Chapter 27

He was quick but nowhere near quick enough to out speed Apollo. He let him come and dodged his strikes effortlessly.

Apollo let him swing wildly and burn through the energy he was using to keep himself in this empowered atomic state, he may be generating energy but he couldn't do it endlessly eventually his cells wouldn't have any atomic energy left. The man, Atomic Skull, was burning with rage and Apollo could feel the intense heat coming off his body. He was growling and shouting as he hopelessly tried to strike Apollo. Apollo kept dodging but it seemed that Skull had quickly realised he was completely outclassed speed wise and went for a different approach. Skull's body suddenly grew brighter and a powerful burst of Atomic Energy flew off of him and knocked into Apollo sending him flying backwards and into a nearby wall.

Apollo was dazed by the attack. It seemed the atomic energy that Skull gave off was able to affect him when the blast was powerful enough. He heard Skull laugh and before could regain his bearings a concentrated blast knocked into him. Apollo was blasted backwards once again, the force of the attack destroying the wall and knocking Apollo through it. Apollo clutched his chest, his shirt was singed and burned by the concentrated atomic energy and Apollo's chest felt a little sore. Apollo got up a little shocked that he even able to feel Skull's attacks. Apollo had never been hurt before, even in his training with Ikaris and Makkari he wasn't truly injured, neither of them had ever made him bleed but Skull might just be the first person to not just make Apollo bleed but experience true physical pain. Apollo couldn't let that stop him from stopping him and saving the people in this plant though. Apollo clenched his fists, ready to fight Atomic Skull just as Skull himself walked through the hole Apollo made in the wall.

"You sure are something. Those last two blasts would've completely atomised any other living creature" Atomic Skull said.

"Well I've got tougher skin than most" Apollo replied.

"No kidding, what's it made of? Steel?" Skull questioned.

Apollo chuckled at the question.

"Something like that" Apollo said jokingly.

"Well even Steel's got to melt eventually" Skull told him.

"You couldn't melt me no matter how hard you tried to" Apollo replied sounding far more confident than he actually was.

"Is that a fact?" Atomic Skulls said cockily his body glowing once more as he began powering up another blast but Apollo had enough.

Apollo exploded forward, flying towards Skull and smashing into him at incredible speeds, ramming him through several walls.

Skull crumpled and fell onto the floor after they smashed through their fourth wall. He was clearly extremely dazed by Apollo's attack.

"Yeah it is" Apollo told him as he hovered above him.

Skull growled in response quickly standing and shooting a blast at Apollo but Apollo dodged the blast. Skull began shooting his atomic blasts wildly but Apollo was expecting them now and he dodged everyone of them, maneuvering around Skull at superhuman speed. Skull began to glow once more no doubt powering up another omnidirectional burst like the first one he caught Apollo off guard with. Apollo was ready for it this time, the burst left his body very exposed for a few milliseconds as he charged it up but that was all the time Apollo needed. Apollo lasered Skull in the chest at super speed not letting him fully charge his burst attack. Skull was thrown backwards by the power of Apollo's heat vision and his glowing skin burned. Skull let out a scream of pain as he held his burnt chest.

"It's not fun when you're the one being blasted by extreme heat is it? Stop this, I don't want to hurt you more than I already have" Apollo said to Skull trying to be diplomatic, hoping that the clear difference in power between them would allow Skull to see reason.

Skull began to laugh shocking Apollo.

"You think I'll stop? Hammer deserves this, you know what he did to me? You know the only reason I am this way is because of Hammer. The night of the meteor shower I was in my own small testing facility because Hammer had ruined me, I was packing up the Radium I had with the order that I had to hand it over to Hammer and then a meteor came crashing through the building. I was bathed in the meteors extra terrestrial energy and the radiation of the Radium. Hammer never even checked on me after they found my body in the rubble the following day. I woke up months later in a fire I created while I was slowly regaining consciousness. I was broke, alone and radioactive all because of Hammer. I am what he made me, and he will get what's coming to him" Atomic Skull said.

"No matter what Justin did, he and his employees don't deserve to be murdered for it" Apollo told him sympathetic but not forgiving of murder.

Skull nodded feigning defeat only to lunge forward and grab Apollo in a bear hug. Skull's entire body glowed with energy and he exploded completely atomising the room they were standing in.

Apollo fell to one knee not expecting that attack, his clothes were now on fire. Apollo looked up at Skull whose forearms were glowing brightly as he prepared to attack Apollo once more.

"I'm going to kill you, no matter how long it takes and then I'll kill everyone else here" Skull told him his voice dark and determined.

"No! NOBODY ELSE DIES TODAY!" Apollo said angrily using his super scream in his last sentence.

The shockwaves of the sonic scream threw Atomic Skull backwards and completely disoriented him. Skull's ears were ringing and he couldn't tell which way was up. He tried to stand but couldn't and fell to the floor completely overcome by the feeling of vertigo that scream had given him. Apollo rushed forward kicking his face, the force of the kick not only sent Skull flying but shattered his metal mask. Apollo then unleashed his freeze breath on his chest, cooling him off and covering him in a thing sheet of ice causing the atomic energy he generated to be far weaker. Apollo knew this wouldn't hold Skull forever so he acted quickly Apollo grabbed Skull and flew with him up into the sky. Apollo had always been some kind of energy conduit. He could absorb electricity, why not other forms of energy as well? Whatever radioactive energy Skull gave off Apollo would take. Apollo felt his cells obey him and his body began to be filled with Skull's remaining atomic energy. His cells began to feel like they were burning, this energy was harmful to him so he couldn't let it fill his body instead he opened his eyes and released his heat vision. Apollo screamed as he looked up and fired powerful and wide blasts of his heat vision continuously into empty space above him burning off the energy he was absorbing from Skull not stopping until there was nothing left.

Several moments passed and finally Apollo burnt through all of Skull's energy but he was disoriented by doing so and soon after he finished he lost control of his flight and both he and Skull fell to the ground smashing into it creating a crater. Apollo slowly stood up, he felt his cells instantly recover and in seconds he felt like himself. His clothes were still on fire but his skin was fine, he didn't have a scratch on him. Skull couldn't say the same, his body was covered in ice and bruises and burns and his skin no longer glowed. Apollo x-rayed him to confirm if that meant he was depowered and his assumption was right; his cells were no longer generating atomic energy.

"It's over Skull" Apollo told him simply.

"You think you can stop me. I'll end you for protecting Hammer. You'll get what's coming to you just like everyone else did" Atomic Skull shouted as he clenched his fists and charged at him.

Apollo confidently laughed at him and instead of dodging his punches he planted himself in the ground and stood strong and let Atomic Skull punch him. The first blow didn't even make him budge, the second blow felt like nothing to Apollo and the third punch resulted in Atomic Skull breaking his hand. A loud and sickening crunch sound came from Skull's fist as it connected with Apollo's face, the bones in his hand shattered and Skull fell to the ground.

"Trust me big guy, I can take more than you can give" Apollo told him as Atomic Skull clutched his broken hand and screamed in pain.

Apollo then wasted no time in charging at Atomic Skull, he punched him with titanic force, the very foundations of the building trembling from the power of the blow as Atomic Skull was knocked clean out. Apollo let out a small sigh of relief knowing he had brought an end to the threat and ensured Justin and everyone else's safety.

Apollo saw that Skull's cells while not generating Atomic Energy were absorbing radiation and eventually if he absorbed enough he'd be back to his nuclear powered self. Apollo needed to block his cells from absorbing more radiation he needed a way to stop him for good.

Apollo instantly began to blur through the complex until he got to the room he needed to get into; the laboratory, or at least one of them. Apollo worked at super speed, the world frozen around him while he toiled and invented. Most power plants had systems in place to protect from a nuclear radiation leak. Apollo just needed to retrofit those systems and design them for a human body. His mind whizzed as he worked out the very specific calculations, he was working his brain quicker than ever before as he took what he knew about human physiology and mixed it with his knowledge of radiation. He needed to marry the two different fields and create a type of technology to block Skulls bodies ability to absorb radiation. Apollo raced around the plant collecting the necessary metals and equipment and used his heat vision to weld what he needed together. Within what was only a couple of seconds Apollo held a collar specifically designed to release lead into Skull's bloodstream. While it would give lead poisoning to a regular person, Skull's unique physiology wouldn't be sickened by it, the lead would simply merge with his radioactive cells and dampen them causing him to be unable to absorb more radiation. Apollo smiled to himself proudly before he raced back to Atomic Skull's unconscious body and put it on him. Apollo heard the police and paramedics finally about to arrive so he flew off leaving a note instructing them not to remove the collar and as quickly as he had arrived, Apollo vanished into the sky, leaving behind only a whisper of wind and a sense of awe in his wake as the paramedics and police who arrived looked around in bewilderment at the scene before them.

Apollo flew back to the stadium and changed back into his football gear arriving just as the second half was about to begin. Sprite sensing and seeing that Apollo had returned removed the holographic illusion she'd been projecting of him. Apollo nodded to her hoping the nod conveyed that everything was fine and that he was so grateful for her and her amazing gift. Apollo's teammates looked to him not even aware he had been gone and Apollo could tell they needed not just skill but his leadership. He wouldn't let them down, he knew how much this meant to everyone not just on the field with him but on the sidelines and in the stands.

"Alright guys" Apollo began to say to his teammates as they huddled together.

"We may not be ahead right now but I know we can win this game. Because I know everyone on this field right now, I've memorised their plays, I know every player's strengths and their weaknesses and I can say confidently that they are not better than us. We have the better players, we have the better coach and we are the better team. We just need to work for one another and sacrifice for one another. That's our greatest advantage, everybody looks down on us cause we're a small town team but the fact that we all grew up together, we all went to the same cookouts and fares, played in the same playground. It gives us a connection that no other team can replicate. And when we tap in to it we are superhuman, when we tap into it we're invincible!" Apollo shouted hyping up his teammates and bringing them all together.

"Yeah AK" Whitney shouted and Apollo smiled.

"We are going to win this game and we're going to win together. We're going to win this for one another, for our families, for our friends and for Smallville!" Apollo told them.

"You heard him, everybody bring it in" Whitney said feeding off of Apollo's energy as everyone got closer and put their hands together.

"Smallville vs Everybody on 3" Apollo shouted.

"1,2,3" Apollo chanted out and then his team shouted out their war cry.

"Smallville vs Everybody!"

The team took the field and the second half got underway and Apollo knowing there was no other danger he needed to face was able to fully focus and the team rallied under his incredible and unparalleled play. With unwavering determination and amazing skill and teamwork the Crows surged ahead to claim victory. The team was such a well oiled and unstoppable machine in the second half that Apollo broke the state record for most touchdowns in a half. The final buzzer sounded and red and gold confetti rained down onto the stadium. The crowd cheered them on as the team celebrated their win. Apollo shook Brohm's hand and congratulated him on a good game before he screamed in jubilation at their win. The team swarmed him and lifted him up as they too screamed in happiness having defeated a bitter rival. Their triumph a testament to the indomitable spirit of teamwork and perseverance they shared.

"State! State! State!" the team chanted knowing that they were headed to the State championships after having defeated the Rocks. Skye found her way through the crowd and the team and the moment he saw her he picked her up and kissed her passionately. He saw his parents and Sprite also making their way to the field telling him how proud they were and Apollo beamed with elation.

And though Apollo's heroic deeds went unnoticed by the cheering crowds and adoring fans, his impact reverberated far beyond the confines of the football field. The people he saved at the Hammer plant may not know who he was but they were alive because of him, Justin was alive because of him and to Apollo that was the biggest win he had today. For in that moment, he had proven himself not just as a star quarterback, but also acted as a hero and done something he'd never done before, stopped and defeated a superhuman threat.

A couple months passed and Hammer Industries covered up what happened at the plant and Smallville moved on. Apollo began actively looking for meteor infected people so that he could see if he could help them. So far he'd ran into a few while maintaining his secret identity but the vast majority of them seemed unstable and violent. It was rather alarming to Apollo. They appeared to be a psychological component to the meteor infection, like it warped people's minds. Apollo was a little disheartened by it but he wouldn't give up hope on finding people like him, super powered people, who were good. Apollo split his time between saving people, finding and fighting 'meteor infected' as Chloe had referred to them, hanging out with Skye and his friends, playing sports and hanging out with Justin Hammer. He was honestly amazed at how much his life had changed since the night of prom and the meteor shower. Apollo found himself sometimes wondering how his life got so crazy but then he'd always remind himself that he was an alien being raised by another immortal alien and her human husband and his aunts and uncles were the basis of many myths that he grew up reading in his books. He would then chuckle to himself about how he never had a chance of a truly regular life but he was doing his best to enjoy the regular and irregular aspects of his life.

Today Apollo was hanging out at the Torch, Chloe was looking into writing an article about the last meteor infected person Apollo had run into their fellow school mate Greg Arkin who had seemingly gotten bug related powers after being exposed to the meteors and gone after Skye. Chloe and he were trying to workout a way to write the article and still give sympathy to Greg who was a young teen and victim of the meteors. Chloe and Apollo were seemingly the only people who were writing about the meteor infected who were willing to give them any sympathy. The few others who wrote about them always dehumanised them. Pete always asked them why they put so much emphasis on humanising the 'meteor freaks' as they were now beginning to be called locally. Apollo did it because he believed humanising them would eventually lead to people accepting them and Chloe didn't like demonising people for things they couldn't control. Apollo figured that came from how people demonised her Mum who was mentally unwell. Either way Apollo was thankful that he had someone else who saw the meteor infected as people, even though Chloe kept trying to get exclusive interviews with them and could sometimes push too far and cross over into completely invading their privacy.

They finished writing their article and Apollo noticed Chloe had a small notebook different from the notepad she usually used for her stories. The notebook was open on her desk and Apollo saw some names on it like a list. A bunch of the names on the list were either rich or powerful people in Smallville.

"Hey Chloe? What's with the list?" Apollo asked and Chloe winced seemingly not realising she had left that notebook out.

"Sorry" Apollo immediately apologised not meaning to pry into his friends' personal life.

"It's fine Apollo. It's just a list of people with power in Smallville that I'm looking into because I believe they're corrupt or hurting people. Ever since what happened with the Mankins I've been on the lookout for stuff like that because the Mankins got away with too much without anybody really doing anything until we got involved" Chloe told him.

Apollo nodded and he agreed. The Mankins truly did get away with too much and even though people had moved on a part of Apollo was still disgusted at how people with power like that could use it to abuse the most oppressed sectors of society.

"Well I'm done for the day but I'll see you tomorrow. Tell me how Hammer's gala goes" Chloe said as she shut down her desktop and took her notepad.

"Okay, I'll be there with Skye" Apollo told her and she smiled at him.

"Of course you will, you're always with her" Chloe said. There was an undercurrent to her tone that Apollo couldn't place but he let it go because he knew no matter what Chloe was his friend.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Please give your review and comments.

Also read Superman(Marvel+DC) and Marvel: Hyperion.