20 Finishing School; Improving the Fortress

2005 - Metropolis, Kansas - Clock Tower

I purchased the future Watchtower building a few months ago and built up some state-of-the-art hardware with assistance from Kelex's drones. I decided to set up in this area early. I will eventually start the Justice League, but I want to finish school, first.

I'm installing the hardware and constructing the building's defenses at the moment.

2005 - Smallville, Kansas - Kent Farm

I finished my classes two weeks before high school graduation, and I am receiving two bachelor's degrees (dual degree), Bachelor of Journalism/Bachelor of Business Administration, and a minor in Forensics. This was all achieved before receiving my diploma. I could have graduated early, but I decided that staying in high school could help me in developing my nerd persona and develop my background. If anyone looks into the background of Clark Kent, you'll hear no stories of a hometown hero that shows up at the last minute to protect people, there will be no loose ends with random meteor freaks who know about my powers, and there will be no level of scrutiny that will turn up anything remarkable.

I've used my time in high school to develop an iron-clad reputation that is unremarkable to the outside world, besides the level of success brought to Kent Farms. But it's honestly not much different from those big food companies from my original universe.

Taking off from the farm, I entered outer space. In recently reviewing my memories of canon, I recalled an asteroid hanging around near the moon that would break apart into meteors that would strike the Earth if blood got on one of the Elements. Even though I have united the Elements into the Crystal of Knowledge, I don't want a loaded gun hanging outside of the Earth.

Flying to the asteroid, I moved it towards the dark side of the moon and set it down, my telekinetic field preventing the asteroid from breaking up as I set it down. I wanted it all in one location before I busted it up. I started pummeling away at the asteroid, breaking it up into smaller chunks. I absorbed about 95% of the kryptonite, but decided to take the rest of it to the Fortress. You never know when you'll need some kryptonite to take down some rogue Kryptonians.

2005 - Arctic Circle - Smallville, Kansas

I flew the excess kryptonite to the Fortress and asked Jor-El to create crystal containment to store it. I also requested the creation of some droids to protect the Fortress. They will be as dangerous as the droids in Man of Steel, easily killing any human that makes it here and severely damaging any other metahuman that doesn't have invulnerability as one of their powers. I also requested the entrance to the Fortress to be sealed and to close off any gaps in the entirety of the Fortress except for a small camouflaged gap on the roof. This will further protect the Fortress if it's even discovered. It will take a lot of work for them to try to tunnel through the Fortress.

I commissioned some energy weapon turrets, foam containment weapons, and other devices that will neutralize intruders depending on the type of the intruder. Rogue kryptonians that enter will be barraged with kryptonite by the drones á la Metallo. Other possible intruders, I catalogued all possible enemies or intruders and listed their vulnerabilities and the actions that should be taken in the event they appear here.

I requested for Jor-El to produce building and assembly droids to help with construction of the alterations to the Fortress. I've decided to burrow about a mile into the Earth and create a vast underground addition which can house alien life like the Fortress I've read about in the comics. It will be a self-contained biosphere in each section that can hold alien life, rare species and plants, and different experiments I'm working on. One section of the underground fortress will contain technology that I collect from future adventures including newly constructed technology like my new phantom zone projector.

The underground fortress addition will be waterproof. The air for the main section will be supplied from the surface. Some containment units will have their own air supply (need to be able to shut off air for certain dangerous criminals to weaken them or prevent them from spreading their abilities to the rest of the fortress if they have pheromones or something rare like that). I will have my own prison like the team of The Flash has. I will only keep people here to study their abilities or give myself time to figure out how to deal with my prisoners short of killing them.

On the outside of the Fortress, sensors have been set that run on independent power sources, exotic technology I learned from my training. The sensors will enable different defensive protocols which include force fields for the entire Fortress, the only part skipped is the small entry area at the top where I will fly in.

I've added functionality to my suit's belt and to my Kelex watch for holographic hard light technology controlled by my AI. I also got backup devices in case they were destroyed. It will project an interactive hard light hologram so Superman and Clark Kent can be seen at the same time in the future. The hologram will be controlled by Kelex and has my voice and mannerisms - it's studied my behavior in my Clark Kent persona to display a completely believable interactive experience. This way, Kelex as Clark Kent can even "interview" Superman with pre-loaded questions I've supplied beforehand.

The last thing I did before leaving the fortress this time was request camouflage for the entirety of the fortress. It will be like Wakanda. Any satellites will not see the Fortress. It will also be invisible to any looky-loos. They will just see a frozen tundra. I will still be able to find the Fortress easily because when it detects my biosignature nearby, it reveals the entryway. The construction and assembly bots will work on this and the other projects over the next year (estimated time of completion of all projects).

Feeling satisfied with my beginning construction of a massive expansion to my Fortress and the added defenses, I left to head back home.

2005 - Smallville, Kansas - Smallville High School - Graduation Ceremony

"Clark Kent," the principal announced as I walked across the stage to accept my diploma. I smiled at my parents in the audience, waved, and kept walking.

"Lana Lang," the principal announced as Lana followed up behind me.