Monsters, freaky mutants with tentacles and mind control powers, were things that Chloe Sullivan understood and could handle. Lana Lang, despite some rumors, was not one of them. Thus despite requiring her to leave the house before the sun rose and subsisting on candy bars and bagels from the Talon, she had managed to avoid all but the briefest contact with the other girl for a whole day.

She had enough to distract herself with anyway since the disappearance of a girl from Smallville High and Lex Luthor seemed to correlate with sightings of strange lights in the sky and dead cattle.

When Chloe left the scene of the last abduction, Clark had been frantically searching in and around the sight where one of Lex's cars had been found abandoned despite warnings from the local Sheriff.

"Have you found anything yet?" He asked her, appearing next to her computer from out of nowhere.

Chloe practically jumped out of her chair. "Shit Clark! Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry," he said unapologetically. "Have you found anything?"

"Um…yeah." She calmed her breathing and looked up at his worried face. "We have three possibilities, el chupacabra,…UFO's, or both."

Clark swallowed. "What are chupacadres?"

"Chupacabras," she corrected him. "They're some kind of vampire like animal commonly seen in Mexico. I know we're in the middle of Kansas, but it fits with the livestock found drained of blood. Did you find anything else around the area?"

"Well…" he hesitated. "About 50 yard away from the car, there was a flattened area in the middle of John Fallow's field. It could have been from something landing."

"Ok….the third option, about it being both Chupacabras and UFO's?" Clark nodded his head, indicating that he was following her train of thought. "Some people think that Chupacabras are like pets…for aliens."

"Like a dog or something?"

She nodded her head.

"Who brings their dog to a different planet?"

Chloe shrugged, "I don't know. Is it possible you…um…know who these aliens are?"

"No," he barked out defensively. "I don't know any other…you know."

"So you're like, on your own? The only one here?"

Clark got real quiet and he cast his eyes down towards the floor. "The only one," he practically whispered.

"The…" she started.

"I don't want to talk about it," he stopped her.

"Alright," Chloe agreed and counted it a victory she managed to get him to admit what he did. "I haven't been able to put a pattern to the sightings and stuff yet, it all seems pretty scattered, but I'm continuing to monitor the police channels for more information."

Clark sat down next to her and looked at the information Chloe managed to uncover about such abductions for about five minutes before the phone rang. She picked it up. "The Torch, Chloe Sullivan speaking."

"Hi sweetheart, have you seen Lana tonight?" Gabe asked her anxiously.

"No."

"I don't want to worry you unnecessarily, but someone named Jenny called looking for her and said that Lana was supposed to meet her at the Talon, but never showed. I wouldn't worry, but with Lex Luthor missing and everything…" he trailed off.

"Have you tried her cell?"

"It says she's out of the service area."

"I think we should call the police and report her missing. I know a person has to be missing 24 hours, but with Lex and the other girl gone, they might want to know."

He sighed, "I'll do it. Are you alone there?"

"Clark's with me."

"Well, stay with him until you get home. I don't want anything happening to you."

"Ok, bye Dad."

"See you soon," he said before hanging up.

"Lana's missing too?" Clark asked her.

"Yeah."

"I'm going to go back out and search along the main roads." He stood up and the chair scraped along the floor as he pushed it under one of the tables.

She stood up also and grabbed her purse. "I'm going with you."

"You should probably go home."

"I'm going with you," she repeated. "Besides you don't have a car, unless you were planning on running all over the county."

He looked at her blankly.

"Oh, right." She put on her best determined face. "I'm still going with you."

He reluctantly nodded in agreement. "At least I'll be able to keep an eye on you this way."

Lana had been hanging in a glowing orange room for a few hours and her wrists were badly chafed. She tugged on the vine-like things wrapped around her arms, legs and torso, holding her to some kind of squishy wall. It was more out of irritation than an actual effort to get free.

Lex sighed in annoyance next to her.

"What?" She demanded.

"Nothing." Lana could have sworn he rolled his eyes.

"This isn't fair!" She screamed in frustration. "It's always me."

He snorted. "Not everything is always you."

"I get kidnapped all the time." She pointed out.

"I get kidnapped too."

"By crazy ex-girlfriends and stuff, not by freaky monsters."

Lex chuckled. "Same difference."

She pouted in silence for a little while.

"What were those things with the little gray aliens anyway?" The small red-haired girl on Lana's other side asked.

"Chupacabras, I think. They fit the description." Lex answered.

Lana moaned. "I think one of them drooled on me."

"They sort of remind me of Stitch with smaller ears, and gray skin." The other girl commented.

"Stitch?" Lex asked confused.

"Lilo and Stitch. It's a Disney movie." The redhead explained.

"Who are you, anyway?" Lana asked her, wanting to put a name to her face.

"Kayla Anderson. I'm a freshman at Smallville High." She revealed. "And you're Lana Lang, the lesbian, right?."

Lex laughed quietly and she could have kicked him if she were free. "Yes," she bit out. "My name is Lana Lang and I'm a lesbian."

He laughed harder.

"Oh will you shut up!" She snapped at him.

"Sorry, it just sounded like you were at a Lesbian's Anonymous meeting." He didn't sound very apologetic.

Kayla started to speak and then hesitated.

"Yes?" Lana encouraged her.

"How did you know you were a lesbian?" She asked.

Lex started laughing again.

"Lex!" Lana whined.

"I'm sorry," he choked out, "but this is getting surreal. I'm hanging in a spaceship after being caught by something out of a Disney movie, next to you while you discuss your sexuality. I don't know how else to respond."

"Fine," she huffed. "Let's discuss your love life then, shall we? I'm sure it's just as funny."

"Let's not." He sobered up.

"Oh come on Lex," she responded sarcastically. "After all, you might get lucky tonight, an alien could probe you."

His face and ears went pink. It was the first time she had ever seen him blush.

"Lana."

"Yes?"

"Shut up!"

After two hours of driving all over Smallville and the surrounding area, Clark and Chloe finally decided to head home.

"Is it alright if I use your phone?" She asked as they pulled up in front of his house. "My battery went dead twenty minutes ago."

"Sure, Mom and Dad won't mind," Clark said as he got out of the car.

She shut her door and walked up on the porch after him. "You know, it's too bad you don't have a ship or something you could use to send out a signal and flag other aliens down."

Clark stopped and turned around. "Get into the house, I'll be back in a bit." He blurred a little as he ran off in a haze of dust.

Clark had been treating this new Smallville crisis how he did every other one, except he wasn't dealing with mutants or crooked villains. If she was right, he was dealing with other aliens. He hadn't even thought about it until Chloe suggested it, but Clark had something better than a ship. He had a whole alien cave…if he could only get it to cooperate.

"Jor-El!" He shouted at the wall with the octagonal whole in it.

The Kryptonian signals sprang to life with colors cascading around the room. "Kal-El. Are you ready to fulfill your destiny?"

"No. I need you to do something for me."

The disembodied voice answered with a hesitant "Yes?"

"Can you tell if there are any alien ships around Smallville?"

"One moment." Clark waited patiently. "There is one non-Terran ship hovering approximately 498 meters above Smallville."

"Can you contact it?" He asked hopefully.

"Why?"

"They took some friends of mine."

"I see no need to encourage your continued dependency upon the humans in your life. If they are taken away from this planet, it may do you some good," Jor-El proclaimed.

"What?" Clark yelled at the wall. "You can't do that!"

"Yes I can."

"No! I need them back! I love them."

A sound vaguely reminiscent of a snort issued from the wall, shattering all of his hopes of getting to Lex and Lana. He needed to find them and rescue them. Panic well up inside his chest. "I'll make you a deal."

"I'm listening."

"I could…come here more often…and you could teach me about Krypton."

"And?"

"I'll try to listen to you more about my destiny." Clark agreed. "But if you let them get taken away from me I'll never, ever, listen to you again. You'll loose me forever."

The cave went quiet as Jor-El seemed to weigh his options. "Alright, I can contact them and persuade them to meet you. However, they can't land here. The area isn't nearly flat enough."

"Tell them to land by my house," Clark directed. "What kind of aliens are these?"

"The ship bares the signature of the Lascosaextrana, a mostly harmless species from a planet a few galaxies away. They range from 1.3 to 1.5 meters in height, have gray skin and large oval eyes. They are not a conquering species and offer no threat to you."

"What are they doing here?" Clark asked anxiously.

"Most likely vacationing."

"They killed a bunch of livestock," Clark exclaimed. "Is that their idea of a vacation?"

"Any death of Terran animals was most likely the result of their own animals' need for food." His biological father's voice explained patiently.

"They took Lex and Lana!"

"The Lascosaextrana enjoy watching other species in strange circumstances. It is similar to the human fascination regarding 'Reality Television' and they often take a few specimens away from their natural habitat as souvenirs. They do not harm them, but rather keep them as pets."

Clark stood speechless.

"A signal has been sent in reply to your message. They are landing Kal-El and you will have the opportunity to negotiate for the release of your humans."

"How? What do I offer them?"

"I do not know."

Jor-El gave no further information and Clark sped away back home to meet the ship.

Chloe had just hung up the phone and Martha was about to walk her to her car when the house suddenly flooded with blinding light. The light receded and disappeared in a matter of moments. She rushed to the kitchen window, but couldn't see anything out in the darkness. Martha heard clomping on the upstairs floor and down the staircase as Jonathan rushed down the stairs, clothes thrown on, with his shotgun in hand.

"Stay inside. I'll go see what's out there." He said before the door slammed shut behind him.

"I hate when guys tell me stuff like that," Chloe said as she followed him out the door.

"Well then, I'm going too." Martha spoke to herself, going after Chloe and Jonathan.

Besides the sound of their footsteps, it was eerily quiet outside.

"I don't see anything." Chloe said, looking at the field where Jonathan had stopped to stare.

"It's the grass. Look at it." He pointing, using the gun.

"It's all flat," she said understanding. "Like something landed on it."

A wind whipped around Martha before Clark appeared in front of Jonathan and Chloe. "Clark!" Both Martha and Jonathan yelled at the exact same time, horrified to see him use his powers so casually around his friend, even if she did suspect.

"It's alright. I know." Chloe defended him.

Clark ignored what was being said in favor of the spot of flattened grass. Suddenly the air shimmered before her vision and a large ship revealed itself, coming into focus. Two lights came on, not nearly as bright as before, and part of the ship lowered itself to the ground to form a ramp. It was like something out of a movie.

"Clark?" Jonathan called their son's name questioningly and cocked the shotgun.

"They're not Kryptonian," he explained, keeping an eye on the ramp. "And they've got Lex and Lana."

Lex's head throbbed as he silently prayed for Clark to figure out a way to find them. Lana quit whining after he yelled at her and he couldn't quite bring himself to feel guilty about it considering the circumstances. He'd done his fair share of bondage back in his wilder days, but this was going to far. His entire body felt numb except for the parts that we cut into by his restraints.

He tensed as part of the wall separated to allow two of the aliens and two of their creatures to come through. One of them spoke in a strange language, making clicking sounds and the whatever held him and the other two girls to the wall unwrapped quickly and dropped them to the floor. Luckily it was just as soft and padded as the wall to which they were bound.

Pins and needles shot through his limbs as he forced himself to stand. Lana got to her feet shakily and Kayla took three attempts before she pulled herself from the floor.

"What do you want?" He asked.

The one who spoke before stepped forward. "Follow me."

The chupacabras hissed as they bounded around the three of them. One of them pawed at Lana's leg which shot out to kick the creature away. The silent alien responded immediately by firing some kind of weapon at Lana which knocked her out cold. Kayla jerked away and backed up towards the wall. It fired on her too.

It then made some more clicking sounds at the chupacabras. The creatures picked the girls up quite easily, despite being a good foot shorter, and carried their still forms out of the room. The gray alien that spoke turned to follow with Lex reluctantly going along, the other bringing up the rear.

"What are you going to do with us?" Lex attempted to engage them in conversation again.

"That is still not certain." The alien behind him responded. "Do not speak further."

Lex looked at Lana's limp body with one arm dragging on the ground. The creature that carried her was indeed drooling. He decided to remain quiet.

Clark awaited the appearance of these Lascosaextranans anxiously. When they finally did appear, they brought Lex, Lana and the other missing girl with them. Both girls were unconscious and one of the Lascosaextranans seemed to be carrying a small gun like weapon. Clark decided to play this coolly, not wanting to see if their weapons worked on Kryptonians as well as humans.

"You contacted us?" One of the alien's asked in Kryptonian. It sounded strange to Clark's ears. Jor-El had always spoke English to him.

He tried to focus on how the language sounded in order to reply back in the same language. "I want them released." He succeeded, but the words felt foreign on his tongue.

"You have a different accent than one I've ever heard from your race," it stated. "What is your name?"

"Kal-El."

"The Els, yes I've heard of your family. I was not aware any Kryptonians survived the death of your planet?" It spoke in a way which reminded Clark strongly of Lionel Luthor.

Something in the back of his mind warned him to phrase his response vaguely. "How many survived is not of concern."

"Yes, I suppose you're right." It looked away from him, towards his parents and Chloe. "Do you wish to exchange these humans for the ones in my possession?"

"No," he replied quickly. "I wish them released."

It moved it's calculating gaze back to Clark. "I wish no confrontation with you or your people, but you must understand that I will need to be compensated."

Clark's mind raced to come up with something to offer in exchange. "You want a souvenir?"

"That was one of the goals for my visit to this planet," it answered.

He bit back bile at what he was about to offer. "There are others more interesting than the three you have. They have been mutated and possess special abilities."

This seem to catch the interest of the Lascosaextranan. "I have heard tales of such, however I've not been able to locate one. Can you help me with this?"

He thought about the drought of mutants Smallville had been greatfully experiencing for the past month. He thought back over the one's he had fought and was able to come up with three that had been institutionalized. Surely being with the Lascosaextranans wouldn't be that much different from a padded cell, he tried to rationalize to himself.

"There is one with unusual telekinetic abilities and two who can influence others through pheromones. They are already in confinement and I can tell you where they are being kept."

"Agreed." It turned towards Lex and the other girls and spoke in English. "You may go."

The things carrying Lana and the other girls bounded up next to Clark and dropped them on the ground in front of him, then rejoined the other Lascosaextranan by the ship. Lex quickly walked over and behind Clark.

"Where are they?" The one which had been speaking with him asked.

Clark reluctantly gave it the details it wanted.