1-2 smallville

"Cortana, how's our course?" Came a male voice that was deep, yet as smooth as silk.

The man was clearly very tall, despite the fact that he was currently sitting down. He had rich, caramel skin with sharp, golden-brown eyes. He also had long, black hair that was neatly twisted, and tied into a low ponytail that reached to just past the middle of his back, along with a beard that was fairly bushy, yet well groomed.

The man was dressed in clothes that seemed fitting for someone of high standing, which served well to enhance his already Adonis level of handsomeness. He was wearing a blood red suit that looked to be made from the finest of materials, paired with a blood red waistcoat, a long sleeved jet black button up underneath it, and a blood red tie. On his feet he had a pair of very expensive looking black formal shoes. He also had on gold cufflinks, and a gold necklace.

Lastly, he had an intricate looking gold ring on his right middle finger, which had a chain on it that connected to a smaller ring on his pinky. For the one on his middle finger, it had two red diamonds on it, with one of the diamonds having an X over it, and a small lion's head. For the smaller ring on his pinky, it had two pistols crossed like an X. (It looks like Tsuna's final ring from KHR, just with different colors. Sorry about the long description.)

"On target Master Jeremiah. It shouldn't be too long if we retain our current speed." Replied a female voice that sounded slightly robotic, but still remained soft.

"I see... Cortana, I'm gonna take a short nap. If I'm not awake by the time we've arrived, you know what to do." The now named Jeremiah said as he slowly stood up from his seat, showing that he was indeed very tall, well over 7' in fact.

"Yes Sir." Cortana said, receiving a nod from Jeremiah as he turned around and started walking to his quarters. Suddenly though, Jeremiah stopped in his tracks as the ship began shaking erratically and multiple lights began flashing.

"Cortana!" Jeremiah yelled over all the loud noises as he quickly ran back to the captain's seat, his mind working faster than most could ever even dream of as he rapidly thought up and threw away multiple solutions to the situation at hand.

"Sir! We're being sucked through a dimensional hole! We could most likely get away from it, but-"

"-But we would be risking heavy internal damage to the ship, I know." Jeremiah cut off his AI as his fingers blurred across a digital keyboard. He could see that the engine, one of the thrusters, and the shield generator had already been damaged, which made him gain a small frown since he had personally built this ship himself from top to bottom, so he knew just how durable it was. It was capable of surviving even planet level explosions with little to no damage, so this simply did not make sense.

"Cortana, it looks like we'll need to-" Whatever Jeremiah was about to say was abruptly put to a halt as he began feeling intense pain. It was to the point that it felt as if all of his bones and muscles were repeatedly being broken down and rebuilt.

'What the hell is this? Dimensional travel has never affected me like this before!' Jeremiah thought to himself while clenching his fists tightly.

"Master!" Cortana yelled with worry as Jeremiah began screaming in sheer agony.

"C- Cortana! Take- AH! Take control o- of the ship, a- and activate safety m- measures! Where- wherever we land, do n- not let the ship be d- discovered at a- any costs!" Jeremiah yelled through his pain to his AI.

Conflicted, Cortana hesitated. She would always follow her master's orders, but more than anything, she hated to see him in such pain. There had to be something she could do for him.

"Cortana! I'll be f- fine! R- right now I n- need y- you to take c- care of the s- ship!" Jeremiah said, already knowing what she was thinking.

"...Okay. I'll do it Master, but please try to hold on! As soon as we land I'll do everything I can to help you!" Cortana exclaimed before she began connecting her mind to the entire ship.

"I'm c- counting o- on you..." Was the last thing Jeremiah managed to say, before he finally passed out.

"Don't worry Master. I'll protect you. No matter what."

[ Some Time Later ]

"Ugh..." Jeremiah groaned as he slowly, blearily opened his eyes. He could feel that he was on a bed, and from the smell he could tell he was in the med bay. With a wince, he clutched his head with one of his hands to try and soothe his raging headache.

'Huh?' Jeremiah thought with some confusion. His hand didn't feel like it did prior to him falling unconscious.

With blurry vision, Jeremiah brought his hand down in front of his face and squinted his eyes as he tried to get a clear look at it.

"You're finally awake Master." Cortana said with clear relief and happiness, while taking care to not be too loud.

"Cortana, what... My hand..." Jeremiah started as his eyesight finally began clearing up. It wasn't just his hand, his voice also sounded much higher than what he was used to.

"Master... You may want to brace yourself." Cortana said somewhat hesitantly.

With his hand shaking slightly, Jeremiah slowly reached down to pull the cover off of him, only to have his eyes widen in sheer disbelief when he saw his legs after pulling off the cover.

"No..." Quickly getting off the bed, Jeremiah scrambled over to a mirror.

"No no no no no..." Jeremiah said with his eyes growing wider than ever, and his hands shaking as he felt all over his body while looking in the mirror.

His body, formerly extremely fit and standing well over 7' tall, now looked much smaller, closer to about 4', maybe even a little shorter. His hair was shorter, now only reaching to the base of his neck. Hell, he didn't even have his glorious beard anymore.

"What... What the hell happened?" Jeremiah asked in his now high pitched voice as he sat down on the ground, getting himself back under control. He'd been through many different things in his life. Monster slaying, space battles, even a war or two. Throughout all of it, his control over his emotions was very helpful, much like now.

Still, even for him this was a pretty strange situation.

"Master... From all the scans I ran while you were asleep, the results came back the same each time. It... It seems that your body has somehow regressed in age." Cortana said with sorrow in her tone, while Jeremiah just looked at his hands blankly.

'All those years... I've trained my ass off, harder than anyone, for all those years, only for this to happen?' Jeremiah thought with a bit of anger, and rightfully so. This was practically a slap in the face.

"...Cortana, after scanning my body, what age would you say I've been regressed to? Approximately at least." Jeremiah asked while running a hand through his hair. It wouldn't do him any good to just sit and mope about it.

"After running multiple tests, I was able to determine that your current physical age would most likely be four to six years old." Cortana replied as she brought up a holographic image for Jeremiah, showing him the results of his scans.

"Like I thought." Jeremiah muttered with a sigh as he lightly scratched his head.

After thinking to himself for a bit, Jeremiah got into a lotus position and began to concentrate, with his breathing slowing down, his eyes closed, and his body becoming so still that he could almost be mistaken for a statue.

About half a minute later, Jeremiah slowly opened his eyes while letting out a sigh of relief. Bringing out both hands in front of him, with his left hand becoming covered in bright orange flames, a transparent gold bubble appearing around his left hand, while multiple items started smoothly floating around the room.

'At least my magic seems to have stayed at the same level as before. For the most part.' Jeremiah thought as he deactivated his magic, with the floating items going back to their original positions.

Shaking his head, Jeremiah stood up and stretched before deciding to move on to another important issue.

"So where did we end up landing?" Jeremiah asked while walking out of the medbay. It was definitely annoying having such small legs, but he guessed it was something he would just have to get used to.

"We've landed on Earth, Master." The loyal AI replied, already expecting the question sooner or later.

"Earth? That's... Interesting I guess." Jeremiah said as he arrived at the main deck. Looking out of the large windows, he raised an eyebrow at all of the snow and ice he could see.

"I followed your orders, Master. On top of activating all safety systems, I brought us to an area that has zero humans. We're completely undetectable." Cortana said, sounding quite proud of herself.

"Hmm... Good job. Couldn't have done it better myself." Jeremiah praised her with a small smile, making her get a happy look on her holographic face.

"Oh Master... You'll make me blush." Cortana said with an embarrassed tone as she put her hands on her cheeks, getting Jeremiah's smile to widen a bit.

Looking down at himself again though, Jeremiah frowned slightly as he brought one of his hands up and gripped it in front of his face. He would have to work very hard to reach his old level of strength. While he certainly didn't mind working so hard, he actually enjoyed it, it was kind of annoying that he had to do it to get back something that was already his, and that he had already poured so many years of effort into.

'On the bright side, at least I already know exactly how to properly train my body. Plus, it's not like I don't have any ways to speed up the process, even if it's just a little bit.' Jeremiah thought, trying to get himself more motivated.

Nodding to himself, his sharp eyes shone with determination as they glowed bright gold.

In the end, he would just do what had to be done.

[ Years Later ]

In Smallville, Kansas, a young man was sitting at a computer desk in his bedroom, looking up various stories from around the world of everyday people doing amazing things.

The young man had lightly tanned skin, dark brown hair, and blue eyes. He also seemed to be pretty tall for his age, with his standing height being about 6'1".

This young man's name was-

"Clark Kent , you're gonna be late for the bus!" Yelled a female voice.

"Coming, Mom!" Clark yelled back in reply as he turned off his computer, before collecting his things and going downstairs.

Walking into the kitchen, Clark opened the refrigerator and pulled out a glass bottle full of milk. Not bothering to get a cup, he took the top off and simply drank straight from the bottle.

"Ah ah!" Mrs. Kent said as she walked up and took the bottle out of her son's hand with a frown.

Martha Kent was a very pretty woman who stood at about 5'3", with shoulder length brown hair, blue eyes, and a generous bust, which was somewhat hidden by the rather thick shirts and sweaters she usually wore. All in all, she could qualify as a MILF.

"It tastes better out of the bottle." Clark said as he walked over to the cupboards where the dishes were kept.

"Where did you learn your manners?" Martha asked as she sat the bottle of milk down on the table.

"On a farm." Clark replied with some amusement as he pulled out a bowl and a spoon.

"Well, afternoon sleepy head." Mr. Kent said after walking into the house and taking off his jacket.

Jonathon Kent was a tall man, standing at 6'3" tall. He had brown hair, blue eyes, and a light tan. Overall, he was a fairly handsome man, though perhaps more ruggedly handsome than in the traditional sense.

Pretty much drowning out everything else his parents were saying, Clark looked down at the paper in his hands. It was a permission slip for his school's football team, something he'd been wanting to do for quite some time now.

'Now or never.' Clark thought to himself before he took a deep breath and stood up.

Like all other times he'd asked before, this would turn out to be a disappointing morning for the one known as Clark Kent.

[ A Little Later - Smallville High ]

"So, anyone ask you to the dance?" Came the voice of a young man.

The young man had dark skin, a short haircut, and dark brown eyes. He stood at about 5'7" - 5-8", and had a bit of a stocky build.

His name was Pete Ross.

"Not yet." Was the reply of his female companion.

Said female had chin length blonde hair, cute pink lips, thin eyebrows, and green eyes. Her bust was fairly average in size, about b-cup. Overall she was definitely an attractive girl, but for whatever reason, many people seemed to overlook her.

The girl was wearing a red jacket, which was left open and had a black fur collar. She was also wearing an orange shirt underneath her coat, along with dark blue jeans, and a pair of black high heeled boots. Lastly, she was wearing a necklace and was carrying a bag that had a leopard print design.

This young woman's name was Chloe Sullivan.

"Maybe you and I could go together. I mean, not as a date date thing, more of a friend friend thing." Pete said with a smile as he looked at Chloe, seeing as he didn't have a date yet either.

Before Chloe could respond, their conversation was interrupted when Clark came up behind them and said "Hi guys."

Turning around in surprise, Chloe said "Wha- Uh... Didn't you just- Weren't you-?"

"I took a shortcut." Clark said, quickly coming up with a lie. He didn't necessarily like having to hide his powers from his closest friends, but he had to make sure his secret stayed protected.

"Through what, a black hole?" Chloe asked incredulously as she stared at Clark. What kind of shortcut could've have gotten him here THAT fast?

Hearing the rumbling of an engine, the three friends looked at each other before walking to the parking lot. Seeing the nice car that was pulling up, they all smiled, with Chloe quickly turning around and discretely pulling out a small mirror, trying to make sure she looked alright.

The car was a cherry red 2001 Mustang GT, with tinted windows, and a black stripe on each side.

Once the car was finally parked, the driver turned it off and slowly stepped out, allowing them all to see the final member of their little quartet of friends.

The driver was a male who was taller than all of them, standing at 6'5", and had rich caramel skin, with sharp golden-brown eyes. He had long hair that was neatly twisted, and reached a little past his shoulders.

He was wearing a black bomber jacket, with a long sleeved red henley underneath it. He also had on black jeans, and a pair of red sneakers that had black laces and soles. Lastly, he had on a black backpack, a pair of black headphones that had a gold X on each side, and a black ring on his left index finger, which had a small gold X engraved on it.

This was, of course, none other than Jeremiah.

He'd been on Earth for over a decade now. He could have easily left the same day he woke up on this planet if he'd wanted to, but decided it would be best if he waited until he regained all, or at least most of his strength, something he was making very good progress with.

Since he didn't lose much of his magic or other abilities when his age was regressed, it allowed him to mostly focus on getting all of his physical abilities back up to what they used to be. That said, he definitely didn't just ignore training his magic and other powers/abilities.

From a purely physical standpoint, he was probably around half as powerful as he used to be, maybe a little less. The gravity on his home planet was about 30X that of Earth's, so he made the gravity in his training rooms double that. This was the only real way to get back to, and surpass, his old level as soon as possible.

Of course if he wanted to, he could always just augment himself with magic or something, but he didn't want to do that all the time. That would be too easy, and he would never allow himself to do something that could result in him becoming even a little complacent. He couldn't afford to with some of the enemies he has.

Shaking his head and letting out a quiet sigh, Jeremiah walked over to the three teenagers who were waiting for him. After locking his doors of course.

Not that anyone would even be able to get into it anyway.

"Morning." Jeremiah said as he walked up and bumped fists with Pete and Clark, after taking off his headphones and resting them on his neck.

After the two guys returned the greeting, they started talking about joining the football team, which Jeremiah drowned out as he looked down at the only female of the group.

"Hey Chloe." Chloe heard Jeremiah say. Looking up at him, she felt her face heat up as he stared down at her with a small smile, and those beautiful eyes of his.

Just how could someone be so attractive?

"Hey." Chloe managed to get out after clearing her throat. She mentally patted herself on the back for not stuttering.

"We should get to class." Jeremiah said as he rubbed the top of her head, before turning and walking toward the school, helping Clark up off the ground as he went.

Releasing a deep, calming breath, Chloe followed after him.

Nearing their homeroom, Jeremiah raised an eyebrow at the aura he sensed from the other side of the school.

'Hmm... Pretty weak. Could be interesting though.' Jeremiah thought to himself as he went to his seat at the back of the class.

[ A Few Days Later ]

A crowd could be seen gathered around the entrance to a workshop/garage, which was barricaded by the sheriff, as a man was rolled out on a stretcher by paramedics.

Among the crowd were two familiar faces.

"That's the third guy this week." Pete said with a frown as he watched the stretcher get rolled into the back of the ambulance.

"I know, and they're all former jocks." Chloe said while taking a few pictures with her camera.

Randomly looking over some of the other people in the crowd, Pete's eyes fell on one guy who looked a little too shifty for his tastes.

Tapping Chloe on the shoulder and successfully getting her attention, Pete asked "Who's the weirdo?"

"I don't know. Let's find out." Chloe said before raising her camera and quickly taking a photo of the guy.

[A Few Hours Later ]

"His name's Jeremy Creek. This is a picture of him twelve years ago," Chloe began as she pointed to a black and white photo of a young man, before pointing to another photo on the computer and continuing "this is one I took a couple hours ago."

"That's impossible. He'd be like twenty-six today. It must be a kid who looks like him." Clark said as he sat down on a table.

"My money was on the evil twin theory, until we looked into missing persons." Pete said, motioning to Chloe with his hands.

"Jeremy disappeared from the state infirmary a few days ago, where he'd been in a coma for twelve years. They say he suffered from massive electrolyte imbalance." Chloe said as she walked over to Clark and handed him a sheet of paper.

"That's why he hasn't aged a day." Pete said as he walked over and pointed at the notes on the paper.

"So you're telling me he just woke up?" Clark asked them with a raised eyebrow.

"Well no, there was a huge electrical storm, and the hospital's generator went down. When it came back on, Jeremy was gone." Chloe said as she sat down in a chair at the table Clark was sitting on.

"The electricity must have charged him up like a battery." Pete said.

"And now he's back in Smallville, putting jocks into comas. Why?" Clark asked with his arms folded.

"Because twelve years ago today, the football team chose Jeremy Creek as the scarecrow." Pete said, staring off into space for some reason.

"I don't know guys... This all seems pretty farfetched." Clark said skeptically, seemingly ignoring the fact that he himself was an alien with superpowers.

"What do you think, Jeremiah?" Clark asked Jeremiah, who'd just been relaxing at a nearby table while reading a book the entire time.

His reason for asking was simple. Jeremiah was easily the smartest out of their group, out of the entire school actually, having literally gotten perfect scores on every single test (and regular assignments) since elementary school, no matter what subject. It was amazing to say the least.

For Jeremiah, it really wasn't anything special. His home planet was thousands, or maybe even hundreds of thousands of years more advanced than Earth, and even there he was widely regarded and revered as their brightest mind.

"Hmm well, it's a wacky world we live in Clark, and an even more wacky town. You may have never seen something like this in person, but that doesn't make it any less real." Jeremiah as he briefly looked up at them from his seat with a small smile, before going back to his book.

Earth had some pretty good literature.

"Exactly. Take a look at this." Chloe said as she handed Clark a newspaper article.

"Comatose boy found in field, twenty yards from meteor strike..." Clark read aloud.

"The explosion from the blast must've changed him somehow." Chloe said as she stood up from her seat.

"I don't know, it still seems pretty out there to me." Clark said as he held the article in front of his face and read it again.

"I think you should show him." Pete said after tapping Chloe on the shoulder. Looking over at Jeremiah, Chloe saw him give her a small nod.

"Show me what?" Clark asked as he looked between his friends with confusion.

[ A Few Minutes Later ]

"It started out as a scrapbook, and just kinda mutated." Chloe said as the four of them walked into a rather small room.

"What is all this?" Clark asked with surprise as he looked at all of the pictures and newspaper articles that were put up on a wall.

"I call it the Wall of Weird." Chloe began as she walked up to the wall with a smile and her arms spread out wide. "It's every strange, bizarre, and unexplained event that's happened in Smallville since the meteor shower. That's when it all began. The town went schizo. So what do you think?" Chloe finished with a smile.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" Clark asked as he walked past Chloe, who frowned and was about to say something until Jeremiah interjected.

"Hold on now, Clark. I'm pretty sure even you don't just go around telling people everything about yourself, even your closest friends. Don't be so hypocrytical." Jeremiah said as he leaned against a wall near the door, nodding at Chloe as she shot him a grateful look.

Getting closer to the wall, Clark continued looking around until his eyes widened when they fell on a magazine cover that had a picture of a young Lana Lang.

"Lana? It's all my fault..." Clark whispered to himself, feeling his guilt reach new levels. Turning around, he quickly walked past his friends and out of the room, much to the confusion of Pete and Chloe.

Watching him go, Jeremiah let out a quiet sigh.

'That boy... I guess he finally found out that he's an alien.' Jeremiah thought to himself.

Jeremiah had already known for a long time now that Clark wasn't human. The moment Clark's ship had entered Earth's atmosphere on the day of the meteor shower, Cortana had already sensed it and informed her master about it. He had been surprised to find that the ship was made with Kryptonian technology, making him and Cortana wonder if something happened to the planet.

Them sensing Clark was actually part of the reason he moved to Smallville.

"I'll go after him." Pete said to Jeremiah and Chloe, before he walked out of the room.

"So, any plans for the dance?" Jeremiah asked as he glanced over at Chloe, surprising her with the unexpected question.

"Y- yeah. Pete asked me a few days ago." Chloe answered, feeling her face heat up as Jeremiah stared at her.

"It's just as friends though." She quickly added, not wanting him to get the wrong idea.

Humming, Jeremiah continued to stare at Chloe for a little bit before finally looking away, with Chloe releasing a sigh of relief.

Clearing her throat, Chloe asked "What about you?"

"I think I'll find some other way to entertain myself." Jeremiah replied as he leaned his head back against the wall with his eyes closed.

"I see..." Chloe said as she leaned against a wall with a small frown. She'd hoped to be able to get at least one dance with him.

Their conversation was interrupted when Pete came running back into the room.

"Something wrong, Pete?" Jeremiah asked, despite already knowing exactly what happened.

"It's Clark! Whitney and some of the other guys took him, and are gonna make him this year's scarecrow!" Pete exclaimed as quickly as he could.

"What? Why him?" Chloe asked as ahe stood up and started pacing around the small room.

"I don't know, as soon as I got outside, I saw them putting Clark in the back of Whitney's truck and driving away." Pete said.

"Calm down, both of you. I'll go get Clark." Jeremiah said as he pushed himself off the wall and opened his eyes.

"Alone?" Chloe asked as she and Pete turned to him.

"You two have a dance to get ready for, don't you?" Jeremiah asked rhetorically as he walked out of the room.

Exiting the school, Jeremiah walked to the parking lot and got in his car and started it, before driving to where he could sense Clark's aura.

[ A Little While Later ]

With sweat running down his face, Clark struggled to breathe as Lana's necklace, which was made with meteor rock (AKA Kryptonite) hung around his neck. To this day, he still didn't understand why it always caused him so much pain. Even a small amount like this was enough to put him out of commission.

It didn't help that he was strung up in the middle of a cornfield like a scarecrow.

"It never changes." Clark heard a male voice say.

"Help me." Clark said as he weakly turned his head to the speaker.

"It hurts doesn't it?" The speaker said as he walked closer, allowing Clark to get a better look at his face.

"*Pant* You're Jeremy." Clark said with recognition.

"I thought if I punished them it would stop... But it never stops."Jeremy said before he turned away from Clark, and slowly began walking away.

"Wait." Clark said, getting Jeremy to stop and look back at him. "Where are you going?"

"To the homecoming dance. I never made it to mine." Jeremy replied.

"Get me down. Please." Clark struggled to say, the pain from the meteor rock becoming almost unbearable.

"You're safer here." Jeremy said with a smirk, before he turned and walked away.

With all the strength he could muster at the moment, Clark tried desperately to break out of his restraints, only to fail.

"Help me..." Clark said again, feeling all of his energy drain away.

Hearing some rustling, Clark looked up and was surprised to see Jeremiah.

"Jeremiah..." Clark said weakly, struggling to even hold his head up at this point.

Wordlessly walking around Clark, Jeremiah loosened all of the ropes that were holding him down. Once he was done, Clark fell to the ground, with Lana's necklace falling off of him in the process.

"You alright Clark?" Jeremiah asked once Clark stood up.

"Yeah, thanks." Clark said as he hopped over to his clothes and quickly ran off to go stop Jeremy.

Looking down at the ground, Jeremiah crouched down and picked up Lana's necklace.

Seeing a flashlight, and sensing who it was holding it, Jeremiah stood up and turned around. A few seconds later, he was standing face to face with Lex Luthor.

"Lex Luthor. You often wander cornfields at night?" Jeremiah asked sarcastically, ignoring the flashlight shining in his face.

"You know me, but it would seem that I can't say the same." Lex said as he looked at Jeremiah curiously. Lex definitely was not attracted to men in any way, but he couldn't deny how overwhelmingly handsome the man was.

"A friend of Clark's." Was all Jeremiah said.

"Clark? Was he out here? I could have sworn I heard his voice." Lex asked as he turned his flashlight to the wooden pole, seeing the ropes on it and the ground around it.

"You just missed him." Jeremiah said as he put his hands in the pockets of his jacket.

"I see. What on Earth was he doing in the middle of a cornfield? If I'm not mistaken, tonight is the homecoming dance at Smallville High, right?" Lex asked as he looked back at Jeremiah.

"Just a little high school drama. Nothing major." Jeremiah said as he shrugged his shoulders.

"This is a little... Overboard for typical high school drama isn't it?" Lex asked with a raised eyebrow, gesturing to the wooden pole Clark was strung up on.

"Well, I suppose Smallville can be a strange place." Jeremiah said as he looked up at the beautiful night sky.

"Yes, it certainly does seem to have a number of oddities." Lex replied, thinking back to how his car looked after he was saved by Clark.

"Hm. Well, you have a good night, Lex." Jeremiah said as he turned around and walked away, giving a lazy wave over his shoulder.

Lex stared at Jeremiah until he was out of sight, before he turned and went his own way.

Smallville certainly had some interesting people.

It was the morning after homecoming, and we could now find one Chloe Sullivan preparing to eat breakfast with her dad.

Thinking back to last night, Chloe couldn't help but frown a bit. She was still pretty sad that she'd been unable to get a dance with Jeremiah. Now she just hoped that maybe he'd want to take her to the spring formal.

"Everything alright, Chloe?" She heard her dad, Gabe Sullivan, ask with concern in his voice as they sat down at the table.

"I'm okay." Chloe said with a smile to ease his worries. Getting a smile from her dad in return, the two of them began digging into their breakfast. It was nothing fancy, just bacon, eggs, hash browns, and orange juice.

A few minutes later, Chloe jumped a bit in surprise when her cell phone started ringing, given how early it was. Wiping her hands with a paper towel, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, growing even more surprised when she saw who was calling.

Quickly pressing the answer button, Chloe put the phone up to her ear and said "Hello?"

"Hey, Chloe. I'm about to go get some breakfast, and figured I'd invite you. Or have you already eaten?" Came the voice of Jeremiah from the other side of the phone.

"Umm... Nope! Just had a quick snack." Chloe said, looking down at her half finished breakfast. No way she was gonna pass up this chance.

"Alright then. I'll be there soon." She heard Jeremiah say before he hung up.

"You certainly look happy." Mr. Sullivan said as he looked at his daughter with a smile.

"That was Jeremiah. He invited me to breakfast." Chloe said with a bright smile as she stood up.

"Jeremiah? Wow, it's been a while since I've seen him. Such a good young man." Her dad said with surprise. Everyone in Smallville knew who Jeremiah was. He was who many parents secretly -and some not so secretly- wanted their daughters to marry.

"Anyway, I need to go get ready." Chloe said as she put her plate in the fridge, before quickly running upstairs.

About fifteen minutes later, Chloe was sitting in the living room, and perked up when she heard the doorbell ring. Going to the door and opening it, she smiled with a blush as she saw Jeremiah standing there.

Jeremiah was wearing a navy blue long sleeved button up, with black jeans, and a pair of brown suede desert boots. Over his shirt, he had on a black leather jacket. He was also wearing a black scarf that was loosely tied, a black beanie, a gold necklace with a small pendant that looked like a compass star, and a black ring that had a small gold X on it was on his left index finger.

"Good morning." Jeremiah said with a small smile as he looked down at Chloe.

Chloe was wearing a burnt orange sweater, with a long black skirt that stopped a little above her ankles, and a pair of ankle high black boots. She also had an orange flower in her hair on the right side, and had an orange purse.

"You look nice." Jeremiah said as he looked Chloe up and down, making her smile more. He didn't mind that she wasn't showing any skin, especially since it was only about 50 (fahrenheit) this morning. Not really cold, but still chilly enough to cover up.

"Thanks. You do too. Look nice, I mean." Chloe replied with her blush growing as she looked up at Jeremiah.

"I do try. You ready to go?" Jeremiah asked, getting a nod from Chloe as she walked outside, closing the door behind her.

As they walked off the porch together, Chloe was confused when she looked at the street and didn't see Jeremiah's car.

"Did you walk here?" Chloe asked as she looked up at Jeremiah.

"No. Why do you ask?" Jeremiah replied with his own question, even though he already knew why.

"I don't see your car anywhere." Chloe said as she looked around for his Mustang. She did see a car parked directly in front of her house, but she was sure it wasn't his.

"I went with something different today." Jeremiah said as he walked to the only car parked in front of her house, making Chloe stop in her tracks as she looked between him and the car in shock and surprise.

The car was a black 2001 BMW 325i, with dark tinted windows.

"Wait a minute. THIS is yours?" Chloe asked incredulously as she stared at Jeremiah. What on Earth was a high schooler doing with a car like this?

"Yes, it's mine." Jeremiah said with a bit of amusement as he walked to the passenger door and opened it for Chloe.

"I don't understand... How...?" Chloe trailed off in confusion while walking to the car.

Getting closer, she could now see the interior of the car. The seats were made with leather, and were a nice mix of black and dark blue. The dashboard, floor, and roof were also black, and were lined with dark blue stitching.

"After you." Jeremiah said, holding the door open for Chloe.

Although still confused, Chloe walked forward and got in the car, letting out a relaxed sigh at how comfortable the seats were.

Closing the door for her, Jeremiah walked around to the driver side and got in the car. After starting the car, Jeremiah turned on the heat, including the heated seats, knowing that Chloe was a little cold.

Glancing over at Chloe, Jeremiah smiled a bit at how relaxed she looked, before he pulled off.

About twenty minutes later, Jeremiah brought the car to a slow stop as they arrived at their destination, before putting it into park and turning it off.

Stepping out of the car, Jeremiah walked around to Chloe's side and opened hers for her.

"This place is a personal favorite of mine." Jeremiah said to Chloe as she stepped out of the car and looked at the restaurant he brought her to, a place called 'Missy's'.

"Have you ever brought anyone else?" Chloe asked curiously as she turned her gaze to him.

"You're the first." Jeremiah said as he turned to Chloe with a small smile and held out his right hand to her, slightly confusing her. Sighing quietly, Jeremiah reached down and grabbed Chloe's hand, getting her to widen her eyes as she looked down at their intertwined hands.

Blushing lightly with a smile, Chloe decided to just roll with it as they walked forward. Once they entered, Chloe basked in the warm and cozy feeling of the place. The lights were set at just the right amount of brightness, there was soft music playing, and there were pleasant smells being carried through the air.

"This place is beautiful." Chloe said as she looked around the restaurant with a soft smile, unconsciously tightening her grip on Jeremiah's hand.

"Welcome back! Would you like your usual table?" A very pretty and bubbly waitress with long and wavy light brown hair, gray eyes, cute freckles, and red glasses that had rectangular frames asked with a bright smile as she approached the duo. Chloe wasn't at all surprised when she saw the waitress keep glancing at Jeremiah with a blush.

Receiving a nod, the waitress led them to a table that was in a corner, not too far from the big windows at the front of the restaurant. It gave a good view of outside, while also making it a little a hard for anyone to see them from outside unless they were really looking.

"What can I get for you?" The waitress asked once they were seated as she pulled out a pen and notepad and looked at Chloe, who swore she could see some jealousy in those eyes, despite the cheery smile.

"Just an omelet and coffee is fine." Chloe said, not really needing more than that due to what she ate earlier.

"Got it! It should be ready in a jiffy." The waitress said, taking one last glance at Jeremiah before walking away.

"Umm isn't she gonna take your order?" Chloe asked with confusion as she looked at Jeremiah.

"It's not necessary." Jeremiah said as he took off his jacket, scarf, and hat, putting them on the back of his seat.

"Wow. You must really come here often." Chloe said as she rested her chin in her right palm, gazing at Jeremiah curiously.

"A few days out of every week, for about a year now." Jeremiah replied, much to Chloe's surprise.

"Really? And you're telling me that somehow none of us ever knew about this?" Chloe asked with a raised eyebrow, referring to Clark, Pete, and herself.

"I can't imagine that me talking about where I eat breakfast would be that interesting." Jeremiah said with a bit of amusement as he leaned back in his seat.

"Well, it's not just about where you eat breakfast. I mean, you rarely talk about yourself." Chloe said, her curiosity rising as she stared into Jeremiah's eyes, almost getting lost in them.

"Ever the reporter." Jeremiah said before he turned his head, seeing the waitress bringing them their orders.

"Here you go! An omelet and coffe for you," The waitress began as she put Chloe's order on the table in front of her, before turning to Jeremiah and continuing "and the usual for you. Hope you enjoy~." She finished with a wink as she put his order on the table in front him, bending forward more than she needed to, flashing him a view of her ample cleavage.

This girl was starting to tick Chloe off.

"Thank you, Annie." Jeremiah said to the girl as he gave her a small smile, getting a large one in return from her, before she turned and walked away with an extra sway in her hips.

"So... You two are friends?" Chloe asked while idly stirring her coffee. She wasn't jealous.

She wasn't!

"I guess you could say that we're good friends. She's also the owner's daughter." Jeremiah said as he sipped some tea.

"I see... So, what's that?" Chloe asked as she gestured with her head to Jeremiah's food, trying to get off of the subject of Annie. Something Jeremiah found a little amusing, though he didn't show it.

"It's an apple and goat cheese crepe." Jeremiah replied as he put his cup down and took a bite of the crepe. More often than not, this was what he got whenever he came here.

"You know, I've heard about those multiple times, but have never actually gotten to taste one." Chloe said after taking a bite of her omelet, loving the taste of it.

"Feel free to taste mine." Jeremiah said as he held the crepe out to Chloe.

"You're gonna feed it to me?" Chloe asked, feeling her cheeks heat up.

"I don't see why not." Jeremiah said simply as he held it out for her to bite. Swallowing, Chloe slowly inched her head forward and took a bite out of the offered food.

"Oh God, that's good." Chloe said with a blissful expression, practically moaning at the taste. She almost went in for a second bite, but managed to restrain herself.

"So, how was the dance?" Jeremiah asked as Chloe drew her head back, now eating her omelet again.

"It was... Okay, I guess. I mean, I had fun, but there was just something missing." Chloe said with a sigh.

'Or rather, someone.' Chloe thought to herself, glancing up at Jeremiah.

"I see. Sorry it couldn't be perfect." Jeremiah said as he finished his tea.

"It's fine. It was just homecoming after all. I am curious though, what did you end up doing, seeing as you didn't go to the dance?" Chloe asked as she looked at Jeremiah while taking a bite of her now mostly finished omelet.

"Nothing fun, believe me. I had some work to take care of, which wasn't very interesting. Anyway, you about ready to go?" Jeremiah asked as he looked down at their plates, both of them having finished what they ordered.

"Sure." Chloe said, getting a nod from Jeremiah. Standing up and putting his things back on, Jeremiah took his wallet out of his back pocket, and pulled out a $50 bill, which he put down on the table.

"The food costs that much?" Chloe asked with surprise.

"You should be generous when you can." Was all Jeremiah said as he held his hand out to her, which she grabbed on her own this time, and led her out of the restaurant.

"Do you want me to take you home, or is there somewhere else you'd like to go?" Jeremiah asked once they got in the car.

"Well, there was this new movie I wanted to see." Chloe said with a smile as she looked at Jeremiah, who nodded as he started the car.

"Let's go then." Jeremiah said as they pulled off.

From there, the two spent the rest of the day together, doing a number of different fun and interesting things.

[ Monday - Smallville High ]

"Where were you before the game on Saturday?" Came a soft sounding female voice.

The owner of the voice was a very pretty girl that had lightly tanned skin, long dark brown hair that went past her shoulders, and green eyes. She stood at 5'3", and had a chest that was maybe a B-cup, but a little smaller than Chloe's.

This girl was Lana Lang.

"*Sigh* Can we talk about this later?" Replied a male voice.

The guy had somewhat short blonde hair that was parted in the middle, with blue eyes, and stood at about 5'10. Notably, he was wearing a varsity jacket.

This was Lana's boyfriend, Whitney Fordman.

"It's a simple question, Whitney." Lana said as she closed his locker.

With a sigh, Whitney replied "I was warming up."

"So you're saying you didn't grab Clark and hang him up in a field?" Lana asked, looking right into Whitney's eyes.

"Lana, it was just a prank." Whitney tried to defend himself, though he knew he messed up.

Lana just closed her eyes and shook her head with a sigh, upset that not only did her boyfriend go out of his way to hurt someone, he even had the nerve to try to lie to her face about it.

"Can I please have my necklace back?" Lana asked as she opened her eyes and looked at Whitney, not really even wanting to be around him right now.

"...I lost it." Whitney said with some guilt, knowing how much that necklace meant to her.

"Were you planning on telling me? Or was that a prank too?" Lana asked with a hurt expression, before she turned and walked off, thoroughly upset with her boyfriend.

Walking down the hall, Lana was about to go downstairs, until she heard someone call her name, breaking her out of her thoughts. Turning, she saw it was Greg Arkin, who seemed to have adopted a new look and personality over the past weekend. He'd creeped her out a little with the way he was talking to her at the farmer's market yesterday.

"Lana, hey. I thought you'd forgotten. I've been waiting for almost an hour." Greg said, getting Lana to look at him with confusion.

"You remember, the English paper?" Greg reminded her, making her gain a look of realization.

"Sorry, Greg. Something really important came up. Can we do it some other time?" Lana asked, intending to go see Clark and apologize for what Whitney did to him. Turning around, Lana was about to walk away, only for her arm to be roughly grabbed.

"Are you blowing me off for your boyfriend?" Greg asked while holding her arm.

"I'm not blowing you off, I need to see Clark." Lana said, feeling her skin crawl at the way Greg looked at her, as if she was an object that belonged to him.

"Kent? So you'd rather spend time with him. Is he more important than me?" Greg asked with a frown as his grip on Lana's arm tightened, making her wince.

"Let the girl go." Came a deep, silky smooth voice that anyone would recognize. Looking to the side, Lana and Greg saw none other than Jeremiah standing there.

"What do you want?" Greg asked with a glare, while Lana just stared at Jeremiah with surprise written all over her face. It had been years since he last talked to her, so she was surprised that he would come to her aid.

Seeing the way Greg's body tensed like he was preparing for a fight, Jeremiah almost cracked a smile. Apparently this boy thought he was unbeatable thanks to his new powers.

"I want you to let the girl go." Jeremiah said again, calmly, gesturing to Greg's hand that was still holding Lana's arm.

"Hmph. I'll be seeing you later, Lana." Greg said as he let go of her arm and walked away, sending one last glare at Jeremiah, who ignored it with a blank face, not even glancing his way.

"Thanks..." Lana said as she looked up at Jeremiah, before she winced and hissed in pain when she rubbed her arm. There was actually a faint handprint left behind from how tightly Greg had been gripping her.

Reaching inside of his jacket, Jeremiah pulled out a small green jar.

"Hold out your arm." Lana heard Jeremiah say. Still surprised that he was even talking to her, Lana absently did as he said.

Taking the top off of the small jar, Jeremiah dipped two fingers inside, before he rubbed them all over her forearm, ignoring how Lana stared at him the whole time.

Once he finished, Jeremiah pulled his hand back, and screwed the top back on the small jar.

Rubbing her arm, Lana was surprised to find that not only was the pain completely gone, but even the handprint had vanished.

"Here." Jeremiah said as he reached out and gently grabbed Lana's hand, before he placed the small jar in her open palm.

With that finished, Jeremiah walked past Lana, and started walking downstairs.

Shaking herself out of her stupor, Lana quickly ran down the stairs to catch up with him.

"Thanks, really. I don't know what has gotten in to Greg recently." Lana said once she caught up with Jeremiah, pushing down her nervousness at speaking to him after so long.

"Well, he never was very stable. Anyway, don't worry about him. I'm sure he'll be dealt with soon." Jeremiah said as he walked with his hands in the pockets of his jacket.

"What do you-"

"I believe you had somewhere you needed to be, right?" Jeremiah asked as he turned his head and looked down at Lana with a raised eyebrow, with Lana's eyes widening slightly as she had nearly forgotten that she needed to go see Clark.

"You're right, I can't believe I almost forgot. See you later." Lana said with a smile, before she started walking away.

"Lana." Jeremiah called her, getting her to stop walking and turn around.

"Don't lose that jar. It might come in handy someday." Jeremiah said vaguely, getting Lana to look down at the small jar in her hand with a curious look, before she looked back up at him and nodded.

Once Lana walked away, Jeremiah gained a small frown as he felt Greg's aura upstairs. He'd read the boy's mind, and saw that he'd already killed his own mother. He knew that kryptonite did sometimes have negative effects on people's minds, so it wasn't totally his fault, but that wasn't exactly something that could just be let go. It was clear that his newfound powers were making him a slave to his instincts.

Either way, it was best to deal with this problem soon, before he ended up hurting or killing someone else.

[ Later ]

Greg Larkin was upset. No, scratch that. He was more than upset. He was angry.

Whitney.

Clark.

Jeremiah.

All of them were pissing him off. Why couldn't any of them see that Lana was HIS? Hell, why couldn't Lana herself understand that? He was clearly the most dominant male around now. Soon, Lana would come to realize that. He'd make sure of it.

With his eyes set on the stable Lana kept her horse in, Greg walked forward with confidence. He'd seen both her and Whitney go inside, meaning he could get take care of two birds with one stone.

As he was walking forward, Greg came to a stop when he saw someone standing in his path.

"You again." Greg said with a glare.

Silently, Jeremiah just stood with his hands in the pockets of his jacket as he stared at Greg.

"Too scared to even speak? Whatever, I've got more important things to deal with than you." Greg said as he walked forward and tried to go around Jeremiah, only for him to step in his path again.

"You know what? Screw it." Greg practically snarled as he cocked his fist back, and threw a punch at Jeremiah's chest with all of his newly acquired strength, enough to lift around 30X his own weight.

The hit connected.

Jeremiah didn't even twitch.

Deciding to not waste any more time, Jeremiah removed his right hand from his pocket and grasped Greg's outstretched arm.

"Sleep." Jeremiah commanded, and that was all it took. As Greg lost consciousness, the only thing keeping him from fully falling to the ground was Jeremiah still holding his arm.

Throwing him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, Jeremiah blurred out of sight.

While the boy would be punished, Jeremiah would fix his mind first.

Not even a minute after Jeremiah was gone, Clark came super speeding into sight. Slowing down as he ran up to the barn, Clark was confused when he saw no sign of Greg.

"Clark? Is something wrong?" Lana asked with concern as she turned and saw him standing there with a troubled look on his face.

"It's Greg. Has he been here at all?" Clark asked, wanting to make sure.

"He shouldn't have been. I told him to stay away from Lana." Whitney said with a frown.

"Did something happen?" Lana asked with worry in her tone, fully aware of just how creepy Greg has been recently.

"Just... Make sure you stay away from him. He isn't safe." Clark said, before he turned around and quickly walked away. He would've explained more, but he didn't want her to be walking around in fear of someone stalking her.

Once he was out of sight, Clark looked around before he super sped away.

He needed to find Greg.

[ Later That Night ]

"I just don't get it. I mean, we saw the videos Greg had of Lana, and how he killed his mom, but for some reason he hasn't shown himself at all since school today. I ran all over town looking for him, but..." Clark trailed off with a troubled frown as he sat at the kitchen table.

"He has to turn up at some point. When he does, I'm sure you'll catch him. Until then, rest. Like you said, you've been running for hours all over town looking for him." Jonathon said as he reached over and placed his hand on Clark's shoulder.

"Your father is right, Clark." Martha said with a nod.

The family's conversation was interrupted when they heard someone knocking on the kitchen door.

"Who could that be?" Jonathon asked, mostly to himself, as he got up to answer the door.

Once he unlocked the door and opened it, Jonathon was surprised at who he saw.

"Well, I'll be." Jonathon said with a smile as he stuck his hand out.

"It's nice to see you, Jonathon." Jeremiah said with a small smile as he shook Jonathon's hand.

"Come on in." Jonathon said as he stepped to the side, making room for Jeremiah.

Walking inside, Jeremiah was greeted to the surprised faces of Clark and Martha.

"It's so good to see you." Martha said with a smile as she walked over and hugged him.

"You too, Martha." Jeremiah said as they broke apart.

"What's up, Jeremiah?" Clark asked as he looked at him curiously. It wasn't necessarily rare for Jeremiah to come over, but it wasn't often either.

"I've got something for you." Jeremiah said as he walked over to where Clark was sitting.

Reaching into one of his pockets, Jeremiah pulled out a small box and put it down on the table in front of Clark, before he sat down in one of the chairs.

Exchanging curious looks with his parents, Clark grabbed the box off of the table and opened it. When he saw what was inside, Clark instinctively flinched back and dropped the box on the table.

It was something Jeremiah expected, but it still amused him a bit.

"Everything alright, Clark?" Jonathon asked as he and Martha walked over to see what was in the box.

Clark didn't answer. He was busy frowning in confusion while staring intensely at the item in the box, which was none other than Lana's necklace.

Hesitantly reaching out with one of his hands to the necklace, Clark was shocked and surprised beyond belief when he didn't feel the pain that usually came from being near it. Even touching it directly wasn't causing any negative effects.

"You can give that back to Lana. I'm sure she'll appreciate it." Jeremiah said as he stood up and put his hands in his pockets, before he started walking to the door.

"You're leaving already? Dinner will be ready soon, and you know you're more than welcome to stay." Martha said with a kind smile, with Jonathon nodding beside her.

"I appreciate the offer, Martha, but I've gotta get going. I have a busy night ahead of me. I just wanted to stop by to give that to Clark." Jeremiah said as he opened the door. Turning his head, Jeremiah nodded to Clark, Jonathon, and Martha, before he went outside, closing the door behind him.

"Guys." Clark said once Jeremiah was gone, finally breaking out of his stupor.

"What is it, Clark?" Jonathon asked, while Martha attended to the food cooking on the stove.

"I don't know how, but Lana's necklace... It's not making me sick like it usually would." Clark said, getting both of his parents to look at him in surprise.

"Any idea why?" Martha asked, walking over to Clark.

"I don't know. I mean, the last time I was near it, it still made me sick, just like any other meteor rock." Clark said, picking up the necklace and staring at it.

The mysteries in this town just seemed to keep coming.

[ Elsewhere - A Little Later ]

Stepping out of the shower, Jeremiah let out a quiet sigh as he as he heated up his body with magic, drying himself off.

Exiting the bathroom, Jeremiah walked into his large bedroom (they were connected), coming to a stop in front of a full body mirror.

With a thought, the small gold X on Jeremiah's black ring glowed, making him become covered in a set of clothes.

He was now wearing a tight, long sleeved black turtleneck, along with a black trench coat that had a hood. He was also wearing black combat pants, and a pair of black combat boots that stopped a few inches below his knees, which his pants were tucked into. Lastly, he was wearing a black utility belt, a pair of black, high tech gauntlets, and a white mask that completely covered his face, and had a small purple lightning bolt over the right eye, with a thin red line where the mouth would be (Hei's mask from Darker Than Black).

Stepping back, Jeremiah traced his hand in a circle in front of him, making a portal open. After stepping through, Jeremiah was now standing outside, with the portal closing behind him.

It was time to go to work.

[ One Week Later ]

"Football: Sport or Abuse?" Clark read the school newspaper out loud as he walked up a set of stairs with Chloe and Pete.

"So, what do you think?" Chloe asked with a smile, while holding a cup of coffee in her right hand.

"I think you need to seriously decrease your cappuccino dependency." Clark replied, getting a laugh out of Chloe.

"Pete thinks I'm being too hard on Coach Walt." Chloe said.

"I mean, the man coached my dad, all my brothers... He used to come over and watch the super bowl." Pete said with a shrug.

"While I'm touched by that hallmark moment, you don't get points for subtlety in journalism. I've already started getting hate mail." Chloe said as they reached the top of the stairs, now walking through the outside basketball courts.

"You seem very happy about that. Why?" Clark asked with some confusion.

"Because it means I'm hitting a nerve. Besides, between the abysmal sentence structure, and generous use of obscenities, I've got a pretty good idea of who's been sending it." Chloe said with a smile, before taking a sip of her coffee.

"If you think my teammates are reading The Torch, you're giving them way too much credit." Pete said as he placed a hand on Chloe's shoulder.

"Don't you even care about this?" Came the voice of Lana not too far away from them, instantly drawing Clark's attention. Looking over to where the cheerleaders were, he saw that she seemed to be upset with Whitney about something.

"I just don't see what the big deal is." Whitney said with a smile and shrug.

"You don't see what the big deal is? I think it's a big deal." Lana said as she shook her head, before walking away from Whitney.

"Ooh, there's something you don't see everyday. A pompom meltdown." Chloe said jokingly as Lana walked past them, getting a chuckle out of Pete.

"Oh! Here they come. Pete, I need a picture of the cheating jockstraps." Chloe said as Pete grabbed his camera, watching as the football players and cheerleaders gathered around Coach Walls.

Coach Walt was an overweight man with short, brown hair that had a few gray streaks, a somewhat big nose, a short neck, and dark green eyes.

"Look, I don't wanna hear any rumors or false accusations going around." Walt said to the players and cheerleaders.

"Any idea how they got that midterm, Chloe?" Clark asked as he turned his head to Chloe.

"Still a mystery, but I'm working on it." Chloe said as she held up het camera, taking a few photos.

"Hey, what's she doing?" One of the players asked.

Turning around, the player threw a football at Chloe, which would have hit her square in the face had it not been for Clark quickly reaching out and grabbing it.

"Nice catch." Pete said with a smile.

"One of your teammates tries to kill me, and all you can say is 'nice catch'?" Chloe asked with a frown, before she turned around and walked away, with Pete following after her.

Cocking his arm back, Clark lightly (for him) threw the ball back to the guy who'd thrown it at Chloe, nearly making him lose his breath when he caught it.

Turning around, Clark quickly caught up to Pete and Chloe, with Coach Walt staring at him with intrigue as he left.

A few minutes later, Clark and Pete were walking down one of the hallways in the school, when they saw Jeremiah standing in front of a vending machine.

Walking up to him, Pete patted him on the back, while Clark nodded at him with a smile.

"Hey, Kent." Clark heard. Looking over, he saw Coach Walt approaching them (more specifically, him).

"I saw your arm out there. Your technique was lousy, but you've got a lot of power." Walt said, looking Clark up and down.

"Thanks." Clark said with a smile.

"So why aren't you on our team?" Walt asked.

"Well, my dad needs me on the farm." Clark said with his smile lessening a bit. Behind him, Jeremiah collected his snacks from the vending machine, before he put them in his backpack. Now leaning against the vending machine, Jeremiah observed the interaction between Clark and Walt.

Personally, Jeremiah didn't like the man. Both his personality and aura were rotten. He'd dealt with much worse people than him before though.

"Well your school needs you on the field. We've got a big game Friday night, and we're short players. Look, I know your dad would understand." Walt said, not one to give up that easily.

"He's kind of stubborn." Clark replied, recalling how many times he had asked his dad to let him play football, or any sport really, only to be denied due to his powers.

"Yeah, I remember. Jonathon Kent was one of the best athletes I ever coached. A lot of God given talent. It's in your genes Kent." Walt said with a 'friendly' smile, trying to appeal to Clark's respect for his father.

"Actually, I'm adopted." Clark said, getting a smile from Pete, and a small one from Jeremiah, who sensed Walt's anger and annoyance starting to rise.

"Look, I'm giving you a chance to be part of something special. A part of history. Now I've seen you stare at your father's picture in that trophy case. Don't tell me you don't wanna be a part of this." Walt said with gritted teeth, trying to not raise his voice right now. It wouldn't do any good to scare Kent away before he got him to agree to join the team.

"Why don't you suit up? I mean, look at Ross. He doesn't have a lick of natural talent, but he's got a truckload of heart." Walt said as he patted Pete on the chest.

"Thanks... I guess." Pete said, trying to ignore how backhanded that compliment was.

"Let me think about it." Clark said, wanting to get the coach off his back for now.

"Fordman! Get over here." Walt said, waving for Whitney, who was standing with Lana, to come to him.

"Hey, Clark." Lana said once she and Whitney reached them.

"Fordman, you're the team captain. How do you think Kent here would do on the field? I mean, considering our current predicament." Walt asked as he looked over at Whitney.

"He might do alright." Whitney said as he looked Clark up and down, not really wanting him on the team. He didn't like how Clark looked at Lana, and how friendly the two of them had been getting recently.

"He seems afraid." Coach Walt said.

"That's not the reason, is it, Clark?" Lana said, not liking what the coach was trying to do.

"It's my dad-"

"Kent, there comes a time when you gotta step outta your father's shadow, and be your own man. Now, what do you say?" Walt pressured as he walked closer to Clark, looking right into his eyes.

With a quiet sigh, Jeremiah pushed himself off the vending machine and started walking away. Such a predictable outcome was boring.

Before he left though, he glanced at Walt with his eyes dimly glowing, unseen by anyone.

Looking over at Lana, who had Whitney's arm wrapped around her shoulder, Clark made his decision.

"Count me in." Clark said with a smile.

"Alright, we'll see you at practice today, 3:00. Don't be late." Walt said as he poked Clark's chest before walking away.

Or, at least, he tried to. After taking only two steps, Walt slipped as if he was walking across ice, falling face first and sliding down the hallway, drawing shocked gasps and stares from all the staff and students that saw it.

"What the..." Clark said with his eyes wide.

Pete, Whitney, and even Lana, were unable to stop themselves from laughing at the sight (though Lana did at least try to hold it in).

Hearing the Walt's screams amongst all the laughter while walking away, Jeremiah gained a small smile.

Curses were always interesting.

[ After School ]

Lana was in her bedroom, folding her cheerleading outfit and putting it into a box, when there was knock on her door, getting her attention.

"Lana, you're home early. Was practice canceled?" Her aunt Nell asked as she opened the door.

Nell was a very pretty woman with brown hair that nearly reached her shoulders, and dark blue eyes. She stood a few inches taller than Lana, reaching about 5'5", maybe 5'6". Her breasts were C, maybe D-cup, and she had a nice ass.

"Sort of. I quit." Lana said with a smile as she finished folding her uniform.

"But you love being on the squad. What happened?" Nell asked as she walked into the room and around the bed.

"I just think there's more to life than memorizing cheers, and shaking pompoms." Lana said with a shrug.

"You just decided this out of the blue?" Nell asked with confusion, since this wasn't making much sense to her at the moment.

"Some of the football players were caught cheating. Guys I know. I told Whitney how upset it made me, and he said it was no big deal, that people aren't perfect." Lana replied as she lost her smile and let out a sigh. Picking up the box off of the bed, she turned around and walked over to her closet, crouching as she put it down on the floor inside.

"Some people will do anything to win a game." Lana finished as she stood up and turned back to Nell.

"Well, you can't let a few bad apples ruin the experience for you. You're part of a team, you're making friends." Nell said with an encouraging smile as she sat down on the bed.

"Aunt Nell, I don't want to go back. I want to try different things, what's wrong with that?" Lana asked with a small frown.

"Nothing, it's just that you're on such a good track, I'd hate to see you give that up. I want you to be happy." Nell said softly.

"So what do you plan on doing with this newfound freedom?" Nell asked as Lana joined her on the bed.

"I thought I'd get a job, something part-time. Earn some extra money so I can go travel in the summer." Lana said, rather naively, with a smile.

"Well, I suppose I could always use some help around the shop." Nell said after staying silent for a bit.

"Thanks, but I'm not looking for help. I wanna do this on my own." Lana said with determination, getting a small, forced smile from Nell.

"I see... Well, good luck. You have my support if you need it." Nell said as she stood up and started walking out of the room, only to stop at the door as she remembered something she'd been meaning to ask Lana.

"Hey, Lana." Nell began as she turned back to Lana.

"What's up?" Lana asked with a curious expression.

"Have- *Ahem* Have you talked to Jeremiah at all recently?" Nell asked with great interest, though she did her best to keep it from showing on her face, or in her voice.

"Actually, yeah. He talked to me last week. I was surprised." Lana said with a happy smile.

"Really? Do you think he'll be coming over soon?" Nell asked with her heartbeat picking up a bit.

"Um... Maybe? I'm not sure. It wasn't exactly a long conversation." Lana said a bit dejected, but mostly confused about why Nell was even asking her about this.

"I see..." Nell said with a small frown.

"Is everything alright, Nell?" Lana asked with concern.

"Hm? Ah, yes. Well, I'll leave you to it then." Nell said before she turned around and quickly walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Nell's feelings for Jeremiah were... Complicated. She -to her shame- held a great amount of lust for him. With looks that only Adonis could compare to, combined with his intelligence, the way he carried himself, etc... Could she really be blamed? Besides, it's not like she was the only woman in town that felt that way.

'The things I would do to him...' Nell had thought to herself on many occasions, sometimes unable to hold back from pleasuring herself to the thought of it. Even now, she found herself biting her bottom lip while unconsciously rubbing her thighs together. It didn't help that she hadn't had sex in years.

On the other side of the coin, Jeremiah was the man she wanted Lana to marry in the future. She did recall Lana having a crush on him when they were younger, but wasn't sure if that was still the case. Sure, Lana was with Whitney now, but Nell doubted that relationship would go very far.

Letting out a slow, shaky sigh, Nell shook her head and walked to the bathroom, hoping that splashing some cold water on her face would help to calm her down.

[ Later That Night ]

"You guys, it doesn't make sense. Cars don't just spontaneously combust." Came the voice of Chloe as she walked with Clark and Pete.

"The cops said it was faulty wiring." Clark said with a shrug.

"I've already got my headline. 'Jockstrap Saves Principal From Burning Car'." Chloe said with a smile, referring to Clark saving Principal Kwan from his car that went up in flames.

"Will you lay off with jockstrap thing?" Pete asked while shaking his head as they walked into the beanery.

"I still can't believe Clark's been blinded by the Friday night lights." Chloe said as she looked at Clark.

"I joined a football team, Chloe, not a cult." Clark defended himself.

"Sure, next thing you know, I'm gonna be joining the pompom brigade." Chloe said jokingly.

"I hear there's a spot open." Lana said from behind Chloe as she walked out of one of the back rooms of the beanery, wearing a green apron over her clothes.

"Lana, what are you doing here?" Clark asked with surprise.

"Taking your order, I hope." Lana said as she walked between them while carrying a tray of drinks.

"What, is this like some sort of cheerleading, charity, be a waitress for a night sort of thing?" Chloe asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes it is. Except for the cheerleading and the charity. Tips are always appreciated." Lana said as she put the tray down on a table.

"So, you're a waitress for real?" Clark asked as he looked at Lana.

"Yup. Even got the nametag to prove it." Lana said, gesturing to the small nametag on the left side of her chest.

Looking around the shop, Chloe's eyes widened slightly when she saw Jeremiah sitting by himself -reading a book while drinking tea as usual- at a table towards the back, before she quickly walked over to join him.

"Don't I know you from somewhere?" Chloe with a faux curious expression once she reached his table.

"Nah, I've just got one of those faces." Jeremiah replied as he looked up from his book, easily able to play along.

"Well, how about I join you? I'm sure we can... get to know each other." Chloe asked, playfully flirting as she adopted an over the top sultry expression.

"By all means. A drink is always better with pleasant company, and who would I be to deny such a thing?" Jeremiah replied as he looked at Chloe with a small smile, making Chloe unable to hold back her smile anymore as she pulled out a seat across from him and sat down while taking off her coat.

"So, what's a fella like you doing alone in a place like this?" Chloe asked with a smile.

"I was waiting for a pretty woman to walk in."Jeremiah replied as he took a sip of his tea, looking at Chloe over the rim of the teacup.

"Oh? Well, I hope I don't disappoint." Chloe said with a fake pout, placing her elbow on the table and resting her chin in her palm.

Looking at Chloe, Jeremiah placed his cup down on the table before he leaned forward and replied "Do you see a frown on my face?" He asked while slowly licking his lips, looking from her chest up to her eyes with an intense stare, making Chloe blush heavily as her heart began beating so fast that she thought it might come bursting out of her chest.

Leaning back, Jeremiah decided to spare Chloe from any further teasing (for now) as he looked past her and said "Oh? Aren't those the subjects of the story you're currently writing?"

"You're right." Chloe said, after clearing her throat and managing to regain her composure a bit, as she turned around and saw the football players all gathering together, looking to be in a hurry to leave.

"Shall we?" Jeremiah asked as he stood up, putting on a gray jacket and a gray beanie.

"We shall." Chloe said with a smile as stood up and put on her jacket before walking towards the door, with Jeremiah following behind her.

As they were walking past Lana and Clark, Jeremiah noticed someone accidentally bump into Lana, making her drop the tray she was holding. Watching it fall in slow motion, Jeremiah reached down and perfectly caught the tray, along with the glasses that were on it, not spilling a single drop.

Handing Lana the tray, Jeremiah rubbed the top of her head as he continued walking past her, while Lana and many others stared at him, amazed at his quick reflexes.

"Thank you." Lana said gratefully after breaking out of her stupor, realizing that he just saved her from what would have no doubt been an embarrassing moment.

Jeremiah just gave a lazy wave over his shoulder as he walked out of the beanery, following after Chloe.

[ A Little While Later ]

"Congratulations. I've never seen a group of young men demonstrate such extraordinary stupidity!" Coach Walt exclaimed angrily, walking back and forth as he glared at all of the assembled football players.

"Now, which one of you talked? No one here told Kwan that I supplied you with the tests?" Walt asked with narrowed eyes, getting more angry and annoyed by the second.

"Coach, no college will even look at us with cheating on our records." One of the players, Trevor, spoke up.

"So it was you, Trevor. Now why doesn't that surprise me?" Walt said as he walked up to Trevor and gave him a hard backhanded slap, making him fall to the ground.

"Nothing! Nothing is gonna stand in the way of me and my legacy!"As Walt shouted, the water from the sprinklers started turning into fire, shocking and scaring the football players.

"Whoa." Chloe said as she and Jeremiah watched from behind a wooden post on the side of the football field.

"Now, you're gonna go home, and keep yout mouths shut! Does everyone understand me?!" Walt yelled as multiple areas of the field were set aflame.

"Yes sir!" The players all yelled, quickly turning around and running away from the field, wanting to be as far away from their coach as possible.

"I think this gives new meaning to the phrase 'hothead'." Chloe said as she took a few photos of the scene with her camera.

Beside her, Jeremiah stared at the coach with an apathetic gaze. He'd seen baby Pyronites do more than that in their sleep. Then again, he supposed it wasn't really a fair comparison.

With their task done, Chloe and Jeremiah soon left the field.

[ Next Night - Pep Rally ]

"Why'd you call me?" Trevor asked with a frown as Chloe approached him, away from the other students, who were all hanging out around a bonfire.

"I want to know if, Coach Walt was the one to supply you all with those tests." Chloe asked bluntly, not beating around the bush. While she did hear the coach basically confess to it at the field last night, that wouldn't exactly hold up as evidence, since it's not like she recorded it. She needed someone from the team to speak up.

"If you don't want to get hurt, you should really leave this alone." Trevor warned her with a worried frown.

"Look, you can either talk to me now or later. Either way, this picture's going up in the next issue of The Torch." Chloe said as she pulled out one of the photos she took last night.

"Just leave me alone." Trevor said before he quickly walked off.

Watching him go, Chloe sighed before she put the photo back in her bag and walked away.

Walking to his car, Trevor was trying to quickly unlock the door, until his arm was suddenly grabbed tightly.

"Talking to the school newspaper, Trevor? I thought you were brighter than that." Walt said as he used his powers to heat up his palm, making Trevor scream in pain as he dropped to the ground.

"Coach! I didn't say anything, you gotta believe me! She was at the field last night, she took a picture of us in the sprinklers!" Trevor yelled in pain.

"Hmph. Alright. Go home. I'll deal with this." Walt said as he let go of the boy's now red arm, before he walked off.

[ With Chloe ]

Now inside the school, Chloe walked into The Torch and saw Jeremiah sitting at her computer, looking to be asleep.

Quietly walking up to him, Chloe smiled softly as she slowly, gently ran one of her hands through his long hair, something she knew many girls dreamed of doing.

"That feels nice." Chloe heard Jeremiah suddenly say, making her jump a bit.

"You weren't sleep?" Chloe asked with a blush as she continued running a hand through his hair, seeing as he apparently didn't mind.

"Of course not. I told you I'd wait for you." Jeremiah said as he looked at Chloe.

There was also the fact that he didn't need to sleep. He did enjoy doing it though.

"So, how'd it go?" Jeremiah asked as he stood up, letting Chloe sit down in her seat.

"As expected, he was afraid to speak up. Maybe I should get Clark to do it. Trevor might be more inclined to speak to him, seeing as they're teammates now." Chloe suggested with a shrug as she started working on her story.

Jeremiah was about to respond, but stopped and narrowed his eyes when he sensed Walt in the hallway. He'd already known that the man was in the school, but had ignored it since that wasn't anything unusual. Now though, he could sense that Walt was about to do something, as if he was building up an attack.

Sensing what was coming, Jeremiah quickly pulled Chloe away from the computer, making her let out a startled yelp. Just in time too, since not even a second later, the computer and everything around it went up in flames.

"What the hell?!" Chloe said in shock as she looked at the flames while holding onto Jeremiah tightly.

Looking at the fire with a small frown, Jeremiah channeled some magic and discretely waved one of his hands, getting rid of all of the flames. His frown grew in annoyance when he sensed Walt continuously trying to bring the flames back.

'You just made this personal.' Jeremiah thought to himself as the flames died down.

"You alright, Chloe?" Jeremiah asked as he gently pried her off of him and checked her for any burns.

"I'm alright, thanks to you. Can't say the same for my computer." Chloe responded with a frown as she looked around the room at all the damage the fire caused.

"To go this far just for the sake of winning his 200th game..." Jeremiah said while shaking his head. It was all rather silly in his opinion.

"All the more reason I need to write my story about him. It would help to expose just how bad he really is." Chloe said, having already guessed that this was the work of Walt. It was a pretty logical leap, considering that she'd seen with her own eyes how he made the sprinklers shoot out fire.

"Unfortunately, it'll be pretty hard to recover any of the files I had. I should've known to make backups." Chloe said with a depressed sigh as she placed a hand on her forehead.

"I can fix that." Jeremiah said as he gently rubbed the top of her head.

"What do you mean?" Chloe asked as she looked up at him with a curious and hopeful expression.

"You'll see. For now, let me take you home." Jeremiah said as he grabbed Chloe's jacket (which thankfully didn't get burned) and placed it on her shoulders, before grabbing her hand and leading her out of The Torch.

"What about the mess?" Chloe asked as they made it into the hallway.

"I'll take care of it." Was all Jeremiah said.

[ Next Day ]

Sitting in the sauna with a towel around his waist and another around his neck, Walt let out a relaxed sigh with his eyes closed as he felt his muscles unwind, and the tension fade from his body. He had a big day ahead of him, a day where his name would go down in history as a legend of high school coaching, and he wanted to look and feel his best for it.

Hearing the door open, Walt looked up with a frown at whoever was disturbing him.

"What the hell do you want?" Walt asked as he used his towel to wipe some sweat from his face.

"How rude." Jeremiah said as he walked in the sauna, closing the door behind him.

"If you've got something to say, then hurry up and say it! Today's a big day for me." Walt said loudly.

"So I've heard. Unfortunately, you won't be stepping foot on that field." Jeremiah said casually as he sat down on one of the benches, completely unbothered by the heat of the sauna.

"Look, I don't know what your problem is, but you do not want to tick me off right now!" Walt exclaimed with a glare as the steam and temperature picked up.

"Actually, I do. You see, you tried to kill Chloe. That's something I can't let slide." Jeremiah said, calmly as ever, as he looked at Walt.

"Who, the wannabe reporter? The brat should've kept her nose out of my business." Walt said unrepentantly. Why should he care about the life of some random girl? His legacy was far more important.

"I see." Jeremiah said as he stood up and walked toward Walt, not having to go very far due to how small the room was.

"It would be so easy to kill you." Jeremiah said as he looked down at Walt with a bored expression.

"Excuse me?!" Walt yelled with anger as he stood up, with flames coming to life over the stove.

"Oh, calm down. I didn't say I would actually do it, however tempted I may be. No, I've got something else in mind for you." Jeremiah said as he stuck his hands in his pockets.

Before Walt could respond, Jeremiah's eyes briefly glowed gold before he said "Since you love that field so much, then get naked and go run around the field. Keep going even after your feet start bleeding."

With his eyes glazing over, Walt stood up and took off the towel that was around his waist, before he walked over to the door and opened it, now walking through the hallways in the nude.

With Walt now dealt with, Jeremiah created a portal and stepped through it, coming out in the shadows behind the bleachers outside.

Stepping out of the shadows, Jeremiah walked around the bleachers, before going up to where he could see Chloe sitting next to Jonathon and Martha, with all of them waving at him once they caught sight of him.

"I figured you'd still be inside working on your paper." Jeremiah said as he sat down next to Chloe, giving a nod to Jonathon and Martha.

"I decided to put my personal politics aside and support Clark. Speaking of my paper, thanks again for somehow recovering all of my files." Chloe said with a grateful smile.

"Don't mention it." Jeremiah said with a small smile. It really wasn't difficult at all. All he'd done was have Cortana recover all of the files, which didn't even take a second, and send them all to Chloe's home computer in an email.

"Do either of you know where Clark is?" Jonathon asked as he and Martha looked around.

"He's inside the school." Jeremiah said, having sensed Clark's aura.

"What? But he's gonna miss his first game." Martha said with worry and confusion.

Before anyone could say anything else, everyone in attendance (excluding Jeremiah) were shocked beyond belief when they saw a nude Walt come from inside the school, and start running around the field.

"No. Way." Chloe said with a shocked expression, before she burst out laughing a few moments later, being joined by many others.

"What the hell is he doing?" Jonathon asked the question many people were wondering, watching as the school security tried to catch Walt, who threw wild punches at anyone that came near him.

He may have used his pyrokinesis, if not for the fact that Jeremiah had placed a mental block on him, making him unable to use his power.

"Looks like you've got something else to add to your paper, Chloe." Jeremiah said as he looked over at the still laughing girl.

"Definitely." Chloe managed to say in between her laughs.

Eventually, the game was called to a stop due to Walt's actions, with the win being awarded to the opposing team, something that made Jeremiah's smile widen a bit.

What better way to get revenge on someone like Walt than to crush their pride?

...