"Adrian, listen," a hurried voice said on the other end of the phone, "I don't know if you saw it, but that wasn't me just now, that was my father Lionel."
Adrian frowned, eyebrows tightening. "You are Lionel?" he asked, disbelief clear in his tone.
"No," the voice corrected with urgency, "I am Lex. But right now my body is Lionel's. You have to believe me!"
Lionel coughed harshly into the receiver, ragged and strained.
"I don't have much time, Adrian. Be careful when you approach your Lionel using my body. He, he has ill intentions toward you and Clark. No matter what he says, don't trust him. He's a man obsessed with his goals and will stop at nothing."
Lex's voice lowered, weary but insistent.
"Also, meteorites will strike Smallville tonight. You and Clark must leave immediately!"
After speaking that final warning, the call ended abruptly.
Adrian slipped his phone into his pocket and, after a moment's pause, lifted his gaze toward the sky.
Meteorites striking Smallville?
Before the principal could call out the next student to receive a diploma, the roar of engines outside the school grew deafening.
A convoy of military vehicles pulled up outside the campus. Armed soldiers poured out and quickly moved into the schoolyard.
Jonathan and Martha Kent, sitting in the audience below the stage, stood up, startled by the sudden intrusion. The display of fully armed American troops outside a small high‑school commencement ceremony was shocking.
Pat and his daughter Courtney also rose, brows furrowed in confusion.
"Attention!" a sergeant shouted, his voice amplified across the campus.
"Stay calm!" another soldier called.
An emergency announcement crackled through a megaphone.
"An emergency order has been issued by the United States Federal Government: all personnel within a fifty‑mile radius must evacuate immediately. Smallville is expected to be impacted by meteorites within six hours!"
The crowd's reaction was instantaneous — panic.
Smallville had suffered a devastating meteor shower years ago in 1989. Knowing the terror survivors still felt from that event, parents and students began scrambling in fear.
"Oh my god!" Martha whispered, covering her mouth as she stared at the chaotic crowd. "It can't happen again…"
From atop the stage, soldiers broadcast instructions to evacuate, urging families to lock their homes and grab essentials before fleeing.
Adrian and Clark moved swiftly toward Martha, shielding her with their presence as the crowd surged around them.
Chloe and Lana joined them moments later, Chloe already holding her academic gown, hair slightly disheveled with worry.
"Twice in eighteen years," Chloe said quickly, her breath uneven, "twice Smallville faces this? It's too strange. Are we some alien target or something? It's like... like lightning never strikes twice in the same place. But here we are."
She rattled off her thoughts in a rapid string of imperfect sentences, full of fear and speculation, but her meaning was clear.
Courtney, standing near Pat, forced a smile and tried to be encouraging.
"Hey, Adrian," she said with as much confidence as she could muster, "if you're going to evacuate, maybe my place in Blue Valley could work. It's not far."
She looked to Pat for confirmation.
Pat shrugged with a warm grin.
"Of course, if Mr. and Mrs. Kent don't mind," he said.
Martha and Jonathan exchanged helpless looks before giving a polite nod and a thin smile.
Adrian was about to step away when he noticed something familiar: Lex, sitting in the back row, rising from his seat.
"Lex, you were hurt in the last meteor shower," Adrian said, referencing Lex's visible injuries, "You should leave with everyone else."
Clark, standing beside Adrian, didn't know that the Lex in front of him was not truly Lex — the soul inside was Lionel. Clark expected Lex to bristle at Adrian's comment, but the man simply smiled with relaxed ease.
"I do have my reservations about meteor showers," the bald man said, "but I won't be cowardly because of fear."
He spoke with an unexpected calm.
"There are things in this town that are irreplaceable," he continued. "The Kawatche Caves, the strange writings — they are unique to this place. I know, Clark, you have seen these caves before."
Clark's eyes widened — the caves had come up before in his own strange dreams and experiences.
"That's not the point," Clark blurted with rising anxiety, "The meteorites are coming. We should be focused on evacuating!"
"Clark," the man said, his voice earnest, "if anything is truly irreplaceable here, it's those caves. They've been around for thousands of years, and they're important."
Adrian watched the exchange, his jaw tightening slightly.
"It won't be destroyed, Lex," he said with a firm tone, "You need to leave."
Faced with Adrian's burning stare, the man finally nodded.
"Good luck, Clark, Adrian," he said, then turned and walked away.
Adrian watched his retreating figure, his eyes narrowing as they lingered on the crystal glinting at his side — the second of the three mysterious stones.
Back at Kent Farm
The Kent household buzzed with frantic activity.
Martha and Jonathan were packing, while Bart and Jenna worked alongside them with surprising enthusiasm. Suitcases were pulled open and clothes thrown in at random, parents and teens scrambling to prepare for an abrupt evacuation.
"Clark, go to your room and pack everything," Jonathan instructed, holding a suitcase with a firm grip. But Clark seemed distant, unfocused.
"I…" Clark said, voice heavy with something deeper than fear, "I feel like I need to do something first."
Both Martha and Jonathan stopped mid‑motion.
Courtney, carrying a stack of folded clothes, straightened and looked at Clark with concern.
"Clark," Martha said gently, "don't blame yourself. None of this is your fault."
He pushed his hand against the tabletop, pain and responsibility writ thick in his posture.
"No," Clark said, meeting their eyes, "Adrian and I came here during the last meteor shower. This is happening because of me."
Jonathan moved closer.
"There's no time, Clark," he said, firm but tender, "you have to leave with us."
Clark shook his head.
"Sorry, Dad, Mom, I have no choice," he said with solemn resolve. "I can feel it — this is something I must see through."
Jonathan stared at him helplessly, then looked over to Adrian.
"I'm staying," Adrian said, eyes steady.
"Even if you and Clark are Men of Steel, you can still be hurt," Jonathan said, resting his hand on Adrian's shoulder. "Are you sure about this?"
Adrian smirked — it was that I‑don't‑give‑a‑fuck expression that unsettled and impressed people in equal measure.
"Of course, Dad," he said with casual confidence, "I know exactly what I'm doing."
After Martha and Jonathan left by car, Adrian turned to Clark, eyes keen.
"You're hiding something," he stated plainly, "aren't you, Clark?"
Clark looked at him, touched by Adrian's choice to stay.
"Thank you, Adrian," Clark said softly, "for staying with me. Last night I went back to that cave I destroyed. There are other connected caverns nearby. Some people think they were carved by Native Americans, but they're ancient — older than even the town itself."
In one of those caves, Clark had heard something — Jor‑El calling him.
"He told me I must combine three ancient stones," Clark continued, eyes earnest, "said that the combined power contains knowledge of everything in the universe and that it's part of my mission."
"It sounds like you refused," Adrian said with a quiet tone, "and then Jor‑El got angry, summoning these meteors?"
Clark shook his head, his expression bitter with frustration.
"No," he said, "he told me he didn't cause the meteors directly. Rather, one of the elements was tainted by human blood, awakening something dark and huge."
Clark's hands trembled slightly.
"I can't stop what's already in motion," he admitted, "but if I can piece together the three stones, maybe Earth can be saved from fire and devastation. The problem is, I have no idea where they are. I've never even seen those kinds of crystals."
Adrian watched him carefully.
"Is that so?" he murmured, then held up the crystal he'd carried all along.
Clark's eyes widened as he recognized the object — the same kind he'd heard about in his dream.
"How… how do you have that?" Clark asked, stunned.
Adrian tossed the crystal to him casually.
"Bart, being the thief he is, once paid a grand visit to Luthor Manor," Adrian said, a hint of amusement in his voice. "Among the things he 'acquired' was this crystal."
Clark stared at the silver‑white stone in his hand, disbelief giving way to shock.
Adrian continued as he strode toward the door.
"I'm not interested in saving the whole world," he said, "but Earth getting burned by falling fireballs is something I do care about."
Clark looked after him, dazed by the implications.
Adrian's voice came back to him from the doorway.
"By the way, these stones have been sought after for ages. Lana's ancestor, that witch who possessed her, was burned by the church because of them. In human terms, they're omens of disaster — but for Kryptonians, they're significant, especially for you."
Adrian left, his stride confident.
"I will find the three crystals as quickly as possible!"
Clark stood there, staring at the crystal in his palm, utterly speechless.
Then —
Boom.
Arrival at Luthor Manor
Without hesitation, Adrian surged skyward.
In seconds, he was airborne, supersonic bursts tearing through the sound barrier as he rocketed toward Luthor Manor.
With a supersonic thump, he landed on the manor grounds then walked straight inside with purposeful strides.
"Adrian!" an astonished voice came from within.
Lex, the man who bore the familiar face but not the familiar soul, stood up in surprise.
"I thought you and Clark had left Smallville," this impostor said.
"There are still things to deal with," Adrian replied coldly.
Without hesitation, he reached out, and in an instant the crystal he carried was in his hand.
Lex's eyes widened in shock.
"You… how did you do that?" he asked.
Adrian's gaze never wavered.
"You are not Lex," Adrian said plainly, "You are someone else, someone extraordinary. From the moment you struck me blind and regained your sight, I knew you were more than you appear."
He didn't waste time.
"Where is the remaining crystal?"
Lex's eyes flickered with something like desperation and obsession.
"You are the Child of Destiny," he began, his voice laced with wild intensity, "I know the origin of the crystals must be tied to you — but—"
Before he could finish, Adrian shifted with blinding speed and shoved him aside.
With a hard thud, Lex fell to the ground.
"I won't ask a third time. Where is the other crystal?"
Lex, lying there, stopped struggling and led Adrian to a hidden bookshelf.
With a press of a secret lever, an opening appeared.
The space inside was filled with green kryptonite — its eerie glow shining with toxic brilliance. As the radiance hit Adrian's eyes, his body instinctively recoiled.
His subconscious had been conditioned to resist green kryptonite, making his muscles tense and his senses spike with discomfort, enough to make his eyes close.
Before he could react fully, the impostor Lex pushed him forward into the glowing chamber, then sealed the door with a metallic clang.
Lex thought he had succeeded and sneered triumphantly.
But that moment of smugness shattered instantly.
A powerful gust of air struck the back of his head — followed by the crack of a billiard cue.
With a stumble and a groan, Lex collapsed to the floor.
Looking up, he saw his own son — the real Lex — emerging from the shadows.
At that exact moment, Lionel's voice escaped the sealed room.
"Lex?"
Adrian, already free and out of the kryptonite trap, stepped forward.
He knew who stood before him.
"Yes, I am Lex," the real one said with urgency, voice breathless. "Adrian, you have to leave, now! The meteor shower is coming!"
Adrian didn't flinch.
"It's too late," he said, eyes lifting toward the sky as enormous fireballs began piercing the atmosphere above them.
"They've arrived three hours early."
===
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