Chapter One

Lana turned the knob and opened the door, startled by the strong wind and intense beating of the rain, she stumbled back a step but looked up to see a young girl completely drenched. The girl was shivering violently and Lana grabbed her arm, pulling her inside.

The umbrella the girl was holding was not doing her any good, for her hair and the clothing under her rain jacket were soaking, literally dripping with the mucky water. She removed the hood from her head and revealed her long dark hair. A smiled spread across her face and she brushed a hand through her hair, shaking the rain water onto the floor without the slightest care.

Um, make yourself at home! Lana wanted to grumble. Instead she just had to stand there and think of how familiar this girl looked. The girl noticed she was eyeing her and smirked, “You must be Lana!”

Taken back, Lana nodded, “Yes…I am. And you are…?”

“Lana have you seen my dad-?” Chloe emerged from the kitchen, holding two cups of orange juice in what looked like the biggest glasses she could find. Barely stopping to set them down, she raced to the young girl and embraced her. “Lois! What are you doing here!” She stepped away to look at her older cousin and couldn't help but smiled and shake her head.

Lois smiled and removed her outermost layer, attempting to peel the wet plastic from her skin and wet clothing. She shook her hair out again and looked back at Chloe, with the corner of her eye on Lana, in her utter shock and confusion. “Honestly, I'm not sure. Everything has been going so rough at the campus that I needed to get out,” she giggled and leaned her umbrella against the big chair next to her. “When I saw that Smallville had been getting so much rain and many families are having to be transported elsewhere, I thought it might be good to check up on my little cousin!” She grabbed Chloe's cheek and made a funny face at her.

Chloe slapped her hand away, “Yeah, yeah. Just admit you missed me.” They heard a little cough to their side and turned to see Lana smiling and rocking back and forth on her heels. Chloe laughed, “Lois, I've told you about Lana, right?”

“Yes!” Lois stuck out her hand to the shorter girl, “I named her right away. She seemed a little surprised I knew who she was.”

Lana shook her hand, “I must say I was. So you two are cousins?”

“Always have and always will be,” Lois smirked. “How about getting your old cousin some dry clothes?”

Chloe rolled her eyes, “I like it when you are all wet.” Lois slapped Chloe up top the head and Chloe giggled. “Hey Lana, we'll be right back!” Lana nodded and giggled, walking back to the couch.

Chloe led Lois up the steps and down the hall. “So that's Lana…” Lois said good heartedly.

“Yeah, in the flesh,” Chloe rolled her eyes…again. “What's so surprising?”

“Nothing!” Lois mumbled. “Just from the way you've described her in the past I was expecting some slut in a cheerleading outfit.”

Chloe had to catch herself from laughing out loud. “It was that bad huh?”

Now it was Lois' turn to laugh. “Just from the way you've described her I wasn't expecting her to be…normal.” Chloe gave her a look. “Oh come on, you know what I mean! When you talk about that boy you like…um…farm hick…”

“ Clark …” Chloe said hesitantly, and a little defensively. Her cheeks flushed a deep red, but her cousin didn't seem to notice.

“Yeah, that one,” Lois continued right on. They walked into Chloe's room and she headed right over to her closet. Chloe plopped herself on her bed and listened to her cousin talk. “You always made it sound like she was some sort of witch, casting a spell on him.”

I did not! It could not have been that bad! Chloe wanted to shoot back. Instead she shrugged, “Oops? Things always sound more dramatic than they really are over email and the telephone.” She shrieked, “Eeek! Not that shirt! That's my favorite!”

“Yeesh, alright, don't get your panties in a bundle,” her cousin rolled her eyes and stuck the blue t-shirt back onto the hanger. “So what can I wear, Ms. Not That Shirt?” She pulled out a plain black long sleeved shirt and held it up, “Is this one alright?”

Chloe nodded, “Yeah sure.” Lois rolled her eyes and removed her wet clingy shirt, replacing it with the nice dry black one. “You don't happen to have a bra I can borrow too, do you?” she smirked, but tried to keep a straight face.

“What! Did you come here with a pigskin? Where are all your clothes?” Chloe asked, partly in shock of the question (and embarrassment) as well as purely annoyed.

Lois put a hand on her hip, “For your information, I had to park a block away because the damn streets are blocked off. It's like El Nino out there!” She reached back into the closet and pulled out a Kansas State sweatshirt and quickly slipped it on before Chloe could protest. “Not to mention that gross green tint it has to it. What do you farm people feed your sewers?”

“First, f you haven't noticed, we live next to other people, not on a farm. Secondly, what do you mean green tint?” Chloe asked, standing up and walking over to her cousin, leaning against the dresser across from her.

Lois made a face and described what she saw. “It was disgusting, like vomit. The water that was supposed to be flowing into the sewers was floating over it, and from the sewers this green stuff emerged from under the water, combined with the flowing water, and began to float along the curb with it. The most disturbing thing I've ever seen.” She stopped looking at herself in the mirror and turned around to face her cousin. “What is it? You look like you are about to win the Pulitzer Prize.”

Chloe smirked, “You obviously aren't familiar with the meteors in Smallville.” She walked to the closet doors and reached in, grabbing a pair of sweatpants, then handing them to Lois. “I must say, I'm surprised.”

Lois snatched the pants, “Of course I know what the meteors are. But you are telling me that those were meteors?” She slipped off her dripping pants and casually strung them over Chloe's shoulder.

Chloe made a face and let them fall to the floor. Looking a little uneasy, seeing her cousin half naked, she turned and pretended to go look for a ‘file'. “What you saw was probably just the liquid form. They have taken so many shapes its hard to look out for them.”

As Lois slipped on the pants, she continued to talk. “Like what? Diamonds, pearls and jewels oh my?”

Chloe spun around and made a face, “Smooth. No like rocks, colors and liquid. There's green and red meteor rocks, although much more green. I've mainly only seen fragments in rocks, but we have uncovered places where the fragments have melted off the rocks and turned into some sort of liquidy substance, like you saw in the sewers.”

Satisfied that she was fully dressed, Lois turned to her cousin and smiled, “You really like to talk about this don't you?”

Chloe smiled, “I know more about it than anyone, so chances are when I'm talking about it, I'm going to tell them something they don't know.”

“Nice philosophy,” Lois stuck out her tongue playfully. “So does Clark know as much about it as you?”

“Lois!”

“Sorry! Just asking!” Lois put her hands up in defense and bent down to pick up her pants.

“Chloe! Lois! Come down here!” Lana yelled from below.

Chloe and Lois exchanged a look. Shrugging, Lois headed towards the door, followed quickly by Chloe.

Kent Farm
“ Clark ! Be careful!” Jonathan warned. He had his son tied to a thick rope, but, being the overprotective father he was, still wasn't sure it was going to be enough.

Clark stopped and looked back at his dad, “What are you so worried about?” As if he had to ask. He was about to plunge down into the cellar, underwater, to retrieve the ship! What they were going to do with it when they got it out would be news to them. But what they needed to do now was make sure they could have control of the ship, seeing for themselves that it wouldn't rust away. Who knows what kind of valuable information they could still get from it!

Jonathan simply rolled his eyes and waved his son on. Clark began to descend the stairs slowly, only going about seven steps down before his feet were submerged in water. It felt no different, really, the ground outside was so wet their feet sank through into the mud underneath the surface. This couldn't be good for the soil. He peered into the cellar. It was so dark he couldn't see the back wall, and the water was so dirty he couldn't see the floor. The level had risen to about the third shelf on all the storage shelves.

Subconsciously shaking his head, thinking how crazy this situation was, he waded in to the water, very surprised when it came up to his neck. How could the cellar flood so much? It had been raining for a week and a half, but this was crazy, your cellar doesn't just flood.

He felt his knee knick the food shelf and he stopped, turning his body slightly, with the tension on the rope it was more difficult. But he concentrated his vision and x-rayed the water for his ship. There it was! He put his hands out and walked blindly towards it, finally feeling the metal make contact with his skin. Smiling, satisfied, he tried to hoist it up into his arms, but he misjudged the density of the water and it flew up towards the ceiling, hitting the ceiling and come falling back down like a five ton weight.

The boy super sped to get out of the way, and he did so just in time. The ship collided with the water again, sending a huge tidal wave of mucky water splurting in Clark 's direction. It hit him and he was sent crashing backwards against the wall behind him. Now he was underwater, and he frantically pulled himself up. The only good thing about being down there was the rain wasn't getting him at the same time, so when he stood up, he could breath normally without having to worry about breathing through his mouth.

He walked back to the ship and picked it up slowly, this time, and carefully walked back towards the steps. He felt his father tightening the tension on the rope and his face became visible again. Clark nodded, the signal he had it and his father took a couple steps back and looked around. He walked back to the entrance and nodded again at Clark .

Clark turned his back to the steps and heaved the ship above the water, using all his strength. The ship did not look as big as it felt. He slowly made his way up the stairs backwards, careful not to trip or do something else stupid that would start the ship up or something. He just hoped he had the key far away enough.

Finally setting the ship on the not so firm ground above the cellar, he stood up straight and took a breather. “Where do we put it now?” Clark screamed.

His dad shook his head, “I think there might be room under the porch. As long as we bring the tarp I think we can put it under there.” He bent down, prepared to help Clark carry the ship.

“No! Dad let me do it! Grab the tarp and meet me over there!” Jonathan rolled his eyes, but agreed, picking up the tarp. He started to run through the pounding rain and disappeared around the corner.

Clark picked the ship up in his hands, regriping it several times before he had a comfortable hold and began to walk towards the front. This was a very risky maneuver, walking right out in the front with the ship, anyone could see them now. But he did it, knowing this was the oly way to really keep it safe, so they could have an eye on it. He slowly brought the ship around the corner and to the little door on the bottom side of the porch. His father was waiting with the door ajar, ready for the ship to go it. The door was barely big enough for it to fit, but as Clark set it down in front of the door, it looked like it wouldn't be too hard.

Together they pushed it slowly, inching it under the porch, trying to move it this way and that so it would fit. Finally the tip disappeared behind the gate and Jonathan quickly flung the tarp over it, tucking the ends of the tarp under the ship to keep it down.

“Do you think it will hold?” Clark screamed, wiping the rain from his eyes. He reached in his pocket to feel the key, making sure he still had it.

Jonathan put a hand over his eyes and turned against the lateral winds and rain. “Let's hope so!” He screamed back. He watched Clark dig around in his pocket. “What is it Clark ?”

Clark looked around on the ground, then stood up. “The key! It's gone!”

Jonathan shut the little door and latched it, standing up as well. “What do you mean the key is gone? Did you have it?”

Clark nodded, “I put it in my pocket, but it's not there!”

“Why did you have it in your pocket?” Jonathan screamed, but Clark had already turned away. He was running (and slipping) through the mud and grass and turned to the back, towards the cellar. “ Clark ! Wait!”

Clark couldn't hear him. He raced to the cellar and jumped down the stairs into the water that was slowly rising. “ Clark !” Jonathan yelled again. “ Clark —“ as he screamed he heard a loud thunderclap and looked above him. A bright light shone down and a humongous lightning strike hit the telephone pole to his left. The thunder sounded again and he looked around frantically.

But what he saw did not help matters. An eerie green liquid began flowing through the grass, inching its way through the blades of soft grass and mud like a snake, and slowly dripped into the cellar, droplet by droplet. Jonathan shook his head, “No…no…NO!”

“JONATHAN! LOOK OUT!” there was a cry from the window above him and he looked up just in time to see Martha screaming and pointing behind him. He turned, slowly, and saw the telephone pole go crashing down a split second before it happened. He dove out of the way, but he was not fast enough, the pole caught his leg and a loud crunch screamed through his body. “Ahhhh!” he screamed in pain.

Just before his lights went out, he turned and looked at the entrance to the cellar. The pole had landed directly across the opening, and little green surges of electricity zipped along the cords, dripping more green substance into the cellar.

“ Clark …” Jonathan moaned, ever so softly, “be…careful…” and he saw no more.