Pod Squad-Kryptonian (SV,XO,CC,Mature) Ch66, 9/22/09 [WIP]

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Chapter 20 – Mira and Serena’s Story

The group traveled through the vortex of the Granolith in its web-like tunnels and soon they were standing in the Kewatchee caves. Mira, Serena, Jesse and Ava looked around and then Ava said, “What the heck was that?” feeling her body, making sure she had arrived in one piece. “I thought the Granolith was some kind of spaceship.”

“The Granolith has many uses, which is the reason why it is a well sought after artifact from our galaxy” Serena stated, “but I can educate you on the many uses of the Granolith later, shall we make our way to this place called ‘Smallville’?”

Stepping outside the caves, Mira and Serena took a deep breath. The air was so different than Antar. They also noted they weren’t able to smell anything either. That was odd. Earth was an interesting place. They walked through a wooded area until it opened up to a cornfield that had recently been harvested of its corn. Mira sneezed and looked towards the group. Serena looked at her with a strange expression on her face and then she turned towards Max and asked, “What was that?”

“She sneezed. You’ve never sneezed before?” Max asked.

“No, I guess I haven’t. It kind of tickles” Mira stated.

“Don’t worry Mira, I don’t think I have ever sneezed either” Clark offered.

“Really?” Chloe asked. Clark nodded and then led the group towards his farm and entered his house through the kitchen door. “Mom, are you home?”

“Hello Clark” Martha said coming down the stairs, “I see you’ve made it back safely.” She went over to Clark and kissed him on his cheek and then she noticed that there were a few extra people. She held the door opened for the rest of the group to enter and closed it when everyone was inside the house. “So, how was the festival?”

“Oh, Mrs. Kent, it was awesome!” exclaimed Chloe. “I took lots of pictures and maybe later Isabel and Ava can set up their mock theater and I can show you.”

“That would be great Chloe. So, which one is Ava?” Martha questioned.

“Sorry about that,” Clark started, “Mom, this is Ava, Ava this is my mother Martha Kent.” Ava and Martha exchanged pleasantries.

“And this is Jesse, Isabel’s husband” Clark said, as Jesse and Martha acknowledged each other.

“And this is Mira and Serena” Clark said, introducing their new alien friends. “Max will have to explain who they are, because I’m still lost.”

“Well, from what I can figure out Mira is my mother’s Royal Protector and Serena is the Keeper of the Granolith, but that’s all we know” Max said turning towards Mira and Serena he continued, “shall we sit down and try to figure out what’s going on?” Everyone agreed and took a place in the living room.

“What’s a Royal Protector?” Chloe asked.

“A Royal Protector is exactly that, we protect members of the Royal Family on Antar. To become a Royal Protector we are subjected to many tests and have to graduate at the top of our class. Once we are accepted as a Royal Protector a binding spell is performed to bind the Protector to a member of the Royal Family. In my case, I’m bound to your mother Your Hi…sorry, Max” Mira said.

“So, when did you meet up with Mira and Serena?” Martha said, looking towards Max.

“They arrived at the Granolith at the same time that we were trying to activate it to come back here” informed Max.

“Max, I think if anyone is lost it’s Serena and me” started Mira, “how is it all these humans know about you and how did you find Clark and …” Mira and Serena had many questions, which they kept listing off for Max and the group to answer. After a couple of hours of explaining how the Pod Squad came into the world, Max saving Liz’s life, which introduced the first human into their little club, finding Tess and mating with her, Tess’s departure to Antar and her return, meeting up with the Dupes in New York and their adventures with the Skins in Copper Summit and the continuing investigation by the Special Unit it seemed like they were up to speed with the Pod Squad’s years in Roswell. Then they continued to explain how they found Zan and met up with Clark and their weekend’s adventure back in Roswell. During this question and answer period, Isabel and Ava set up the mock theater and showed their picture slide to the group. Martha loved the pictures of Clark dressed up as the Alienator and the other pictures of the UFO Convention and the Crash Festival. After the slide show, Max turned towards Mira and Serena and asked them about what actually happened the night the Royal Four died, their mother, Antar and their reason for coming to Earth.

“We can only tell you what we witnessed” Mira started. “I guess we should start out with a history lesson, so you’ll understand how everything fits into the scheme of things and along the way, we should be able to answer most of your questions.”

She continued, “I should probably start with your parents” she said looking towards Max and Isabel, “King Leonas, your father, fell madly in love with Lady Ankaa and after a brief courtship the two were married, as the custom was when the three moons of the Whirlwind Galaxy were aligned. This was supposed to bring good luck to the young couple. During your father’s reign, the Whirlwind Galaxy lived in peaceful times. The ‘Five Planets’ got along and all was well. Then your father contracted a deadly virus, which took your father’s life. There was a special summit held with the leaders of the ‘Five Planets’ and they took a vote and Zan was offered his father’s place on the throne. Not everyone was happy about this, especially Khivar, who was representing the citizens of Celaeno, his home planet. He thought he should’ve been chosen to succeed King Leonas, but the council had voted. This was when he started to devise a plan to assassinate King Zan and his family.”

Mira took a break, and allowed everyone to absorb the information she had just related and continued. “During his reign, King Zan found love on one of the ‘Five Planets’ known as Dione. King Larek’s cousin Avanya caught his eye and soon they were married. Now, I don’t know if you’re aware of Avanya’s heritage. Her mother Tara Lor-Van was a Kryptonian and if I’m not mistaken, she was your mother’s sister Clark. Anyways, when her shipped crashed on Dione, King Larek’s uncle rescued her and a relationship was formed. So, Avanya was the by-product of two different worlds, Krypton and Dione.”

"Yeah, we recently learned about her mixed heritage from Larek, who told us about the prophecy - that is how we found out that Zan is the one the prophecy speaks of, since he is a product of three worlds" informed Max.

You’ve spoken with King Larek? How can that be? Mira asked.

“I guess there is a way for people from our world to use human bodies as vessels for coming to Earth. Larek uses the body of Brody Davis, my former employer at the UFO center to communicate with me.” Max said.

“Well, it’s not just an Antarian thing” Clark interceded, “Jor-El’s essence uses the body of Lionel Luthor to communicate with me sometimes too.”

“This is another very interesting development we’ll have to report to Lady Ankaa.” Mira said.

“I have a question” Ava spoke up, “was that your or our true form when you entered the Granolith?”

Serena answered apprehensively, “Yes that is our true form, but it will never be yours. When you were engineered we had to combine the DNA sequences, which is the reason you will never be able to look like us or shapeshift. Why do you ask, was our true form frightening to you?”

“Honestly, I was a little shocked” admitted Ava, “but I always had the feeling that individuals on our home planet didn’t look like us. The reason I asked is because if Avanya’s mother was Kryptonian, and they have a human-like body” she said looking towards Clark, “then how did her parents get together?”

Mira answered her, “When Tara’s shipped crash near Mirek’s dwelling she was unconscious. Mirek pulled her from the crash and brought her back to his domicile. Not wanting to frighten her, he shapeshifted into a human form, and cared for her. Eventually, she learned of his true form, but a bond had already been formed between the two. They were unsure if they could have any children, but a miracle happened and Avanya came into the world. Her form looked like ours, except she had such bright blue eyes. Avanya was also very gifted in the sciences, another gift she received from her mother. Her mother had told her stories of her life on Krypton and how a person’s status in the community was based on their knowledge of the sciences and technology. In fact…” she looked towards Clark, “I believe your mother Lara Lor-Van was an astronaut at one time, before a highly revered scientist destroyed one of their moons while engaging in one of his experiments which shifted Krypton’s position in the galaxy. After that incident, the “Science Council,’ their government body, decreed that space flight was illegal. Lara moved to the capital city of Kryptonopolis and got an apprenticeship under Jor-El. Tara, not wanting to be constrained under these new laws, left Krypton.”

“Wow Clark, it’s amazing how closely intertwined your two worlds are” Chloe remarked.

“I’m beginning to realize that” Clark stated.

“Well Serena, to answer your question Michael, Isabel, Liz and I have seen glimpses of Nasedo, one of our protectors, true forms when he died and we used the healing stones to bring him back, as well as when he died and reverted back to his true form and then to dust, so your true form wasn’t so much of a shock” Max stated. “I also witnessed Cal, our other protector, change into his true form before he transferred into one of the spacecrafts we found, but the ship was too damaged to fly” Max offered.

“You stated that Nasedo is dead?” Serena asked soberly.

“Yes. He died in my arms. A Skin got to him and fatally injured him” Max said remembering that day outside his bedroom window. “But the only Skin that remains on Earth that I’m aware of is Nicholas, Khivar’s right hand man, or I should say boy, I believe we destroyed the other Skins a couple years back when they took us hostage and Tess had reached for some kind of undiscovered power and burnt them to a crisp.”

“That sounds a lot like your heat vision Clark” Martha responded.

“That’s what I was thinking. I’m able to control it now, but when I first started developing this ability I was torching everything in sight” Clark mused. “I can’t imagine what Tess was feeling after that had happened to her, not realizing it may have been her Kryptonian self sneaking out.”

“So, where is Cal? Is he dead too?” asked Mira.

“No, unfortunately he’s still alive and living the life up in Los Angeles” Max said.

“You sound like you don’t like him much” Mira responded.

“I think he’s been on this planet too long. He has never really been there to help us out. I know he’s kept track of us, but when I learned there was another protector on Earth, I went searching for him. Let’s just say the ‘Welcome’ rug wasn’t laid out for me. I had to find out the ‘rules’ on my own; that he had to follow my orders and that he was unable to harm or kill me. But once I discovered this important piece of information, I had him do things against his will and let’s just say I regret what happened and if we can leave him out of this situation since I know he has no notions of going back to Antar, I’d appreciate it” informed Max.

“I think since Serena and I are here, we should be able to train and educate you all without any help from Cal, but if things get to the point were we need some extra help, we may be forced to call upon him” Mira stated.

Max reluctantly agreed and then Isabel spoke up, “This has been bugging me since it was brought to my attention. Did Vilandra really betray her family to Khivar?”

Mira sighed and said, “this is the point where I tell you about the night that the Royal Four were killed, but before I do, I should probably tell you the events that led up to that fateful night. As I said earlier, Lady Ankaa learned that there was a plot to assassinate the Royal family. To save the Royal Bloodline, Lady Ankaa called for a secret meeting among her most trusted advisors and scientists. They devised a plan to extract the essence of the Royal Four and combine them with the DNA of certain humans our scientists had been studying for years. By using the gandarium, a living crystal native to our planets, they were able to link the DNA sequences together. They created two sets of Alien-Hybrids, in case something happened to one of the sets, and sent them to Earth with four Royal Protectors.

While all this was happening, the palace was preparing for the royal wedding between Princess Vilandra and General Rath. Vilandra was betrothed to Rath, as was the custom and everything on the surface showed the union was a good one, but Khivar was secretly having meetings with Vilandra, pulling her into his web. By this time there were some rebellions going on between the planets, mainly due to Khivar’s influence. Now, everything I tell you about that night is all second hand, related to me throughout the years by acquaintances that were there when the Royal Four were murdered. It is said that Khivar had convinced Vilandra that he needed a meeting with her brother to try and resolve some of the problems going on between the planets. Zan had banned entrance to Khivar into the palace because he had learned that Khivar was behind most of the unsettlements within the galaxy. Vilandra was just convinced that Khivar wanted to make amends; so on that fateful night she allowed him entry through one of the back gates. She made it all the way into the throne room when Khivar ran a blade through her back, striking her heart. Rath had run into the room, hearing Vilandra’s final scream and was held down by Lycus and Chimarus, two of Khivar’s followers, as Khivar ran his blade through Rath, as he looked into his dying eyes. By this time the palace was awoken as Zan and Avanya rushed into the room to see Rath and Vilandra’s bodies lying on the floor. They were captured and held down as well and Khivar murdered them. I was with Lady Ankaa when we heard the commotion and I followed My Lady into the throne room to see Khivar standing over the bodies of the Royal Four, blood dripping from his blade. My job as a protector was to protect Lady Ankaa, so I pulled her away from the scene and rushed her through the underground tunnels to an awaiting spacecraft. We flew off to one of the furthest planets in our galaxy called Asterie, where we’ve been in hiding since. So, I don’t believe Vilandra was to blame for their demise. I think she thought she was doing what was best for the galaxy. I do believe she had some kind of relationship with Khivar, he was after all a dashing young man, but she was naïve and got entwined in his web of lies and she and her family paid the final price.”

“Thank you” Isabel said, “I’ve always wondered what actually happened. It’s nice to know that there are some individuals out there that don’t think Vilandra and in a sense I betrayed my family, at least now I can concentrate on ridding the world of Khivar and his followers and maybe the next time Khivar decides to make his presence known, I won’t be so influenced by him.”

“Has Khivar made contact with you?” Mira asked surprised.

“Oh yeah, he crashed Isabel and Jesse’s wedding and followed them on their honeymoon.” Kyle said.

Jesse was hearing all this for the first time. Granted, the first night of their honeymoon was definitely strange. In fact, they didn’t even consummate their union until the following day. He looked towards Isabel for some answers but Max spoke up.

“Jesse, don’t blame Isabel. Yes, Khivar crashed the wedding and honeymoon. This was before you knew about our existence and when we learned that Khivar had crashed the wedding and had a dance with Isabel, Michael and I followed you guys on your honeymoon.”

“I remember that. I was wondering what was going on and why you two were there on our honeymoon. I thought you were taking the brother/sister relationship just a bit too far” Jesse responded.

“Well, Khivar took over the body of a bystander and tried to talk Isabel into returning to Antar with him. He wasn’t too thrilled to see her getting married and he almost succeeded, but you showed up Jesse and stood up to Khivar. Isabel had to knock you out, but after the confrontation Khivar opened up a portal and proceeded to take Isabel and himself back to Antar, but Isabel pushed him into the portal, separating him from the human body he was using, Isabel said some choice words and then he disappeared.”

“Jesse, do you remember that guy named ‘Kevin’?” Isabel asked her husband. He nodded yes. “Remembering me telling you that he made me feel uncomfortable, well that was Khivar.”

“Now it all makes sense.” Jesse said.

“It looks like Khivar’s discovered a new mode of transportation,” Serena stated. “This is very interesting, definitely something to report back to Lady Ankaa.”

“What can you tell us about our mother?” Isabel asked.

“Well, considering I am your mother’s protector, I’ve gotten to know her the best. She is a fair and kind person. She captured the King’s heart and I think a lot of her can be seen in both of her children. She is very beautiful and was able to capture the eye of many Antarians, but it was your father that captured her heart. She is also very artistic. She loves listening to music and painting the scenes from her past, as well as what she could see out our cave dwelling. Some nights, she would sit there for hours watching the lightning dance and the thunder roar. She said it was nature’s music. It really killed her that night, seeing her children lying there dead on the throne room floor and she vowed that she would never quit searching for you. She left a message on the ship that she sent you in, did you receive it?” asked Mira.

“Yes we did. We found it buried in the desert. It basically called out to us” Max said.

“From the communication we saw she was so beautiful. It doesn’t matter if she has an ‘alien’ body or a human one, she’s my, our mother. Why didn’t she come with you?” Isabel asked.

“Well, there are a few reasons. First, I think she was afraid that you would be frightened by her true appearance. She used a human form to communicate with you in the orb, but she looks like we did when we entered the Granolith. She wanted us to prepare you for your return to Antar, which includes teaching you about our customs, traits, and heritage so you are ready to take your place as our rightful King.” Mira said.

“Do you think the individuals in the Whirlwind Galaxy will accept me or Zan as their King? When Tess returned from Antar she said that they rejected Zan because of his human status and you just said that we are stuck with the bodies we have.” Max questioned.

“Well, considering Khivar took over the throne without even calling another summit and since our worlds have been in a constant civil war with each other, having the true King back on the throne might be the one thing to bring peace back to our worlds. Plus, whatever lies Khivar fed Tess; I find it hard to believe the people wouldn’t accept Zan. In fact, I heard from one of our spies in the Antarian Palace that Tess or who our spies referred to as Avanya was carrying a babe and was under heavy guards. I understand she and Khivar had an argument and then she escaped with the babe to Earth, which totally enraged Khivar.” Serena explained.

“Plus, there’s the Prophecy” Mira said, “Which is the other reason Lady Ankaa didn’t travel with us. She is going to travel to each of the planets in our galaxy and spread the word of your existence along with the contents of the Prophecy. She is hoping to gain the support of each of these planets, except for Celaeno, and here she’ll have to seek out the rebellious groups, which includes individuals that you refer to as ‘Skins’, and get their support.”

“So, since you were able to travel through the Granolith to get here, can we use it to return to Antar and visit our mother?” Isabel asked.

Apprehensive of answering this question, Mira said, “Technically yes. But, I’m under your mother’s orders to educate and train you before we return to Antar. Plus, the Granolith is located on Asterie and your mother is probably no where near it at this point.”

Succumbing to the realization that Mira was right and they would have to wait to see their mother; Max asked, “So, what are you going to teach us?”

“Well, it looks like most of your knowledge comes from first hand experiences and maybe a little from Nasedo, but we’ve got a lot to cover. First of all, we will teach you about our worlds and the different customs we have. This will also include learning to read, write and speak our language. We will also concentrate on improving upon your current abilities and possibly discover some new ones.” Mira said and then reached into her bag and pulled out a small cylinder that had a silver handprint on it with more glyph writing in its center. She walked over to Michael and handed it to him. “Michael, this belonged to General Rath” Michael took the cylinder and looked it over. It didn’t look like much. “Before we left the palace, some of the other Royal Protectors went back to the Royal Four’s chamber and acquired some of their personal items and brought them to the ship.”

“What exactly is this?” Michael said, still checking out the cylinder piece he had. Maria moved in closer to check it out too. “Why don’t you step over here” Mira directed Michael to the center of the room. “Now, place your hand on the silver handprint there.”

Michael grasped the cylinder, laying his hand on the silver handprint, and brilliant blue blades extended from each end of the cylinder and magically formed into a continually bladed staff. “What you have there is the weapon of choice of General Rath. He was the only one that could operate the staff, because it only responds to General Rath’s signature. I will teach you how to use this weapon and we will work on furthering your knowledge of navigating and warfare tactics. Now if you just lay your hand on the cylinder again and just think of retracting the blades it will listen to your thoughts.”

Michael did as he was instructed and closed the blade. There was a wide grin on Michael’s face. He finally realized he had a place in the scheme of things that did not simply involve blasting rocks into dust.

Mira reached again into her bag and pulled out a greenish gold slate and turned towards Isabel, “Now, this belonged to Vilandra” Mira said handing the slate to Isabel. Isabel took the slate and ran her hand over the slate. “What is this?” she asked.

“Have you discovered your special talent yet?” Mira questioned.

“Are you talking about dreamwalking?” Isabel asked.

“If that’s what you call entering another person’s mind, then yes. Well how do you enter these people’s minds?

“I have to have a picture of the person and then I run my hand over their picture and if they are asleep I can enter their dreams” Isabel stated.

“Well, all you need to do is envision the person’s mind you want to enter and run your hand over the slate.” Isabel did as she was told and as she ran her hand over the slate, Jesse’s face materialized before them. “Now, touch the picture.”

“Will this work, since he’s not asleep?” questioned Isabel.

“Try it out and see” Mira suggested. Isabel touched the picture and soon she was inside of Jesse’s mind, seeing how in awe he was with what was transpiring in the Kent’s living room. She left Jesse’s mind and looked at Mira.

“This is amazing! I always thought the subject had to be asleep for me to enter into their dreams. This will be very useful. Thank you.”

Mira turned back to her bag and pulled out an amulet. She walked over to Ava and handed it to her. “This amulet belonged to Avanya and it was given to her by her mother Tara. The stone inside of the amulet was taken from a crystal she grew and harvested from her home planet Krypton. It seems when Avanya wore this amulet it enhanced her abilities, in particular her mind warping ability. We’re not sure how it would react here with your Kryptonian side, because she was never exposed to a yellow sun, but I suspect it would enhance those abilities too.”

Avanya thanked her and put the amulet around her neck. Mira went back to her bag and pulled out a small buckle-like item and handed it to Max. Max looked it over and it was a square shaped object which had the Royal Antarian seal inlaid in a solid blue background. There was a black strap which was attached to the sides across the back. He looked up at Mira and asked, “And what does this do?”

“Well, one of your unique gifts is being able to produce a shield. By strapping this to your hand and pointing the Royal Seal in the direction in which you need the shield it will enhance your energy shield without draining you of your personnel resources. It uses the strength of the Royal Seal embedded into it.” Max strapped the shield enhancer to his hand and held his hand out and initiated his green shield. “Man, I could’ve really used this enhancer a couple of days ago” Max stated and then took off the enhancer. “Thank you.”

“You’re quite welcome” Mira said and turning towards Liz and Kyle she stated, “I don’t have any unique gifts for you, for we didn’t know of your existence until just recently.”

“We don’t require gifts Mira, but how do Kyle and I fit into your schedule of training?” Liz asked.

“Oh, and don’t forget my dad or Zan here” Kyle said.

“Yes, we could never forget about Zan. He will need to learn the same things as the others do. As far as Kyle, Liz and Kyle’s dad’s training, what specific gifts did they inherit?” Mira asked.

Liz spoke up first, “Well, I’m getting stronger each day and I’m able to do the same things the others can do, such as changing the molecular structure of things, but I’ve also developed some special gifts as well, such as receiving flashes, or premonitions and instead of sending out an energy blast like the others, green energy surges spring from my body. I also just inherited Tess’s ability of mind warping and in the past, with the help of Isabel, I was able to transport myself to New York, where I was able to warn Max of some impeding danger.”

“That’s impressive, all of those powers, just from Max saving your life. It almost sounds like you’re stronger in some ways than the others. Since you are the rightful King’s wife, I believe you need to study alongside the rest and work on developing and controlling your newfound abilities.” Then Mira turned towards Kyle. “So, what kind of gifts have you developed?”

“Well, I’m a late bloomer. I just recently began to develop some strange alien tendencies. Over the weekend, we found out I was able to freeze time just by yelling ‘Stop’ and restarting time by saying the word ‘Start’, but those of us with alien tendencies weren’t affected, just humans” informed Kyle.

Mira thought about this for a moment and like a light bulb had turned on, she spoke up excitedly. “This could become very useful indeed” she said. “Your gift isn’t just freezing time; you have a special gift indeed. Your gift is basically ‘the power of suggestion’.”

Kyle looked at her strangely so she continued to explain, “Let’s say you’re in a sticky situation with a human, all you have to do is think of a suggestion, voice it and it’ll happen.”

“You mean all I need to do is think about anything I want someone to do and voice my suggestion and a human will respond to my suggestion?”

“Yes, but you need to be careful and not abuse this ability, because your counterparts will keep you honest” she said turning towards the group. “If you’d like, think of a ‘nice’ suggestion for one of the humans to do and voice it.”

Maria and Liz both looked at Kyle simultaneously, who had a big grin on his face, they each knew Kyle all too well and really didn’t want to be the object of his test. Kyle thought about it and said, “Chloe, would you please get me a Snapple from the fridge and put some Tabasco sauce in it for me.”

As if on cue, Chloe got up from her position on the floor and proceeded to the kitchen to prepare Kyle’s Snapple, as Kyle looked over at Maria and Liz and said, “See, I can be nice.” Soon Chloe returned to the living room and handed Kyle his drink and sat back down on the floor and came out of her trance.

“That was so cool. You’re right Mira that could be a very useful gift. Thanks Chloe.” Kyle said holding his drink up to Chloe as if he was toasting her.

“What’s he on about Clark?” Chloe questioned.

Clark spoke up, “and the person under the ‘power of suggestion’ doesn’t remember anything either.”

“That’s right” Mira said.

“Was I the object of Kyle’s suggestion?” Chloe asked.

“Yes you were” Kyle said. “I only had you prepare a drink for me.” Chloe looked relieved and began to relax back in Clark’s lap again.

“Another part of your training will be learning to operate the Granolith and its many uses” Serena said. “I’ll be teaching each of you, including the humans in the groups how to use the Granolith, because you never know when you’ll need an escape and the Granolith, or at least its chamber is a great place to go. I’ll make it accessible to each of you, not just the Royal Family and Clark, but I’ll need to program you into the database. I’ll also need an assistant to help me out, because even though I can operate it by myself, having another person doing daily analysis with me will make my job easier.”

“I’ll help you out” Liz volunteered.

“Thank you Liz, I look forward to working with you. Now, when do we want to start training with each of you?” questioned Serena.

“What about my father?” questioned Kyle.

“What kind of abilities has he demonstrated?” Mira asked.

“Well, he hasn’t really demonstrated any ‘alien’ characteristics, but when I froze time back at the Crash Festival he wasn’t affected.” Kyle said.

“I see, so he’s in the beginning stages. Maybe we should wait and see what transpires and we’ll monitor his situation and when he starts demonstrating any ‘alien’ characteristics we’ll deal with it then. I think I’ll have Serena program him into the Granolith though and teach him how to use it, so he can contact us if he needs anything.” Mira suggested.

“That’s probably a good thing, because he’s a deputy and getting away from work will be hard enough” Kyle said.

“Well, I think we need to get Zan back tonight instead of tomorrow, since he decided to have a growing spurt while we were in Roswell.” Max stated, “His adoptive parents will definitely have some questions and I would also like to talk to Lionel Luther, if Martha can set up a meeting, to make the purchase of the Lang property go through smoothly” and turning towards Jesse he said, “and I would like to have you look over any contract to make sure everything is legit, plus this would be a perfect time to introduce you to Mr. Luthor and see if we can get you a job in Metropolis at one of his law firms.”

“And I need to get back to Metropolis too.” Chloe stated.

“Well, I need to get back to Roswell soon because Jim is picking me up around 2:30 so I can make my shift at the CrashDown by 3:00.” Ava stated.

“Okay, it looks like Max, Liz, Zan, Chloe, Jesse and, I’m assuming, Isabel and I will be going to Metropolis” Clark asked of the group at large. Everyone agreed. “So, we can drop Ava off at the cave and make sure she makes it back to Roswell and then we can go to Metropolis. The rest of you are welcome to hang out here on the farm, go into town or whatever you want to do. Now tomorrow, I’ve made arrangements to be at the ‘Fortress’ at the break of dawn to start my training with Jor-El until noon, so that’s where I’ll be. We’ll find out later what time I need to pick up Zan to bring him here for his training.”

“I need to know when I need to be here for training purposes, so I can work around my work schedule at the CrashDown” stated Ava.

Mira and Serena were sitting back totally confused. What was everyone talking about? They each thought when they set out to train the Royal Four, they would have their full attention, but by the sound of things this wasn’t the case. “Um, Max, what are you talking about? Where are you taking Zan and why is Ava leaving to go back to Roswell and what’s this training Clark’s talking about and how does this fit into what we need to teach you all?” Mira asked.

Max explained, “Well, in order to pass as humans, we’ve had to fit ourselves into society, which means getting jobs to earn money to pay for bills. Ava has a job back in Roswell and if she just disappears, it’ll bring attention to our situation. We have also placed a deposit on the neighboring farm so we have a place to live, instead of imposing on Mrs. Kent’s hospitality, so Jesse needs to come with us to talk to a very powerful individual to work out the details of this transaction and possibly get a job in one of his firms. Chloe works for a newspaper company, basically a place that sends out the daily news to all the people. She’s our eyes and ears to what’s happening in the world around us. Clark has his own training sessions he needs to attend. There’s a place known as the Fortress of Solitude, which is a replica of Clark’s home planet, and his biological father Jor-El has designed a training program within its confines. Clark needs to attend his training session each morning and then he can go to Metropolis and pick up Zan. When Tess came back to Earth with Zan, she stated that he was all human, which was the reason Antar rejected him, so instead of subjecting him to the alien chaos we lived each day, I gave him up for adoption hoping he would have a chance at living a normal life. Well, we recently found out that Zan is by no means normal and his adoptive family, Bob and Brenda Chambers are aware of our existence. They are also aware of the prophecy involving Zan and have agreed to have him available for training, but he is also their child legally. We’ve made arrangements so he can attend public school and keep up the front of a normal child with the Chambers during the days and Clark has agreed to pick him up at nights and bring him back here for training purposes and we’ve also agreed to switch off weekends too. Liz, Maria and Kyle will probably search for jobs in Smallville. Now Michael, Isabel and I will be free to train whenever you need us. I think we can work around everyone’s schedule; we just need to take a look at it and go from there.”

Mira and Serena thought about it and it made sense. They could work with Michael, Isabel and Max in the mornings and work with Ava, Kyle, Liz and Zan in the evenings and somewhere in there allow Ava and Zan to work with Clark to hone in on their Kryptonian abilities. They voiced their idea and everyone thought that would work out for the best. Martha had slipped off earlier to phone Lionel to make arrangements for the kids to meet with him at his office. Lionel agreed and once they made their final arrangements, the group that was going to Metropolis loaded up in the van, along with Ava and began their trip to Metropolis, making a stop at the Kewatchee Caves to drop off Ava.

Michael, Maria, Kyle, Mira, Serena and Martha stayed on the farm and made themselves comfortable. After all it had been a very enlightening day.

[sdcheesehead]

Welcome Alien_Friend, so glad you're enjoy my little adventure. I aim to please and thanks for the feedback

Thanks always for the feedback Timelord31 and Tess Harding Evans ***Waves to all the Lurkers too***

Thanks goes out to my Beta's, Lauren, TessHardingEvans & ChloeSullivanFan. They keep me honest and true.


Chapter 21 – Taking Care of Business

It didn’t take Brady long to retrieve the information on the Chambers and their boy Brett. Lex was again sitting at his desk with a manila folder labeled with the Chambers’ name. He opened it up and starting reading about this family. They were a typical Metropolis family living in a middle-class rural neighborhood. Bob Chambers worked at a car dealership and Brenda Chambers was a school teacher at Metropolis Middle School. Reading further down, he noticed that Brett was adopted by the Chambers about three months ago and he was currently six months old. ‘So why all the commotion over a six-month old baby’ thought Lex. He decided he needed to pay the Chambers a little visit, so he called Brady into his office and had him prepare his car; it was a nice day after all for a drive. Soon, he was on his way to Metropolis.

Meanwhile, in a diner on the outskirts of Fort Ryan, General Sam Lane sat at his normal table waiting for this Special Agent Davis to show up. He lit up another cigar and proceeded to read the Daily Planet, while drinking his cup of coffee. ‘I guess they don’t teach the FBI anything about being on time’ thought Sam. Soon, a tall well-built guy entered the diner dressed in a black business suit. Noticing General Lane was already seated, he made his way over to the table. Standing at the edge of the table, he introduced himself.

“General Lane, I presume” Sam nodded his head. Extending his hand for a handshake, he said “It’s a pleasure meeting you” and then he presented his badge. “I’m Special Agent Mike Davis. May I have a seat?” Sam acknowledged the bench seat across from him as Special Agent Davis sat down.

“Would you like something to eat or drink?” Sam offered but Davis declined.

“Is there some place we could go that would be a little more private? I’ve got some sensitive information to pass on to you.”

“Sure, let me just finish up my cup of coffee and then we can go back to the base and talk in my office.” Sam didn’t mind making the guy wait; after all he had been waiting for the past hour for him to show up.

Davis didn’t seem too happy at all to have to wait for this General to take his time drinking his coffee and smoking his nasty cigar, but he was a General and he was one of a few people in the government that had any experiences with extra-terrestrials. So, he held his tongue and waited until the General was done. They briefly talked about mundane subjects and soon they were on their way back to the base.

Milton Fine however had been keeping himself busy too. He was keeping tabs on Lex Luthor; he had to keep track of his investment. He had Lex Lo-Jacked with all different kinds of Kryptonian devices. One of the good things about coming from a highly advanced society: Earth didn’t have the resources to detect any of his little tracking devices and bugs, so whatever Lex was doing, Fine was watching. He noticed that Lex had begun to demonstrate some Kryptonian tendencies and he knew he had to get him to the Fortress, so that he could release General Zod, but he had to be patient and wait for an opportunity to present itself. That was the one thing about these humans; they were very impatient creatures. Fine noticed that Lex was on the move and it looked like he was going to Metropolis. Fine sat back and monitored the screen. Once Lex made it to his final destination, he would go and check it out.

Back in Roswell

Ava made her way along the trail and as she was exiting Frazier Woods she saw Jim Valenti sitting in his patrol car. As she got into the passenger seat Jim asked,

“So, how was your trip to Smallville?”

“Very interesting” Ava started. She continued filling Jim in on all the details of Mira and Serena showing up at the Granolith and what they told them about their home planet and what kind of things they would be learning and then she showed him her amulet, that once belonged to Avanya’s and essentially her mother. She also told him about how he’ll be getting a visit from Serena so she can program him into the Granolith, that way the people in Roswell would have a way to reach someone in Smallville besides Ava if need be. Once they were at the CrashDown, Ava thanked Jim and entered the café and went to the back to begin her shift.

Nicholas, Lonnie and Rath had made their way to Roswell and noticed with disgust the quaint little café where Max liked to hang out with his human friends. It was probably the best place to start looking for the Granolith. They entered the café and sat at one of the bench tables.

Ava was in the back fixing her hair and putting the antennae hairpiece in place. She grabbed her ticket book and a pen. She just heard the bell on the door ring, which announced that another customer had entered the café.

She looked through the window and noticed there were three of them sitting in a booth. She grabbed three glasses of water, three sets of silverware and menus and made her way to the booth. When she got to the table, she began to give her customer’s their water, silverware, and menus without taking any notice of her customers, except for the teenage boy that was giving her a flirtatious smile. Then she stood up straight and said,

“Welcome to the CrashDown café. My name is Ava and I will be your waitress today. Is there something I could get you today?”

“Hello Ava, I believe we’ve met” Lonnie said sarcastically.

Ava looked at the other two patrons and her jaw dropped. Sitting at the table was Lonnie and Rath.

At the Chambers’ residence

Bob was sitting in his living room on the couch. The previous day he had recorded the Metropolis Bulldog football game since he had to work, so now that he had a chance he was all set to just sit down and relax, it had been quite the weekend already. Brenda was in the kitchen baking some cookies for Zan; he should be home tomorrow and chocolate chip was his favorite. All of a sudden there was a knock on the door. Seeing that Bob was getting into his game, Brenda ran her hands under the faucet, dried them and went to answer the door. ‘Who would be stopping in on a Sunday’ thought Brenda. She peeked through the eyehole and noticed a young 20 something year old gentlemen with a shiny baldhead. She apprehensively opened the door and said, “Hello, what can I do for you?”

“Hello Mrs. Chambers, my name is Lex Luthor and I was wondering if I could have a word with you and your husband. I heard of your incident at Summerholt and I thought I’d come out here and see how you and your family were doing.”

Brenda looked up into Lex’s eye wondering where she had heard that name before and then she recalled it and asked, “Are you Lionel Luthor’s son?”

“Yes I am. How do you know my father?” Lex asked curiously, all the while looking into the Chambers house. There were pictures here and there of a young baby, who he presumed to be Brett and some other pictures of an older boy, rougher about 3 yrs old, but had the same face as the young baby. ‘Curious’ he thought.

“Well, it was your father that watched over my husband and me while we were in the hospital. Won’t you come in?” Brenda said, opening the door further to allow Lex to enter her house.

While she was ushering Lex into the living room, Fine had noted Lex’s position and super sped to the Chambers’ address and stood outside the window and using his super hearing listened in on their conversation.

“Honey, Lex Luthor, Lionel’s son has come out to see how we’re doing” Brenda said, announcing Lex’s arrival.

Bob was too far into his game to notice the two people standing behind him. As he was watching the game, the Bulldog’s quarterback had the ball and threw a pass to one of his receivers who had caught it and was making a run for the goal line. As he cross the line, Bob jumped up excitedly yelling “TOUCHDOWN”.

“The Metropolis Bulldogs are a very good team this year, if you’d like, I can get you some front row tickets on the 50 yard line for the next home game” Lex offered.

“Yeah, thanks and who are you?” Bob asked looking towards his wife and turning the television set down.

“Bob, this is Lex Luthor, Lionel’s son. He stopped by to see how we’re doing.”

‘Lex Luthor’ thought Bob ‘isn’t he the one we’re supposed to be cautious of?’

“Mr. Luthor” Bob said extending his hand, “nice to meet you. Your father was there when the building exploded on us and he helped us out and got us transported to the hospital.”

“So I hear. It looks like you’re doing fine though. What did the hospital find out?”

“We’re doing fine, just a bit shaken up with the building exploding and all. It was all precautionary,” offered Bob as an explanation.

“I see and how is Brett doing?” Lex asked, looking closer at his surroundings.

“Um, he’s fine. He’s with a relative for the weekend. We don’t expect him back until tomorrow” Bob said.

“Well, that’s good. I just wanted to see how you were doing. If you need anything, just let me know” Lex said handing them his business card, “and I’ll be sending you those tickets,” he told Bob.

“Thank you. You really don’t need too.”

“Nonsense. Anyone my father takes an extreme interest in is just as important to me. Glad to see all is well. I’ll let you get back to your game.” Lex said turning towards the door and leaving.

Lex got into his car and backed out of the driveway. There were some things he needed to take care of at his office at LuthorCorp. The Chambers were just like any other middle class family, nothing stuck out in his mind, except the pictures. If he didn’t know the boy was adopted it wouldn’t be bugging him, but the boys looked so similar, almost like brothers or cousins, but that couldn’t be the situation. Well, that was one more piece to add to the puzzle. As he was going down the street he passed a royal blue van going in the opposite direction.

Lex hadn’t even noticed the van’s occupants, but Clark zeroed in on Lex’s car.

“I wonder what Lex is doing all the way out here” Clark said.

“What do you mean?” asked Max.

“You just passed him. I wonder if he followed the breadcrumbs and paid the Chambers a visit?” Clark said.

“Well, we’ll soon know. We’re here.” Max said pulling into the driveway.

Fine was about to leave his position on the side of the house, but noticed the new visitors and among them was Kal-El. ‘Very Interesting’ he thought. He didn’t understand why Lex was so interested in this family, but obviously there was more going on then what was on the surface and he was going to find out what. He held his position by the window while the van’s occupants exited the vehicle and proceeded up the sidewalk to the door.

Max knocked on the door and waited for an answer.

“Who could it be now?” Bob questioned, clearly irritated. He had just turned on his game again, just to be interrupted for the second time. He pushed pause on the remote and got up to answer the door. As he opened it, he was amazed to see Max, his son and some of the others standing there.

“Max, we weren’t expecting you back until tomorrow, is everything okay?” he asked with concern in his voice. Opening the door further, he allowed his guests to enter the house.

“Everything is fine. We had quite the weekend and thought we would personally come and tell you about it.” Max said. “I’d like to introduce you to Jesse, Isabel’s husband.”

Jessie and Bob exchanged pleasantries as Zan moved his way through the crowd and went up to his father.

“Hey dad, did you miss me?”

“Zan, is that you?” he said, looking down at an older version of his son. Zan nodded as Bob embraced him.

“Bob, who was at the door” Brenda said, but once she had entered the room, she noticed Max, Liz, Clark, Chloe, Isabel and a strange man, along with…her son. “You had another growth spurt I see. Come give your mother a hug” Brenda said holding her arms open, ready to embrace Zan. Zan went up to his mother and gave her a big hug as the rest of the group came into the house. Bob closed the door and looked at Zan.

“And who do we have here?” Brenda asked of Jesse.

“Brenda, this is Isabel’s husband Jesse Esteban. He was made aware of our visit to Roswell, so he hopped on the next flight out of Boston and they’ve been inseparable since then” informed Max.

“Well, welcome to our home” Brenda said.

“When did this happen?” Bob asked Max, pointing to Zan’s obvious change.

“It happened this morning around five. Have you ever witnessed one of his growth spurts before? Max asked.

Both Bob and Brenda thought about it and said no. “We would put him to bed in the evening and by the time we came in to wake him the next morning, he had grown and aged a little bit, nothing like this though. He looks to be about ten years old” stated Bob.

“Well, let’s just say it was an interesting experience” Max said.

“I didn’t feel a thing” Zan said with a wide grin on his face, “too bad I knocked Maria out and threw Michael up against the wall.”

“You did what?” asked Brenda, ushering them into the living room, so everyone could be comfortable.

The group relayed to the Chambers of how Zan was in some kind of trance and how a bright blue light was coming from his body. He also mentioned how nobody was able to get close to him without putting themselves into danger, so they left him alone and allowed him to withdraw from his trance. They suggested the same advice to Bob and Brenda in case something like this ever happened again.

Brenda went into the kitchen and retrieved a plate of hot chocolate chip cookies and laid them on the coffee table with a small bottle of Tabasco sauce. “That’s the only bottle of Tabasco sauce I had in my cupboards. Next time I go to the store, I’ll get a bigger bottle since I’m assuming Zan will probably want to use it more often.”

“Thanks mom, they’re my favorite!”

“Oh, this hits the spot” Isabel said taking a cookie from the plate.

“Yes, thank you” Liz agreed.

They each took a cookie and then Bob asked, “so, how was your weekend Zan?”

“Oh, it was great!” Zan said. They each took turns explaining all the events that went on in Roswell, including the events that went on at the UFO convention, the Crash Festival, meeting up with the Special Unit and learning more about the prophecy and how Zan fit into the scheme of things. They concluded with telling the Chambers all about Mira and Serena and how Clark was still going to be coming to pick Zan up in the evenings to start with his training.

While the Chambers were being brought up to speed with the alien developments going on in their son’s life, Fine was also incorporating all this information into his senses. There was definitely more to this boy. He did recall something in his memory banks about this prophecy, but the details were very vague. Lex had no idea what he had stumbled onto. Typical human, it all goes back to being patient and patience had just paid off for Fine. He continued to observe the conversation.

“Did you all just get a visit from Lex Luthor?” questioned Clark.

“Yeah, you just missed him. He said he stopped by to check up on us” Brenda stated.

“I bet he did” Clark said sarcastically. “What did you tell him?”

“We just told him we met his father the other night, who helped us out after the explosion and that we were sent to the hospital for precautionary purposes” Bob relayed to the group. “He was also interested in how Brett was doing and we told him he was with a relative and not due back until tomorrow. He seemed satisfied and even offered to get me a couple of front row tickets to the next Bulldog’s game. Does he really have that much pull?”

“Yeah, and he probably owns the Bulldogs or at least stock in the organization. It wouldn’t surprise me. The Luthors own so many companies not just here in Metropolis, but around the world” informed Chloe.

“And neither Lex nor Lionel trusts the other, right?” Bob asked.

“That’s about right” Clark said.

“Now Lex’s comment makes sense” Bob said, “he mentioned that whatever his father takes an extreme interest in is just as important to him.”

“I would be very careful with what you do and say around Lex” Clark said to the group. “I’m also sure you’ll be seeing him again, since he’s already shown he’s interested in Zan here.”

“And Lex isn’t the only one we need to watch out for. We’ve got other threats out there too, some we know about and then there are the unknown factors, so just remember to also be aware of your surroundings and who is around you” suggested Max.

‘Very good advice’ Fine thought from his position by the window. ‘Too bad you’re not adhering to your own advice. I’m sure we’ll be meeting soon.’

“So Max, we need to discuss Zan’s education. Originally, we were thinking of putting him in 4th grade, but I don’t think that’s going to work. What if he has another growth spurt like this last one?” Bob questioned.

“Typically, a ten year old would be in either the 4th or 5th grade, but if he has another growth spurt like he had over the weekend, he could easily pass for an 8th grader” began Brenda. “But the grade we decide to start him off in isn’t necessarily based on what age he looks like; it’s also based on his intelligence level.”

“We already know he’s very smart, but how do we determine what his intelligence level is?” Isabel said, smiling at Zan.

“Well, I’m a teacher at Metropolis Middle School and teach 8th grade and personally, I think his intelligence level is beyond a typical 8th grader, but if we want to have him fit in somehow with the other kids, I think we might start him off in 8th grade” Brenda said. “If we agree, I could enroll him in school tomorrow, where they’ll want to obviously run an intelligence test on him to ensure he’s in the right class and that way if he has anymore growth spurts, I can tell them Zan suffers from a rare progressive aging disease, but he’s on some experimental medicine and hopefully it works and he won’t have too many more episodes.”

“That actually sounds plausible” Liz said, “and it’s an added plus that you’ll be in the school, in case something happens.”

Then Chloe asked, “How is it that Zan is not very old, yet he’s able to absorb everything like a book and retain it?”

“At one time, while we were on a mission with Nasedo, he asked us to ‘scan’ some information. We didn’t know what he was talking about, but maybe it comes naturally for Zan. Also, I’ve never had any problem in school retaining information.” Max said.

“Well, I never had any problems either and I know Michael knew what was going on, he just didn’t like showing up for class, thought it was a waste of time” Isabel said.

“And it could also be the Kryptonian in him too” suggested Clark. “All I have to do is skim through a book and I literally can memorize everything inside it.”

“I never knew that” Chloe said, “No wonder you never had to study for…anything.”

Clark smiled up at Chloe and commented, “Yeah, I guess you would say that’s one of the perks of being from another world.”

“So, now that we know basically why Zan is so intelligent, are we in agreement with putting him in 8th grade at Metropolis Middle School?” questioned Brenda.

“I believe that will work. How do you feel about all this Zan?” Max asked.

“I’m kind of excited and scared at the same time. I’ve never been around other kids before, so it’ll be a change and having to sit in school will definitely be different. What if I start to get bored?” Zan asked.

“Maybe you can enroll in some kind of extra curricular activity such as music, theater or art. Something that won’t expose your other talents” suggested Liz, “and as long as it doesn’t interfere with your other lessons.”

“I’ll take a look at what they have to offer tomorrow” Zan said.

“Well, now we need some paperwork for Zan.” Brenda said. Pulling some papers out of a binder, Brenda handed them to Max. “I went to the school yesterday and picked up some examples of what transcripts look like and immunization records and I’ve got Zan’s birth certificate, which you will also need to alter.”

“I’ll need a few blank pieces of paper” Max said. Brenda got up and returned with some paper and handed them to Max. Max looked over the example transcript and decided what he was going to put on Zan’s transcript and waved his hand over the white piece of paper transforming it into a notarized readable transcript from the state of Kansas. It stated that Zan’s name was Brett Alexander Chambers and had recently been adopted. His biological parents had home schooled him because of his advanced intelligence reflected by all the high marks in the core classes he ‘took’. Max also added a comment about Zan being recently diagnosed with a progressive aging disease, along with a note stating that his parents died in a car crash, and since he had no next of kin, he was placed in the foster care system, until his adoption six months ago. The immunization records were easier; he just copied what was on one to Zan’s, just changing the dates to reflect the right timeframe. The birth certificate was just as easy, all he had to do here is changed the year of his birth. The birth certificate said Zan’s birthday was July 30, so Max made it look like he was 10 years old, so his age reflected what he looked like, but if he aged again, the progressive aging story they documented on his records would back this up. When Max was done, he handed the forged documents to Brenda and asked, “Will these work?”

She looked them over and was satisfied. “Thank you Max.”

“Not a problem, but it’s getting late and we have a few more stops to make.” Turning towards Zan, Max continued “Now you have fun tomorrow in school and be ready for Clark when he comes by to pick you up.”

“I will” Zan said, going over to Max and giving him a hug. Max didn’t want to let go. It had been hard to let him go the last time, when he had handed him over to be adopted. He knew he would see his son again, but that moment came back to him in a flash, which he shared with Zan. It was of Max holding Zan as a baby and then Max waved his hand over Zan’s forehead, imprinting a memory. He handed Zan over to his mother who placed him in the car seat with a UFO rattle, as the van drove away.

Zan released himself from the flash and looked up into his father’s eyes and said, “I still have that rattle” and left the room to retrieve his toy.

“What’s that all about?” questioned Brenda.

Before anyone could answer, Zan returned with the baby rattle and handed it to his father, “Here, keep this as a token of the bond we share.”

“Thank you” Max said, taking the rattle and giving Zan a quick hug. Then he turned towards Brenda and said, “On the day I gave Zan up for adoption, I imprinted him with a memory and when we touched, that memory came back and before we sent Zan away, Liz had gotten him this little UFO rattle from one of the stores in Roswell, which was the one thing we could send with him that day.”

“Oh, well now you two have been reunited, we don’t have to worry about losing him again. We’ll take good care of him, as you will do the same when you have him” assured Brenda.

“That I will” promised Max, “So are we ready to go?” he asked the group. Everybody agreed, said their goodbyes and moved toward the van. Clark pulled out of the driveway, while the Chamber retreated and went back inside their house.

‘Very interesting turn of events’ thought Milton Fine. Deciding to retreat back to his secret location, Fine left the confines of the window he had been lurking under and returned to his surveillance room and began to monitor Lex again. He was also formulating a plan and this boy was going to be his key.

Back in Roswell

“So, did little Miss Avanya miss us?” asked Lonnie sarcastically.

“I believe ‘shocked to see you here’ is more fitting. What are you doing back in Roswell?” Ava inquired, regaining her composure.

“Wouldn’t you like to know, I thought you’d left this dive of a town” commented Rath.

“Yeah, I did for a little while, but couldn’t find anything out there, so I thought I’d come back here and see if Max and his friends would help me out, but when I returned I learned they had already left a week earlier, during the graduation ceremony. There was a lot of commotion leading up to their graduation after they blew up Rogers AFB. The Special Unit decided to crash their graduation, but they escaped somehow. The whole thing was in the newspapers and the Special Unit even terrorized the town close to a month later, but I think they’ve finally realized they’ve left too. Didn’t even tell their parents, isn’t that just sad?” related Ava.

“My heart just bleeds for them.” Lonnie said.

“Who’s the cutie?” Ava said, looking towards Nicholas.

“The name’s Nicholas”

“Well hello Nicholas, and as you can see I’m working, so can I get you all anything?” Ava asked.

They were actually feeling pretty hungry, and with the unexpected appearance of Ava, they thought they would see if they could get anymore information out of her. They placed their orders and Ava left them.

Jeff was working the grill and Ava walked up to him and gave him the order and then while he was cooking their meal, Ava filled him in on who was in the café and how they weren’t Michael or Isabel and they needed to be very careful not to let anything slip. Jeff suggested she let Nancy know what was going on and to have her call the Evans’ house as well as Jim and Amy, so nobody slipped up. After relating the information to Nancy, Ava took their order, which was ready and delivered it to their table.

“So how’s working for a living treating you?” mocked Lonnie.

“Oh, I don’t know. Beats the rats in the sewer infested place we called home in New York” retorted Ava.

“Wow, I’m impressed. The timid little girl is actually sticking up for herself” Rath commented. “I guess all it takes is us pushing her boyfriend out into traffic.”

They had finally crossed the line. Ava still wasn’t over Zan. Before coming to Roswell, Zan, her pod mate, was murdered right before her eyes. He refused to meet with the summit, so Rath pushed him in front of a moving truck, killing him. Then they went to Roswell to find the second set of pods. This was her chance to get away from these two and she thought she had succeeded, but now they were here, just as abusive as they were before.

Biting her tongue she politely said, “If you need anything else, just let me know” and she left them with their food. Upon entering the back, the tears that were welling up inside her came flooding down her cheeks. ‘How could they be so cruel’ she thought.

“So, do you think her story is true?” asked Rath

“I don’t know. I guess we can go to the library and check out the newspaper articles she mentioned” suggested Lonnie.

“But, do you think she knows anything about the Granolith?” questioned Rath.

“Probably not, because if she did, don’t ya thick she would’ve already used it to get off this rock?” Lonnie countered. “I know I would’ve.”

“Yeah, but maybe she’s too stupid to know how to work it.” Rath said.

“Quiet, the both of you” Nicholas stated flatly. “It’s actually refreshing seeing you two trying to use your brains, but this isn’t the place to be discussing such things.”

They both looked at Nicholas with disgust in their eyes, but they each kept their silence.

“Better. Now, I think Lonnie actually has a good idea. Tonight, we’ll go to the library and check out the archives and see if Ava’s story meshes with the events and we’ll each take turns keeping tabs on her. I think we’ll get a place here in Roswell, so we’ll be closer too.” Nicholas said.

They each finished up their entrees and left the exact amount for the food and left the café. Ava went over to the table to clean it up and to take the cash to the register, when it dissolved into dust. ‘Figures’ was all she thought as she picked up the dirty dishes and took them to the back.

Fort Ryan Army Base

General Lane, accompanied by Special Agent Mike Davis had finally made it back to the army base and they were standing outside Gen. Lane’s office. There weren’t many people working on the base today, since it was a Sunday afternoon. Sam inserted the key and opened the door to his office and offered a chair to the Special Agent, and then he closed the door behind him and placed his hat and coat up on the rack and sat in his overstuffed office chair.

“Is this room secured General?” asked Davis.

“As secured as you’ll ever get” replied Lane, “so what’s this thing about a virus?”

“Well, actually the virus incident has been…secured. In fact, the whole lab was destroyed. No, there’s another reason that we are meeting today.” Davis began, but then reached into his briefcase and pulled out a binder and some VCR tapes.

“What I’m about to show you is highly classified. I understand that in the past year you’ve had some dealings with…let’s say extra-terrestrials.”

Sam eyes got a little wide and reached into his box of cigars and pull one out and clipped off the end and lit it.

“Well, I guess you could say that. It’s been about a year and a half ago, in May, when the second meteor shower hit Smallville. My unit was placed in charge of the evacuation efforts of the town and the local law enforcement agency responded to a call of an unidentified black ship that landed in one of the local fields. The few survivors stated that two individuals mystically appeared and were looking for some guy named Kal-El. They spoke briefly to a local girl named Lana Lang, but when nobody was able to help them, they became aggressive as did the local law enforcement. The eyewitnesses said the two individuals attacked them just by shooting laser beams out of their eyes, taking out their whole unit. The young woman was one of the survivors, as were a few officers, but now they’ve been admitted into our local psychiatric hospital. The two individuals left the scene in a flash and later were seen at the Smallville Medical Center, where they raised some more havoc and it all ended at the Luthor Mansion. When we went back to collect the ship, it wasn’t there and all that was in its place was its impression. So, that’s my encounter with ET. So, do you want to send me to the loony bin too, is that why you’re here?”

“No, actually I here to offer you a job, a position working with the FBI. You would be in charge of our Special Unit.”

“Intriguing, but what exactly is this Special Unit thing you’re talking about.”

“Basically, we investigate alien encounters.”

Sam Lane couldn’t help himself. He started laughing uncontrollably. When he was finally able to make a coherent statement, he asked,

“So, have you had any luck in this field of study?”

“This is no laughing matter sir. You’d be amazed at all the alien encounters our unit has personally had. I’ve got records and evidence of proof that aliens actually exist among us.”

Intrigued, Lane put out his cigar and sat up straight at his desk, “So, why do you want me?”

“Well, our last unit commander, Colonel Stevens last left to infiltrate some aliens we located in Roswell, New Mexico” before he could finish his sentence Sam was laughing again.

“You mean there is some truth to the fact that little green guys actually landed here back in the 1947 crash, and that wasn’t a hoax?” questioned Lane.

“Yes, now if you’d let me finish. When we recently checked in with Colonel Stevens, he said their unit had just returned from maneuvers and he had no idea what his main objective was. We figure he was abducted and the aliens planted some new information in his and his men’s mind.”

“You’re serious, aren’t you?” Lane began to feel a little uneasy, because this guy wasn’t wavering from his story and actually believed what he was telling him.

“Show me this evidence you’re talking about” Lane said.

Davis pulled out his binder and showed Lane everything he had on Max, Isabel, Michael, Tess, Liz and all the pictures of dead bodies of people that were killed; most of them with a silver handprint on them, dating back into the 1950’s. After Sam went through the overflowing binder he sat it on his desk and settled into deep thought.

“I’ve got more” Davis said holding up the tapes, “can I use your VCR?”

“Sure” Lane said, directing him over to the television console with a VCR machine attached.

“Okay, this first video was taken when we had the subject ‘Max Evans’ detained.” Davis showed Lane a video of a teenage boy that was placed in a white room and subjected to many brutal tests, but he didn’t notice anything alien about the tape. “Okay, it looks like all you guys like to do is torture young teenagers.”

“The ‘teenager’ in question is an alien, and he was on some medication, which hindered him from using his alien abilities. Let me show you the other tapes before you make any judgments.” Lane nodded as Davis stuck another tape in the machine and pressed play.

Now he was looking a young woman named Isabel who had objects flying around her and with a wave of her hand the item look like they returned to their normal places.

“Now, that was quite the magic show” Lane said.

“The girl in question is Max Evans’ sister, Isabel. Okay, this next video is quite graphic, but you need to see what these aliens are capable of.” Davis stuck in the next video.

Lane was looking at what he assumed to be a bio-hazard containment center. Everyone was wearing white bio-hazardous suits and in the middle of the sectioned off room was a jagged cone-like shaped object. Stopping the tape, Lane asked, “What is that?”

“That is one of their spaceships. Continue watching the footage.” Lane pushed the play button.

Next, it looked like someone had hit a button or something and it sounded like the spaceship had hissed and then there was a baby lying on a blue blanket. Lane looked at Davis who pointed back at the screen. The next scene was indescribable. A petite blond woman emerged and just by lifting her hand, she was able to kill all the technicians in her way. Some were sent backwards against the walls, others looked like their heads had exploded. It was a very gruesome sight. The final scene was of this young woman collecting the baby and disappearing.

“Wow, now that was graphic. I’m been in a few engagements in my time, but what that young lady did was…sick.”

Davis nodded and stuck the next tape in. This one was of Rogers AFB at night. It was pretty quiet until the sirens began to go off, and then the camera zoomed in on the petite young woman again. She walked to the center of the base, this time without the baby. Bullets were ricocheting off of her and hitting anything nearby, she was using some kind of laser beam from her eyes to blow up vehicles and tanks in her way and then she stopped in the center of the base and pulled out a small device and turned the dial. A moment later the base exploded and took out everything within a close proximity of the young woman.

“That little lady took out a whole base?” Lane said, watching the footage again. “What is that device she’s holding?”

“I don’t know. It’s not from this world. Our scientists have been studying this footage trying to decipher everything and can’t find any answers.”

“What happened to the baby?”

“That is yet another mystery. It was reported that at one of our roadblocks, the woman, the baby, Max Evans and Michael Guerrin were seen together, but they escaped.”

“It seems like you have a real problem holding onto these teenagers and they keep slipping through your hands. So, anymore tapes for me to watch?”

“Just one more” Davis said, placing the last tape in the VCR. “This was the graduation commencement address. We were ordered to take down the subjects at graduation, but not all the subjects were there, so we were waiting. I don’t know how the aliens found out about our plans, but look there. Max gets up from his seat and walks up to the podium and says something to the guest speaker. The speaker leaves in a hurry, looks like he’s been frightened. Max reaches down on the side there and all of a sudden the lights go out. He gives a little speech and we lose our other targets. Just when we get the clear to take out Max, here comes Michael on a motorcycle and picks up Max and they leave. We followed them the best that we could, but it’s like they up and disappeared.”

Lane sat back, absorbing all of this. “So, what you want me to do is to be in charge of this group that goes out looking for these aliens, right?”

“Yes”

“Will I have to transfer to Roswell, because I’ve gotten used to living here and my daughter lives in Smallville and my niece lives in Metropolis and I like being close to each of them, so I can keep an eye on them.”

“No, actually you can still remain here at Fort Ryan and carry on with your normal duties, but whenever the aliens resurface, we’ll need you to go wherever we’ve located them and carry out the capture and interrogation.” Davis answered.

“But, what about the Smallville aliens? I didn’t see anything in your folder that represented the creatures that tore apart our little town.”

“I don’t have any information pertaining to the Smallville incident in my files, but I can check back with the home office and see what they have and forward those records to you, if you choose to accept this position.”

Lane sat back briefly, contemplated the situation and then said. “Thank you for the offer. This is something that’ll have to think about, because I am getting close to retirement and I don’t want to go out into my retirement with a reputation of looking for little green guys. Granted, I think you have some real credible evidence proving the existence of aliens, but this is such a large leap for a man in my position to take. Give me at least a week to think this over and then I’ll give you an answer.”

“Fair enough” Davis said. “I know it’s a tough decision to make, but I know aliens exist. I’ve personally seen these guys in action and it frightens me to see what they are capable of doing. I was apprehensive when I joined the unit too, but I wanted to make sure my family, my children will be able to grow up in a world safe from these predators.”

“One question though. Are all the aliens you’ve encountered bad?” Lane asked.

“From what I’ve seen, yes.” Davis said.

“Well, like I said. I’ll think about it and give you my answer in a week” Lane said.

“I’ll be waiting for your call” Davis said. “Would you be kind enough to take me back to my vehicle?”

“Sure” Lane said, closing up his office and leading Davis back to his car.

This was clearly not what he was expecting when he agreed to meet with this Special Agent. He had a lot to think about in the coming week. He started his car and drove Special Agent Davis back to the diner.

LuthorCorp

Lex pulled into the underground parking lot of LuthorCorp and parked his car in his spot, next to his private elevator and got into the elevator and proceeded to go up to the top floor. When the doors opened, to the right was his office, but he wanted to have some words with his father, so he turned left and walked through the large glass doors.

“Ah, Lex. To what do I owe this visit, on such a beautiful Sunday afternoon?” Lionel greeted his son.

“I’m fine father, but I recently learned you had a very interesting weekend too” Lex responded.

“Whatever do you mean, Lex?”

“Don’t play dumb with me father. I just got done visiting with a couple that said you helped them out at the Summerholt Institute the other day.”

“The building was literally falling down on us son. I was at the Institute with Senator Kent when the wall exploded out, probably from some kind of experiment that went badly. The young couple was knocked unconscious, so I called an ambulance and decided to follow them to the hospital and stayed with them until I knew they were safe. There was no alternative motive involved; I was just being a concerned citizen helping out my fallen brethren.” Lionel explained.

“What’s going on with their boy, Brett?” Lex asked bluntly.

“From what I understand, he was in the back with his doctor and wasn’t affected. Some relatives of his came and picked him up for the weekend, or at least until they were back home” Lionel stated.

“But, why was he there in the first place?”

“I don’t know son. What is this all about anyways? Do you have a new obsession I’m unaware of?”

“It’s nothing” Lex said and turned and walked out of his father’s office into his. His father was hiding something; he knew it, but what? It was all very aggravating. He wrote down on a piece of paper what he knew. He wrote down Doctor Whitmore’s phone call, the boy in question, the exploding building, Clark Kent showing up later on and taking the boy’s files, the Chambers and his father. It all came back to the boy. He would have to find out more about this baby. Who was he and who were his biological parents?

Putting aside his questions, Lex finished up on some other business and called his contacts to see if they had anything on Milton Fine, which they had nothing to report and he closed up his office and left for Smallville.

In the meantime, Clark pulled into the Daily Planet parking lot and walked Chloe to her car. “I was actually thinking of going in and seeing if there was anything new on my desk, but I think I’ll just head home, take a long shower and go to bed early.”

“Well, maybe I might stop by later on to say good night personally.” Clark said with one of his charming smiles and then apprehensively asked, “Do you think Lana will be around?”

“I really don’t know what Lana’s been up too. I was with you all weekend, remember” Chloe said.

“I know” he leaned over and gave Chloe a passionate kiss and then he said, “and that’s something to remember me by, until I return.”

“I’ll be waiting” Chloe said, getting into her vehicle. Clark leaned inside her car and gave her another kiss and allowed her to back out and drive away. Clark got back inside the van and drove to LuthorCorp

Once they were inside the parking garage, he parked next to the private elevators and they each made their way up to the top floor, exiting the elevator, the sight of the offices amazed Isabel, Jesse and Liz. “Lionel’s office is over here” Clark said going to the left and entering Lionel’s office.

“Clark, it’s so good to see you again. Why don’t you and your friends have a seat” offered Lionel.

“Thank you” Clark said as they each took a seat in the expensive black leather furniture.

“Lionel, I believe some introductions are in order” Clark said. “You’ve already met Max, and this is his sister Isabel and her husband Jesse.”

“Nice to meet each of you” Lionel said and then he turned to Clark. “I’ve been a very patient man Clark, so do you want to explain to me what’s going on?”

“Just a second” Clark said, scanning the room using his x-ray vision to ensure the room was free of prying eyes and ears. He then turned his attention back to Lionel. “I wanted to make sure we were alone. What do you want to know?”

“Well, first of all, what exactly happened on Friday at the Summerholt Institute, as well as what’s going on with that young boy. Lex just stopped by and he’s been questioning me about him too. I can’t protect you from him if I don’t know what’s going on.”

Clark looked towards Max and said, “I told you it was totally up to you, because it’s not my place to say anything.”

Max looked toward Isabel with a knowing look that he was going to let another person into the ‘I know an alien club’, but he also had a very uneasy feeling about it, but since this guy had kept Clark’s secret for over a year he thought they should trust him. He did after all take care of the Chambers, offered them the helicopter twice and warned them of Lex’s impending inquire. Isabel nodded her head in agreement and Max turned toward Lionel and said,

“As you know, I’m Max Evans and I am Brett’s biological father. It was brought to my attention that my son was brought to this Institute for some testing and things didn’t go as planned for the physicians. You see…” Max paused for a second, “I’m an alien hybrid, as is my sister here and Michael, who you’ve already met. We come from a planet called Antar, and we were genetically engineered with Antarian DNA and human DNA. I had a relationship with another hybrid who has died and the result was Zan, or Brett as you know him. Anyways, when the Institute tested him, they probably noticed that most of the tests came back normal except for his blood work, which would be a little green. Zan didn’t like being tested on and that’s when he blasted his way out. He didn’t realize what he was doing and we’ve talked to his adoptive parents and they are aware of his special situation and we are working together to help him control his developing abilities. We are also on the run from the Special Unit of the FBI, so we’ve been trying to stay under the radar and we are putting our lives in your hands and hope that you’re able to keep this information to yourself, just like you’ve done for Clark in the past.”

Max finished up his speech and Lionel sat back and thought about what he had just been told.

“Well, I was expecting to hear a strange explanation, maybe something dealing with a meteor infected person, but never this. Wow. I’m at a loss for words. Finding out about Clark’s existence was interesting, but learning there’s another whole world out there, it just boggles the mind.” Lionel said.

“What is a meteor freak?” Jesse asked.

“When Krypton exploded the remnants were infected by radiation and each time when Smallville and it’s surrounding areas were hit by the meteor showers, those meteor rocks or what some of us call Kryptonite landed all over the place. We are learning that some people that were out in each of the meteor showers have somehow been infected and in some cases develop some kind of ability. These people we refer to affectionately as meteor freaks. Ask Chloe about her Wall of Weird and she’ll be able to show you some examples” explained Clark.

“So Clark, how do the rocks affect you? Are you a meteor freak too? Isabel said with a smile on her face.

Laughing, Clark said, “No, I’m not a meteor freak, just an alien from another planet, just like you. I am however allergic to the meteor rocks and I have a different reaction, depending on what color they are.”

“They come in colors?” Max asked.

“Yeah. Keep me away from the Green Kryptonite. Unfortunately, this is the kind that is the easiest to find and what our meteor freaks have been infected with. It drains me of all my abilities and if I’m exposed to it too long, I could die. The Red Kryptonite essentially allows the bad Clark in me to come out and play. I speak my mind and don’t hold back. There’s also Black Kryptonite, which splits me into Kal-El and Clark Kent and finally Silver Kryptonite, which basically make me insane. My greatest fears come before me, when I’m infected with Silver-K” explained Clark.

“I’m sorry Clark, I didn’t realize they had that much of an affect on you” Isabel said.

“It’s no problem, it’s a good thing to know” Clark said and then turning towards Lionel he asked, “so how are you doing with all this new information?”

“I’m fine and yes, I’ll keep your secret, just like I’ve kept Clark’s. Is there anything else I should know?” asked Lionel.

“I think we’ll leave it at that” Max said, “I don’t want to tell you too much so you’ll have some plausible deniability.”

“I understand, and if you need anything just let me know” offered Lionel.

“Well, speaking of that, that was the other reason we requested to meet with you” Max said. “We recently placed a deposit on the property that belongs to a Nell Potter and were wondering since you own the realty company we’re going through if there was any way we could push the sale through as quickly as possible, so we can give Mrs. Kent her house and farm back. Also, we need to make sure that any outside agency, such as the Special Unit, doesn’t find out about our new acquisition. We would really like to lay down some roots instead of being on the run all the time.”

“Done. I’ll call the agency tomorrow and take care of all the arrangements. You’ll be able to move in tomorrow. Is there anything else?” questioned Lionel.

“Just one more thing Sir” Jesse said. “I’m a lawyer by trade and work for a firm out of Boston, but I’ve just been reunited with my wife and was wondering if there were any open positions in any of your law firms I could apply for?”

“Consider it done. I’m sure I could use another good lawyer on my staff. You can work out of your home and when I need you, I’ll send for you. Are we in agreement?” Lionel asked.

“Yes sir, and may I ask how much I’ll be paid?” Jesse inquired.

“How much were you making in Boston?”

“$350 a year” responded Jesse.

“Then I’ll match it. Do you need your stuff packed up and moved from Boston too?” Lionel asked.

“If it can be done discreetly, then yes that would be great.” Jesse said. “Thank you very much.”

“You’re welcome” Lionel turned towards Clark and asked are we done, or is there anything else I need to know about?”

“I believe we’ve taken care of everything we needed too. Thank you for seeing us.” Clark said.

“Anything for you and your mother Clark, give her my regards”

“I will.” Clark, along with the others got up and said their goodbye and left by the elevator and loaded up the van for their trip back to Smallville.

[sdcheesehead]

Thanks again for all the feedback. Again, thanks goes out to my Beta's. The visualization of Kyrpton was inspired in my research at Wikipedia.com (Krypton).

Chapter 22- Training Sessions Begin

Back on the farm in Smallville, Michael and Maria decided to take a little walk down the country road. Michael thought it would be nice to show her the new house they had just put a deposit on. Hand in hand they walked and talked. The air was crisp and the sun was setting across the open fields. Soon, they had reached the house and Maria instantly fell in love with it. When they reached the door, Michael laid his hands on the door and opened the lock and lifted Maria up and walked her over the threshold.

“Wow Spaceboy, I never would’ve expected you to be so ‘romantic’. What’s going on?”

“Just wanted to show you the place personally,” he said with a smile on his face as he set her back down on the floor. He showed her each of the rooms and then he showed her the room he was claiming. He set the backpack he had brought along down and pulled out a blanket and laid it down in the middle of the room. By touching the corner of it he transformed it into a queen size bed. He pulled out a couple of candles and lit them and then he lifted Maria onto the bed and lay down next to her. Gentle he began to kiss her neck, as he began to undress her. She reciprocated the offer and soon they were passionately making love.

Kyle decided to hang out at the house while Martha started preparing dinner for everyone. She had just received a phone call from Clark saying they were on their way back and everything went well. Mira and Serena were very interested in everything Martha was doing and even tried to help out. Martha had to take some time out to teach them what potatoes and carrots were and then she showed them how to peel them. She also stuck a large roast in the oven and was in the process of making some fresh bread, when Lois came in through the back door.

“Hello Mrs. Kent”

“Well, Hello Lois and how are you today?” Martha said, continuing to kneed the dough for her bread.

“Oh, I was just out and about and since there’s nothing going on in Smallville, I thought I’d come by and say hi”

“Well, you’re always welcome, you know that” Martha said, setting the dough in a bowl and placing a towel over it.

Kyle heard a new voice in the kitchen and decided to investigate it. Walking in, he noticed Clark’s friend Lois was there. He hadn’t really taken notice of her before, but she was really hot. He sat down at the counter and looked over towards this beautiful woman. Maybe he would have a shot with her, since Jesse decided to come back to claim Isabel again.

“Looks like you still have some guests Mrs. Kent” Lois said looking at the two women and the attractive young guy.

“Yeah, some friends of ours were looking at purchasing the Lang property next door and until the acquisition goes through, we’ve opened up our home to them. I’ve lost count as to how many extra guests I’ve got tonight, do you know Kyle?”

Kyle thought about it and said, “Nine extra bodies tonight Mrs. Kent, since Chloe and Zan went back to Metropolis”

“Wow, where are you putting them all?” Lois inquired.

“Here and there and out in the barn” Kyle answered her.

Lois went up to the two strange women who were still trying to peel the potatoes and carrots and said, “Hi, the name is Lois Lane”

“I’m sorry Lois” Martha said going over to the counter, “that was very rude of me. This is Mira and Serena.”

“Nice to meet you Lois” Mira and Serena both said.

“It looks like you two are just as useful as I am in the kitchen” Lois commented on their attempts at peeling. “Don’t get me wrong, you’re doing a far better job than I could do” and then she turned to Kyle. “So, why are you moving to a dinky little town like this?”

Kyle raised his eyebrow and said, “Well, I guess I wanted to settle down a little bit. Been on the road for a while after high school and thought it would be nice to get a job and Smallville doesn’t look too bad. Plus, it’s close to Metropolis.”

“True and where are you from?”

“Roswell, New Mexico” Kyle said.

“Wow, isn’t that the place the little green men crash back in the 50’s or something?” Lois asked, as Mira and Serena looked up from their vegetables. It was interesting to hear what humans thought of individuals from other worlds. Martha even lifted her head to hear Kyle’s explanation.

“Well, it’s known as the ‘Alien Capital of the World’. They have a UFO museum and each year they hold a UFO convention and a Crash Festival to commemorate the Crash that supposedly happened back in 1947. Liz, Michael and Maria, who will back soon, worked at a place called the CrashDown café, which is an alien themed café,” informed Kyle.

“So, have you ever met an alien?” Lois said, totally intrigued with this whole talk about aliens and such. Plus this guy was pretty cute.

“I don’t know. Do you know what to look for if an alien comes knocking on your door?” Kyle countered.

“Well, before last year the only representation I’ve ever seen was what the movies had shown me. I pictured them being green, three feet tall, big heads with black teardrop eyes and long skinny arms. Oh, and don’t forget the antennas” commented Lois.

Mira and Serena couldn’t help it and began to laugh and then Kyle asked, “What changed your mind?”

“Well, during the last meteor shower these two people, a man and a woman, showed up at the Smallville Medical Center looking for someone named Kal-El. Well, one of them had Mr. Kent held up by the throat and I went to intercede and the woman just threw him down the hall with no effort and lifted me off the ground and proceeded to crush my larynx. I couldn’t talk for a week after that. Anyways, these ‘aliens’ looked just like us, but they had extraordinary super human strength. Plus, their fashion style was way off too.”

“Wow, a real alien encounter. So has anyone else had an alien encounter like yours?” Kyle asked.

“Well, my friend Lana Lang said she saw their ship and she was the one that led Mr. and Mrs. Universe away from Smallville Medical Center” Lois stated.

“How did she do that?” asked Kyle.

“Well, she told them she knew who this Kal-El guy was and that he was at the Luthor mansion” stated Lois.

“Did she really know who this person was?” Mira asked, curious at this little question and answering period.

“I don’t think she did. I think she just wanted to get them away from all the patients at the medical center.”

Just as Lois had finished up her tale, Maria and Michael walked in the back door a liitle flushed. “Dinner smells delicious Mrs. Kent” Michael said.

“Thank you. Oh and Michael, Maria this is Lois” Martha said.

“Hey” Maria said, “So, what are you two talking about?”

“Alien encounters” Lois said.

“Oh” and then she looked towards Kyle.

“Yeah, Lois was wondering where we were from, so I told her Roswell and she wanted to know if I had ever met an alien, but it turns out she’s actually had an alien encounter and she was just telling us about it” Kyle explained.

“So, I’m assuming you two are from Roswell too” assumed Lois.

“Yeah” Maria said, “born and raised.” Michael didn’t say anything and just let Lois assumed the same for him.

Martha finally placed the bread in the oven and cut and placed the potatoes and carrots alongside the roast in the oven. Just as she was closing the oven door, the back door opened again and in filed Max, Liz, Clark, Isabel and Jesse. Clark noticed Lois was sitting up at the counter talking with Kyle and went over to the counter to join them.

“Hey Smallville, what’s up?”

“Not much, just took Chloe back home and you?” Clark said, taking a cookie from a plate in the center of the counter and eating it.

“Not much, just talking with Kyle here about alien encounters.”

Max looked over at Kyle, searching for an explanation.

“Sounds like an interesting topic, what brought on this subject?” Clark asked, taking another cookie and offering the plate to Kyle.

“Well, your friends are from the ‘Alien Capital’ and I was just wondering if they ever met an alien. I had to tell them about my encounter with Super Ken and Barbie and how they were looking for someone named Kal-El. I wonder what happened to those two. Anyhow, I know I should know who some of you are, but I’m really bad with names.”

Clark took this opportunity to introduce the group again to Lois. They carried on with their conversation and soon dinner was ready. The girls set the table and everyone sat down. Mira and Serena were lost as to what they should do. Liz sat next to Mira and Isabel sat next to Serena, as the group kept Lois’ attention, Liz and Isabel helped Mira and Serena with their food. They soon were able to pick up on things and by the end of dinner they were more comfortable. When everyone was done, Martha picked up the plates and pulled out four homemade pies and began to pass out slices of pie for everyone, when there was another knock on the door.

“I wonder who that could be?” inquired Martha.

“I’ll get it” Clark said and got up and answered the door. When he opened the door he was shocked. Standing before him was Pete.

“Pete, I can’t believe my eyes!” exclaimed Clark, pulling Pete into a bear hug.

“Nice to know I was missed” Pete said. “Do I smell pie?”

“Yeah, mom just made four, come on in” Clark said.

“Man, I didn’t know you had so many people over” Pete said.

“Pete!” Martha said, going over to Pete and giving him a motherly hug, “what brings you to Smallville?”

“I’m in town visiting my dad and thought I’d come over and visit with Clark here.” Pete looked around the room at all the unfamiliar faces and then looked at Clark.

“Everyone, this is my best friend Pete Ross. Pete this is…” Clark continued on with his introductions and made a place for him at the table.

“So how’s Wichita treating you?” Clark asked.

“Not bad. Of course lately I’ve been approached by some not so friendly people” Pete said giving Clark a knowing look, “so I thought I’d get away from the situation, which is the reason I decided to visit my father for awhile.”

“I understand” Clark said. “So, how long are you going to be staying?”

“I don’t know, let’s see how things go. So, what’s been going on with you? The last thing I heard is that you and Lana were finally an item.”

“Well, Lana and Clark were snuggle bunnies for awhile, but something happened between the two and now she’s with Lex,” offered Lois.

“No way!” exclaimed Pete. “What did you do to turn her in Lex’s direction?”

All eyes were on Clark and all he wanted was for the conversation to go in a different direction so he whispered to Pete, “This is something I’d rather discuss with you later.”

“Okay, but it better be good to give up on the one thing you were pining over since we were in grade school,” responded Pete.

Soon, everyone was done with their dessert and Lois decided it was time to leave, so she bid everyone farewell and Kyle walked her out to her car. In the process, he asked her for her phone number and out for coffee sometime, since he remembered she liked her coffee from the other morning.

Once Lois was gone, all pretenses left. Everyone was sitting in the living room again, engaged in their own conversations about moving into their new house the following day and Jesse’s new job offer.

“Pete, I’m sorry I wasn’t able to talk before, but I didn’t want Lois to know what really happened between me and Lana” Clark began. As if on cue, everyone’s attention turned to Clark. He looked around the room and finally decided to tell the group what had happened. He knew it was a question burning in the back of their minds, even though they had never met this girl. Only Michael was aware of the pain Clark was enduring.

Clark began, “As Pete said, since I was about seven years old, I’ve had a crush on Lana Lang. During high school we became very close friends, but it wasn’t until after we graduated that we became closer.” Turning towards Pete, he said aloud, “During the meteor shower, I was forced to find these three crystals which formed this awesome place I call my ‘Fortress of Solitude’. Jor-El decided that was the time to start my training and…”

“Hold on” interrupted Pete, “Am I right in assuming these people are aware of your…secret?” Clark nodded. “Everyone?” Pete said looking around the room at all the people. Clark nodded again.

“Pete, in all fairness to Clark, we’ve also got secrets of our own” offered Max, “but I’d like Clark to finish his story first.”

Clark continuing telling everyone about how close he and Lana had gotten and how he had told her his secret and proposed to her in the “Fortress’ and then it was all taken away from him because of the deal he made with Jor-El. He went into detail of the night he lost the two things he loved the most. His father and Lana Lang and how he watched her run into the arms of Lex Luthor.

“Man, that’s rough” Pete said.

“Yeah, but recently Chloe and I have finally started to pair up” Clark announced.

”You finally took the blinders off Clark. I’m proud of you! Chloe’s been into you forever, it seems” Pete said.

“Yeah, I guess I did. So, what’s this about someone giving you some problems?” Clark asked.

“Well, you know right before I left Smallville how I was roughed up by that dirty FBI agent.” Clark nodded, “well it seems his buddies have decided to look me up again. I’ve been approached by a different group of FBI agents asking me not about you but what I know about some other aliens.” Then he looked around the room and it was like a light bulb had just come on in his head. “He was looking for you all” Pete stated.

“Maxwell, this isn’t good. Why would the Special Unit be asking people like Pete about us? We’ve never stepped foot into the state of Kansas until last Friday” Michael said.

“I don’t know” Max thought out loud. “Maybe since we’ve been on the run, the Special Unit has lost our trail and they are desperately looking at other options. Maybe they think we were associated with whatever was going on in Smallville, during this last meteor shower.”

“So, you really are aliens” Pete said.

Max looked over at Pete and then at Clark. “Yeah” Max relented.

“Are you also from Krypton?” asked Pete.

“No, we’re from a planet called Antar and we’re not all aliens. Isabel, Michael and I are alien-hybrids, Mira and Serena are Antarians and Kyle and Liz were changed by me and I guess are considered alien-hybrids too. Maria and Jesse are human.”

“What did these Special Agents want?” Michael asked.

“They basically roughed me up and kept asking what my relationship to you all was. I kept telling them I had no idea who you were, which was the truth. At first they didn’t believe me, but eventually they let me go. I decided that would be a good time to visit my father and to give Clark here a call and warn him about these guys and to let him know he wasn’t alone, but it looks like you found each other. Now, I need to know what I should do now. I don’t want to be subjected to their abuse again, it wasn’t any fun and that’s when I didn’t even know you.”

“I think you should stay here Pete,” suggested Martha, “that way Clark and his friends can protect you, for the time being.”

“I agree with mom,” Clark said, “and after tomorrow, you can stay in the guest room.”

“Are you sure Clark?”

“You’re my best friend. I never wanted you to have to deal with this. I knew when I told you my secret so many years ago, I was putting you in danger and my responsibility to you is to protect you now” stated Clark.

“Well, it’s getting late and I believe Mira and Serena want to start their training sessions tomorrow, so I think I’m going to go to bed” Isabel said. “Are you going to be joining me Maria?”

“Nah, I’ll let Jesse join you, I’ll sleep on the couch here with Spaceboy and the other boys” Maria said.

“Thanks Maria. Jesse, do you want to join me?” Isabel asked. Jesse agreed and followed Isabel up the stairs.

“Well, Liz and I will retreat out to the barn. Hope everyone has a good night’s sleep” Max said took Liz’s hand and moved towards the back door.

“I agree, it’s been a long night. Mira and Serena, if you’d like to follow me I’ve set you up in Clark’s room.” Mira and Serena followed her up the stairs and soon were out of sight.

“Well, I’ve got my bed” Kyle said, preparing his couch.

“Maria and I will take the pull out,” Michael said pulling out the bed.

“I’ll take this one” Pete said. “Where are you going to sleep Clark?”

“He’ll probably be floating above us,” commented Michael, “so beware of an early wake-up call.”

Pete looked up at Clark and smiled, “Still sleep floating Clark?”

“I guess so. I’ll just find a place later because I told Chloe I’d stop in tonight, so I’ll be back later on” responded Clark.

“Yeah right, go and have a good time,” Kyle said with a big grin on his face.

Everyone got comfortable and Clark sped away to Chloe’s apartment. He made sure she was alone and then he knocked on her door.

Chloe had just given up on Clark and had just turned out the lights, when she heard the knock at the door. She got up out of her bed and put on her robe and answered the door.

“You made it” Chloe said as Clark presented her with a single rose he had picked up and leaned over and kissed her. “A lot has happened tonight, including a visit from Pete” Clark said coming into Chloe’s room.

“Pete’s back?” Chloe asked.

“Yeah, I guess this Special Unit that’s after Max and company decided to start questioning Pete. So, he’s going to be staying out at my place for a while.”

“Well, you’re here with me” Chloe said kissing Clark passionately and then moving over to her bed, offering Clark a place on it.

“Chloe, you know about my ‘situation’ and I don’t want to rush into anything. The last thing I want to do is to…hurt you” Clark said, somewhat embarrassed.

“I understand, and we don’t have to do anything until you’re ready. All I want you to do is hold me, can you do that?”

“I think that can be arranged” Clark said. Chloe pulled off her robe. All she was wearing was a dorm room t-shirt and a pair of panties. Clark stripped down to his boxers and got in bed beside her. He wrapped his arms around her as she turned out the lights. Finally, everyone was able to get a good night sleep.

The next morning, Clark and Chloe woke up from the annoying sound coming from Chloe’s alarm clock. Without hesitation, Clark reached over and smashed the alarm clock into pieces and then when he realized what he had done, he apologized.

“No problem Clark, I hated that clock anyhow” responded Chloe. Clark still held onto her and before releasing her from his grasp, he gave her a passionate kiss. “Man, I really don’t want to go to work today” Chloe said.

“Do my ears deceive me? Chloe Sullivan doesn’t want to go to work?” Clark laughed.

“You’re a bad influence Clark Kent, but I’ve got to go and take a shower.”

“Well, I’ve got to get going too. I’ve got chores to do and training starts at dawn with Jor-El.”

Chloe got out of the bed and moved to collect her stuff and leaning over she gave Clark one final kiss and left for the bathroom. Clark waited for her to leave, readjusted himself and got out of bed. He got dressed and sped off to Smallville. He didn’t bother waking anyone and proceeded to do his chores. Afterwards, he came into the house to see Michael, Isabel and Max were all up and ready for their first day of training and his mother had breakfast ready. Clark had a quick breakfast, grabbed his key and proceeded to go to the ‘Fortress’ to begin his training.

Back in Metropolis

Zan was sleeping heavily in his bedroom, when Brenda entered his room and shook him slightly to wake him up. “Good morning sleepyhead.”

“Five more minutes, please,” pleaded Zan, rolling over trying to get a few more minutes of sleep.

“Come on Zan, you need to get up and get ready for your first day at school” Brenda said, laying out Zan’s clothes.

“Fine, I’m getting up. I’ll be down in a minute” Zan said groggily and reluctantly got out of his bed and began getting ready for school. Trying to run a comb through his messy hair, nothing seemed to keep it down, so he decided to try something new. He lifted his hand and waved it over his head and ‘presto’ his hair laid down flat. ‘Better’ he thought. He grabbed his backpack and went down the stairs. Bob and Brenda were both waiting for him, as was a plate of eggs, bacon and toast. He sat down at the table and grabbed the bottle of Tabasco sauce and added it to his eggs and proceeded to eat. His father finished drinking his coffee and folded up the ‘Daily Planet’ he was reading and got up from his place at the table and went over to Zan. Placing his hand on his shoulder he said,

“Good luck today at school son and remember to have a little fun too, but not too much. And also, try not to be too conspicuous, we don’t need any undue attraction coming our way.”

“I understand. Thanks dad”

“So, when is Clark picking you up?” Bob asked.

“Right after school and he should have me home by eight.” Zan told his father.

“Okay, I’ll see you then.” Bob went over to Brenda and gave her a kiss, “Take care of our boy and if you need anything, just give me a call.”

“I will” Brenda said. “And you young man, need to hurry up. We need to get there early, to get you registered for your classes.”

“All done” Zan said, placing his plate in the sink and going to the bathroom to clean up. Soon, he and his mother were on their way to Metropolis Middle School.

Chloe entered the ‘Daily Planet’ and proceeded to the basement, where her desk was situated. She stopped by the break area and filled up her coffee cup and worked her way to her desk. It had been a very nice night. Just having Clark hold her all night brought a smile to her face. She put her coffee cup down on her desk and read a note on her desk. Her boss wanted her to check out a lead for a potential story. Supposedly, there was some activity in the downtime district; dealing with her buddy Lex Luthor and he thought she should check it out. Since she broke that story with the ambassador’s son who was kidnapping and murdering young girls, she had been getting little leads here and there. So, she grabbed her jacket and coffee and the piece of paper with the address on it and made her way to her car.

Clark had entered the Kewatchee Caves and inserted his key into the portal and transported himself to the ‘Fortress’. He went up to the crystal podium and announced, “Father, I am here to start my training”

“Nice to see you Kal-El. Today, you will learn about your heritage and about our world of Krypton, are you ready?”

“Yes Father, I am ready.”

Clark was raised off the ground and as if he was in a trace, he was downloaded with everything there was to know about his home planet. His father took him back to a day that the lands of Krypton were vibrant and colorful. There was a golden volcano in the center of his view surrounded by a scarlet forest where he saw many strange creatures and foliage. The mountains in the distance glistened from the jeweled crystals that formed them. In the sky above, Clark could see two moons and a red sun, which they called Rao. Clark said to his father, “This isn’t the world I pictured. I always assumed the ‘Fortress’ was a true representation of my world. What happened to this world, it’s so beautiful?”

“At one time, this was our world until one of our leading scientists; Jax-Ur had an experiment go wrong on one of the moons, destroying the moon and all its inhabitants. This explosion shifted our planet just enough to alter our atmosphere forcing us to adapt. We lost all the gardens and vegetation you see only to be replaced with barren dry lands. We moved our homes into the Jewel Mountains, where the capitol cities Kryptonopolis and Kandor were located.” Clark continued to observe an explosion in the Krypton sky as the moon exploded and then as if his view of Krypton was being fast-forwarded, he saw the lush vibrant gardens turn to a dark barren desert. Next, he was standing in one of the crystalline cities. “Where am I now Father?”

“This is Kryptonopolis, where you were born.” The architecture of this world was magnificent. Everything was pure white with light being provided from the crystals that allowed the light from Rao to shine through. Everyone was wearing stark white outfits with a black Kryptonian symbols on their chest. “Why do they wear symbols on their chest?”

“Those symbols represent each person’s family crest and are worn by the males in our society” Jor-El stated.

“What does our family crest look like?” asked Clark.

Soon his view changed and he saw a respectable man with pure white hair wearing the same white suit everyone else was wearing with a black diamond shape symbol with what looked like an “S” in its center. Standing next to him was a beautiful woman with long flowing reddish brown hair. “Is that you and my mother?”

“Yes it is. Her name is Lara and she loved you very much. We both did. You were only a day old when we sent you away.” Clark witnessed his last days on Krypton and his parent’s final goodbyes as they placed him in the star capsule that would be his home for the next three years. Jor-El brought him out of his trance. Clark couldn’t believe it, but it was already noon. Just the few hours he had spent with Jor-El answered so many questions that Clark had about himself, but it also open up so many other doors to many more inquires. He made his way back to the farm, kicking himself for never returning to Jor-El to continue his training.

When he got back to the farmhouse, his mom had lunch ready for everyone. They each sat around the table eating their lunch, as Clark told them about his experience. Michael, Max and Isabel recounted their training session with Mira. Basically she wanted to know what potential and abilities each of the ‘royals’ had and what she needed to do to prepare them. Serena had gone back to the Granolith with Liz to start reprogramming it and to start showing Liz how to operate it, including running system checks. Pete took Jesse, Kyle and Maria into town and Maria and Kyle went to work trying to find jobs while Pete and Jesse hung out at the Talon. Kyle had found a position at the ‘Smallville Garage’ as a mechanic and Maria ending up getting a job at the local diner. While everyone was talking about their day, Lionel Luthor came in the back door.

“Good afternoon everyone” Lionel greeted everyone.

“Well hello Lionel, what brings you out to the farm?” Martha asked.

“Well, I’ve got the purchase agreement and title paperwork for the Potter house. If Max and Liz could come over here and sign it, I can take it down to the courthouse and then I can give them the keys to their new house” Lionel said.

Max and Liz got up from their positions at the table and walked over to Lionel. Lying before them was all the paperwork for the house. They each signed their names to the document and Lionel folded it up and gave them their house keys.

“Thank you very much Mr. Luthor” Max said.

“You’re very welcome Max. Now Jesse, may I have a word with you. I believe I’ve got a small job for you.”

“Sure” Jesse said getting up from the table and following Lionel out the door. Everyone returned to their conversations and the group prepared to move their stuff into their new house.

***

Zan was just finishing up his lunch, reflecting back on his morning. School wasn’t too bad. He had missed his first couple of classes of English and Social Studies, because he was in the testing center. He didn’t ace the test they gave him, which was what Brenda had suggested, but his score was very respectable. Algebra was a breeze and during lunch he was even invited to sit with a girl in his class named Melissa. She was a petite girl with long curly blond hair and bright blue eyes, so Zan readily agreed.

“Brett, Earth to Brett” Melissa shook Zan, bringing him back to the real world. “You look like you’re zoning off into space.”

“Sorry, what were you saying?” Zan asked.

“Just wondering what classes you have next”

“Oh” Zan reached into his book bag and pulled out his schedule, “It looks like I’ve got P.E. next and then Physical Science, followed by Music.”

“So do I, if you like I can show you where your classes are” offered Melissa.

“Sure” Zan agreed.

Soon, a group of girls joined Melissa and Zan. “So Missy, who’s the cutie?” referring to Zan.

“This is Brett. He’s new in school and is in all my classes” Melissa told her friends.

“Wait a minute Missy, you’re talking AP courses aren’t you?” Melissa nodded, “But, he looks like he should be in grade school and you’re saying he’s taking AP courses with you.”

“I was home schooled for the longest time by my mother before she and my dad died in a car accident” explained Zan.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Sara said, “I didn’t realize your parents had died, that’s so sad.”

“Yeah it is,” Zan said somberly, “but I’m lucky that the Chambers wanted to adopt me, normally it’s really hard for kids who aren’t babies to get adopted.”

The girls listened in on the tale Zan spun for them until the bell rang and Melissa and he moved to PE.

***

Chloe made it to the downtown district, to the address written on the piece of paper, but she didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Reaching into her glove compartment, she pulled out a Metropolis city map, to make sure she was in the right spot. Scanning the map, she was sure she had arrived at the right location, so she folded up the map and placed it back in the compartment. Looking at her surroundings, she noticed a little deli on the corner, so she grabbed her purse, got out of her car, locked it and moved to the deli. There wasn’t anyone on the streets, which she thought was kind of odd. She had almost made it to the deli when she felt a prick in her neck and then blackness.

When Chloe came through, she was in a dark damp concrete room with no windows and a single heavy door. She got up from the cot she was laying on, but then immediately grabbed her head. Her head throbbed from an instantaneous headache. Sitting back down on the cot, she took in her surroundings again. The last thing she remembered was walking to at deli on the corner and now this. Then she noticed her purse was lying on the bed beside her. She grabbed it and reached for her cell phone, but when she turned it on she couldn’t get any reception. ‘Just great’ is all she thought. She had no idea where she was and neither did anyone else. She decided to sit back on the cot until her abductor showed him or herself.

***

Zan finished up with his last class and waited in his mother’s classroom for Clark to show up. “So, how was your first day of school?” Brenda asked her son.

“Oh, it was great. The classes aren’t too bad and I met a few people and one girl name Melissa who has been hanging out with me all day.”

“Melissa, now she’s a really sweet girl” commented Brenda, with a slight smile on her face.

“Mom, it’s not like that” Zan said, clearly embarrassed at his mom’s implications.

“Are you ready to go?” Clark said, showing up at the classroom door.

“Yep” Zan said, giving his mother a hug and joining Clark. Clark picked up Zan and sped away. Moments later were standing in a dark concrete basement.

“Where are we?” Zan asked.

Clark walked over to a heavy door and said, “Your father wanted to meet you down here to start your training” with that he opened the door and Zan recognized Chloe and walked into the cell, as Clark closed the door behind him.

Zan turned around and tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge. “What’s going on Chloe and why did Clark just lock me in her with you?”

“How did you get here Zan?” Chloe asked, still holding her hand to her head. Zan told her of how Clark just picked him up from school and now he was here.

“That wasn’t Clark” Chloe stated.

“Could it be a shape shifter like Mira and Serena?” queried Zan.

“I don’t know” Chloe simply said, as the two sat back on the cot and waited.

Fine changed back into himself and smiled, everything was going just as he planned.

[sdcheesehead]

Welcome TheAntarianKing to my little adventure. I hope you continue to enjoy my little adventure. I also hope I answered your question in this next chapter.

Alien_Friend - I plan on making General Lane an asset to the cause, and because of your great observation, you've made some of my 'rebel' friends out there happy, because I'm working Tess back into the picture.

As always, thank you's go out to my loyal readers for all your feedback. It really keeps me going. Also, thanks goes out to Lauren and TessHardingEvans, my beta's, especially after editing this chapter, which was partly written while I was sick. You'll should've seen the typos!!

Chapter 23 – Fine’s Agenda

For days Ankaa and Sirius had been traveling through the barren dry lands of Asterie. Each of them was covered with the red dust that was continually blown around them. In the distance, they could finally see the outline of the Asterian Royal Palace. Sighing, Ankaa pulled her cloak tighter around her face and quickened her pace; soon they would be out of the blustering Asterian winds and in some kind of shelter.

A lot of time has passed since the last time she visited her childhood friend Kathana. Their parents were very close at one time and as children it was a normal scene to see Kathana and Ankaa running through the orange meadows playing gleefully. Now, as they got closer to the entrance the vibrant scenes of her past were missing. ‘What has happened to this place’ thought Ankaa.

There was a single sentinel guarding the entrance to the palace grounds. He noticed the pair moving forward towards the gate entrance. Rarely was there any traffic going through this gate. ‘Where had these two come from and what did they want?’ the sentinel questioned himself. He pulled himself together and stood in a guarded position and awaited the arrival of these two strangers. As they got closer, he noticed one of them was a woman, followed protectively by a stronger male. It looked like the two had been traveling through the wastelands for days. He continued to hold his position.

As Ankaa and Sirius reached the entrance, the sentinel voiced cordially but with authority, “Welcome to the Asterian Royal Palace, what is your business here today?”

“I request an audience with her Royal Highness, Queen Kathana” Ankaa responded.

The sentinel was flabbergasted. Not only did these two want entrance onto the palace grounds, they wanted a meeting with the Queen herself. Holding his tongue he asked, “May I tell her Royal Highness who is calling on her and what the purpose of your visit is?”

Ankaa had been in hiding for so long and presumed dead by most and in their present condition of traveling through the wastelands, she was sure the sentinel wouldn’t believe her, but she had to come out of the cave she had been living in for the past 50 years and this was the first step. She looked towards her protector and then removed the hood from her head and began to unwind the swathe that was wrapped around it, protecting her from the dry dust in the air and held her head high and announced, “I am the Queen, Mother of Zan, your rightful King of Antar and the ‘Five Planets’ and I will discuss the purpose of my visit with your Queen personally.”

If the sentinel wasn’t already flustered, he was now. Stuttering he said in a disbelieving voice, “but Her Royal Highness died many years ago, when the ‘Royal Four’ were killed.”

At this point, Sirius stepped forward removing his cloak and pronounced, “I am Sirius, Royal Protector of Her Royal Highness Ankaa and she is who she says she is.”

The sentinel held his ground though; “I cannot let you into the palace to see the Queen just because you’re claiming to be a person believed dead many years ago. Is there any proof to this claim that you are truly whom you say you are?”

“I commend you for standing your ground; you make an excellent sentinel. When my son comes back to claim his place on the throne, and he will, I will make sure he recognizes your efforts. As for proof…” It had been awhile since Ankaa had produced the Antarian Royal Seal, but she brought her hands together, closed her eyes and when she opened them a royal blue seal was seen hovering above her hands. After a moment she brought her hands together and the seal disappeared. “Only a member of the Antarian royal family can produce that seal, it is embedded in myself, as well as my son and daughter and any heirs they may produce. Is this proof enough for you?”

The sentinel was amazed. He had only heard stories, legions about the power behind the Royal Antarian Seal, but he thought the seal was only embedded in the rightful King. Confused, he asked, “that’s a very interesting piece of evidence, but I thought only the rightful ruler had this seal embedded inside of them, how is it you are able to produce it?”

“You are partially right, as I said each member of the royal family has the seal embedded in them, but when a member of the royal family from one of the ‘Five Planets’ assumes the throne to rule over the ‘Five Planets’, there is an extra step that is done after their coronation to make that individual’s seal just a little bit different. It also allows an emissary to verify their validity to sit on the throne by seeing into that individual and bringing forth the seal.”

The sentinel processed all this information, but there was still one question he had to ask, “Who is the bearer of the seal now? Is it King Khivar?”

‘This sentinel is very persistent’ thought Ankaa. “No, he doesn’t. Your true and rightful King, my son Zan, has that seal embedded in him.” The sentinel looked at her with disbelieving eyes as Ankaa continued, “Yes, I understand the Royal Four perished in the palace many years ago, but there was another plan in motion. With the help of some of the brightest scientists I had at my disposal, I was able to create an Antarian-Human half- breed embedded with the essences of the Royal Four. These creations of mine are living on the planet Earth and that Zan is carrying the Royal Seal, which is the reason I am here today to talk to your Queen.”

“Does this mean you plan to commit treason against King Khivar and bring back your son, this Antarian-Human half breed, to take his place?”

Ankaa had never thought of it that way, but she wasn’t committing treason. “If anyone has committed treason, it was Khivar many years ago when he murdered my family. All I’m doing is bringing things back to the way they were, before that treacherous night.”

The sentinel didn’t have to ask anymore questions, he was finally convinced. Finally, there was hope for a future on the ‘Five Planets’. Since Khivar had taken over the throne, each of the planets had suffered in their own ways. “Let me lock down this gate and take you to see Queen Kathana” and then he said proudly, “and I hope you are able to do all that you have said and will bring balance back to our worlds, Your Highness” and he bowed acknowledging her status.

“I truly hope I can” Ankaa said. The sentinel locked down the gate and the three of them walked down a black marble-paved road, which had statues of Asterie’s formal rulers on both sides, leading them up to the large white archway and the entrance into the palace.

Back in Roswell

In an abandoned building that was situated next to the CrashDown, Lonnie, Rath and Nicholas set up their new home on the second story. Instead of watching the front of the building, Nicholas thought it would be better to watch the comings and goings of Ava through the back door.

They were each a little irritated from the lack of sleep the night before. They had decided to visit the local library when it was closed. Everything that Ava said was true about the Royal Four’s disappearance from Roswell and the Special Unit’s involvement was also noted in the archives as well.

Since Nicholas and Rath were ready to cut each other’s throats, Lonnie decided to take the first shift of babysitting Ava as she called it. The other two found their corners and went to sleep. Not that they needed that much sleep, but Lonnie was finding out just how boring this little hick town was after being raised in New York City.

Ava showed up at work bright and early that morning and prepared to do her job. It was a typical Monday morning; there was the usual morning rush of mainly coffee drinkers and then the noon lunch rush and now Ava was just sitting around, waiting for her shift to end excited to start her training in Smallville. Filling up sugar containers, she thought and in fact anticipated that she would be seeing Lonnie and Rath again. Why were they here, in Roswell? Then it dawned on her. They were after the Granolith and probably were watching her every move. Then panic began to set in, how was she going to be able to get to the Granolith to get to Smallville? Leaving the counter, Ava went to the phone and dialed Jim Valenti’s number.

“Deputy Valenti” Jim said, answering his phone.

“Hey Jim, this is Ava”

“Hey Ava, what’s up?”

“Well, I’ve got somewhat of a problem and need to speak to you in person. Is there any way you can stop by the CrashDown?”

“Sure, I’m just around the block, I’ll be right there” Jim said, hanging up the phone.

Ava hung up her end and sat at the counter waiting for Jim to arrive. Soon, the bell on the door rang as Ava turned around. Jim walked up to the counter and since they were the only two in the café, they were able to talk opening.

“So, what’s up?” Jim asked.

Ava filled him in on the situation of Lonnie, Rath and Nicholas and how she believed that she was under their observation since she recalled from before that they were each obsessed in finding the location of the Granolith and she was unsure on how she was suppose to get there without detection.

Jim thought about this and she was right, they didn’t want to bring any more attention to themselves. “I’ll tell you what” Jim started, “after work, I want you to hand deliver an order to me at the station and then I’ll sneak you into the back of my patrol car and take you up to Frazier Woods, where you can make your way to the Granolith. When you get to Smallville my suggestion is to stay there. Don’t give these guys anything to watch.”

“But what about my job here and the Parkers?” Ava asked.

“The life of their daughter and her extended family is more important to them than the café, they will understand. Where is Jeff?”

“I’ll go get him,” Ava said getting up from her stool. Moments later Jeff and Nancy were both in the café.

“What’s up Jim?” Jeff asked, perplexed. Jim explained the situation and both Jeff and Nancy agreed.

“Don’t worry about it Ava, I can take over the tables until we find someone to fill in for you until you get back” Nancy commented.

“I agree” Jeff said, “you are needed more in Smallville than here and if these people are as dangerous as you claim they are then we don’t want to lead them directly to the others. Jim is right, this is the safest approach.”

“I really don’t want to leave you all here unprotected against them. They’re ruthless!”

“We’ll be fine” Jim started, “They don’t know who has been inducted into the ‘club’, so basically all we need to do is play dumb and if they ask about where you are, Jeff can just say you came into work today all upset over personal matters and had to leave town for awhile. When they don’t see you around, they won’t know where to turn and hopefully they’ll leave town. Just one thing though, I don’t think it’ll be safe for any of you to visit Roswell for awhile, at least until we’re sure they’ve left town.”

Ava finally succumbed to their proposal. Jim left her an order and left the diner. Ava carried out the remainder of her shift, went to the back and changed and prepared to take the deputy his order.

Lonnie had just turned over the shift of Ava watching to Rath and crawled into her makeshift bed and went to sleep. Bored, Nicholas decided to take a walk to check out this old horse town. Rath watched the diner and just like Lonnie had noted there was no activity. He got out a deck of cards and began to play a game of solitaire.

As Ava left the café, through the front doors, she noticed Nicholas on the other side of the street. Trying to act as nonchalantly as she could, she strolled down the street, making her way to the sheriff department. She knew she was being followed, but it didn’t bother her. ‘Let him’ she thought. When she got to the sheriff’s department she walked up the marble steps and entered through the front doors.

Nicholas had seen her exiting the café, carrying a bag of what he assumed was an order and a cup of coffee. He didn’t realize he had been spotted. He cautiously followed her to the sheriff’s department and remarked to himself, ‘figures, the cops need their coffee and donuts’. He waited in his spot for her return, but it never came.

Their plan had worked and Ava was making her way through Frazier Woods. Jeff and Nancy had given her a letter for Liz and Jim had sent her off with well wishes too. When she got to the cave she entered it and used the flashlight she had brought and walked up to the Granolith entrance. She waved her hand over the rock face until a handprint materialized and she placed her hand on the silver imprint and opened the door to the Granolith where she was surprised to see Serena and Liz busy working at a control panel.

“Hey guys” Ava said “I’m ready to start my training, but I need to let you know what’s going on in Roswell” and with that she informed them about Lonnie, Rath and Nicholas’s appearance in Roswell and how they should refrain from returning to Roswell for a while. She reached into her pocket and pulled out an envelope and handed it to Liz.

“Your mom and dad wanted me to give this to you too. Well, I better be on my way. Beam me up Serena.”

Serena looked up at her with a strange expression as Liz let a slight giggle escape from her mouth. Serena fired up the Granolith and sent Ava to Smallville. She exited the Kewatchee Caves and made her way to the Kent farm.

Clark and Pete were sitting at the counter talking to his mother when Ava knocked on the door. Clark got up and opened the door.

“Hey Ava” Clark said opening the door wider and allowing Ava to enter the kitchen.

“Hey Clark, Mrs. Kent” Ava said, “I’m here for my training session” and then she noticed Pete.

“Hey Ava” Martha said, “nice to see you again. Clark, I’m going to go out to the garden and get some vegetables for tonight’s dinner.”

“Okay” and then Clark picked up on Ava’s facial expression and introduced his best friend. “Ava, this is Pete, Pete this is Ava.” They each exchanged pleasantries and Clark continued, “Pete knows what’s going on” he assured Ava. “Max and Liz were finally able to sign the paperwork on the house, so everyone is over there getting settled in.”

“He knows everything?” Ava whispered to Clark, as Pete realized that Max and Liz’s names were brought up and he also whispered to Clark, “Is she an alien too?”

“Yes and yes, sort of” Clark said, “Yes, Pete knows everything and Ava is also an alien-hybrid like Max and she’s also, in a strange way, my cousin.” Pete gave him a strange look as Clark said, “I’ll explain later.”

“How many are there?” Pete asked surprised that there were so many of them. Clark just shrugged, “I believe she’s the last one that I know of.”

“Well actually” Ava said apprehensively and then continued, “My pod mates, who look like the Isabel and Michael, showed up in Roswell last night, which isn’t a good thing because they brought Nicholas, the skin, with them and I’m afraid they’re after the Granolith. After talking things over with Jim and the Parker’s they thought it would be best if I stay here for awhile.”

“Another outcast in Smallville” Pete said. Ava gave him a strange look, when Clark explained, “Pete was roughed up by members of this Special Unit, we think, so he’s here under my protection until we can figure out what to do.”

“I see, well I need to get to the house and don’t you need to go pick up Zan?” Ava asked.

“That’s right, thanks for reminding me. Pete, can you take Ava over to the house and I’ll go pick up Zan?”

“Sure, but who’s Zan?” Pete asked and Ava gave him a quizzical look.

“Clark, I thought Pete knew everything, but he doesn’t know about the most important piece of the puzzle?” Ava questioned.

Clark looked towards Pete and said, “Sorry, I forgot about the most important ‘alien’ among us. Zan is Max’s son and he’s living in Metropolis with his adoptive family and I need to go pick him up and bring him back for training with Mira. Maybe on your way over to the house, Ava can bring you up to date on the alien drama going on.”

Ava laughed, “It is a drama, isn’t it. Well come on Pete, show me the way” she said, grabbing Pete by the arm and directing him out the door, “see ya in a little while Clark.”

Clark followed them out the door and once they had left the driveway he sped off to Metropolis Middle School.

Somewhere in Metropolis

“Are you alright Chloe?” Zan asked, looking concern for Chloe, who still was holding her head.

“I’ll be fine. I’ve got a serious headache though, I must’ve been drugged or something. How are you doing?”

“I’m okay, I just don’t know what’s going on. I thought it was Clark that had come to pick me up and now we’re locked up. What’s going on?”

“I’m not sure. You said Clark picked you up and brought you here.” Zan nodded, “Then how did he bring you here?”

“Well, he picked me up and used his super speed and we were here in a matter of seconds. Could it be another Kryptonian?” inquired Zan.

Chloe thought about it, when it finally dawned on her what was going on, “Not a Kryptonian, but maybe something made by Kryptonians” she said.

“What exactly are you talking about?” Zan asked confused.

“This sounds like something Milton Fine would do to draw out Clark” Chloe thought out loud, but noticed the confused expression on Zan’s face. “Fine is basically Clark’s nemesis here on Earth. He was made by Kryptonians and he is some kind of alien artificial intelligence, but I was unaware he could change his form to represent whatever or whomever he wants to be.”

“So, what does he want out of Clark?”

“He wants Clark to open up some portal to bring back Zod from the Phantom Zone, but Clark has refused to release him, so it looks like Fine has become impatient” Chloe said, looking around at their surroundings.

“But why did he take us?” Zan asked, truly perplexed.

“That, Zan, is the question. I can understand, somewhat, why he took me. I’m one of Clark’s closest friends, but why you?” Chloe said sitting back and trying to put two and two together. “He must know who you are too, but how?”

“Well, if he’s been watching Clark at all the last couple of days, I’m sure he’s realized that you and Clark are more than friends at this point, which would be the reason he chose you and if he has been lurking about he’s probably picked up somewhere who I am and maybe he’s even aware of the prophecy too” Zan stated.

“Or maybe not, whatever you do don’t tell him anything. I’m sure Clark or Max will find us,” Chloe said. “Man, I wish I had some aspirin.”

“Here” Zan said coming over to Chloe, “I haven’t done this yet, but dad said that one day I should be able heal people, which is one of his gifts. Can I try?”

“Have at it, if it’ll get rid of this throbbing headache” Chloe said.

Zan laid his hands on the side of Chloe head and closed his eyes and concentrated. Soon, the connection was formed and as he took on Chloe’s pain, he saw glimpses into Chloe’s life. He released Chloe and she sat back. “Did it work?” Zan asked.

“Wow, that’s some gift” exclaimed Chloe, “yeah, it worked, thanks kiddo.”

“No problem”

“So, what other gifts do you have that may get us out of our predicament?”

Zan face lit up and he walked over to the door, “I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before, I should be able to open the door.” Zan laid his hand on the door and the latch slid over, opening the door. Chloe went over and gave Zan a hug, but as they were leaving the confines of their cell, standing in the doorway was Milton Fine with a piece of meteor rock.

Metropolis Middle School

Brenda was cleaning up the rest of her room and packing her bags to go home, when Clark showed up at her door and knocked.

“Hey Brenda, is Zan ready to go?”

Brenda looked at him with a baffled face and said, “What are you talking about Clark, you just picked him up about 15 minutes ago and sped away. I was just getting ready to go home.”

Now it was Clark’s turn to be confused, “I just got here, I don’t have Zan.”

“Oh my God Clark, where is my baby?” Brenda began to panic. “If you didn’t pick him up, and the person who picked him up looked exactly like you and sped away with Zan, who could it be?”

It only took Clark a second, but he finally came to a conclusion, “Milton Fine”.

“Who is Milton Fine and what does he want with Zan?” Brenda said, tears welling up inside.

Clark moved in closer to comfort Brenda and said; “I think to get to me, which would mean he has an idea who Zan is. I think I’ll drive you home and then I’ll contact Max to let him know what’s going on and then I’ll swing by the ‘Planet’ and see if Chloe can help me locate Fine. I promise we’ll find him.”

As Clark helped Brenda out of the school, she asked, “Who is this person anyways?” On their trip to the Chambers house, Clark filled her in on the details associated with Milton Fine. Bob met them at the house and took care of Brenda, who was still close to shock and Clark rushed over to the ‘Daily Planet’.

When he entered the basement offices of the Daily Planet, he didn’t see Chloe anywhere. He walked over to her desk, but there wasn’t any evidence that she had been there all day. He noticed one of her co-workers nearby and asked,

“Do you know where I can find Chloe?”

“I don’t know she never showed up to work this morning” said the one lady.

Then another co-worker came walking down the steps saying, “That’s not true, she did come in, but she left in a rush.”

“Thanks” Clark said, this was very curious. Clark went over to her desk again and scanned her desk hoping to pick up some clue of where she might be, but nothing stood out. He reached for her phone and dialed the farm’s number.

“Hello, Kent residence”

“Hey Pete, I need you to do me a favor” Clark said.

“Sure”

“Go and get Max and have him call me on my cell phone. It’s very important.”

“Sure thing, is everything alright?”

“No, it isn’t. Just go get Max. Thanks Pete”

“I’m on my way” and both parties hung up the phone as Clark sped away to Luthor Corp.

Back on the Kent Farm

Pete got into his mustang and raced down to the neighboring farm. Pulling into the driveway, Pete came to an abrupt stop and jumped out of the car and knocked on the door.

“Hey Pete, what’s up?” Isabel said, answering the door.

“I need to talk to Max. Clark just called and there seems to be something wrong, but he didn’t elaborate.”

“Come in” and then Isabel went to Max’s room.

“Hey Iz, what’s up?” Max asked looking up from a book he was reading.

“Pete’s here and is babbling about something being wrong with Clark and he wants to speak to you.”

Max got up and rushed to the living room, “what’s going on Pete?’

“I don’t know, but Clark told me you need to call his cell phone immediately. I asked if anything was wrong and he said yes, but wouldn’t elaborate.”

“I’m going down to the Kent farm Izzie, go get Michael and follow us” commanded Max and he follow Pete out to his car and soon they were back at the Kent farm. Max rushed into the house, followed by Pete and went for the phone. He dialed Clark’s number and waited for a reply.

“Hello”

“Hey Clark, it’s me Max, what’s going on?” Max said anxiously.

“Your son has been kidnapped again, and I think Chloe is with him” Clark said.

Max felt his knees weaken as Isabel and Michael came through the door. They saw Max’s pale face and Michael picked up the phone and said, “Clark, is this you?”

“Yeah, who’s this?”

“Michael. What’s going on with Max, he looks like he’s in shock?”

“His son and Chloe I believe have been kidnapped. I think I know who’s responsible, but I don’t know how to locate them.” Clark said.

“Where are you at?” asked Michael, while Isabel was in the background trying to pry information from either Max or Michael and not getting anywhere.

“I’m at Luthor Corp, in Lionel’s office. He’s already sent a helicopter to get you all. I don’t think the person who has them will hurt them, yet. He wants me.”

“Who’s the maniac we’re dealing with?” Michael asked pushing aside Isabel’s requests, as Max was lying on the floor incoherent, babbling something about Zan being gone again.

“Milton Fine” Clark said, “I’ll be waiting for your arrival” and then the line went dead. After he was off the phone, Michael turned to Isabel and related what was going on and then Isabel turned towards Pete and asked, “Would you go back up to the house and have someone go and get Liz? The others should be in the backyard with Serena getting ready for this evening’s training session” Pete agreed and left to go and retrieve Liz.

“I’ve never seen him freak out like this Michael, he’s normally the strong one in the group” Isabel stated.

“I know King Max normally doesn’t let anything get to him, except if it involves Liz and now it seems Zan.

Then the back door opened and Martha came walking into the kitchen followed closely by Lois. “Hey guys, what’s…Oh my, what’s going on?” Martha said noticing Max was being cradled in Isabel’s lap.

They both noticed Lois, but Isabel chose to tell Martha what was going on anyways, “Clark just called and it looks like Zan and Chloe have been kidnapped and he thinks it’s some guy named Milton Fine. Lionel has sent a helicopter for us and Pete went to go and get Liz. I think Max is in shock and I’m hoping Liz can pull him out of it.”

“I just passed Pete in the driveway and Liz and Serena were on the road walking back to the house, so she should be here soon” informed Martha.

“Do you know who this Fine character is?” Michael asked.

“Wait a minute! Chloe’s been kidnapped!!” Lois exclaimed just realizing what was said and then looking towards Martha she asked, “What does Clark’s old professor have to do with it?”

Martha looked at Lois with apprehension, when both Isabel and Michael realized what the problem was, and then Michael did the unthinkable. “At this point it doesn’t matter who knows Mrs. Kent, what matters is making sure Zan is safe and it’s my duty as Max’s second in command to ensure their safety, now who is Milton Fine?’

“I don’t know who this Zan person is, but Chloe’s my cousin and I want to know what’s going on,” Lois said, looking towards Martha.

Relenting, Martha answered Michael, “Milton Fine was made by Kryptonians as an alien artificial intelligence, basically a human computer, or brain. He has been after Clark to open up the portal in the ‘Fortress’ to release Zod from the Phantom Zone. By the looks of it, now he’s discovered something about Zan, hence the reason he has kidnapped him and he probably took Chloe to get to Clark.”

“Great, so it begins” Michael simply said, when Liz came rushing through the door, followed closely by Mira.

“Max!” she exclaimed, rushing to his side. “Max, it’s me. What’s wrong?” Touching him she felt the connection form instantaneously and she met him on the dream plane. Together they watched replays of the White Room incident, Tess leaving Earth with their unborn baby, his attempts to try and get back to Antar, Tess’s return with Zan, then Max handing Zan over for adoption and then the recent occurrence when Zan went missing on the farm. Taking his hand, her touch began to bring him back to his senses and she looked up into his eyes and said, “It’s not your fault Max, but if you don’t snap out of this, there’s no way you will be able to help us get him back. We need you. He needs you. Come back with me Max, and help us get him back. He’s very strong, he’ll be okay.”

“Why does this keep happening to us? We’re good people, why can’t they just leave us alone and let us live our lives peacefully.”

“Because we are who we are. You need to step up and be the King I know you are. You have all of us to call upon when you need us, and you’ll always have Zan and of course me” Liz said as she reached up and kissed him, bringing him out of the dream plane.

She opened her eyes and noticed she was practically on top of Max. Max reached up, with his eyes still closed and kissed her again, when he heard a voice in the background,

“What the Hell is going on. What is all this talk about Kryptonians, fortresses and aliens? Where is Chloe?”

“Lois?” Max said opening his eyes and then looking towards Isabel and Michael.

“Yeah Max, what’s going on?” Lois asked again.

Max looked towards Michael and Isabel, “can I speak to Michael and Isabel privately for a moment, as I collect my thoughts?”

“Sure, but I want some answers” Lois said, stepping out onto the porch with Pete, who came in behind Liz and Mira. She looked up at Pete and point blank asked, “What’s going on Pete?”

Pete just shrugged and moved over to his car, picked up an old basketball and began shooting hoops through an old basketball ring attached to the barn. “They’re keeping secrets from me, I just know it, and I have a feeling Clark is stuck right in the middle, and …” Lois was ranting and then she looked at Pete and said, “And you’re in on it!”

Inside the Kent home, the same scenario was playing out. “What was Lois told?” Max asked, sitting up and coming back to his senses.

Michael stepped up and decided to take the brunt of Max’s wrath. “Well Maxwell, you went into shock on us, nobody could understand what was going on. You weren’t giving us any answers and Clark’s reply was very cryptic. Isabel sent Pete after Liz and then Martha came in, followed by Lois, and I thought” and then Isabel intervened.

“We thought your son’s life was more important than our secret, so Martha was asked who this Milton Fine was. She was pretty apprehensive in telling us, with Lois in the room, but…”

“…But I basically pulled the second in command card out and took it for a spin. I told Martha the same thing Iz told you; Zan’s life is more important than keeping our existence a secret, so she informed us of who this Fine character is, and it’s not good. Lionel has sent a helicopter for us, to bring us back to Metropolis. It looks like Chloe’s been taken too.” Michael said. Then he asked, “Did you know about this Fine character?”

“Just the little bits and pieces that Clark told me about, but you’re right he’s a very dangerous character” Max said.

“In the meantime, what do we tell Lois?” asked Liz.

Max looked at them and declared, “The truth”. Then in the distance, they could hear the helicopter coming in for its landing. “Sounds like it’s time to go. I think the four of us need to go; at least we’ll have the resources of each of our abilities. I think we should take Lois too, and then we can explain to her along the way what’s going on. Are we in agreement?” Everyone nodded and then Max looked towards Martha and asked, “Is this okay with you Mrs. Kent, it involves letting another person into the ‘club’ and exposing your son.”

“Granted, this all makes me very nervous, but Michael was right, Zan is the most important factor in this equation and we need to use all our resources available to us to save him, and since she’s always around, I’m afraid something of this magnitude will eventually get out, so I trust your decision and I’m sure Clark will too” Martha stated.

“Plus, have you seen how Kyle has been acting around her lately” Isabel said. They all began to laugh as they went to go meet the helicopter. Max went over to Lois and asked, “If you’d like to join us on our trip to Metropolis, all your questions will be answered.”

Lois nodded and joined the group in the helicopter. Max then went over to Pete and Mira, “Would you be able to take Mira back to the house?

“Sure” Pete said, getting into his car.

“Mira, would you tell everyone what is going on and that we’re going back to Metropolis to help Clark bring Chloe and Zan back home” requested Max.

“As you wish” Mira said.

“And also, let them know I’ll leave word with Martha on what we find out. I also want them to go on with the training schedule, for that is just as important as getting Zan back.”

“I will pass along your requests. Be careful and bring back both Zan and Chloe to us” Mira said getting in the passenger seat of Pete’s car.

“We’ll try and thanks” Max joined the rest of the group on the helicopter and soon they were on their way to Metropolis.

Lionel Luthor’s office

“Okay Clark, are you going to tell me what’s going on?” Lionel asked.

“Our friend Milton Fine is back and I believe he’s taken Chloe and Zan” Clark stated. “I know Lex has been keeping tabs on Fine and was wondering if you had any idea where he is or where he’s taken them?”

“The last time I talked to my informants, Lex was just as aggravated at locating Fine. It seems like he can be in multiple places at one time. It’s like he’s some kind of self replicating being, how is that possible?”

“I don’t know. Fine is an enigma to me” Clark stated.

“Do you think some of my writings will help you?” offered Lionel.

“It could, if I knew what they said. I gave them to Chloe and she was working on deciphering them, but all her information is on her computer and I don’t know how to access her files.”

“Clark, once you locate Fine then what are you going to do?

“I really don’t know. I thought I took care of him, twice, but he’s like the Energizer bunny and keeps on going. I don’t know what will destroy him.”

“Maybe you should ask Jor-El,” suggested Lionel.

“Maybe” Clark said, moving over to the window, which looked over the skyline of Metropolis. Then he saw the helicopter in the distance. “It looks like Max will be here soon; maybe if we put our talents together, we can get them back.”

On the helicopter

“So, you’re telling me all of you are really aliens” Lois blurted out. “I think you’ve been smoking something, you’re crazy!”

“Well, actually we’re alien half-breeds” corrected Max, “part Antarian and part human and we’re not crazy, here look at this.” Max took his hand and changed the molecular structure of a rock he found on the floor of the helicopter into a colorful stone and handed it to Lois. She took it with an astonished look on her face, then realizing what was said she exclaimed,

“Whoa, hold on. You said Antarian right?” Max nodded, “Then what was all that talk about Kryptonians, fortresses and how does Clark’s old professor fit into the equation?” questioned Lois.


“Well” Max hesitated, not feeling really comfortable revealing Clark’s secret.

“What Max is trying to tell you” Michael intervened, “is that your good friend Clark is also not from around here either.”

“Are you telling me Smallville’s an alien too?” Lois asked in a disbelieving voice.

“Remember last night when you were talking to Kyle about some aliens from Krypton who were looking for some guy named Kal-El?” asked Michael. Lois nodded, “well Kal-El is Clark Kent, they were looking for him and from what he’s told us, he sent Super Ken and Barbie, as you referred to them, back to where they came from.”

“So, is Kyle an alien too?” Lois asked.

“I changed him, just like I changed Liz. They started off as humans, but each of them were shot and I healed them, which is one of my gifts, and in doing so I changed them both into alien-hybrids, like us” Max informed her.

“Man, you really know how to pick them, don’t ya Lois” Lois said to herself. “Okay, so Clark and you all are aliens, I get that and Clark I assume is from this planet called Krypton, right?” They all nodded, “then what is this talk about a ‘Fortress’?”

“That would be Clark’s little hideaway up near the North Pole” informed Isabel, “Max, Liz and Michael have all been up there.”

“Yeah, it’s a replica of his home world, which looks like an ice palace. He’s able to talk to Jor-El, his biological father there too.” Max said.

Lois was digesting all this information and then asked, “So, what does his old professor have to do with all this?”

“That must have been a disguise Fine was using to get to Clark. Fine, from what I understand is like a walking, talking alien computer, made by Kryptonians” Michael elaborated.

“We’re hoping to find out more when we meet up with Clark” Max said.

“Also, who is Zan and why do you think this Fine character has taken them both?”

“Zan is my son,” informed Max, “I’m not quite sure why Fine has taken him, except if he’s aware of the prophecy and how Zan is involved.” Max said, basically to the group at large. “Since Chloe and Clark are pretty close, it stands to reason why he took her, to get to Clark.” Seeing Lois’ questioning face about Zan and the prophecy, he explained his relationship with Tess and the prophecy involving Zan and the planets briefly.

When she was caught up completely, Lois sat back to think about all she had just learned. Wow, there was definitely more going on at the Kent farm then she ever realized, right under her nose. How could she have lived there for so long and never known? ‘God Lois, you are so blind’ she thought to herself. She looked over at Liz, who was closing her eyes and resting her head on Max’s shoulder. “Your wife looks really tired Max.”

“She’s not sleeping. She’s been using her ability to mind warp, to hide our conversation from the pilot.”

“She can do that?” Max nodded, and then he connected with Liz to tell her it was okay to return to them. She opened her eyes and the group noticed they were descending onto the helicopter pad of Luthor Corp.

“Lionel knows too?” blurted out Lois, they nodded and then Max said, “It is imperative that we don’t let our true origins out into society. We are putting our lives and trust in your hands Lois, are you able to live up to that task?”

Lois agreed and then said, “but Smallville has a lot of explaining to do.”

Somewhere in Metropolis

As Chloe and Zan were going through the cell door, Zan hit the floor. He felt very weak and unable to think straight. Chloe knelt down by his side and looked up and noticed the Kryptonite Fine had in his hand.

“Were you thinking of going somewhere?’ Fine asked.

“Get that thing away from him, you’ll kill him” Chloe said, pulling Zan back into the cell and onto the cot. Fine placed the green rock that had a piece of string looped through it, in his pocket and entered the cell.

“What do you want with us?” Chloe asked.

“Oh, Miss Sullivan, you know what I want” Fine said.

“You want Clark, don’t you?” Chloe stated.

“Well, you’re partially correct. I need Kal-El to open up the portal to the Phantom Zone to release my master, General Zod. A feat that would’ve happened before, until you decided to mettle into his affairs. I didn’t really enjoy getting thrown into the crystal console by Kal-El, when you save him the last time and when Zod does return, I will so enjoy watching him kill you” informed Fine.

“Clark will never free Zod!” Chloe flatly stated.

“I’m afraid you are mistaken Miss Sullivan. I’ll have to commend you though, I thought humans were Kal-El’s greatest weakness, but I never entered you into the equation. You actually use that gray matter in your head, more than the normal human, but now that I’ve got you, what will Kal-El do?”

“Okay. Whatever. That’s the reason you took me, but why did you take Brett here. He’s just a boy.” Chloe asked.

“Oh please. Don’t patronize me” Fine said. “Brett, or is it Zan?” Zan looked up at the strange man. He was still feeling weak, feeling the affects of the rock in the guy’s pocket.

“Well, why don’t I just call him Zan? I’ve heard some interesting things about you Zan, or should I refer to you as Your Royal Highness?” Chloe and Zan looked at each other. “Oh, I know all about you young man and the little prophecy that’s out there. When I release my master from his prison, you will definitely be a nice little trophy for him.”

“Aren’t you getting ahead of the game?” Chloe retorted. “Your master is still locked up in the Phantom Zone, and I’ve already told you Clark will never release him!”

“Maybe not for your life, but Zan’s father and his friends may be able to change Kal-El’s mind for Zan’s life. He is after all, more important than you are.” Chloe was taken back, Fine was just an evil man, plain and simple. “Well, I’ve got better things to do than to sit around talking to you two. I brought you some food and I’ll just leave this little ‘trinket’ outside the door. Don’t want you two wandering around while I’m gone.” With that Fine place a couple of trays of food on the floor, closed the door and hung the piece of Kryptonite on the doorknob.

[sdcheesehead]

Thanks all for the feedback. Again thanks goes out to my beta's

Chapter 24 – Cattivo’s Plot

Cattivo was again sitting at his control panel in the Antarian royal palace. He had just placed a ‘call’ through to Khivar from Earth. Nicolas didn’t seem very happy when Cattivo had intercepted the call and Cattivo wasn’t looking forward to Khivar’s expected blow-up when the communication between the two was complete.

Cattivo seemed to also be Khivar’s punching bag and he was getting tired of it. He was aware of the existence of both sets of ‘Royal Four’ mixed breeds on Earth and in fact was working as one of Ankaa’s spies in the Antarian palace. Originally, he was His Royal Highness Leonas personal royal protector, but upon his death, he removed himself from the program and took this position as the security officer for the Whirlwind Galaxy. On the night the original ‘Royal Four’ were murdered, he pledged his alliance to Ankaa and stayed in the palace and acted as her eyes and ears. He hadn’t seen Her Majesty since that fateful night, but knew she was in hiding, which met there was still hope to rectify the situation and banish Khivar to the Phantom Zone, a place they sent their worst prisoners. But, if Cattivo had his way and the opportunity presented itself, he would send him there sooner.

Cattivo also liked to create different methods of transportation throughout the galaxy. It was his concept that was used in the development of the Granolith, one piece of information Khivar would never know about. In fact, Cattivo noticed that a Granolith had been activated on Asterie just recently meaning Serena, the Keeper of the Granolith was involved, which meant a plan was in motion. This was yet another piece of information that would go unnoticed by Khivar. Then all of a sudden the doors to his security office opened up and in barged Khivar ranting and raving.

“…if a person wants something done, they’ve gotta do it themselves. I should have never sent Nicholas to Earth. He’s ‘misplaced’ a member of the ‘Royal Four’ again! I can’t believe that Queen wanttabe is causing me this much aggravation.”

Cattivo tried to keep his mouth shut, waiting to see why Khivar decided to grace him with his presence, until he mentioned Tess, the name the Queen went by on Earth. The two of them had gotten close during her visit at the palace and it was Cattivo that helped her to escape that day with her baby.

“So, you were able to locate Tess” Cattivo said, alarmed that Nicholas may have caught her.

“Not Tess, she’s dead. She blew up or something. No I was talking about her dupe Ava. Nicholas found her in Roswell and then lost her again.”

Cattivo thought to himself, ‘hopefully this wasn’t true. Maybe Tess was able to escape using the portal I gave her, but where did she go if that was the case?’ He would have to look back in his personal journals to see what kind of activity may have occurred unbeknownst to him.

Khivar continued, “You haven’t noticed any uses of a Granolith on Earth lately, have you?”

Actually, there had been a lot of activity with a Granolith, but again Khivar wasn’t going to get wind of this little piece of information. “No sir, there hasn’t been any activity with a Granolith since Tess returned to Antar and wasn’t that the only one sent to Earth?”

Cattivo knew there was a second Granolith sent to Earth, on Ankaa’s orders, but he wasn’t aware if Khivar knew this.

“I’m not sure, but Nicholas is convinced that there has to be another one. He may be just desperate to get back here and out of the human skin he’s been living in, but I say let him dry up and die. He’s no use to me anymore” Khivar stated, and then turned towards Cattivo, “I need to get to Earth, immediately! Were you ever able to repair that transportation portal I used the last time?”

‘You mean the one you pulverized the last time, because Vilandra turned you down?’ thought Cattivo. He hadn’t repaired that particular portal, it still remained in pieces in a storage unit, but then Cattivo’s face lit up. This would be the perfect opportunity to use his new portal device, giving Khivar a one-way ticket to the Phantom Zone.

“Sir, that particular unit has not been repaired,” Cattivo started and then noticing Khivar’s irritation on his face continued, “but I do have another mode of transportation that I have been working on which is an improvement over the other one that you can use. It’ll just take me a few moments to program it, which would give you enough time to gather whatever belongings you will need for your trip.”

“So be it. I will return soon. Have the portal ready” and Khivar left. Cattivo couldn’t help himself, a wide grin spread across his face.

Somewhere in Metropolis

Fine had just closed the door to Chloe and Zan’s cell, hanging the piece of Kryptonite on the doorknob, when Zan questioned, “What was that green thing?”

“A meteor rock Clark and I refer to as Kryptonite. We figure it’s what remains of his home planet and since you’re part Kryptonian, it looks like it affects you the same way it affects Clark. He’s allergic to the rock. Makes him go all weak and if he’s exposed to it too long, could eventually kill him” informed Chloe.

“If it affects Kryptonians this way, why doesn’t it affect Fine?” Zan questioned.

“Maybe because he’s not Kryptonian, just made by them” offered Chloe. Then looking through her purse she found a deck of card. “So, do you want to play a game of Gin Rummy?”

“Sure why not” Zan said. Halfway through their game, he felt somebody’s presence in his head. “Chloe, I think someone is trying to get in touch with us. I’m going to lie down for a moment and see what’s going on.”

“What are you talking about?” Chloe asked, as Zan lay down on the cot. “I think Isabel is trying to dreamwalk me.”

“Oh” Chloe said, sitting on the floor with her back to the wall, looking towards Zan. ‘Being around aliens has definitely made her life interesting’ she thought.

LuthorCorp

Clark was still standing by the window in Lionel’s office as Lionel was at his wet bar pouring himself another drink when Max, Liz, Michael, Isabel and Lois came through the door.

Clark turned his attention towards the group and said, “Aw, good. Now we can put our resources together and locate…” then he noticed her. Lois was standing behind the group and had moved her way into Clark’s line of sight. “Lois?”

“Hey ya Smallville” Lois said walking up to Clark and walking around him looking at her friend…differently.

“What are you doing here?” Clark asked Lois but looking towards Max for some answers.

Reaching up and feeling through his head, Clark looked at her, bewildered, “What are you doing?”

“I was just checking to see if you have any antennas” Max and the group couldn’t help themselves and let out a slight giggle.

Clark wasn’t impressed and stated, “Would someone please let me in on the joke.”

“Let’s just say you’ve got a lot of explaining to do Smallville, but in the meantime shall we work on getting back Chloe and Zan?” Lois stated.

“Lois is right” Max said and turning and addressing Clark he continued, “She’s been inducted into the ‘Club’ and I’ll talk to you later about the circumstances revolving her revelations later, but right now I think we need to concentrate on locating Chloe and Zan.”

Clark walked closer to Max and whispered, “She knows everything?” Max nodded. Clark felt totally uneasy with the situation, but relented. “Okay. Your right, we need to locate them. Usually Chloe helps me out in these circumstances since she can hack into any computer system, but Fine seems to be able to place himself in more than one place at one time, according to Lionel’s informants. Does anyone have any suggestions?”

Isabel pulled out the slate Mira had given her and said, “I can try to dreamwalk them and see if they can give me any information.”

“That’s a good idea Iz” Max said.

Isabel sat on the black leather couch and waved her hand over the slate, envisioning Zan’s face. The slate changed into a whirlwind of marbleized gray matter and then Zan’s face materialized. Isabel placed her finger on Zan’s face and entered into the dream plane.

On the Dream Plane

“Isabel, is that you?” questioned Zan. Then he saw Isabel’s figure materialize and walk up next to him.

“Yes Zan, it’s me. Can you tell me what happened?”

“Well, I was at the school waiting for Clark, when he showed up and brought me to what I thought was where we were going to meet for our evening lessons, but he stuck me in a cell with Chloe.”

“Is it a shapeshifter?” Isabel asked.

“No. His name is Milton Fine. It seems like he came shapeshift into whomever or whatever he wants too. Ask Clark about him, I’m sure he knows more about him.” Isabel nodded.

“What about Chloe? How did she end up there?”

“She was trick into going to this place, near a deli and Fine injected something into her which knocked her out. I actually was able to heal her.” Zan said excitedly.

“I’m very proud of you” Isabel said. “Do you know where you’re being held?”

“No, but it looks like we’re in a basement of some kind. Our cell is all concrete and damp and since I was supersped to this location, I wasn’t able to pick up on where I was being taken. Chloe’s cell phone isn’t able to pick up a reception here either” Zan said.

“There’s another thing Aunt Isabel” this was the first time it dawned on Isabel that Zan was truly her nephew.

“What is it Zan?”

“We tried to escape and I was even able to open the door, but Fine showed up with this green rock, which Chloe calls Kryptonite, which made me feel really sick. Make sure to tell Clark, because I understand this rock will make him sick too.”

“I will. Are you two okay, for the time being?” Isabel asked concerned.

“Yeah, I was beating Chloe at a game of cards” Zan grinned.

“Well, we’re working on getting you two back. If you can think of anything or need to talk, I think you might have the ability to dreamwalk too, so try and contact me, okay.” Zan agreed and then said, “Let the Chambers and dad know I’m okay and I can’t wait to be back with them.”

“I will. Be careful and take care,” Isabel said as she left the dream plane.

Back in the Luthor office Isabel came out of her trance and related her findings to the group.

Lois was looking on. This ‘alien business’ was all brand new to her and she wasn’t quite sure what to expect. What stood before her was totally different than what she had pictured in her mind as aliens, and Clark Kent was among them!

“So, what do we do now, Maxwell” Michael asked.

“I don’t know. Isabel wasn’t able to get a location on them, but at least we are sure who’s behind this” Max said sighing.

“Clark, what do you know about this Fine person?” Michael asked, turning towards Clark.

Clark was observing Lois’ reaction to the things that were being said and happening in Lionel’s office and was still uncomfortable around her, even if she had being inducted into their ‘club’ unbeknownst to him. Pulling himself out of his thoughts, he turned towards the group and related everything he knew of Milton Fine.

“Do you think he may be holding them in ‘Warehouse 15’ where Lex kept the black spacecraft?” Lionel suggested. “Or possibly in the same lab that Lex was holding those deadly viruses he was procuring, trying to create a vaccine.”

“Well, it’s a start” Clark said, “I’ll go check it out” and then he looked over at Lois and disappeared.

Warehouse 15

Clark had previously checked out the lab where Lex was collecting the viruses, but couldn’t locate Chloe, Zan or Fine, so he moved his way to Warehouse 15. There were still remnants from previous explosion, which left behind a skeleton for a building. Scanning the building with his x-ray vision, he did notice there were two heat signatures in the lower levels of the building. Chloe and Zan, Clark thought to himself. He didn’t see any sign of Fine, but as he got closer to the entrance of the warehouse, he began to get weak. Kryptonite. Clark moved away from the entrance, regrouped and when he felt all his abilities were back to their full potential, he sped away back to LuthorCorp.

Back at LuthorCorp

He hadn’t been gone longer than five minutes, which Lois noted, but here Clark was telling the group that Chloe and Zan were locked up somewhere in Warehouse 15.

“I’ve been to Warehouse 15,” Lois said as everyone turned and looked at her. “Chloe and I did some investigating and I kept the guard busy while she went inside. She said she didn’t find anything, but that wasn’t true was it?” Lois said as everyone felt the hurt in her voice.

“No Lois, that wasn’t true. Inside that warehouse was where Lex had kept the black spacecraft that came down in the second meteor shower. The ship is basically an extension of Milton Fine, or more accurately Fine was the ship” informed Clark.

“Now that we know where they are and seeing that Fine has it protected with Kryptonite, what’s the plan of extracting Chloe and Zan?” Michael asked.

“Is anybody still standing guard, since the explosion?” Liz asked.

“No, not in that particular warehouse” Lionel said, “but the adjoining properties are owned by LuthorCorp too and have guards on duty.”

“So, we could basically get in with no trouble” Isabel stated. “Well, I suggest we go in and clear the way of all these green rocks that affect both Clark and Zan, since Clark can’t get in and Zan can’t get out without making them sick.”

“So, we go in and collect these rocks, what do we do with them?” Liz asked.

“They need to be contained in a lead container,” informed Clark.

“Well, if you provide me with the lead, I’ll make your container” Michael said.

“Okay” Clark disappeared and returned with some lead scrap metal he picked up at a local scrap yard and laid them on the floor of Lionel’s office. Michael walked over and gathered up the pieces and laid his hands on them reforming them into a lead box. Both Lionel and Lois looked on, awestruck. “Will that work?” Michael asked.

Lionel walked over to his vault and opened it, pulling out a pure Kryptonite bar from a lead-lined box. A few years back some kids were refining Kryptonite into its purest form and made these bright green bars. Clark thought Lionel’s stash had since been destroyed and was shocked to see he was still in possession of this deadly item. As Lionel took the bar and walked towards the lead box Michael had just made, Clark began to feel the effects of the Kryptonite, as his knees weakened and he collapsed to the floor. “Get it into the box” Clark stammered, as Lionel placed the bar in the box and Michael shut the lid on it. Soon, Clark was feeling himself again.

“I think that’ll work” Clark said and then looking towards Lionel, “and please warn me the next time you plan on bringing out some refined Green-K. Speaking of which, why do you even have it?”

“I thought it might come in some use some day, in case your brethren decide to pay us another visit” explained Lionel.

“Well, I think that’ll work” Clark said looking down at the lead box. “I’ll step out into the hall, while you place this piece back in the vault,” Clark said, working his way to the hallway.

Lois continued to observe from her little corner. She had never seen Clark look that sick before and it scared her a little. Clark was really vulnerable.

Michael opened up the lid and gave Lionel the piece of Kryptonite and Lionel returned it to the lead-line box in the vault and secured the door. Clark returned to the office and then Michael asked, “So we get rid of the rocks then what?”

The group sat down and formulated their plan. After awhile, everything was mapped out and they each got up from their positions and proceeded to carry out their plan. Soon they would have Chloe and Zan back with them.

Back on Antar

Cattivo went directly to his personal quarters and retrieved the portal device he had been developing and brought it back to his security office and manually set it to transport Khivar to the Phantom Zone. Soon, the doors to his office opened and Khivar walked in with his bags and said,

“Is everything ready?”

“Yes sir, here is the portal device I was talking about. All you need to do is turn it to this position, which activates it and then to come back you turn it to this position and it’ll bring you back to the royal palace” informed Cattivo.

“Very well, while I’m gone I placed you in charge, as my second-in-command” Khivar stated.

“Yes sir. Now if you’re ready, all you need to do is turn the dial. May the moons of Antar look over you” Cattivo said.

“As with you” Khivar said and then he turned the dial into the position Cattivo had stated and soon he disappeared, as the portal device dropped to the floor.

Cattivo picked up the device and pocketed it and smiled. ‘Good Riddance’ Cattivo thought as he began to write a letter to King Larek telling him what had just transpired. ‘Soon the ‘Royal Four’ will be back and our planets will be unified again’ Cattivo thought, signing his letter and sending for a messenger.

Phantom Zone

Lycus noticed something falling from the desert sky and landing just outside his cave. ‘Another Zoner’ he thought. Not really wanting to go out into the sandstorm, but curious of who the new prisoner was, Lycus got up and wrapped his skeleton body up and braved the sandstorm It took him awhile to reach the body, going against the wind, but he leaned down over the body and rolled it over. After inspecting the new prisoner’s face, recognition spread across Lycus’ face.

“Hey Chimarus, come here” Lycus stated, “Look what I found!”

Chimarus wanted to remain in the comforts of his cave instead of going out into the sandstorm, “can’t it wait, Lycus?”

“No, get over here!”

“Fine, but it better be important” Chimarus wrapped himself up and made his way out to Lycus. “What?”

Lycus pointed down at the body lying in the desert sand that happened to be fully corporeal and resemble non other than Khivar. “It can’t be! Can it?” Chimarus asked, but he knew the answer.

They pulled the body into their cave and sat back and looked at him. It was King Khivar, and if he was here than their chances of getting off this barren wasteland was now in the hands of Zod.

[sdcheesehead]

I was finally able to put together a banner for my fic... I hope you'll like it

Alien_Friend: hehehe Yeah, I don't think I've made any friends among the evil aliens trapped in the 'Zone'. I'm hoping to make Cattivo an asset for the cause and he won't find out the error of his actions (of sending Khivar to the 'Zone') until later on in the story. Tess won't make her appearance for a couple more chapters.

The AntarianKing: Your very observant. I had to find a way to unite these two characters (Khivar and Zod) and this is what I came up with. There will be a little bit of 'bad' interaction between these two characters, since both of them are use to being in charge, before they decided to unite.

Timelord31 -I believe worse...Cattivo is too overconvident, but is serving my purpose of uniting Khivar and Zod.

A/N: Okay, this is a short chapter (by my standards) but I wanted to set up the scene, before I delved into the next chapter which will be the rescue attempt, which is where I will be concentrating all of my efforts into. I hope you enjoy it

Chapter 25 - Observations

Raya was sitting in her tent shelter away from the storm when she noticed a flash across the sky. ‘Welcome to the Phantom Zone’ she thought, sure another prisoner had just been transported to the Zone. She would give them a proper welcoming later on, but for now she would continue to go through her notes. She had continued with the assignment Jor-El had left her with before he transported her to this place. Hopefully, Kal-El would learn about her existence and the Phantom Zone and would come to release her; at least that was Jor-El’s plan.

Time was running out. Krypton wasn’t the only galaxy that was in trouble from a dying star. Rao, Krypton’s sun, was a red giant and together Jor-El and Raya had discovered that it was reaching a dangerous stage in its life cycle and would soon go supernova destroying whatever was in its path. Jor-El went to the Science Council with this information, but they didn’t want to believe their society was under such a threat and didn’t want to create any panic among the citizens, so they forced Jor-El to take an oath not to reveal this information outside of the council and to also remain on Krypton. Which he did along with his wife Lara, but through their research they found another galaxy would be facing the same situation in the near future and needed to be warned. This was personal to Jor-El, or rather his wife, for her sister Tara was now living in this galaxy, the Whirlwind Galaxy. Lara knew her life was coming to an end, but she wanted to make sure her sister didn’t have to suffer the same fate. They sent Raya to the Phantom Zone to allow her time to develop a plan to save this race.

All this information was placed in the crystal that was in Kal-El’s space capsule. Now, it was just a waiting game. She was also aware of a prophecy involving an innocent child who was the product of three worlds, who would possess the powers and abilities of these worlds, which would be use to defeat an evil alliance and bring peace to the Universe. There was another part of the prophecy, which stated that after the evil alliances had been destroyed, the three worlds would have to join the innocent child to save one of the worlds from a dangerous galactic disturbance. The red giant, their star Sorin, was reaching this dangerous stage in its life and time was against them. There wasn’t enough time to locate the child of the prophecy and all Raya could hope for was that Kal-El freed her soon, so they could travel to this galaxy to warn its inhabitants. ‘Please Hurry Kal-El’ she thought and returned to her research.

Elsewhere in the Phantom Zone, Khivar was waking up to his surroundings. ‘Where am I’ he wondered, looking around at the dark cave in which he was resting. Seeing a couple of cloaked figures in a corner hovering over an open fire pit, Khivar raised himself off of the cave floor, lying the black cloth that was serving as his blanket down and moved over to the two figures. They were talking amongst themselves as Khivar approached.

Lycus and Chimarus were talking as they were eating their cooked reamtat, a native animal that lived in the caves, when they noticed movement in the corner.

“Looks like ‘His Highness’ is finally awake” Chimarus said.

“Yeah. He’s got a lot of explaining to do, that’s for sure,” commented Lycus. Then they noticed Khivar walking over towards them.

“Where is this place?” Khivar questioned of the two cloaked figures. Lycus turned around, but before he was able to answer him, Khivar backed away. He was frightened by what he was seeing. A black skeleton-like creature that was withered and decayed was staring back at him. This wasn’t Earth!

“Welcome ‘King Khivar’ to the Phantom Zone” Chimarus snided.

Khivar backed himself into the cave wall and dropped down. ‘The Phantom Zone?’ he queried to himself. ‘How did I get here?’ “Who are you?” Khivar asked, curious that they knew who he was.

“Do you not recognize us, ‘Your Majesty’? You were the one that sent us here, in your stead” informed Lycus.

“I’ve never sent anyone to the ‘Phantom Zone’!” Khivar said, raising his defensives. ‘Who were these ‘creatures’? He had never laid eyes on them before and here they were blaming him for sending him there’ thought Khivar.

“That won’t work” Chimarus chided of Khivar’s raised hand. “Once you entered the ‘Phantom Zone’ any kind of ability or power you may have had is taken from you. The only thing you have to rely on is your physical strength and your intelligence, in order to survive.”

Khivar tried to use his powers and the creature was right and then fear began to grip at him. He was vulnerable, but he did have his intelligence. “Again I asked, who are you?”

“Lycus and Chimarus at your service, ‘Your Highness’” informed Lycus bowing in a disrespectful way. “Not that it’s really going to matter, once the rest of the ‘Zoners’ get word that you’ve entered our little domain and still being able to keep your corporeal body at that!”

‘Lycus and Chimarus’ thought Khivar, why did those names sound familiar to him and then he remembered. They took his place for the murder of the ‘Royal Four’ and he was supposed to have them released, but he never did. Never planned on it actually, because once someone was sent to the Phantom Zone, there was no way out. Then his thoughts came to realization. He was stuck here probably for the rest of his life, with these two creatures who thought that when they accepted the bargain to take his place they would be set free. He had been caught in his own lie and had to worm his way out of this situation.

“What happened to your bodies?” questioned Khivar.

“Upon entering the ‘Zone’ you lose your corporeal body as well as any special abilities unique to you, but the question is how were you able to keep your body?” Chimarus asked.

“I don’t know. I was using a new portal device where I was trying to get to Earth and ended up here instead” Khivar stated.

“Well, I would stay scarce as long as you can, because once Raya gets a hold of you, you’ll be a hurting unit” stated Lycus.

“Who’s this Raya character?” questioned Khivar.

“You could say she’s the ‘Keeper of the Phantom Zone’ and she is protected by this black crystal that basically keeps us in check” Chimarus stated, “but she’s not the only one you have to worry about, there’s General Zod and he’s got quite the following.”

Lycus and Chimarus informed Khivar more about life in the Phantom Zone, as he related a web of lies of why he was unable to free them, with a little bit of truth of the alien-hybrids on Earth. Khivar took all this information in and then sat back to ponder his situation. He had to get out of there, but how was the question.

Fort Ryan Army Base

General Sam Lane was sitting at his desk going over his normal paperwork when he received a call on his secured line.

“Hello, General Lane here”

“General Lane, this is Special Agent Davis’

“Hello Agent Davis, what can I do for you?”

“I wanted to give you an opportunity to witness some activity in your area, giving you some first hand experience.”

“You’ve got my attention” Lane said.

“Well, when I returned to the office I checked those files dealing with the Smallville incident and it came to my attention that there has been some activity going on in Metropolis. Our informants have located an entity named Milton Fine working out of a warehouse there and what we want you to do is go to this warehouse and observe the comings and goings of this Milton Fine. I must emphasize that all you are to do is observe from a distance. Milton Fine is a very dangerous ‘person’ and we don’t want to risk anyone’s life. I’m sure after you get a better feel of what these individuals are capable of, you’ll be more inclined to accept our offer.”

Sam Lane sat back and thought about this offer. It would be nice to know what he would be signing up for if he accepted this position and all they wanted him to do was to sit back and observe.

“What’s the address?” Lane asked. Agent Davis gave him the directions to get to Warehouse 15.

“You won’t be disappointed” Agent Davis said.

“I’ll contact you if I learn anything” Lane said and then he hung up.

‘This is going to be interesting’ Sam thought to himself. He packed up his office for the day, secured everything and left for his house. He had to pack his bags. He wasn’t sure how long he was going to be on this stakeout, so he wanted to be prepared.

Luthor Mansion

‘How can he just fly off the radar’ Lex thought to himself, ‘Just when one of my informants locates him, he’s gone in a flash’. This was beginning to really frustrate Lex. He liked being in control, and Fine had thrown him for a loop. A ‘loop’, now there was the perfect word for his situation. He was going in circles. He got up from his desk and went over to his wet bar and retrieved a bottle of imported water and began to drink from it when someone came walking through the double doors to his study. Lex turned around and was looking directly at Milton Fine.

“Lex, so nice to see you again” Fine said.

“Fine, it’s surprising to see you again,” countered Lex.

Fine picked up a pool stick and began to set the balls on the table and struck them with his first shot, sending them all over the table. “So, I see you’ve been busy lately.”

“Well, I’m a business man, of course I stay busy” Lex said, “So why have you’ve decided to grace me with your presence?”

“Well, I figure since you’ve been using all your resources to look for me, I would acknowledge your efforts with an audience with myself. So, why are you so interested in me?” Fine countered, hitting a striped ball into the pocket.

“Well, for one thing, what the hell did you inject into me?” Lex said, reaching for his neck, where Fine had previously injected a substance into him.

“All in due time Lex” Fine said, hitting another ball into the pocket.

“You’re turning me into one of ‘you’ aren’t you?” Lex said forcibly.

Fine thought about this and said, “In a matter of speaking, yes.”

“Why?”

“That’s not for you to know” Fine said nonchalantly, hitting another ball into the pocket.

“The hell it isn’t” Lex said angrily.

“Instead of getting all defensive Lex, I came to let you know there is something very interesting going down in Warehouse 15 you might want to check out” Fine said, changing the subject, “it involves a certain young boy you’ve been following up on.”

‘How did he know about Brett and what could a baby have to do with something in Warehouse 15’ thought Lex. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m just lying the breadcrumbs out, it’s your job to follow them to wherever they lead you” Fine said, pocketing the ‘eight’ ball and lying his stick on the table, “but I would suggest you get over there soon, otherwise you may miss the fireworks” and with that Fine was gone, again.

Lex put down his water and reached for his intercom, “Brady, prepare the helicopter. I’ve got to make a trip to Metropolis.” Soon, Lex was on his way back to Metropolis, to follow the breadcrumbs Fine had laid before him.

Chambers’ House

“Thank you Isabel for the update” Brenda said to Isabel on the phone and then she hung up the phone and turned towards her husband.

“Isabel was able to talk to Zan and it looks like he and Chloe are being held in an abandoned warehouse and Max and his friends are going to break them free. They’ll contact us when they have them both free and safe.”

Bob acknowledged this and then he embraced his wife, allowing them to comfort each other. They knew they would be sitting by the phone waiting until the call came through saying their son was safe. There wasn’t much more they could do but pray.

[sdcheesehead]

Hello to all, sorry it took me so long to get you this chapter, but I had to have surgery and I'm now recuperating. I hope you enjoy it **Waves to all the Lurkers too ** Karin

TessHardingEvans - As always, thanks for being one of my beta's and keeping me honest and true, and I hope to bring Tess in, in the next chapter just for you

TheAntarianKing - Glad you like my banner!!

Alien_Friend - Also glad you like my banner!! Especially since was my first attempt at anything like this. Not quite sure when I'm going to introduce Raya to Clark, but I suspect it'll be soon

Timelord31 - Hope you like what I did to Lex. I thought I'd leave him in the dark for awhile, until I'm ready for him to come out and play!!

Chapter 26 – Warehouse 15

Chloe and Zan were sitting in their cell for what seemed to them like hours. Even though Isabel had related to Zan their intentions of finding them and setting them free, they were still feeling pretty abandoned and alone. Zan let Chloe take the cot, while he sat on the cold concrete floor.

‘How was he supposed to be the individual the ‘prophecy’ was talking about, when a little green rock could make him drop to his knees?’ Zan pondered with frustration. ‘Some life saver I turned out to be’ he thought to himself.

Chloe sensed the inner turmoil going on inside of Zan’s mind and said, “A penny for your thoughts?”

“Huh?” Zan said, coming out of his self-pitying thoughts.

“Well, it looked like you were in your own little world and I was wondering if you wanted to share anything with me?” Chloe said, giving him a little smile.

Zan contemplated his answer and then just said, “It’s nothing, just bored I guess.”

“Maybe you can try to get a hold of Isabel or maybe even your father and find out what’s taking them so long” Chloe suggested. “Do you guys have the gift of telepathy? That would be a very useful gift too.” Chloe was beginning to feel restless too. Normally she was in control of her emotions and actions, but in their current situation, there was nothing to do but sit and wait. She noticed that she was beginning to ramble on, just like Lois. ‘What is the world coming too?’ she wondered.

Then Zan’s eye’s got brighter and he sat straight up. “I never thought about it, but I think you might be right!” exclaimed Zan.

“What are you talking about?”

“Telepathy, of course. I never knew exactly what it was, but it was formed when I was in my mother’s womb and carried on after my birth, while I was on Antar. As a baby, my father and I must have formed a special connection, because I would get these desperate feelings of hopelessness as my father was searching for me. I bet he was also getting some kind of vibe from me. Maybe if I concentrate, I can open up the connection and see where it leads us.” Zan said excitedly.

“It’s worth a try. Come sit up here, so I can watch over you, just in case our ‘friend’ wants to make himself known again” suggested Chloe, offering Zan a portion of the cot. He got up off the floor and moved over to the cot and sat down. Both of them sat with their backs to the wall and their feet hanging off the edge while Zan closed his eyes, trying to form a connection with his father.

Somewhere in Metropolis

Max, Liz, Michael, Isabel, Clark and Lois were all sitting in one of Lionel’s cars, catching a ride down to the docks, close to Warehouse 15. They were being taken to one of the Lionel’s adjoining properties. Lionel had previously called the gate guard and told him he was sending down some contractors who were scoping out the property and to allow them entry as well as to leave them alone. Once they were there, they had their own plans, of course. Max was sitting in the back with Liz when he started feeling a tingling sensation.

“What the heck?” he blurted out, bringing both of his hands to his head.

“What’s wrong Max?” Liz asked with concern, followed closely by Isabel. Both of them were on either side of Max, trying to get a sense of what was happening to him when Max heard in his head, “Dad, are you there? Can you hear me?”

“Zan, is that you?” Max spoke aloud, but didn’t get the response he was looking for.

“What are you talking about Maxwell?” Michael asked.

“Shhh, give me a second!” exclaimed Max and then he heard the voice again, “Dad, can you hear me?” Trying to concentrate, Max answered in his thoughts “Zan, is that you?”

In their cell, Chloe noticed as excitement crossed Zan’s face in the form of a smile as he answered, “Yeah dad, it’s me!”

“I guess we can add telepathy to our little list of alien abilities. How did you come upon this?”

“It was Chloe’s idea. She mentioned dreamwalking Isabel again and then mentioned how useful telepathy would be and I remember the unique connection I thought I had with you and thought I’d see if it was still a possibility. So, when are you all going to get us out of here?”

Max was in the process of telling Zan the plan, but his ‘family’ in the car were pulling him away. “Give me a second Zan, I need to let the group know that I’m okay and what’s going on” and then he came out of his trance and turned towards the group that was surrounding him in the back of the limo.

“Maxwell, what’s going on?” Michael stated bluntly, once Max’s eye readjusted to the real world, he looked up at his friends and said, “Zan contacted me and was wondering what we were doing on our end to get them out of there.”

“Zan contacted you? How?” asked Isabel.

“I guess you can add telepathy to the list of his abilities” stated Max. Michael, Isabel and Liz just looked at each other and then Clark spoke up, “How are they doing?”

“They’re okay. Fine left them some food and hasn’t been back since then. I think their spirits are a little down, waiting for us to come get them, but physically I think they’re fine” assured Max. “I was just telling Zan our plan, when I got pulled away from him.”

“Well, when you speak to him again, could you give him a message for Chloe from me?” asked Lois. Max looked towards her and nodded, “Tell her to keep her spirits up, because we’ll soon be there and she owes me a girl’s night out, because there’s going to be a lot of explaining going on” Lois said, looking towards Clark. “Oh, and don’t think you’ve left my radar screen buddy, we still have a little talking to do too” she said smiling towards Clark.

Clark took her comments in stride and smiled as Max nodded and went back into his trance, informing Zan of what was going on and relaying the message for Chloe.

Zan came out of his trance and sat up.

“Did it work?” Chloe asked.

“Yeah, it did” Zan said, as he informed Chloe of the plan and then he relayed the message from Lois.

“Lois is with them?” she exclaimed. “With such a cryptic message, I bet she’s been inducted into the ‘club’. This will be an interesting girl’s night out” she muttered to herself. They both sat back on the cot, waiting for their friends to come.

On a hillside overlooking Warehouse 15

It took General Lane no time to get his bags packed and on the road. He had just completed setting up his surveillance operations on the hillside overlooking the warehouse in question. In the last couple of hours, there hadn’t been any activity. Nada. Sam was beginning to wonder what kind of wild goose chase this ‘Special Unit’ had sent him on, but he decided to stick it out. Hell, it would be interesting seeing a real live alien up close and personal. He sat back, with his binoculars tuned to the warehouse and kept up his steady observations.

The Roof of Luthor Corp

“Welcome Mr. Luthor” a man in a black suit said to Lex as he exited the helicopter. “We’ve got your car waiting for you down in the garage, whenever you’re ready to go” offered the man.

“Fine, I’ll be right down” Lex said turning towards the elevator, “I’ve got one stop to make before I meet you there though.”

“As you wish” the man said, stepping aside, so Lex could enter the elevator. “I’ll meet you at your car” and then Lex disappeared as the doors to the elevator closed.

He exited the elevator at the penthouse level where he and his father had their offices and entered his office. Going around his desk, he sat in his executive chair and lifted the cover to his laptop. Checking on reports from his operatives, who were supposed to try and locate Milton Fine, Lex placed a called to his lead operative.

“…what do you mean you have no idea where Milton Fine is?” Lex questioned. “It’s funny how he seems to know about all my comings and goings, but my ‘elite’ group of conspirators can’t even get a bleep on the radar when he shows up in Smallville at the Luthor mansion, among other places. What exactly am I paying you for?”

Sensing Lex’s disapproval, his operatives tried heehawing around the problem, when Lex simply stated, “…well if you can’t seem to find him, pack up your things. I’m pulling all my resources from your organization. I’ll just find someone that is able to do what I ask them to do!” and with that Lex hung up the phone. Useless!! That’s what Lex thought of the people he had hired. Grabbing his coat and phone, Lex moved towards the elevator and made his way down to the garage. Little did Lex know that Lionel was still in his office and overheard his little disagreement as a small smile spread across his face, Lex was still playing the game of checkers while everyone else was playing chess.

The Docks

Sunset had come and gone and the group exited the limo and made their way to the gate of the adjoining property and got clearance to enter the facility. Once they were in, they took a side route, provided to them by Lionel, which lead to a fence separating them from Warehouse 15. There was no turning back. Max connected to Zan and told him they were near and to be ready. Once they were done communicating, Isabel held up her hand to the gate and allowed an opening to melt away for them. Each of them walked through the opening and up to the outer sectors of the warehouse. Clark began to feel the affects of the Kryptonite, a welcoming gift from Fine, so he dropped the lead box and moved back as Michael and Max proceeded to collect all the green rocks they could find. Little did they know, Fine had strategically placed and booby trapped each of the rocks with land minds. As Max and Michael collected the rocks, they were setting off the individual detonators counting down the seconds until their explosion. Once the rocks were packed away in the lead box and Clark was able to get back his senses, he heard the ticking down of each of the charges. In a panic, he relayed this information to the group.

“We’ve got to get out of here! Fine’s set up charges and they could go off at any moment!”

“We can’t leave without Chloe or Zan” Lois said, looking towards the building.

“And we’re not going too” Michael stated. “Isabel, you and Liz take Lois off to a safe place and wait for us.” Before he could finish, the three women were primed to rebut his order when Clark spoke up.

“Look, Michael’s right. I can go in and get them and they can back me up, in case there are any more surprises. There isn’t much time. Go!!” and the girls took their cue and worked their way toward a hillside, which would protect them from any kind of explosion.

“Are we ready for this?” Max asked.

“Let’s go” Michael said, leading the group further into the warehouse.

Sam Lane was still sitting on the hillside when he noticed a group of teenagers had entered the scene. ‘Finally, something to observe’ he thought to himself. Looking through his binoculars, he noticed three females and three males. ‘Looks like more of a make-out point than alien central’ Lane thought to himself. Then he focused his binoculars more on the individuals, they looked really familiar, but where had he seen their faces before and then he remembered. These were the aliens, the Roswell aliens! And then he saw her, his baby girl, Lois. She was with them, as well as Clark Kent. ‘What the Hell was going on?’ thought Lane. The mission had turned from a recon mission to a rescue mission in a matter of seconds. He had to get his little girl and Clark away from these dangerous creatures. He put down his binoculars and prepared himself to go down the hill to retrieve Lois and Clark when he noticed the girls were working their way up the hill in his directions. ‘Perfect’, he thought, ‘I just have to get Lois back and handle these girls and then try and get Clark back as well.’

As Isabel, Liz and Lois worked their way up the hill, they came face to face with an M16, with General Lane dressed up in his military garb behind it.

“Hold it right there ladies” Lane said, pointing the gun in the girl’s direction. Liz and Isabel went into their defensive mode and lifted their hands when Sam Lane said, “Lois, I want you to get up here behind me right now. You don’t know what kind of mess you’ve gotten yourself into.” he directed.

Lois looked up at her father, stunned, and simply said, “Daddy”

Liz and Isabel looked at each other and mouthed ‘daddy?’

Meanwhile, the boys were working their way through the warehouse. Fine had set up quite a few rocks on the main floor, but as they made their way down to the basement level, there weren’t any rocks to be seen, except when they came to a big heavy door, which had a nice size piece of kryptonite laced with a string hanging on the doorknob.

“They’re in there” Clark said, standing away from the door. Michael went over to the door and retrieved the alien artifact and chucked it into a far away corner of the basement, as Max went up to the door, laying his hands on it and, after hearing a click, he opened the door to find Chloe and Zan sitting on the cot.

Chloe and Zan quickly got up off the cot and Chloe went running into Clark’s arms as Zan went towards Max’s. After a brief moment of reunions, Michael said,

“I don’t mean to rain on your parade, but…” before Michael could finish his statement, explosions could be heard from the charges above them.

Back on the hillside, Sam addressed his daughter, “Now don’t daddy me Lo-Lo, get up here behind me, away from them.”

Standing up to her father, Lois retaliated, “I thought the days of you spying on me were over, but I can see that they aren’t” she said, moving up the hill, “and for your information, these are my friends Isabel and Liz.”

“First of all, I wasn’t spying on you, but observing this warehouse, it’s not my fault you came into my ‘line of sight’, and secondly, I know who and what your friends are” he said of Isabel and Liz, still pointing his gun at them. “What I don’t understand is why you are here with these ‘people’.”

“Well, if you must know, Chloe and their friend Zan were kidnapped and are being held here and we came to rescue them” Lois stated firmly.

Then Sam exclaimed, “Chloe was kidnapped?” as each of the girls nodded, “Does this have anything to do with a guy named Milton Fine?”, but before anyone could answer, explosions could be seen in the distance enveloping the warehouse. Lane ushered his daughter behind him to give her a little added protection. It looked like the Fourth of July down on the harbor.

Inside the warehouse the floor was coming down and the walls were exploding all around them. Clark protected Chloe by holding her as close to his body as possible, taking the brunt of the explosions as Max brought up his protective shield to prevent Michael, Zan and himself from getting injured. They worked their way up the stairs and when they reached the top they found most of the wall had been blasted out, leading to the outside and Michael, Max, and Zan moved out the opening and up the hillside. Clark and Chloe got separated and were still in the building, as one explosion after another went off.

Isabel and Liz saw Max, Michael and Zan coming up the hillside and went running after them, closely guarded by Sam Lane, who still didn’t know what to make of the whole situation.

“Where are Chloe and Clark?” Lois said frantically. All eyes turned towards Max and Michael as they turned back to the building, which was ablaze with fire and still exploding with the remaining charges going off.

On the road below, leading up to the gates of Warehouse 15, another black limo pulled up to the curb as Lex Luthor exited the vehicle, looking on at the spectacle before him. ‘Fine did say I might miss some ‘fireworks’ if I didn’t get here in time’ thought Lex to himself, but where was this boy and what the Hell was going on. Then he noticed a small crowd of teenagers on the hillside along with…General Sam Lane. Curiosity peaked; Lex moved towards the hill, he was going to get some answers now.

Inside the warehouse, Clark had enveloped Chloe on the main floor, while the fires blazed and the world around them was tumbling down. “How are you holding up Chloe?” Clark asked.

“I’d have to say this is a first for me. Any ideas on how we’re going to get out of this mess?” Chloe asked looking up into Clark’s eyes, as the glowing orange ambers of the fires around them lit up his face.

“Well, in a moment, I’m going to lift my head and blow out the ‘candles’ and then we can walk out of here.” Clark said nonchalantly.

“So, what are you waiting for? A birthday? We all know Clark Kent doesn’t like birthdays and I don’t want to become shish kabob, so if you could?” Chloe said looking up at Clark once more. He bent down and kissed her and said, “Here goes nothing” and he lifted his head and drew in his breath and extinguished the flames around them. Satisfied with his work, he lifted himself off Chloe and allowed her to get up, but as they were about to move their way out of the building, one of Fine’s final surprises erupted. Fine set up his final display in the basement, which sent a final explosion through the center of the building as if a nuclear bomb went off. Clark and Chloe were caught in the middle of the explosion and without even thinking Clark picked up Chloe as they were jettisoned out of the building.

As the group on the hillside was looking down towards the building for any signs of Chloe and Clark, Michael spotted their impending visitor. “Looks like we’ve got more trouble” he said staring at Lex as he climbed the hill and made his way towards the group.

“What the Hell is going on and why are you even involved General Lane?” Lex asked, as Michael and Max turned to face the General, who they hadn’t taken notice of. Before anyone could answer, their attention was turned back to the burning building and in a matter of seconds it was extinguished, followed by a great explosion. The next thing they knew, it looked like Clark was flying through the air carrying Chloe towards the hillside and then he landed on his feet and set Chloe down on the ground, as they both looked back at the scene on the docks.

Lex’s jaw dropped and then he turned towards the group and then looked up at a stunned Clark, who hadn’t realized that Lex had joined them on the hillside, neither one of them knew what to say to the other and then Liz stepped forward, closed her eyes and reached out to Lex’s mind.

‘Lex, you will go back down to your car and await the fire department. You were just out checking on your properties when you came upon the fire. You also have never heard of the names Brett Chambers or Zan.’ Liz opened her eyes and noticed Lex moving down the hillside towards his car, ignoring everything that had just transpired. Max embraced Liz, giving her a reassuring kiss.

Lois looked off at the retreating body of Lex, perplexed and then looked towards Clark for some answers. “What just happened Smallville? Lex doesn’t give up that easily, especially not without a fight” she said watching Lex retreating to his car and awaiting the fire department.

Clark looked over at her father and then back towards her and shrugged and then turned his attention towards Chloe, making sure she was safe, after their ‘flight’. Clark wasn’t sure what to make of General Lane’s appearance, nor Lex’s appearance and quick departure, but he was sure Liz had something to do with it. He’d have to thank her later on.

Sam Lane noticed how the close knit group clammed up to Lois’ question and thought it was time to get some answers himself, but he did it in a more diplomatic way. They were each staring at what remained of Warehouse 15. Clark was holding onto Chloe, as Max was holding onto Liz, with Zan close by, who was being pampered by Isabel. Michael was standing off to the side watching the remaining fireworks when Sam Lane spoke up.

“My daughter has a valid question. What just happened here tonight? I can tell that you all have secrets amongst yourselves and I believe my daughter and Clark are involved in these secrets too, so what I propose is to lay out my cards and see where it takes me. I’ll let you in on what I know and if you can find it in yourselves to trust me, maybe we can help each other out in finding some understanding, because there’s some weird stuff going on around here.”

Max took the leadership role and turned and looked at General Lane and said, “We’re listening.”

“Okay” Lane said, taking a deep breath. “I suppose I should start at the beginning.” He told them about being approached by the Special Unit and how they wanted him to become their new ‘commander in charge’. At this revelation, the Pod Squad’s defensives began to come alive. He mentioned the tapes he saw of each of them and how, through the videos, he had witnessed each of their abilities, proving to him the existence of aliens on Earth. He also mentioned that he hadn’t taken the assignment and that this ‘mission’ was set up to look after another alien creature known as Milton Fine to give him an idea of what the aliens they were searching for were capable of, which was the reason behind his surveillance. “I told the Special Agent who contacted me that I didn’t have any proof that the aliens that were living among us were bad, and why would I want to be in charge of literally torturing these creatures, without any proof. Plus, I’m close to retirement, and I don’t want to go out to pasture with the reputation of being an alien hunter.”

Max had to laugh at this comment and then he turned towards his ‘family’. “Bringing him into the ‘club’ could prove to be very beneficial. He could still be placed in charge of the Special Unit, and divert their attention elsewhere and away from us, allowing us the needed time to train Zan here.” They all nodded in concurrence, but then they turned towards Clark, “So, what do you think Clark?” Max asked.

“I think the cats out of the bag, in a matter of speaking. Yeah, we could mindwarp him and make him forget, but he would be a great asset to have, especially if we look at the bigger picture” Clark stated. “And by the way, thanks Liz for that little piece of work you did on Lex.” She acknowledged him with a nod and a smile.

“Wait a minute” Lois said, turning towards Liz, “You put some kind of whammy on Lex?”

“It’s called mind warping, and yes I did. I told him to walk back to his vehicle and wait for the fire department. He thinks he was just in the neighborhood and has no clue what’s going on. Also, I made him forget the names Brett Chambers and Zan too.”

“That was brilliant” Max said leaning over and kissing Liz, “I knew there was a reason I loved you.”

“Man, I wish I met you all earlier. I’ve had it out to get that man ever since he called me a muffin, peddling…” Lois began, but was interrupted by Sam Lane who was trying to find out where he fit into the equation of things.

“General Lane” Max started, “if you would be so kind as to give us a ride back to town, we may be able to fill in some holes for you about what is happening and more about our existence and maybe in the end we can come to an agreement, helping each other out” Max said.

Lane agreed as they helped him pack up his equipment and loaded themselves into his SUV. It was a tight fit, but everyone got situated in the vehicle as General Lane pulled back into traffic and made his way towards Fort Ryan Army Base. The most secure place for them to speak about such ‘secretive’ matters and the last place anyone would suspect an alien to be hiding.

Somewhere in Metropolis

Milton Fine was going over the video tapes of the night’s activities. He had planned everything perfectly. He had set up Kal-El and his friends and they fell for the bait, hook, line and sinker. Before his little kidnapping scenario, he really didn’t have too much information on the Antarians or the ‘Prophecy’, since the Kryptonian database was limited in its knowledge. He didn’t find out anymore about this Prophecy involving the boy, but he did learn a little about what kind of adversaries he and General Zod were up against. He saw how Zan, the child of this prophecy, was able to communicate by using his mind and thoughts as well as having a healing touch and being able to unlock doors, but he also had the same weakness as Clark in the form of Kryptonite. He also witnessed Isabel melting the fence for an opening and Max using some kind of energy shield to protect the others. The biggest thing was when one of them made Lex forget everything that had transpired that night, a very useful gift indeed. Of course their greatest strength, which he hated to admit, was their humanity and their unity to each other. He would have to work on that! In the meantime, he would continue collecting as much information on these entities, until Lex’s body was prepared and he was ready to release General Zod from his prison.

[sdcheesehead]

Chapter 27 - Kathana

As the sentinel led Ankaa and Sirius down the black marble-paved road, they looked up at the statues of Asterie’s formal rulers. Ankaa felt broken up inside. As a child, this whole place was vibrant and full of life. The gardens leading up to the palace doors were now replaced by overgrowth and the stone statues were quickly deteriorated from the frequent sandstorms and time. ‘What was becoming of Asterie?’ Ankaa thought to herself again. They finally reached the grand white archway, where a couple more sentinels crossed their spears preventing the group’s entry. Their sentinel went up to the other two and spoke to them and then disappeared inside the confines of the palace.

Ankaa and Sirius waited patiently until their sentinel arrived back in the entryway.

“Her Majesty will see you now” he announced leading them through the archway. Not speaking a word, they were led to what Ankaa remembered being the Queen’s personal office. The sentinel directed them inside, offered them a seat and left, closing the door behind him. Ankaa took a seat while Sirius took his place as her personal protector; standing behind her by the door.

Soon, a side door opened and Kathana walked in, “Ankaa, is it truly you?” Kathana said walking over to Ankaa as she rose to greet her childhood friend. The old friends embraced as Ankaa answered, “Yes, it is I. It has been a long time Kathana.”

“Yes it has” Kathana said soberly, turning and sitting in her chair behind the desk. “Whatever became of you after that fateful day many moons ago?”

“I’ve been residing in the caves of the Canopus Mountains, along with a few of my trusted royal protectors.”

“You’ve been living in the caves all this time!” exclaimed Kathana.

“Yes” answered Ankaa. “As you know I received some intel about Khivar’s plans so I put in place a contingency plan. When he murdered my family, I was wisped away and brought to the caves, where we’ve been residing until Serena started registering activity in the Granolith we had built into the caves.”

“I recently had an opportunity to meet your ‘contingency plans’.”

Ankaa’s eyes got wide and her jaw dropped, “You met Zan?” she stuttered, “How?”

“I did meet Zan, or ‘Max Evans’ as he is known as on Earth and his wife Avanya when a summit was called. I questioned if it was truly him but the emissary certified him so Larek, Sero, Hanar, Nicholas, who was representing Khivar, and myself sat down with him as he conducted the summit.”

“What was the purpose of the summit anyways? Are things really that bad in the Whirlwind Galaxy?” questioned Ankaa, concern seen on her face.

“Well, our worlds have been fighting with each other. Since the fall of the Antarian Royal house, I haven’t made Khivar’s life easy. He has turned his aggression on his home planet of Celaeno, because Sero and her backers didn’t agree with his ascension to the throne. Sero has turned her attention towards Hanar and the residents of Arcas because he is unwilling to share the only resource available to keep the Celaenoians alive since their bodies are unable to adjust to our other problem, which is Sorin. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but our climate has changed drastically since you’ve disappeared.”

“That would explain why the dry lands Sirius and I crossed seemed to been unseasonably hot and I couldn’t believe the sandstorms we encountered too. Is this what happened to your lush gardens and the meadows?”

“Yes” Kathana said, sadness in her voice. “It is like that all over the Whirlwind Galaxy, but it seems to be affecting Asterie and Arcas the hardest, since we are closest to our red sun Sorin.”

Both women sat still for a while reflecting on their dire situations. Finally Ankaa broke the silence. “What were they like?” she questioned. She had wondered what had become of these human half-breeds she had helped to create who carried the royal essence of her family. ‘Was it a good decision?’ a thought that had filled her many waking days sitting in her cave.

“We didn’t have a lot of time to meet since the human vessels we inhabited were on borrowed time, but I think you would be proud of your son. He goes by Max, as I mentioned, but Khivar proposed a solution to the problem and Max stood up and turned him down. He made a few enemies that night and I told him so. Hanar and Sero were furious and of course Nicholas ran his mouth. Larek didn’t say much, but he stayed after everyone else and spoke with him personally.”

“They were really close at one time” reflected Ankaa. “So, what was this solution of Khivar’s?”

“Essentially Khivar would abdicate the throne to Max in name only, allowing the Royal Four to return home as well as allowing Khivar to remain as the ruling power of the government. Max would also have to get his avid followers to support the new regime and finally, and this is the kicker, Max had to return the Granolith” explained Kathana.

‘So they did find the other Granolith, good’ Ankaa thought aloud in a whispered tone.

“Well, I think Max and Avanya were aware of the location of the Granolith, but Vilandra and Rath looked surprise and very angry when Max revealed he had the Granolith. In fact, it almost looked like they weren’t from the same pods, weren’t there two sets engineered?” questioned Kathana.

“Yes there were, so that might mean they found each other, there are still so many unanswered questions” Ankaa said. “Well, the reason I came out of my cave is this: Recently, Serena has been picking up a lot activity in the Granolith.”

Kathana interrupted, “wasn’t that one destroyed when Avanya returned to have her baby?”

“Yes that one was destroyed but Serena and some of my other leading scientists engineered and placed a second one there as a backup” then looking up at Kathana, Ankaa asked, “How did you hear about the baby?” Ankaa asked confused.

“Oh, I’ve got my spies too. Her human name, I believe, is Tess and she had a baby boy shortly after she arrived. She and the baby were under constant guard and she and Khivar were at each other’s throats all the time, quite the solar burst she was. I don’t know how she managed it, but she escaped and returned to Earth with the boy.”

“That is the other reason I am here. As I said Serena witnessed a lot of fluctuations in the second Granolith, meaning that the Royal Four had found that one too. However, there were other signatures being registered, so I sent Mira and Serena through the Granolith to train the Royal Four and whoever else is with them.”

Again Kathana interrupted, “Are you telling me you are able to use it as some kind of portal?” Ankaa nodded. “What are they training them for?” questioned Kathana.

“Are you aware of the Prophecy set down many moons ago?”

“Vaguely” Kathana answered honestly. Ankaa informed her of the first part of the prophecy involving Max’s son and how Mira and Serena were on Earth to train the Royal Four, the Kryptonian whose heat signature registered in the Granolith and the child of the Prophecy. “…there is evil brewing, I can feel it. We need to unite the ‘Five Planets’ and prepare to rid our worlds of this evil threat. Will you help me?”

Kathana sat back and looked at the problem from all sides. Ankaa was right, they needed to unite as one if they were going to survive. “I will call another emergency summit excluding Khivar and see if Larek will allow us to use his quarters as the site, since he has pretty much stayed neutral through this whole ordeal.”

“Thank you Kathana for your support. There is one more thing I wish to ask of you, can you provide me transportation to Dione, I would like to meet with Larek prior to the summit, so I can inform him of everything I have told you.”

“I will have a transport ship ready for you by tomorrow morning. Does he know you’re coming, because your entrance today took me by complete surprise?”

“Yes, he should know. Before we left the caves, I sent a message to Larek informing him of my existence and also that I would be paying him a visit in the near future.”

“Well, I offer you and your protector my home for tonight. Please feel free to clean yourselves up from the red dust of the wastelands and I’ll have my people prepare a fitting meal.”

“Thank you for your hospitality, dear friend.” Ankaa said, lifting herself off the chair. Sirius opened the door as Kathana proceeded through first, followed by Ankaa. Kathana showed them to their quarters so they could freshen up and the remainder of the evening was spent reminiscing about their memories and looking to see what the future held for the Whirlwind Galaxy.

Dione Palace

Larek was sitting at his desk re-reading the letter he had received from Ankaa. Lyra, one of her personal protectors, had hand delivered the message a few days earlier, complete with the Royal Antarian Seal. ‘Could it be true?’ he had thought to himself, ‘Had she really survived that horrible night so many years before?’ He closed the letter up and called for Lyra. He had decided to allow Lyra temporary residence in the palace until Ankaa arrived, which could be at anytime. Soon there was a knock at the door.

“Come in” announced Larek. Lyra walked through the door, closing it behind her and walked up to the desk, “you sent for me, Your Highness?” she said bowing to Larek.

“Yes I did. I was wondering if you could do me a very important favor.”

“I will do anything you wish of me, sire.”

“Good. What I’m going to ask of you involves a highly guarded secret of mine, which also inadvertently involves the Queen Mother, Ankaa and her family. Can I trust you to keep this secret?”

“With my life, sire.”

“I want you to go to these coordinates and take this message to Mirek, my uncle and help him bring his wife Tara and their daughter, Her Royal Highness Avanya Tess back to the palace.”

Shocked, Lyra looked up at Larek and asked in a soft voice, “Her Royal Highness is alive and here?” Larek nodded. “That is why this mission is so secretive. I don’t want this information getting out until I’ve had a chance to talk to the Queen Mother first.”

“As you wish sire, I will leave immediately.” And with that, she bowed and left the office. Larek rummage over his desk and found yet another message, this one was from Cattivo. Opening up the envelope and scanning the letter, Larek couldn’t help but to smile, but then he remembered the ‘Prophecy’. Maybe Cattivo thought he was doing the right thing at the time, ridding the ‘Whirlwind Galaxy’ of Khivar, but what would Khivar find in the Phantom Zone. If a day came and he was able to escape the Phantom Zone along with any followers he picked up, life on the ‘Five Planets’ would fill like a fresh breeze compared to the wrath he would let lose. Here was the evil the “Prophecy’ was talking about. He had to do something, tell someone. The only thing he could think of was to make another alien phone call using his human vessel Brody.

Phantom Zone

The sandstorm had subsided and Khivar was lying in his corner of the cave. Lifting his head off the cave floor and looking out the opening, he got his first real glimpse of the phantom zone. It was like the barren wasteland he was now used to seeing back in his world, but it was charcoal black, not the red dust he was accustomed too. The world was also enveloped in a blinding white light coming from a source unknown. He wrapped the blanket he was given around his shoulders and exited the cave.

Lycus and Chimarus were also rising from their slumber, when they noticed Khivar exiting the cave.

“Should we warn him?” asked Lycus.

“Why bother? He’s the King. He won’t listen to us. We told him what to expect last night and if he still wants to investigate things on his own, then I say let him!” Chimarus said, with bitterness in his tone. “So, do you want to grab a good seat and watch him get his ass kicked?”

Lycus joined him at the edge of the cave. They knew it wouldn’t take much time for the other Zoners to exit their own domiciles. Most likely, the other Zoners had seen him enter the atmosphere, but didn’t bother to brave the storm.

Khivar decided to walk up to the top of one of the largest sand dunes in the immediate area, so he could get a better idea of his predicament. It wasn’t looking good, as his legs sunk deep into the sand with each step. By the time he reached the top, he was exhausted. Looking out over the horizon, he notice the many different caves situated on one side and then the dunes, which went on and on into the horizon. Within the dunes, Khivar could see many sharp jagged rock fragments protruding out of the ground,‘Curious’ he thought when all of a sudden he was sideswiped by a couple of black skeleton creatures. As one of the things turned to attack Khivar again, he tripped in the sand and tumbled down the side of the dune. Landing at the bottom, he was welcomed by a couple more of these creatures violently swooping down on him and battering him. He thought he would try to defend himself, but never got the chance because each time he tried to stand up, another one of those black creatures would swoop down on him. Soon the area was filled with these creatures, ‘these prisoners’, thought Khivar. Finally, they stopped attacking him when one figure glided across the sand towards him.

“So, who do we have here?” the thing hissed at him, all the while circling him, “and just how were you able to keep your corporeal body?” it questioned. Khivar remained quiet, down in the sand, bruised, cut and defeated by the other creatures.

The creature got anxious and began to ‘welcome’ Khivar to the Zone in his own way. “Answer me, who are you and what is your crime?”

Feeling defeated, but remembering the words from the prior night he surveyed his situation. He had already lost the battle of physical strength. The only other thing he had going for him was his intelligence and he knew if he was going to survive, he couldn’t continue taking the abuse these creatures where dishing out. He gathered himself up and proceeded to stand up, dusted off his attire and looked up at the creature and said, “I am Khivar, from the Whirlwind Galaxy, brought to this…” he looked around at his surroundings and continued, “…this desolate place through some kind of portal I was using. I was trying to get to Earth, but something went wrong and now I suppose I get the…pleasure of being among you and your friends.”

“Earth you say.” The creature was intrigued, “Well, I’d say you made a very wrong turn. Why were you going to Earth?” The creature said, still gliding and circling around Khivar trying to intimidate him.

“It doesn’t matter anymore. I’m stuck in this place, the same as you all” Khivar said.

“What do you know of this place?” the creature questioned.

Khivar began to get upset; first this thing had attacked him, now he was playing all nice. Still recovering from his recent assault, Khivar said angrily, “Well, maybe before I start answering your petty questions, you could tell me who you are. You had your goons attack me for no apparent reason and then you start to befriend me. Well, that is just too much, I demand…” but before he could say another word he was attacked again as one of the other black creatures yelled, “Insubordination.”

“Insubordination, what the Hell do you mean insubordination” Khivar said, lifting himself off the ground again, “Who the Hell do you think you are?”

“I am General Zod,” the creature said, puffing out his grisly black skeleton chest.

“Oh, I’m sorry General” Khivar said sarcastically, “I should’ve guessed …but you look like all the others. I can’t believe these ugly bodiless…things follow you.”

Zod had reached his breaking point and attacked Khivar and was soon joined by the surrounding Zoners. Khivar was lying balled up in the sand when a bright light came from the top of the dune, which was accompanied by a high-pitched noise. Khivar reached for his ears, while the Zoners disappeared, back into their caves.

Raya had noticed the commotion going on in the distance and decided to greet the newcomer personally, but it looked like Zod and his clones had gotten to the new arrival first. She grabbed her black cloak and scarf and covered herself up and reached for the black crystal medallion Jor-El had given her and preceded to the caves. She reached the top of the highest dune and raising the medallion, she enlightened the group to her presence as they each went scurrying away to their domiciles. She walked up to the newcomer as he turned over. She noticed he had been beaten pretty badly and would require some kind of medical attention. He looked up at her and said, “Thank you”. Without thinking, Raya gave the newcomer a quick kick to the face, sending him into unconsciousness. Looking over at the closest cave, she noticed Lycas and Chimuras were sitting back enjoying the show.

“You two” Raya said, “remove this thing, see to his medical needs and clean him up. He is now your responsibility.” And then she turned towards Khivar and said, “Welcome to the Phantom Zone” and walked back up the dune and disappeared back into the vast dry lands.

Lycas and Chimuras looked at each other and then got up and received Khivar and deposited his body back in his corner.

“Well, he stood up longer than I originally gave him” Lycas said of the past events.

“Humph” grunted Chimuras, “time will tell.”

Back in Roswell

Back in the abandoned building behind the CrashDown, Nicholas was ranting and raving about losing Ava’s trail. “While Lonnie was sleeping and Rath was doing whatever it is he does, I followed her to the Sheriff’s department and stood guard for nearly four hours, but she never exited the building. So I went to her apartment and nobody was there either. I would lie odds down that she has affectively left the area” Nicholas said.

“What did the big guy have to say?” Rath inquired, knowing that Nicholas had just finished updating Khivar on their current situation.

“Simply that we were incompetent and since we were unable to find the Granolith that he was coming personally to find it, and you know what that means.”

“We’re dead where we stand,” Lonnie simply said.

“Unless we find the Granolith first, before he gets here,” Rath said.

“Well, it’s not like we’ve haven’t been trying. What’s our next stop, if little Miss Prim and Proper has vacated the area?” inquired Lonnie.

“We need to sit back and wait, hoping that maybe an opening will present itself. Someone is bound to slip up sooner or later” Nicholas said, “But for now, I’m going to go to sleep.” The other two agreed and they each found their place in the building and set up their makeshift beds, waiting another day, hoping that luck would be on their side.

Back on Dione

Lyra had made her way to the coordinates Larek had given her, which was located on the outskirts of a small village. It looked to her like the Mirek Estate was enclosed by a twelve foot white marbled wall. ‘Impressive’ she thought to herself. She walked up to the entrance and waved her had over the Antarian symbol and pressed her hand inside and waited. All symbols were derived from the Antarian runic, as did their language, further uniting the ‘Five Planets’.

“Welcome to Mirek Estates. Who are you and what is your business here today?” came a voice from nowhere it seemed.

Lyra answered aloud, “I am Lyra, a messenger sent from his Royal Highness King Larek. I have been told that my business lies with Mirek and his family alone.”

There was a slight pause and then a door materialized and the voice said, “You may enter. Follow the path to the residence, where you will be greeted.”

Lyra walked through the opening, as it vanished once she entered, forming into its prior solid existence. She did as she was told and followed the path. The estate had very beautiful gardens and exotic animals running here and there. When she made it to the residence, a door opened and there stood…a human. She had never seen one in person, and this took her by shock.

“Welcome to my estate. Did you say you had a message from my nephew?” Mirek asked.

“Would you be Mirek, sir?” stammered Lyra.

Understanding her predicament, Mirek smiled, “Yes, it is I. Come in a join my family and I’ll explain my appearance to you once we are inside. It is Lyra, isn’t it?”

“Yes” she responded.

“Well, as you noticed, I’ve taken to living in my human form. This is to make my wife, Tara and my daughter Tess more comfortable.

Lyra followed Mirek to a comfortable sitting area, still not understanding what he was saying until she saw the two human forms, presumably female, sitting down talking amongst themselves. Mirek offered Lyra a chair and then he made himself comfortable. “So, what is my dear nephew up to these days?” Mirek asked, breaking the seal and opening the letter. After reading the letter, his face went pale.

Tara noticed her husband’s changed demeanor and took the letter from his hands and read it. “Could it be true, Mirek?”

“I don’t know” and then looking up at Lyra, Mirek said, “Do you know what is transcribed in this message?”

“I haven’t read it sire, but I’m assuming it may have something to do with the person I have sworn to protect.” Mirek gave her a knowing look as she continued. “As I said, I am Lyra, Royal Protector of the Queen Mother Ankaa.”

“What’s going on?” Tess said, entering into the conversation.

“It seems like the ghosts of the past have resurfaced” Mirek said, earning him a confused face from his daughter. “I’m sorry Tess. It seems like Zan’s mother is alive and she is on her way to the palace and wants to meet with us.”

Looking towards Lyra for some answers, in which she answered, “Her Majesty has been living in the caves of the Canopus Mountains on Asterie and from what I gather it has come to her attention that the Royal Four are alive, or some form of them.”

“It took her this long to check up on us?” blurted out Tess aggravated.

Lyra looked at the young blond human and then she remembered what Larek had told her, “Would you be Her Royal Highness Avanya?”

Tess nodded and said, “I am a representation of Avanya. Please refer to me as Tess though, for it is the name I’m accustomed too and I don’t want any more undue attention brought my way, which is the reason I have stayed behind these walls.”

“So what does Max’s mother want with us anyways? I wonder what enticed her to leave the confines of her cave.” Tess said, plopping herself down on the furniture. “All we get is a destiny book, which was crap and we couldn’t read it anyways and then her little hologram explaining how things were suppose to work, but she never calculated the ‘Liz’ factor.”

Tess continued to rant on about her personal experiences as her family and Lyra listened in. Mirek and Tara had heard how their daughter had been raised and how the rest of the Royal Four reacted to her, when she finally met them. She had since accepted her place in the scheme of things. She accomplished her part, producing an heir to the throne with Max, but there was still a lot of resentment towards the whole situation. Now, Max’s mother wanted to see her. “Well, let’s not keep ‘Her Highness’ waiting” Tess said, standing up and withdrawing to her room to pack her belongings.

Lyra looked towards Mirek and Tara and asked, “She seems really bitter. I remember Her Highness being so full of life and who is this Max?”

“She has reasons to be Lyra, but it’s something she needs to work out for herself, as for Max, he would be your rightful King. You know him as Zan.”

Lyra nodded and then asked, “Did I hear correctly, an heir has been born into the House of Antar?”

“Yes, you heard right. His name is also Zan and he resides on Earth with Max. Tara, we should go and pack our bags too, we don’t want to keep Her Highness waiting.”

Tara nodded as she and Mirek walked back to their rooms, leaving Lyra to ponder the new information she had just gained. ‘Times were changing’ thought Lyra ‘hopefully for the best.’

[sdcheesehead]

Thanks again for all the feedback

Chapter 28 – Revelations at Fort Ryan

Back at the Kent’s farm Martha was putting the finishing touches on a cherry pie while Pete was in the living room watching a little television when the phone rang.

“Pete, would you be a dear and get that?” requested Martha.

“No problem Mrs. Kent” Pete said, getting off the couch and answering the phone, “Hello, Kent Residence.”

“Pete, is that you?” Clark asked.

“Hey Clark, yeah it’s me, what’s going on?”

Clark informed Pete of their current situation and how Chloe and Zan were safe. He also mentioned they were on their way to Fort Ryan Army Base. He asked if Pete could go down to Max’s place and let the others in on what was going on. Pete agreed, said his goodbyes and hung up the phone. He brought Martha up to date and headed out the back door, got into his car and made his way down the gravel road.

When he got to the house, he knocked on the door and waited but nobody answered, so he tried again. Soon he was rewarded when the door swung open, “Hey Pete” Jesse said swinging the screen door open, “come on in.”

“Thanks. Where is everyone?” Pete said entering the farmhouse.

“Kyle and Ava are out back training with Mira and I think Maria and Serena are out there as well,” informed Jesse.

“So, why are you stuck in the house and not out there watching them? I think it would be very interesting seeing what they are capable of doing.” Pete said, following Jesse out the backdoor.

“Well, Lionel has me working on some corporate case, so I’m reading up on that. Plus, I don’t really need to watch them train, I’m married to Isabel and got introduced to the alien way of life first hand and you’re right, it is amazing what they can do.”

Pete nodded and then said, “I really don’t know the logistics of how Lionel learned about Clark, but I still don’t trust that man and I suggest you and your friends remain attentive as to what you tell him too. Luthors don’t do things out of the kindness of their hearts, there is always an agenda.” Jesse lifted an eyebrow towards Pete as he continued. “Well, it’s no secret that my family doesn’t have any love for the Luthors. At one time, my family had a really good business going on here in Smallville, making it the ‘Cream Corn Capital’ of the world. That is up until the day that Lionel tricked my father and many other families into signing their land and businesses over to the Luthors, resulting in the good citizens of Smallville losing their jobs. Farmers had to foreclose on their homes and companies went bankrupt, all because of the Luthor’s double-dealing. Don’t get me wrong, Smallville has been able to survive the Luthor’s attack, but there isn’t anything anyone can do without that man knowing about it. I’m actually surprised that Clark was able to keep his secret from him for so long.”

“I will keep that in mind while I’m dealing with the Luthors and I’ll inform Max and the others about your concerns too. Well, they’ll be over there along the tree line.”

“Thanks, and oh, I should mention Clark called and they were able to get Chloe and Zan out and are on their way to Fort Ryan Army Base.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Pete shook his head no. “What would possess them to go onto a military base, by choice?”

“I don’t know, that was just the message I was given” Pete said. “See ya around” as he worked his way down a path to the tree line. Jesse turned around and went back inside the house.

He didn’t see or hear anyone and thought that maybe they were done training when he bumped into an invisible force field, sending him back on his backside. Lifting himself off the ground he reached out cautiously and felt the invisible wall and began banging on it. A few seconds later the field was lowered and Pete was starring at Serena.

“Hello Pete” she said, “Why don’t you walk with me.” Pete agreed and followed her, but when he looked back at the opening he came through, it was filled in and he couldn’t even see the farmhouse now. “What is this place?” he asked.

“It’s hard to explain but to put it simply, you’ve entered another dimension. We are still here on Earth, just a different plane, so that we can conduct our business without curious eavesdroppers spoiling our efforts.”

“Makes sense” Pete said, seeing the others up ahead. Kyle was on some kind of targeting field, holding up his glowing hand and blasting rocks apart in the distant.

“Keep it up Kyle and you might even be able to challenge Michael to an exploding rock competition,” Maria laughed as Kyle gave her a dirty look.

“It’s harder than you’d think Deluca” Kyle said, raising his hand trying to blast apart another rock.

“Hiya Pete, whatcha been up too?” she said, noticing Pete entering the arena.

“Well, Clark called and gave me an update.” Ava and Mira joined them as Pete related the recent updates. “Interesting” Maria said, “Why the Hell are they going onto a military base? This isn’t good.”

“If it’s any consolation, Clark didn’t sound nervous or anything. Clark said they were catching a ride with some General.”

“That’s all he told you! Every time Max and company gets involved with the government, it never seems to turn out right,” exclaimed Maria.

“She has a point” Kyle said, worry spread across his face, “and Maria won’t relent until she knows for a fact that Michael is alright. Do you have a cell phone we could borrow?”

“Sure” Pete said handing off his phone to Maria.

“Maria, call Clark and found out what’s going on and tell them to stop being all cryptic. It’s getting old!” Kyle said returning to the practice field.

“Thanks” Maria said dialing the number, but receiving no answer. “I suppose I can’t get service in here,” she mumbled to herself. “Serena, since I can’t get any service on the cell phone in here and I can’t deactivate the force field, if you could show me the way out, I’d appreciate it.”

Serena agreed and turned towards Pete, “Are you coming?”

“I’d like to stay a while longer, if I can. Never really seen them work their magic. I think it would be interesting to see.”

“I’ll take care of him” Ava said, “Come with me Pete. I needed a guinea pig anyways.” She said with a smile on her face. Pete looked up at her, wondering what she had in mind, but before he could think any further on the comment, he was wandering deeper into the training field as Maria was led away by Serena.


The ride from Metropolis to Fort Ryan Army Base was pretty quiet except for the brief phone call Clark made to Pete. As they reached the gate the guard noticed the General’s star on the front of his vehicle, stood at attention, saluted and wave them through the gate. Sam Lane drove to his office and parked in his assigned parking space. The group exited the vehicle and made their way up the sidewalk to the front door when Sam noticed he had left his office keys back at his house. He wasn’t expecting to be back on the base so soon. “Well, it looks like I need to go back to my house and get the keys” Sam confessed, heading back down the sidewalk.

“I don’t think that’ll be a problem” Max said, laying his hands on the doorknob, producing a click and then opening the door for everyone to enter. Lane just looked at the young teenager, shook his head and entered his office building. When he reached his office door, he turned towards Max and said, “Do you think you can work your magic again?”

Max responded by opening the door to Lane’s office and they each entered the small room. Lane gathered a few more chairs and placed them throughout his office. Everyone took a seat, when Clark’s cell phone began to go off. Pulling it out of his pocket he answered it, “Hello.”

“Yeah Clark it’s Maria. Can I speak to Michael please?”

“Sure” handing the phone over to Michael, Clark said, “It’s for you and she doesn’t sound too happy.”

“Thanks” Michael said taking the phone from Clark, “Hey Maria, I’m kind of busy here, what’s up?”

Maria began to lay into Michael, when he put the phone down into the palm of his hand and said, “I think I’ll take this outside. It seems Maria and the others are a little nervous with us being here.” Max, Isabel and Liz each nodded in understanding about what Michael was saying as Michael got up and left the room.

Finally, Lane couldn’t hold himself any longer and said, “What’s going on?”

“I would really like to wait until Michael gets back, so we don’t have to repeat anything” Max said. Noticing the look on Lane’s face, he continued, “But I suppose that I could introduce everyone to you. I’m Max Evans, this is my wife Liz and my sister Isabel. You’ve met Michael and this is my son Zan and I believe you know Clark.”

Michael finally returned, handed the phone to Clark and said, “Thanks. Later on, I’ll have to teach you the delicate way of dealing with Maria.” Clark gave him a questioning look as Michael took a seat.

“Well, nice to meet each of you, but my question isn’t necessarily who you are, but what are you?”

“Daddy, you don’t need to be so blunt about it” Lois said.

“No, it’s alright Lois. I’m sure you still have questions too” Max said and Lois nodded her head as she looked over in Clark’s direction.

“I suppose I’ll start this party off” Max said, “Since it seems like he’s already been shown different documentation on us.” Taking a deep breath, Max began to tell the General who each person in his ‘family’ is and what each of them is capable of. He even informed him of the Special Unit’s agenda, his brief relationship with Tess, who was seen on one of his tapes and his son Zan. He didn’t enlighten him of the prophecy though. He figured he’d see where this took him. So far the General was taking everything in stride. Once Max was done explaining his half of the story, everyone sat back in silence wondering what everyone else was thinking.

“Thank you Max” Lane said, “I know it took a lot of courage relaying all that information to me and it explains a lot of what I saw in those videos. Basically, you all were trying to defend yourselves. You really aren’t out there to hurt anyone and I now know I don’t want to be a part of an organization that wants to hurt individuals, such as you all. Plus, you saved my niece from that character Milton Fine, which brings up another point, who is this Milton Fine and how does Clark fit into all this?”

“Well, I guess it’s my turn” Clark said, looking towards Lois and her father. “Milton Fine is an alien artificial intelligence made by Kryptonians.”

At this, Lane interrupted, “wasn’t it a couple of Kryptonians that attacked Smallville a couple years back?” Lois’ attention was peaked as she looked towards Clark for some answers.

“Yes, they were Kryptonian, just like I’m a Kryptonian” seeing the fear on Sam Lane’s face he continue. “As a baby, my world was coming to an end and my parents sent me through the stars and I landed in a cornfield, where the Kent’s found and raised me. Now, the two individuals that Lois saw at the Smallville Medical Center that day, are the same ones that Lana saw exiting the black ship that landed during the second meteor shower. That is when Lex rushed his men in to recover the black ship from the field and stashed it in Warehouse 15. From what I can gather, those two individuals were working for General Zod, an evil Kryptonian that was locked away before the destruction of Krypton. Anyway, Milton Fine’s mission was to release Zod and I’m thinking that’s what these two were trying to do too, but so far they haven’t been able to and if I have anything to say about it, it won’t happen.”

“Clark, Fine mentioned that he figured you wouldn’t release Zod so that was the reason he took Zan. He has somehow figured out Zan’s…purpose and how close Max is to him, so I’m afraid he’s got his sights set on Zan to get to Max and inadvertently having you release Zod that way” informed Chloe.

“That sneaky bastard” blunted out Michael.

“Well, Mr. Kent and I went up against those two and it didn’t turn out very pleasant, they were very strong and threw us both like we were a sack of potatoes and damn near crushed my larynx” Lois said, “so how do you expect to go after them and win?”

“I did go after them and win. I also have some special abilities of my own,” Clark said. “Remember when you told me they were looking for some guy named Kal-El?” Lois nodded. Even though she heard a brief interpretation of this story on the helicopter, hearing the full story from Clark Kent made everything even more believable.

Clark continued, “Kal-El is my Kryptonian name. I went to the Luthor mansion, where Lana had redirected them and just as I got there Lana was knocked unconscious, but not before she had a chance to weaken them with Kryptonite. They tried to get me to join up with them and General Zod, but I said no and then the female one took off a bracelet and threw it up in the air opening up a portal and tried to send me through it. I fought a good battle and sent each of them through the portal, which closed shortly afterwards.”

“So, does Lana know?” questioned Lois, knowing how close the two had gotten in the past year, before her attention turned towards Lex.

“No, she doesn’t know” Clark said soberly. “It’s a long story, but I’d appreciate it if she never found out.”

Lois nodded in affirmation and then Isabel spoke up, “Clark, did we get to see the real Clark Kent in action?” Clark gave her a quizzical look as she continued, “Did Clark Kent really fly?”

Clark thought about it, “Everything happened so fast. One minute the fire was blazing around us and I extinguished it and then there was a blast the only thing I could think of doing was to pick up Chloe and get out of there, when the blast threw us out of the building.”

“But you landed on your feet” Isabel countered.

“So I did. I guess Kal-El isn’t the only one that flies anymore” Clark said when Lois spoke up.

“You can fly?”

“Among other things” Clark said.

“Like what other things? Spill Smallville” countered Lois.

“Boy, I thought Maria was a spitfire. You’d give her a run for her money” Michael said.

Clark looked over at Michael and laughed and then turned towards Lois and listed his abilities, “I’m very strong and fast. I have x-ray and heat vision and exceptional hearing as well as my most recent ability of flight. I’m also just learning about myself, so I’m sure there are abilities just dying to get out.”

“Wow, you’re amazing Smallville and that explains a lot of the strange events that seem to happen around you too” Lois said.

“I must say, this is not what I expected, meeting you lot. After my visit last week with Agent Davis, I was somewhat skeptical about the whole alien thing, but after he showed me the documentation he had on you, well let’s just say I was intrigued. I told him I would let them know by the end of the week my decision, but after meeting you and hearing your life stories, I can’t see myself being part of an organization that is hell bent on exposing and hurting you.”

“But that’s what we want you to do” Max said. Seeing the confusion on Sam’s face he continued, “All our lives, we’ve been on the run from someone, including the Special Unit. They never seem to be able to leave us alone. They got close last May, at our high school graduation, but let’s just say we got a little forewarning and left before they were able to catch our scent. We’ve been on the road since then, until we learned where Zan was and that he was about to be exposed too, so that is where our paths crossed with Clark here. We have also just purchased a home to live in, instead of traveling on the road all the time and we recently came upon a…” and then Max paused. Should he tell him about the prophecy? Why not? When the time comes and the evil forces let themselves be known, having a human ally that could rally the military forces behind him would definitely be an added bonus. “We came upon a prophecy that involves my son here” Max continued on, telling Sam Lane and his daughter about the prophecy.

“I’m still having problems getting over the fact that Zan here is your child” Sam said, but before he could finish Max interjected.

“Why is it so hard of a concept to believe? You obviously believe that we exist and are…not from this world, but you’re having problems believing that Zan is my son.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but he looks like he’s only about 5 or 6 years younger than you are and then to have such a prophecy hanging over his head is just…”

“A lot, I know and unfair” Max said, thinking of what the future held for Zan. “And for your information, Zan is only about six months old.” Max saw the shocked faces of both Lois and Sam Lane and continued. “Even when Michael, Isabel, Tess and myself came out of our pods, it was in the bodies of six year children, but our ship crashed back in 1947. There is no way to determine what is normal as far as our growing rates, but Zan here has exceeded us all.”

“I’d say” Isabel said, trying to lighten the mood a little, scuffing up Zan’s otherwise tidy hair.

“Aunt Isabel, don’t mess with the ‘do” Zan said, running his hand over his head returning it to its clean and tidy appearance.

This was the first time Sam or Lois had witnessed the young boy doing anything extraordinary, which kind of confirmed what these kids were saying to them.

“I guess I stand corrected” Sam Lane said, “so, if I understand you correctly, you want me to accept this position as an alien hunter, so I can keep them away from you all. What about the ‘bad’ aliens out there like your friend Milton Fine, or this Zod character? What do I do about any intel I get on them?”

Max had to think about this and then answered, “Please speak to us first about any intel you get about any alien activity, so we are aware if our enemies have surfaced and also so we can inform you of potential hazards involving the different ‘races’ out there. It would really benefit you knowing what you can face and what you should leave up to us to handle. Maybe you can save a few men’s lives this time around.” Sam Lane nodded remembering how the two Kryptonians took out a whole police force.

“Are there any more of you all around, that I should be aware of?” Lane asked. The group informed him of the remaining group back in Smallville as well as Khivar, Nicholas, Lonnie, Rath and any Skins that may be out there too.

“Well, this has definitely been an enlightening evening” Lane said.

“Tell me about it” exclaimed Lois.

“Well, where should I take you from here, Metropolis or Smallville?” questioned Sam Lane.

Liz took this opportunity to speak up, “I think we need to go back to Metropolis. We need to drop Zan off at his house, as well as Chloe and then we still need to pay a visit to Summerholt Institute and take care of some people and any records not retrieved by the boys previously.”

Max looked at her, he had almost forgotten about the records and personnel at Summerholt. “I agree” I’m sure Bob will let us stay the night and then we can take care of our business at Summerholt, finding our way to Smallville the next day.”

“Well if we are in agreement, I suggest we load up the vehicle and get Zan home.” Sam said, and then realized what he said and asked, “I thought Zan lived with you, his father.”

Max breathed deeply and then explained, “When Tess brought him back from Antar I was led to believe that he was fully human, which was the reason why he wasn’t accepted on the throne of Antar. I didn’t want Zan exposed to the alien chaos that is my life so I placed him up for adoption. Zan was adopted by Bob and Brenda Chambers in Metropolis and they gave him the name Brett. They have currently learned of their son’s heritage as well as ours and we have set up an arrangement so each of us has some time with our son.”

“Did you say throne?” Lois questioned.

Again, Max took a long breath and explained, “Remember when I mentioned that Isabel, Michael, Tess and I were alien half-breed. Well the alien part of our genetic make up was taken from the Royal Four on Antar. I am Zan, the rightful King of Antar, Isabel, or Princess Vilandra as she is known, is my sister. Michael, also known as General Rath, is my second in command and Tess, also known as Avanya is considered the rightful Queen and was married to the original Zan. Since Tess and I consummated and Zan is the result of that merger, he should be the rightful heir to the throne.”

“Not only did I get to meet some aliens tonight, I met royal aliens at that” stated Lois.

“And too bad you can’t put any of it in the ‘Inquisitor’ Lo” Chloe re-informed, “Because we don’t want to bring any attention to our friends here, would we?”

“No, and who would believe me anyhow?” Everyone laughed as Sam Lane said, “So, are we ready to hit the road again?” Everyone was in agreement as they put the chairs away and Max locked up the office and building as they departed.

[sdcheesehead]

Alien_Friend, Timelord31 and eric1978 - Thanks for the feedback and eric1978, thanks for the BUMP

Thank you very much for your patience. Finally got through my son's graduation and spent last weekend writing. I think this is my longest chapter thus far. It was inspired by a reader and I hope you enjoy it. I generalized the story from Roswell's "A Roswell Christmas Carol".


Chapter 29 – Guardian Angel

Bob and Brenda were sitting at their kitchen table awaiting the arrival of their son. It had been a couple of hours since they had received a phone call from Isabel saying they had found him and Chloe in an abandoned warehouse and they were attempting to rescue them. They were unable to get any sleep until they knew that their son was safe. Brenda got up and walked over to the counter and proceeded to fill her coffee cup to the brim.

“Need a refill?”

“Please” Bob said, handing her his cup. She filled it as well and returned it to her husband.

“Do you think they were successful?” Brenda pondered aloud.

About that time the front door opened and in walked Zan followed closely by the rest of the group.

“Mom, Dad!” exclaimed Zan, running into his parent’s opened arms.

“Zan” they each said, embracing their son. Looking her son over Brenda asked, “Are you alright? Were you hurt?”

“I’m fine. I wasn’t hurt. It was scary though, but Chloe was there and we kept each other’s spirits up and I also developed some new abilities.”

“Really” Brenda said curiously, motioning the group to the living room, “We would love to hear all about it. What happened to you and Chloe once that Fine character took you?”

After introducing Lois and General Lane to the Chambers, Zan told his story while members of the group filled in the blanks. Once the Chambers were up to date on their son’s experience they thanked everyone for bringing him safely back to them.

“We really need to set up a system or something, so this doesn’t happen in the future, because I really thought it was you Clark” Brenda said.

“I agree” Max said. “I don’t ever want to feel like that again. I can’t imagine what the two of you went through.”

“That’s the price of being a parent” Brenda said tenderly, “but together, we can get through anything. So, does anyone have a suggestion as to how we can prevent this from happening again?”

Each of them sat back trying to come up with an idea when Chloe spoke up, “Zan, weren’t you able to talk to Max with your mind?”

“Yes. We discovered this while we were being held. Why?”

“Well, can you only communicate with Max or can you communicate with anyone?” Chloe asked.

Understanding where she was taking this Zan tried to answer her with his mind, ‘Can you hear me Chloe?’

“Whoa! That’s was weird,” exclaimed Chloe.

“What’s wrong Chloe?” Clark asked, joining her at her side, but instead of answering Clark she thought back, ‘Yes Zan, I heard you, but can you hear me?’

“Yes I can” Zan said aloud and then turned towards the group. “I just tried to communicate with Chloe and it looks like I can communicate with anyone, human or alien, and as long as the communication is between me and the individual, they can respond back.”

“Good. I was afraid I was getting alien cooties” Chloe jested as everyone laughed.

“Well, I think that solves that problem” Max said. “Zan can open up a communication line to determine if we are who we say we are.”

“I don’t mean to bust up this party” started General Lane, “but I need to get home sometime tonight and I still need to get Chloe and Lois home.”

“Bob, we were wondering if the rest of us could impose on you and Brenda and stay here tonight, since we still have a little bit of business we need to take care of here in Metropolis.”

“Max, you and your friends are always welcome in our home. We are, after all, family,” stated Brenda.

“Thank you for your hospitality” Isabel said.

“You are very welcome” Brenda said as Bob nodded in concurrence.

“Well, since that is settled, I think I’ll take my daughter and Chloe across town and make my way home” Lane said and then turned towards Max. “I’ll set up a meeting with Special Agent Davis and accept that position, if that’s what you want me to do.” Max nodded. “Very well, I’m sure we’ll be in touch. Thank you again for saving my niece’s life and also for trusting me by sharing your secret. I hope I’m able to repay my debt to you and your friends in the future. If you need anything, anything at all just let me know and if it’s within my abilities to accomplish, then whatever you need is yours. I am a man of my word.”

“Thank you General Lane” Max started, but was interrupted.

“Just call me Sam” Sam stated. Lois’ jaw dropped as she looked up at the man she normally referred to as ‘The General’. Never had he offered to be called by his first name.

“I think I’ll join Sam in taking Lois and Chloe back to Chloe’s room and then I’ll head to Smallville and let them know what has transpired.” Clark said.

Everyone was in agreement. Sam led the way out of the house followed closely by Lois, Clark and Chloe. Michael, Max, Liz and Isabel remained behind. There was one spare room which Liz and Max took and Michael and Isabel took their places; Isabel on the pull out sofa and Michael on the spare loveseat. Soon everyone was able to finally get a well-deserved night of sleep.

Sam soon pulled up to the dorm where Chloe shared a room with Lana. Sam said his goodbyes as he dropped the group off. Lois went on up to Chloe’s room, while Chloe stayed behind and said her goodbyes to Clark in the parking lot, since he didn’t want to face Lana. He was just getting used to his new relationship with Chloe, but he still held a place for Lana in his heart and probably always would. He had made his decision, as did she, and each of them would have to live with their choices. After they parted, Chloe retreated up the stairs to her room as Clark sped off to Smallville.

Seconds later, Clark was standing on the porch of the neighboring farm and knocked on the door. Even though it was late, it didn’t take long for the door to open. Kyle stood in the doorway wearing a pair of sweatpants. He invited Clark into the house, closing the door behind him. They each sat down on the plush suede and leather couches and were soon joined by Maria, Jesse, Ava, Mira and Serena.

“Wow, where did you get all this nice furniture?” Clark said, looking around at the living room and into the kitchen and noticing all the new and expensive looking furnishings. “I know I won a nice chunk of change in the ‘Alien Takedown’, but you all just moved in.”

“Well Clark, we’ve been training” Kyle said with a smile on his face. Getting up from the couch, Kyle retrieved a small pine two-by-four board, concentrated hard and changed the composition of the board into a nice pine chair.

“Well, it looks like you’ve been busy and your abilities seem to be getting stronger Kyle” Clark said, understanding that Kyle had just recently acquired his alien abilities, gifted to him by Max.

“Well, I had a lot of help,” admitted Kyle.

“So, what’s up Clark?” asked Jesse, “Is everyone okay?”

Once everyone was situated Clark informed them what had happened and where everyone was. He also stated that Max, Liz, Michael and Isabel were going to make their way back to Summerholt in the morning to take care of any loose ends and should be returning the following night. Once everyone was up to date, Clark said goodbye and raced down to his farm and met with his mother and Pete. They sat around the kitchen table eating a slice of hot apple pie with vanilla ice cream on top as Clark told them about the events that had happened that night.

Roswell, NM

Earlier in the day, Brody had received a phone call from his estranged wife Cindy. Her job needed her to leave town for a week and she wanted to know if he would be able to take care of their daughter Sydney. He and Cindy had fallen deeply in love and soon after they were married. A year later Sydney was born and everything was going well for them until they discovered their daughter had developed a rare bone marrow cancer. They spent many days and nights in the hospital and even though Brody was a self-made billionaire all that money couldn’t save their daughter’s life. The stress of watching her suffer took its toll on their marriage. Then Brody discovered he had the same bone marrow cancer, which was when Cindy left him, blaming him for their daughter’s condition. It was about this time that Brody believed that aliens were abducting him and they were the ones responsible for curing him. He decided to focus all his efforts and money into discovering everything he could about his abductions, hoping to find a cure to heal his little girl. Along the way he became very obsessed with aliens and alien abductions, leading him to New Mexico where he purchased the UFO museum. Not able to pay for all the medical expenses that came with Sydney’s condition, Cindy moved to Roswell too. That allowed Brody an opportunity to see his daughter too, but she still couldn’t get over the fact that it was probably Brody that passed this condition on down to their daughter. She knew it wasn’t his fault, but she had to blame someone.

Just a couple of years ago, the Davis’ did receive the miracle they had been praying for; Sydney was cured. Even though the doctors said she had gone back into remission, they knew she would never relapse again. It was Christmas Eve, the day a guardian angel was watching over their daughter. Sydney was air evacuated to the Children’s Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona. She had relapsed. Fate shined on the pediatric oncology room that night. Max and Michael had learned of Sydney’s predicament and traveled to Phoenix. Michael stood guard while Max went into the room. There were five children that inhabited the room, two girls and three boys. Max found Sydney and healed her, but he couldn’t stop with her. He moved to the other children and healed them too. This little gift drained Max dramatically and Michael was barely able to escape with him. The next morning the children had silver handprints imprinted on their stomachs and the media was claiming a miracle had transpired that Christmas Eve.

Now Sydney was sitting in her room at a small table. She had all her stuffed animals around her, which she had collected through the many days she had spent in the hospital. There was a small tea set sitting in the middle of the table. She was in the process of setting the table when her father walked into her room.

“Hello Syd, what are you doing” questioned Brody, who sat down on the floor next to his daughter.

“I was having a tea party with my friends, would you like to join us?” she said, all prim and proper.

“I would be delighted.” Sydney grabbed another teacup and then looked towards her father apprehensively and then asked, “Do you want to see a magic trick?”

“Sure” Brody said interested to see what kind of trick his daughter was going to show him.

She laid her hand on the teakettle and as her hand glowed the teakettle began to fill. Then she raised her hand and the teakettle was pouring each of her ‘guests’ a cup a hot tea, by itself and then the teakettle rested in the center of the table again. She looked up at her father for his response.

It took Brody a second to let what had just happened to sink in and then he said, “Wow! That was really impressive Syd. How long have you been able to do that?”

“I don’t know daddy,” she said nonchalantly.

Nervous he asked, “Have you shown anyone else this trick?”

“Well, I showed mommy, but she was scared and told me to never do it again. I also showed Dolores” her nanny “but she told me it was unnatural. So, I haven’t shown anyone else, except my friends here” she said pointing at her stuffed animals. “Are you afraid too daddy?”

Brody enveloped his daughter in his arms and said, “No Sydney, I’m not afraid. I think it’s wonderful you are able to perform tricks like this.” Releasing his daughter from his grips, Brody began to feel the tingling sensations he normally felt in the past when he knew he was going to be ‘abducted’. “Not now” he muttered to himself. This couldn’t be happening when he had Sydney. He had to find Max. “Hey Sydney, get your jacket and shoes on and I’ll take you to the CrashDown to get you a milkshake, what do you say?”

“Sounds great daddy” Sydney said getting up from her chair and getting her stuff.

Soon they were entering the CrashDown Café and found themselves a booth closest to the kitchen. It was late in the evening and Jeff and Nancy were the only ones working. Nancy came out of the back and greeted her two customers, the only customers in the café.

“Well hello Brody and you must be Sydney” who responded with a nod and a grin. “What can I get for you today?”

“Sydney here would like a Milky Way milkshake and I’ll just take a hot cup of tea please.” Nancy wrote down the order and was prepared to turn around to go back into the kitchen when Brody gently grab her arm. She turned and faced him, when he said quietly, “I really need to speak to Max.”

This caught Nancy by surprise, which Brody noticed. He continued, “I know about their…other worldly status, and he told me anytime I needed to contact him to come to you or Jeff and I need to speak to him immediately. It’s important.”

Nancy looked at him and then said, “I’ll see what I can do” and then she went back into the kitchen. She informed Jeff of Brody’s request and he went off to contact Jim Valenti while Nancy filled their order. Just when Nancy was bringing their order to the table Jim walked through the door and up to Brody’s table. He took a neighboring chair and sat down at the end of the booth.

“Hello Brody”

“Hello Sheriff”

“It’s Deputy, but I’m not here on official business. I understand you need to speak with Max.” Brody nodded. “May I ask why?”

Brody looked up at Nancy and Jeff, who were seated at the counter listening in, searching for reassurance as they both nodded. He then asked, “Are you aware of the name Larek?”

“Yes, I know who Larek is. Why do you ask?” Jim questioned.

“Well, I feel like he wants to place another…phone call and I’ve got Sydney here for a week and I need to make sure she’s taken care of while I’m…elsewhere.” Nancy and Jeff looked at him quizzically, but Jim understood what he was saying, “I figure Larek wants to speak to Max and,” Brody paused and looked at his daughter enjoying her milkshake not listening to the conversation her dad was having. “There is something else, personal, that I need to speak to him about.” Jim raised an eyebrow wanting Brody to continue.

Finally relenting Brody said smiling at his daughter, “Sydney here has learned a few ‘magic’ tricks and I wanted her to show Max, haven’t you Syd?”

Shyly she said, “Yeah” and then she whispered in here daddy’s ear and he nodded. She lifted her hand to her almost emptied glass and before their eyes her hand glowed bright and the glass was again full. She then turned her hand in the direction of the cashier stand where a small little alien doll sat and then the doll was moving through the air and into her hand. She smiled and returned to drinking her shake.

“Wow, that was very good Sydney” Nancy said and then turning towards Brody she asked, “How long has she been able to do that?”

“I’m not sure. I just found out tonight.”

“I’ve got a number for Clark, I’ll go give him a call” Jim said leaving his chair. He went into the back, pulled Clark’s number from his billfold and dialed it.

Clark was still sitting at the kitchen table with Pete and his mom when the phone rang. Martha got up and answered the phone. “Hello” she said, not knowing who would be calling so late,

“Hello, this is Jim Valenti is Clark there?”

“Yes he is, one moment” she placed the phone in the palm of her hand and told Clark it was a guy named Jim Valenti. It took Clark a moment to put the pieces together, but realized it was Kyle’s father. He took the phone and said,

“Hello Jim, what can I do for you?”

“I need to get a hold of a common friend of ours, he’s going to be having a ‘long distance’ phone call soon; do you know how I can reach him?”

Concerned that the phone may be bugged Clark answered, “Most of our friends are not close by. Is there anything I can do?”

Jim thought about it and then asked, “Maybe we can meet in person and I’ll bring the phone with me so we can receive the call together.”

“When do you want to meet?”

“Give me about a half hour” Jim said, “See you then.”

“Okay” Clark said hanging up the phone and turned towards Pete and his mother. “It looks like I need to go down to the caves and pick up a few guests. That was Jim Valenti, Kyle’s father and it sounds like Brody, the curator of the UFO museum is going to be joining him.” Martha recollected hearing bits and pieces of these two individuals, but Pete was totally lost. Seeing his confusion Clark said, “Pete, you want to see something awesome?” Pete looked up and nodded, “Then come with me and I’ll explain on our way.”

“I’m going to clean up here and set them up a couple of places to sleep, just in case” Martha said.

“Thanks mom” Clark said and then they left by the back door and Clark retrieved his ‘key’ from the barn as they walked to the caves.

Jim hung up the phone and went back out to the dining room and sat in his chair. “I just got off the phone with Clark and he has agreed to meet with us. Do you have your vehicle out here?” Brody nodded. “Go back to your house and pack a small bag for you and Sydney and I’ll meet you there in about ten minutes. I’ve got to go to the station and drop by my house to do the same. Pack warmer clothes” Brody looked at him funny. “Don’t ask any questions, you’ll understand. Oh, I would wear good walking shoes too.” And then he turned towards the Parkers, “Is there anything you want me to take for you?”

“Just give them our love” Nancy said and then she said, “Hold on” and she ran up the stairs, returning with a book her mother-in-law Claudia Parker had written. “Give
Liz this, I know she really loved her grandmother and maybe there’ll be something in this book to help her on her journey.” Jim took the book as each of them got up and retreated. Jim left for the station as Brody took Sydney home to do a little packing. It was closing time, so Jeff turned the sign and locked the door, closing down the CrashDown.

Pete had never seen the secret chamber in the caves, so this was all new to him. They had a little time, so as they went through the cave Clark explained what he had learned about the different pictographs on the wall. Then Clark stood outside the chamber’s entrance and held the key up to the wall when a bright light beam came out of the key, which was directed at the center of the cave wall where another imprinted octagon shape could be seen, and then the wall receded a little bit and opened up. They each stepped in as the door slid close.

“Man Clark, when did you find this?”

Clark thought back and answered, “It must’ve been right after you left.” Clark placed his hand in the middle of the octagon table in the center of the room and put his hand on Pete’s shoulder, “Hold on for the ride of your life.” A bright light lit up the room and then they were wisped away to the Granolith.

Jim had picked up Brody and Sydney and had driven to the campsite and parked as close as he could. Sydney had fallen asleep in the car, so Brody wrapped her up in her blanket and carried her. Jim retrieved a couple of flashlights and grabbed their bags and they walked the mile or so through the woods to the cave. Throughout their hike, Brody kept looking at Jim, wondering where he was taking them. Soon, they were at the entrance to the cave. Jim entered first followed closely by Brody and Sydney. Jim had never been inside the cave and was unsure exactly where the entrance to the Granolith was. He raised his hand and felt along the wall when all of a sudden the wall behind them opened up and a bright bluish green light lit up the cave. They each heard voices inside the wall.

“That was awesome Clark” Pete exclaimed, pulling himself together after arriving. Clark went up to the wall he had seen Max open and ran his hand around the same area, hoping that his Kryptonian blood would activate the silver handprint. Pete was still raving about the trip he had just taken, “That was better than any roller coaster I’ve ever been on” and then he looked around and saw Clark feeling around on the wall. “What are you doing?”

“Trying to find the opening” Clark said and soon was rewarded with the materialization of a silver handprint. He placed his hand in the center, opening up the Granolith wall. “Where are we anyway?”

Jim walked through the entrance followed by Brody and the sleeping Sydney as Jim said, “Welcome to Roswell. Hello Clark.” Pete jumped as Clark extended his hand and shook Jim’s hand and looked towards Brody.

“Jim, Brody” Clark greeted allowing them to enter and then closed the entrance. “Who’s sleeping beauty?”

“This is my daughter Sydney and I think Max may have passed on some of his ‘gifts’ to her.”

“Oh…I see. Well, this is my friend Pete. So, is this your first trip through the portals?” Clark asked. They each nodded. Clark explained the process and soon they were transferred back to the Kawatchee Caves and after a brief walk they were entering the back door to Clark’s place.

“Where is Max, Clark?” questioned Brody. “I keep getting the feeling that Larek is preparing to use me for another phone call.”

“He, Michael, Isabel and Liz are in Metropolis, staying at Zan’s adoptive parent’s house,” answered Clark. He noticed the defeated look on Brody’s face and continued, “But they bought the adjoining farm, which is where Maria, Kyle, Jesse, Mira and Serena are. I can take you up there after I put something away.” Clark disappeared as Martha came walking down the stairs in her robe.

“Well hello” she said. “Welcome to the Kent farm. I’m Martha Kent, Clark’s mom.”

“Hello Mrs. Kent” Pete said, “That was some sort of ride Clark took me on” he exclaimed.

“So I’ve heard” Martha said and then turned to her other guests. Jim extended his hand, “Jim Valenti, I’m the one that called and I’m also Kyle’s father.”

“And I’m Brody Davis and this is my daughter Sydney” who was semi awake, after going through the portal. “Where are we daddy?’ Brody looked around, but he really didn’t know.

“You’re in Smallville, Kansas” Martha said. Brody gave her a blank stare. Besides being a human-alien cell phone, Brody was still adjusting to his alien friend’s lifestyle. He hadn’t really witness or remembered anything that he would consider ‘alien’, until he was transported through the portals and now he was in Smallville. Clark arrived back in the kitchen. “Hey Pete, I think they’ve walked enough tonight, how about giving us a ride up to the farm.”

“Sure”

“Nice meeting you Mrs. Kent” Jim said, as Brody nodded in agreement.

“It’s my pleasure. You’re welcome here anytime,” she sincerely said retreated back up the stairs.

“Well, shall we go to the Evan’s farm” Clark asked. They each agreed and left. Five minutes later Clark was knocking on the farmhouse door again. This time it took a little longer for someone to answer. Maria stood in the doorway wearing her pajamas covered up with a robe. “Clark” she said readjusting her eyes, “What are you doing here, is everything alright?”

“Everything is fine. I picked up a few visitors” Clark said, stepping to the side and allowing her to see Jim and Brody, and then she saw Sydney, back asleep in Brody’s arms. She opened the door wider and allowed them entry into the house. “What’s going on?” she questioned.

“Hey Maria” Brody said, “Is there a place I can put Sydney? My arms are numb from her weight and then we can talk.”

“Sure, she can sleep in my bed” Maria said escorting Brody back to her room, while Clark and Jim took a seat. Brody returned shortly later as Maria woke Kyle up and they both joined them in the living room. Kyle went over and embraced his father and sat next to him. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to see you, but why the late night visit?” Kyle asked.

They explained their predicament and how it seemed like Larek was going to be making another call soon. They also mentioned Sydney’s new abilities and wanted to pass this new development by Max.

“Well, you are more than welcome to stay here and we can watch after Sydney, whenever Larek makes his presence known” offered Maria. “Plus Serena and Mira are here and I’m sure Larek knows them.” Since neither Jim nor Brody knew Mira or Serena, they enlightened them.

“And after we get back to the farm, I’ll go to Metropolis and speak with Max and tell him you are here.” They each agreed. Maria retrieved some blankets and set Kyle and Jim up on the couches. Pete and Clark drove back to the farm and as Pete went inside, Clark sped off again to Metropolis. Luckily he didn’t need that much sleep.

Entering the back door of the Chamber’s residence, Clark made his way to the room where Max was sleeping and woke him up. Michael, not being a sound sleeper also woke up when Clark ran through the living room. Clark placed his finger up to his mouth and whispered ‘shhh’ and motioned them to step outside. Once they were outside, Michael said sarcastically, “Aliens need sleep too, you know” running his hand through his hair, “what’s up Clark?”

Clark enlightened them on the reason for his late night visit and then was looking for suggestions. “Well, until Larek takes over Brody’s body, it would be no use for me to come back now” Max said. “Tomorrow, we’re going to Summerholt to tie up some loose ends and I’m going to be there to support Liz when she goes in to alter their memories. Hopefully, Larek can wait until I get back. Now, as for Sydney, that one took me by surprise” Max said, reflecting back to that day that he healed the pediatric oncology ward. Speaking out loud Max said, “I guess they were close to death and it makes sense that they may develop alien tendencies. If this is the case, we are going to have to locate the other four children and monitor them as well. As for Sydney, when we get back to Smallville, I want to see her too. Maybe Mira or Serena can take a look at her and determine if she has been changed.”

“Well, I just wanted to let you know what was going on. I’m going to go back to the farm and get some sleep” Clark said, “See you all tomorrow. If you run into any problems, let me know and let Zan know I’ll be by to pick him up after school” and then he was gone. Michael retreated back to the sofa and Max back to his room. Michael fell asleep pretty easily, but Max was bothered by his previous actions. Liz warned him that he wasn’t God and even though it was a noble thing to save all those children’s lives, how would they or their families be able to handle the special abilities they may have inherited from him. After dwelling on the subject, sleep finally took over.

The next morning, Clark woke up bright and early, did his chores and made his way to the Fortress to continue his training with Jor-El. Martha got up with Clark and left the farm early, going to Topeka. Pete made his way to the Evan’s farm and watched as Kyle and Maria left for work. Pete had invited Ava out for breakfast, which suited her. She was used to getting up early to be at the CrashDown to serve breakfast. It was a nice change to be served. Ava hopped into his blue Mustang and Pete headed to the Talon. Brody got up early and prepared breakfast for the remaining occupants of the house with some help from Jim. Soon Mira and Serena, who were wary about the two strangers in the kitchen for they were asleep when they had arrived, joined them. They sat at the table, wondering what they should do, when Jesse came down the hall.

“Man, the coffee smells strong today. Just the way I like it” Jesse said, entering the kitchen. “Morning” he said, greeting Mira and Serena. They acknowledged him and looked over at the two men, who were trying to put together a good breakfast. “Valenti?”

Jim turned around holding a spatula in his hand and said, “Ah, good morning Jesse” and then he turned back to the pancakes he was making, flipped them and then turned back to the staring faces. “Hi” he said looking towards Mira and Serena, “My name is Jim Valenti, Kyle’s father and this here is Brody.” Brody turned around from making the bacon and said, “Hello.”

“I would introduce everyone, but I only know Jesse, who is Isabel’s husband” Jim said, turning towards Jesse.

“Yes, well this is Mira and Serena. They were transported here directly from Antar to help train the Royal Four and whoever else has developing powers.” Jesse said.

Mira and Serena were still confused. “How did you get here?” questioned Mira.

Brody took this opportunity. He placed a lid on the bacon and lowered the heat and turned and faced the women. “I was told you two might know Larek?”

“Are you speaking about King Larek of Dione?” asked Mira.

“I guess. Anyways, he likes to use…my body to talk to Max. Well, I have a feeling Larek has been prepping me to make another call, so I thought I’d get as close to Max as I could. I went to the Parker’s last night, who got a hold of Jim. He contacted Clark and since Jim knew where to go, he and Clark arranged a meeting and here we are.”

“And how do you fit into the picture Jim?” Mira asked.

“He’s the other changed human that Max saved. I remember entering you into the Granolith yesterday.” Serena stated.

“Yes, I am” admitted Jim soberly, “but I haven’t developed any abilities yet.”

“Plus…” started Brody, but he was interrupted by the pitter pattering of little feet and a soft voice saying, “daddy, where are you?”

Brody moved out of the kitchen and walked down the hall and found Sydney. “I’m here sweetheart. Do you want some breakfast?” She nodded as he picked her up. “Where are we?” she asked as he brought her to the kitchen and placed her in a chair at the table. “I brought you to my friend’s house. His name is Max and he should be back tonight. He knows how to do ‘magic’ tricks too and I want you to show him all the ‘magic’ tricks you can do.” Sydney looked excited at the prospect of showing yet another person her ‘magic’ tricks.

Mira and Serena looked at each other. This was the first time they had ever seen a young human child. She was so innocent.

“Sydney, this is Mira, Serena and Jesse. Everyone, this is my daughter Sydney.”

They each said hello and then Mira asked, “What is this ‘magic’ trick you were talking about?”

Breakfast was ready and they each sat down to eat. Brody had Sydney demonstrate her ‘magic’ tricks for the group and once she left to wash her face, Brody explained to them how he thought she had come by these gifts, which was the other reason he needed to meet with Max. He also told them that Sydney was still naïve about their true existence and until he spoke with Max, he’d like to keep it that way. They agreed and spent the morning getting acquainted, since there would be no morning training session for Mira and Serena, seeing as the Royals where still in Metropolis.

The Chamber’s household was also up bright and early. Bob and Brenda had already showered and were preparing breakfast. Brenda had already tried to wake Zan to no avail. Isabel and Liz finally pulled themselves out of their beds and Isabel made her way to the bathroom as Liz joined Max and Michael in the kitchen.

“Max, maybe you’ll have a little more luck with our son. Could you try to get him out of bed please?” Brenda asked.

“Sure” Max said getting up out of his seat and moving towards Zan’s room. Opening the door, Zan was in a sound sleep snoring up a storm. Isabel passed by the door and peeked in, “Are you serious, is all that noise coming from him?” Max nodded, trying to rouse his son from his slumber. “He doesn’t seem to want to wake up.”

“Mind if I try?” Isabel said. Max agreed, as Isabel went to get her slate. Coming back into the room, she visualized Zan’s face until it materialized on the slate and then it began to swirl and Isabel enter the dream plane and found Zan. He was in a deep conversation with a very pretty girl that almost resembled what she remembered Tess looking like in her pod. She had very curly blonde hair with bright blue eyes. Not wanted to break in on his conversation, but seeing the need to get him to school, Isabel walk over to the two.

“Hello there” She said, not sure what to call him.

“Hello Aunt Isabel” Zan said turning towards Isabel as the young girl’s impression disappeared.

“It’s time to wake up. We’ve been trying for a while, but I can see you were a little preoccupied. Who is she?”

Embarrassed, Zan looked up at his aunt and said, “Her name is Melissa, a girl in my class.”

“She’s very pretty, but seriously you need to wake up.”

“Are you going to tell anyone about her?” Zan questioned.

Isabel smiled, “No, it’ll be our little secret” she said ruffling his hair. “Now, wake up or I may be forced to give your dad some ‘hints’” she smiled coyly.

“Alright” Zan relented and soon he came out of his slumber, as Isabel exited the dream plane. She looked at him when his eyes opened and said, “Now, get ready for school” as she got up and left the room, without even saying a word to Max.

“What was that all about?” Max questioned.

“Nothing” Zan said as he got out of bed and proceeded to the bathroom, which Liz was just coming out of.

Max was dumbfounded, this was the first time Zan had acted like a ‘teenager’, keeping things to himself. He would have to talk to Isabel later. He left the room and went back to the kitchen. “Hey Bob, I’ve got some money, I was wondering if we could rent a vehicle from your dealership, to get us back to Smallville?”

“Not a problem. And don’t worry about the cost. If you don’t mind, we have a couple vehicles that need to be transported back to our Smallville branch, if you can take those it would save us a lot of time and money” suggested Bob.

“That’ll be perfect” turning towards Michael and Isabel, who had just joined them Max said, “Why don’t you two pick up one of those vehicles and get back to Smallville as soon as you can.” Then he looked at Isabel and Liz, who had also just joined them and continued. “Last night, Clark paid me and Michael a visit. He got a phone call from Jim, stating that Brody is expecting a ‘long distance’ phone call from Larek. Also, it looks like Sydney, his daughter, may be developing some alien tendencies too, so Clark and Jim arranged a meeting and they are now staying out at our farm. I want someone to be there in case Larek does try to make contact. Liz and I will go to the Summerholt Institute and take care of that situation and then we’ll be right behind you.” They all agreed and then Max turned towards Brenda and asked, “Would you mind if Liz and I tag along with you to Zan’s school. I’d like to see where he’s going to school?”

“That’s actually a good idea” Brenda said, “And then Bob can pick you up from the school and take you by the dealership, so you can pick up your car. Plus, you need to sign some paperwork anyways, which will allow you to pick him up. I still need to get Clark’s signature too, in case I’m not around.”

“That reminds me” Max said, “Zan, Clark said he would be by again to pick you up after school.”

“Okay” Zan said gathering his book bag.

With their plans all set, Isabel and Michael joined Bob as he left for the dealership. Zan, Max and Liz joined Brenda as she pulled away, on their way to Metropolis Middle School.

Brenda pulled into the teacher’s parking lot as they each exited the vehicle. Zan gave them each a quick hug and left for the school in search of a certain blonde that he had been caught dreaming about earlier. He was embarrassed that Isabel had caught him mooning over this girl, but he believed her when she said she wouldn’t say anything. At least he hoped she wouldn’t.

Max and Liz followed Brenda to the office, where they had Max listed as Brett’s uncle. Brenda whispered, “They are under the impression that his biological parents are dead, so I listed you as an uncle.” Max nodded, understanding the situation and signed his name. He noticed that Clark was also listed as his uncle too. ‘That will work’ he thought, ‘we’re all family’. “Do you have time to show us around?”

“I’ve got a little time. Sure. Come this way.” Brenda showed Max and Liz where Brett spent his day, his locker and homeroom class. When they came to the common area, they noticed Brett talking to a pretty blonde girl. “Who’s the girl?” Max asked.

“Oh, that’s Melissa Montgomery. Her family has had it really rough. Their youngest daughter, Mandy, was diagnosed with cancer at a very young age and their family spent a lot of time in the hospital supporting her during her treatments, but just a couple of years ago, she went into remission and the family believes that she was cured, but she still needs to be released by the doctors. I think it’s like five years or something and if she doesn’t relapse she may be cured after all,” informed Brenda.

Max looked at her and asked, “She wasn’t one of those children in that Phoenix hospital that the media mention a couple of year’s ago as a Christmas miracle was she?”

“I do believe she was, why?” Brenda asked.

Quietly Max whispered, “because I’m the one that healed her.”

Brenda looked up at Max in awe. “You did a very beautiful thing that night.”

“Even if I may have changed their life, making them more like Zan?”

“What do you mean?” questioned Brenda.

“When I healed Liz, she was on the doorsteps of death. These children were too. You know about Liz’s story, well I just learned last night Brody’s daughter, the individual we were talking about this morning, is also developing abilities and she was one of the five I saved.”

“I guess it’s better than being dead. You gave these kids and their families a second chance. I think if they were able to deal with their diseases and the probability of death, I believe they can handle a few extraordinary gifts. They just need to learn how to use and control them, just like Zan” advised Brenda.

The bell rang. “Looks like that’s my cue to get to my class, do you know your way out?” They each nodded. “Okay, good luck at Summerholt” and then Brenda left down the hall.

Max saw Zan watching Melissa in front of him, when he reached out to his son and said, ‘I hope you have great day, son’.

Zan was too busy watching Melissa, when he started feeling someone in his mind. ‘What’ he thought.

‘I said, I hope you have a great day and she’s a very pretty girl son’

Zan blushed picked up his book bag and followed Melissa to their first class. ‘Thanks dad, see you tonight’

‘See you tonight’ and then Max broke the connection as a smile spread across his face. Had Zan found his Liz? He and Liz made their way to the front of the building where Bob was waiting to pick them up. They drove to the dealership, where their car was waiting for them. “Thanks Bob.”

“No problem. You’re actually helping us out. Michael and Isabel have already left. I found a city map and placed it in the glove compartment for you.”

“Thanks” Max said getting into the driver’s seat as Liz got in on the passenger’s side. She pulled out the map and noticed it had been highlighted with the route leading from the dealership to the Summerholt Institute and then to the road leading out of Metropolis to Smallville. “Thanks” Liz said, pointing at the map.

“I know how confusing these streets can get. Good luck.” Max and Liz thanked him again and drove out of the dealership. Soon, they were parked in the lot beside the Summerholt Institute.

“Are you ready?” Max asked his wife.

“As ready as I’ll ever be. Let’s get this over with.” She leaned over and kissed Max, getting the added security she needed. The connection formed quickly and Max soothed her uneasiness. When they finally parted, Liz was feeling better, got out of the vehicle and she and Max worked their way to the front door. Max noticed the big pieces of plywood had been replaced with brand new glass doors. The windows in the waiting room were still boarded up though. They also noticed there were a couple of floor jacks stringently placed and they had replaced the hole in the wall with a fresh piece of sheetrock. There were a couple of painters around, taping and painting the walls, trying to get the place back to normal. Max and Liz stepped up to the counter and Liz said,

“My name is Elizabeth Evans, and I have an appointment with Dr. Whitmore.” The nurse looked through her list, but couldn’t find the name and then Liz closed her eyes and focused.

“Ah yes, here you are Mrs. Evans. Please have a seat and I’ll let the doctor know you are here.”

“Thank you” Liz said as she and Max sat down. “One down” she whispered.

They sat down and noticed they weren’t the only ones waiting. There was another couple sitting by a girl that was about 8 or 9 years old. She looked really familiar to Max, but he didn’t know from where. Then he remembered they were in Metropolis, they really didn’t know anyone here except for the people they had just recently met. He redirected his attentions back to his wife and said, “I’m going to see if I can do the same thing that Zan did last night with Chloe.” Liz nodded, understanding he was going to try to contact her using his mind. “Ready?” She nodded. It didn’t take much effort; Max had felt the connection form instantly. ‘Liz, my love, can you hear me?’ She responded just as quickly, ‘Yes I can.’ They carried on their mental communication until they heard Liz’s name being called.

“Elizabeth Evans. Is there an Elizabeth Evans here?” announced the nurse.

Liz and Max both stood, “Yes, I’m Elizabeth Evans. Sorry, I didn’t get much sleep last night. I must’ve dozed off.”

“That’s quite alright” and then she looked at Max. “Only your wife can come back. Sorry, it’s regulations. You understand, don’t you?” Max ignored the nurse leaned over and kissed his wife. ‘You be careful Liz and if you need me, just call and I’ll be at your side, regardless of their stupid regulations. If they mess with you, what Zan did to this place will be considered child’s play after I get done with them.’ Liz giggled, as did the young girl in the corner. “I love you Max, I’ll see you soon” and then she followed the nurse through the door.

Once she was through the doors, the nurse showed her to a room where she took her vitals. Once she was done she put the chart in the box outside the door and flipped a switch. After doing so, Liz called her back into the room. Closing her eyes, Liz concentrated and erased all the memories in the nurse’s mind of her or Brett ever being there. The nurse left the office, as Liz sat on the table.

In the waiting room, the young girl’s curiosity got the best of her. Sitting in their little corner, she had notice the couple that had come in, but the guy looked so familiar. It was bugging her. She closed her eyes, concentrated, and tried to remember where she had seen him before. Before she knew it, she was listening in on their thoughts. Her name was Liz and he was ready to protect her. He didn’t like the stupid regulations either. Wow, they even knew the person that terrorized this place, but she thought it was a different person. They continued onto other private thoughts as she thought to herself, ‘Why am I here anyways?’ So, she could read people’s thoughts. She wished she had never told her parents about it. Hadn’t she suffered enough? Now she was back in another doctor’s office. She thought those days were long gone when her guardian angel showed…her thought process stopped. It was him! She opened her eyes and walked over to the young man, even though her parents protested and told her to sit back down.

Max looked up and saw the young girl was walking in his direction. ‘She recognizes me’ he thought, when Liz interjected, ‘Who recognizes you?’ Realizing that their connection was still open Max thought, ‘the young girl in the waiting room. I thought I recognized her from somewhere, but I don’t know from where and now she’s walking over to me.’ ‘Well keep me informed. Oh, by the way, I took care of the nurse. Two down.’ ‘Keep up the good work. I’ll be here.’

“Hello” Max said to the young girl standing in front of him.

“Hello Max” she said.

“How do you know my name?”

“That’s what Liz called you, isn’t it?”

Max looked up at the young up girl and said, “Yes, she’s my wife.”

“I know” the girl sat down next to Max, when he noticed her dad was getting up from his seat and walking over to them. “Mandy, why don’t you stop bothering the young man and come back over here.”

Max looked at the young girl curiously and asked, “Are you Mandy Montgomery?” She nodded and said, “And you’re my guardian angel, aren’t you Max?”

‘I guess I am’ thought Max, but then he looked up at Mandy and then at her father, “She’s not bothering me. My name’s Max Evans” Max said extending his hand out to the man. “Mitchell Montgomery. Well, if she starts to bug you, just send her back over our way.”

“I will” Her father returned to his seat when from out of the blue Mandy asked, “Who’s Zan?”

Flabbergasted Max asked, “How do you know that name?”

“Well, isn’t that the person that cause all this damage? But, I think you’re wrong. Everyone around here thinks it was some kid named Brett” informed Mandy.

Then Max realized what was going on, she had gained the gift of reading minds. Testing out his theory he thought, ‘Mandy, can you read my mind?’

“Yes” she said looking up at him. “So, who’s Zan?”

Max thought about it and then decided to answer truthfully, ‘Zan is my son, as is Brett. They are one in the same.’

“Are you an angel?” questioned Mandy.

Then Liz joined the conversation, ‘Max, what’s going on? You sound like you’re talking to someone else? Ah Max…Hold that thought, Dr. Whitmore has finally decided to make his presence known’ and then Liz withdrew.

Max turned back towards Mandy and said, “I’m sorry Mandy, but I’m not an angel.”

“But you did save my life, didn’t you?”

‘Yes, I did’ thought Max.

“Then what are you? How were you able to save me and the other kids?”

Liz popped back into the conversation and said, ‘I took care of Dr. Whitmore are there any others Max?’

Mandy spoke up and said, “Tell her Dr. Higgins from the lab knows, as well as a lab technician and any staff member she comes in contact with, including the radiology and the lab.”

Max informed Liz and then looked towards the young girl. “Thank you”

“No problem, so are you going to answer my questions and tell me what’s going on here and with me?”

Speaking again with his mind Max said, ‘You’re a little spitfire, aren’t you?’ she nodded. ‘How good are you at keeping secrets, even from the ones you love?’ she gave him a blank stare and didn’t answer. Max continued, ‘because if I choose to tell you what’s happening you may freak, but you can never tell anyone otherwise you put a lot people’s lives in danger, including your family?’

Mandy thought about this and then answered, “You are my guardian angel. You’ve been with me since that day in the hospital. You say you’re not an angel, but in my book you are. I dream about that day in the hospital each night, seeing your face and you telling me to close my eyes and go back to sleep and then laying your hands on my stomach. The doctors didn’t give me a lot of time to live, but you gave my life back to me. I would never betray that. Never. So, you can trust me with whatever you want to tell me and I promise not to freak out.”

Max noticed her parents in the corner. They were watching the corner television and every once in a while glancing over at them, making sure she wasn’t ‘bugging’ him and probably wondering whom he was and why their daughter was showing him so much attention. ‘You and your sister seem to be complete opposites’ he thought without thinking.

“You know my sister?” Realizing that she was still listening into his thoughts he turned towards her. ‘We’re going to have to work on you not listening in on everyone’s thoughts or I’m going to have to learn how to shield my thoughts from you’ she giggled. ‘Oh, you think it’s funny do you. Anyways, I don’t personally know your sister, but she goes to the same school my son does.’

“Is your son the new kid in school?” Max nodded, “Yeah, Melissa thinks he’s really sweet, but she said he’s too young for her, some kind of brain. Isn’t he like 10 years old?”

‘If you only knew’ thought Max.

“Well than how old is he?”

‘Mandy, this is what I was talking about, selective listening.’

“Or maybe you could try selective shielding” she countered.

‘Okay, fine. Do you want to hear the story?’ she nodded. ‘Okay, you asked for it, but if I feel this is going to go bad, I’ll just have Liz take care of you.’

“What do you mean?” she said, a little intimidated.

Max smiled; he had finally gotten her attention. ‘First of all, you asked ‘what am I’, well I’m a King from another planet called Antar. I’m an alien, well actually I’m an alien-hybrid.’ He had her attention and she wasn’t running. ‘Mandy, are you okay?’

“I’m fine. That just took me by surprise. Go on, continue.”

‘You asked how I was able to save your life as well as the others, well it seems like other…aliens like me have similar abilities, but each one of us has a few special talents and one of my special talents is being able to heal.’

“There are more like you?”

Max nodded, ‘And you are now one of us.’ Mandy’s eyes got big and before she could say anything Max cut her off. ‘Mandy, be careful what you say’ she calmed down a little bit and said calmly, “What do you mean?”

‘When I healed you, because you were so close to death I believe a little bit of myself entered your body and now you will start developing other abilities, on top of reading other people’s minds. Is this the reason your parents brought you here today?’ she nodded. ‘Well we can’t allow that, otherwise you’ll end up being quarantined like Zan was and then they’ll want to run a lot of tests on you.’

“How did Zan get away?”

‘Look around. He caused all this. He was just beginning to develop some of his abilities and they pushed him too far. He retaliated.’

Then Liz broke in, ‘Max, I think I’ve got everyone.’ Max looked towards Mandy, who was concentrating and then she turned towards Max and said, “It looks like she did.”

‘Looks like you've taken care of that little problem, but could you please come out to the waiting room. I have one more job for you.’

‘I’m on my way’

“Is Liz like me too?”

‘Yes she is. She was the first person I brought back out of mortal danger. She was shot and I drew the bullet out and healed her. There are two others that I travel with that have been changed, and now I can add the five of you to my list. I just hope you’re able to deal with the responsibility that comes with these gifts.’

Looking around and then back at Max, she whispered, “What other kinds of…’gifts’ will I be getting?”

‘Well, everyone’s different. We can change the molecular structure of things’

“the what?” she interrupted.

Looking around, he noticed a magazine sitting on the table beside him. He picked it up and showed it to her. ‘Now watch closely’ she watched as he ran his hand down the cover changing the cover from ‘People’ magazine to the ‘Antar Gazette’ with a green alien on it and back again. “You’re a funny guy Max. So, now I kind of understand that, what else can you do?”

Before he could answer her, Liz came waltzing out the double doors, carrying her folder and walking up to Max. “Well, that was easier than I thought. The only bad part was waiting forever in that room for the doctor to show up.”

“Liz, this is Mandy, Mandy Montgomery.”

‘Not the same girl you saved a couple of years ago?’ thought Liz.

“The one and only” responded Mandy.

‘Yeah, she’s able to read minds’ informed Max.

Liz nodded in affirmation, “It’s nice to meet you Mandy. So Max, what did you want me to do?”

‘See that couple over there’ Liz nodded. ‘That’s Mandy’s parents. The only reason she’s here is because they found out about her ability, I want you to erase that particular memory so Mandy can go home without becoming a lab rat, only if she agrees to meet with us every so often to help her adjust to her new abilities and also if she promises not to abuse any of her abilities.’

Max and Liz looked towards Mandy, “I agree and I promise. Will I be able to erase other people’s memories too?”

‘Time will tell, but probably not. This is a special gift that only a few individuals have, just like your mind reading ability. Now, I want you to report to Zan or Brett Chambers, what he goes by at school, every so often, so we know how you’re doing, okay?’

“Okay. Hey, I was wondering, if you’re a…” and then she lowered her voice to a whisper, “…King, does that make him a Prince or something?”

‘Yes he is, he’s my son and therefore would be considered a Prince on Antar, but his destiny is more important than that. Eventually, I’ll let you in on that little tidbit, but for now I think you’ve got enough information to think about.’

Liz walked over to the couple and introduced herself and then closed her eyes, wiping their memories clear of their visit to Summerholt as well as any knowledge of their daughter’s ability.

“What about my sister? She knows about my abilities too.”

Max thought about his son’s affections for Melissa and said, “Let’s wait and see.” ‘If we need to alter her memory, we will, but I think we accomplished a great deal today already.’

“Mandy you better get going” Liz said and then she continued, ‘I gave them the suggestion that you needed to use the restroom, so you stopped into the closest building.’

Mandy reached out and gave Max a hug and whispered in his ear, “Thank you Max, you will always be my guardian angel” and then she moved towards her parents.

‘You’re very welcome Mandy Montgomery. Welcome to our family’ she smiled and left out the double glass doors.

Liz and Max were right behind them and moved towards the car and got in, making their way to the highway and back to Smallville.