Chapter 5: The Reign of Power

Three and 1/2 hours later...

Kal, Martha and Johnathon walk the streets of Smallville. All of the fires have now been put out, and most of the discovered meteor rocks have been moved to Centennial Park, and have now been piled on one another, and a small mountain of them lines around a large statue. Johnathon and Martha head towards the park, but aren't being followed by Kal. Martha notices the quesiness that embarks Kal's face, and walks back over to him.

"Are you ok, Kal?"

"No, it's that damn Kryptonium. It used to make my people and I all sick, and would eventually kill us."

Johnathon also walks over to them, and helps steady Kal.

"Kryptonium? That's what the meteors are?" Johnathon asks.

"Yes. Thankfully, Kryptonium isn't native to Earth, only it's diluted 'Parental Element' "

"And that would be...?" Martha asks.

"What you refer to as Uranium."

"Ah." Johnathon states.

Martha, Johnathon, and Kal walk farther away from the park, and Kal's normal color returns. Kal notices ambulances moving out towards the Smallville Hospital, and sees all the dirty, hurt and crying people walking and running around. Many people are wearing white suits with the letters CDC written on their backs. Their faces are hidden behind plastic masks, and are randomly picking up various pieces of Kryptonium, both green and red. A small family appears out of a burning and collapsed building, led by several volunteer helpers. Fear is stricken on the youngest child that the mother is holding. Sadness is the only emotion the mother holds, as she cluches the small child, and holds the hand of her other child, no more than seven.

"Mommy," the older child says, "Where's daddy? How come he didn't come out of the crashed building?"

Suddenly, the mother starts to cry hysterically, and Martha runs over to her. She holds the younger child, and the mother falls to her knees.

"Karly, what happened?" Martha asks.

"It's... Jeff...he... told us to get out...but he never..."

As she tries to say what happened, Kal walks over and stares at the building. He concentrates and the burning wood peels back, showing a skeleton pinned under a large beam in the basement. The skeleton is trying to push the beam off of him, but is not having any luck. Kal blinks twice, and his X-ray vision dissappears. Kal walks towards the building, but a firefighter walks in front of him.

"You can't go in there, it's too dangerous."

"Too bad. A human has to be saved for what I caused."

Kal picks up the firefighter, and moves him out of the way, setting him down gently next to him. Kal continues into the building. The walls are burning, peeling back the wallpaper, and exposing insulation, but is being burned black. Several beams fro the now collapsed upstairs litter the floor, and Kal walks past them. Fire pounces up at his face like a lion on an impala. He walks past the flames, not even phasing him. The floor below him breaks apart, and Kal falls to the basement below, falling on his backside, and it hurts him. Kal looks around, and notices one lone, piece of green Kryptonite staring back at him no more than three feet away from the trapped man.

"Are you the one they call Jeff?" Kal asks.

"Yes...help me..." But then the man is knocked unconsious.

Kal starts to get up, but the pain overtakes him. Kal then slowly crawls over to the meteor rock, and slams it into the wall adjacent from him, more than twent feet away. His strength returning, he gets up slowly, and walks over to Jeff. Kal picks up the beam easily, and throws it over to the meteor rock. Kal picks up Jeff, and walks over to the stairs. Flames have engulfed the stairs themselves, so Kal slowly floats over the flames, and enters into the hallway. Kal walks out of the house, just as the house fully collapses into itself. Firefighters run over, and take Jeff from Kal's hands. A doctor runs up to Kal, and inspects him carefully. Finding no burns, the doctor looks astonished, but shrugs it off. Kal walks back over to Johnathon and Martha, who look astonished.

"That was a very nice thing you did, Kal." Martha said.

"Yes, that was indeed a good thing." Johnathon adds.

"I did not mean for anyone to be hurt in the meteor shower. I was just...what would you call it...'entering through the back door'? I thought that if I saved a person, I could repay my debt to Smallville. It doesn't feel right, though."

"What do you mean, Kal?" Johnathon asks.

"I can't reveal much information, but something is coming this way. It will take all of my powers to stop it. I hope it's enough."

"What's coming!" Martha asks.

"Something evil." Kal states, then he speeds off, waiting for his remaining family to return to him. He will need to use all the power they have to stop Darkseid...

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Smallville, several houses line the city limits. Many of these have been destroyed in the still recent meteor shower. But one house still stands, and many people have gathered at this one house, which is home to a young man named Shane Evans, and his father, Everette. Shane was out in the middle of a cornfield when the meteors hit. He was helping his dad haul in the corn for the upcoming harvest festival, but a big chunk of meteor rock impacted in the cornfield, not more then a hundred feet away from Shane and his father. The blast shot them both into the air, landing fifty feet even farther away. The chunk broke apart into hundreds of smaller meteor rocks, and as they were both unconcious, they were bathing in the rays of the green meteor rocks. Shane woke up a couple of hours later, and, groggy, but still steady, went over to check on his dad. He knelt down and felt his wrist.

Hmm...steady and strong. Why isn't he waking up, though? Shane thinks.

Shane reaches over to check to see if his father is breathing, when his father grabs his arm. Shane looked in shock, until he sees that his father is smiling.

"Scared you, didn't I? You should've seen your face! It was priceless!"

"God, dad, I thought something was wrong with you!"

"Yeah, there is...I had a son" Everette starts laughing again, and Shane just sneers.

"Very funny, dad."

Shane and Everette both got up and stared at the cornfield. Now, a huge crater sits where their tractor was. The many meteor rocks shine an unsteady green and red glow. Everette walks over to one, and picks up a green rock in one hand, and a red rock in the other.

"Well, we'd better pick up this mess. Maybe we'll make some more money selling these things. They look like emeralds and rubies."

Shane walks over to the crater, and looks in. The crater, itself, is extremely large. About fifty feet wide, and 30 feet deep. At the bottom of the crater are two, twelve foot long space rocks, and they are still glowing red hot. Shane climbs down to the bottom, followed by his dad. Shane can feel the heat from the meteorites, but he continuously walks closer and closer, where most people couldn't take the heat.

"Shane, what are you doing! Get away from that!"

But Shane got close enough that his face was just a foot away from one of the large meteorites. Heat runs past Shane's face, but he does not feel it. Everette walks up to him, and puts a hand on his son's shoulder.

"What's going on, Shane? How come we can't feel the heat?"

"I don't know. But something is inside this meteorite. I can feel it."

"So do I, son. Some sort of presence. I don't know what is in there, but it is very powerful."

Shane reaches out his hand, and placed his palm onto the meteorite. A sharp sizzle hits the air, and he pulls back. He looks at his hand, but there are no burns or scratches. Everette takes his son's hand, and quickly inspects it, and astonishment fills his face.

"How is this possible? You're hand should be burned!"

"I think the meteors did this to us."

"The meteors? That's impossible."

"Do you have any better idea, dad?"

"No, but..."

Just as Everette tried to talk some sense into his boy, both of the meteorites blasted an invisable wave of radiation ahead, flinging back Shane and Everette. Both of them fall on their backsides, but they both feel no pain. As Shane watches, the two meteorites float out of their crater, and they slowly hover over 20 feet above the ground. Both are emiting a slow hum. Shane gets up to his feet, just as Everette gets up. As they approach, the meteors slowly descend, until they lightly touch ground. The meteor on the left suddenly cracks, and blue- green steam billows out. The second meteor also cracks open, and as the cracks speed up and open out more, a metallic surface appears. The rock then blows out, colliding with Shane and Everette, but the rock breaks apart, and they stand their ground, undamaged.

"Oh my god. They're spaceships!"

"For once, son, you're right."

The meteorites are now non existant. All that stands where they were are two, twelve foot long silvery metallic spaceships. As They watch, the sides open out, revealing a bright light, but they still notice three figures standing in front of them, all of them women, and a dog, all staring back at Shane and Everette...