CoKE: Chapter 6: Banquet

Rating: K+
5700 words

After the night’s festivities, Lana sat in her room, using a brush as she spoke to Lex. The object was quite peculiar, but Lana had already fallen in love with it: a hairbrush without the pins. It worked the same as a brush: when stroked against the hair, it removed the tangles, but it didn’t yank at one’s hair.

“We did good tonight. A party was a welcome change after all that fighting yesterday.”

Lex leaned against the dresser. “I’d agree, but I kind of dig the adrenaline rush. Though, I am looking forward to facing Groo in the battling arena tomorrow. Assuming Lois will let me at him.”

Lana, recognizing Lex’s coy smirk, berated him, “You’re awful. He escorted her to one party and you think… You must not know Lois well.”

Lex’s smirk didn’t drop. “And exactly how well do you know her, Miss Lang?”

“Well enough!” she snapped, though neither could hide their mischievous grins.

“You know, Lana, you’ve really got what it takes. The way you spoke with the, uh, guests tonight… I’m telling you, you could be a senator, or a CEO…”

“All the things you want to be?”

“…a housewife who throws a lot of parties,” he added.

“I rest my case.”

Lex laughed. “I’m not kidding.”

Lana sighed. “I appreciate it, Lex, but… I just want to figure it out on my own. Plus, you were so much more charismatic than me. You’re amazing.”

Lex moved to the foot of the bed to pet the back of Lana’s hair. “Lana, you don’t have to be perfect all the time.”

She swatted his hand away and showily started to brush the back of her head again. “It’s just sometimes, I think people expect me to be. Take Clark for example.”

Lex sat beside her at the foot of the bed. “Lana, we all have flaws. It won’t make me think any less of you.”

Resting her shoulder against his, she replied, “Thanks, Lex. It’s nice to have someone to talk to. That used to be Clark, but ever since we broke up… it’s nice to have a surrogate, I guess you could say.”

Raising his shoulders and pressing out his chest, Lex replied haughtily, “Well, I’m proud to be your surrogate Clark.”

She punched his shoulder playfully. “Lex, I didn’t mean it like that. You’re my surrogate confidante. Or just confidante really.” She tilted her head to look at him.

Lex took the opportunity to place a kiss on her forehead. “I’m more than happy to do it.” They embraced in a tight hug.

Pulling away, Lana commented, “I’m gonna get ready for bed, okay?”

Lex replied with a warm “sure” and hopped up off the bed and walked to the door.

* * *

Tears streaming down her face, Chloe self-consciously held her arms in front of her chest. Clark hopped up from the bed. “Chloe? Chloe, what’s wrong?”

Chloe took a few tentative steps forward. Clark wisely opened his arms, and Chloe closed the distance between them as she laced her arms around Clark as he did the same to her. “Chloe, tell me what’s going on.”

Between breaths, Chloe answered, “Clark, what’s going on is that’s it’s summer vacation and we haven’t been home in two days and we can’t contact our parents and they’re probably worried sick about where we are and we’re having parties and getting dressed up and fighting aliens… Clark, we’ve got to get back home. Jor-El sent us on a wild goose chase. We’re not doing any good here and I miss my dad.” By now, Clark’s hand was stroking her hair.

“Chloe,” he replied, “you’re right. The Kenaki don’t need to be saved. Tomorrow morning, we’ll talk to them and ask them to send us home. Of course, we’ll have to drag Pete away from all the weapons… and Lois from Groo.”

“And Lana from the pretty dresses.”

“And Chloe from the pretty dresses.”

“And Clark from the, uh… what do you like about being here?”

Clark smiled and thought. “I like not having to hide my powers from my friends. I like having Pete back. I like hanging with you guys again. And I like that you’re happy. And that it’s not in spite of me.” They exchanged smiled, and he continued, “I like the big dinners, especially the raspberry wine. And the soft bed.”

Chloe giggled and nodded. “Bed’s nice.” Clark brushed her hair out of her face, and she hummed appreciatively, closing her eyes and opening them sleepily. “It’s about time for me to turn in.”

Chloe picked a blue nightgown from the dresser and pulled the sleeves off her shoulders. She peeked around; Clark had his back to her and was assembling the pillow wall. Assured of his integrity, she slipped on the knee-length nightgown. “You know, last night, you totally pulled a Berlin Wall on our little divider. I’d stop wasting your time. You’re not gonna pull something on me, are you?”

Clark took longer than usual to reply. “It wouldn’t be the most gentlemanly thing to do, I guess.”

“That better mean no, Kent.” Chloe leapt face first onto the bed, enjoying the rippling effect it had on the mattress. Propping herself up on her elbows, she eyed the reclining Clark. “Tonight was nice. I know I probably sound like Lana, but it’s kind of nice to be a princess.” After a pause, she continued, “You know, my dad called me ‘princess’ until I was eleven.” She added matter-of-factly, “I made him stop.”

“That doesn’t surprise me. What else did he do when you were little?” Chloe gave him an inquisitive look, and he stated, “What? Ever since you learned my secret, it’s all we talk about. We never talk about you.” Chloe continued to look at him. He defended himself, “I read it in a book somewhere. Girls like to talk about themselves. It’s a scientific fact.”

“Okay. Uh, here’s one you can appreciate. When I was six, I was terrified that there was a monster under my bed. I could even describe it in explicit detail, the reporter I was even then. So, my dad comes into my room one night with the Daily Planet and he pretends to read an article entitled, ‘Sciencists Discover New Monster Repellent.’ He then tells me that he had the exterminators come and spray it under the bed.” Clark laughed, so she continued, “It became kind of a tradition, reading the Planet before bed. Only me, I know. Anyway, once, after Dad had read me Cinderella for probably the seventh time in a row—it was my favorite; don’t ask—I defiantly tell him I don’t believe the story is true. So, out the door he goes and back in he comes with the Planet, and he reads the wedding announcements. He shows me the picture of the beautiful blond girl and the tall, handsome, dark-haired man, just like in the Disney movie.” She pauses for a long time. “You know, it’s funny. I never believed him once.” Clark was silent. “You see, I’ve always been two years ahead in reading. I could look at the articles he was pointing at and know he was lying just to make me feel better. But… I always believed that anything the Planet printed had to be true.” Clark resumed stroking her hair and she lazily leaned on his shoulder. “Stop that. You make me think we’re really together.” Clark said nothing. Chloe went on, “I’ve never told anyone that story. Tell me one. Something you’ve never told anyone else. It’s only fair.”

“Can you keep it a secret?”

“Not sure. The last secret you asked me to keep was a doozy.”

“When I was four, I liked to run around the house with my underwear on over my pants.”

Chloe was at first quiet. She then proceeded to break into a fit of giggles. Clark rolled his eyes and grabbed her around the arms. She continued to laugh uncontrollably. She tried to wiggle free of his grip, but realized how seriously impossible that was going to be. She finally calmed down and Clark let go of her, but she remained lying on his shoulder, smiling for the second night in a row, all because of Clark. That’s got to be a new record, she thought.

* * *

The belt was lying on the dresser, its two sheaves each holding the appropriate weapon. A hand reached out and removed the small dagger. The hilt was made of a smooth, dull gray stone, engraved with several symbols, Kawatche petroglyph characters or Kryptonian letters. The butt was engraved with a single character: the symbol of Sageeth. Each side was engraved with a six-letter word form. The blade was small, simple, pointed, and made from the translucent lime green crystal. Near the base of the blade, on either side was a simple indention. It was difficult to see, but appeared to be a gem-shaped pentagon.

Lex, standing only in his sleep pants, handled the blade delicately. He laid it down, examining the hilt. His hand moved over to the pile of clear, plastic pages filled with black Kryptonian symbols and English words. He searched through the entire pile but the same frustrated grimace never left his face. He turned around to peer at his bed, smiled to himself, and walked back over. He took his place on the left side of the bed, pulled the covers back over him, and disappeared in the thickness of the sheets and comforters.

* * *

“Clark, you’re not even trying!” the young blond woman cried, throwing down the metal pole in her hand.

Clark, barefoot, in white shorts and a white muscle shirt, replied, “Chloe, I don’t want to hurt you. See that nice bend in your pole? That’s my shoulder.”

Chloe, also barefoot, adjusted her white shorts and white tank top. “I’m not a porcelain doll. You’re treating me like I’m made of glass.”

“Did I ever tell you about the time when I was eight and I stepped on one of my Mom’s diamond earrings, barefoot, and shattered it? Like glass.”

Chloe relaxed her stance. “So? Did you take a lump of coal and squeeze a new one out of it?”

Clark too relaxed. “No, I wasn’t that geologically aware yet. But I did rake every lawn in a half-mile radius. Only took me two weeks since I did seven lawns at a time. Only made up about half the cost.”

“Clark, I’m sure your mom would have forgiven you regardless.”

“Yeah, she did, but these were an anniversary present from Dad. Dad eventually replaced them, but that was after my parents came to the conclusion if I can rake yards, I’m ready for farm chores. Dad never had to hire a new farmhand again.”

“You’re veering off topic. C’mon, Clark,” she taunted, shoving Clark, who moved back to prevent his iron chest from breaking Chloe’s wrists. “Throw me, Clark, I dare ya. C’mon. You call yourself a superhero? You can’t even fend off a five-four blond girl. Lana didn’t need her kryptonite necklace to bring you to her knees, did she?”

Before she realized what was happening, Clark’s hands were around her waist, then off, and she was sailing through the air. Her supernatural instincts kicking in, she spun herself in midair, caught the wall, and leapt off headfirst, and back-flipped, landing gracefully on the ground. “Ta-da!” she called, hands up.

“Did you ever take gymnastics?”

“Yes, but that’s a story for another time. Clark, look, I’m still alive. If you wanted, you could have broke me like an egg against that wall. Now, Clark, I was reading you just then. You had a lot of anger. A lot more than I expected, granted, but you were definitely fuming. Anyway, Clark, even in the heat of the moment, you were able to control yourself.”

Clark pondered her words briefly, but pushed the thoughts away after the words took another an alternate meaning, and Chloe felt him block his thoughts. “You’re right, Chloe, but you took a big risk.”

“I trust you not to hurt me.”

“I’ve done it before.”

“When?” Chloe challenged, and after a pause, read Clark and nodded. “Okay, you have, but I blame that on pure teenage boy stupidity and not alien superpowers.” With that, she picked up the metal pole. “C’mon, big guy, let’s see what you got.” Milliseconds later, Chloe found herself suspended in the air by Clark’s arm around her waist. “Oh, yeah?” She slapped the bar down on Clark’s bare foot, only to have the bar vibrate violently against her hand. Clark just chuckled. “Funny? Try this on for size.” She swung the bar in between her legs, and between Clark’s. She felt herself fall to the ground, so she somersaulted forward, and leapt up, in time to see Clark smiling superiorly at her. “You mean that didn’t hurt at all?”

“No, it did. Kind of reminds me of that time I got a mosquito bite after Jor-El took my powers away. Oh, and by the way, you’re five-two, maybe five-three.”

Chloe threw the pole, javelin-style, at Clark, who caught it easily, and tossed it back to her after bending it into the shape of a dog. Chloe scoffed at the pièce de résistance, and gave Clark the “come and get it” gesture with her hand. Closing her eyes, she kicked the iron doggie straight up into the air and jumped to the side. The superspeeding Clark, distracted by his artwork suddenly in his line of sight, lost sight of Chloe, and plowed right into the wall. Clark, unhurt, pulled himself from the large indention in the wall, peeled away and dropped the now flattened metal sculpture that had unfortunately gotten caught between him and the wall.

He bent his neck to pop his spine, and without warning or erecting his head, he disappeared. An instant later, Chloe found Clark running only double speed right in front of her. She spun away, but his long arms easily grabbed her, and pulled her along and he launched himself off the ground, onto the opposite wall, and high into the air. He threw her with just enough forced to propel her within a few feet of the thirty foot ceiling. Chloe simply held her hands and feet out, falling freely.

She landed softly in Clark’s outstretched arms. He commented, “That’s what you’d do in response to being thrown into the air?”

“Well, I admit it’s not the ideal way to deal with an antagonistic adversary. But I knew you’d catch me.” Chloe saw the look of remembrance on Clark’s face, so she attempted to read it. A bright flash of light flooded her vision, and she suddenly found herself in the Kents’ barn, though her vision was filled with oversaturated colors. Though she could no longer feel her body, she found herself standing at the top of the stairs leading to the loft, watching a petite, teenaged girl climbing onto the second story railing. The girl had short, crimped blond hair with noticeable black streaks, and she was wearing a jean jacket over a tight, black tank top and tight jeans. Chloe soon realized this girl was herself, minus a few years and her current taste in fashion. The other Chloe held her arms straight out, standing with her back to the open ledge, while speaking to the inhabitants of the barn. With a bounce of the eyebrows, she leaned back and started to fall through the air. She had fallen half the distance when she suddenly appeared to freeze in midair. Chloe’s point of view glided down the stairs and when it reached the bottom, the vision’s Chloe unfroze and landed in two strong arms, clothed in a tan jacket. She wrapped her arms around what Chloe perceived to be her own neck, and with a rather lusty grin, said something. Another flash brought the real Chloe back to the fighting arena.

She dropped from Clark’s arms. After a few perplexed moments, stated almost accusingly, “That was when I was infected with that adrenaline worm. I paid entirely too much to get those horrid streaks out.”

“Wait, you saw that? You were in my head?”

“Yeah, apparently I can get into your memories now.” She thought for a second. “Clark, be honest with me. I looked pretty flirty in that memory of yours. Lana got mad at you for making out with some chick in the Talon. My guess is that Red K was involved. I’m also guessing that that chick… had an affinity for jumping off lofts into the arms of her superpowered best friends. So, how are my deductive powers serving me?”

“Chloe…” he replied non-confirmingly.

“Okay, then. We’ll do this the hard way.” Chloe grasped his arm. Another flash flooded her vision, and she suddenly felt two soft lips upon her own. Chloe was very disconcerted to see her own face pull away. Somewhere, her past self had lost the brown jacket and was now wearing only the too-tight, lacy black tank top that was never meant to be outerwear. While the sound was still muted, Chloe could easily tell just from the expression on her own face that she was saying something both coy and playful. She pretended to reach down her top and pull out something then proceeded to mimic the motions of shuffling and dealing cards. Clark’s body, playing along, looked at his empty hands, making sure not to obscure his view of Chloe. Chloe’s past self mouthed what seemed to be “Royal Flush.” Her hands moved to Clark’s collar, and Chloe actually felt the first four buttons of a shirt she wasn’t aware she was wearing being undone and the rest of a blue flannel shirt torn open. And down came Chloe’s mouth on her own again, but before she had to again endure kissing her twin, a flash brought her back to the present. Having mutually experienced the flashback, Chloe and Clark were both feeling a bit on the warm side. And Chloe found herself, ironically, pressed against Clark after waking from the vision.

“Well, look where my journalistic curiosity has gotten me now,” she stated a little breathily.

“Yeah,” Clark responded as his head descended toward hers.

The door slammed open and Chloe leapt back. In walked Lois, saying, in a perfectly casual tone, “Oh, hey, you two. You guys using this room? Sorry ‘bout that. Groo’s all rested up from his match with Lex this morning, and we thought we’d have another go at it.” She added unnecessarily, “Sparring.”

As Chloe’s arm briefly brushed against Clark’s, a brief flash replaced the image of Lois with the image of a middle-aged blond woman dressed in black with her twin daughters, each holding a doll. The image was fleeting.

“We’re done,” Clark answered quickly. “I’m uh, I’m gonna go take a shower.” He hurried out the door.

“I don’t blame you!” Lois called behind him before turning back to her cousin. “Do you not love those showers?”

Chloe read Lois and didn’t sense any suspicion and let out a breath of relief.

Lois continued, “I mean, those things are as awesome as my bed. I never thought I would enjoy being suspended by antigravity and run through a carwash so much, but damn…”

Chloe cringed and pulled backwards. “Lois, I beg of you, watch your emotions around me.”

Lois smirked in response. “Gee, as much time as you spend with Clark, I’d think you’d be used to it.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Maybe that was a little too loud.

“Chloe, for goodness sake, you’re in love with the guy, and you’re sharing a bed with him. You can’t tell me your own hormones aren’t going crazy. I didn’t mean it like that. This is Clark we’re talking about.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” This time it was softer as Chloe reserved judgment, though still said too quickly.

“Clark would never try anything,” Lois replied.

Chloe calmed down. After a heavy breath, she replied with mild confidence, “Yeah, that’s true.”

“Sorry.”

“For what?”

“’Cause Clark would never try anything. I bet he’s the kind of guy who would like a forward girl.”

Chloe pondered that for a moment, and replied, “Then why isn’t he interested in you?”

“Ew, gross. I didn’t need that thought.” Lois sneered and turned around, “I’m gonna go track down Groo. Tell him we’ve got ourselves a private room.”

Chloe cringed again. She called behind the exiting Lois, “Can you please think about him where I’m not?!”

“See you at the farewell banquet! Wear something pretty!”

* * *

“Something comfortable,” Lana stated, as she perused through the dress racks. “Not a full skirt, just down to the calves about, and not heavy. I want to be able to move. Lex is wearing his belt, so I’d kind of like something to attach my rope to. To match. Am I being too picky?”

Inadu smiled. “No, we have quite a collection, and we’ll be able to find something for you. Any color preferences?”

“Anything but pink or black.”

“Well,” Inadu began, walking down the aisle, “if my memory serves me right, I think that we might have a nice merlot-colored ensemble. It’s for a race that’s fairly humanoid. A little bit smaller than you, but… since for them it’s a full dress…” She grabbed the dark red skirt of the rack and held it to Lana’s waist. It fell just below the knees. “Perfect. Luckily you have a small frame size, so it should work out beautifully.” The hem was trimmed with small gold beads. “And…” She reached into the top rack and pulled down a plum-colored shirt with overly long sleeves, but threw it behind her, where it floated on its hanger and inserted itself into the opposite racks. She pulled out a scarlet-colored top. She held the top up to Lana’s chest. “I think this will work. Bring in the bust a bit. And we’ll just get you a belt.”

“Thank you,” she replied sweetly. After collecting her outfit, she walked toward the exit, bumping into Chloe going entering.

“Sorry, Chloe.”

“Hey, no biggie.”

“Looking for something to wear for the banquet?”

“Yeah. You raved on this place, so I thought I’d check it out. Recommend anything?”

“Can’t go wrong.” With this, Lana quickly shuffled out.

Inadu was there to greet her. “Madame, how can I serve you?”

“I’m looking for something to wear for the banquet. I’d kind of like something more… exotic than what I wore last night. And you know how this part of my body has kinda always been exposed?” She gestured toward her collarbone while chuckling under her breath.

“You’d like something that conceals it?”

“No, I just wanted to keep up the tradition. And, uh, Clark says they’re getting him a Kawatche warrior costume. I’m looking for something kind of equivalent.”

“Well, we do have this.” Inadu walked around to the other aisle and pulled out a rust-red dress. It was made of the soft animal skin-like product that Chloe’s first dress was produced from, but this one had a full skirt and a more bodice-type top. “It will, of course, have to be let out in certain areas. This belonged to a former Loral who was a bit smaller than you.”

* * *

Chloe admired the warm reddish-orange fabric of her dress in the mirror. The skirt was long to her ankles, with the hem decorated with a series of red, orange, yellow, white, and blue-green beads. The top half, connected by the corn-yellow belt, dipped low in back to show off most of her back, but covered all of her front, up to the sweetheart neckline. The straps emerged from the far edges of the bodice and tied around her neck.

“Guess who,” came her cousin’s voice. Though, when Chloe spun around, Lois was nowhere to be found. Chloe felt a poke on her shoulder and rolled her eyes. She attempted to slap back, but caught nothing but air, hearing the soft steps of her invisible cousin.

Chloe closed her eyes and stood still. With intention, she punched forward, hitting what she was fairly sure what Lois’s shoulder and kicked a heavy pillow from the ground toward where Lois’s ankle probably were. A surprised Lois reappeared as she tumbled, not reaching the ground but rather floating just above it. A smiling Chloe commented, “Face it, Lois, with my powers, you might as well be wearing a Las Vegas billboard.”

“Speaking of billboards,” Lois replied, gracefully righting herself. Taking obvious note of the low-but-just-barely-respectable neckline, she continued, “you wouldn’t happen to be trying to attract the eye of a certain someone we know, now would you?”

“I’m just trying to dress the part. This is what Inadu came up with.”

“Well, then, I can certainly see why Naman was so hung up on this Loral chick. You think Myora ever got any action?”

“In the stories, isn’t he like an old guy?”

“He was a wise man. You don’t get to be wise without a wife.”

“You’re unbelievable,” Chloe groaned.

Lois took Chloe’s hand and twirled her to get a full view of the dress. “I’ve got a question. Why were you and Clark sparring this morning? Isn’t he kind of invincible?”

Chloe was silent for a while as she collected her thoughts. “The thing with Clark is, while he may be invulnerable, physically at least, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have weaknesses. For example, remember how hard he fought against those sand creatures? They weren’t gonna even leave a scratch on him, but the rest of us were in trouble. Clark cares about the rest of us and couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t protect us.”

“You know, cuz, I think I’m finally getting what you see in Farmboy.” With a sincere smile, she embraced her younger cousin. “Not that that means I’m warming up to the hick or anything.”

* * *

Chloe smoothed down her hair, which was now held back by a red plastic headband. Chloe had studied the item for several minutes before coming to the conclusion that it was actually just a headband without any advanced technology. Her Shaman’s Eye bracelet hung on her wrist and the red necklace from the night before hung around her neck, though Chloe had adjusted the length of the chain as the center of her neckline was notably higher than before. The slow, steady twinkling started immediately, only to switch to a more staccato beat when there was a knock on the door and Clark walked in, wearing an aquamarine-dyed, House of El-emblazoned Kawatche war shirt over tan pants. He had on his neckerchief from the night before. Soft moccasins—Chloe had a matching pair—covered his feet. He quietly gazed at Chloe.

Though she knew the answer, she still asked, with feigned nonchalance, “What is it?”

His response was delightfully reverent. “You look amazing.”

She moved aside to let Clark in. With obvious frivolity, she replied, “Oh, it’s just the latest fashion in Kawatche prom dresses. Soon, the market’ll be flooded with ‘em.” As much as she yearned for the attention, she was unused to it. “You know, there’s gonna be some kind of media circus awaiting us when we get back.”

“Why?”

“Billionaire Lex Luthor goes inexplicitly missing for two days? Lionel’ll have the biggest investigation since JFK set up. Add on top of that, State Senator Martha Kent, who by the way is a close friend of Lionel Luthor, declares that her own son and her chief of staff have similarly gone missing at the same time. Drag into two Metropolis University coeds, one of whom is Martha’s chief of staff’s cousin not to mention…” her voice became overly dramatic, “the star intern of the Daily Planet. Then there’s Pete, son of a state Supreme Court judge. That alone gets the FBI involved.” All at once, Chloe started to talk faster than before, “Hey, we might even get on Letterman. Ooh, and I’ve always wanted to meet Barbara Walters! Though, we’re gonna have to come up with a good alibi before we go back. Somehow raving about aliens isn’t exactly the best direction.”

Clark’s face showed a full grin. “The banquet’s not gonna wait for us.”

“Actually, chief, it is. How’s my hair?” She spun to look in the mirror again.

Clark stood behind her and ran his hands against her neck through her hair. “It looks great. I never said anything before, but I’ve always like your hair.”

Chloe smiled brightly, but didn’t want to turn around and let Clark know how much he affected her. She replied, “Enough flattery, Clark, we’ve got a banquet to go to.”

Chloe didn’t realize that since she was looking into the mirror, Clark could see her face very clearly.

* * *

The high ceilings of the banquet hall were alit with white ambient lighting. Holograms of brightly-colored stellar systems and comets danced above the guests while omnipresent music emerged from the very walls. Alien creatures, from cuddly mammalians to fearsome demonoids, roamed the floors and the air, prevented from interacting with the Kenaki guests by force fields surrounding the circular tables. Several creatures of the small servant race navigated around the beasts as they served the Kenaki, who wholly disregarded them. The head table, sitting near the center of the back wall, was horseshoe-shaped. Clark sat dead center, with Chloe close to him on the left. To her left were Lana and Lex, who also sat closer together than to the others. To Clark’s right was Pete, Lois, and Groo. Before them were a number of large, silver hemispherical plate covers.

“Master Peetros tell me that these are a delicacy on your planet,” Proditor stated, standing opposite of Clark. Pete smiled. Proditor lifted up the cover, revealing a plate of nachos covered in a mountain of condiments.

“My favorite,” Chloe remarked, leaning over Clark to squeeze Pete’s hand.

“Anything for my bed buds,” he replied, revealing a plate of chili dogs between him and Lois.

Lois cringed. “Someone pass me the stuffed mushrooms.” Lana traded her for Buffalo wings.

As Clark cut off a piece of his burrito for her to try, Chloe turned her head toward Lana and Lex, who were laughing at some private joke. As she silently analyzed their expressions, their emotions echoed in her ears. She turned to Clark, who noted her confusion.

“What is it?”

“Nothing,” she replied, taking a bite Clark’s entree and pasting on a smile. “It’s good.” Clark nodded and turned back to his own plate, but not before letting his fingertips lightly glide over Chloe’s arm. Chloe would have responded, but she caught a fairly strong pang of jubilation from Lois as Groo stood up, excusing himself and laying a brief kiss on her lips.

There was a pinging from Lex’s area of the table. He held the crystal glass filled with a Kenaki wine and a small spoon in the other. “Excuse my interruption, but I believe it’s time I made a speech.” He locked eyes briefly with Lana, who nodded soberly. Something in the back of Chloe’s mind nagged her, but she couldn’t bring it to the surface.

Lex jumped on top of the table with a wide grin. “If you’ll all excuse my impropriety, I’ll begin. I’d like to start off by thanking our most gracious hosts, the inhabitants of Dagula-Inagehi. You have shown us your most remarkable world, which to you, I know is rather ordinary, but to us, is quite humbling. It is a reminder of both our limitedness and our potential. I’d also like to thank Lana, who graciously chose to escort me to your marvelous functions, making a rich bald fool look good.” There was mild laughter from the crowd, which Pete giving some intentional force. “I’d also like to give my warm appreciation at my friends sitting at this table. You’re all worthy of the powers you’ve been given. Lois, who I once accused of going nowhere and getting by only on her looks, now soars with the wings of an eagle and shows her strength even when she’s unseen to the eye. Pete, who at times felt he was playing second fiddle to someone, now is a true fighter and hero. Chloe, always a fool when it came to her emotions, is now a master of them. And, Clark, Clark with his Messiah Complex, how appropriate is it that he was given great power, a god among men, powers of a man who fell from Heavens.”

Lex pulled the glowing green dagger from its sheave. Clark gasped, as if the air was sucked from his body. Poison green veins bulged in Clark’s face and hands and he fell backwards to the ground, as Chloe leapt to his side. Pete jumped up onto the table, his hands on the weapons in his belt.

Lex, unfazed, just smiled. He whispered under his breath, “Maybe that’s because you did.”

~

A/N: Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! Yep, I left it there. I did. But rest assured. I’ve already started the next chapter, so the wait will probably not be as long as it was for this one. Not that that’s a whole lot of condolence for you readers, unfortunately. Well, for your sake, I promise to work very hard to get the next chapter out as soon as I can, because it’s going to be really exciting.

By the way, twenty points to whoever figures outs who the original Naman was in my story. Hint: It’s not Clark; and it may require research.

^_^ - But… how did he… why… and what… so confused… how could you… WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?!?!

Chapter 7: Fulfill

©2006 Godeerc VanDrey Enterprises, Inc. Created Sunday, August 20, 2006. Finished Monday, September 4, 2006. Updated Friday, October 20, 2006.