Chapter 3: The Way It Was...
A man sits alone in Metropolis Meadows, a large graveyard. He sits in front of a huge tombstone. A stone angel sits on top of the grave, holding in one hand, the Scales of Justice, and in the other, the Book of Truth. The old man, over fifty at least, looks at the grave. A large tear falls from his eye, and down his cheek. He keeps staring at the tomb, at a loss for words.
"If only you watched the road, son. You'd still be here with me. It was my fault for your death. If I didn't call you, you would've seen the barrel of wire that fell from that semi. You wouldn't have drove off that bridge, and drowned. I'm so sorry, son. It should've been me... I'm so sorry... Goodbye, Lex."
Another man walks up to the old man. He is wearing a black suit, and coughs slightly to grab the man's attention.
"Uh, Mr. Luthor? You have a 3:00 meeting with the citizens of Smallville today."
"Who ordered that?"
"Uh, you did. You said you could take the meteors off of their hands, and to conduct research on them."
"Oh, yes. Now I remember. Never get old, Johnson, 'cause the mind's the first thing to go."
Johnson and Lionel walk across the old and fairly new graves. As Lionel opens the door to his limo, he looks at Johnson.
"Do you know what the worst sin a father has to go through?"
"No, I don't Mr. Luthor. What is it?"
"Its that the father lives longer than his own son. That's not right. I should've died. Not him. It was my fault."
"No, Mr. Luthor. It was what was supposed to happen. It's no one's fault."
"I just get the feeling that something went wrong when he died. Must just be me getting old. Let's go, Johnson."
Lionel gets in the limo, followed by Johnson.The limo drives away out onto Highway 97, towards Smallville...
After the extraordinary meteor shower that rocked Smallville to it's very roots, The town is still in ruins. Most of the fires have been put out, but near some of the still burning embers of the Talon, are several meteor rocks. Green crystals protrude from the grayish rock, and at the exposure to the burning embers, some of them turn red. Firefighters and police officers are now going to work at rescuing people from the dangerous ruins. One firefighter runs to the now collapsed building that used to be the Talon. The sign has burned off, and now lays sprawling on top of a destroyed car. Hundreds of meteor rocks lay around the buildings. They cover the streets, alleys and craters from where they impacted into the earth. Most of the town of Smallville has been evacuated, but still more survivors appear. The firefighter slowly walks into the Talon. The ceiling has collapsed, and old furniture from the unused apartment above the Talon has now appeared over the old coffeemaker. The firefighter has carefully moved around the Talon, so he won't fall through the floor.
"Help...me...please..."
The firefighter looks around to find out where that voice came from. As he walks toward where the voice came from, he notices a green mist emminating from the busted piano. The firefighter walks up to the piano. Someone's arm is sticking out from underneath the piano. He kneels down, and touches it.
Still warm. He thought. If I lift this up, perhaps she is still alive.
The firefighter grabs hold of the piano, near where the legs have been broken. With all his might and strength, he manages to lift the piano about 2 feet, before another firefighter runs in, and helps him.
"Is someone under there, Jim?"
"Yeah, help me pick this up."
The second firefighter grabs the other end of the piano, and both of them pull the piano off the woman. Jim helps the woman get up. As she is picked up, the green meteor rocks are clustered in a small pile, and are the source of the green mist. They pull her out of the Talon to set her down in an ambulance. Her face is full of soot, and burned wood pieces are stuck in her blonde hair. More people are being pulled out of various buildings and are being given oxygen masks. The girl watches as a boy walks around with his parents. He is a little over six feet, has black hair and is wearing a flannel shirt and baggy pants that look too big for him. The boy looks around, watches a meteor rock, and then he looks nauseous. A paramedic runs over, and moves him over to the ambulance.
"What are you doing? I'm fine, please don't touch me!" The boy yells, but the paramedic keeps hold of him anyway.
Hmm... he sure is cute. The girl thinks. I wonder if he goes to Smallville High.
The paramedic moves the boy, and makes him sit down next to the girl. The boy looks at the girl, and suddenly looks astonished.
"Cara? Is that you? How did you get here so fast?" The boy asks.
"Cara! I think you have me confused with someone else."
"Then who are you?"
"My name is Alicia Baker. And you?"
"My name's Ka...Clark. Clark Kent."
Alicia smiles at Clark, and he smiles back, but still looks kind of sick. Right near him, sit a small pile of meteor rocks, and they start to shine an eerie green glow.
"I haven't seen you in Smallville before. Did you just move here?"
"Well, actually, I'm temporarily staying with the Kents... I'm their nephew. So, I guess you could say I'm not from around here..."
"Hmm... are you going to start school soon? 'Cause... I could show you around, so you could find your way."
"Oh, thanks. I would like that."
Clark looks over and sees another paramedic pick up the meteor rocks, and stuff them in a bag stating the name LUTHOR-CORP. The paramedic walks away, and Alicia notices that Clark looks much better.
"Well, see you tomarrow, at school, I guess."
Clark stands up, and Alicia joins him.
"Uhh... I could give you a ride to school tomarrow morning."
"Oh, allright. I would like that. Thank you."
"Your welcome. See you later."
Clark waves and gives a weird hand gesture, a mixture of a wave, but his pinkey finger is bent down. He turns around, and walks away over to his aunt and uncle.
Oohh, nice butt. Alicia thinks. I'd love to see him with his shirt off.
Three Hours Before...
Kal walks into the ancient Kawatchee caves. There was a cavein about ten years ago, and no one has set foot inside since then. The walls of the cave are covered in ancient symbols and pictures of meteors falling, and a man shooting fire from his eyes.
Numan. My father was right about this place. They worshipped him like a god. Kal thought.
On one side of the wall, Kal notices an octagonal keyhole, designed perfactly with his spaceship key. Kal pulls it out of his front pocket, and holds it in front of him. Three sides of the key glow different colors, red, yellow and blue. Kal lets go of the key, and it silently floats into the hole. The wall ripples around like water, then it takes the form of a man's head. It was Jor-El.
"Hello my son. I have called you for a very important reason."
"What is it father? What has happened!"
"Darkseid's ship has invaded Krypton. We have lost the battle."
"What happened? Where is mother and Cara-Lo! I demand answers!"
"Indeed you do, Kal-El, and you will get them. But, to get them, hold out your hands."
Kal does as told, and a white, glowing sphere appears in his hands.
"What is this!"
"It is a Historical Time Sphere. Concentrate, and you will see what happened."
Kal looks at the sphere, and his consiousness is sucked inside. The world behind Kal's eyes suddenly went black...