Title: Life, Love, And Destiny
Author: Chlark4ever92
Genre: Sci-Fi (this IS a Smallville fic after all)/Drama/Romance
Pairings: Will change as the story progresses. Will eventually be Chlark.
Rating: K+
Spoilers: Nothing major, except for Vessel.
Disclaimer: Smallville belongs to the WB which is soon to be the CW. I only own Martin, because one, he is just a figment of my imagination that has somehow gotten into my little story here, and two, I'm only thirteen so unfortunately I have no money to own something not made up. Well…I've just officially depressed myself… Disclaimer goes for all chapters of the story.
Summary: This story shows the process of Clark realizing and accepting his destiny. Along the way he learns a lot about himself, and how the people in his life are connected with his destiny. He realizes who will always be there for him, and who his real enemies are. I'm bad at summaries, but just give it a shot, please. You won't regret it!
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A/N: Thanks to mir21, Synch14, and smallvillegirl92 for the wonderful reviews! It really means a lot to know that people are reading, and enjoying what you write. I'd just like to express that I don't have much knowledge of the Phantom Zone, so this was a challenging chapter to write, but thanks to Wikipedia I think I now know enough to successfully write this well. In the Phantom Zone you communicate telepathically, so whenever it says that a person 'said' something, it really means 'thought'. I hope that isn't too confusing. Thanks again for the reviews, and I hope that you'll like this chapter just as much! So, here you go! READ, REVIEW, AND ENJOY!
Life, Love, And Destiny
Chapter 3: Trapped
Clark felt himself being pulled higher, as he watched the Earth becoming smaller and smaller, until it was nothing more than a small green and blue ball sitting in the distance.
He felt sick. The sense of dread he was feeling was unbearable. He had let the whole planet down.
He had failed.
His fear of heights was certainly not doing anything to help the situation. He closed his eyes tightly, and listened to the whoosh of his body being pulled through space.
It felt like an eternity, but suddenly he felt himself come to an abrupt stop. He opened his eyes, and looked around him. He was in some sort of transparent room. He could see the universe around him, but when he reached out he felt some sort of invisible force holding him back.
It was like a prison.
"So this is the Phantom Zone" Clark thought to himself with a shiver. He couldn't see anyone else, but he could somehow feel the presence of others. He opened his mouth to scream "hello!", but no sound came out.
"What the-" Clark attempted to say, but stopped when he realized his voice had failed him yet again.
He was becoming extremely frustrated.
He gave up on trying to speak, and instead tried to figure out what he was going to do, and how he was going to get out of this mess.
"How am I going to get out of here?" he thought to himself. He heard snickers. He looked around frantically, but saw no one.
"What's going on here?" he wondered. He heard the snickers yet again. They sounded like they were coming from…inside his head?
"Am I going crazy?" he thought as he looked around him once more, still seeing no one.
"Well after being in here for a while everyone loses their sanity" he heard a female voice say. Clark had been confused countless times before, but this one really took the cake.
"Who…what?" he thought, trying to figure out what was going on.
"You'll have to excuse my wife, Kal-El. We just haven't had any new residents here in quite a while. Telepathy is the only way to communicate here. Quite an inconvenience, especially to someone like yourself. I'm sure hiding your powers from those pathetic humans you're surrounded with, must be a difficult thing to manage, Kal-El." a male's voice said.
"How do you know who I am?" he asked.
"Everyone here knows who you are. You are Kal-El, son of Jor-El, ruler of the planet Krypton. You are said to be the…savior of our people. To re-create Krypton on Earth. To preserve the Kryptonian race. To-" the male voice said, before Clark cut him off.
"Alright, alright, I get it!"
"Obviously patience is a virtue you were not taught by the humans. But then again their race is inferior to that of Kryptonians-"
"Shut up!" Clark thought angrily, cutting the man off once again. "You know nothing about humans so just shut up!"
"Perhaps you are right" the man replied, his tone showing that he was clearly unfazed by Clark's anger. "I know nothing of humans, and their ways. But I am not one of them, and though you may try, neither are you."
If Clark could see the man he would've punched him. The man could sense Clark's anger, and was clearly enjoying it, so he continued.
"Does it hurt, Kal-El? Does it hurt to know that no matter how hard you try, and no matter how much you want it, deep down you know you'll never be accepted for who you really are? You'll always have to hide who you really are, even from the people you love. You'll always have to hide. You should be glad to be here.
"You're wrong!"
"Really? Am I? Is that what you really believe? Or is that just what you want to believe?"
"Yes…I mean no…just shut up!
"Answer the question, Kal-El Does it hurt to know that you'll always be alone? No one will ever accept you. At least here you don't have to lie. You can't. Your mind is an open book here. Everyone's is here. So…does it hurt?"
This man was obviously having a lot of fun playing with Clark's emotions like that. He was trying to bring him down.
And it was working.
"Just stop!" Clark just wanted this to be a dream. Yes, that's all this is. A dream. I'm going to wake up from this any minute, and laugh at how silly this all was.
"This is not a dream, Kal-El. Are you going to answer my question?" he asked patiently.
This whole thing was so unnerving. If you aren't even safe inside your own head, then where can you hide?
"I agree, Kal-El. Your father sure knows how to create a prison, doesn't he?"
"Wait…Jor-El…?"
"Oh, you didn't know? He's probably forgotten about us. That would explain why some people here, like my wife and I, should have been released many decades ago. I guess your father decided that he would lengthen all of our sentences to…an eternity?" he replied bitterly.
"I didn't know…I-" Clark stopped as a new thought occurred to him. If Jor-El can put people in here, then maybe he can get me out. He hated accepting help from him, but he didn't seem to have another choice.
Clark heard the man's cold laugh in his head. "Don't you think that if he can let you out, then he would've let us out too? Truth is, Kal-El, that your father is weak. Without his body he has lost a lot of power. I bet that's something he never told you. He can't even admit to his son that he's weak. And the Phantom Zone isn't something that you can work with little power. If it was then we would be free now. Jor-El made sure that only he, and others as powerful as him could be able to work this place. And there was only one…two others as powerful as himself."
"Who?"
Zod of course, and I assume…you. After all you are the son of Jor-El. Though you are quite young, and you haven't fully mastered your abilities or heritage yet, so your powers are limited."
Clark sighed deeply, but of course no sound escaped his lips.
All those times Jor-El had tried to get him to accept his Kryptonian heritage.
All those times he ran away from him.
He never knew that if he had only listened to him…it could have saved him now.
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A/N: I've noticed that Synch14 seems to wants Jor-El to take over Lionel's body, help Clark escape the Phantom Zone, and fight Zod. Well, I have an idea as to what's going to happen with Clark, and escaping the Phantom Zone, fighting Zod, ect. But…of course I can't tell you guys what that is. You'll see once I write, and post it, which should be soon. Of course…I am swayed by what my reviewer's want, since after all you guys are the ones reading it. So, you never know. That may happen…you'll just have to wait, and see. But if you guys want to share your ideas with me, then leave me a review, because then not only may I use the idea, but I get reviews, which makes me very, very happy. :) And on that note…
REVIEW!