Destiny
Part Three
By Hordak Alpha

       As the months and years passed Jor-El kept training Clark in all of the skills that were housed within his vast knowledge.     Jor-El escalated the amount of combat exercises for Clark dealing with hand to hand combat, target practice for his heat vision, exercises to improve Clark’s reaction time and so on.      Still Clark had a hard time learning how to fly effectively.   He had improved greatly over time to the point that all he had to do to get air borne was leap high into the air and concentrate on levitating.     Clark improved on gliding more and more but it was still not fast enough to get him places fast enough.            He would still respond to emergencies globe wide whenever he picked up cries for help with his super sensitive hearing but his super speed would sometimes not get him to the scenes of disaster fast enough.                  Clark kept working hard and as the years progressed he began to change.                 Considering he had spent most of his life under the effects of yellow solar light Clark had grown more powerful since those days of his youth back in Smallville.         His strength increased greatly and it showed.     Clark had attained a muscular physique that was close to that of a body builder’s and he had never done any serious weight training in his life unless the times he lifted tractors and other heavy objects in his youth.    

              Clark grew a couple of feet taller that could also be attributed to the mutated state his body had undergone after the years of exposure to the yellow sunlight of Earth.          One day Clark’s problem with flight changed for the better.     One day when he was in London, Clark spotted a jumbo jet plummeting fast towards the ocean.         Using his super speed Clark actually ran across the water towards the jet but he knew that catching the jet while he was on the water wouldn’t help him.                   He suddenly decelerated and levitated a few feet above the water.     He tried to glide towards the jet but he couldn’t carry himself up much.         He was forced to come to a slight hover just inches over the water.             He watched the flaming engines of the jet and saw it begin to plummet faster and faster.                Clark’s heart ached and a sense of determination swept over him.       “I can’t.…I won’t let those people die.” said Clark under his breath.             He concentrated hard and focused his entire will on reaching that plane in time.         

	 Slowly Clark Kent began to advance higher and higher into the air but at a very slow pace.      Clark began to grow frustrated as he tried with all of his might but he couldn’t gain speed.    “I will not fail this time!!!” he cried out, “I will reach that plane in time!!!!”             Then with a great amount of forced determination Clark shot off into the air with great speed.          He reached the jet plane in time and rested it on his shoulders.            Gritting his teeth he managed to concentrate enough on flying back to land and keeping the jet aloft on his mighty, broad shoulders.           Within a matter of minutes Clark had reached land and set the jet down in the middle of a parking lot.           Before anyone could see him Clark dashed away in a blur.         

                Clark was proud of himself and used the vision of that jet plane plummeting whenever he wanted to increase his velocity.     It actually helped improve him to the point where he began to fly with relative ease.        Eventually Clark mastered his flying ability to the point where he could fly past the speed of sound.                 Clark continued to train under Jor-El’s guidance until a full ten years elapsed.        Jor-El had run out of things to teach Clark.             

	 “It seems as though I have shown you all I can.” said the Jor-El A.I. one day, “I have no more to teach you.”            

	 Clark looked drastically different than he had the day he had first come to the Fortress of Solitude to begin training.       His dark hair had grown to shoulder length and a dark beard now adorned Clark’s face.           “Are you sure there isn’t anything more for me to learn here?” asked Clark.       

	“You have mastered all of my combat teachings and you have explored and mastered all of you’re abilities.” said Jor-El,   “It is now time for you to leave me and this place.   Go now and fulfill your destiny.”                

	 Clark smiled.      “I know before I started under your teaching I was very apprehensive to realize the destiny that you spoke of so much.” said Clark, “But I now know what it is you sent me here to do.   I’ve known it in my heart for so long.”          

	  "It heartens me to hear that, Kal-El." said Jor-El, “You have done well."   

            Clark knew it was time to leave.         As Clark turned to go Jor-El said “Kal-El, before you leave I have something for you."

                  "What is it?" asked Clark as he hefted his old back pack onto his back.              

	 "Go to the replication device and you will see." said Jor-El.   

	 Clark walked over to the replication device and found a bundle of clothes.      He picked it up and found it to be some sort of uniform that consisted of a blue shirt, red boots and a red tight-like garment with blue leggings attached.               

	"What you hold in your hands is a replication of the kind of uniform the peacekeeping forces on Krypton used to wear." said Jor-El.     

	 "What exactly did the Krypton peacekeepers do?" asked Clark as he looked over the uniform.      

	"The peacekeepers were Krypton's form of law enforcement." said Jor-El, “They were the best men and women Krypton had to offer.   They defended truth and justice to such an extent that every nation of Krypton was proud of them."     

	Clark packed the uniform into his backpack.   "Thank you but I'm not sure when I would wear such a uniform."   he said.  

          "You will find a use for the uniform I am sure." said Jor-El.    Without another word Clark left the Fortress of Solitude.   

                 Night had settled over Smallville and Martha Kent sat in her living room in sheer quiet.   The hired hands had left just a short time before and would return early enough in the morning to start the work day once again.    Martha's red hair had taken on a few streaks of gray within the last ten years but her youthful beauty was as omnipresent as ever.         As she was about to close her eyes for a nap there was a knock on the door.    She got up from her chair and went to the kitchen door.    She opened it up and found a tall man with shoulder length dark hair and a beard on her door step.  

	 "Hello." said Martha, “Can I help you with something?"        

	 "I'm home, Mom." said the man.    

	Martha took another look at the man and said "Clark?  Is that you?"         

	The man nodded.  "I'm finally home to stay."                

	A look of joy came over Martha Kent's face and she embraced her son.     Clark embraced his mother and lifted her into the air.   

	"You didn't recognize me?" asked Clark with a smile on his face as he set his mother back down.        

	 "Not at first through all that hair and that beard." said Martha.             Martha ushered her son inside and took the back pack from him and set it down on the kitchen floor.       

	 "It has been too long, Mom." said Clark,   "I meant to visit more often but I was caught up in my training."                

	"Your visits every year around the holidays were good enough, Clark, but I'm glad you have come home." said Martha embracing her son once again.         

	She looked Clark over.    "My, you have grown so much." said Martha.           

	 "I know, Mom, but I'm still the same old son of yours who would always stare out at the night sky through that telescope in the barn loft." said Clark as he sat down.                    

	"First thing in the morning you need a haircut and a shave." said Martha.            

	 "You don't like my new look?" asked Clark, “I've actually grown quite fond of it."               

	 "Well, I haven't." said Martha, “First thing in the morning I'm going to make you look familiar again."            

	 Clark chuckled.   "I never could argue with you could I, Mom?"          

	  Martha smiled.    "Seriously, it is good to have you home again, Clark.  Things have really been quiet since you went away." 

              "I know what time of the year it is, Mom." said Clark, “I haven't forgotten."            Clark pulled up his sleeve to show his mother something.     "I still wear Dad's watch all of the time." said Clark, “I never forget."        

	  Martha smiled and touched the watch.  "Your father would be very proud at the man you have become, Clark."        

	   "I know." said Clark, “I still miss him."            

	 "So do I." said Martha.

              The heart of Metropolis was quite busy.     The city had grown considerably larger over the past ten years.   That was mostly due to the fact of Lex Luthor.        Lex had grown into a powerful business man and industrialist, just like his father Lionel Luthor.         Since Lionel's death a few short years before Lex had inherited and completely had taken over the family company, LuthorCorp.    However he had changed the name to LexCorp and had expanded his corporate empire through out Metropolis and out.             Lex was called the "Donald Trump of Metropolis" and for a good reason.   Lex owned several buildings that made up most of the Metropolis sky line and seemed to begin another construction project each year.               Lex had remodeled the old LuthorCorp tower and had changed it so the very top of the building was in a prominent 'L' shape.                 To the public Lex Luthor was a business man and a leader but secretly Lex had dealings into the criminal underworld and had even helped rig the previous mayoral election so the candidate that he supported would get elected into office.       This night Lex stood looking out of the windows of his penthouse high atop LexCorp Tower.      His wife, Lana Lang Luthor, came into the room and embraced her husband.  "It is such a wonderful night." said Lana, “Why don't we go out for dinner?"            

	  Lex turned to face his wife and bent to kiss her hand.    "Sorry, not tonight, dear." said Lex, “I'm expecting Bruce Wayne, head of Wayne Enterprises, to fly out here tonight from Gotham.     I'm hoping to persuade Mr. Wayne to accept my offer to merge Wayne Enterprises and LexCorp into one solid company."    

	Lana sighed.    "Business again, Lex?" she asked, “That is all you have seemed to occupy yourself with since we got married."       

	 Lex bent forward and kissed his wife on the cheek.   "I know, my dear, but I will make it up to you very soon."  

             Suddenly violent tremors began to shake the tower.           "What the hell is going on?" asked Lex out loud to no one in particular.     

	"Oh my god!" shrieked Lana.          

	 "What is it?" asked Lex.        Lana pointed out the penthouse windows and Lex looked.                  There, out the window, just a few blocks away towards Hobb's Bay was an enormous crystalline dome that seemed to be growing.          "What in God's name is that thing?" asked Lex.             

                 The next morning on the Kent farm, Martha Kent was true to her word.    She gave her son a hair cut and urged Clark to shave off his beard.   Within a short time Clark looked like the young man she had raised.     

	 "You look much better all clean cut." said Martha.    

	  Clark was dressed casually this day.      He wore blue jeans, boots and a flannel shirt.   His entire attire had belonged to his father a long time ago.            "Well, why don't I make you some breakfast?" said Martha in a cheerful tone.   

	Clark's eyes lit up.    "It has been forever since I had a real breakfast." he said, “The replicated foods at the Fortress just didn't have that special something that makes your cooking grand."      

	 Martha smiled.   "Flattery will get you everywhere when it comes to my cooking." she said.       Martha stayed in the kitchen while Clark sat down in the living room.         It had been quite a long time since he had actually sat down to watch any television so he picked up the remote control and turned the television on.        'I wonder what is going on in Metropolis today.' thought Clark.     He flipped through the stations until he got to WGBS, one of the most prominent news stations in Metropolis.       What flickered onto the screen caught Clark's eye.    A massive crystalline dome now occupied most of downtown Metropolis.     

	"Mom, I think you should come and see this." said Clark.    

	Martha came into the room and stared at the screen in disbelief.   "Oh my god is that real?" she asked.    

	 The image of a young red haired woman flickered onto the screen.   "This is Summer Gleeson reporting." said the female anchor, “It seems the strange dome structure that occupies downtown Metropolis is spreading out and growing by the minute."    

	  Clark muted the television.   "Mom, that structure.  It looks like something I saw when I was studying Jor-El's archives."  

	   "What is it?" asked Martha.      

	  "I remember something about an artificial intelligence on Krypton that was called Brainiac." said Clark, “It was housed in a dome structure much like that one."                Clark then got up from the chair.   

	"Clark, where are you going?" asked Martha.          

	 "I have to get a look at that thing." said Clark, “I have a gut feeling it is something very bad." 

            Clark had decided to change into the uniform that Jor-El had given him and now flew towards Metropolis at a hurried speed.         A sonic boom ushered forth as Clark shot into downtown Metropolis towards the dome structure.       It crackled and pulsed with energy and it seemed to move.   'I have a bad feeling about this.' thought Clark as he sped towards the dome.     Far below on the ground police and fire fighters were gathered about evacuating and securing the site when a few of them spotted the red and blue streak of motion that was Clark.        

	"Hey." said a cop, “Look up there in the sky."    

	 "Is it a bird?" asked a fire fighter.      

	"Could it be a plane?" asked another.    

	"Ah, who the hell cares?" said another cop, “We have got better things to worry about like what the hell this big dome thing is all about."            

	Clark was just about to reach the dome when a sudden streak of lightning energy lanced out and struck him across the chest.            Clark was tossed backwards at a powerful velocity and collided into the side of a nearby building.     Before he fell Clark caught himself and resumed his course towards the dome.   Another streak of energy lanced out at him.  "Oh no you don't." said Clark as he dodged the energy bolt with a blur of speed.        He increased his velocity.   'If this thing doesn't want me to land on top of it then I guess I'm just going to have to go inside.' thought Clark.                 He raised a fist in front of him and shot off through the air.      Using his body as a battering ram Clark shattered a massive hole in a small section of the dome structure and penetrated to the inside.                      

                   Once inside Clark was amazed at what he saw.    Entire buildings that had been in the dome structure's path had been totally absorbed into the structure and were now formations of jagged crystal that crackled and pulsed with energy.             Clark flew around inside the structure and dodged past spontaneous bolts of energy that shot to and fro from the floor of the dome structure to the ceiling and back again.             Clark then reached the center of the structure and it seemed to be devoid of energy activity.     

	"Marvelous isn't it?" asked a voice that echoed through out the entire interior.           

	 "Who are you?" asked Clark, “Why have you done this?"           

	"I will answer all you wish to know in good time, Kal-El." replied the voice.    

	 "You obviously know who I am but I don't believe we have met." called out Clark.          

	 "Actually we have." said the voice, “Allow me to show myself to you."                 Within a soft flash of light a figure emerged.     The figure was covered in armored plating and had glowing white eyes.           

	 "Who are you?" asked Clark, "Are you a representation of Brainiac?"           

	 The face of the armored figure twisted into a smile.   "Well, well you have been brushing up on your kryptonian history." he said, “I'm not just an avatar of Brainiac, I am Brainiac."                   

	 "Well, Brainiac it isn't really a pleasure to meet you." said Clark, “Why don't you just take down this dome and we can go our separate ways without incident?"           

	Brainiac chuckled.    "I cannot dismantle this dome.   It is what I have been planning to build for ten long years." he said.               

          Brainiac hovered a few feet away from Clark.    "How exactly do you know me?" he asked.                

	 "We know each other quite well, Clark Kent." said Brainiac, "Let me take on a form you would readily recognize."   

              Brainiac's shape changed to form the guise of Milton Fine.              "Fine, so you are Brainiac." said Clark, “Although last time we met you didn't exactly have the means or the power to create a structure this powerful."             

	"It has taken a long time but I  finally acquired the resources I needed to reascend to my former glory." said Fine,  "It has been a long wait but this is all for our great General Zod."                    

	"I don't think so, Fine." said Clark, “I'm not going to let you free Zod from the Phantom Zone."             

	 "I don't really think you are going to be much of a problem." said Fine.     

         Out of the shadows came a group of Brainiac duplicates.     "I control all of these drones." said Fine as more and more Brainiac drones emerged from the shadows,   "You had better leave now Kal-El before you get in deeper trouble than you already are."           

	 "I'm not going anywhere.   Unleashing Zod onto the earth is not an option for you anymore." said Clark.          

	  "So be it.   Embrace your fate."  said Fine as he resumed the guise of Brainiac.        The Brainiac drones flew towards Clark in a mighty mass and swarmed around him.         A few of the drones tackled Clark and forced him to the crystal ground below.      The drone swarm attacked him as if they were guided by one, powerful, intelligence.

              The dome structure could be seen from the offices of the Daily Planet quite well.    "Will you look at that." said Lois Lane in awe,   "That is just about the greatest thing that has happened to this city in quite awhile."              

	 "It could be dangerous, Lois." said Chloe Sullivan, “We don't even know what the heck it is."             

	"Well, we will just have to find out won't we?" said Lois with a sly grin.       She picked up her purse and headed towards the elevator.   

	 "You aren't seriously going to go down there are you, Lois?" asked Chloe, “The Metro P.D. won't even let you get past their barricades."                 

	 Lois sighed.   "Are you going to come with me, Chloe, and help the Planet get an exclusive or are you just going to sit here being my conscience?"         

	Chloe sighed and shrugged.   "I'll come with you but only to keep you out of trouble." she said.      

	"Fine with me." said Lois.       The two reporters headed towards the elevator.

             The mass of Brainiac drones had completely dog piled Clark but that wasn't going to be enough to stop him.       With a powerful shove Clark hurled several of the drones off of him.        More came towards him.       Clark's eyes glowed crimson and searing heat beams lanced from his eyes.      The heat beams dismembered the oncoming drones.     Clark leapt into the air and flew towards Brainiac.                Just as Clark came close to him Brainiac erected a force field around himself.      Clark impacted with the force field and bounced off into the arms of the drone swarm.     

	"It is almost time." said Brainiac, “There is almost enough power to open a gateway between this world and the Phantom Zone."                

	Clark punched his fist through an oncoming drone and vibrated it to pieces.      "You must be tapping into the city's power." said Clark.       

	"More than that." said Brainiac,   "This dome is absorbing solar energy from the sun and feeding more power into my device."            

	"Zod isn't coming to Earth if I have anything to say about it." said Clark.     

	"Oh, but he is and every single prisoner of the Phantom Zone." said Brainiac,  "General Zod has built an entire nation of followers within the Phantom Zone and once they come here they will be endowed with powers such as yours.    They will be powerful enough to enforce General Zod's will."        

               Clark summoned up his heat vision.    He shot a powerful burst of heat energy at Brainiac's force field.    The field held up against the blast.     "You cannot breach my defenses, Kal-El, I have grown too powerful for even you to stop me." said Brainiac.  

       	 "Then why are you so loyal to Zod?" asked Clark,   "If you are so powerful then why don't you take the planet for yourself?"     

	"A good question." said Brainiac, “But I have an answer all ready for you.    I am loyal to General Zod, he helped give me life and purpose."            

	 Clark drew back his fist and struck the force field with great might.     The force field did not give an inch.       

	 "You know, Kal-El, we are similar in many ways."  said Brainiac.      

	"How is that?" asked Clark as he scanned the force field with microscopic vision to see if he could find any weak points. 

	      "You came to Earth to save her people." said Brainiac,  "And I came here to enslave them."          An optic blast of lightning energy streaked out from Brainiac and struck Clark across the chest.     He groaned in agony as the energy seared through his every muscle.       "You are of the flesh, Kal-El, and therefore you are weak." said Brainiac as he fed the continuous stream of optic energy.        Clark brought up his hands in front of him and shielded himself from the blast.    

	 "You underestimate me, Brainiac." said Clark as he began to offer resistance against the optic blast.     Brainiac poured on more energy but Clark pushed onward.    He floated towards Brainiac and pushed the beam as he did.           The force field went down as Brainiac summoned up more and more energy to repeal Clark but it was not enough.     With his great strength and iron will Clark pushed forward and pushed the beam back into Brainiac's head.     An overload resulted and Brainiac exploded into pieces.       

                      Brainiac's voice filled the entire expanse of the dome structure.      "A subtle victory, Kal-El." said Brainiac,  "But you forget I am not just of one but of many."          More swarms of Brainiac drones came out from the shadows and surrounded Clark.      "You may be powerful enough to destroy some of my drones but I overpower you with shear numbers alone." said Brainiac.   The drone swarms rushed forward and attacked Clark.         Clark fought with all of his strength but after a short time the drones began to overcome him.  He was swept away into the ocean of Brainiac drones. 

              Lois and Chloe drove up to the police barricade.     An officer walked up towards the driver’s side.   

	 “I’m sorry but you can’t go through.” said the cop.     

	“But, we are from the Daily Planet.” said Lois, who was driving the car,   “We’re here to do a story on this dome structure.”

	       Before the officer could reply the ground shook violently as the dome structure grew larger and more power began to crackle and pulse through out the expanse.     It was almost time.      The dome almost had enough power to open the dreaded gateway to the Phantom Zone and the world’s only hope was caught in a struggle for his very life.

                                         End of Part Three