Lois Lane, her arm in a sling, hurried across the courtyard toward Adrian, scanning the area anxiously.
"Is Clark not here?" she asked, her voice rushed and sharp with concern.
"He's busy signing yearbooks for his classmates," Adrian answered, his tone blunt but steady.
Lois shook her head, still tense. "No, I'm not here for Clark's graduation," she said, her voice tightening. "I'm here for Chloe's. I came to Smallville High School for Chloe, not the ceremony."
Adrian raised an eyebrow, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly, but he didn't soften. He gave her a look that clearly said this situation is serious.
"But something's wrong. Chloe's been missing for a long time," Lois added, her voice quivering.
"Missing?" Adrian frowned and studied her eyes for meaning. "Then you should notify the police right away. They have their own ways to handle missing persons."
"I already did," Lois said bitterly, "but sometimes even the police don't get results as quickly as you and Clark could."
Her desperation was honest, raw and unmistakable.
Lois continued, "I don't know exactly what happened, but with Chloe's personality — she wouldn't just skip her own graduation."
Adrian mulled that over, then nodded once.
"Bart, go check the places Chloe frequents most. Lois can tell you where those are," he said without delay, then turned and walked into the building.
"Perhaps I can help too," Jenna Scott said calmly, offering Lois a small, sympathetic smile.
Inside the Abandoned School
Meanwhile, Chloe Sullivan — the girl Lois feared missing — stared at Brandon Roy in disbelief and mounting frustration.
They weren't in the Smallville High newsroom. Instead, they were trapped inside the old school building south of town, a place long abandoned and sealed off by high walls.
The interior mirrored Smallville High's layout almost identically, but the emptiness made it feel like a prison.
Chloe's eyes burned with outrage.
"Brandon," she snapped, voice echoing in the empty corridor, "you can't keep us here. Life has to move forward."
Brandon Roy, once a photographer in the school's photography club, stood before her with eyes that looked half‑lost and half‑mad.
"I thought you'd understand me, Chloe," he said sharply. "Some of us didn't get into the universities we hoped for. While you scroll through acceptance letters, the rest of us are destined for a lifetime behind a counter at the local video store."
Chloe recoiled at his twisted logic. "You can't force us to stay!"
"Oh, really?" Brandon said with a sneer before turning to a trembling boy just outside the hallway. "Wendell! Come here!"
Wendell flinched, his voice shaking violently. "I swear I didn't do anything! I was about to take an exam!"
Brandon stepped toward him with manic intensity.
"No," he said, eyes narrow, "I saw you trying to escape from the abandoned restroom. You must be punished. Chloe doesn't fully understand what happens if she doesn't cooperate, so you'll show her."
Before Wendell could protest again, Brandon reached out.
The moment his fingers touched the boy, a strange cold aura rippled outward.
Wendell's terrified cry froze mid‑sound as his body turned into a sculpture of ice, freezing solid in a dense cloud of cold mist.
His eyeballs spun helplessly, the only sign that life still flickered inside him.
Chloe's hand flew to her mouth in shock, horror taking her breath.
Brandon watched with a twisted smile, then turned toward Chloe as if this were something admirable rather than monstrous.
"Oh, by the way, Chloe," he said casually, "I'll save you a seat at lunch. Don't forget to come by."
As he strode away without concern for the frozen boy, Chloe slammed her fist down on the scattered papers covering the nearest table.
Her mind raced with panic and dread, but somewhere deeper, a flame of resistance sparked and grew.
The situation went from bad to worse moments later, when Lana Lang — Chloe's closest friend — was dragged in and turned into another ice sculpture by Brandon's power.
Chloe closed her eyes in anguish and disbelief.
Meanwhile, Back in the Secret Fortress
Clark Kent and Adrian were seated inside the barn's secret life‑sustaining command center deep beneath the Kent Farm.
Clark's eyes were distant, troubled, as he spoke.
"Adrian, I… I've been dreaming about Jor‑El again," he admitted, voice laced with uncertainty.
Adrian, leaning against a glass console, looked at Clark with a calm but perceptive gaze.
"What was it this time?" he asked, voice low and direct with that I‑don't‑give‑a‑fuck tone — sharp but steady, never devoid of weight.
Clark hesitated, then exhaled.
"It wasn't about conquering the world," Clark said. "He spoke to me differently. He said there's another like me… another son unique, full of possibility. But he seemed colder toward you, Adrian."
Adrian's expression didn't shift, but his eyes reflected thought.
"He said I am another version of you," Clark continued, confusion tinting his voice, "that I hold the fate of the world on my shoulders — that three magical stones hidden across the Earth contain Kryptonian civilization's secret encoded wisdom. If I don't unite them, humanity could fall into famine, war, and ruin."
Adrian considered the statement for a long moment, eyes fixed on the rising moon beyond the barn's window.
"Magical stones?" he murmured, remembering rumors of strange crystals with inscriptions Bart had once stolen from Luthor Manor.
Clark nodded, running a hand over the telescope he'd set up near the corner.
"These stones," Clark said quietly, "he said that greed would fuel humans to seek them, and without the strength to withstand temptation, chaos would spread… until Earth faces destruction."
Adrian observed Clark's weary expression.
"You know," he said, voice calm but firm, "you never have to make that choice because no one can force you into a destiny you don't accept."
Clark looked at him, eyes reflecting inner conflict.
"You saw what the three crystals look like, right?" Adrian asked him.
Clark nodded.
With that shared understanding, Adrian walked toward the stairs leading out of the facility.
Just as he stepped down, he paused — then spoke with sincerity he rarely allowed himself to show.
"The reason your father didn't agree to you going to Kansas Central University," Adrian said, "wasn't because he didn't love you. He hoped you wouldn't bury your potential because of family ties. He saw himself in you — stubborn, capable, and brave. When he was young, he chose the farm over university. He doesn't want you to regret your life."
With that, Adrian continued down the wooden stairs, leaving Clark staring at the telescope he had cared for since middle school.
Clark reached out and brushed the long‑unused instrument with a gentle hand, lost in thought.
The Next Morning — Smallville High
The following morning, Clark was preparing for graduation when Lois found him, breathless and worried.
"Clark," she gasped, "Lana and Chloe are missing."
After a brief investigation, Clark and Adrian focused their suspicion on Brandon Roy from the photography club.
Locked in a chilling race against time, they discovered Brandon's darkroom had a clue leading them to the abandoned high school on the southwest edge of town — the very place reporters whispered about, a forgotten shell sealed off by tall walls and a domed ceiling.
Clark and Adrian didn't wait.
They ran.
Inside the Abandoned School Again
Chloe and Lana, exhausted and barely holding on, struggled to move toward the exit.
Bang!
Using the distraction of Brandon's momentary inattentiveness, Lana swung a handful of wood against him, knocking him unconscious.
She acted fast.
Reaching into Brandon's pocket, she seized his keys and motioned to Chloe.
"Come on!"
Before they could move, a girl who had also been trapped there — a witness named Heli — rushed forward, begging to join them.
The three raced toward the entrance, but Lana twisted her ankle, slowing their escape.
Heli tore forward without hesitation, while Chloe supported Lana — slow but determined.
They were almost to the stairs when Brandon suddenly appeared at the top, alert and furious.
"Chloe," he said, voice cold, "I thought you understood my vision. But I was wrong."
Chloe braced herself, supporting Lana. "You can't do this forever," she said softly. "You have to let us leave."
Brandon's expression remained frozen, but one hand slipped behind his back.
"No," he said, "I don't want you to leave… or you might end up like your friend Heli."
With that, he threw something toward them.
Heli's decapitated head flew through the air, cold and grotesque, landing on the stairs with a shattering crack like ice splitting apart.
Lana screamed in terror, while Chloe froze in horror — her heart pounding, nausea rising in her throat.
Brandon stepped down toward them, his right hand glowing with freezing energy.
Then, out of nowhere, a voice cut through the tension.
"Hey!"
Brandon turned to see an unfamiliar figure standing behind him.
"Are you… the one who's going to save us?" Chloe asked, her voice wavering with hope and fear.
Brandon took a cautious step back.
"No," Adrian said in that raw, unfiltered tone that had become unmistakable. "I'm not here to save them. I'm here to fulfill your wish."
"What?" Brandon blinked, confused.
Before he could react, Adrian was already in front of him.
He grabbed Brandon by the neck, his movement quick, precise, and unstoppable.
Brandon, caught off guard, immediately reached toward Adrian, preparing to unleash his freezing power — but Adrian didn't flinch.
His stare was cool and unrelenting, his presence bold and brazen in the face of danger.
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Just finished a Presentation, and I low-keyinely think I flopped it 😭