Chapter Six
Clark slowly turned the small crystal over between his thumb and forefinger. It was hard for him to believe that this had once made him sick… Lana Lang's necklace, which used to be made of a piece of kryptonite, had always kept him from getting close to her during their freshman year. Then, somehow, when the necklace had gotten near Clark's spaceship in the storm cellar, the ship neutralized it, turning it from a green, glowing meteor rock into a harmless clear crystal. Ever since that day Clark had held onto the necklace, never telling Lana what had happened to it.
Then again, there was so much he hadn't told Lana. But tonight, that was all going to change. Tonight, he was going to give the necklace back to her, and tell her everything. He was finally going to let Lana in on the secrets that he'd kept from her for so long. After all they'd been through together, she deserved to know. And what better night than tonight to tell her?
He slipped the necklace back into his pocket, took a deep breath, and waited for his name to be called.
"Clark Jerome Kent."
Clark swelled with pride as he heard the applause ring out. He adjusted his cap and crossed the stage, looking out over the smiling faces of his peers and the enormous crowd of cheering parents. Then Principal Reynolds shook his hand, and handed him that piece of paper he'd worked four years for. Finally, his Smallville High Diploma was his. He had graduated high school.
He walked off the stage, grinning from ear to ear. He'd waited so long for this moment, and now it was official.
Clark waited just off stage for the name to be called that would follow his by just three more students.
"Jessica Ann Konderman. Michael J. Krendler. Charles Ladderman. Lana Marie Lang."
Applause… then an awkward pause.
"Ahem… Lana Marie Lang?"
Silence.
No one crossed the stage.
A few more moments of confused silence. Then, the names continued.
"Judith Renee Lazenby. Matthew James Lindsey."
Clark was confused. Where was Lana? He left the stage, and walked out into the crowd. He walked right past the first group of rows, which were reserved for students, and walked back to where his friend Pete Ross was sitting.
"Pete… have you seen Lana, or my parents? Or Chloe?"
"No," Pete said, looking around. "Haven't you?"
"No."
"Do you think something's wrong?"
"I don't know."
Clark had picked Pete up at the bus station and they had driven to the graduation ceremony together. Lana and Chloe had been helping Jonathan and Martha decorate the Talon for the Smallville High Graduation Celebration coming up that night, and the four of them were all supposed to come together.
Clark and Pete anxiously listened to the names continue.
"Chloe Elizabeth Sullivan."
Applause… then, again, silence. Chloe also did not cross the stage.
Clark and Pete just looked at each other.
"Do what you gotta do, man," Pete said.
Clark walked through the rows of people, looking desperately for his parents, even as the feeling of hopelessness set in. With his super hearing and all of his vision powers, he should be able to pick them out of the crowd in no time. As the seconds turned into minutes, he knew that he was not going to find his parents. They were not in the auditorium.
He tried to keep himself from fearing the worst.
. . . . . . . .
Across town, Lana Lang woke up to feel something wet being poured over her head and down her back. She coughed and gasped and wiped dirt from her eyes and face. The first thing she realized was that she could not feel her legs.
She looked around. She was in the middle of a field. A few yards away, the Kent truck was overturned, lying smashed up and upside down. Twisted metal and broken glass lay scattered like debris on a battlefield.
Now she remembered the truck careening out of control, and Mr. Kent yelling that the brakes had gone out. She remembered Chloe grabbing onto her arm, and going off the road… That was all she remembered. She must have been thrown from the truck when it crashed.
More wetness down her back. She struggled to look up, and saw a man with brown hair wearing a black business suit standing over her. A putrid smell filled her nostrils. She realized what was being poured on her just a split second before she saw the can of gasoline in the man's hand.
"Oh, Miss Lang," the man said. "I was really hoping you would have just died on impact like Chloe and the Kents. I should've known cutting the brake lines would be far too easy."
Lana tried to talk, but she couldn't stop coughing.
"I really don't want you to take any of this personally. I'm just trying to prevent a dreadfully dull Utopian future. You understand, don't you? Your deaths should be just what it takes to push your friend Clark Kent over the edge."
Lana spat dirt and blood out of her mouth.
"Why…?" she managed to choke out. "Why?"
"Ohhh, that's right," the man said. "He hasn't told you yet, has he? That's a shame. Well, I might as well let you in on a little death-bed secret." The man knelt down right next to Lana. "Clark Kent… is… Superman!"
Lana's eyes revealed her desperate confusion.
"Oh wait, that doesn't mean anything to you, does it?" He smacked himself in the head. "DUH!"
He stood up and emptied the rest of the can of gasoline over Lana's body, then tossed it casually aside. Lana could see the trail of gasoline glistening on the grass, leading all the way back to the overturned truck.
The man took a lighter out of his pocket.
"Trust me, Miss Lang. What I do now, I do for a better tomorrow. But somehow, I doubt that will be of much consolation."
. . . . . . . . .
One week later. Clark Kent walked into the Kawache Caves beneath Smallville for the last time. In his hand he held the octagonal key that so many people had fought over these past few years. Lex. Lionel. Even Dr. Swann. Everyone wanting to know what mysteries could be unlocked in these caves.
Clark knew exactly what they unlocked.
He stopped in front of the keyhole in the cave wall. He fought back the tears. He promised himself he wasn't going to cry any more. He'd made his decision. It was time to accept his destiny.
Trying to steady his shaking hand, he pressed the key into the keyhole. The cave instantly came to radiant life as an intense white light poured forth from the hieroglyphs around the keyhole, filling the entire cave.
"Okay, Jor-El!" Clark yelled. "You win! There's nothing left for me here in Smallville! I'm yours now!"
"Kal-El… My son," the voice boomed, echoing throughout the cave. "You have returned to me at last. Now it is time to begin your journey. I have told you that mankind is a weak and flawed race. With your strength, you will rule them, and your will shall be done here on Earth. Are you ready to begin your conquest, my son?"
Clark heard these words, and knew that this was exactly what he had fought against for so long. What Jor-El wanted to turn him into was exactly what Jonathan and Martha had taught him never to become. And yet, in this last week, his parents and two of his best friends had been taken from him. His world had been shattered. He had nowhere else to turn. What he needed now was his father. His true father.
"Yes. I am ready."
"Very well."
A beam of energy shot out of the cave wall and straight into Clark's chest, surging through every molecule of his body. He would have let out a scream if sound were capable of leaving his mouth at that moment. His jaw hung open and his eyes glowed white as the energy crackled through him, changing him forever.
He was no longer Clark Kent.
"I… I am Kal-El, of Krypton," he said, as the energy dissipated and the power of speech returned to him.
"Go forth, my son. This planet is yours for the taking."
Kal-El's feet lifted off the ground. "Yes, father." He reached his hand out, and the key dislodged itself from the wall, floating right into his palm.
With a burst of speed, Kal-El flew out of the cave, and into the night sky.
