Hi everyone it's me again and I finally found some time where my professors were not hounding us all to get more homework done then is possible in two days. So here I am again, as always I do not own Smallville or the X-Men, if I did this would be an episode in Smallville. Now on with the story and Ch. 31.

The Woods of Smallville

Making their way slowly through the woods, the X-Men were able to carefully and cautiously wind their way through the forest. Bobby was still limping and had to use the help of Logan to bear all of his weight. It was slow moving for the four of them who were used to moving swiftly to stay out of harms way or running from the police of late. As they made their slow approach to the clearing it was Bobby who noticed a flicker of light ahead.

"Um…guys…" Bobby softly said his voice still a bit raspy. Logan and Scott stopped, and Ororo turned around from the lead that she had been maintaining. "There's a light up ahead."

Everyone looked ahead but found no such light.

"What do you mean, we aren't alone?" Ororo asked, she had not noticed the light ahead. She also took in the fact that it might be possible that Bobby was just imagining things with the state that he was in.

"There is a light up ahead." Bobby pointed out to the others.

"I don't see a light." Scott stated, looking briefly to the woods ahead and towards where the clearing lied.

"No, really there is a light up there, I see it." Bobby said more loudly and more sure of him self than ever. Logan scanned the dark horizon looking for a light ahead, but he didn't see one either.

"I'm going to have to agree with the rest of you I don't see any darn lights, now let's keep going. We're all tired here and it would be best to rest in a place we are at least a little familiar with." Logan grumbled as he and Scott began helping Bobby to walk. This time however Bobby was a little hesitant to let himself be dragged somewhere. Continuing the slow walk and progress they were making to the clearing, Bobby was now surer than ever that he saw a light, but could it be possible that his mind was just imagining things. Of course everything was possible, he could turn things to ice, but then again maybe Cory had affected him more than he had originally thought.

The Clearing

Cory was not the type of person to just sit around and wait for the day to come, but tonight there was nothing to do. He had set up camp and even built a small fire for warmth, he knew that it might possible bring attention to his little camp, but he figured that if his fire was small enough that people would not see it. Besides who was gonna be out in the woods at that time of the night? He also figured that he could wake in time to disable anyone who entered the clearing. He had very high esteem in the fact that his hearing skills had always been praised. Therefore Cory concluded; there was nothing to be afraid of since he could disable any foe who faced him. Cory relaxed in his tent watching the fire as it slowly died down. With his tent door open he could see the whole clearing and beyond a bit. Yet he knew, with the light being so low, no one who would see him, his eyes would be far too adjusted to the light for that to occur. The meteor bomb lay next to him at his shoulders so he could easily reach for it if he had to.

As the fire died down Cory could feel the day's events starting to rewind in his mind as a wave of tiredness seeped into his body. He fought the inevitable sleep pulling his eyes shut, but at the last second he lost the battle and succumbed to a peaceful sleep, after all any danger to him self could easily be dealt with. His mind drifted away into the blissful land of nod as Cory finally slept for the first time in what seemed like ages.

Hospital

The mystery of Clark Kent had always alluded Chloe, but this time she was more puzzled then shed ever been before, she was bewildered to the fact as how Clark could put himself in a danger that had already almost cost his life so many times. She watched in fascination as Clark's parents sat in a corner, concern shown on their faces, but there was also something else there too; a sort of…knowing feel in their presence…almost as if they knew he'd be ok, but the fierceness of their impossible expectations, was worry. The funny thing was she had seen that something else on their face before, and had yet to figure it out.

The doctors had already been through here immediately after Clark had left. The questioned everyone in the room as to why they had let Clark leave. All of them had given the same answer...they had had no choice in the matter.

Chloe's gaze drifted around the room from where she had been looking at the Kent's to Clark's empty bed to Pete and his parents and to at last Lana who was staring out the window, where Martha Kent had been standing only minutes before. Chloe realized that Lana was looking for Clark, and trying to see him leave as Martha had done for the Mutants. It was then that Chloe realized that she was there for no reason. Sure Pete was her friend, but he was well now, and really didn't need her protection. It was at that spit second that she decided to slip out of the room, as the door closed behind her no one looked up or even noticed that she left. Chloe quickly decided to take the stairs in leaving the building and take a different exit where she would not be seen. Getting into her car she was finally able to get away from the dreaded hospital environment and it was there that Chloe made her final decision on her destination. She was going to try and find the mutants and Clark. Most of all she wanted to find Clark, and find out once and for all what the mystery was behind him. One thing was for sure, for awhile she had believed the story that Bobby and Clark had given her that day in the barn, but after awhile things didn't seem to make since. Today just seemed to be the day for questions to be answered.

The Woods of Smallville

As the mutants were edging up on the clearing they had all lulled into a sense of almost peace. Letting their guards down enough that Logan wasn't flinching every time he thought heard something or someone in the woods with them. Ororo was even going into a sense of calm, and she was always uptight being the mission leader. Scott just kept his eyes pealed to the horizon for any sign of life or light. He had heard what Bobby had said, and even though he didn't believe him, he always thought it was best to go on precaution. But even for Scott, he was almost lazily looking, he was tired after all. They all were exhausted from the days events and though trained for this type of mission, tonight they felt like there could be no more surprises waiting for them. Almost blindly, going into the forest now all of them continued on until at last twenty minutes after they'd trudged through the forest for at least twenty minutes since they'd entered the forest until, finally they came to the clearing they were aiming for. This trip normally took only about ten minutes, but going in the dark and also with Bobby walking so slowly due to the medical condition he was in; they'd taken twice as long to reach their destination. Breathing a sigh of relief, Logan and Scott set Bobby down by a large rock on the edge of the clearing while they tried to set up some type of camp by the clearing the underbrush away slightly.

None of them saw or noticed the tent across the clearing; the fire had died down enough to only low embers, which barely produced any light.

On the other side of the camp Cory was fast asleep, nothing had yet woken him yet, and in his dreams he was seeing the glory that would come with showing the world the power of mutants.

Even Bobby across the camp was starting to dip down into sleep where his eyes were just starting to close ever so slightly to the darkness. He kept blinking to stay awake a little more, but the sleep kept coming to his eyes. Ororo, Scott and Logan were able to quickly clear an area where they could be protected by boulders, just in case some hikers came in the morning, or worse yet…reporters. In the morning they would figure out something more solid, perhaps having Logan go to the Kent's' and get some supplies to camp out for a few days before they could leave safely again.

The adult mutants finally lay down on the cold ground, somewhat protected by a few boulders and trees. Bobby took the hint and finally decided to fall asleep; he fell asleep right away with his back to a tree where he had positioned himself not wanting to move any more then he had to.

Strangely enough it was a hooting owl that woke up Cory that night, and not the other mutants. His eyes flew open and he bolted up and took account of his surroundings. The meteor bomb was still by his side, glancing around the perimeter, his eyes were fully adjusted to the night where someone else's wouldn't be. If it hadn't been for Bobby, Cory wouldn't have noticed the mutants; their make to shelter was almost invisible that he could only see Bobby. But he knew that where ever Bobby was; the other mutants wouldn't be too far off.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" He said quietly to himself, immediately the sleep drained from his eyes and his body. He left his tent and made his attack first on Bobby, he was the weakest after all, and his screams would wake the others. Then he could finish them all off for good.

Edge of Clearing

Clark stood at the edge of the clearing, as he watched Cory unleash his power. He'd super sped here as fast as he could, following subtle hints of footprints etc to the clearing. Now it appeared he had been too late as Bobby's screams filled the air waking the other mutants and all the wildlife too. Clark was not going to let Cory do this again, not this time, not when he could stop him. He quickly super sped over to Cory and crashed into him, but just as he hit him he could feel that a meteor was nearby; the effects had begun their normal symptoms; headaches, dizziness, nausea and the like.

As soon as Cory got up, he spotted Clark lying on the floor, too dizzy to stand, thinking that Clark had winded himself through hitting himself. Cory, tiring swiftly of the farm boy teenager, put the meteor bomb on the floor and hit him with a full dose of his power. Clark screamed out in pain as the meteor rolled a little towards him, causing him more distress almost to the point of unconsciousness.

On the Road

Chloe hit the brakes as a chilling scream resounded through the night air. Her car screeched to a stop at the edge of the woods. It was a good bet that this was where Bobby and the rest of the mutants were, and hopefully Clark as well.

Jumping out of her car she quickly grabbed a flashlight from the back of the car, locked the doors and ran to the forest edge, where she slowed to a jog, taking care not to fall over. It took her only about five minutes to reach the crime scene, mainly because she was running. Closing in on the entrance of a clearing, she saw a full bred battle going on, mainly consisting of the "good" mutants trying to dodge the "bad" mutant's attacks on them by hiding behind boulders. That was when her flashlight went to where Cory was standing and the form on the floor nearby;

"Clark!" she cried as she watched him writhe in pain most likely due to an attack he couldn't handle, being just an average person after all. Clark groggily looked up having the light in his face and from his throat escaped one word;

"Chloe." This alerted everyone to Chloe's presence. Cory disregarded her as unimportant and therefore no threat at the moment, so he ignored her. After all, if she even tried to attack him, he could take her out easily. The other mutants seeing that Cory wasn't going to harm an innocent, decided to also ignore her presence, but knew well enough to keep her protected at least.

"Chloe please get out of here, it's too dangerous." Ororo yelled out to Chloe as she tried to use her power to make the wind knock Cory over. Chloe just ignored her, and watched as the battle raged on in front of her. Paralyzed in shock as she watched Clark slowly fade.

A/N: Thanks to Lenorathetrekkie and Maria for editing for me. Okay, I know that isn't as long as the last chapter, but I had to have it stop in a particular place. Only two chapters left…I know this for sure. I know I'm evil for putting a cliffy in here but it was a must. Please Review!