Chapter Seven Part Four- White Noise:

Lois was walking down the steps from her latest lecture when a small blonde headed girl streaked across campus headed straight towards her with determination, to her surprise the blonde headed girl was in fact Chloe.

Out of breath, the young reporter took shallow breaths before finally saying, "Hey Lo, I was wondering if you still had access to some of Uncle Sam's military toys."

Lois just laughed at the comment, "Is there anything of my father's that I don't have?" she puts her arm around her little cousin, "I can get you whatever you need but first you've got to tell me why you drove all the way out here when you could've called."

Chloe smirked, "I missed you, Lo. Cant that be a bigger excuse then the fact that I didn't really think about calling when I reached the borderline between Smallville and Metropolis."

The two cousins had a quick laugh before Lois grew serious, "So…what type of device are we looking for?"

"I was hoping that you had a frequency jamming device." she says sheepishly without trying to arouse Lois's curiosity.

It didn't work…Lois was more curious then ever when she turned to face Chloe, "What do you need it for?"

The blonde haired teen took a deep breath before preparing to tell her elder cousin about Mikhail Mxyzptlk.

"Greetings, football fans, and welcome to the championship game between the Topeka Valley Huskies and your Smallville Crows!" The announcer's voice boomed over the loudspeakers as the seas of red and yellow streaked across the stands with the crowd growing restless with anticipation, "The Crows are undefeated in 13 contests this season. They are lead by third-year head coach Blaine Quigley." the crowd cheered once again as the coaches took the field, "We'd like to thank today's sponsors the Smallville Ledger, LuthorCorp, D.D. Davenport's Auto body Shop, and Old Spice Red Zone."

Clark stands by with his team nervous while they anticipate their cue to run out onto the field like gladiators in the coliseum, the young kryptonian had discussed things out with his father as best as he could and was seemingly satisfied to earn his father's trust once again.

"Hey, Wonder Boy!" Lois calls out from the tunnel's entrance sporting a small smile on her face at the sight of him suited up in his football gear, the farm boy looked to his teammates before rushing to her side with a small smile creeping on his face as well.

"I thought-" he starts to say but is soon cut off when Lois grabs him by the collar of his jersey and presses her lips to his causing the entire team to howl and whistle at the sight before them, "Wow" is the only word able to escape in a breathless whisper while that goofy grin once again spread throughout his face, "What was that for?"

Lois playfully taps him on the shoulder, "I just wanted to wish you luck before the big game, Chloe's got a plan on how to stop this Mxyzptlk guy."

He was about to say something but the announcer's voice echoes once again over the loudspeaker, "Now taking the field, your Smallville Crows!" Clark watches everyone slip on their helmets and rush out onto the field, "Today's Crows captains are seniors Cameron Jiff, Jay Crozer, Austin Thompson, and Clark Kent!"

"You better get out there, Smallville…Chloe and I will take care the rest." she kisses him one last time before watching Clark slip on his helmet and rush out onto the field.

The crowd grew wild when the sea of red and yellow ripped through the paper banner and charged out onto the field, Clark took a nervous breath before his cleats ever touched the green soil.

Meanwhile, Chloe and Lois were hooking up the frequency jamming device into the sound system.

"Are you sure we have the right frequency?" Lois asks uncertain while she slipped readied the system and began adjusting the settings.

"I umm… called Jimmy Olsen"

She immediately stops what she was doing to turn towards Chloe almost surprised by the revelation, "You mean that same Jimmy Olsen that…" she paused obviously uncomfortable with what she was gonna say.

Chloe just nodded without a single word being uttered, "He wasn't really excited to hear from me."

"Well what did you expect? You practically ripped his heart out when you broke up with him…" Lois flips the switch which powered up the small device, "Its hard to get over your first time, especially one that you cared deeply about."

Chloe just shook her head, "How about we talk about this later? When we aren't hooking up an expensive military device to the school loudspeaker."

Lois just smirked when the device was operational, "What do you say we take this thing for a test drive?" the cousins smiled before flipping the final switch and waited patiently to see if this plan of theirs would be successful.

By time they reached the final quarter, the scoreboard read CROWS: 17 HUSKIES: 21, the team was struggling but the jamming device appeared to be a success as Mikhail's ears began to bleed slightly, leaving the young European angered by the realization that he was now powerless.

Without arousing suspicion, Mikhail followed the high pitch frequency hoping that it would lead him straight towards whoever had done this to him…

"Fancy toy you've got there." he calls out to the cousins who look towards him surprised at his sudden appearance.

Lois reels her fist back ready to punch him and is pleased with herself when Mikhail groans in pain after an unsuccessful attempt at using his abilities.

"Sucks to play fair, doesn't it?" Chloe calls out from over her cousin's shoulder while she guards the transmitter.

A switchblade emerges in Mikhail's hand as he grabs Lois from behind and presses the blade tightly to her jugular, "In my country, you don't survive if you can't adapt to the unexpected."

Chloe stares at her older cousin with a worried grin, "What do you want?"

"I want the American Dream and if your superstar quarterback doesn't lose the game, then I'm afraid this is the end for Chloe Sullivan and her friend."

Several Minutes Later…

While awaiting to be called out onto the field, Clark looked towards the stands curious as to where Lois and Chloe were.

"Interesting comeback, I was sure you would've taken my offer" Mikhail appears at his side with a mischievous smirk on his face, "But since you've failed to comply to my rules, then maybe this will persuade you…" Mikhail hands Chloe's press pass as well as Lois's Metropolis University ID card, "If the Crows score another touchdown, Chloe and Lois are dead. If you don't go back out on the field right now and lose the game, Chloe and Lois are dead."

Clark's knuckles turn white, "What makes you think that I'll do what you say?"

Mikhail laughs the comment off while he rises to his feet and pats the young man on the back, "Because I know how much you care about these women and that you'd even risk your own life to save them…especially Lois."

He immediately jerks his head in Mikhail's direction, "If you so much as touch her, then I swear to god that there will not be a place on Earth that you can hide from me…" his inner Kal was beginning to emerge as he spoke.

Jason called Clark out onto to the field, Mikhail patted him on the back once more, "Good Luck, Kent." he walks back into the shadows.

"KENT! Get your ass onto that field and win us the game!" Coach Quigley yells with Jason looking towards the young kryptonian confused by the teens latest behavior.

"The Crows have first and ten on the 50-yard line with five seconds remaining on the clock, Smallville has time for one more play…" The announcer's voice booms over the load speaker as the crowd cheers oblivious to what was happening, "The season has been leading up to this moment, can Smallville High reclaim the championship title that has alluded them for three years?"

The rope tightened against her wrist with each strain of her muscles hoping to break free from her restraints, Lois wiggled and jerked until a rough hand pushed her back into the chair, "Your not going anywhere." Mikhail walks towards Chloe with a sickening smile on his face, "To think that this all started because of a little journalistic curiosity."

"You even think about touching her and I swear-" Lois starts to say while fighting against her restraints before Mikhail cut her off with a threatening laugh.

"What is it with everyone and swearing? Kent already threatened me and now its you…" Mikhail points the blade to Chloe's neck, "Perhaps I should just kill her now since everyone is so anxious to see what I will do."

Lois looks towards her cousin with concern in her eyes that reflected back in the younger one's eyes, it took only a second before Lois called out… "Take me instead"

He turned almost intrigued by the idea while Lois went on to explain, "If you want money then my father would be more then willing to pay it and you wont even have to kill anyone to prove a point."

Chloe looked on in surprise at the comment, she shook her head negatively at the idea of her cousin leaving with the psycho at her side.

Before Mikhail could comment, a cold gust of wind swept through the small room before disappearing just as quickly as it arrived with the restraints on Lois's wrist gone along with it.

Her feet connected with Mikhail's gut sending him crashing into the sound system and sending Lois rolling back from the force of her kick, the young army brat was quick to knock the blade from his hand and smash his head into the wooden dashboard.

Mikhail slumped to the floor unconscious and bleeding with the cousins embracing in a tight hug before Chloe kicked the side of Mikhail's leg, "That's for making me kiss you." she says looking from the young man at her feet to Lois who was suppressing the laughs that threatened to erase what had occurred only moments ago, "What? I cant be the only to kick ass?" Chloe asks jokingly.

Lois grabs what remained of her bindings and quickly bound Mikhail's wrist together, "I believe I was the one doing the ass kicking at the time but now really isn't the time to talk about this."

The cousins locked the would be loan shark in the sound booth and phoned the police towards his location…

Three Days Later…

Lois sat anxiously while Paula Kahn read over the article she had submitted only hours ago, all the thoughts and scenarios that ran through her head couldn't match what happened next.

"You have a keen eye for detail, Ms. Lane. But from what I've read in your article, it appears that you had the opportunity to bring me a story about a foreign exchange student who turned to a life of gambling, extortion, and violence in order to achieve the American dream. Why on Earth would you pass up a story like this?"

She takes a second to think before rising to her feet, "I've wanted to be a journalist for a long time and working here would be a dream come true. But when it comes between the story and family…then my family wins out, if that's not the answer you were looking for then maybe I made a mistake to think that this is where I wanted to be." Lois extends her hand towards the editor, "Thank you for the opportunity"

Paula looks at her hand and laughs, "You remind me a lot of myself when I first started working here, I thought that honestly in my words would make the world a better place." she pauses at the memories, "But like most people in this industry, I learned that you cant always protect the people you care about from the stories that enter your life."

Silence….

"I expect you not to make the same mistakes that I made."

Lois stares at her surprised, "You mean?"

Paula cracked a smile while she shook Lois's hand, "Welcome to the Daily Planet, Ms. Lane."

TBC…

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