AN: In response to The Die Hard's problems with keeping liquids in whenreading this fan fic, the following is a Public "Health" announcement:

WARNING: When reading this fan fic, make sure your mouth is empty until the end of the chapter. It has been suggested that readers put down any items they may have been eating or drinking before attempting to read this story. Readers have experienced choking, spitting and coughing fits while reading this fan fic. If you have health concerns, please consult your doctor.

Chapter 3

Chloe squinted through the downpour. It was nearly impossible to see the road, let alone anything in front of her. "Am I keeping to my side of the line?"

"You bet. I'd have shouted if you started to veer." Pete glanced at her quickly. "Do you recall any of the back roads in Smallville ever being this straight?"

"Not really," she muttered. A large Harley headed straight for them. Chloe blinked her lights on and off with no effect. At the last moment, it swooped around them and raced down the road. "Watch where you're going, jerk!" She shouted, slamming her hand on the wheel.

"Dude! That's the third Harley we've seen tonight." Pete's eyes were wide from the fright. Driving with an irritated Chloe in perfectly normal weather was hair raising enough. What they were currently going through was some sort of personalnightmare. "Is there some kind of convention or something? You'd think they would have cancelled it due to the weather."

"Yeah, Pete. But this isn't normal weather, is it?"

"You're right," Pete sighed, going back to watching his side of the road. "Chloe, what do you think is going on?

"I have no idea." She slammed on the brakes when a road block appeared suddenly before them. Her car swerved slightly but she stopped before hitting the barrier. "What the…? We must have missed our turn a couple miles back."

"Well, where did the biker come from then?"

"Like I know!" Chloe sighed. "We're going to have to backtrack…" She put the car in reverse and started backing up slowly. She thought there was just enough road for her to do a 5 point turnaround. A loud pop sounded and the wheel started jerking out of Chloe's hands. She slammed on the brakes again and flung her arm across Pete.

"What the heck?" Pete looked at her incredulously. He sat their rubbing his chest. With the force she'd slammed her arm into him, he was sure to get a bruise.

Chloe shook her head. "My tires were perfectly fine earlier today. Maybe something is in the road… Help me change the tire, would you?" They both jumped out of the car and opened the trunk. Lifting up the cover, they found an unpleasant surprise…

"Where's the tire?" Pete asked. The strangeness of the night was really getting on his nerves and his voice was becoming tenser and high pitched. A bolt of lightning struck a tree a mile away, filling the air with brilliant light. Pete shrieked and jumped into the air. A large building glowed in the background.

"Don't be silly. It's only a little lightning. Well... let's go then." Chloe started walking off in the rain, her dress becoming more wrinkled and spotted by the minute.

"Go? Go where?" Pete asked, holding her back by the arm.

"Didn't you see that house?"

"That the lightning showed? Yeah, I saw it! Do you really want to go to some strange house in the middle of the night? There could be a gang of mass murderers in there!"

"Fine." She put her keys in his hand. "You stay here. I've got enough gas to keep the heater running. I'll get some help."

Pete looked from her, to the car, to the now disappeared building. His face filled with determination. "I'm coming with you."

"Look. I know this is freaking you out. It's freaking me out too. There's no need for both of us to get drenched."

"I'm coming with you." His face showed that the concession was really costing him. "Like I said, there could be a gang of mass murderers in there and you'd never come back. I'll protect you."

Chloe thought about laughing, but Pete looked so earnest that she didn't have the heart to mock him. She put the keys back in her purse and they headed back down the road. Chloe wished briefly that she'd had an umbrella. As they continued on, she heard the thrum of music. "Oh, no. Not again!" She tried to resist it, really she did, but in the end, her mouth opened and it just didn't matter. "In the creepy darkness of a rainy night, I'm a sight. Didn't go too far. No matter where or who you are." Lightning struck in the background again and they discovered that their 2 minutes of walking had brought them significantly closer to the building. A well-used roadway was also illuminated and they turned down it.

Then it was time to sing together again. "There's a light…"

Pete started when he heard "Glowin' at the Luthor estate…" but Chloe just shook her head. What song would be complete without back-up singers?

"There's a light." Pete warbled. Chloe thought he seemed to be getting better at this whole singing thing.

"Doesn't really fit in this place," came the voices. Chloe wondered if she would catch who they were if she turned around really quickly.

Chloe looked at Pete for a moment. It would have been a very touching moment if it wasn't so ridiculous. "There's a light… a light… in the darkness of every Smallville life."

Pete grabbed Chloe's hand and they move towards the looming building. Pete paused, caught up in a bit of fear of the unknown. They sang again, but Chloe's face was definitely bored. "There's a light…"

"Doesn't really fit in this place…"

Pete shrugged. "There's a light… A light…" He jumped aside so a roaring motorcycle didn't mow him down. "In the darkness of every Smallville life."

The two teens pause and look up at the building. A window has lit from within, illuminating a bald head. A surprisingly nice tenor voice is heard through the darkness. "Darkness must go down the river of heart's beating. Flow ever slow… Let some fame and hair come streaming… Into my life. Into my life!" Thunder cracks and he disappears when the light is extinguished.

Chloe tugged at Pete's hand and they move forward. "There's a light…"

"Glowin' at the Luthor estate."

Now they're at the gate of what can only be termed as a manor. The gate is rusted and the amount of spiky paraphernalia at the top is enough to warn off any intruder. "There's a light…"

Now it was the phantom voices turn to just take over. Chloe could tell that they were really getting into the part because the sound got louder and louder. You could feel the enthusiasm with every note. "Doesn't really fit in this place. There's a light… a light!"

Pete grasped both of Chloe's hands and they sang the finale facing each other. "In the darkness of every Smallville life…"

The lightning flashed again. A sign appeared on the gate reading "LIONEL J. LUTHOR – SCIENTIST AND BILLIONAIRE".

Chloe sighed. "If we're going to have to sing, Pete, do you think we'll have to sing all these stupid slow songs? Where's the fab base line I love?"

Pete laughed. It was a welcome relief to do so. "Chloe, only you would complain about the quality of these songs. We're supposed to be finding out why we're singing, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah. But if the tone isn't picked up soon, when I find the person responsible, there's going to be hell to pay!"

A/N: Wow! You all are so supportive. Thank you so much for all your reviews. I would like to dedicate this chapter to The Die Hard. If it hadn't been for a little side conversation we'd had, I never would have thought of it.

Ichigo-hpsl: Thank you for the review. How could we survive without a steady dose of cheese in our life?

Lenore Raven: I'm thinking that call-out lines may need to wait for me. I'm having a hard enough time with the songs. The Time Warp may stall out Chapter 4. I renamed it the Board Walk, but I'm not sure that's funny enough. I'll have to think about it a lot. If you see it posted as currently named, of course, you'll see that I decided it was funny or I couldn't come up with anything better!

Snowbunny3: Thank you very much. I'm doing my best, but I can't guarantee the near daily updates (no laughing from those that know my predilection of not doing so) of my first fan fic. The songs… Well, the songs take a bit of effort to do not only the rhyming, but also to make them pertinent to Smallville… or at least obliquely pertinent. :D

Markmark261: You know what's funny? I didn't even think of Dr. Swann! That would have been better… Maybe I should change it… Hmmm… You have guessed 1 out of 4. It's just way too easy to have Lex be Riff Raff because of the whole hair deficiency thing…

Xiader: Thank you for the rave review. I will be able to satisfy one of your desires, but the other is already planned out. Thankfully, as you can tell at the end of this chapter, Lionel is represented.