Chapter 13: Essence of Time Part 1
Chloe and Kal reappear and the effect of the time shot ripples away into nothingness. Kal moves his arm away from Chloe's grasp and he pulls his hood back up, the evening sun temporarily shining in his eyes. They begin investigating their surroundings, and immediately Kal senses that he has been here before.
"Any idea where, or when we are in the time stream, Kal?"
Kal X-rays the surroundings around him, and notices that about a mile away is another person, but this person is running faster than Kal has ever seen, except for himself. The person runs towards the caves, and the sound of a familiar car fills his ears.
"Pete." Kal states, but Chloe looks surprised.
"What? Pete? What does Pete have to do with this?"
"I know where we are, Chloe. And most importantly, I know when we are. We are still in Smallville, and... this is the day that I screwed everything up. Because of this action, I caused my mother's loss of her baby. I must stop this." Kal states, running away, and leaving Chloe to herself in the empty cornfield.
Kal runs faster and faster, past his past self, and straight into the caves. He stops behind the infamous Lionel Luthor, and watches as his scientists examine the cave walls. Several of the scientists are joining in a group in front of the octagonal disc wall, and Kal watches, and is amazed that Lionel hasn't heard a sound from Kal.
Lionel walks over to a woman on a computer
"How much longer now?" He asks impatiently.
"Another ten minutes, Mr. Luthor"
"Another ten minutes." Lionel states, mumbling under his own breath.
Kal hides between a rock pillar, and watches as Pete enters. Kal super speeds over to another laptop, and sees a familiar lead container. Still in speed mode, he checks the container, and a familiar green glow escapes the metal. Kal slips the metal container into one of the containers in his utility belt, and speeds past Pete. He didn't even see another, identical container holding the mysterious Kryptonite octagonal key that sits in Lionel's hand.
As Kal leaves, he speeds past Clark, who is waiting patiently for Pete to give him the sign to enter in super speed inside.
The machine aimed at the octagonal groove in the cave is humming and moving as if taking measurements. The cave is filled with workers and Lionel supervises, holding the metal key box.
"Hey, Luthor! I got something to say to you!" Pete screams, filling the caves with his voice.
Lionel puts the metal box down on a nearby metal stand.
"Security, get him out of here." Lionel says calmly.
Two men try to grab Pete, but he refuses for them from touching him.
"Don't put your hands on me! Get off me! If these guys don't let me go I'm gonna lay a lawsuit on you so fast it's gonna make your head spin."
"All right, all right, I'll talk him. Do I know you?" Lionel asks.
"Name's Pete Ross."
"Ross, Ross, Ross..." Lionel says, pretending to try remember Pete's name.
"As in Ross Creamed Corn! You stole my family's business."
"Yes. I overpaid for that ramshackle old factory."
"Nobody in this town likes you!" Pete screams, grabbing Lionel by his jacket.
The two guards pull Pete back.
"Don't touch me. You know you hate him!"
"I know that, but I value their hatred. I find it very useful. You see, people are always at their weakest when they're angry. Ask you father."
Pete looks over Lionel's shoulder and sees Clark super speed in and out of the room, taking the key box with him. He moves so fast, we see little more than a blur. No one else notices. Pete is obviously relieved.
"I'll do that." Pete states, calming down.
"Get him out." Lionel states to his two goons.
They start to grab Pete, but he pulls out of their grip and leaves on his own. Lionel walks to the stand and sees that the box is gone.
"No...no...NOOO! You- Search him. Search him right now." Lionel screams at the guards.
The men start to search Pete.
"Search me? What are you doing?"
"Where is it?" Lionel asks, furious.
"Where's what?" Pete asks.
Lionel raises his hand as if to strike Pete, but stops himself.
"Careful, Mr. Luthor. You wouldn't want to look weak."
Lionel shakes his head at Pete angrily.
Kal speeds back to Chloe, who is sitting on the ground. Chloe looks up, and Kal smiles slightly at Chloe. He sits down next to her, and he watches the sky near his farmhouse. A feeling of deja-vu hits his system, and it shakes him to his very core.
"Oh no." Kal says, and Chloe looks at him warily. Even though Kal is wearing his hood, she senses his fear, and soon, her thoughts have become a reality. The sound of a farm truck's engine fills their ears, and a large explosion rumbles the ground. A large blue and white light explodes from the Kent farm, the sign that the cellar has exploded, the ship destroyed. Kal looks in horror at what happened.
"I thought...I thought I stopped it... how could I fail?"
Kal stands back up, along with Chloe. A familiar red and black ripple surrounds Kal and Chloe, and the scenery rips apart in front of them. At this point, Kal would be frightened, but now, he has grown weary of these changes. All he wants is to save Alicia, but a feeling fills him, and he hates it. The feeling that maybe he won't be able to save Alicia. They have to appear at the exact moment when all of this started, and the odds of this happening are almost non-existent. This feeling fills him with deep regret and sorrow. He looks up, and notices that they are now in the middle of Smallville, but something has happened. The town is deserted and the buildings are destroyed. Red clouds fill the sky, and the ground is grassless and black. Bones and skeletons cover the ground, and Chloe looks on in horror at their surroundings. She starts to cough, and Kal opens up one of his small containers in his utility belt. He pulls out a folded gas mask, and hands it to her. She puts it on, and begins to inhale and exhale normally.
"What happened here?" She asks.
"I don't know... I think we're in the future."
Chloe walks ahead of Kal, and picks up a newspaper, charred and burned in several places. She stares, shocked at the front page. She gives it to Kal, who reads the headline.
Lex Luthor Leads us to Holocaust
After miraculously waking from a two year coma, Alexander Luthor ran for President of 2007. Upon winning the presidential race, Mr. Luthor began work with the United State's military defense systems. Thinking that the world was against him, Lex launched off hundreds of skudd missiles and nuclear warheads all over the world. Billions of deaths occurred, and it became the Apocalypse. God have mercy on our pitiful souls.
Kal drops the newspaper, and it moves slightly in the wind. He looks around, and sees that no one is alive, except him and Chloe. For as far as he can see, the world is dead, and he begins his walk towards what used to be his home. Chloe follows after him, and Kal notices the sun, bright red. He tries to super run, but he can't. He walks over to a car, and sits in the driver's seat. Both doors are gone, ripped off their hinges. Kal searches for keys, and finds a set. He starts up the car, and they head toward the farmhouse.
The trip is long and bumpy, the pavement cracked, bumpy, and partly melted. The drive is also quiet. Neither Kal nor Chloe talk to each other, and Kal notices a familiar sign on the ground. Barely readable, sign of wear and fire all over it, Kal still can read the words KENT FARM. They stop, a mile later. Kal gets out, and sees two large piles of boards, charred and broken. He walks over to where his loft once stood, and kneels down in front of it. Torn burned pieces of his couch are scattered everywhere, and something catches his eyes. He reaches over, pulling off boards, and picks up the bright object. Small and delicate, a bright diamond sits on top of it.
Alicia's ring... I can still save her...
Chloe kneels next to Kal, and sets her hand on his shoulder. They sit quietly, and Kal holds back his tears. He puts Alicia's ring into an empty compartment on his belt, and continues to watch all the destruction.
"It's going to be okay, Kal. We'll save her, and time itself."
Kal is quiet, not answering Chloe. He sighs deeply, and then they walk back towards the car. They start up the engine, but before Kal can even put it into 1st gear, the strange rippling effect covers them again, and they disappear again.