Tyler turned, slowly, and came face to face with a tall man, adorned in a white robe over a black catsuit. In that instant, Tyler's memories came flooding back.

"Jor-El," he whispered.

The man gave him a curious smile, "It is I," he said, "You grow stronger, my son. That is good, strength you will need."

He turned and gazed out over the city, "Beautiful, is it not?"

"Its magnificent," said Tyler, his voice still barely above a whisper.

"It is Krypton as it was," he said, "And can never be again."

Tyler struggled to find the words. His mind was still hazy and scattered thoughts and questions fought within him.

"Why am I here?" he asked, eventually.

"To learn," said Jor-El.

He turned to face Tyler, and reached up his hands to cup his cheeks.

Bright, twinkling points of light started to dance in the air around them. Tyler's eye began to glow. The dancing lights now started to swirl, twisting and bending in a rush. They formed a whirlpool that spun around and around in the air in front of his face. They continued to spin, faster and faster until they formed a point that joined to Tyler's eye.

A wave of memories washed over him, making him gasp for breath. His mind seemed to open up, and a cascade of images, sounds, emotions, poured into him in a flood.

There were the dreams of a race, steeped in culture, knowledge and history. The sense of a people, bonded by blood and by faith. A rush of emotions, stronger than any he had yet imagined invaded him, filling him. The arrogance of those who had conquered science. The wonder of those who read the secrets in the stars.

Then it changed. The intensity of the feelings left him, draining out, to be replaced by a dark despair that made his eyes well up with tears.

It was the deep, abiding sadness of one man who alone knew the destiny of his planet. The awful knowledge overcame him, and Tyler wept.

Jor-El stepped back from him, a look of pity on his face. Tyler staggered back and fell to his knees.

"Gone," he mumbled, "All gone."

Jor-El knelt before him. Tyler looked up and their eyes met.

"You know now where you are." It was a statement, not a question.

Tyler nodded.

"Home," he whispered.

All breath ripped from Tyler's lungs as he was flung back into consciousness. He shut his eyes tight, and pressed his fingers to his temples, trying to will the desperate pounding in his head away. His throat felt dry and constricted, his tongue clinging to the roof of his mouth. A deep fatigue settled over him and he shuddered.

Then he felt the wind, and sensed open space around him. He realised he was kneeling. Oh so slowly, he opened his eyes.

Tyler blinked.

He was kneeling in the middle of a field, naked except for his boxers. The autumn wind raised goosebumps on his skin and he shivered again. His hands were covered up to the elbows in mud and he cast about wildly. He could vaguely make out the shape of Nell's house in the distance.

"What am I doing here?" he asked aloud.

He shook his head. It was the same as the previous night. Fleeting flashes of a strange, yet vivid dream that fled as fast he tried to recall it. Then, for the first time, he looked down. In front of him was a hole, freshly dug, apparently with his own hands. It was a couple feet across and at least three or four feet deep.

Tyler leaned over the hole, and tentatively, he lowered his hand into it. Immediately, the now familiar green glow sprang up inside it. Fear pulled at Tyler and he tried to withdraw his hand, but found that he could not. An unseen force seemed to bind him to the meteor within and he struggled to break free.

The metal in his hand started to burn, growing hotter and more intense, until he was howling in agony. The veins in his neck stood out like cords, and he tensed his muscles until he felt they would tear, but he couldn't pull away. The rock drew his hand in like a magnet, and though he fought it with every ounce of strength he possessed, it slowly sucked him in until he felt his palm come to rest on the cool surface of the meteor.

Green light flared out, dazzling him and lighting up the field, pulsing through his body. The next instant it was gone.

The force disappeared and Tyler was flung onto his back. He just lay there for a moment, breathing heavily. Then he rolled over and got to his feet. All sense of fatigue just dropped away. Instead he felt a new, urgent energy roaring through his veins. He flexed his shoulders, amazed at how good he felt, better than any time in his life.

He looked around. His vision was sharper, even in the absolute dark he could make out the lay of the land. All the rolls, curves and dips in the fields. He could see Nell's house as clearly as if he were standing right in front of it. He began to notice other things as well. The quick, sprightly movement of a hare a hundred yards in front of him, and he could hear the soft beat of a bird's wings as it sailed overhead. The quiet, sibilant rustle of the grass as the wind glided through it was as clear as the roar of the ocean.

Tyler revelled in this new-found clarity. He wanted to run, to jump, to feel the wind in his hair. With a wild whoop of excitement he began to run across the field. Then, to his astonishment, he took off at a pace that made the landscape swirl around him. His legs ripped at the ground and the wind tore at his face, as if he were leaning out a car window.

He stopped, shocked. Turning around he saw that he was in another field, completely unfamiliar. It had happened so fast, he hadn't realised where he was going, or how far. Focusing his concentration, Tyler took off again, back in the direction he had come. It was easier now, his eyes could pick out his path, and he took in his surroundings, even as he flew past.

He skidded to a halt in front of Nell's house, his eyes wide and a silly grin on his face. He began to wander around, excited by these strange, yet wonderful abilities. He felt so alive and he joyed in every breath.

Suddenly he flung his arms out, tilted his head back and began to laugh. He laughed, and laughed, until the tears streamed down his face.