Chapter 25

Three weeks later, in Shanghai China, Leonardo and Clark made it there a week ago. While they had a deadline they wanted to meet. They are also using the time to visit various famous tourist spots such as the Eiffel Tower, Colosseum, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Tower Bridge, and Big Ben. Hence they spent about ten days alone in Europe before even taking a step outside of it.

'So we scanned the temple in the so-called legend and didn't find anything.' Clark grumbled.

They spent the last days x-raying the place from top to bottom. Besides finding a hidden room full of kryptonite making their guess hold more weight. They haven't found anything else at the moment.

'What if it's not so much inside the temple but you can see the temple. There is a small monk monastery built around the time of the legend not far from here where they can view it. So let's go take a look.' Leonardo suggested.

'Ok.' Clark agreed.

To Clark it didn't matter since it seemed like a lost cause trying to find these three elements Leonardo wants to collect. So after finding directions, they walked into the monastery that was fairly empty before standing before a tree that captured the temple between the branches. Looking around, Clark was about to throw his hands up, before Leonardo x-ray the ground.

In the ground, a horse was found where a rock shard with a kryptonian symbol was engraved. Reaching down to the base of the tree, Clark punched into the ground and pulled it out. Right before breaking the horse and holding the stone in his hand.

'This stone holds the power to destroy the world?' Clark murmured.

'Since it holds Kryton knowledge then yes. Krypton is light years ahead in technology then anything on Earth. If any country or person with ill-desires gets their hands on this knowledge, then the fragile balance of the world will be changed. Countries will fight for knowledge, hundreds of thousands if not millions will die fighting, and hungry will follow in the wake of battle.' Leonardo explained. 'So yes, Clark, this stone can destroy the world.'

'Why would Krypton put this thing on Earth?' Clark clenched his fist. 'So the humans would fight among themselves and they could come in and clear out the last remaining humans.'

'Negative much?' Leonardo wanted to roll his eyes. 'The stones were made by Jor-El for you, but sent back in time to be placed around the world for when you're ready. They were made so Krypton knowledge wouldn't be lost and you would have a small piece of your original world. Not to mention, a place where you can escape the noisy world and be yourself. A true Fortress of Solitude you could say.'

'Why would he go through so much trouble for me?' Clark said after a moment. 'I was barely born before he sent me off the planet.'

'Love, Clark. While his A.I. can't display it well, he loves you immensely. It is why he went against the Ruling Council Krypton and prepared the tools to help you in your journey on this planet. He took a great risk in that as they asked him to prepare them for cloned kryptonians in case your planet was destroyed and so they could have safe haven on this planet.' Leonardo explained.

'There are clones of Kryptonians here?' Clark's head shot up in surprise.

'Clones aren't natural, Clark, not to mention they are taken from soldiers of Krypton. So the chances of them peacefully integrating with the humans are slim.' Leonardo sighed. 'That not to say they are bad people, but not all the clones will be willing. For most Kryptonian, Earth is very backwards and they have no attachments to humans like you or me.'

'So what you're saying is, should the clones be released, while a few would try to integrate, a few would try to wage war on Earth.' Clark said.

'Yes, it's a batch of good and bad apples. Now, let's get a move on for there is no point dwelling on what can be or what is done. We got two more stones to collect.' Leonardo changed gears.

Clark just rolled his eyes as they left the place as they began to wonder where to begin looking for the next stone. For neither of the two knew how to make the other stones ring, which means they might need to make a quick step to Smallville. Which made him smile, but also agreed with Leonardo and his mother that he needed to get out of Smallville for a while.

--

A week later in the Sahara Desert, a small scream was heard as sand was thrown into the air from something crashing down. In the pit, was a teenager with dark hair and blue eyes, which was naturally Clark and Leonardo. For they came here after getting the first stone under Leonardo's idea to get Clark to at least hover if not fly.

'This is dumb. After twenty tries today alone, all I do is fall.' Clark angrily said.

'Calm down, Clark. You are learning since you managed to hover for two or three seconds this time.' Leonardo calmly said. 'Granted, this is taking you longer to learn and control your other abilities, but it is a slightly tricky ability to learn. However, it is like a bicycle once you get over the first hurdle, it comes easily.'

'That is what you've been saying since the first attempt a few days ago.' Clark grumbled. 'How did you manage to learn it anyways.'

'Well, I doubt it would work for you, but I imagine many beautiful women in the sky and I wanted to chase after them. A few pulled me along to the paradise full of women in all sorts of clothes, with lovely figures. Then, I began to hover as I left behind the worries of the previous moments to relax and feel the freedom of the sky.' Leonardo replied. 'Remember, Clark, the past is there so we don't make the same mistake, while the future is something to dream towards and not worry about.'

'Random much?' Clark grumbled at the last part.

'Random maybe, but I am inside your head and know you are worried about it. However, you don't need to worry too much about what the future holds. You just need to worry about the present, like where to find the stones, learning Krypton knowledge, which beautiful girl to have a lovely dinner with, what type of underwear she wears, what college you might want to go to.' Leonardo softly said. 'I know I and Jor-El often talk about what the future holds for you, but it dreams we know you can achieve and more. However, it is up to you to decide when and how you achieve that.'

Clark sighed before refocusing on trying to learn to fly. Much like Leonardo told him, he attempted the method Leonardo did and realized it didn't appeal all that much to him. It did, however, get him to hover for a good minute as one of the girls he imagined did hit a soft spot. He didn't know if it was disappointment or relief that the girl didn't look like Lana.

Then deciding not to focus so much on many girls, but more one woman. Clark shot off into the sky soaking in the sunlight as a smile blossomed on his face. However, it didn't take long before he thought of Lana and plummeted to the ground. Which made him annoyed and angry because he was unsure how to feel about her.

'Well, you were doing well, but I guess it's not so much your skills but your state of mind holding you back.' Leonardo calmly said, trying to sooth Clark's erupting emotions. 'Let's put your flight lessons on hold until you sort out your feelings.'

After a few minutes, Clark only nodded in agreement. His mind was a mess and it only gets more tangled as he thinks of Lana. He claims to love her, but everytime he thinks of how she treats him. It destroys him especially since in the last month where he traveled and saw various couples of all ages. Both good and bad ones and it taught him a lesson and in self reflection showed how toxic Lana is to him.

'I will fly us back to Smallville so we can rest for a few days and have Jor-El ring the last two stones for us. Does that sound good to you, Clark.' Leonardo asked.

'Yeah, I'm tired of seeing this endless sand as I got sand in places I didn't know I had.' Clark agreed.

Grabbing their stuff, Leonardo bolted into the sky heading far above the clouds as he circled the planet. Thanks to the height, the sun rays empowered them more for a few minutes as Leonardo wasn't in a hurry as he leisurely flew across the globe.

Touching down behind the barn, Leonardo and Clark saw Jonathan working on the tractor or more specifically the wheel.

"Welcome back, son." Jonathan smiled upon seeing them. "How was the trip?"

"We found the first piece, and after Jor-El helps us ring the other two. We will have them all collected." Leonardo held up the stone.