Beyond Smallville: Fan Fiction

Marcus and Symone led them into a type of Conservatory, filled with a fully functional greenhouse, and a number of fragrant plants, none of which belonged in the arid desert. Marcus reached behind a fountain and pulled a latch.

A hidden door opened, moving the colorful plants in front of it, as they swayed in the humid, recycled air. The door led to a dimly lit staircase, which angled steeply downward. Clark’s slightly heightened sense of smell picked up the aroma of sulfur. Marcus flipped the lighting up a notch.

"Clark, back in South America, Zara and I partnered with the local governments, and our own National Security Agency. We were investigating our colleagues’ deaths, but also we were discussing an ELE." Marc stepped gingerly down the stairs. "ELE? What’s that?" Lois questioned.

"An Extinction Level Event, Miss Lane." Symone replied automatically. "Some animals were going extinct?" Lois wondered aloud. "No…people." Marc answered darkly. "Like the tribes of the Rainforest?" Clark asked. "No, Clark…all people…everywhere." Marc responded as shivers ran down his spine. Lois gulped. Clark knew more or less what Marcus referred to. Zod!

"You’ve got to love the government and their acronyms." Lois remarked cynically. "What form of Apocalypse was it this time, Mr. Worthington? Nuclear? Biological? Chemical?" Lois continued. "My dad, the General always mentioned a ‘Big War’, or disaster." Marcus was silent.

Symone trailed the guests, making Clark extremely nervous. This feels like a trap, he considered, or am I just so overly paranoid… His train of thought derailed, as Lois pointed to a display case along the far wall of the antechamber. "This stuff must be worth a fortune for you to keep it so well hidden." She remarked as Marcus slowed just a bit. "Priceless, is more like it." He commented.

Clark was more interested in how much Worthington knew about what happened. From past experience, he knew that Lex, Zod, and BRAINIAC almost pulled off the ELE.

Displayed prominently in the glass paned mahogany case, which reached from ceiling to floor, were several colorful, unusual items. The largest of them was a multilayered, feathered mask, presumably from an ancient Native American culture. Though the mask was likely made of gold, it seemed to be beyond any craftsmanship that Clark had ever witnessed, including Lex’s museum pieces.

Beneath the decorative mask was a thin instrument about the size of a common flute, though it had no wind holes in it. It was greenish blue in color, and ran about eight inches from tip to end. It was about two inches wide. Clark gasped. The writing on it was in Kryptonian!

"What’s up Smallville?" Lois asked worriedly. "You’re not going to pass out again on me are you?" Symone was curiously silent, as Marcus gauged their reactions. "Hey, what’s with that flute?" Lois glanced at it more closely. "This will change…the house…where you dwell…" Lois read aloud.

Marc’s eyes widened. "Recording…" Symone muttered, speaking beyond the normal human sound frequency. Naturally, Clark heard her. Lois was reading Kryptonian! He backed away from her. Symone shoved him roughly back towards Lois. "What? That’s what it says!" Lois defended.

Clark gave Symone a dirty look. She glanced back with a typically vacant expression. He then reexamined the item, checking Lois’s translation. It was fairly accurate in his opinion. He read it as ‘This will change the way you live.’ Where had Marcus gotten the mysterious artifact?

There was also a Kryptonian number engraved on its surface, the symbol for the number 2. "Where did you get that thing?" Clark pressed. "South Africa, near Capetown." Marc replied vaguely. "What’s more interesting to me…is that we found no language equivalent for the symbols in any of our databases. I assumed that the writing was simply decorative." He informed Clark.

Lois seemed unaware that she’d just read an alien previously unknown language. She moved on to investigate the headdress. "What tribe is this from?" She asked Marcus. "That’s just it, Lois, we have no idea. It doesn’t match any known artwork from our database either." Lois looked closely at it. "It’s pretty." She critiqued absently, like her mind had grown distant. "Where was it found?"

"Zara and I ran across it in the Mediterranean. Near one of the less populated islands off the coast of Cypress, Greece." Marc responded. "What’s this?" Lois pointed to a monochromatic fish carving about 10 inches long from nose to tailfin. It seemed to be made from alabaster or jade.

The highlight of the piece was a large gem, roughly two inches in diameter, which was a translucent violet in hue. It was where the fish’s eye should be. Yet it seemed out of proportion. "We unearthed that curiosity in the Caribbean, roughly halfway between Bermuda and Cuba." Marc explained. "It was located on a partially submerged island, devoid of any population, other than tropical birds."

"Would you like to examine them further?" Marc challenged her. He pressed a remote control, and the alarm shut off, allowing access to the display case. "Maybe we better not!" Clark protested. "Smallville, don’t be a wuss." Lois chastised him, sounding more like her old self.

"Yeah but you might damage the items, or drop them." Clark argued to no avail. Symone slipped in behind Lois. The eager reporter lifted the headdress and put it on her face. "What do you think, Smallville? That would be a great Halloween costume." Lois teased. "You can’t afford it." He countered, as Marcus allowed a snicker.

She replaced the mask in the case and carefully removed the fish. Lois stared directly into the violet eye, and gasped. "Whoa! That’s a trip!" She commented. "What?" Marcus asked excitedly. "If you hold the fisheye up to the light, it illustrates an awesome seascape, with a brilliant white castle in its center. Check it out." Lois handed the fish to Marcus. "Yes it does." He glanced into it.

He was about to pass it to Clark, when Lois reached in and picked up the Kryptonian artifact. The lights flickered, and a wind came up out of nowhere. "This is one part of a three part item." Lois announced rigidly. Two other items appeared above them in a holographic image.

The other two were an amulet with a green circular center, and a handle, perhaps carved of jade, with a greenish blue hue to it. "There are symbols on the items." Lois read them aloud. "With these you can…rule the world?" She repeated, frightening Clark. He double-checked her interpretation.
She was basically right. It said ‘You can control the people’ in Kryptonian. He shuddered.

"Smallville, you know what this is?" Lois asked as Marcus’s eyes widened. "It’s the Wand of Fagan. At least part of it." Clark shook his head. He’d been right again. "Wand of Fagan? I never heard of it." Marc was puzzled. "You wouldn’t have unless you hung out at seedy dive bars near the ocean, or socialized with the Navy Brass." Lois remarked as she put the item back in its place.

The holographic images disappeared as Marcus looked on shaking his head. "This Wand of Fagan does what exactly?" He asked with irritation. "We don’t know." Lois responded. "The legends I heard revolved around the wand being able to change the weather, shake the ground, cause whirlpools, etc. the problem with that is all things mentioned are naturally occurring phenomena."

"Let’s hope that no one else has the other two parts of it." Marcus said seriously. Marcus led them further down into the converted bomb shelter, beneath the mansion. "Here’s the power source room." He opened a thick, double width steel door. "A geothermal spring, similar to a geyser, but much larger, and more powerful." Marc informed them. Symone circled around beside him.

"We use this spring exclusively. It functions similarly to a boiler in a boiler room. The difference is that we have a nearly unlimited supply of superheated water. We’ve studied the spring in great detail, and have determined that the water is pushed upwards, directly from an underground lava flow."

Lois whistled. "Talk about averting an energy crisis…" She commented. Clark studied the setup, and noted that thankfully, there were no odd meteor rocks, or minerals with unusual properties around. He still felt that he was only at about half power…guessing that Lois had the other half!

Suddenly, the red camera light in Symone’s left eye went dark. The light in her eye was replaced by a series of green Kryptonian symbols scrolling across her line of vision. "Malfunction! Override!" Symone babbled as Lois gaped at her. Clark gulped nearly swearing under his breath. BRAINIAC! But how? Marcus was already on the cell phone. "Trish! Override Symone’s programming now!"

"What the hell did she say?" Lois snapped. Before Clark could stop her, Symone reached over and grabbed Lois’s arm. The contact sent both of them flying in opposite directions. It was as if they were knocked apart by opposing electrical charges. The underground lighting shut off. It was pitch black.

Clark could see reasonably well in the dark, but he mostly saw two sets of eyes brightening rapidly. One was bright red, the other bright green. "Marcus! Stay back!" He yelled over the din of the onrushing spring water. "Thank you Kal El." BRAINIAC’s voice was mouthed through Symone.

"Just what I needed, a new unlimited power source." The AI said in an even tone.

"Clark! We can’t allow them access to the geothermal reserve!" Marc’s voice was panicky as he stepped towards Symone. "If she contacts the energy stream, the result could be a catastrophic explosion! It could literally take out all of Northern Arizona!"

Lois charged Symone, grabbing the AI by the waist, restraining her with a classic tackle, mindful of the edge of the hot spring’s energy core. Clark joined Lois, steadying his foothold on the slimy rocks, and keeping the supercharged AI away from it.

Symone’s gears whined, and her circuits began to overheat with the strain. A security detail was already on their way. It would be a bloodbath.

Symone twisted away, and zipped upward, moving at high speed through the stairwell and back up to the Conservatory greenhouse. "There will be another time, Kal El." BRAINIAC threatened as Lois dashed after the AI with half of Clark’s hyper speed. He tried to keep up with them.

The security detail arrived and fired warning shots at first Symone, and then Lois. Fortunately, they missed. At half strength, Lois, Clark, and Symone could still be vulnerable. BRAINIAC had been limited to corrupting Symone’s files, and had attained only partial control of the AI.

The race was on! Symone zipped across the bluff away from her target. BRAINIAC’s plan was to lose Lois and Clark and double back to the geothermal spring for a power boost. Lois was zooming along at a high speed pace, as Clark struggled to catch up. What a nightmare! He thought.

Not only did he have to prevent Symone from attacking the power grid but he also had to capture and control Lois. Even with half of Clark’s strength and speed, Lois’s lethal martial arts skills could enable her to tear up and virtually depopulate any small town or village in her path.

Lois leapt over a ridge, landing softly in the desert sand, hot on the trail of Symone. The intense late afternoon sun increased her power twofold, a benefit of kryptonite poisoning. Clark also felt better the more time he spent outdoors. He kept Lois in his sight, hoping that she would lose energy eventually, or take a misstep. He hoped for anything that would give him the edge.

Symone’s gears began to whine and overheat. It was fortunate that she’d been built with Earth’s technology. Even the best of parts had its limitations. The AI began to slow. "No!" BRAINIAC howled, as the female android’s circuits blew one by one. Lois caught up to Symone.

Clark was right on her trail. Symone turned on Lois, grasping her by the throat. The possessed AI still had enough strength to crush Lois’s windpipe. BRAINIAC extended his feelers out from Symone’s head. They wriggled towards Lois. In moments, Lois would be turned into a mindless zombie, as Chloe had, and Lana before her. Clark was determined not to let that happen.

He attempted to grab Lois by her thin waist, and pull her away from BRAINIAC. In the heat of battle, Lois pivoted, catching Clark by surprise with a roundhouse kick. The impact sent him sailing over a small rocky ridge. Lois’s eyes briefly returned to normal. "Clark?" She croaked, pulling one of Symone’s hands off her throat for an instant. The AI reaffirmed its grasp. "Ack!" Lois uttered.

Clark jumped high in the sky, vaulting over the ridge, and extended one arm, curled his hand into a fist and came down hard on Symone’s back, driving the AI temporarily into the sandy desert floor. BRAINIAC lost his control of the AI, and released Lois. Symone’s robotic arms flailed wildly, as one of BRAINIAC’s antenna links broke in half. The other twisted back into the AI’s head.

Lois took a moment to catch her breath. Her eyes flared red, and she yanked Symone out of the sand with one hand. Clark shouted: "Lois! No!" The kryptonite infected young reporter reached out with the other hand, and tore through Symone’s chest, ripping out numerous circuits, and connections.

The electromagnetic shock sent Lois flying backwards a good twenty yards, where she fell limply into a hot desert sand dune. Symone’s control panel beeped several times before going dark. A slimy black fluid leaked out of the AI’s ears, nose, and mouth. Her eyes went dark. All sound and motion ceased. Clark rushed towards Lois’s prone form.

He dropped to his knees beside her. Clark couldn’t pick up her heartbeat. "Oh no!" He held her head up. "Breath Lois! C’mon breathe!" He put his head to her chest. "Come back!" Clark pleaded. Lois saw a bright flash, and hundreds of indecipherable greenish symbols scrolled past her mind’s eye.

Suddenly the gibberish scattered and Lois saw images in her thoughts. She was a little girl holding hands with her mother walking onto an Army base. She saw her father, strapping on his black boots, and inserting a silver gun into a sidearm holster. She saw her sister Lucy as a child bounding up the stairs of a ghostly gray army barracks home.

Lois witnessed Clark stark naked in the cornfield, meteors hurtling down from the bright Kansas sky, and then she watched the casket close on Mr. Kent. She remembered holding Martha Kent close, as Clark’s eyes turned dark, cold, and emotionless. She saw Lex laughing as the world around him turned to flame. She saw Lana toss her through a glass door like a discarded rag doll.

Two helicopters began to close in on the scene. Lois, Clark, and Symone had run nearly a hundred miles away from Worthington Ranch. There were two more helicopters roaring in from the opposite direction. The first set of choppers bore the usual green and gold WorthingtonCo logos.

The second set were pitch black in color. They were substantially armed. A Gatling gun protruded from one helicopter’s cargo bay door, and the other bore two stinger missiles roughly aimed at the opposing Worthington craft. Apparently, the super powered melee had carried them into restricted government land. Clark was torn with what to do.

"Breath Lois!" he begged. Clark bent down and lip locked Lois, forcing a major blast of super heated air into her lungs. He simultaneously pounded lightly on her chest. Lois was still distant. In her unconscious state, she saw a scantily clad woman, dressed in animal skins, and a skirt made from strong tree leaves. The woman held the strange mask that they’d seen above her head reverently.

"My sisters, we must enter…" The woman was yelling, as a sharp pain distracted Lois’s mind. Next she witnessed the holograms of the other two parts of the Wand of Fagan. One was located in Egypt, the other somewhere in China.

Finally, she saw herself dressed in an off white Wedding gown. Her face was veiled. A man lifted the veil…it was Clark! Suddenly Clark’s image went black, and she was alone at the altar. Lois saw hundreds of grieving people walking past a black and silver obelisk.

Clark turned his head away from her for a second. It was just long enough to let loose a few blasts of his heat vision. The energy bolts impacted the nearest helicopter. It’s engine overheated and the rotors stopped. The chopper spun aimlessly before it hit the ground. Luckily it hadn’t exploded on impact.

The second black helicopter fired its stinger missiles at the presumably unarmed WorthingtonCo choppers. "Counter measures!" Marcus barked the order to his pilot. The helicopter discharged two of its own missiles. They immediately sought out the attacking ordinance and vaporized them.

The Worthington Co aircraft flanked the remaining black helicopter, not making any further aggressive moves. Clark assumed that the two parties involved were talking. He returned his attention to Lois. Once again he lip locked her, forcing air down her throat.

Lois gasped to life, coughing repeatedly, and catching her breath. Clark held her close to him.

"Lois, don’t ever leave me again!" Lois’s big eyes fluttered open. "I won’t." She said, her voice barely above a whisper.

The slimy black goo slithered towards the downed helicopter…

End.

Coming Soon : Evolutions Latent