Chapter Four: Clark and his Clone

Jett and Clark had a blast back at his place. They were throwing the football around the farm, making touchdowns after touchdowns. "Hey Clark, I really appreciate you inviting me over to your house. Not many people would do that. Especially not for me," Jett said appreciatively.

Clark smiled. "Oh it's no problem. If you want, my parents would probably let you stay the night. Then you could take off whenever. Continue your journey. But if I may ask, aren't you a little young to be journeying by yourself?"

Jett caught Clark's throw and gave himself a firm grip on the ball. "My parents and I lived on the streets of Gotham City. It's a scary place down there. Ever been?" Clark shook his head. "Anyways, my father got arrested for murder and is probably still on death row. My mother got killed herself. Batman tried to save her but he wasn't able to. So I jacked a car and fled to here."

Clark took all the info in. "Hey so who is Batman exactly? I've heard a little bit about him but not much. Any special powers?"

Jett threw Clark the ball and shrugged. "There are myths and there are facts. Problem is, we don't know which is which. I think he's just an average guy trying to help people."

Clark gripped the ball and threw it again. "Does he succeed? You know, with helping people?"

"Most of the time," Jett said, catching Clark's throw. "You can't expect him to save everybody though, can you?"

Clark smiled but looked troubled. Images of Alicia flooded into his mind. "No you can't." He pushed them away and caught Jett's throw and threw it back, starting up a new conversation.

Clark's parents agreed to letting Jett stay the night. The two headed back to the Talon and hung out with Chloe and Lana. Afterwards they ate dinner back at home, then fooled around in the loft. Jett fell asleep after two hours, but Clark stayed awake. He went onto the computer and signed onto his instant messenger. Pete was on so Clark chatted with him. Pete loved Sacramento although missed Smallville. Clark told him about Jett. Pete though just wanted to hear about all the crazy things happening in Smallville since his move. After an hour of chatting with Pete, Clark went to sleep himself.

Boom. The noise shook the whole farm. Clark had gotten up and sped down to the field where the noise had come from. Their tractor had been blown up. Clark looked around and spotted what looked like a small blur. Someone was moving with supersonic speed. Clark chased after him and easily caught up. He threw the culprit into the forest and chased after him.

Clark eyed the culprit but he was just a teenager, the same age as Jett. "What's your name?" Clark demanded.

The boy merely smirked. He reminded Clark of a younger version of himself. In fact, he was almost an exact replica of what Clark looked like his freshman year of high school. "Name's Gem." He sounded like Clark too!

"Why do you look like me? Are you what Jor-El warned me about? How did you get here?"

"I am a cloning experiment. Made from a blood sample being used for medical use at LuthorCorp. I think it is sufficient enough to say that the blood belonged to you. Though when I searched through the files at the lab, it showed that they had no idea where the blood had originated from. Interesting. You and I have equal powers."

Clark took a few steps closer. "This is too weird," he said. "Even for Smallville."