Chapter Three
The glowing form began to condense. The outline of a body could be made out and before long; the light had taken the form of a man. The man couldn't have been any older than Clark's 27 years. He stood about 6 feet, 4 inches tall and was of an extremely athletic build. His hair was long and black, and it fell to his shoulders. His eyes were solid white. No irises. No pupils. Clad in a bright blue spandex-looking outfit, complete with a multi-layered red cape that was attached to a stylized S-shaped symbol, he certainly looked … well, alien.
"My son," the man said. His voice was deep and authoritative. "You do not know me. I am your father, Jor-El. I speak to you now though I am dead. My will has been left in this virtual form so that I am help you through your journey into adulthood."
Clark moved closer to the hologram. It looked real enough. It wasn't transparent in any way.
"I know that you have questions," Jor-El continued. "And the time has come for you to ask them."
Knowing that he had been sent to Earth to escape the destruction of Krypton, Clark decided to launch right on in. "Why couldn't you save yourself?" he asked. "If you could build me a rocket, why couldn't you have done the same?"
It took a few seconds for the AI version of Jor-El to process the question. "As a member of the Council of Ten – a group of ten scientists who governed the planet – my genetic structure had been altered in such a way that any attempt made by me to leave the planet would result in my death." Jor-El paused and lowered his head. "I tried to convince your mother, the Lady Lara Lor-Van, to escape as well, but she would hear none of it." He raised his head and stared into his son's eyes. "She is so loyal to me, but that loyalty will be rewarded with death."
"My mother…" Clark whispered.
"Come with me, my son," Jor-El said. "Journey with me to the moments before you left us."
With these words, the kitchen around Clark began to fade into a murky blackness. The tick, tick, tick of the grandfather clock in the living room grew fainter with each passing second. Soon, the Kent home was no more. Clark stood alone in a vast, dark space, stretching on for infinity.
Suddenly, the blackness was no more. In its place was a sweeping field of corn. Clark looked up and saw a clear blue sky with lazy white clouds stretched across it. A gentle breeze made the cornstalks sway, but oddly enough, Clark couldn't feel anything.
And then he saw his father, his biological father, standing in front of him. His iris-less eyes were fixed on the rustling cornstalks. His had an air of sadness about him. It was obvious from the way he stood and the way his lips were bent downward.
Jor-El reached out a gloved hand to touch the corn, but stopped when a voice interrupted.
"What is this?" It was a woman's voice, very soft and barely audible.
Clark turned and from saw a woman approaching him. She was clothed in an off-the shoulder red, blue and yellow bejeweled top and a brown and green flowing dress that came complete with a six-foot long train. Various necklaces, bracelets and rings adorned her body and she wore a golden Egyptian-esque headdress over short, black hair.
The next thing Clark noticed about her was her eyes. They were beautiful cerulean blue, and he knew at once that this was his mother.
She came closer and closer to Clark, and just when he was about to move out of the way, she simply passed through him.
"Lara," Jor-El said as he turned to her.
She went to his side and put her hands in his. "What is this place?"
As she asked the question, Clark noted that the words he heard and the movement of her lips didn't quite mach up. Could it be that the ship's AI program was translating their language into English?
Jor-El nodded to the fields around him. "This is Kansas, a region of the planet Earth. This is where our son will be sent."
Lara let go of his hands and looked about. "It's so different from Krypton. It looks so…." She paused and watched as a strong wind came rolling across the plains, shaking the cornstalks violently. "It seems so primitive."
"True, the planet is far younger than ours and the inhabitants are eons behind us in terms of scientific discovery. But I believe that it is the best hope we have for Kal-El's survival." Jor-El waved his hand in the air and suddenly, the corn fields of Kansas were no more. In its place was a pristine laboratory. The lab was huge. The ceilings curved upward at a height of at least 50 feet, and the Kent home could easily fit within the room itself. The only ounce of color in it was the outfits of Jor-El and Lara. Everything else was a shiny white.
"We have but hours to live," Jor-El said. He moved toward an open-air observation deck and gazed out onto Krypton. Heavy black clouds chocked the skies of the planet, which were a sickening yellow and orange color. The ground below was scarred and rocky. The barren soil was a light green and went on for miles without any terrain changes. It was all flat and featureless.
Thunder rumbled in the distance. Jor-El's face was stony as he listened to the sounds of the approaching storm. "Our arrogance has doomed us. The Council of Ten has refused to take my warnings seriously and for that, we must all die." He chocked on his words and a tear slid down his cheek. "Nine men have sentenced the entire population of Krypton to death."
Lara wiped away the tear from her partner's eyes. "You have tried. That was all that could be done. At least you can rest at peace knowing that you were in the right."
"And I can also rest in peace knowing that Kal-El will be spared."
A section of the lab wall slid back and together they passed through the new opening. Clark followed behind them.
They were in a new room now. The entire place seemed to have been made from solid gold, and strange carvings were etched in the walls. In the center of the room was a floating object. It was a sphere, with the top part cut away.
Lara reached into the sphere and pulled out a baby, wrapped in a shiny blue, red, and yellow blanket.
Clark knew at once that he was looking at himself. A strong feeling of déjà vu washed over him, though he knew he was too young to have remembered any of this. But nonetheless, a familiar sensation swept through him when he saw Lara holding his past-self and Jor-El tickling his cheeks. And that sensation was love.
"I know Kal-El will be safe on Earth," Lara said. "But will he be loved? Will he be taken in by some kind Earth family, or will he be forever alone? Will he be alienated by the inhabitants of that planet, or will they accept him?" She sobbed. "These are questions which I shall never know the answers to."
Jor-El sprang to life. He took hold of Lara's shoulders and shook her. "Then go with him to Earth! I beg of you! You know I have constructed two space vessels. One for Kal-El and one for you. If you are concerned for our son, go with him! Love him if you don't think anyone else will."
A faint smile crept over Lara's lips. She bowed her head. "We have had the conversation before."
"But Lara-"
"No, Jor-El. You cannot leave, and if you cannot leave, neither shall I."
"If you can escape this planet's demise along with our son, I can die in peace. Just think of it, Lara! Under the light of Earth's yellow sun, both you and Kal-El will gain fantastic powers! The power of flight, the power of extraordinary sight, speed, strength!" He was going to say more, but held his tongue when he saw she wasn't impressed.
"Even if I were to escape to Earth, it would be strange to me. I would feel out of place, knowing nothing of the cultures-"
"But I have studied the cultures!" Jor-El broke in. "I have studied the Earth languages! I have been able to learn these things from that planet's satellite transmissions, and I can teach them to you! I can teach you through the AI system I have created!"
Lara shook her head. "I stand firm. I will not leave your side."
Jor-El said nothing else on the subject, but Clark could tell he was not at all pleased. He could see the gears in his father's head spinning fast, trying to come up with a good argument that would convince Lara to escape too, but apparently he could think of none.
Just then, a deafening roar exploded around them. The floor shook with such force that Lara almost dropped young Clark, otherwise known as Kal-El.
"It's here!" Jor-El exclaimed. He and Lara ran back to the lab, with modern-day Clark hot on their heels.
The sky of Krypton, as seen through the observatory, was black as soot. The ground below had broken onto pieces and glowing green lava gushed out from the cracks. Lightning streaked across the sky. The smell of sulfur and acid was everywhere.
Jor-El made another hand gesture, and a series of bar code like symbols appeared in front of him. Another earthquake shook the planet, and the symbols flickered. The lab was losing power. Quickly, Jor-El touched three of the bar code images.
Outside, a massive lightning bolt shot down from the sky and struck the ground not five feet from the building they were occupying. Flaming chunks of rock were thrown into the air and came crashing back down to the ground.
"Hurry!" Lara called out.
Clark heard a noise above him and looked up. The ceiling of the lab had retracted and his space ship was gliding downward. As soon as it touched down, the lab was plunged into darkness.
"The backup power systems are down!" Jor-El cried out over the pandemonium. He turned to Lara. "Quickly, place him in the orb!"
She ran toward the ship, almost tripping on her dress. With shaking hands, she placed her only child inside the crystal orb. It sealed itself as soon as the infant was inside and when that was done, the ships two wing-like structures folded over it with a hissing noise.
"He'll survive the ship through space?" Asked Lara through a barrage of tears.
"Yes!" Jor-El exclaimed. The noise was overwhelming. "The ship will keep him cryogenically frozen until he reaches Earth!"
Lara nodded and kissed the metal of the ship. "Then this is goodbye."
Jor-El put his hands on her waist and pulled her to him. "I love you," he said.
"And I love you."
The two kissed, a rare act of affection that Kryptonians hardly ever preformed. Jor-El made another hand gesture and the ship took off.
It sailed up and out of the lab's open ceiling, dodging lightning strikes. Down below, the floating House of El, where Jor-El and Lara resided, crashed to the ground with a massive explosion.
As the ship gained altitude, other such Kryptonian dwellings could be seen. Each floating above the dying planet. And within seconds, each one came falling to the ground.
The ship rocketed through Krypton's atmosphere escaped into the void of space. The vessel was quite a distance from the planet when Krypton exploded. The explosion was silent and happened within the blink of an eye. Massive chunks of the planet were hurled through space and pelted little Kal-El's ship relentlessly.
But the ship's shields held up and it wasn't damaged.
The ship's computers scanned for the fastest way to Earth and found it. A path, unfortunately, that would take it dangerously near the red dwarf star of Rao. As it passed the huge star's path, it was caught in its gravitational pull. Jor-El, however, had anticipated this.
The six golden rays at the head of the ship dipped downward. Each ray contained within it a massive anti-gravity charge. The charges enabled the ship to counteract Rao's pull just long enough for the computers to engage the wormhole device.
The device was activated within moments to spare. The ship was able to glide through the newly created space-rift and as it did so, the artificial wormhole sealed itself shut.
And so, Kal-El's ship was able to traverse thousands of light-years within a matter of minutes.
Slowly, the vast emptiness of space faded. The black void became gray and the stars winked out, one by one. And Clark found himself back in his parent's kitchen. His spaceship was still in front of him and so was the holographic version of Jor-El.
"And so we sent you off," Jor-El said. "It was a blind gamble, but the fact that you are here, watching this, is proof that the gamble paid off."
Clark was too overcome with emotion to speak. All he could do was stare at the man who had saved his life. Clark felt such admiration for this man, and it broke his heart that he couldn't remember either one of his biological parents. He felt guilty for that.
"..ark."
It was like they had saved him for nothing.
"…lark."
He had failed them, both Jor-El and Lara. Their faces stirred in him nothing but the faintest sense of déjà vu and a fleeting feeling of love.
"Clark!"
The voice of Jonathan Kent snapped Clark out of his melancholy thoughts. Both Jonathan and Martha were huddled in the doorway of the kitchen, frightened expressions on their face. "Is he gone?"
"Yes," Clark said. "He's gone."
Jonathan's face relaxed. He took Martha's hand and led her into the kitchen. And stopped. He was looking past Clark, at the space ship and the image of Jor-El. His eyes expanded to twice their normal size and his knees began to shake. Beside him, Martha also caught sight of Jor-El and a muffled yelp escaped from her lips.
"Ma, Pa, it's ok!" Clark looked back at the image of the red, blue and yellow clad man. Apparently, the Kents did not register to him. "Relax! He isn't real!"
Clark's parents didn't seem too comforted by this.
"Ok, I'll prove it to you." Clark walked up to Jor-El and put his hand straight through the holographic image. "See?"
Martha looked from her son to Jor-El. Her forehead was wrinkled in confusion. Taking a few tiny steps forward, she asked: "Who is he? And how did the ship get here?"
"And who was that man that broke into our house?" Cried Jonathan, out of breath.
Clark took hold of his mother's hands. "Just clam down, ok, everybody? I'll tell you all I know, but I think you may want to sit down."
Jonathan and Martha exchanged looks and sat down heavily at the table. Neither one of them said anything. They were ready to hear all their son had to say. And they were expecting the worst.
…
Fifteen minutes later, Clark had told them everything he knew. He told them about the Eradicator, Krypton, and how he was sent to Earth to escape his home planet's destruction. He also told them about Jor-El and Lara.
And as he did, another funny feeling came over him. Sure, Jor-El and Lara were his natural parents, but Jonathan and Martha were his real parents. It had been Jonathan, not Jor-El, who had taught Clark how to throw a baseball. And it had been Martha, not Lara, who had kissed his boo-boos before the Earth's yellow sun had made him completely invulnerable.
The very idea of comparing the Kents to the El family was crazy. Jonathan, with his tattered old overalls, sandy colored mustache and farmer's tan could never be as intelligent as the mighty Jor-El. And Martha, more than a few pounds overweight and with her home-perm jobs, could never be as elegant as the Lady Lara Lor-Van.
But it was the Kents whom Clark felt the most affection and love for. He was grateful to his Kryptonian parents for saving his life, but it had been the Kents who had shaped that life.
"Wow," Jonathan said, after he had heard everything. "Wow."
Martha, who had been turning an empty saltshaker over and over in her hands for the past fifteen minutes, stopped. "So this Eradicator, he said he'll contact you after two days?"
Clark nodded. "Yeah. And when he does come back, I want you guys out of here. I'll be back in Metropolis, but he'll probably stop by here first."
"Does this guy know you live in Metropolis?" Jonathan asked.
"I don't think so. I don't know how he's planning on finding me. Your guess is as good as mine, but I still want you and Ma out of here. Maybe even out of the state,"
Martha thought for a bit. "We could go visit my cousin in North Dakota, I guess." It was clear she was frightened. Clark couldn't blame her.
"What will you do if he finds you?" Jonathan asked.
"I'll just tell him that I have no interest in embracing my "Kryptonian destiny".
"I don't think you'll have any luck with that. He doesn't seem like the type of person who takes no for an answer."
"I'll just cross that bridge when I get to it." Clark sighed. "All this on top of everything else."
Martha reached out and took his hand. "What's wrong, sweetie?"
"Oh, nothing really. I didn't get the police job, so now I'm shooting for the Daily Planet."
Jonathan sputtered. "The Daily Planet? The nation's best selling newspaper? How are you going to land a job there?" He sounded incredulous.
Clark frowned. "I have my supportive family behind me," he answered sarcastically.
Jonathan went red with embarrassment. "Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that."
"Nah, I was just kidding," Clark said, waving off the apology. "But I really think I have a shot. I was an on-again off-again reporter for the Smallville Torch, and I wrote that prize-winning essay for that magazine. Remember?"
Martha nodded. "I do. Your essay on adoption won the $1,000 first prize." She leaned forward, trying to look out into the living room. "We have it framed over there, above the TV."
"Well, I'm hoping my first-prize essay and a few samples of my Torch reporting will be enough to convince whoever's the head guy at the Planet to give me a job." Clark walked over to the refrigerator and leaned against it. "But I really wanted to be on the Metropolis Force. I was looking forward to helping people."
"You can help people with the power of the press, too." Martha said.
Clark nodded. "Yeah, I guess. But I wanted to be in the middle of it all. I have all these powers that could be used for a lot of good." He looked back at the ship, which was still in the kitchen. He then thought about Metropolis, the biggest city in America. Kryptonian destiny….
He had an idea.
"Maybe there is a way I can use my powers to help people without being a police officer," Clark said, his voice rising with excitement. "Wait right there," he told his parents.
In a flash, he bounded up the stairs and headed for his old room – which was kept just the way he had left it before going off to college. He rummaged around until he found a drawing pad and a few colored pencils. He ran back downstairs.
"I was thinking of something like a special uniform or costume,' Clark said. He drew a human outline with pencil on the pad. "Something like what Jor-El was wearing in the hologram."
Martha looked back at the ship. The hologram had long since vanished. She turned back to Clark and watched as he drew.
"The body can be blue." He chose the proper colored pencil and colored in the body. "And I'm thinking some red boots, too."
"And don't forget the cape," Martha chirped. "The cape adds a touch of mystery."
Knowing his mom was onboard with the idea, the ideas came faster for Clark. "Yeah, a cape will be great! And the costume itself will have to be made out of a spandex-like material."
Beside him, Jonathan made a noise. "Spandex? You're going to be running around in spandex?" He snorted. "Are you sure about this?"
Clark blushed. "It'll have to be tight-fighting so it won't tear."
Jonathan laughed out loud. "Hey, why don't you join the ballet instead? I'll buy you a little tutu!" He was laughing so hard now, his eyes were watering.
"Jonathan Kent! You stop that right now!" Martha scolded. After straitening out her husband, she gave Clark her attention again. "Now, this is a great outfit you've made, but I think it needs something here," she tapped on the chest of the sketch. "Like a symbol or something." She thought for a moment until an idea struck. "How about that symbol Jor-El was wearing?"
"The S-thing?" Clark asked.
"Yes! We could put that on the chest!" She took the red and yellow colored pencils and drew it in. "Doesn't that look nice?"
Clark ran a hand through his hair. "It looks nice, but what does it mean?"
"I don't know, but maybe it could stand for your superhero name!"
"I have to have a superhero name?"
"Of course!" Martha smiled and leaned back in her chair. She tapped her fingers on her chin and thought. "It'll have to start with an S."
"Sun-Man," Jonathan said out of nowhere.
Martha and Clark stared at him,
"I'm serious! Sun-Man! The sun gives Clark his powers. It's a good name."
"Hmm." Martha turned up her nose. "I think Solar-Man would be better."
Clark smiled. "Solar-Man. I like it!" He rose from the table and struck a heroic pose. "This is a job for Solar-Man!"
Martha clapped.
"Fine, fine," Jonathan said, pretending to be hurt. "I can't take part in your superhero games? That's ok." He got up from his chair and began to walk out of the kitchen. "I'll just be who-knows-where, doing who-knows-what. I guess I don't have any good ideas."
"See you later, honey," Martha said as she waved goodbye.
Jonathan rolled his eyes and went upstairs.
"Ooh, this is so exciting!" Martha gushed.
…
After a trip into town to buy some fabric and new thread, Martha commenced work on the superhero outfit. It only took six hours to complete the blasted thing, and when it was finished, Clark went into the bathroom to try it on.
Downstairs, in the newly organized den, Martha and Jonathan waited for the grand reveal.
"Ok, I'm ready!" Clark voice echoed from upstairs.
"Come on down, sweetie!" Martha said. She was so excited she couldn't sit still.
Clark appeared at the head of the stairs, dressed in his costume. It looked just the way he had drawn it – a blue body with red trunks held up by a gold belt, red knee-high boots, and of course, the following red cape.
Martha put her hands to her mouth. "Oh, my goodness! You look so cute!"
"Maaa! I don't want to look 'cute'! I want to look tough!"
Jonathan glanced up from the paper he had been reading. "You do know you're wearing your underwear on the outside, don't you?"
Martha turned on her husband. "Will you please just sit there and read your paper like a good little boy? Honestly!" She glanced at the red and yellow S-symbol, which she had made from felt. "How do you like the S? Do you think it'll stay on good enough?"
Clark ran his finger along the outline of the S. "I like it. And I like the yellow one you put on the back of the cape, too. Now we just need to come up with some mask ideas."
"A mask?" Martha frowned. "Why do you want to cover up your handsome face?"
Jonathan folded his paper and sat it down on the carpet. "He'll need a mask if he's gonna be running around in that getup."
Knowing that to acknowledge her husband would just invite more sarcastic comments, Martha ignored him completely. "I just don't think a mask is the way to go," she said. "Maybe we can come up with something else."
Clark shuffled. It was clear that he didn't feel 100 comfortable in his costume yet. "I'll need a mask if I'm going to fight crime as Solar-Man and work in Metropolis as Clark Kent. I have to keep the two identities separate."
A few moments of silence passed while everyone thought of ways to solve the mask problem. In the end, though, it was Martha who came up with a solution. As usual. "Ok, so the superhero side and the everyday Clark Kent side have to be seen as two different identities, right? Well, the first thing you need to do as Solar-Man is stand up straight."
Clark instantly went to attention and gained 3 inches in height. He puffed out his chest and planted his feet shoulder length apart. "I am superhero," he said, his voice deep and resonant. "I talk like this when I save people."
A soft giggle came from Martha's lips. "Yes, I like that. You should talk that way when you're in costume. Oh, and you should also carry around some hair gel with you. Whenever you need to change into Solar-Man, you can just take the gel and slick back your hair. It'll really change the shape of your face."
"I don't want to just rely on a deep voice, better posture and hair gel. I still think I need a mask."
"But if you have a mask, people will automatically assume that you have a secret identity." She turned to her husband. "Jonathan, do you still have your old glasses?"
"I think so," he said. "Wait a minute."
A quick search of the house produced the glasses and Martha placed them on Clark. The glasses were thick with black rims and as soon as they were placed on Clark, his face changed shape, becoming more marrow.
"There!" Martha exclaimed. "You look like a completely different man! Just wear the classes in your everyday life, and nobody will even guess that you are two different people."
It was clear she was convinced, but Clark and Jonathan had their doubts (though each held back saying so for fear of hurting Martha's feelings.) But in the end, Clark said he thought it was a good idea and promised her he'd wear the glasses daily.
With the costume made and the mask problem solved, Martha and Jonathan packed up some clothes and gave Clark the phone number for where they would be staying in North Dakota. Emotional goodbyes were exchanged and then they left for the airport. Watching them drive off caused Clark's stomach to churn. Was this the last time he'd see them? With the Eradicator on his tail, that might very well be the case. But who knew? It was better to just wait the two days out and whatever happens happens.
Clark spent the next few minutes gathering up samples of his writing. He took down the framed essay that hung on the wall and plowed through stacks of old newspaper trying to locate an edition of the Smallville Torch, which he had made a contribution to. With that done, he dug a 10-foot hole in the back yard and buried his spaceship in it.
Now the only thing that was left was landing that job at the Planet.
Clark sighed as he looked up into the starry night sky. The moon was nearly full. What did the future hold? The moon seemed to hold the answers. The moon, circling the Earth, high above all the troubles of the planet, seemed to know the exact path Clark's future would take.
The feeling was eerie.
Whatever happens, happens.