Thanks to all my readers and reviewers. Also thanks to Terratasha, and Callisto, for reviewing chapter 22. I hope you're all enjoying the story. There's much more to come. And I hope you like this chapter. It's a little more fast paced than the last two. :) Enjoy. I'll be back soon with Chapter 24

Chapter 23

Clark could only sit and watch as the wave engulfed his house. What surprised him though was that it didn't decimate everything it touched, just passed through it. Once the initial shock and amazement was passed, Clark immediately jumped up and super sped to his house. Led by extreme concern Clark rushed into the kitchen and up the stairs, heading first to his parents' room, which was…empty.

"Mom? Dad?" he called out.

"Clark?" Chloe called out from the attic. She walked down, attired in her pajamas. "Where's Lana?"

"Where're Mom and Dad?" Clark asked.

Both shrugged to each other.

"Chloe, your hair is longer." Clark stated, in confusion.

"I…um…" Chloe stammered, trying to think of a way to explain it. "I had a nightmare and woke up like this. Why are you up already?"

"I…heard something." Clark said hesitantly. "I went out to check."

"What was it?"

Clark lifted his eyes to meet Chloe's. She took this to mean it was important.

"What was it?" she repeated, trying to coax him into saying.

"But it's impossible…" Clark murmured, turning away from Chloe and beginning to walk downstairs.

"What's impossible? Clark, get back here! You're not leaving until you tell me what's got you so worked up!" Chloe exclaimed.

Clark turned. "I thought it was the key, but it wasn't…and the noise was coming from the storm cellar."

"And?" Chloe asked, not recognizing the significance of the storm cellar.

Clark swallowed. He hadn't discussed this with Chloe. He'd slightly mentioned the spaceship to her a few times but otherwise she hadn't known much about it.

"Chloe, the spaceship…" Clark said, swallowing again. "It was destroyed…by me, in an attempt to stop Jor-el from controlling me."

Chloe looked at him in shock, wondering the relevance of this new revelation, and making a note to give Clark some serious TLC later on.

"The ship's back." Clark said. "It was calling out, and it snatched the key away from me, sending a huge wave this way. The same thing that happened before…"

"…before you ran away." Chloe finished. She quickly ran up, changed, and pinned her new hair up. "Ok let's go."

"Where?"

Chloe gave him a look. "We're going to look for your parents. This place is too silent, there's definitely something up. And not only that, Lana has pulled another disappearing act."

"Yeah she pulls a lot of those lately."

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Chloe said urgently, poking Clark in the shoulder as she passed, and grabbing his arm to haul him down the stairs and out the door.

Meanwhile, Lana was dragging Whitney to a lab somewhere.

Somehow, for some reason, Lana was stronger than Whitney. He couldn't even break free from her grip. It was embarrassing, really. And not only that, she had Whitney thrown over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Whitney had given up trying to get away long ago. He had also given up trying to talk to Lana. It was evident she wasn't herself. Every time he would ask a question she would give him a blank stare and a warning not to struggle. He had asked her once or twice where they were going but she just looked blankly at him again, and remained silent.

They came upon a complex that Whitney recognized very well. It was the one he had broken out of not too long ago. It caused a myriad of emotions to flow through him: among them fear, hatred, anger and worry.

One thing went through his head as he noticed the giant fortress was, "I won't be taken in again, away from everyone and everything I care about."

In one final effort, he tried to break away again. This time Lana wavered and he fell to the ground. But as fast as he was, Lana was faster, and before he could run away, Lana had yanked him next to her. He was faced with those cursed eyes again: those emotionless voids now there instead of Lana's normal, alluring brown eyes.

He sighed and bowed to his fate…for now.

Some of the scientists were delighted to see not one, but both of their specimens back. Others were, well not so happy, especially now that they would have the lives of two young teenagers on their conscience. Whitney noticed one scientist – the one he'd often seen monitoring his vitals, a woman in her early thirties – quickly and discreetly packing her things.

"Deter! Dr. Deter! A young man in a lab coat called out."

The woman looked up. "What is it Cory? I'm headed out."

"The two specimens just came back."

Vera blinked and cursed the day she ever made that mind control device for Lionel. She constantly wished her knowledge in neurology wouldn't be used that way, but it had been exploited. She felt like trash.

Vera began to nod when her eyes focused on the girl standing in front of her: Lana Lang. It was Lana she was headed out to search for. She nearly dropped her purse.

"Alright, put them in containment cells and leave them to me." Vera said authoritatively.

Cory nodded and carried out her request.

A miserable Whitney was the first to be thrown in the cells at the end of the laboratory. He was closed in by plexiglass, designed with many small holes for communicating. He figured he could easily break the glass, but he didn't see a point. He knew they had oodles of red meteor rock on them and wouldn't hesitate to use it. He sighed, and began to scan the room for exits.

A vacant Lana Lang easily complied with the instructions to enter a cell, but once inside, the old Lana began to resurface.

"What? What am I doing here? I was at the Kent's and…and…oh my gosh! I can't remember!"

"Let me refresh your memory, Lana. You came over to Lex's mansion, and dragged me here." Whitney said, offended that Lana was being patronizing toward him.

"No, Whitney, I honestly don't know!" Lana exclaimed.

But Whitney wasn't listening to her. He was more intent on listening to something in the hallway.

"Whitney?"

"Shh."

When he stopped he looked at Lana gravely. "I'm sorry." He said.

"For what?"

"Not believing you."

Lana looked at him oddly. "What did you hear just then?" she asked, now realizing what the expression on his face had meant.

"Dr. Vera was talking to Lionel. He says he wants another mind controlling implant only this one he wants put in my brain." Whitney said, his voice wavering a little.

"Another implant. That means I must already have one. Oh my god…Whitney, I've never been so scared in my life!"

Suddenly the lights in the cell block went off, surprising both its occupants. A door opened and light flooded in from the lab, casting a shadow on the shapely woman attired with a lab coat.

She closed the door with a bang and silently crept over to Lana's cell.

"Lana Lang, I am Dr. Vera Deter. I know you are afraid and most likely not pleased to meet me, but that will be have to be put aside for now, as you and this young man are in grave danger. First things first though. Turn around, Lana."

Lana complied and Vera gripped the small chip-like device on Lana's head with her thumb and forefinger.

"What are you doing?" Lana asked.

"I'm temporarily deactivating the mind control device that Lionel had me attach to your brain stem."

"My brain stem?" Lana asked, a little perturbed.

"Precisely. Consider yourself a little lucky though. Lionel originally wanted me to implant it in your frontal lobe. You probably would've died had I listened."

"Why don't you just unhook it then?"

"Impossible. I would need at least an hour to ensure that nothing was damaged as I unhooked it. You see, it's actually wired into your brainstem. I'd rather be thorough when I disconnect it. There, deactivated, at least for…" Vera said. She looked at her watch. "At least for…twenty minutes anyway."

By now, Lana was petrified. She had barely understood what Vera had said, save for what she had learned in Biology class at school, but what she did understand scared the hell out of her. Not only that, but something occurred to her.

"Why are you helping us?" Lana asked again.

"Because not everyone's morals can be oppressed with money." Vera said, as she quickly unlocked the two glass doors. "Now, go, quickly. I've disabled the computer's security systems and my assistant is on his break now, so you can get out easily. I'll catch up in a minute. Head out of here, go right down a hallway; then take a left and another left. I'll meet you at the locked door with the blinking blue light. Ok?"

"Gotcha." Lana agreed, while Whitney simply nodded. He believed it a little too easy to be true.

A few minutes later, Vera showed up with a key card for the locked door.

"Now, I'll need the two of you to burn out the security cameras as we leave. Think you can handle it?"

The two teens nodded just as Vera opened the door. Whitney used heat vision to burn them out and Lana shot fire from her fingers. Eventually, all the cameras were officially deceased and the group was outside.

Vera pointed to a green Chevy outside and they ran toward it. Once inside, Whitney found his voice again.

"I heard you tell Lionel you were going to put one of those devices in my head." Whitney said. "How do we know you're not in on all this? You might be taking us right to the devil himself!"

Vera laid her key card in the front seat and started up her truck.

"I know you may be skeptical, but you must trust me. What Lionel is doing is illegal and I no longer want any part in it. And if I can, I'm going to try and bring Lionel down…even if I go down with him in the process. Now I have a question for you two. Where does…Clark Kent live?"

Lex stood up in his office, his head spinning. Luckily he had no concussion, or memory loss, just a good ol' bump where Lana had slammed his head down. There was one thing he was sure of though – that hadn't been Lana's doing…it had to have been his father's doing. Nothing else explained Lana's actions. He would have to talk with his father today. He groaned. He'd talk with his father after the mess was cleaned up, that is. He quickly spun around and punched in Clark's number on his office phone – Lana had crushed his cell when she had thrown him down. However, he got no answer. Agitated, at letting his father get the upper hand, Lex threw down the phone, grabbed his jacket and headed out to his new Porsche to drive to Clark's house.
Meanwhile, Clark and Chloe had searched every inch of the farm, (and I do mean every inch), and they could find nothing.

"I'm calling Pete, he can help us look around." Clark said.

Just as he headed into the house, the phone rang.

"Clark, man, you gotta see this. Get to the caves – fast." Pete said before hanging up.

"Well there's only one way I know fast." Chloe said.

"Your beetle?" Clark asked, trying to lighten the mood a little.

Chloe raised an eyebrow. "I'd call it the Clark Express but I think that would be a little biased now."

"How about the Chloe Express?" Clark joked.

Chloe gave a weird look. "How about not. Sounds like I get around."

Clark smirked.

"Enough about this. Shut up and let's go." Chloe said.

With that, the two teens ran to the caves, hand in hand of course. ;)

A green Chevy pulled up to the Kent farm in a hurry, spraying gravel everywhere. It came to a sudden halt, and two teens and a scientist stepped out.

"He lives here?" Vera asked.

"What were you expecting, a playboy mansion?" Lana asked.

Vera gave Lana a dirty look. "We don't have time for this."

"Look, you check the house, I'll check the loft, and Whitney can check the fields. Sound good?" Lana said.

"Sounds fine." Whitney agreed.

Vera knocked on the door to the house, but received no answer. Slowly, she gave one final tap and pushed the door ajar.

"Clark? Clark Kent?" she yelled.

Walking in she noticed pictures, of which she assumed to be Clark and his family. This made her even more sympathetic toward him. Lionel was a monster, trying to take away this boy from his loving, caring family.

"Hello?" she tried again.

Vera cautiously walked up the stairs and into one of the rooms. Judging by the messiness, she assumed it was Clark's. She saw something sticking out from between the mattresses – a book that read: Clark's Journal. Vera turned to leave, although curious.

"I'm here to help the boy not go through his personal belongings." She said.

But something in her was curious. She wanted to know why Lionel was so interested in this boy. That being so, she crept over to the journal and wedged it out. Why she thought she'd find something in his journal she didn't know. Perhaps it was the fact that most journals held secrets. She cursed the scientist in her and sat down to look at it.

Lana, in the meantime, was having no luck in the loft. She turned around to his desk and noticed a picture. It was of him and Chloe, on homecoming night.

"Looks like Chloe didn't delete the pictures after all." Lana thought.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before looking at the second picture that adorned Clark's desk. It was recent, taken with Chloe's digital camera. The two were standing in front of the yellow house that Clark called home. Both were smiling, and Chloe had her arms around Clark's belly and was laughing at him squirming. Lana picked the picture up, a little jealous, and sad at what she had lost. Although, a part of her was glad, since if she had been with Clark she wouldn't have discovered her feelings for Pete. She laid the picture down and took note that no pictures of herself remained. An open book lay undisturbed, with a pen next to many scribbles that said 'Chloe'. Lana took one last look around before she sighed and left.

Whitney was having even less luck, or so he thought. He finished running through the fields when something caught his eye – the storm cellar. It was open and cracked a little, as though something – or someone – was thrown out of it.

"I wonder…" he thought, and headed down. It was there he came face to face with…a space ship. It shined a golden hue which lit up Whitney's face and almost blinded him. He tried to shield the light, but wasn't very effective in his efforts.

The light began to engulf him, causing him a lot of pain, but after a few minutes, backed off, as if it rejected him.

The ship began to float and a voice came from it.

"Who are you? Speak now." It said.

Whitney, not knowing what exactly to do, answered.

"I'm…Whitney Fordman."

"Whitney…Fordman?" the voice replied. "This must not be your native name. Which house are you from?"

"House?" Whitney asked, nervous.

The light began to scan him again, but this time when it stopped and the voice emerged, it was angry.

"You have El blood." it stated.

"I…what?" Whitney asked.

"Your anatomy has been altered to mimic that of a Kryptonian, Whit…ney. You must already know this."

"No?" Whitney exclaimed. "What the hell is a Kryptonian anyway?"

Suddenly it clicked. Whitney remembered Clark saying something about Krypton blowing up and he was the last.

"Wait a minute…my anatomy…altered?" Whitney said, realized the implication.

"Your species has found a way to replicate the gene that gives a Kryptonian abilities under a yellow sun so that an earthling can experience the same power. You…do not know this?"

"No." Whitney said. "I was injected with Clark's blood…but…"

"Kal-el's blood. I see. Whoever did this to you must've exposed you to Kal-el's blood for an extended period of time, with some sort of…trigger, such that you started producing a mixture of your blood and his. You will help us then."

"I'll…what?" Whitney.

"I had you pegged as Kal-el's enemy, something it seems you are not. I am his father, Jor-el, or rather a good portion of what's left of him. We need your help. Something's gone wrong and we cannot communicate with Kal-el. We fear he is in danger, as a malfunction in our technology stored inside the Kawatche caves caused it to create rather distorted versions of my wife and I. It is a long story. Please trust me when I say, or rather we, require your assistance."

"What do you need me to do?" Whitney asked.

"Go to the caves." Jor-el said.

"Kawatche…caves? Where are they?"

"I forget that you were absent for a long time. Here." Jor-el said.

The ship began to glow more intensely until engulfed Whitney. When it was done, he stood erect, holding his head.

"You should have all of the information you need now. Do not worry. The download will seem a little overwhelming at first, but the integration of Kal-el's blood into your system will allow you to absorb information as readily as Kal-el himself."

"Overwhelmed is definitely not the word." Whitney said.

"Quickly now, you must go. And do not tell anyone what you have learned."

"Wait. I just have one question."

The ship waited expectantly.

"Why am I weak to the red rock instead of the green then? And can this be cured?"

"Because you are still partly human." Jor-el answered. "And for the second part of your question, it is a permanent transformation, by your standards. But I will search our technology for an answer to your question. Now hurry. Kal-el needs your help."

Whitney nodded, and before the ship could settle on the ground, he was gone, yelling to Lana something about the caves, and then heading for them himself.

Clark and Chloe walked inside the caves, cautiously. First Clark poked his head around the corner, and then Chloe. What they saw was incredible.

Martha and Jonathon were standing next to the cave wall, which was now open. A white light shimmered behind them, and they shimmered too. Clark noticed that both their eyes were glazed, like someone else had taken control. Pete was hiding in a dark spot next to Clark and Chloe. He accidentally bumped into them.

"Pete." Clark whispered. "What's going on?"

"I don't know. I came to the farm this morning to ask you something and saw your parents leaving, almost in a daze, so I followed them here."

"You came over? What for?"

Pete looked down and then back up at Clark. "I woke up early and I was practicing with my new speed, when my vision changed. I got x-ray vision, but it only happens every now and then."

Clark looked at Pete, half in shock, half expectantly.

"Alright, well we'll have to take care of it when we get home."

"If we get home." Chloe whispered.

Suddenly something dawned on Clark. "They can hear us. If they have my hearing, they can hear us."

"Oh, shit!" Chloe hissed.

All turned and the two adults were closer than ever, practically hovering over the three teens.

Jonathon spoke while Martha walked over and grabbed Chloe and Pete, bringing them into the cave wall.

"Kal-el." Jonathon said, grabbing Clark's arm, and motioning toward the cave opening. "You're coming with us, whether you like it or not."

And the plot thickens...LoL. I'm already halfway through writing the next chapter. Finally got my groove back with this story.

Next: Will Vera go through Clark's journal? What has happened to Clark's parents? Will Whitney get to the caves in time to save everyone? ;) Lots of questions...all answered next chapter.