A/N: Nothing much to say except for life seems to be conspiring against me submitting these on a weekly basis. I'll try and get better, but it's totally driving me nuts!

Chapter 21

Clark stared at her in disbelief. He hurried over to the both of them to make sure neither was hurt. "Chloe," he asked in amazement, "what did you do?"

Chloe blushed hotly. "The Vulcan neck pinch…" she muttered quietly, hoping he would miss her answer, but there was no hope of that.

He immediately burst into gales of laughter. "Where in the world did you learn…?"

She felt defensive and put her hands on her hips to more effectively glare at the giggling Kent boy. "Dad was a Trekkie, okay? And they did some further explanation during "Spaceballs"… Haven't you ever tried to do something like that?"

"I'm not a Sci-Fi guy, Chlo… You know that." He managed to get control of himself again. He looked worriedly at his father. "How long will he be out?"

Chloe shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

Clark winced, touching a bruise or two that were already showing signs of healing. "He almost beat me. But I couldn't hurt him… It wasn't his fault…"

Chloe could have screamed in frustration. Sure, Clark was as close to indestructible as made no difference, but he'd been getting his butt handed to him on a platter. If Jonathan had kept up the attack, there's no telling if Clark would have survived. Plus, they really didn't have time to play patty-cake with the possessed. "Clark, I've seen you incapacitate people before without hurting people, so this should have been the same kind of thing."

Clark had the grace to look chagrined, but he wasn't truly penitent. "Chloe, he's my dad." They both stared down at him for a moment and a thought came to Clark. "What if he comes awake while we're trying to download the antidote? He could really mess everything up."

Chloe looked at Jonathan Kent with a shrewd eye. "Wouldn't you agree that what makes him so incredibly dangerous is the suit?" Clark nodded slowly. "Then if we take it off…"

"…We've put another chink in the Transmission's plans. Chlo, you're brilliant!" Clark looked as if he would swing her up into a giant hug, but got control over himself before he moved very far. Chloe had to swallow her disappointment.

As a team, they gently removed the armor from the unconscious elder Kent. Chloe was amazed at how easy it was. When they had all the pieces removed, Chloe looked at them in dismay. "Clark, if he comes awake, he could just put all this on again. What are we going to do?"

Clark smiled at her. "We'll just put them all in one of the empty rooms and then I'll seal the door shut." He shrugged. "Dad wouldn't be able to get through that very easily and that'll give us the time we need to get everyone back to normal."

Chloe would have kissed him or hugged him in reward, but really didn't feel brave enough for the experiment yet. Heaven knew she didn't need another rejection from Clark. Quickly, they gathered all the pieces and tossed them into the room across the hall. Clark fused the door shut and melted the lock. She had to admit that no one should be able to get in there easily… and it wasn't like they needed a huge amount of time.

Chloe silently followed Clark back down the hall. She hoped that Jonathan had been their final challenge, but she couldn't imagine the entity they called the Transmission wouldn't have more defenses. She wasn't sure what odds she'd give the two of them to succeed, but she knew they would if their determination had anything to do with it.

Deep in her thoughts, Chloe didn't notice when Clark stopped suddenly at the entrance of the main work room. She slammed directly into his back and bounced off a bit. She shook her head to get rid of some of the reaction. "Mom?" she heard Clark whisper. She darted back to his side and peered into the room. She was pleased that they'd finally found the main center of the device, which was evident by the sophisticated machinery that had no business being in a foundry, but was alarmed that Martha Kent was inexplicably suspended in mid-air.

"Kal-El," Martha's voice was entirely too wooden and definitely had the timbre of what Chloe thought of as the Transmission. It was also shocking that it also came from the machine behind her.

This can't be good, Chloe thought and her eyes darted around the room. She didn't see anything that should harm Clark, but that didn't necessarily mean there wasn't anything.

"Mom," Clark choked, his eyes filling with tears. Chloe knew that this was the ultimate trauma for the man she loved. Of all the people in his life, Martha Kent had always been his mainstay and to have her entirely removed was more than he could bear.

But she couldn't allow him to give up without a fight. "Clark," she said firmly, grasping his arm as hard as she could to get his attention. "Clark, that isn't your mom right now. If we're to have any chance of saving her and your dad, we have to destroy the machine now."

He looked at her blankly. "Chloe, I can't hurt my mom…"

"And that is what makes you weak and disposable," the terrible voice said. "I gave you everything, Kal-El. Everything that would allow you to rule these inferior beings as you were meant to. But I see now that too long have you been left under the influence of these humans." Martha spat the last word.

"Humans aren't inferior," Clark stated stoutly, but only to the machine. It seemed he could only fight if he didn't look at his mother. "They are noble and kind… They exhibit traits that I have seen in few Kryptonians and I have never been so grateful to have been adopted."

"You are unworthy of the title Kryptonian, Clark." Chloe wondered how his name could send terrified shivers down her spine. Perhaps it was because without the honorific, the machine seemed to no longer want to elevate him. "Unfortunately, while your powers can be removed temporarily, that would not be a suitable punishment. For your refusal to don your rightful role as ruler, I sentence you to death." A chill smile crossed Martha's features. "Your fear to attack this vessel only cemented my verdict."

"You can do nothing to me," Clark said stoutly, "and I will make sure that your influence is ended here." Clark walked resolutely to the machine. Chloe worried about him getting too close. It would have been better if he'd just let her program in the antidote while he kept the Transmission distracted. Sometimes his nobility made her want to scream.

Suddenly, electricity pulsed around the room. What were now obviously false walls were magnetically pulled forward and dropped to the ground. Huge stashes of kryptonite were revealed and Clark immediately dropped to his knees. "Your bravado earned you nothing, Clark. You will die and I will make sure it is as painful as I can possibly make it… especially for your presumption to call yourself Kryptonian."

"Mom…" Clark gasped as he fell to the floor in pain. Chloe could see the poison already affecting him and making his veins bulge. She ran to his side and cushioned his head in her lap.

"How can you do this?" Chloe gasped. "How will this accomplish your agenda? Wasn't your whole purpose to create a new Krypton? How can you do that if you kill the last Son of Krypton?"

Martha sneered down at her. "He may be the last son of Jor-El, but he is not the only son of Krypton… Just the most convenient. And until true Kryptonians can be extracted from the Phantom Zone, I can create Kryptonians here. Your simplistic genetic code is what makes you inferior and what makes it possible to recreate Krypton here even without Clark." Her laugh echoed through the room. "As you can see, he is no longer needed to fulfill the great plan."

"Chloe," Clark whispered, drawing her eyes to his face. She'd never seen him in this much pain before. "Chloe, I'm so sorry… I've failed…"

Chloe was engulfed with such rage that she wanted to beat the crap out of Clark while it would actually hurt him. "Clark, you're not going to die so just shut up! We'll think of something, so you just have to keep fighting!" She wasn't actually sure if he'd heard her because his eyes rolled up in his head. She could feel that he was still breathing, but she wasn't sure how much longer he could hold out.

Think, Chloe! Think! she raged at herself. With the Transmission's attention entirely focused on her, she knew that she wasn't going to be able to get the antidote programmed in. She thought over the last couple of days, which felt like eons, and tried to think of a train of attack. With this much kryptonite around, Clark didn't have much time.

Then her mind flashed again to the scene with Lex and she knew what she had to do. "Mrs. Kent! Mrs. Kent!" she shrieked the older woman's name to get their attention. "Mrs. Kent, you have to stop it! If you don't, Clark will die!"

"Clark?" Martha's eyes returned to sanity briefly to Chloe's great relief. Obviously, the Transmission didn't understand humans' emotional nature… It helped that it appeared to be Kryptonian in origin and, if what Jor-El had shown Clark was true, they had prided themselves on being unencumbered by emotions. But it didn't last long. "So the boy dies," she sneered, but Chloe could see her shaking. "He is unworthy to remain in existence."

Chloe totally ignored the words of the Transmission. She didn't have time to deal with that as well. She had to reach Martha Kent if Clark was to survive and they were to save the world. "Mrs. Kent, you can't let that thing kill Clark. Remember your son and how much you love him? Do you really want him to die like this? Writhing in pain? How can any of us go on without Clark?" She could feel tears rolling down her cheeks. "Please, please, Mrs. Kent! You have to save him! Only you can do that?"

Chloe wasn't entirely sure what was happening when Martha Kent suddenly went into convulsions. She could hear a metal whining sound in the background and then Martha dropped to the ground in a heap. When she raised her head, Chloe felt immeasurable relief that her eyes were entirely clear. "Chloe, what's going on?" she moaned, crawling toward them.

Chloe prayed that she wasn't too badly hurt, but she didn't have time to check. "Mrs. Kent, you have to help Clark. I'll take care of that thing!" She barely waited for Martha to come to her side before she was on her feet and running toward the computer.

"What exactly do you plan on accomplishing, Miss Sullivan?" the electronic voice sounded. "You can do nothing against me. Even if you are a technology genius, you cannot enter my systems. All is written in Kryptonian. I will regain control over Martha Kent and the transformation of Earth into New Krypton will begin in earnest!"

Chloe didn't even bother to acknowledge the machine. Her fingers flew across the keyboard in the exact program that Jor-El had drilled into Clark. She had paid strict attention during the lesson because she hadn't been positive Clark would be able to remember alone. After all, she was always the one able to find the information they needed on the internet.

"Wh…What are y…you d…d…d…d…d…?" If the computer had been able to exhibit emotion, Chloe felt that it would have been angry terror.

"Doing? I'm programming in the antidote, of course. On Earth, we call your kind tyrants and we don't put up with that very well. Consider this my revolution." She continued typing until the last sequence was in. Then she rushed about the room, replacing the scant protection of the walls in front of the kryptonite. She wasn't absolutely certain how she could manage to lift the walls that had to have some percentage of lead in them, but she managed. If she'd allowed herself to think about it, she would guess that it was due to adrenaline.

"Th…th…this c…c…c…c…annot…t…t…t…t… b…b…b…b…e!" The machine was starting to shudder and Chloe realized that the antidote must have also had a destruct sequence attached. She felt no dismay about that, but knew that she had to get Clark out of there. If it exploded, it would surely expose and implode the kryptonite and she had no idea what that would do to Clark.

She ran to Martha's side, who was valiantly trying to drag Clark out of the room. "Let me help, Mrs. Kent." Together, the two women managed to haul him past the door and down the hall a bit. "Keep going, Mrs. Kent. I'll shut the door and it may give us some protection. The only reason why we came here was because it was blocked from Clark's x-ray vision. Maybe that same material can help us."

Martha looked at her in shock and she realized that she just let her secret out of the bag. But she nodded and Chloe ran back. In shock, she stopped for a moment to realize the machine had burst into flame and the shuddering was now flinging molten metal about the room. She tugged and pulled at the door and was finally rewarded with a small and slow motion shut. She couldn't believe how heavy it was and kept up every effort.

"It…t…t…t d…d…d…d…oes not…t…t…t… c…c…c..omp…p…p…ut…t…t…e that…t…t…t… a m…m…mere humannnnn…" Chloe felt frustration boiling out of the room and wondered if a machine could have more emotion than she would have thought.

"Better watch out there, Transmission. You're prejudices are showing." She smirked. Finally they had triumphed and it would be totally destroyed. There wouldn't even be anything available for Lex's scientists to get their greedy paws into.

A final, ear piercing shriek of metal filled the room and her satisfaction grew. But before she could return to Clark and share in the triumph, one last energy bolt exploded from the machine and hit her square in the chest. She screamed in pain and felt herself being knocked off her feet and into the opposite wall. She could have sworn she heard, "Th…th…th…is n…n…n…n…ot th…th…th…e end…d…d…d…d…d…!" before the world blurred into black, and her last thought was that at least Clark was safe.

A/N: It's been a long road, but I see a light at the end of the tunnel. Now I just have to finish my other fan fic and start a new one. Boy, it never ends, does it? ;D

A/N: It's been a long road, but I see a light at the end of the tunnel. Now I just have to finish my other fan fic and start a new one. Boy, it never ends, does it? ;D

chloedouble1011: I'm glad you enjoyed it. I like to throw in a bit of humor and I've heard that the neck pinch is effective if you do it right.

samiosam: I'm sure this isn't quite fast enough for ya'll, but I'm working on it. I will try and update the last chapter before I go to visit my parents this weekend.

Water-star: Jonathan will be fine. I'm probably not going to address his recovery in too much depth, but that's mainly because he's not a main character in this fic. I hope you enjoy Season 3. I have to say that I prefer Jensen in "Supernatural" than I did in "Smallville", but that's just personal tastes. ;D

NORCALchick: I'm so glad you liked it. It's fun to write with great characters… especially Chloe. Sometimes I feel like I can hear her straight in my brain. ;D But I'm not crazy… I'm not! Seriously! ;D

iluvsmallville1: I know. I'm such a oldie! ;D But I'm glad you enjoyed it.

markmark261: I tried my best to clear up those passages that were confusing. And I'm glad you liked the surprise victim, but of course, this one would be worse for Clark. The neck pinch… Yeah, I was feeling a little frivolous that day. ;D

Katie: If I'd been thinking of Austin Powers at the time, I may have used "Judo chop!" but considering how much shorter Chloe is than Jonathan, I think it wouldn't have been as effective. But I'm very glad you're enjoying it.

MadDogLane: I'm glad you found my little story as well. Welcome, welcome!