I know what you're thinking. How can I tell this story if I blacked out? Well, that's simple, either something miraculous happened and I didn't black out, or…or I did black out, and Clark told me the rest later. Some of it much later, because plaid boy wasn't revealing his true origins back then, but I can hardly blame him for that now can I?

Anyway, on with the tale. According to Clark, once the thing had subdued me it let go, and whack, I bit dust for a third ungraceful occasion. Basically, I was out of the game now, which left all the heroics up to farm boy. Fortunately for me, Clark wasn't as cataleptic as he'd been acting, and while the thing had been busy with me he'd had a chance to spot the same weakness I had.

The breach in its outer 'fake-rock' layer, or holographic façade had now shown him just what he was dealing with. It was something Clark could physically damage, and that thought spurred him on. As I hit the ground, he struggled to his knees and let loose another barrage of heat vision at the visible circuitry.

The thing retaliated as before, but somehow Clark mustered enough energy to dodge the first explosion of force with a quick 'superspeed' roll to the left. The movement put him perilously close to several Kryptonite boulders, but there had been little choice.

"Kal-El, I am your father…you cannot defeat me!"

Clark coughed as he was again caught by the fiery golden energy lance, and his arms flew back with the sheer power of his aggressor. "You're not my father! You're nothing!" He grimaced as the entity refused to yield its grip on his failing body, "Haven't you tried enough? Can't you see I refuse your destiny…I'll make my own future or I'd rather die!"

"You cannot refuse me." Clark sensed the energy holding him waver. "To refuse my wishes and your preordained fate would mean you renounce your Kryptonian heritage…to do so would mean…death…"

I can only imagine how Clark must have been feeling at that moment. How can a father, even a computerized version of one, treat his only child like he was nothing? From what Clark told me though, he had at that point long past calling Jor-El a father- even a biological one.

"If dying is the only way to be released from your crusade then kill me!"

Clark was much braver than I ever could have been to suggest that to the thing, even though he did intend taking the entity with him when he died. I've often asked him what if his plan hadn't worked, but all I get back is that ever-boyish Kent grin and a recital of the tale yet again.

Apparently, Jor-El had anticipated carrying out his threat, and as Clark wavered in mid-air the being had unleashed its full power at the teen. Kent returned the favor with every last bit of heat vision he could muster. The way Clark describes it to me it must have been one heck of a light show!

Two concentrated beams of sheer energy slammed into one another with the force of a small bomb. Each potent shaft fought the other in push and pull tug of war that only one could win. Jor-El's ray was the most intense, sending yellow sparks of electricity flashing across the cave's interior, but Clark was the most determined. He told me he remembered squinting so hard his eyes felt like they were on fire, but he kept up the barrage of energy until he thought his body would give out, and his father would win.

In the end, some part of his strength of mind must have won through, because the cavern erupted in a flare of immense light and energy, and for a second it seemed like the sun itself had imploded. Sections of the rock walls tumbled to the ground as they were blown into rubble and mini boulders. And as the dust settled, Clark and I both lay on the cave floor motionless.

As I recall I was the one who came too first. I pushed up into a sitting position and brushed off some of the loose debris from my blouse. Even the slight movement made me wince due to a multitude of cuts and bruises.

"Remind me never to go out with you on a date if this is what just visiting a historical site gets me!" I snorted out the comment through a bloodied nose and then realized Clark still wasn't stirring.

Things started coming back to my concussed mind then. The cave hadn't just collapsed in on us, there had been something else here- something inherently evil. I put a hand to my throbbing temple and then shuffled worriedly over to plaid boy.

"Clark?"

"I don't date witches…" The words were slurred, but I smiled at his response. "Oh, and you need to fix your hair…"

I swatted him gently for that, and then unconsciously brushed a strand of hair out of my face. "What happened?" It was the obvious question, and I got the usual Kent panicked and bemused expression in return. Had he been in better shape maybe I would have pushed more for answers, or would I? You see, he really had got to me even then, I'm sure of it.

In spite of everything though, Clark was still bleeding from his leg wound and needed help, and this time (alien or not) I was sure he was in shock. Fighting Jor-El's presence in a Kryptonite infested cave had almost killed him. Okay, so I didn't know half of that then, but I knew a half dead farmboy when I saw one.

I tore my blouse sleeves into several strips and pressed them over the cut to his leg. Clark inhaled through gritted teeth but didn't complain. "Thanks," he shivered as he spoke, and it was then I realized we needed to discover some kind of way out. It was just fine and dandy that the thing had gone, but we couldn't sit in a collapsed cave for very long the condition we were in.

It was already turning quite cold in the hollow, and as I glanced up to the opening in the ceiling I could see darkness beginning to fall.

Clark must have read my mind. "You nee…need to leave me and see if there's a way out of this p…place. Maybe there's a tunnel or something that leads… back to the original Kawatche site." His voice faltered as much as his tired body shook.

"No way farmboy! I'm not leaving you like this!" Sometimes Clark came out with the stupidest ideas considering his gifts and parentage. I mean, even if there had been a way out I couldn't have made it. Old Jor had broken some of my ribs with his granite kissing reprimand, but Kent must have been mad to think I'd leave him half dead anyway.

"Lois, you could bring my dad back here with the pickup. Maybe he could use the winch…" Plaid boy must have been delirious. As if I'd go running to the Kents if I could have escaped the cavern. The first thing I would have done was call the emergency services. It was a moot point anyway- we were trapped.

"Listen to me, Geek. You need stitches at the very least in that thigh, and unless you plan on your mom doing it with her darning needle I think you need professional help." I waved my bloodied palm in front of his face. "See, your blood, and its still oozing out."

"You should look in a mirror!" Clark shot me a weak look but didn't try to get up from where he lay. I guessed that meant he felt as bad as we both looked. Heck, I know I certainly felt as bad as he looked!

"I'm just having a bad hair day." I grinned this time, and then sat back against the wall with his head cradled in my lap.

All I wanted to do was snooze, and Kent was only half conscious anyway.

"Lois…"

It sounded like he wanted to tell me something, but I stopped him, "Shush, just relax. Maybe if we rest up awhile we'll have the energy to get out of here together."

I knew it was a lie. The stone ruins from the cave-in around us had blocked even the smallest of fissures. We would simply lie in the cold, damp hole until hypothermia, shock, or starvation finished us. Frankly, I doubted it would be the latter, but my empty stomach had suddenly decided to tell me it was hungry.

The thought made me decide I should keep talking and keep plaid boy awake. "You know, I could just eat a home cooked meal… steak, peas, potatoes…"

"UGH!" Kent made such a retching noise I thought he was about to convulse. Instead, I followed his gaze to a hellish green rock nearby as he explained his outburst. "Not PEAS!"

We laughed then. It hurt like hell to chuckle, and I had no clue what was so funny- or repulsive about peas, but for a brief while at least we didn't think about dying. That thought didn't rear its ugly head again until later.