Chapter 4 - Discoveries
It was seven o'clock at the Talon. Where was Clark? He certainly was taking his time. Suddenly, Chloe caught a glimpse of Clark speeding down the road with a bag on his shoulder. She saw him slow as he neared the building, and she basked in the glory of being that much closer to Clark: knowing his secret.
"Hi guys!" he exclaimed as he walked in. "Where's Lana?"
"She's in the back. She'll only be a minute." Pete said.
In under a minute, Lana was out. She was wearing a small pink sweater with blue hip hugger jeans.
"You're going camping like that?" Chloe asked in surprise.
"No, I have a few things to take care of. Let me know where you're going and I'll meet you there later." Lana stated.
"We're going to a camping spot near the Kawatche Caves. You'll see the car. Just follow the trail." Pete told her.
"Okay. See ya then guys!"
"All right, let's get going!" Pete yelled excitedly, as he jumped into the front seat of his car. Chloe and Clark followed suit. Pete was in the front and two of them in the back.
A little while later Pete stopped his car on a stretch of highway. The group stepped out and unloading the car they walked to the camping spot. Once there, before Pete could start anything, a familiar blue and red blur raced around at top speed. The blur then returned to a figure of Clark Kent, and Pete noticed that the tents were set up and everything was inside.
Pete just looked at him with surprise and fear. "Clark, that was Chloe you just did that in front of man! Did you lose your mind?"
"No, Pete. She knows."
Chloe and Pete shared a glance.
"He told me today."
Both Pete and Chloe looked at Clark and remembered what he had done. "Clark!" they both yelled, shaking their heads in disapproval.
"Hey what's the point of having a super-powered friend if you don't get all the perks?" He smirked.
As long as we're here, do you want to go to the caves? I haven't actually shown them to Chloe yet, with the full story anyway. And there's something there I want to show you guys."
"Why not?" Pete shrugged.
Lana pulled into the driveway of the infamous Lex Luthor. Upon knocking on the door she was let in by the butler and lead down toward Lex's office where he was typing away at a business report on his laptop. Noticing Lana's entry into the room, he looked up.
"Lana, what brings you here?"
"I need your help."
"Well, you'll have to be more specific than that."
"I plan to. Lex, it's been in my understanding that you are still investigating Clark."
"Where did you hear…?"
She cut him off. "That's not the point. The point is that I am sick of being left out of the loop. Today, Clark seemed a lot closer to Chloe, just as he has been to Pete since the day he and Pete had a huge fight. They both know, Lex."
"And?"
"Clark's just lost me. I want to know. I want to work together on this."
"Well Lana, to say that I'm surprised would be an understatement, but I understand how you feel. Are you sure this is something that you want to go through with?"
"Positive."
"Well, I can tell you what I know, but I'm not going to press the issue further. Clark's still my friend. And I warn you Lana, you wanted to do this, not me."
The caves were cool and damp this time of year, but all the markings remained intact.
"Here it is." He said, and reached toward a small part of the wall. It responded to Clark and a diamond shaped opening appeared. He reached in and pulled out Jor-el's chain and handed it to Chloe and Pete.
"Clark this is amazing! Whose was it?" Chloe asked.
"It was Jor-el's, my birth father's, when he was on Earth."
Suddenly, a slight white glow lit up the caves and a booming voice began to speak. "Kal-el," it said. Clark turned around, and Chloe and Pete followed suit.
"Jor-el," Clark stated, rather menacingly. Chloe saw a look in Clark's eyes that she never thought existed. "I figured you were behind this. What do you want now? Haven't you ruined my life enough?" Clark questioned him.
Chloe was now in awe at the commanding presence of this 'being' that wasn't really there, and was ultimately Clark's real dad. She stood there, stunned, still in awe at the fact that Clark really wasn't from around here. It was starting to hit her just how real this was.
Pete wasn't so much in shock, but afraid: afraid for Clark. He'd heard about Clark's birth dad. As far as Pete was concerned, Jor-el had done some really terrible things, and his presence was not to be taken lightly.
"You are again stubborn, Kal-el." Jor-el stated. "I told you that you had a destiny, and you ran. You still have that destiny, regardless of whether or not you want it."
"I ran to save my family and friends from you!" Clark yelled. "This symbol that you keep engraving into me, do you really think it's going to change anything? It represents nothing to me. Whatever it means, whatever heritage it is, I don't care. I never grew up on Krypton, I grew up on Earth, and everything and everyone I love is here. I'm not like you or your race, and if the rest of my family is like you, I'd never care to meet them."
"Silence!" Jor-el's commanding voice boomed.
"No! I'm through listening to you. I will never do as you say, no matter how much you torture me. Whatever sick goal you have – whatever plans of me ruling, your society wants that - not mine, not me." Clark exclaimed. "Krypton wanted that and Krypton died. And do you know why it died, Jor-el, and why I was sent here? I know why. It wasn't because of you. It was because you were a doomed race, and I was allowed to live because someone decided that maybe - just maybe – Kryptonians deserved a second chance."
Chloe thought it was the first time she'd ever seen Clark out of breath. She saw Clark's irises turn orange. Immediately she realized that it happened whenever he was emotionally distressed. Suddenly she understood the flicker she often saw in his eyes. She knew Clark all her life and never had she seen him this angry - this scared - this vulnerable. Whoever this man was, she didn't like him. She didn't like him at all.
"What kind of a parent are you anyway?" Chloe yelled. "Sending your son off alone and then when he finally learns to accept himself trying to ruin his life and trying to control him! You make me sick!"
"Yeah asshole, you leave my man Clark alone!" Pete shouted, as both he and Chloe stepped in front of Clark.
They were petrified, but they weren't about to let this bastard hurt Clark again.
(A/N: Yeah I know, bastard is a harsh word, but I quote from Clark, "My dad's a real bastard." If you don't believe me read the transcript from Exile.)
"Guys, no! Don't you realize how powerful he is?" Clark yelled.
"Enough!" came a reply from the now glowing wall.
Chloe and Pete shuddered. Had they just stood up to this being? Clark now stood in front of them to protect them.
A white blast of light flooded out of the wall, and Clark was pushed completely to the opposite side of the cave, and up to the ceiling. Clark's plaid shirt ripped open and the familiar red scar began to burn itself into Clark's chest again. It was all Chloe and Pete could do to watch him wince in pain.
Suddenly Pete noticed something flickering in the cave wall. It was from the same orifice as the light.
"Clark, aim for the middle of the light, with your heat vision." Pete yelled.
Although in incredible pain, Clark took Pete's advice, and as soon as the heat entered the hole with the light, a soft sizzling could be heard and the light receded.
Clark fell to the floor, both relieved but also weary because he had the scar again.
Immediately there was a large crackle, and the wall opened up partially, shooting a white beam of energy throughout the caves. It bounced off every wall, and turned every corner until it engulfed everything. There was no avoiding it. This time, not only did Clark get hit, but so did Chloe and Pete. Immediately, Chloe fell to her knees, and in the small of her back formed a scar like Clark's, only much smaller. Pete managed to prop himself up against a wall when he felt a burning on the upper part of his left arm. Slowly pulling the material from his t-shirt sleeve up, he realized he too had a scar like Clark's.
The wave of light pulsated for two more minutes, although it seemed like eternity to the three teens. Finally, it gave out, as though the tremendous wave had actually been a last desperate attempt to sway Clark to its will.
The wall remained partially open, and a warm bluish-white light came from it, along with a new voice.
"Kal-el…sorry…Clark. That is what you're called now, is it not?"
"Yeah, it is," Clark answered, wondering who this new person was.
"I am Lara, your mother.
The shock on Clark's face became apparent.
"Your father and continue to live through these caves though our bodies are truly dead. But that being you have witnessed for the past year or so was not your father."
"Then what the hell was it?" Clark asked.
"It was a malfunction, Kal-el." A voice that sounded eerily like Jor-el said.
Suddenly two figures appeared before Clark and his friends. One was a rather large, well-built man, with well-combed dark hair and hazel eyes. Clark was a spitting image of him. Next to him was a small but sturdy woman, with shoulder length blonde hair that hung about her face quite elegantly, and green eyes. Clark was amazed. It was the first time he had 'met' his birth mother.
"Originally our plan was to send you to Earth, to allow you to grow up there, and guide their race. However, we were always afraid that you would be isolated, shunned, and discriminated against because of the fear of other planets and their peoples." Jor-el told Clark.
"Wait, you really did want me to rule?"
"No, Kal-el." Lara said. "Guide. Guide as in help, aide them."
"Then what about the message from the ship? I read it. It said, 'On this third planet from this star Sol, you will be a god among men. They are a flawed race. Rule them with strength, my son. That is where your greatness lies.'"
Lara laughed.
"What's so funny?" Clark asked.
"Your father wrote that. He's an inventor, a scientist, and also not very good with words. Rule, guide, it is all the same to him."
"Do you know how much grief that one word caused me?" Clark said.
"Yes, but even so, we couldn't have told you the difference. Let us explain."
"Kal-el, I sent you here to Hiram Kent's descendant, Jonathon, because I knew that he and Martha wouldn't judge you as Hiram didn't judge me, and I knew that with them, you would grow up with good values, and a good family." Jor-el continued to explain.
"Now, I'm sure you'd like to hear why we have come forward now and not earlier." Lara began. "Jor-el built this AI in the caves on a later visit to Earth. A small chip contained within a unit was designed to store our beliefs and values, and along with us, guide you to make the right choices. Jor-el had done this because he knew Krypton was about to die, but he was wrong in one aspect. Krypton was going to die much sooner than he expected. Therefore, we had to send you sooner and thus we never had a chance to check the unit's functionality."
"So there was a malfunction," Clark stated, the new information finally registering.
"So we believe, Kal-el. The chip was supposed to support us and let us guide you, acting more as a backup, but what I didn't realize was that the chip itself would suppress us and scramble its programming. It confused our desires for you to lead a happy life with our fears. One minute it was trying to help you and the next, protect you. To your chagrin, Kal-el, it confused the words 'guiding' with 'ruling'. As expected, in response you became frustrated and rebellious, but we were helpless to do anything. Only when you damaged the chip could we come forward." Jor-el explained.
"How are you even alive?" Clark wondered.
"We are not completely alive. We are projections of Jor-el and Lara's consciousness that were programmed to be complete copies of them in our actions and thoughts, and simulate their emotions and care for you. On Krypton, a computer compiled most of the possible situations we could encounter when you found us and prepared us for it. Therefore the AI can think and respond to new situations." Lara explained.
Clark's gaze glided down to his shoes, and he sighed, sadly. "So you aren't really my parents at all." He stated.
"Actually Kal-el, we are." Lara continued. "Before Krypton exploded, we placed you into a small space vessel, and programmed you to leave in one minute. Before the vessel left we managed to transfer as much of our consciousness to its computer system as we could. We were released and combined with the AI in the caves when you put the key into the ship. However, we became suppressed because of the chip being activated."
"But I don't understand. If you could do that, then why bother with the AI at all?" Clark asked, confused.
"Because it was a new invention, Kal-el, and somewhat unstable. Initially we had planned to fully transfer our consciousness to the ship but I had set up the AI as a failsafe so you would still have someone to guide you, should the procedure not work, or it become too late."
Clark perked up a little, and Chloe and Pete looked on in amazement. This was unbelievable.
"You do have a destiny, Kal-el, but we do not wish for you to rule." Lara said softly. "There is one errand you must do, though, for yourself."
Clark nodded his head. "What is it?"
"The three Kryptonian crystals must be collected and united on the pedestal inside of the cave wall. It will reveal a place your father had created especially for you. We initially hid them in places that only you would be able to access, but I am afraid that technology has advanced on Earth since your father came and soon they will be discovered. Please retrieve them quickly, for in the wrong hands, they could cause great harm."
She ran her hand down her son's face.
"Please, visit us often, and give Martha and Jonathon our gratitude for raising you. You've turned out just the way I expected you would. And please inform Jonathon that he should return to good health now that the program has been damaged. The abilities of our people under a yellow sun should not have hurt a human at all. The program simply considered him a threat and made sure he was weak so he couldn't oppose it. We must go now and examine the damage. Goodbye, Kal-el. Goodbye, Pete, and Chloe."
With that, the holograms faded and the wall closed. A new Kryptonian key formed in the cave wall and fell out. Clark placed it into his pocket.
Clark glanced down at his chest and noticed, to his disappointment, that the scar hadn't been removed. He sighed and glanced down at the chain on the ground, and quickly picked it up walked over to the indentation, laying the chain inside. The wall closed up.
Everything was silent between the three teens, until Pete piped up and asked if Chloe had a scar too.
"I don't know." She said. "Felt like I did, on my back. But I'll worry about it later. Right now, all of this information is hurting my head."
Chloe heard Clark mumble something that would normally be considered unintelligible, but she understood it anyway.
"Yeah we definitely should get back to camp and figure this out later." She responded.
Clark's face turned white. "Chloe, how did you know what I just said?"
"What do you mean?"
"I just spoke in Kryptonian."
Chloe's face became shocked, as did Pete's, but all were too dazed to say anything else, and supporting each other, walked out of the caves.
They reached the campsite to find Lana standing there with her arms crossed. She had a rather unpleasant look on her face.
"We were . . . " Clark began.
"We were . . . " Chloe tried to say.
"Out for a walk!" Pete said rather hurriedly.
"I was waiting here for a little more than an hour!" she said in an annoyed tone.
They hadn't realized they had been so long.
Eventually Lana brushed off the occurrence and they began to set up the sleeping bags and take out the food.
"We need a fire." Lana stated.
"Uh, why doesn't Clark go get some?" Chloe asked.
Clark looked a little uncomfortable. It hit Chloe that he'd have no way to explain his speed to Lana, who didn't know about him.
"Covering for Clark is certainly going to be challenging." She realized, and announced that she would get the logs for the fire.
But Lana still looked queerly at Chloe and then Clark, suspecting there was something up.
Then there was the problem of starting the fire. Pete tried to no avail, then Lana. Clark was debating whether helping with the fire would raise Lana's suspicions. Eventually he decided there'd be no harm done.
"Here, let me try." Clark offered. As a decoy for Lana to observe, Clark began to rub two pieces of wood together like she and Pete had done. As soon as he witnessed a spark, he lit the wood on fire. "There," he said. Lana didn't know what to think. Had she just seen Clark's hazel-green eyes turn orange?
"There is something going on." Lana thought, "And I have no idea what it is, but I will find out."
They all had their marshmallow roast and went to their tents. Chloe and Lana stayed in one while Clark and Pete stayed in another. Soon, they were fast asleep.
Later that night . . .
Pete felt a rough piece of material scratching his head. He opened one eye and found that it was Clark's sleeping bag. Turning around, he noticed first that Clark was floating. Secondly, he noticed the unzipped sleeping bag hanging down from Clark's floating silhouette.
"Leave it to Clark to find an original way to sleep." Pete thought.
Pete proceeded to rip the blanket down from Clark, hoping that would wake him up. Of course, it never had the desired effect and Clark began to float out of the open part of the tent. Pete's eyes widened and he quickly hauled on some shoes and socks and followed Clark's silhouette. At first he caught Clark's arm, and tried to shake it, to no avail. He tried shaking Clark's torso, but that didn't work either.
"Clark, man you gotta wake up." Pete whispered, to no effect. He tried to push Clark back into the tent but he was after rising up too high to be moved back inside.
Pete sighed, stopping Clark from moving and hoping that Clark didn't float away while he tiptoed over to Chloe and Lana's tent.
"Psst. Chloe." He said softly. "Meet me outside. And make it quick."
Chloe stepped out, sleepy eyed and yawning. "What, Pete?"
Pete turned to point toward Clark, but he had moved.
"What is this some kind of joke? Well it's not funny, Pete."
"Clark just floated out here. He was right here." Pete emphasized.
"Uh oh. I think I know where he is." Chloe said, pointing. As she looked at the silhouette of Clark floating she couldn't believe it, but there it was, as plain as day in front of her. Clark had never told her that he could float! She would have to confront him about it later.
Pete looked in the direction her arm pointed to and noticed Clark quickly but silently drifting toward the water.
"Crap!" Pete said, and began to run for the fast-moving Clark about to float over the river.
"If he gets over that river we'll never wake him." Chloe said quietly. "And Lana will see it too."
Then she had an idea. Chloe ran over to the supplies and found a pot and spoon. She then quickly followed Pete.
By the time she reached the waterside, it was too late. Clark was already halfway across.
"Pete." She said. "I have an idea but it'll wake Lana I'm pretty sure."
"What choice do we have? What's your idea?"
Chloe held up the pot and spoon.
"Go for it." Pete said. "I don't have a better one."
Chloe clanged together the pot and spoon loudly and watched as Clark's eyes popped open as he woke from the noise. Of course, as soon as he woke, he began to fall. In all fact, he fell directly into the heart of the river with a huge splash.
Clark walked out of the water not amused. The first thing he noticed was Chloe and Pete laughing.
Although they hadn't planned it, Chloe and Pete still found Clark's expression before taking the plunge mighty hilarious.
"Hilarious and priceless." She thought. "I wish I had a camera."
Clark saw that Chloe and Pete were in fits of laughter.
"I don't suppose that you guys thought to bring a towel." Clark said, angrily.
"Exactly what is going on here?" Lana asked, stepping out from behind the bushes.
"Uh, hi Lana." Clark sputtered.
Lana looked at them, quite bitterly. "What are you guys doing up at this hour?"
"These two decided to play a joke on me. They figured carrying me to the lake and throwing me in would be hilarious." Clark said, glaring at Pete and Chloe.
"No, honestly, Clark. We didn't." Chloe began. "You were…never mind."
She stopped, realizing she couldn't explain with Lana around.
"He was what?" Lana asked, frustrated. "First Clark won't open up, and now you guys are covering for him?"
"Lana, we're all tired, why don't we just…" Clark tried.
She cut him off.
"We're all tired, Lana. What kind of an answer is that? I guess I'll have to face it Clark. You'll never open up to me." She said as she turned around with a frown and made her way back to the camp.
Pete and Chloe let out their breath.
"So what did happen?" Clark asked.
"You were floating. We tried to wake you up before Lana saw." Pete said. "You got to the river and we had to get creative."
Clark sighed. "I'm going back to bed." He stated, and began to walk back to camp, with Chloe and Pete trailing behind.