Chapter 13: Smallville Under Attack

As he entered this so-called 'town', he could feel the eyes of the locals on him. Why everyone was staring at him was the least of his concerns; as far as he was concerned, they were nothing more than insignificant insects. He looked around this dirt planet and could not help but be disgusted at how dirty the humans were. It was just completely uncivilized how these people can live their lives in this kind of environment.

He was startled by a loud and obnoxious noise from behind him. He turned to see a form of primitive transportation device. By the shape of it, he assumed that the back of this vehicle was designed to carry heavy objects. The operator was traveling directly behind him, seemingly wanting to get by him. The oporator lost his patience and commenced operating the vehicle around him, speeding up as he past him on the left.

Zod watched the vehicle pass him and speed off until he was out of sight. "Crude transportation device; how very unimaginative."

Almost immediately, another vehicle had come up to him and made a similar noise. Raising his right eye brown he turned to look at this new vehicle, who was not as quick to move around him. This transportation vehicle was smaller, and clearly meant for personal transportation. The operator of this vehicle was not content to move around him; instead, he felt the need to lash out at him. "Get off the road, Jerkoff!"

He had no idea what a 'jerkoff' was, but he did not care for the tone in his voice; his voice demonstrated superiority. The commoner was trying to command him as his superior. "Tell me, are you a general of Earth's military? Are you the supreme leader of this wretched planet?"

The man appeared confused as if he did not comprehend what he had just said. "Just get out of the road, Idiot!"

"By your reply, I take it that you are not." Zod turned completely around to face the vehicle and its operator. He clasped his hands together to form a massive fist, and he brought it down with such force, that the car collapsed to the ground. The vehicle no longer made noise as he had renderd it useless. The driver was in shock at the awesome display of power. As Zod walked towards the driver-side door, fear was quick to take over.

Grabbing hold of the door, Zod ripped it off the hinges and threw it aside. He reached inside and pulled the man out of the vehicle by his shirt. He hoisted the man up off the ground, forcing him to look down into his eyes. "I am a general, and I am physically and mentally stronger than you. Therefore, that makes me superior than you. How dare you command me! You shall show me the proper respect." He put the man down onto his feet, intentionally not bringing any harm to him. "Kneel before me, insect!"

The man was terrified out of his mind, but that did not stop him from trying to take off running. Quickly becoming agitated by the lack of respect from this insignificant fool, he fired two heat beams from his eyes, narrowly missing the man's ankles. The man took heed of his warning shot and raised his hands over his head in surrender. He turned back around to face Zod. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry, dude!"

"I said, 'kneel'!"

In front of the other drivers who found themselves stuck behind his car, he humiliated himself and knelt down onto both knees. "Much better. Now, if you value your life, you will tell me where I may find the son of Jor-El. You may know him as 'Superman'. I shall make him do the same before me."

"I—I—I don't know, man!"

Zod did not believe him. He was about to force the answer out of him when another person came up from behind him. "Freeze! Hand's above ya head!"

He turned around to see someone pointing some type of primitive weapon towards him. From the way he was dressed, he held some form of authority on this planet. How much authority he had was yet to be determined, but Zod knew that this man was more likely to have the answer he desired. From the corner of his eye, he saw inferior male run for his life, but Zod was willing to allow him to leave.

"Are ya deaf, boy? I said, 'put ya hands up'!" The gray-haired man in uniform snarled.

"You wear a uniform and hold a weapon. Are you a part of this planet's military force?"

"I'm a police sheriff, dummy! Now get ya hands up!"

Zod found the man's answer to be puzzling. How could someone, other than a military soldier, hold any authority and be allowed to use a weapon? This concept was very alien to him. He supposed that a police sheriff had to be an enforcement guard of some sort, but no enforcement guard should have this much authority. "I will overlook your condescending incompetence if you will tell me where I may find Superman."

"Listen pal, I'm the one who's goinna get some answers 'round here, so for the last time, put ya hands up!"

"You will answer to me," Zod said, walking towards the police sheriff.

"Stay where ya're, or I'll fire!"

Zod did not respond, and continued to approach him. The sheriff had no choice but to fire his gun, but he had not expected the end result; the bullet bounced harmlessly off his chest. Zod ceased his approached and looked down to where the bullet had bounced off of him. "I am beginning to see that Earth's people are a weak-minded race of simpletons."

Zod fired a flowing stream of heat beams from his eyes at the weapon in the sherriff's hand. The gun quickly became too hot to handle and was forced to drop the gun. "Yow!"

Zod again approached the sheriff and before he had the chance to escapes, he grabbed him by his uniform. "Now contact Superman, and tell him I command him to hand over all of Earth's authority to me."

"I—I don't know how to communicate with him? Superman has no authority; he only shows up to help when needed."

The man seemed more than willing to talk now that he realized his inferiority; however, this information was less than desirable. "You lie! No Kryptonian would submit themselves to the authority of an inferior species, especially if they had the power of a god."

"It's the truth! He only shows up when there's trouble!"

So what Brainiac had told him was true: Superman had made himself a servant to these people. Instead of be worshiped like a god, he had humiliated himself and the Krypton people by becoming their servant. Did he even know of the threat Darkseid represented? If he had, he would have done more to build up an army to prepare for war.

Of course, none of it really mattered, now. The son of Jor-El had to pay for his father's sins against him. Because of Jor-El, Darkseid had destroyed Krypton, the only force in the galaxy that was a threat to the armies of Apokolips. Superman had to pay with his life.

Zod released the police sheriff and looked around at all the staring eyes all around him. There were some that were watching from inside the buildings. This was the perfect location for what had to be done. "If what you say is the truth, then let us cause some trouble."

He focused his vision at a parallel parked car up ahead, causing his eyes to glow red. Two heat beams fired from his eyes at the parked car. Everyone outside and near the car ran for their lives as the car began to glow red. Seconds later, the car exploded, violently, causing several windows of nearby shops to shatter.

The police sheriff knew that there was no hope of stopping the carnage which this stranger was going to continue to do, but he was elected to protect the fine people of Smallville, and he was ready to lay down his life, if he had to. Knowing that this could be the last thing he did, he moved quickly to get his gun. Zod retaliated by using his right hand to shove him so hard, that it sent him flying backwards through the window of the local soda shop.

Everyone in the lineup of cars began to evacuate their vehicles, desperate to run away from the chaos. Ignoring them, Zod reached down and began to lift the car, which he had rendered useless, over his head. He could not believe the strength which he now displayed; it was beyond anything he could have ever hoped for. The more he experimented with these new-found powers, the more excited he became.

With the transportation vehicle now in his hands and over his head, he tossed as hard as he could into one of the shops, throwing glass and brick in all directions. He had to admit, that causing this kind of damage was surprisingly fun. Seeing the terror on the faces of these people was very amusing. These ignorant, inferior beings thought they were the higher forms of life in this galaxy; proving them wrong was enjoyable and proved to be very satisfying.

Directly in front of him, he saw a car coming straight at him at full speed. It appeared that someone had thought it was a good idea to run him over in one of these primitive transportation vehicles. He had to admire the bravery, but the act would soon prove to be foolish. All Zod had to do was to stand where he was. He had learned that nothing could hurt him; so seeing what would happened here would only further his understanding of the powers he possessed. Once the fool saw that he could not be injured, Zod would then make him regret the decision to attack.

The driver lined the vehicle up with Zod and pressed down the accelerator with his right foot. Instead of ridding Smallville of this new menace, the car hit him, and it was like hitting a steel wall. The front of the car was reshaped around Zod's body as the car came to an abrupt halt. The impact caused the driver to hit his head on the steering wheel, leaving him in a bloody mess.

Even Zod was impressed by the outcome; he had not felt a thing upon impact. He had literately become an immovable object. He was indestructible and untouchable; indeed, he was like a god here on this planet. Since he was like a god, he needed to punish disobedience and treason as such. He knelt down before the car that had tried to ram him and grabbed hold. As he stood up, he lifted the front of the car off the ground. When he was standing up straight, he flipped the car, like a coin, onto its back.

As much fun as causing chaos was, he was quickly losing his patience. He was wasting his time with these insignificant creatures when he should be looking for Kal-El. It was time for him to step-up his attempts to draw him here. He slowly began to hover upward until he was above all the buildings. He could see several blocks of this primitive town.

"Son of Jor-El, come to me!" He shouted. He was surprised how far his voice carried. He was certain that he could be heard for miles. "Do you not care for these people?"

He took a deep breath and then rounded his lips before unleashing a hurricane force wind down upon the town. Everyone who was outside found themselves being blown away, incapable of staying on their feet. Parked cars were picked up by the wind and thrown into buildings and on top of other cars. A few ended up rolling down the road like logs with no hindrances to stop them.

He ended his windy attack to admire his work for a second. However, Superman was yet to show his face. "Are you a coward, son of Jor-El? Come to me, Superman, and bow before your new master! Kneel before Zod!"

He waited for a minute for some kind of reply, but there was still no response. Frustration began to overwhelm him. He was ready to burn this town to the ground for Superman's defiance, but he was able to calm himself down as an idea came to mind. Brainiac had shown him images of Kal-El's time on earth, and one of the images was his Earth home near here. Using his greatly enhanced vision, he was able to locate that very house. If Superman was not going to come to him, then he was going to go to him, and that home was most likely where he would find all of his answers.

Martha Kent had caught herself, once again, staring at the picture of her late husband. Some days were better than others, but at least these down days have now become much more rare. The truth of the matter was that she was very lonely, living on this farm. Since her husband's death, she had allowed another local farm to use her land to grow and harvest corn for themselves. She had no need for any of that any longer. At times, she could not help but feel as if she was living on someone else's farm. She still contemplated selling this land and moving out of Smallville, but she had a hard time letting this place go; Jonathan's presence was in every part of this house.

As she sat down gazing at an old photo of Jonathan, she was listening to the radio to hear what her son might be up to. Her radio was set to Metropolis' twenty-four-hour news station where they reported on something her son had done, almost daily. There was seldom a day that went by that he was not mentioned in some way.

Her deep thoughts were abruptly interrupted when her living room wall exploded. The force of the explosion threw her to the ground, where she had to cover her face from the flying debris. When the dust settled, she looked up to see a strangely dressed middle-aged man standing before her. The clothes were like nothing she had ever seen, which could only mean one thing. This man was just like her son, Clark.

"You are his Earth mother. You will tell me where to find Kal-El, or you will serve as my bait. I warn you, human, at your age, you probably will not survive that option."

"Wh—who are you?"

"I am Zod, General of the Kryptonian Military Force: the greatest military power in the galaxy. Kal-El must pay for this sin of his father, Jor-El. "

"I—I don't understand."

"Because of Jor-El, Krypton was destroyed. Since Jor-El is no longer alive to pay for his crime, then his son must take his stead."

Martha cautiously pulled herself off the floor and up onto the chair; her head was swimming in confusion. "That's not true, he tried to save the planet." Clark had told her some of Krypton's history after his quest to become Superman. He had spent many years learning the history of his planet, and everything Zod was saying was going against everything the archives stated. She was more willing to believe her son and Jor-El than this mad man.

"He turned his back on me, the only man who could have saved our people!" Zod snapped angrily. "Now, Superman will pay the price. Tell me where he is, woman!"

Martha wiped the blood from her forehead. She was not about to help anyone hurt her son; she was willing to give her life to keep him safe. She refused to say another word to him, which only began to set him off.

"Have it your way!"

Zod was ready to torture the old woman when he heard a voice over some primitive, old communication device of some sort. A female's voice was speaking at an annoying rapid pace, more so that what should be allowed over a military communication device. "Metropolis' hero, Superman, once again came to the rescue as one of the cars on the Sky-train tracks derailed. Thanks to him, there were only minor injuries and no fatalities. Officials believe that some of the repairs made to the track were not up to inspection standards. An official inquiry will be made."

Zod's anger quickly subsided upon overhearing this communication. "The leaders of your planet's military forces are imbeciles for allowing secret information like that to be heard by commoners. They should be shot for allowing a commoner like you to even own a military communication device. Never-the-less I have what I came for."

Zod turned and departed from the house, leaving Martha sitting in her chair in a daze. She looked over at the radio, which the Kryptonian general seemed to have mistaken for as a communication device, cursing the bad timing of that special report. She had a very deep feeling that her son was about to find himself in grave danger.