Standing in complete awe, Clark stared at the ship then turned his head behind him toward his parents. He said back at the ship’s direction, “Who are you?”
“Who are you talking to, Clark?” asked Jonathan as he looked to Martha to be sure she didn’t know either.
Clark said simply, “To the voice coming from the ship. Didn’t you hear it?”
“I’m afraid not, Clark,” said Martha.
“The ship, it is talking to me. It said I can ask it questions through the crystal.” Clark missed the voice’s answer as he was briefly talking with his parents. So, he asked again, “Who are you?”
In the same tone as before, “I am your birth father. My name is Jor-EL.”
“What about my birth mother? What is her name?”
“Her name is Lara.”
“Well who am I? Where do I come from?” Clark quickly looked back again at his parents and noticed that Jonathan put his arm around Martha’s shoulder. They both looked at him with a great deal of worrisome concern. But, Clark knew he wasn’t going crazy and faced the ship to listen.
“Your birth name is Kal-El. You are from the blood line of El and come from a planet called Krypton of a distant galaxy.”
“Do I have any other family anywhere?”
“There is my brother, Zor-El, and his daughter Kara. This selection has triggered a sub-program. You will hear from sub-programs when you activate a response that I have noted as important information. I cannot be for certain, but had Zor-El survived and you ever were to come across him, you must be very prudent with him, my son.”
“Survived? Survived what?”
“You have survived Krypton. I have tried to worn the politicians back on Krypton, but no one would listen. I only needed more time, but there was no more. Krypton was a dying planet set on self-destruct. There was no way to stop it and nowhere else for us to go. There was only one escape for one Kryptonian, and that was you, Kal-El. You are the only known sole survivor; the last son of Krypton.”
Clark looked once more behind him at his confused parents and asked, “I am here with my parents. Why can’t they hear you?”
“I did not have enough time to configure the crystals for speech recognition, so I manipulated the sound levels of my voice recording. I knew that the planet that I was sending you to would have made you quite different than everyone else. Your hearing is far more receptive than others on the planet which you call home. You are hearing me at a much higher frequency.”
Clark turned around and informed Jonathan and Martha the reason why they weren’t able to hear what he heard. He then continued and made them aware of everything else that had been told to him. Martha was speechless, and Jonathan asked, “Clark, what about the other crystals?”
Clark turned to his ship and asked, “I know what this crystal is for, but what about the others? What are they for?”
“My son, I wanted to send you away prepared and well equipped. This crystal is for us to converse and answers to be given. The second crystal is a complete history of your home world from the date of its creation to its destruction. It also contains the beliefs of some who consider there to be a higher power with divine intervention that created all of Kryptonian life. The third crystal is even more personal. This crystal will help teach you the language of your people. By speaking a few words to this crystal when activated, it will calculate and determine the dialect of which you currently speak and translate it to our Kryptonian language. The fourth crystal is unique and must only be used when the time is appropriate. This crystal is a key. While on Krypton, I was a scientist. But, I was also an active member in our political system. I was considered a judge among my people. I handed down sentences to the worst of our kind and some from other worlds. We banished these parasites with the help of our Brain InterActive Construct created and co-designed by myself and fellow scientist Dax-Ur. We eradicated them to a two dimensional world that our super computer, Brain I.A.C., has designed and made known as the Phantom Zone. This key will enable you to keep control over all its evil inhabitants. By activating this crystal in your station, you will have full access to gain entry to the Phantom Zone. By holding this crystal, you will have the ability to send evil there. With the almighty powers you now obtain, you can continue as I have done to patrol the galaxies and send all who come in the name of destruction to the eternal prison that awaits them.”
“I just finished high school here on Earth. I’m no caped crusader.”
“This will all come in due time. The crystals work best in their own natural surroundings. Find an extremely cold environment that is isolated for your permanent station to be built. I believe your planet’s polar ice caps should do quite well. When the time is right, I will guide you. And you will know exactly what to do.
Kal-El, with my help, you will be Earth’s greatest gift.”
_______________________________________________________________________
I walked through the corridor and couldn’t help but notice everyone’s unease as I approached. I was greeted by my long time companions with remarks such as, ‘I’m sorry about your loss.’ By those who only knew me as the person who signed their paychecks continued with their usual ‘Good morning, Mr. Luthor.’ I was back at work rather soon after the passing of Lindsay, but time is money. Also, enough time had passed for me to get back to business when the news had died down about the two deaths at the Luthor Mansion; one murdered Ms. Lane and one justified Mr. Stevens.
I went up to get the latest report concerning ‘Project Element’ from Emil. Emil’s lackey stood almost at attention as I entered the lab. To inevitably save him the embarrassment of stuttering out the words ‘good morning,’ I asked him for the most recent report. As he went to go into Emil’s office to get the report, I took notice that he was dissecting one of the mice that must have been in the cage. He came back towards me and interrupted my thinking. Still starring at the mouse, I blindly put my hand out for the report. T.J. forgetting to place the scalpel back on the dissecting tray cut my hand as I reached for the report. A sharp pain cruised through my body from the palm of my hand. I quickly jerked it back and noticed blood dripping down my arm as I held my hand up.
“I’m so sorry Mr. Luthor,” T.J. said. “Come to the sink and get that under cold water.”
He ran to the sink and turned on the faucet. He then grabbed a bottle of rubbing alcohol. As I stood there and contemplated if I should entrust this lout with my medical need, the blood continued to drip down my hand and onto the floor. He looked at me as if I didn’t know I was bleeding. “Mr. Luthor, please. We have to get you cleaned up.” Still after no response on my part, he asked, “Are you alright?” Before he started to have a panic attack, I casually strolled over to him. After a few moments while the cold water numbed my skin and the disinfectant burned over the exposed tissue, he went to get some bandages and continued to apologize. He tied a good knot on the bandages and said, “That should hold Mr. Luthor. But you should see if you will need stitches.” This comment he made had me remember the last time I entered a hospital. The thought of going back inside one was out of the question and thought that I would just have a physician make a house call. “Mr. Luthor, are you sure you’re alright? You haven’t said a word.”
“Yes, I’ll be just fine. I’ll let you get back to work.” I turned and started to walk out.
“Mr. Luthor….”
“That will be all. Thank you.” I said without looking back.
“Yes, but you forgot…” T.J. didn’t finish. He looked down at the report in his hands. When he heard the lab door open again, he looked up and assumed I was coming back for the report.
“Are we still talking to ourselves, T.J.” said Emil. “Wait a minute. You didn’t give anything else away did you?”
“No, Professor. Mr. Luthor was…”
Emil saw the small pool of blood on the floor that was behind T.J. and asked, “What on earth happened in here? Who’s blood is all this?”
“That’s what I was trying to tell you. Mr. Luthor was here and he asked for the latest report, but he had an accident. But don’t worry Professor. I’ll have this cleaned up.”
“You say this is Mr. Luthor’s blood? Listen T.J., I want you to take some samples before you clean this up.”
T.J. looked confused, “Samples? Can we do that?”
“You’re not here to ask questions T.J.,” Emil said plainly.
“Sorry Professor. I’ll go get the kit now.”
“That’s a good boy, T.J.,” he said to himself.
T.J. came back and took a few swabs of the blood that was on the table and the floor. T.J. had the countenance of someone doing something immoral. Emil noticed and gave a reassuring, “Don’t worry T.J. I just want to run a few tests, for curiosity’s sake.”
_______________________________________________________________________
Later that night, Clark had a talk with his parents. He convinced them that he should go back to Metropolis and retrieve the remaining crystals. Martha and Jonathan both thought this idea was reckless and could jeopardize Clark’s identity. Nonetheless, they knew if the crystals got in wrong hands that it could be detrimental. Clark kissed his mother goodbye and got a brief lecture from his father before he left. “Clark, you do what you need to. Don’t take any chances now. You get in, you get out. If you need to push some people around, you do it. Do you understand?”
“Yeah, dad. I’ll be careful.”
_______________________________________________________________________
Pulling up to LuthorCorp at nearly 9p.m., Frederick was very much agitated of having to go back out so close to being off duty. He was there to obtain the report that his boss had forgotten due to his accident in the lab. The long elevator ride didn’t make it any better. Frederick found the correct number on the door that matched the writing on the crumbled up paper he took from his pocket. He could hear the sounds of someone rumbling through the lab from the moment he stepped out of the elevator. It was late and he knew the building should have been empty. So, with his gun drawn, he used it to slowly open the door. For a slight moment, he thought he saw someone by the closets but didn’t see anyone. In an instant, Frederick was nowhere to be seen either. Time had stood still for the rest of the world, but Frederick and Clark were face to face in the lab. They took a moment to stare at each other. Frederick gave Clark a quick half-smile as he noticed Clark with a box in his hands. He then gave the box a quick glare and said, “Where do you think you’re going with those crystals?” Confused, Clark didn’t wait to give an answer and made his way to the door. Unfortunately, Clark was surprised to find Frederick there also. “I see you’re as fast as I am. But are you as strong?” Frederick grabbed Clark and threw him across the room. Clark got up dusting himself off and noticed he had made a hole in the wall.
“You picked the wrong kid to mess with mister.” Clark vanished again, but for this time only a second. Then, all appearing at once, there was four of him in the room. Frederick quickly looked at all of them wondering which one to go for. But, he made the wrong choice. Three of the Clarks were again gone, and the one left grabbed Frederick and threw him into another closet. Clark soon noticed it was the storage room for the meteorites. As each one fell off their shelf and onto Frederick, Clark knew it was time to go. He grabbed the box of crystals and left.
Frederick couldn’t move. He sat there on the closet floor trying to catch his breath. He heard a voice announce, “Security. Is there anyone in here?” It was the guards that were on duty. Frederick thought they must have heard all the noise. They recognized Frederick and helped him up. One of the guards instructed the other to leave and call the police. Frederick heard, “Are you alright? What the hell happened in here?” Frederick knew he wasn’t alright, but didn’t know why. He looked dazed as he was being lifted up by one of the guards. All Frederick could see were bright red and yellow lights that lit up the opposite side of the room. He gave the guard a shove and crawled to the lights. He managed to get himself up to the table top and took hold of one of the lights. Again he heard the same voice, “What are you doing? You’re gonna burn your face off.” Frederick knew in any moment he was going to pass out from lack of oxygen. All he knew was that his body was craving the heat from the yellow light. He looked directly into the light and soaked up the U.V. rays.
The other guard came back and said, “The police and ambulance are on their way. So is Mr. Luthor…what the hell is he doing?” The two guards soon noticed that Frederick’s breathing was getting steady and the scratches on his face that he obtained from the falling meteorites were now healed.
Frederick stood up and looked back at the guards who stared at him with their mouths open. He walked over to the guards and one of them said, “What the hell are you?”
“I am a Kryptonian; my name is Zor-El.” The two guards looked at each other. But before either one could speak, Frederick grabbed one of the guards by the neck and broke it. The other guard reached for his gun and fired off two shots. After he noticed that the bullets were being deflected off Frederick’s body, the guard raised the gun to Frederick’s forehead. Frederick took a step closer, and the gun and his head were now an inch apart. The guard pulled the trigger and heard a sound as if someone had just hit the head of a nail with a hammer. Frederick took a deep breath then released it, instantaneously freezing the air in front of him. When the thick cool air was evaporated, Frederick was now standing in front of an ice sculpture of the security guard. A moment later, he heard the sounds of emergency vehicles.
ns 15.158.61.23da2
