Ch.5

While Lana and Lois talked, the guy who was maced, liquefied into metal and sank into the ground, disappearing. It was a neat trick I'd have to learn now the I had the ability to do the same. I was in fact hiding my now metal hand I'd busted the guy in the head with while concentrating on turning it off.

I did so just in time for them to realize he'd disappeared. I made introductions while reburying the grave and driving them to the house. Clark was there and looking surprised to see Lana. I however couldn't care less as I headed in for a shower.

By the time I got out and dressed, the yard was crawling with spec ops soldiers and a chopper was outside. I didn't hesitate and started taking them down and knocking them out until General Lane and the last three still up soldiers came out of the barn with Lois and Clark.

I tilted my head. "You should've said you were coming Lane, sorry I embarrassed your boys sir."

He smirked. "As charming as ever Kent. Don't worry, I'll drill it out of them soon enough."

I nodded and sighed. "In that case, would you like to stay for dinner? Beer cheese bratwursts and good ole apple pie, my treat."

He grinned. "Don't mind if I do. You sure know what's good."

I chuckled before breaking into small talk while he told the three soldiers to wake up the rest and make sure they were ready to head back to base in an hour's time. I whipped up a decent enough meal and apple pie for dessert much to Clark's uncomfortableness.

At dinner he mentioned it being his men at the safe house and I asked if it was his guy at the graveyard too. He shook his head and made a few calls before cutting supper short and grabbing a piece of pie after offering me a stogie. I took it and set it aside before telling him to be careful and that the guy reminded me of Baghdad, when we ran across a meta human terrorist.

He grimaced and I mentioned metal man to him as he nodded and said his goodbyes. Seeing as Chloe was in serious danger, he'd immediately pulled her from the safe house and onto the base while using thermal lance charges to kill the metal man that came after her. There wasn't anything left of him to scrape up as what little hadn't been vaporized, sank into the ground.

A few days later Chloe was announced as alive since Lois and Clark has indeed found her at the base and she testified against Lionel Luthor in court, ensuring he was sent to prison and got life.

Seeing as it turned out well enough, I made arrangements and agreed to the dorm policy with only stopping by the house on breaks and the occasional weekend unless they needed help. Just like that I started college a week later. I was majoring in engineering, languages and business with only the other basic courses to keep me busy.

My first month into college everything was going great and I even had time to go with Clark and dad to his doctor's appointment in Metropolis. There Clark was telling me about rejoining the football team and when dad was released with a new prescription, he sent Clark to get the truck and dad pulled me to the side to talk about something when a truck came barreling at us.

I was about to react when a kid came and pulled us out of the way and snatched our wallets. I didn't mind as all I had was some cash and my military ID and drivers license inside it. The trade of was worth it as I felt a click in my head as the speed force shot a lightning bolt down and struck me from a clear sky.

I felt invigorated and knew my connection to the speed force was much more than I'd ever thought possible. I was already a Kryptonian speedster and I had Quicksilvers potential. Added to that Bart's connection and the lightning bolt felt like it went on for a minute straight while Bart and Clark were the only ones who could see it.

When I felt, lightning crackled from my arms and legs for a moment before it sparked inside me flashing in my eyes instead. I could feel the very mood of the speed force, a cosmic constant like the infinity gems had been.

When everything caught up, I stood up and helped dad up before looking to where Bart had been. Seeing him gone, I told dad as Clark ran over. "There's someone faster than Clark here. He pulled us away before even I could react and I gained his speed. It's exhilarating, this sensation is like even I've been going in slow motion all my life."

Clark looked at me worriedly and I sighed before calming my mind. "Sorry little bro, I didn't mean to scare you like that. I just gained his speed and it's only added on to my own instead of boosting it. I've a feeling I could run on water or circle the clove in seconds. It'll take some time to adjust."

Dad sighed. "Well until then I'd better call the credit card company cause it seems that kid just stole my wallet."

I chuckled. "Mine too."

We headed back to the house and Clark talked dad into not canceling his cards until he could get Chloe to find the kid's location. I let it be saying. "If he still has my wallet, tell him he can keep the cash, just get the wallet and IDs back. If he tries to use them to sneak into military bases he could end up getting killed. General Lane doesn't mess around with thieves and the like. He'll order them to shoot on sight."

Clark nodded and left to see Chloe while I chilled at the house and did laundry. The dorm laundry room is always occupied so it's just simpler to do it here. I I did laundry, I also did the chores at super fast speeds that I'd never run before until my clothes caught fire from the friction build up.

I went back to the house and changed clothes after grabbing a shower. When I came out of the shower, I was surprised to see Lois standing at the sink. "So, what's up?"

I chuckled. "Nothing much. I just got robbed and I decided to do the chores since I was doing my laundry here anyways. Care to hand me the towel?"

She raised an eyebrow and I shook my head sighing. "Not happening Lois. You made it clear last time that I wasn't enough for you. I'm not diving into that again."

She looked a bit hurt but handed me the towel saying. "It wasn't that you weren't enough for me, you just weren't there enough."

I sighed and told her. "I was on mission and deployed in hot zones with terrorist breathing down my neck. It's not like I was on some beach with a bimbo, living it up or whatever. Look, it doesn't matter, the past is the past and I'm not diving back into it with you. If you want to kick someone while he's down, find a new punching back princess."

I grabbed my clothes and headed to Clark's room to change. When I came out Lois was headed to the Talon for coffee and to see her cousin. She offered me a chance to come with her but I turned her down saying I needed to fix some pipes in the house and change some spark plugs in my dad's truck.

She left and I did the rest of my chores at Kryptonian speeds. When I finished I heard clapping. "That's some sick speed you got there me amigo."

I looked to see Bart there and asked. "Have you come to return my wallet? Cause I don't think you want to try and use my IDs."

He shrugged and tossed it back saying. "Your brother said I could keep the cash so lickety-split, don't have a fit."

I chuckled and held out a hand. "Jake Kent. Thanks for the extra speed by the way."

He shook my hand. "Bart Allen. So, how'd you do that before with the whole lightning thing?"

I smirked. "I can copy peoples powers when they use them against me or on me. Whatever gave you your speed did the same to me because my power copied your connection to it. I was already almost as fast as my brother before, now I'm as fast as he and you combined. Though the down side seems to be that my clothes burn off if I run to fast from the friction."

He raised an eyebrow. "Really? That's amazing! I didn't even know it was possible to go that fast!"

I chuckled. "You're still a kid. Once your body grows a bit more your speed will too. Even I'm not as fast as I will be once my body hit's it's prime."

He looked impressed and I introduced him to my father while he told him the whole sad story. Dad canceled his cards and got his ID and wallet back while I made lunch. Bart and I chowed down on some calorie dense Mexican food and Clark showed up a bit later.

He mentioned finding Bart who waved him over. "Right here stretch jr."

I left them to it as I had to get back to school but I did tell Bart not to cause to much chaos. Fun was ok, so long as no one got hurt as a result. He was meant to be the Flash after all so it was imperative that he understand the difference between fun and being reckless.

I went back to the dorms and started speeding up my degrees as I took extra classes and started thesis's while applying for different test outs for each of my subjects. It would still take time to arrange but the military was paying for it all so I didn't mind.

My next chance to head back to Smallville had me restraining Lionel in Clark's body and dragging him at super speeds back to the prison to change them back. Once Clark was in his old body, I took the stone of power and left it hidden until the third stone was to be found.

I did however pull a picture out from behind a frame and showed it to Clark along with a disk in the fireplace. I told him. "Use your X-ray vision next time. I know I've been gone off doing my own thing, but common sense does work still."

He asked. "What are these?"

I shrugged. "Things I saw when I was checking the pipes for a leak before Lionel showed up in your body. I've hidden the crystal to keep it safe and away from trouble so you should be fine from now on. Oh and be careful with that disk. I can't tell what it does but from what I heard the last Kryptonian disk caused a lot of problems. Keep it hidden and safe wherever you need to."

He nodded and I helped him hide it under a tree in the back yard. After he and it were safe, he asked. "What all did Lionel do while in my body?"

I shrugged. "Not much other than weird mom out from what I could tell. He hadn't had long to do anything more."

He seemed relieved and went to explain what happened to mom. I headed back to school for another month long testing period to prove I knew it all and I was a bit surprised to see Lois join me there. Her own dorm was right down the hall as it was all coed.

It was an interesting month before I went back to Smallville for a week off. I wanted to see Clark's games and make a few bets with Lex. For the preliminaries I bet all my spare cash which was fifty grand, on Clark winning the match by stumbling and knocking a guy over the touchdown line.

It was never about which side would win but how well Clark did for us. He agreed to the odds of ten to one if I could name the score as well so I called it at thirty-four to thirty-one in favor of Smallville high.

In the case that I won I'd get five hundred grand and if he won we agreed I'd owe him a serious favor. Like clockwork though Clark picked up a fumble and tripped, plowing a kid over the touchdown line and winning by my predicted score. He had to ask. "What are you, psychic now?"

I chuckled. "Not really, I heard a bookie talking about Clark's odds and decided to bet on him instead. Some kid with a weird name like Myxl something. I think he might have meteor powers if he's influencing outcomes like this."

I turned to Lex who was frowning but he let it go for now, only looking at the kid in question. exactly a week later It was my last day before I had to get back to campus but damned if it wasn't exciting as we watched the state championship game. I made another bet with Lex, this time that Clark would throwing the winning pass and get tackled right afterwards with the score at twenty-three to twenty-one in the crows favor.

For an even more exciting bet I doubled down with Lex as I used all the cash I'd saved up to invest as well and bet one million and ten to one odds that the final play would be with five seconds on the clock at the fifty yard line.

He agreed but asked where I got all the details from. I chuckled and showed him my laptop now. "I'm running statistics with all the stats, plays and past games as the algorithms known variables. It's almost as hard as fantasy football. Luckily my time in college has given me a lot to add to my repertoire."

He looked a bit sour by that but nodded. "We'll see then if your algorithm is as good as you say it is."

I smirked and watched it all go down including Clark saving Chloe. I did however grab the booking after he left to run back to the field and tossed him in my inner galaxy on a planet full of rabbits and carrots. I'd used it as a breeding farm before. Unfortunately I could put people in, but I just couldn't seem to bring them back out yet.

The only ones that could come out at will were the elves and that was because they were tied to me intrinsically. Even Drake and Blonsky we're trapped in their worlds, unable to get out. The laws of this world really were freaky. I'd found even the math ran on slightly different concepts and had to adjust my technology to it as well.

I sat back next to Lex and watched the end of the game as the buzzer sounded and the ball was caught. I closed my laptop and told Lex. "Pay up. Ten million to my account. Don't make me think a rich man like yourself can't afford it."

He chuckled. "Don't worry, the money will be transferred into your account within the hour. Mind if I ask what you're going to do with it all?"

I smiled. "Invest. If you think football games are hard to predict then you haven't played the stock market lately. It'll help stress test my algorithm an perhaps one day lead to a breakthrough in variable calculations for crime scenes and AI building. The more data I put in it the more accurate the predictions will be."

He nodded. "Well if you ever want to sell it, I'd be willing to pay more than the chump change today for something with results like that."

I chuckled. "I'll wait till it's complete before I decided where or to whom I want to sell it to. Besides, I'm fairly certain the government will want a crack at it for terrorist attack prevention and assessments once it's done."

He frowned but shrugged it off while he had the money transferred to my account and I immediately started investing with said program which I'm actuality was Shadow. I'd rebuild his AI core and stored it below the Kawatche caves near where I suspected Jor-El's current AI core was being stored.

It truly was a safe place when no one knows it's there. Fortunately the potentia power cell still works here as it's a self contained pocket dimension with already stored charges from the heavy elements extracted from stars.

It would take a few months but that ten million would become so much more especially since I know the relevant events regarding Queen consolidated and LuthorCorp, now going by LexCorp.

Shadow would use all I showed it from the series to predict the stock market and act accordingly. My stock portfolio was looking amazing and was about to get so much better. I had a victory dinner with Clark and my parents before heading back to campus with a fresh load of clean laundry.

Two months later I was visiting Smallville for Chloe's birthday party with Lois when Lana got possessed and started acting weirdly. I read her mind or more accurately countess Isobel Thoreaux's mind. I read all she knew of magic and how to use it and ended up realizing it was tapping into impure magic dimensions.

I used the same technique to tap into my own magic reserves and found I was back in business mostly. The spells were there but the powers is taken from demons was still weak and not worth using for more than lighting candles. On the other hand with access to my own magic again, a lot more options fell into my lap. I could in fact flame travel and wizard teleport again though it took a bit of magic.

My reserves did in fact refill thanks to my connection to the sun and my ability to absorb heat as energy. Even at night I could stay constantly at full strength now. I found magic, at least my own, could still hurt me and I started thinking of solutions for that as well. Ultimately I'd interfered and got blasted by Isabel, making a connection to those darker dimensions and becoming immune to their magic's.

I'd need to get hit by others for my mimicry to work. In the bright side after Clark was restored, I knocked them out and took the book for a page flipping until I tossed it to Clark. "Destroy it. It's all about drawing on dark magic's and manipulating the stones of power by force as a way to channel them. It'll send Lana back to her own self and kick the other two spirits out."

He didn't hesitate and burned the book before asking. "Can you do magic now?"

I grinned. "I can. Though it's still limited in some areas as I'm drawing on my own powers and energy while they were drawing on darker places. On the bright side it'll make life easier in some cases. I'll be able to erase minds if they learn your secret and teleport."

I flame traveled and appeared beside him before he nodded. "At least some good came of this."

I sighed. "Let's get them out of here little bro, they're not going to stay asleep long now that their subconscious is no longer being suppressed."

I carried Chloe and Lois out while Clark grabbed Lana. We set them down outside the caves in the back of my truck and drove them to the house. There they were already starting to come around. I helped them out of the back of the truck and grabbed my laundry before leaving.

The night before had been all I could stay for and I had classes today. I waved Clark goodbye and drove to the dorms. Five months later I was finally finished with my bachelors degrees and working on my masters in business, engineering and criminal law.

I was a bit busy to say the least with classes and my dissertations as well as my thesis's. If I played my cards right, I'd be able to go for my doctorates in engineering and my masters in all three by the time Clark was ready for college.

To that end I missed a fair bit but I did end up sending the stone to Lionel when he got out of jail. I missed a lot with a fear toxin being released, Clark's girlfriend, Alicia, being released and killed, Clark saving Lois from a crazy football kid who was killing people to hide his powers, a new super dog on the farm and Clark's trip to China for the last stone.

Heck, I'd have missed Lucy, Lois's sister, blowing through town if Lois hadn't insisted she call me for help instead of going to Lex for help with a Swiss criminal and loan shark in deep with a syndicate of some type.

I showed up to take them to a motel and the police pulled me over. I got out and noticed the officer in question was a bit nervous. I read his mind before moving and disarming him. He pulled out a spare piece and I sit him in the shoulder blade before taking his backup piece and called the real cops.

Lois yelled from the door. "What's happening?"

I answered back. "I found the bad guy. He killed a cop and took their uniform. Call the General, this is gonna be an issue."

The police showed up ten minutes later and I set the guns down while telling them what was going on. Not five minutes later a chopper showed up with General Lane. I was in cuffs still when he walked up to me with a smile. "Getting rusty are you Kent?"

I chuckled. "Hardly sir. Just making sure I don't scare the piss out of these civies. It makes them feel safer when I'm cuffed apparently."

He chuckled a bit before having the cops release me while I told them what was happening. Soon enough Lois and Lucy got out of my truck and walked over to him obediently. He looked a bit angry at both of them but in the end he said Lois did the smart move in calling in reinforcements.

The Swiss criminal was taken into custody by the police as they found the dead cop in the trunk of his own car. I gave my statement to the police and told the General I had classes to get to if I wasn't protecting his daughters. He said he'd handle it and I gave Lois a ride back to the farm before heading back to school.

She had asked on the way to the farm. "You knew he had a second gun on him, you had to, so why'd you let him keep it?"

I merely smirked saying. "I wanted to see if he had the balls to pull it on me. You heard him screaming after I shot him. He's clearly a wimp."

She hadn't commented but slugged me in the shoulder before hopping out. Back at school again I missed Lex's split personality disorder and the prom incident with a meteor infected ghost.

I did however make it back to town for a bit when Clark lost his memory. I'd actually tried to stop the guy just to get blasted as well. I only lost a few minutes but I'd gained immunity to it and the ability to erase memories so it was rather nice to have before I went back to school as Chloe clearly had his back.

Two weeks later Clark called me back to town as he had a serious problem. A kid was aging to fast and he cared for him. I saw Clark's sadness and did my best to help, draining the kid and making a bracelet that would automatically drain his excessive energy build up into a stone on the ring and once it shined they'd have to change the gem out.

Lana had questioned it until I told her. "I studied the book Isobel had. The bracelet is a design to store power from others. It's a stop gap and so long as he keeps at it, it'll be a permanent solution to allow him to grow normally. The older he gets though, the more frequent the stones will need changed out. I hope you two are serious as I doubt anyone else will understand what he's going through or be able to keep it up. One mess up and he could end up exploding as he gets older, taking out half the county."

They both looked sure and agreed so I sighed. "Alright then. Diamonds are the best solution for now. One should last him ten years before it's full. As he gets older that time will shorten until one day will be the longest it'll last. After that point though he'll die either from old age or a massive explosion that could in theory equal a nuclear bomb. That's another seventy years away though so it should be fine for now at least."

They seemed relieved and I patted Clark's shoulder. "It'll be fine little brother, I'm sure I'll have a solution by then anyways or we'll already be long dead. Either way that's a worry for the future."

He nodded and last I heard Lana had made arrangements with Nell, her aunt, to adopt the kid. The next thing I knew, a month had passed and a loud screeching was bleeding my ears dry. I left my final class for the semester and blurred to where I heard it at the Luthor mansion. Clark was already there in front of the vault he'd busted open and was laying on the floor because of the Kryptonite in the vault.

I dragged him away and grabbed the stone off the shelf before handing it to him. "Take it and go!"

He blurred and I flame traveled to the farm where I grabbed the shotgun and heard Jason Teague Fire of a round while scaring my parents. I hadn't hesitated as I shot him in the head, killing him instantly. My mom screamed until she saw it was me and Jason was dead.

I untied them saying. "Get to the storm cellar, it's too late to get farther than that. I'll make sure it's not hit."

The room the dog they adopted and ran while I called General Lane with a request. A squad came to the house and took the body after that and stayed in the storm cellar with my parents and I. The shockwaves and constant tremors of meteors hitting the ground stopped twenty minutes in and we left the storm cellar together. The house had been hit and most of it had collapsed but the vehicles were basically untouched.

The soldier saluted me and took my statement before assuring me it would get to the police and be fully investigated. I had to wait to fix the house as the cops would want to check to crime scene first. Luckily with my connections they didn't take long to get the full statement and look it over.

They had the body and proof that Teague was here and fired a gun so it was considered an open and shut case. When the cops left, I told mom and dad. "I'm gonna take it all down and rebuild. Head to Metropolis for a few days and I should have the whole house rebuilt by the time you get back."

I handed dad my credit card and told him the hotel was on me and to have fun and forget all this for a few days. Lois showed up just as they were leaving and I sent her away with them as well.

In the meantime I shifted my appearance to look like Spike or more accurately Brainiac and flame traveled to where the Kryptonian's were killing cops. I told them coldly. "It appears you've come to this planet assuming you're at the top of the food chain."

I moved faster then either could react and snapped the females neck clear around to look behind herself. The male reacted by firing his heat vision at me. I stumbled for a second before blurring and phasing my fist into his heart, killing him instantly.

I stored their bodies in my inner galaxy as my Klyntar half ate one, adding it's bloodline to it's own natural strength. I kept the female's bracelet and turned to the fires and screaming police. I held up my hand and absorbed the heat from the flames, putting them out before healing the alive ones with spells.

When I finished, I turned to the spacecraft and shook my head. "Such a dangerous thing."

I turned and blurred before appearing in front of Lana before healing her. I told her plainly. "This face, remember it. The next time you see it, it'll be on an enemy. I'm only borrowing the looks for this mission. Be careful and trust your instincts. None of the Luthor's are good, at their core their modern day pirates and brigadiers. They'd kill for profit and not all profit is currency."

I flames away back to the house where I shifted back and began repairs. I added two extra bedrooms and replaced practically all the furniture and piping, starting from scratch.

I collected all the meteor rocks on the farm into a pile and filled in all the holes in the yard before having the elves come out and help with the house while I made plans and repaired the fences. By the time Clark returned the house was under way with the repairs.

The elves were all wearing illusions as a building company and I was working in human speeds as the media was doing aerial views for the news.