Smallville 4/8

[jlvsclrk]

Title: Blackout 4

Beta:  ladydreamer, with many thanks!

Chapter Summary: Lori geeks out, an impromptu team uncovers the truth, and Kyle rises to the occasion

 

 

8 - Spring Cove – next day

 

“On your mark, set. Go!”

 

Lori stood on the beach, stopwatch in hand, listening for the sound of Kyle’s approach. It was amazing how quickly things had changed in just the day since they’d started testing. Kyle’s first mile run had taken him 4 minutes and 13 seconds – amazing enough for anyone not in peak athletic form. Kyle had been barely winded though and insisted on another try to earn his chocolate cake. The time for his second run had been an astonishing 3 minutes and 52 seconds – world record territory. And each time since then, Kyle had gotten faster and faster until the main challenge became actually seeing him arrive at the finish line. They’d also lengthened the course so her reaction time wasn’t as important a factor – a real issue when someone could break the speed of sound.

 

Whoosh!

 

Lori clicked the stopwatch and resisted the urge to gape. She knew Kyle felt awkward when she made too much fuss over the results, but it was hard to suppress her excitement at the time – 7.36 seconds for 10 miles. That was close to 5,000 miles an hour, or over mach 6. Only a very few experimental planes could fly faster, in large part because moving so fast caused enormous frictional heating. But Kyle seemed strangely immune to the laws of physics, not even causing a discernible sonic boom much less damage to his clothes.

 

One moment Lori was alone; the next, Kyle seemed to blink into existence beside her. She’d be tempted to call it teleportation except for Kyle’s insistence that it was no such thing. To him, it felt like he was running at the same pace as usual but the rest of the world had slowed down. She wondered what it would feel like to be carried along for the ride, but didn’t particularly care to tempt fate. An aura of some sort must keep him safe, but who knew if it would extend to those he touched. She made a note to figure out some way to test the matter. Perhaps have Kyle carry around some crash test dummies.

 

Lori advised him, “You’re definitely still getting faster. There must be an upward limit, but it’s starting to look like it’ll be c-fractional.” Compared to ‘c’ or the speed of light, Kyle was still moving at a fairly pedestrian rate, but she’d hesitate to put anything beyond his limits at this point. She did some quick calculations of the kinetic energy involved and gave a low whistle. “Hey, you’re getting to be as powerful as a locomotive!”

 

Kyle grinned, happy to be out in the sun. Illogically considering how much energy he was exerting on each run, he was rapidly putting on weight and no longer resembled the emaciated scarecrow she’d first met. His hair had lightened from raven to chestnut and his skin had taken on a sun-kissed tone. If he’d been handsome before, he was now almost devastating to look at. Fortunately, he remained blissfully ignorant of his charms, perhaps beyond that of his smile.

 

She smiled back. “Okay, I think that’s enough running for now. How about jumping in the water and seeing how long you can hold your breath. Then we can break for lunch.”

 

As it turned out, Kyle stayed underwater for well over 2 hours, apparently immune to the cold of the ocean as well as the need to breathe. He finally resurfaced, complaining he was getting bored and hungry. Lori resisted the urge to scream at him; she’d been terrified he’d overstepped his limits and had drowned. Instead, she calmed her nerves and promised him more cake.

 

***

 

9 - Luthor Mansion – next day

 

As they tried to follow the paper trail leading to Lionel’s hidden Level Three facility, Bruce’s presence turned out to be an unexpected blessing. During his long absence from Gotham, the board of Wayne Enterprise had authorized any number of ‘off the books’ projects. Creative accounting had become the norm, with offshore companies set up to create dummy transactions yielding a superficial profit. On his return, Bruce had needed to hire the best forensic accountants to find all the loopholes. Thanks to this team’s expertise, the LuthorCorp books were soon revealing their secrets.

 

Lex was disturbed to find how many projects Lionel had managed to keep active for so long after his fall from power at LuthorCorp. Many of them had military applications, and typically involved meteor rock. The safety record looked to be appalling – for all his talk about suppressing the metahuman threat, it looked like Lionel had created or enhanced a large proportion of the criminals in question. Lex knew he shouldn’t be surprised, given all the programs he’d had to shut down during his first year in charge. It sometimes amazed him that LuthorCorp ever managed to turn a profit.

 

There! Lex detected yet another anomaly and cross-checked it with other records. He then phoned Lois. “Hey. I’ve found another one. It has the hallmarks of Lionel’s original Level Three facility in Smallville. It’s just a chemical processing plant, but the salary figures are way out of line. And they don’t produce nearly as much as they should given the size of the plant.”

 

Lois replied, “Send me the info and I’ll check it out. Let’s hope for a break this time.”

 

Lois gave Bruce the directions to the plant, then leaned back in the leather seat to enjoy the drive. Bruce drove like a veteran of the Formula One circuit, flagrantly disregarding the speed limit of the almost deserted highway. He was utterly in control though, and Lois allowed herself a few moments of peace to savour the sensation of speed and perfectly harnessed power.

 

As much as they normally might get on each other’s nerves, the three had quickly fallen into an efficient working relationship. Lois had a real talent for reconnaissance, thanks to years of living with General Lane and trying to earn his approval. Bruce went with her to act as back up and another set of eyes. Lex waited back at the office, coordinating their efforts and trying to find new leads. They were all aware of the risk that they’d been sent on a wild goose chase by a madwoman, but Lois trusted Chloe, and Lex was willing to grasp at straws if it meant finding his best friend. Bruce just claimed to be having fun helping with the search, pleased perhaps at being freed from the normal expectations of Gotham society.

 

Bruce pulled up at the Rossville Chemical Plant and looked across at Lois for their next move. She handed him one of the sets of ID that Lex had prepared for them. She asked, “So shall we keep a low profile or put the fear of God in them?”

 

Bruce’s eyes twinkled mischievously, “God, or Lois Lane?”

 

 “Same difference.” She got out of the car and rearranged her blouse to emphasize the cleavage. Seeing his look, she explained, “Hey, it worked for Erin Brockovich!”

 

Bruce responded by subtly restyling his hair and clothing to give him the look of an irritated minion accompanying his boss on yet another useless fishing expedition. Lois nodded in approval and reminded him, “I’ll keep everyone’s attention on me, so you’ll be free to poke around a bit. At the first sign of trouble, call Lex. Don’t try to be a hero – I can take care of myself.”

 

Bruce muttered under his breath, “So can I,” but otherwise followed her lead as they swept into the plant.

 

Lois scented blood. She knew there was a story here from the sight of all the security personnel, not to mention the plant manager’s desperate attempts to direct her inspection away from certain parts of the facility. As the hours passed, her excitement grew as more and more discrepancies were uncovered. She called ‘head office’ several times for further authorizations, and Lex happily obliged by providing the appropriate security codes. Lex also sent in some outside security guards to prevent anyone from leaving the plant.

 

Meanwhile, Bruce was pretending to do routine audit checks while secretly hacking into hidden records. When he at last uncovered evidence of illegal experiments on metahuman test subjects, he quietly sent Lex and Lois a heads up. The experiments had been hastily disbanded on Lionel’s death and the test subjects had vanished. The researchers had tried to destroy the records, but had failed to take into account the back up drives that LuthorCorp had installed for disaster recovery purposes. On receiving the go ahead from Lex, Bruce started to sort through the seemingly endless files, sickened by what he read. He finally came across what they had come here looking for and handed the information off to Lois.

 

Lois stared across a conference table at Dr Maxwell Lowe, whose name was on all too many incriminating documents. She growled, “Dr Lowe, you are in serious trouble. At this stage, the only reason you might escape a lifetime in jail is that LuthorCorp doesn’t need more bad publicity. But I’ve been talking to Mr. Luthor, and he’s starting to think turning in his father’s lackeys would earn him some major brownie points. I’d have to say he’s right. You will be going to jail. We might help get your sentence reduced though if you tell us where to find your guinea pigs, assuming they’re all still alive. It’s your choice.”

 

Dr Lowe protested, “We were just doing what we were told!” At her glare, he squirmed and broke out into a sweat. “Lionel Luthor was trying to protect us all, and he needed to know how to stop these people. And to do that, we had to understand what made them go in the first place!”

 

Lois looked at him in disgust. “Even with the travesty of the Metahuman Act, experimentation was strictly forbidden, if only from the fear of making them stronger. And look here, by your own accounts, one of your test subjects wasn’t a mutant at all. What’s your excuse for your treatment of him?”

 

Dr Lowe squirmed again. “Karl Carter was brought to us by Lionel Luthor himself. He told us that Karl needed to be kept out of sunlight in a secure facility. He arranged for the standard memory adjustment and then left. We assumed Karl had been the recipient of one of LuthorCorp’s first generation pharmaceutical treatments, and Mr. Luthor wanted to avoid any further lawsuits.”

 

“But why all these tests?”

 

“Karl started to rapidly lose weight even when we placed him on a high calorie diet. We needed to find out why.”

 

“So you tested his resistance to extreme heat and cold? Measured his pain threshold? Engaged in routine sleep deprivation tactics? Are you people insane?”

 

Dr Lowe flushed. “They were just standard tests, needed to establish a proper baseline. His blood work and physical tests were within normal parameters, but his psychological tests were far from it. We needed to understand what we were dealing with.”

 

With difficulty, Lois stopped herself from pursuing the line of questioning. The scientists in this facility had loved their work all too much and had seen their test subjects as subhuman. The combination had unleashed the worst in human nature – she could only hope they were prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and didn’t get off because of a technicality.

 

“When Lionel died, you disbanded the experiments. What did you do with your victims?”

 

Dr Lowe murmured a protest at her word choice, then admitted, “For the dangerous ones, we injected a serum to suppress their ability. We then divided them into four groups and hired some drivers to dump them as far away as possible. We paid the drivers a lot of money to forget where they came from and where they went.”

 

Lois smiled nastily. “But I know you. You couldn’t resist the urge to find out. You wanted to know where your lab rats wound up, to be sure that your serum worked.”

 

Dr Lowe tried to squirm away but was stilled when Lois took a grip on his finger and started to apply firm pressure. “My father showed me some really useful interrogation techniques when I was younger. It’s been a while though, and I could really use some practice.”

 

Dr Lowe gave a yelp and admitted, “Two of them went to Gotham, one to Miami, the other to Coast City. I put tracking chips on all the freaks – I can give you the coordinates!”

 

“And what about Karl?”

 

“We just did another memory adjustment. He thinks his name is Kyle. Kyle Cook. Why? Why is he so important to you?”

 

“You are the last person I would ever tell. But I think you’ll find that you picked the wrong side in the Luthor power struggle. I can’t wait to see what form of revenge Lex dreams up for you.”

 

Lois swept out of the room before she did something she would regret. She nodded to a waiting guard to keep an eye on Dr Lowe until the police arrived. She then called Lex to update him on her findings.

 

“Kyle Cook – Miami, Gotham or Coast City. I’ll see if I can dig anything up. Great work Lois.”

 

Before she could hang up, Bruce approached her with a brilliant glimmer in his eyes. He opened his laptop and showed her a picture Lex had sent of Clark. “This is your friend, right? This is the most recent full body picture Lex could find.”

 

“Yes, so?”

 

“So, look. This is a program the police use to age a photo. It can also be used to see what someone would look like if they change weight. And apparently Clark lost a lot of weight while in here.”

 

“Yeah, the last measurement said he weighed 145 pounds. For someone who’s 6’3”, that’s awfully light.”

 

“Right. He’d look completely different. See?” The computer programmed morphed Clark’s figure with shocking results. His prominent cheekbones and eyes were now the only recognizable features in an almost skeletal body. Lois gasped at the sight and suppressed the urge to go back into the conference room and take out her anger on Dr Lowe.

 

Bruce continued, “I met him. About a week ago, in Gotham. He was being attacked and I helped him get away. But when I stopped to call the police, he ran away.”

 

Lois spoke into the phone, “Lex, are you getting all this?”

 

“Yes, I’ve narrowed down the search. Have Bruce send me the updated picture. You two might want to start heading east.”

 

“Right. We’re getting close, Lex. I can feel it!”

 

Bruce and Lois left the factory just as the police started to arrive.

 

The guard who had been watching at the door smiled in satisfaction, then decided he had time to clean up a particularly loathsome loose end. He entered the conference room and stared at Dr Lowe, who stared back like a frightened rabbit. Dr Lowe’s look changed to terror when the security guard’s body morphed into a completely different shape, known to humans as Milton Fine.

 

Fine spoke, “Jor-El was a fool, his son a weakling who sought only to reject his noble heritage. But the protection of Zod extends even to his bitter-most enemies. Your treatment of Kal-El demands vengeance.”

 

The last word Dr Lowe ever spoke was a frantic, “Why?” After that, there was only pain and silence.

 

Fine gave a cold smile of satisfaction, then signaled the Black Ship for extraction. Finally, after a year of searching, Kal-El lay near his grasp.

 

***

 

10 - Spring Cove – later that day

 

Kyle and Lori lay on the beach outside the Manor, basking in the late afternoon sun. It was a lovely spring day, with the blue of the sky amplified by the blue of the sea. Kyle closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, enjoying the salty tang of the ocean. Given the spring weather and rather stiff breeze, he supposed he should feel cold in just shorts and a t-shirt, but the chill invigorated him instead. He felt the sun caressing his skin and could almost feel his body drinking in the energy. He felt a deep connection to the world around him and relaxed bonelessly into the sand.

 

By his side, Lori was trying to make sense of the test results. Speed had proven the easiest of Clark’s abilities to quantify; the most recent measurement over a distance of 100 miles had been a dizzying 70,000 miles per hour – far faster than any rocket had yet achieved. At those speeds, he should be leaving a blazing heat signature much like a meteorite, but no. Something about him must be suppressing the effects of friction, much as it dampened the sound of his passing. She was no physicist but she could imagine the excitement and consternation her test results would create amongst their ranks.

 

Strength proved harder to measure, simply because Kyle could easily lift anything she could weigh. Cars proved no obstacle, and she smiled at the memory of Kyle doing some bench presses with an old mini-van. She’d then had Kyle jury rig together successively larger containers and filled them with tons of water – still no problem. According to her calculations, the last container should have cracked under its own weight when Kyle attempted to lift it. But it hadn’t – another example of the laws of physics bending in Kyle’s presence.

 

And then there was their latest discovery – Kyle could actually see into and even through solid objects! Judging by Kyle’s description, it was far more accurate than an X-ray; perhaps MRI technology was the closest equivalent. Kyle was clearly able to see a much wider range of the electromagnetic spectrum then anyone else, and perhaps could even emit energy himself. Lori’s mind struggled with the implications.

 

But for Lori, more important than understanding the data was reassuring Kyle that the strange results didn’t make him any less of a person. She made sure Kyle was enjoying himself and tried to instill in him a sense of pride. They talked about his dreams and memories, and were increasingly convinced that the former told the true story. She could only imagine that someone had noticed Kyle’s abilities and had detained him, depriving him of the sunlight he needed to thrive. She hesitated to investigate further though for fear of bringing him to the attention of the wrong people.

 

Lori closed her laptop with a snap and smiled down at Kyle. “Okay wunderkind, what do you want to do know? We could go for another ride if you like. Stormy needs almost as much exercise as you do!”

 

Kyle gave her a lazy grin and started to reply. But the grin suddenly faded and he stood up in a blur. “Something’s coming. Something fast!” His eyes stared west into the distance.

 

Lori peered in the same direction to no avail. “What is it?”

 

“I don’t know, but I’ve got a bad feeling. It’ll be here soon. Go back up to the house. Get everyone moving as far away from me as possible.”

 

“Kyle, I just can’t leave you alone!”

 

“Lori, listen to me. If I need to fight or get away, it’ll be easier if I don’t have to worry about you. Now run!”

 

Reluctantly, Lori obeyed. She crossed the beach and ran up the path towards the house. She wondered if she should hit the panic button on her watch but decided against it. If Kyle’s fears were right, the fewer people who saw what was about to happen the better. Fortunately, the workday was nearly over so there were hardly any around to worry about. She headed for the stables.

 

Suddenly, an enormous roar filled the skies. Lori looked up to see a shape drawing nearer. It somewhat resembled a stealth fighter, black and triangular, built for enormous speed. It gradually slowed, then descended in the gardens beside the manor. A hatch opened and a brown haired man stepped out. Lori ducked out of sight behind a shrub, then peered anxiously forward.

 

The man bellowed in an impossibly loud voice, “Kal-El! Come out and greet me, your father’s old comrade. I know you are here. Our mutual enemy had been keeping you from me, but your acquaintances gave me the clues to track you down. I found your image in the newspaper – just like your father, to have risked your life for one of these humans.”

 

Kyle warily approached the man. “I don’t know who this Kal-El is but I’ll try to help. My name is Kyle. I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

 

“Kal-El, these humans have committed a grave injustice, keeping a Kryptonian captive and altering your memory so you would not know where to turn. It should never have been possible. Alas, you were betrayed by one who should have been your protector. Your father entrusted this man with great power, which he turned against you. To restore the balance, we must release the great hero of the people, General Zod.”

 

Kyle took a step back. “Why should I trust you?”

 

The man reached over to an enormous oak tree and casually uprooted it, then snapped the truck in two. “Because like you, I am Kryptonian. We are amongst the last few survivors of our proud race. It is imperative that we free General Zod and resume our great mission, to bring security to the known worlds. Only we have the strength to ensure the safety of this tumultuous race. Without our guidance, they shall surely fail.”

 

Kyle took another step back, disturbed by the tenor of the man’s comments and his wanton destruction of the magnificent oak. He started by repeating, “I don’t want anyone to get hurt. But I don’t think it’s my place to make decisions for everyone else. I’ll save a man from drowning, but I’ll never tell him it’s not his right to swim.”

 

The man’s face filled with a look of disdain. “So weak, Kal-El. Just like your father. He resisted Zod and brought destruction to our home world. Do you foolishly intend to do the same?”

 

Kyle stopped retreating and instead stood tall before the man, feet grounded firmly in the earth. He crossed his arms and said sternly, “If you’re planning to take control, I’m going to try to stop you. Your choice, whatever your name is.”

 

“Your father christened me the Brain Interactive Construct. Humans call me Milton Fine. I do not seek to be your enemy. I have much to teach you of your Kryptonian heritage. Then you would understand the nobility of our goals. Especially under this planet’s yellow sun, we are as gods amongst men. We do not seek worship though, only security and order.”

 

Kyle prepared to argue at the idea of imposing order, but broke off when he heard a faint drone from the sky. Looking up, he saw a small plane headed toward them. It circled the estate, looking for a place to land.

 

Following his line of sight, Brainiac’s face tightened and he warned Kyle, “Kal-El, your enemies approach. They seek once more to confine you, perhaps even to destroy you. It is time to leave this place and meet your destiny at Zod’s side.”

 

Kyle’s eyes hardened in protest. “I’ll take my chances here. Does that make us enemies? It’s your choice.”

 

Brainiac gave a cold smile and declined to answer. Instead, he turned his gaze back to the circling plane and narrowed his gaze. Kyle felt a sudden blast of heat and watched in shock as the plane’s engine burst into flame.

 

For Kyle, time seemed to stop. He reached towards Brainiac and picked him up by the neck and waist. Then he twirled like a shot putter and threw Brainiac with all his strength towards the ocean. Brainiac flailed helplessly and landed far away with an enormous splash. He sunk below the waves. Beside Kyle, the Black Ship flickered, then disappeared.

 

Kyle had no time to savour his victory – he needed now to help the two passengers of the plane. His vision sharpened on them like a telescope. One, a woman, was trying to put out the fire, while the man was trying to regain control. Suddenly, he could hear the man’s voice, tensely warning the woman to prepare for a crash landing. Kyle bent his knees into a deep crouch and absorbed energy from the earth. Then like a spring, he uncoiled upwards into the sky towards the plane.

 

The woman was yelling, “Bruce, we’re out of time! I can’t …”

 

Her voice broke off as Kyle seemed to materialize in front of her. At the apex of his jump, Kyle had grabbed onto the plane and tore the door off. Without power, the plane lurched crazily then steadied in Bruce’s expert hands. Kyle entered the plane and surveyed the fire, agreeing with the woman’s assessment. Rushing forward, he grabbed first the woman, then Bruce, and then zoomed back to the door. He hesitated for an instant, then jumped.

 

As they fell, the woman screamed, “Clark, what the hell!” Overhead, the plane continued to fly for a few seconds, then exploded in a fireball. Pieces of shrapnel rained down on them, striking Kyle repeatedly in the back. The woman ducked into Kyle, watching as the ground approached them all too fast.

 

They landed with an enormous thump that opened up a small crater. Strangely though, neither of Kyle’s passengers felt more than a mild bump, as if they’d hopped down off a chair instead of falling hundreds of feet. Kyle released them and quickly stepped back. They both looked around in shock.

 

The woman spoke first, “Clark, what… I always wondered what Chloe saw in you, but this…” She trailed off, wide-eyed.

 

“I’m sorry, miss; I don’t know what you’re talking about. My name is Kyle.”

 

“Oh lord, not this again! This must be the twentieth time I’ve introduced myself since we met! I’m Lois; my cousin Chloe is your best friend. Lionel Luthor kidnapped you and did a mind wipe. Your name is Clark Kent, and you were raised in Smallville by Jonathan and Martha Kent. She’s the nicest woman I know, well when she’s conscious that is. I just know that she’ll get better once you show up at the hospital. But since when do you have abilities? That LuthorCorp scientist must have been holding out on us!”

 

Kyle took another step back, overwhelmed by the flood of information. He glanced at the other man in confusion.

 

“Don’t worry that you don’t recognize me; we’ve never met. My name is Bruce Wayne. I’m just helping out a friend.” Bruce held out his hand, which Kyle tentatively shook.

 

Bruce continued, “I understand if you’re confused, Clark. I think we all are. I don’t know what happened to the plane or how you were able to help, but I do know that we can figure out the answers. Trust me, Clark.”

 

Clark gave him a measuring look and relaxed slightly. From her hiding place on the lawn, Lori ran towards them, tears in her eyes. “Kyle, I was so scared. Thank god, you’re safe!”

 

He responded with an enormous smile and a quick hug. “You’ll never believe it. My name is Clark!”

 

(Part 5 - chapter 11)