Just Another Meteor Freak

by jadedbluerose

Clark Kent has seen many strange things in his life; he's an extra terrestrial living in a town of meteor infected humans. But in the aftermath of the second meteor shower he discovers a cousin with his own strange past. What will the Kryptonian do when Danny Fenton arrives, bringing the ghosts of his own mysterious past along with him?

3. Smallville

Chapter 2

Smallville

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

Sunrise came quickly over the Kent Farm. All four occupants of the house waking to the golden light of the early morning sun as it crept up into the summer sky. First to rise was Martha, shuffling downstairs to prepare breakfast for herself and the three men that were still dozing upstairs. Martha was slightly concerned over how little Danny was eating. Perhaps the turbulence of his recent losses had put him off his food? For now she'd just monitor him closely to make sure he stayed well. She was broken out of her thoughts by the sound of Jon shuffling down the stairs. He left quickly to do a few chores before the boys came down for breakfast. Martha smiled indulgently at her husband's back as he threw on his jacket. She let half an hour go by before deciding that it was time for everyone to come to breakfast.

"Clark, Danny." She called, "time to come down for breakfast." She heard the signature shuffling of Clark as he got out of bed upstairs. She supposed that Danny may be harder to rouse, so figured she'd call him down again in five minutes. Finishing the pancake batter and starting the stove, Martha turned once more to call the boys. She was surprised to see Danny making his way down the stairs with a bleary-eyed smile on his face, once again wearing a dark long-sleeved t-shirt. It was odd that he'd come down first, since she hadn't even heard him get up. He offered to set the table, and was just putting a jug of orange juice down when Jon came back in.

Jon smiled at the boy who seemed to be trying his best to do the right thing by them. He walked over to Martha and gave her a hug. "Smells lovely." He said, before taking a seat at the table. There were a couple of creaks from the floorboards upstairs and Clark emerged, donning a blue short-sleeved t-shirt. "Hey dad. You seen Danny this morning? He wasn't in his room." Said boy stepped from behind Martha, placing a coffee in front of Jonathan. At Jon's questioning glance he said "saw how you had it yesterday" with a slight shrug. Danny was clearly very observant, Jon worried for his son's secret. But looking at the boy he couldn't help but thing that he wouldn't sell them out to some federal agency. They all sat down to a pleasant breakfast, the first since Danny formally came into their lives.

Jon suggested that the two boys go out to feed the cows together, which earned him a slight glare from Clark. Usually Clark would be able to get all his jobs done within the space of about five minutes, so this would add an extra hour to the day. The four of them finished breakfast, and this time Clark offered to do the washing up ("Can't have you making me look bad") and both boys headed out. Clark went to get the truck while Danny wandered over to the barn. They chatted companionably as they loaded the tray. Clark was being careful not to show how easy it was to lift the hay-bales, as even a farmer struggled to lift two at once. He noticed, however that Danny didn't seem to be straining himself either. The question was how could such a small, scrawny looking boy lift two bales as easily as a seasoned farmer?

Danny too noticed that his cousin didn't feel the strain of the bales. Having lived most of his life in the city he didn't know how heavy they were supposed to be. Subtly observing his cousin he determined that it would be okay for him to show as much strength as Clark. After all, despite his aura he seemed to be a typical farmer's kid. Surely there was no harm in being as strong as the norm, right? And this way he could help his family out. More than anything he wanted a chance to be normal. Smallville had no confirmed ghost sightings, so perhaps he could get a reprieve from the constant ghost attacks.

Danny was broken out of his thoughts when Clark determined they had enough hay and should head out. Clark took the driver's seat and Danny leaped into the passenger's. It was a quick enough drive and eventually they got to the field where the cows were grazing. Danny didn't feel like projecting enough energy to settle the whole herd, (stupid animal instincts feeling threatened by ghosts.) so he offered to jump on the back and throw the hay to Clark. They made quick work of it, and found that they were a pretty good team. They arrived back in the house within half an hour of leaving, electing to have a quick clean up before going to the Talon.

Line Break

Lana and Chloe were sitting on the sofa by the staircase, chatting quietly about Danny. Lana explained to Chloe that he seemed like a nice enough boy, but he was still mourning the loss of his parents. Lana couldn't blame him; after all, she was still sad that her parents were gone. It seemed that everyone that she had let into her heart had either left or betrayed her. Her parents, Witney, even her Aunt Nell. Still, she was glad for the friends she had in Lois, Chloe and Clark. They meant the world to her, and she just hoped that Danny could find someone in Smallville to be there for him. He was lucky to be related to the Kent's as there were so few families that were as kind and loving as theirs.

Chloe was on to her third cappuccino for the day when Clark came into the Talon. Blue shirt under his signature red jacket, he was immediately identifiable as the small town farm-boy who had singlehandedly saved the town on more than one occasion. Her Kryptonian friend still held much of his boyish charm, but if you knew to look, you could see the mature glimmer hidden in his eyes; eyes that showed that this man had a large weight on his shoulders, hidden deep along with his inner strength.

Chloe got her first look at the young boy that was somewhat hidden behind Clark's broad shoulders. The boy – who she surmised was Danny – was skinny, looking barely over fifteen. He wore a long-sleeved blue t-shirt, and didn't seem to be bothered by the summer heat. She could see the glinting of a necklace chain that was buried under the shirt. By first appearances he looked like an average teen, like a smaller, younger Clark actually. But then she saw his eyes. They were a deep cerulean, which like Clarks portrayed a charming innocence. Yet Chloe saw through this. His eyes held a weight that seemed even to surpass Clark's. What could make a boy two years younger than them hold that in their eyes? Better yet, what made him hide it?

Danny walked into the Talon a step behind Clark. He was slightly amused at the Egyptian theme; the gold colour penetrated the cafe, and gave it a permanently warm atmosphere. Following Clark in, he quickly took in every aspect of the Talon, pondering what was behind the green door upstairs. It was clear that this had once been a theatre, and he wondered what had saved it from the 'upgrades' that had befallen the old theatre in Amity Park. Clark took a step over to the sofa where Lana and a pretty short haired girl were seated. Subconsciously Danny opened himself to the auras in the room.

Many of the customers were plain, generally good people, but weighed down by worries. Like so many people back in Amity they weren't entirely happy, searching through life for meaning, finding what contentment they could. One or two had a darker streak than others. From over in a darker corner Danny felt a weird mixture of good, bad and... a touch of insanity? Absurdity? Madness? It felt off, but he couldn't pick out why.

Turning his attention to the people in front of him, he once again was slightly overwhelmed by the sense of sunlit strength that poured off Clark. He felt Lana's warm-but-with-a-touch-of-darkness. The blonde though (who he assumed to be Chloe since Clark said they were meeting her), her aura felt pure. Clark was pure, but intense. Chloe was subtle, like sunlight dancing on a river. He had only felt an aura like hers when he was near Jazz. Chloe was good and kind, Danny could sense that she'd do just about anything for her friends. If she was anything like Jazz she was near incorruptible. He wondered if Clark knew how lucky he was to have surrounded himself with such innately good people.

Chloe and Lana stood up as Clark and Danny approached. Holding her hand out, Chloe introduced herself. "Chloe Sullivan, nice to meet you." Danny smiled a warm smile. "Danny and the pleasure is all mine. I met Lana yesterday, but I was wondering if you could tell me a bit more about Smallville." He paused, rubbing his hand against the back of his neck "I mean, these two were raised on farms, so I was wondering what it's like for those who lived in more closely knit housing."

Chloe and Lana invited Danny to take a seat; Clark went over to get a coffee for all for them, although Danny just asked for a hot chocolate. Chloe noticed an odd sparkle in his eye, but chose not to ask. Chloe explained that she had originally lived in Metropolis, but came out when her father was offered a job at the fertiliser plant. She said this with a bit of resentment remembering how Lionel Luthor had so unfairly dismissed her Father two years previous.

Chloe spoke about her long-term dream to work at the Daily Planet, and recommended working at the Torch as an extracurricular "although I may be a little biased since I used to run it." Danny's response was slightly unexpected "I can't imagine handling that much responsibility. That would've been a lot of hard work. Don't know how you'd manage to keep your head afloat." Chloe was officially intrigued. Danny's eyes showed that he had held a lot of responsibilities, yet here he was suggesting that it was difficult to run a paper. Just then Clark arrived with their coffee.

Eventually the conversation turned away from Smallville. Chloe could no longer hold back her curiosity. Here she was, talking with someone from Amity Park, Ghost Capitol USA, and he hadn't mentioned ghosts once. Most people thought it was all a media fabrication, although the town did disappear entirely off the map for a few days. But here was someone who actually lived there. Danny didn't seem like a publicity seeking lunatic so she could probably safely ask if the rumours were true.

"So, Danny, have you ever seen a ghost?" Chloe asked; her journalistic streak brought forth. Danny froze for an instant, before relaxing slightly. "Yeah, you could say I've seen a ghost. You can't live in Amity Park long without seeing one. It's gotten to the point where there's a ghost report just before the weather." He slowed, and seemed to weigh his words more carefully "most people only see a ghost maybe once a week. They tended to frequent places like the school more though." He mumbled something; Chloe would have to ask Clark later.

"But you saw them more often?" Chloe asked. Once more Danny paused; a slight flash of fear crossed his eyes. "Yeah" he replied, carefully weighing what he said. "Between school and my parents I tended to see a few more than everyone else."

"Your parents?"

A brief wave of sadness crossed Danny's face. Chloe remembered that he'd only just lost them; this wasn't the time for a thorough journalistic interrogation. Still, Danny ploughed on.

"They were ghost hunters. They believed that all ghosts were "evil manifestation of post-human consciousness". Since ghosts don't feel emotion or pain, and cause so much damage in the human world, they invented all sorts of things to capture, detain, study and otherwise harm ghosts. They'd show up at most of the major ghost attacks, ecto-guns blaring."

"Ecto-guns?" Lana asked

"Basically any gun that is powered off of ectoplasmic energy. Mom and Dad made heaps, they were designed to cause serious damage to a ghost, but if it hit a human then they were just covered in green slime. They were better than the other hunters like that."

"How so?" Clark asked.

"Well," Danny started "There is the Red Huntress; she has a real grudge against ghosts" Subconsciously Danny rubbed his arm, recalling the last time he had met her. "But her weapons are designed to do maximum damage to the ghosts, and whatever gets in her way. She often does more damage to bystanders than the Ghost." Danny paused, reflectively.

"Then there's the GIW. Strictly speaking they are a secret department of the government, assigned to catching and dismantling any ghost threats. But they really don't care who gets in the way. They once attacked a student for looking like Phan... a ghost. They weren't any good at first, but they are getting better." He finished quietly.

Chloe's curiosity was officially peaked. How often does one stumble across secret Government Agencies? If the government had determined it was needed, then obviously there was enough going on in Amity Park to be dangerous at least. This warranted some investigation into the purposes of the agency. Perhaps this could be the piece that finally got her into the Planet's doors.

Still, there were a few more questions Chloe wanted to ask about the ghosts. One ghost in particular. Phantom. Ever elusive, most of the internet thought he was a myth. The town's solution to the lame "A nice place to visit" moniker. There were reports and pictures. But none were clear enough to confirm what he was. Then there were the debates into his morality. The town claimed that he'd led an all-out invasion to take over the town. He'd also reportedly spent a week robbing the town blind. Yet still there were reports of his heroism, when the town had disappeared off the map, supposedly Phantom was the one who singlehandedly defeated the Ghost King, and dragged Amity Park back to this dimension.

If Danny had lived in Amity Park, he'd be able to prove once and for all whether Phantom existed. He'd probably have an opinion of him, clear cut like his parents who obviously thought all ghosts were evil. Chloe still wasn't convinced that there were ghosts. Even with the wall of weird she looked for the science in the unexplained. It was a scientific fact that the meteor rocks caused mutation and madness, giving people meteor powers. Until she got a sample of 'ectoplasm' to work with (or met a ghost) Chloe would not believe that they existed, at least in the same way that she and Clark existed.

"So, Danny," she began "if the most "attacks" were at your school, does that mean that you saw Phantom?" She expected an immediate yes, or no. Unnoticed by Chloe an intense wave of fear passed Danny's eyes. Fast enough that no human could notice it.

"Yeah, I met him once or twice. He was at every attack, trying to bring the ghost down."

"So you think he's good then; Amity Park's own hero?"

Danny shrugged. His attention was momentarily drawn to someone in one of the Talons more shadowed corners. "A few people thought that way. I think he tries to do the right thing by people. I mean, all the ghosts obsess over something or other..." Danny stopped, abruptly pulling himself back into what he was saying and changed track. "He saves people, as well as he can. Is he a hero? I'm not sure. If he were human you could say everyone has failings. But he's not." Danny's face took on a forlornly resigned appearance. "Phantom is a ghost; they don't work the same as humans do. A hero is sacrificing, but I'm not sure that Phantom does. The other ghosts don't seem to like him. But nor do the humans. So I don't really know what to think."

Chloe blinked. That wasn't the answer she'd expected. She respected Clark so much for so obviously being Smallville's undercover hero. Phantom was more public, but the reports of his heroics were of equal calibre, sometimes greater than even Clark's many accomplishments. Perhaps Danny had been around to see both the good and the bad in Phantom, and so was more confused about him. Chloe took mental note of his pauses and reluctance to speak, and so turned the topic away from the literal and metaphorical ghosts of Danny's past.

After a while chatting Lana and Chloe had the brilliant idea to give Danny the ten-cent tour of Smallville. So it was approaching noon when the three friends and Clark's orphaned cousin left the Talon to explore what the town held.

Line Break

Danny had a lot on his mind as he walked down Smallville's main street. It was a quiet town, and the few cars on the road were mainly from farmers picking up supplies. Danny continued his silent observations, watching the three friends as they pointed out various landmarks. They had just walked to the school, which made Danny laugh. "Support the Crows" it seemed like his new school's mascot was a black bird too. But there was something nagging at the back of his mind.

That weird aura from the Talon hadn't seemed to leave them. Danny was becoming rather unsettled that it had followed them all this way, and the weird mixture of good, dark and whatever-it-was was making it difficult to focus. He was about to alert the others that they were being followed when...

"Hello Chloe" A large blonde guy appeared behind the four. He was large, looking like a football type jock. Actually, he reminded Danny of Dash Baxter; if you substituted the eyes for Dash's blue. Danny noted Clark automatically shifted into an obviously defensive stance. Following his instincts, he shifted into a more subtle variant.

"Sean? Sean Kelvin?" Chloe was shocked. Beyond shocked. She felt an involuntary shiver run down her spine. In their freshman year Sean had become a meteor freak. More than that, he had literally tried to suck the heat out of her when he asked her on a date. Sean was part of the reason that she found it so hard to let people into her heart. But she had thought she'd never see him again. He was supposed to be in a confined heated cell at Belle Reve.

"In the flesh." The blonde guy said. "But you don't need to worry, it's summer. And I'm out on... parole of sorts." Chloe flinched back; Sean literally sucked the heat out of things. Last time she had seen him he had frozen her in a pool as she tried to escape. Human warmth kept him warm for longer, so he'd been out for her body heat. He'd ended up frozen in a lake near the Luthor Grounds, and sent to Belle Reve for rehabilitation and observation. That he was out... well, Chloe was scared to say the least.

"So what've you all been up to these last few years?" Sean asked, looking at Clark and Lana. "I think I saw you in passing, what two years ago Clark, but couldn't be sure. Didn't really notice too much in there after a while." Clark knew what he was alluding to, Clark had gone into Belle Reve to visit Lex, but many of the occupants had recognised him. Many thought he belonged in there for being able to stop them. However, neither Lana, nor Danny knew that. And in order to keep them safe he knew it was probably best to avoid confrontation.

Sean seemed finally to notice that Danny was there. "Who's the little guy? Surely the buddy system doesn't last past senior year?" Danny bit down the urge to reply with a witty remark. He was about to answer when Clark did it for him.

"This is Danny. He's my cousin from out of town. Danny, this is Sean, someone who we haven't seen since winter of our freshman year." Danny didn't miss the eager, almost lustful glint in Sean's eye when he was introduced as Clark's cousin.

Clark mentally kicked himself, if Sean was going to go after anyone he wanted it only to be him; he could survive it. But now he'd just given Sean another target. He felt it was his duty to protect people from the Meteor Freaks since he was responsible for the kryptonite being here in the first place. Seeing the all too familiar signs of a meteor freak about to attack he suggested the Girls and Danny leave, trying to protect them from Sean.

Chloe didn't need a signal to leave, she didn't want to be anywhere near Sean anymore. Instinctively she grabbed Lana, and the two left in a fast walk. Puzzled by the situation Danny looked between Clark and Sean. He didn't realise it at first, but Sean's aura had picked up a distinctly malicious edge. Clark didn't seem to notice that Danny was there, his attention wholly focused on Sean.

"This won't be like last time Sean."

"Chill dude it is summer and it's not so hard to stay warm at the moment." Looking down at his hands which seemed to have picked up the slightest blue tinge Sean commented "that said... I could always use a quick fix. I wonder if your cousin is anything like you." Clark looked over his shoulder to notice Danny still standing there. Clark was about to shout a warning, but Sean quickly grabbed onto Danny's wrist.

Clark's mind froze. His new cousin was about to have the heat sucked out of him and there was nothing he could do about it. He still remembered the icy chill that almost took him all that time ago; he had only survived thanks to the heat in his body from the sun. But Danny wasn't like him. Danny wasn't Kryptonian, and couldn't possibly survive being frozen alive. Coming out of his thoughts he noticed something. Danny wasn't frozen. In fact...

"Cold, so cold." Sean shivered, ice gathering on his eyebrows even as his skin deepened in its blue shade. Sean backed away from Danny and slammed his hand onto Clark. Clark felt the intense cold as the warmth was leeched away from him. He could barely make out Danny's actions as the cold seeped through his consciousness. He could vaguely make out a blur that seemed to slam into another shadowed blur before the ice swallowed him.

"Clark? Clark?" Clark blinked as he felt someone pressing their fingers against his neck. Clark groaned slightly as the last traces of ice melted away from his consciousness. "Clark!" That was Danny. Clark struggled to sit up; glad for the warmth of the summer sun. "Thank Hecate you're okay. That guy just... froze you and I didn't know what to do. I called Chloe from your phone and she said to just let you stay in the sun. I'm so sorry."

Groggily Clark stood up to notice an unconscious Sean slumped and tied by the wrists to a lamppost with the jacket he had been wearing. Noticing the direction of Clark's stare Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, I sorta hit him a bit hard when you started to freeze, figured that the police could deal with him... freezing people counts as a form of assault, right? Also... what the hell?! People can't freeze other people. Humans just can't do that."

Clark sighed. The least Danny was owed was an explanation. He was going to be living in Smallville, so in all likelihood he was going to come across more meteor freaks. Clark guided Danny over towards a bench. Both took a seat. Hoping that Danny would believe him he explained "Sean was a meteor infected individual. Meteor Freak as Chloe coined them." Danny shot him a puzzled glance, demanding more. "See in the first meteor shower a whole bunch of radioactive green rocks fell down all over Smallville. Some people who come in contact with them get weird powers. They tend to go a bit..."

"Psychotic?" Danny prompted.

"Close enough to. Over the years I've met quite a few. Sean was one of the first. He sucks the body heat out of people. He tried to kill Chloe in our freshman year. That's why she and Lana got out so quickly." Looking at Danny he said "You know I said for you to go too. You would've been safer with them."

"Yep, and that's why you went running too?" Danny remarked sarcastically. "You are the one who got frozen Clark, not me, not them." Clark saw a concerned look in his eyes, which vanished into determination. "He's dealt with. And as soon as the police arrive he'll be out of the way." Clark found it interesting that he hadn't questioned the concept of Meteor Freaks, then again he did live in a ghost town, and as they say "seeing is believing."

Clark suggested that they bend the truth a bit when it came to the meteor powers when the police arrived. He explained that while he and his friends knew the truth, the rest of the populace wasn't ready to face the concept of meteor freaks. This aroused a knowing smile from Danny, which puzzled Clark. Before he could ask the police arrived, and Clark and Danny were able to explain that Sean had come up to them and attempted to assault them. Clark mentioned that Sean had spent the past four years in Belle Reve, and had a history of violence.

Line Break

The two boys were headed back down the street towards the Talon when it happened. Danny couldn't help the gasp and the icy breath that escaped his mouth, signifying that a ghost was near. Praying that Clark hadn't noticed he focused more intensely on his surroundings. It wasn't like he could just run off here if he wanted to keep his identity secret. He just had to hope that when the ghost came out Clark would do the normal thing and run off, leaving Danny to fight off the ghost in relative peace.

What Danny did not expect was the high pitched beeping of a missile. It soared towards Clark and him. Danny was about to put up an ecto-shield (secret be damned) when Clark caught it. On his chest. Clark caught a ghost missile on his chest and was unharmed. Clark looked at Danny with a flash of fear in his eyes which settled to determination. "Guess we need to talk, cousin." He said finally. Danny shook himself out of his surprise. Clark may be missile proof, but there was still a ghost near.

"Hello whelp." Danny looked up; floating ten feet in front of him was Skulker. "Do you have any idea how hard it was to find you?" Skulker soared towards Danny, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and dragging him into the air. "You've not been running have you? You should know by now that no-one outruns me; Skulker, the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter." With that he threw Danny into the street below, creating a crater beneath him. Taking a quick glance he noticed that most of the street had cleared. Thank Hecate that humans naturally ran from ghosts. The only exception was Clark who was staring wide eyed at him.

Yep, Danny thought we're definitely going to have to talk... after I deal with Skulker. Skulker fired another missile towards Danny who quickly rolled out of the way. Doing a quick handspring, Danny got to his feet, only to have Skulker pick him up and physically throw him out towards the cornfields, sending a barrage of missiles after him. Danny came to a skidding halt in one of the cornfields, still in his human form and instinctively turned intangible to protect himself from the incoming missiles. Searching the sky for any sign of Skulker Danny floated invisibly up in search of the road.

Spotting a road, Danny floated towards it. He could see the outskirts of Smallville, but knew that if Skulker was still around that it was safer to stay out here in the open where no one could get hurt. He mentally kicked himself for not bringing a thermos. Reaching into his ghost half he pulled Phantom's thermos out. He'd have to remember to put it back later; once Skulker was safely out of the way. He tucked the thermos into his pants and started to slowly walk back towards town, searching the sky for the greenish glow of Skulker.

Line Break

Clark was worried. He'd heard the missile's approach and had allowed it to hit him, to protect anyone or anything else from getting hurt. However it had hurt. He could remember the first time he had taken bullets and they had left bruises. This actually hurt more; he'd have a big bruise in the morning. He'd taken it, but Danny had noticed. He still wasn't sure that he was ready to tell Danny, but it didn't look like he'd have a choice. The kid seemed trustworthy enough not to hand him in right away. "Guess we need to talk, cousin" he said looking at Danny.

He could see Danny coming up with a response when he was interrupted. "Hello whelp." Clark heard a deep masculine voice that echoed eerily. He looked up towards where it had come from and was surprised to see a giant metal robot. The silver of his armour glittered with an unearthly green in the sun, but that was nothing to the electric green flames that leaped from his head. His green eyed had no whites, his whole being looked wrong. As if it came from another world. Briefly he wondered if this was a ghost, but the metallic thing started talking.

"Do you have any idea how hard it was to find you?" The thing grabbed Danny and pulled him into the air, but at a speed that only Clark could see. "You've not been running have you? You should know by now that no-one outruns me; Skulker, the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter." Clark watched helplessly as his cousin was thrown down into the street with a cement crunching thud. Clark winced. No human could survive that drop unharmed, let alone being thrown at something close to his top speed. Clark moved around the parked car that was in the way. He was shocked to see that Danny looked relatively unharmed. He froze, staring at his cousin.

Clark heard the approach of another missile and was about to pull Danny out of the way when Danny surprised him again. With a speed that could rival his, and grace that came only from years of experience, Danny rolled out of the way and did a handspring, turning himself towards the metal man almost as if to shield Clark. It came to nothing as Clark watched Skulker pick Danny up and physically throw him out of Smallville, a volley of missiles careening after him. "Whelp's not putting up much of a fight today. Wonder where his human pets are? They usually come out to play by now." Skulker looked over at Clark. "Ah, humans." he said as if it held all the explanation in the world. Skulker floated up and then quickly charged off in the direction that Danny had been thrown.

Clark stared after Skulker, his usually fast mind brought to a halt. A ghost – for what else could that have been? – had come to Smallville and attacked his cousin. His cousin who had survived being thrown into the ground and had moved at a velocity familiar only to him, being Kryptonian (and Bart). Thinking back to earlier that day, he had survived the contact with Sean, something Clark believed only himself able to do. He'd also had no trouble lifting those hay bales, despite his scrawny size. So Danny was strong, seemed to be at least mildly invulnerable and super speedy. His first thought was that he was meteor infected, after all a meteor had destroyed his house.

Yet something told him it was something else. Meteor freaks tended only to have one power. Heck, even Bart only had his super speed. Danny had shown three powers. Three powers that Clark himself possessed. Was it possible that Danny was Kryptonian? Had he been sent to the Fenton's like he had been sent to the Kent's? In his heart Clark desperately wanted it to be true. For there to be another Kryptonian out there who was good, not violent like the people from that space ship had been. Clark put his thoughts on hold and chased after the Skulker, looking for any sign of Danny.

Line Break

Lex Luthor was a powerful man. He had majority control over a multi-billion dollar corporation. He had far reaching control into many less-than-savoury endeavours worldwide. While his father had built the company from the ground, Lex felt that he was finally stepping out from his father's shadow. It had taken coming to Smallville all those years ago for him to see how to do so. This was part of the reason that he had never moved back into the city. The other reason was Clark Kent. He had always been suspicious of him; he even suspected him of being meteor infected, or even the Naman of the Kawatche legend. But he seemed to have been proven wrong. The video feed from just over a week ago clearly showed him being burned from the laser grid. Still there was something about Clark.

Lex was driving back to the Mansion after a meeting in Metropolis. Fortunately his father was satisfied with the progress of the corporation. Currently profits were up, and they had recently been successful in a merger with a rival company. They had managed to stay civil, a rarity in interactions between the two Luthor's. Lex was driving past the cornfields when a large explosion struck the road in front of him. He swerved out of the way, losing control of his Porsche as he skidded off the road and into the ditch that ran beside it.

And here it comes, Lex mused. Clark Kent slams open the door, dragging the driver out. Suddenly you find yourself twenty feet from the vehicle as the engine explodes in a fire storm behind you. Clark Kent checking to make sure you're alright. Lex looked up, and sure enough was met with a pair of bright blue eyes. But they were wrong. Blinking confusedly he took in the appearance of his rescuer. The boy was small and skinny, looking around the age that he had first met Clark. The boy wore a dark long sleeved t-shirt that bore signs of recent wear, as if he had fallen in a rose bush. Lex was dragged out of the car and away to safety as something struck it, immersing the area in a flash of burning gold and red.

Lex looked at his rescuer, even as he looked into the sky. "Skulker" the boy said. "Come out, stop hiding. Or is the Ghost Zone's lamest hunter scared?" the boy's voice held a mocking tone as he called into the sky. Lex was surprised when a metal automaton faded into visibility. The metal man reminded him of one of his lesser known projects, the cybernetic integration of human and machine. This being exuded power. That was obvious from the threatening aura that emanated from it. Green flames flickered on its head, and a hostile grin crossed his visage.

"Skulker is not a coward. Your pelt will rest at the foot of my bed, whelp. No-matter how far you run, I, Skulker will always find you. Without your little friends here you will finally be mine." Lex's rescuer turned to face him. "I advise you run; he's not going to let me go, I'll hold him off." Seeing the grim determination that filled the boys eyes Lex backed just behind the line of the corn stalks that stood by the road. He couldn't really get anywhere without his car, and the way into town was blocked by that automaton. Besides that, Lex was a curious individual. He wanted to see what possessed such a slight boy to think he stood a chance against such a powerful being.

"Skulker" the boy said, and a deep sadness coated his voice. He shook his head as if to clear it. "It doesn't matter if they aren't here. What's important is that I am. And I won't let you hurt anyone else." The boy took a defensive stance as the automaton – Skulker – floated down towards him. Skulker's eyes lit with a demonic fury.

"Ah, yes whelp, this is what I have been waiting for so long." With that Skulker leaped at the boy, who agilely rolled out of the way. The boy leaped up and sent a roundhouse kick towards Skulker, sending him skidding towards the other side of the road. Skulker got up, smiling. He pulled a glimmering green machete seemingly out of nowhere, and approached the boy. Skulker advanced on the boy, striding menacingly as the blade swung back. Skulker whipped it towards the boy, but the boy was too fast. He back-flipped out of the path of the green blade, and used the motion of Skulker's arm to his advantage. Before Skulker could bring his arm back for another swing the boy kicked at his head.

"You will pay for that, whelp" Skulker said maliciously. By now he had drawn the blade back, ready for another blow. He lunged forward, aiming towards the boy's chest. The boy managed to grab Skulker's wrist and slide around the blade. With his other hand he took an uppercut to Skulker's head, even as he wrestled the blade out of his hand. The blade was thrown away, landing ten feet in front of Lex. Lex wanted to examine the blade, but thought it best to stay in the safety of the corn field for now. Freed from the danger of the blade, the boy seemed to intensify his blows against Skulker, fighting with the intensity and precision Lex had last observed when he was at a Karate match in Japan. What's more, the boy seemed to be slowly overpowering Skulker. Finally, with a decisive blow, the boy knocked the head off of Skulker, sending it flying. The boy pulled out a green blob and said to it.

"Skulker, how many times do we have to do this, it always ends up with me sending you back to the Zone. Quit following me. I really don't want to bother with you anymore." And with that the boy pulled out a silver-green cylinder – a thermos? – and pressed a button on the side. A cone of blue white light pulled the blob into the device before the boy aimed it at the suit, sucking that in too. The boy glanced over to where the machete had fallen, and the blue light surrounded the blade, making that disappear too.

Before Lex could pull himself together the boy spoke up, looking towards where he was in the corn stalks "It's safe to come out now." Lex stepped out, observing as the boy put the thermos into the pocket of his tattered pants. "What was that?" Lex asked, attempting to portray his usual cool, business demeanour. "That" the boy explained "was Skulker, a ghost. Not hard to see when he announces himself as "The Ghost Zone's Greatest Hunter"" the boy said with a small snicker. Lex got the feeling that this wasn't the first time the boy had met Skulker.

"How'd you know what to do?"

"I come from Amity Park" Lex recognised that name. Owing to his investigations into the effects of meteors and anything that seemed related he'd sponsored a couple of GIW agents to capture a "ghost" for observation. He was keen to have the elusive Phantom under his finger; he could prove a valuable pawn. The boy was still speaking "we have ghost attacks almost every day. I knew you probably wouldn't know what to do, but once you know how Skulker works he's easy enough to take down. I'm just lucky to have been able to capture him before he did too much damage..." The boy looked over at the singed remains of Lex's car "or too much more damage. Sorry about the car, I kinda figured it was better to keep you safe."

"I'm Danny, by the way." The boy held out his hand, Lex took it "Lex Luthor." It was then that Lex heard the footsteps running down the road. He turned to look, and non-surprisingly, there was Clark. He always seemed to show up wherever trouble was.

"Danny" Clark called out, taking Lex by surprise. How did Clark know anyone from Amity Park? "Danny, are you okay?!" Lex looked at the boy and noticed that he was sporting a cut on his arm. "You're hurt." Lex said, motioning towards the blood that was seeping out of the two inch wound. Danny just shrugged it off. Clark finally reached the two of them as they stood by the roadside. Danny looked over to Clark and dropped into a shy demeanour. Gone was the boy who had taken on the automaton Skulker and won.

"Yeah Clark, I'm fine." Danny said. "Don't know about Lex here, how're you holding up?" Finally forced to acknowledge Lex's presence Clark turned to look at him. Lex could see the vaguely masked betrayal still present in Clark's eyes. It was obvious that Clark wasn't over the investigations into him that Lex had conducted. Lex turned to Danny. "I'm fine. You got me out of the car just in time. Thanks."

Lex observed Clark weighing something in his mind. "Lex," he said, somewhat grudgingly. "This is my cousin Danny Fenton. He's living with us now. Danny, this is Lex Luthor. Smallville's biggest philanthropist and Co-Director of LuthorCorp." Fenton? Now Lex remembered. The Fenton's were the premier "ghost" hunters in Amity Park. Much of their technology surpassed the GIW. He had been hoping to commission them, but they, along with their technology had been destroyed a month and a half ago. Yet here in front of him was a Fenton, from Amity Park.

More than that Danny had known how to get rid of the "ghost" and obviously still had hold of a containment device. Lex would love to talk to Danny about it, but if he was staying with the Kent's... well there was little chance that Clark would let Danny come within fifty feet of him. Still, it would be informative to talk with the youngest Fenton. After all, the patents of his parents would be in Danny's name now.

"Fenton? Any relation to the late Jack and Madeline Fenton?" Lex asked. Danny froze, and nodded slightly. It was Clark who replied. "Maddie was Mom's sister. Danny came here to be with his family." With that Lex felt that the discussion was closed. Clark called Chloe to come pick him and Danny up. Rather than inviting trouble Lex called his driver to take him back to the Mansion.

Line Break

Half an Hour Earlier

Danny was looking in the sky when another missile came towards him. It crashed into the road, throwing the pavement out. Danny was going to continue on his way when he heard a car skid off the road from behind the flame. Danny raced over to the car. It wasn't to be safe in anything with a petrol engine with Skulker throwing missiles. Closing in on the silver car Danny threw the door open. The man inside was bald. He seemed to have been expecting someone to come to his rescue, but Danny saw the confusion as the man took him in. There was no real time to think, Danny dragged the man out of the car just in time for it to be consumed by another of Skulker's rockets.

Danny looked up angrily into the sky. He could sense that Skulker was nearby, and he'd almost killed a human with his careless fire. Growing tired of Skulker's game he teased "Skulker, Come out, stop hiding. Or is the Ghost Zone's lamest hunter scared?" Slowly Skulker faded into visibility. Danny was annoyed that the man he'd just rescued hadn't run at the sight of the ghost, but then again there wasn't really anywhere to run. Danny glared at Skulker.

"Skulker is not a coward. Your pelt will rest at the foot of my bed, whelp. No-matter how far you run, I, Skulker will always find you. Without your little friends here you will finally be mine." Biting back the anger at the comment of his lost friends Danny turned to the man and advised him to run. The man only went just behind the corn stalks, so Danny was still fully aware of exactly where he was. Still, Skulker needed to be dealt with.

"Skulker" Danny called, the deaths of his family and friends brought back to the front of his mind. He shook his head; he didn't have time for this. There was a human around who could get hurt, so Danny needed to fight. "It doesn't matter if they aren't here. What's important is that I am. And I won't let you hurt anyone else." Danny took a defensive stance as Skulker approached. With the man so close he couldn't draw on any of his ghost powers, it would have to be brute strength. Still, this wouldn't be the first time he'd had to fend off a ghost in human form. It'd just been a long time since he'd had to do so.

"Ah, yes whelp, this is what I have been waiting for so long." With that Skulker leaped Danny, who saw it coming and jumped away from him. He delivered a fast jab and then sent Skulker flying to the other side of the road with a roundhouse kick. Skulker got up, smiling; Danny had really just wanted to move the fight further away from the man in the corn-field. He Skulker summoned his ghost machete. Great Danny thought if I get cut it'll still be there by the time I get home. Skulker sliced the blade towards Danny who threw a quick punch at Skulker's chest before back-flipping out of the blade's path. Thinking fast Danny Kicked at his head; attempting to get at the green blob inside. Unfortunately Skulker's head was more firmly attached than Danny had hoped. This was going to be difficult without powers.

"You will pay for that, whelp" Skulker said maliciously. Skulker lunged towards Danny, who winced as the blade drove through his left arm. Danny grabbed at Skulker's wrist in an attempt to keep the blade out of play. With his other hand he punched the head, trying to loosen it. Giving up with that tactic while the blade was still there Danny elected to wrestle it away from Skulker. Eventually the blade was thrown out of the fight, leaving Danny to contend only with Skulker. And his hunting dagger. And his rocket launcher. And whatever else he had decided to add to the suit. Yep, this was going to be easy. Danny determined that the safest way to get out of this was to prevent Skulker from attacking further.

Danny swung at Skulker who blocked it. Danny swept his led under Skulker's leg, sending him to the ground. Danny jabbed at him, even as he tried to get up, before spinning out of the way as Skulker threw his own punch. They exchanged blows, Skulker landed one on his chest and he felt a rib crack. Hopefully that'll heal quick enough Danny only kicked back harder. He sent Skulker a snap kick, before giving him one final upper cut which threw the protective helmet away. Digging through the metal Danny pulled out the six inch blob that was Skulker's true form.

"Skulker, how many times do we have to do this, it always ends up with me sending you back to the Zone. Quit following me. I really don't want to bother with you anymore." Danny didn't want to deal with the ghosts just now. He'd only just lost his family and friends. He wasn't sure he even wanted to fight ghosts anymore, but his stupid obsession meant that he had no real choice. Danny pulled out the Thermos, glad for his foresight in putting his pants rather than reaching into his ghost half now. He pressed the capture button and sucked Skulker in, suit and all. As an afterthought Danny went and collected the machete too. It wouldn't do for that to fall into the wrong hands. He'd learned that lesson the hard way when someone he'd saved had turned a dropped trident on him. That had hurt.

Danny mused as to what he was going to do without the Fenton Portal, but brought himself back to the situation at hand. "It's safe to come out now." He called, the man stepped out from the cornfield as Danny tucked the Thermos back into his pants. Definitely going to have to go shopping soon, between the farm and this I'm running out of decent clothes. As the man moved towards him Danny finally allowed himself to notice his Aura and was immediately repulsed. It reminded him of what he could feel from Vlad. Darkness mixed with obsessive insanity with a side of gradual corruption. After Danny figured out that he was more sensitive to the auras of humans he'd realised that this meant there was no way he could live with Vlad. Being near him could literally make him sick. Vlad being half-ghost didn't have a particularly strong living aura, but as it was it was sickening. This man though hit him full blast. However there was a redeeming quality that Vlad lacked. Danny felt that he had once been a good person; it was deeply hidden, but there. There was still a chance that the right person could bring him back.

The man came to stand on the roadside by Danny and as expected asked "What was that?" Danny sighed, hoping that this man would just accept it easy enough. Hopefully he had come into some form of paranormal and wouldn't be hard to convince. "That was Skulker, a ghost. Not hard to see when he announces himself as "The Ghost Zone's Greatest Hunter"" Danny couldn't help but snicker. The "Ghost Zone's Greatest Hunter" had been after the exact same prey for two whole years and was defeated every single time.

"How'd you know what to do?" Okay, good thing the man seemed to have accepted Skulker as a ghost. Bad thing, he probably wouldn't stop asking until he got some variant of the truth. Electing for the path of least resistance Danny stated "I come from Amity Park" knowing that most of America recognised that Amity claimed the title "Most Haunted Town" although most didn't believe there were actual ghosts. Still, he continued his explanation "we have ghost attacks almost every day. I knew you probably wouldn't know what to do, but once you know how Skulker works he's easy enough to take down. I'm just lucky to have been able to capture him before he did too much damage..." he had wanted to keep this out of town since he knew that buildings usually didn't stand up too well to ghost fights. He looked over to the man's wrecked car and inwardly winced "or too much more damage. Sorry about the car, I kinda figured it was better to keep you safe."

Deciding that it was time to move away from dangerous waters he said "I'm Danny, by the way." Holding out his hand, the man took it and used the invitation to introduce himself. "Lex Luthor." Luthor as in LuthorCorp? That was a question for later. Danny's sensitive ears perked as he heard the heavy footfalls of someone running towards them. Danny cringed as he noticed his cousin approaching. He knew he owed him an explanation. But how were you supposed to tell your cousin who you've just met that you are a half-dead freak? Still, maybe it wouldn't be too bad. After all Clark was nursing a secret of his own. It's not often someone can catch a rocket on their chest and survive. And that was ignoring his aura.

"Danny" Clark called out, "Danny, are you okay?!" Pretty much, Danny reflected aside from the cut on my arm, and what I think is a cracked rib but those will heal up soon enough. Danny felt Lex look him over, his eyes landing on the slice on his left arm "You're hurt." Danny sighed and shrugged it off. The truth was he'd had worse than this. Heck before his ghost half had bled so much into his human half he'd got worse tripping down the stairs to the lab. Danny looked over to Clark saw concern and fusion in his eyes. He subconsciously shifted back into the shy clumsy nature of Fenton since the danger was over.

"Yeah Clark, I'm fine." Danny said, knowing that he owed Clark a better explanation later "Don't know about Lex here, how're you holding up?" Danny noticed the tense atmosphere and immediately knew that there was a bad history between the two. Lex turned away from Clark and calmly said "I'm fine. You got me out of the car just in time. Thanks."

Danny felt the tension between the two and was quickly becoming dazed between the sheer positive strength of Clark's aura and the dizzying wrongness of Lex's. He was saved having to say anything by Clark who introduced them, stating "Lex, this is my cousin Danny Fenton. He's living with us now. Danny, this is Lex Luthor. Smallville's biggest philanthropist and Co-Director of LuthorCorp." Okay, so this definitely was that Luthor. This was one of the few companies that actually rivalled VladCo, and the Luthor's wealth was in the same category as Vlad's. Scary that Lex's aura has such similar qualities to Vlad's.

"Fenton? Any relation to the late Jack and Madeline Fenton?" Lex asked. Danny wasn't prepared for that. He didn't know what to make of his parent's apparent fame and simply nodded. Once again he was saved by Clark "Maddie was Mom's sister." He said calmly "Danny came here to be with his family." The conversation closed there, Clark seemed not to want to talk to Lex for any longer than necessary.

Clark called Chloe and asked for her to come pick them up. Danny found it interesting that Lex seemed to expect Clark to do this, as if he'd appeared at things like this before and needed to be 'picked up' afterwards. As they waited Danny felt the intensity with which Clark studied him. Chloe eventually got there and seemed to have a silent conversation with Clark. She kindly dropped them off at the Talon so Clark could pick up his truck. The drive back to the Kent Farm was silent and tense. Both boys knew that they owed the other an explanation and were mentally preparing themself for what had to be done.

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AN: Hope you're enjoying it. Both boys have been caught out. I know I could have drawn out the suspicions, but I wanted to move the plot along and it would have come to a grinding halt if I didn't. Besides, Danny has still has the other Smallvillians to worry about.

To those who reviewed, thanks, I really appreciate your insights. To those who just read, you're awesome. To those who favourite, have to say I'm honoured.

I'm trying to publish one chapter a week, but it's hard to get the long chapters all written. I promise to do my best.

Until next time

Bluerose