Chapter 2:Lightning Does Strikes Twice:Part 1

 

Clark Kent had a problem.


It was a problem that every teenage boy the world over has had since the beginning of time. That problem being just what type of corsage to get his girlfriend for the Spring Formal. In three day the Spring Formal will be taking place. Clark has gotten everything else but the corsage. It has to be perfect for Chloe. Unfortunately the only taste that Clark seemed to have was in his mouth.Clark would freely admit that he really wasn't all that good at picking out presents. For the last twenty minutes Clark had been standing in Nell's Flower Shop,looking for all the world,like a lost kitten. There were so many flower arrangements to choose from. Clark couldn't help but smile as he thought about dancing with Chloe at the dance Saturday night. He couldn't wait to hold her close as the music is playing.For three years now Clark Kent and Chloe Sullivan have been inseparable,bound together by a love that was almost too strong for them to understand.They are also bound by an amazing trust in each other. They have been bound together by the young man's amazing secret.A secret that she discovered on the very day that they met. It was on that day that she discovered that Clark wasn't human. He was in fact an alien from a far off distant star. What made Clark truly different then anyone else was the fact that he possessed powers and abilities far beyond mortal men. In fact he had used his freaky powers to save Chloe from being impaled. A dopey grin formed on Clark's face as he remembered just what happened after he saved her life. Clark had more power then anyone had the a right to. The young farm boy decided to use the powers that fate had bestowed upon him to help those around him. It had felt good to save his fellow students from Jeremy Creek. He was the first person that he had ever run into who had powers like he did. The bright smile that had been on Clark's face dimmed a bit when he thought about Chloe's state of mind lately.






For some reason she hasn't been all that happy with his need to play hero. His heroic have been throwing a monkey wench into the works over the last few weeks. Like when they had gone to the Metropolis Museum of Natural History. Clark had to duck out on her because he heard  bus losing control outside. The driver had a heart attack and would have crashed into the front of the museum if Clark hadn't stopped it.It also would have killed a man that was asleep on the bus stop.He felt terrible that he had to,basically abandon his girlfriend. Chloe had not be very happy with him that night. There was no way that he could have explained what caved in the front of that bus. Anymore then he could have explained away the damage to his father's best sports coat.He couldn't let the bus hit that transient.Chloe was even madder,if that was possible,when she found out that Clark's save had been seen by a corrupt homicide detective by the name of Sam Phalen. Phalen had been shaking down a suspect when he saw the bus run into Clark.Things went from bad to worse when the dirty cop showed up in Smallville and proceeded to blackmail Clark into doing a job for him. Phalen had gotten wind of a Internal Affairs investigation into his dirty dealings. He wanted Clark to break into the chief investigator's office and steal a evidence file from his safe and bring it to him.Clark was not happy about this turn of events. The young Kryptonian expressed his displeasure by dropping the safe that contained the evidence against Phalen on the man's car. In retaliation for what Clark did Phalen framed Jonathan Kent for murder.After his father was arrested Phalen came to the farm and threaten to get his father killed if he didn't do what he told him to do.Because of Clark's actions Phalen knew that his career as a police officer were numbered. He needed something that he could sale quickly and finance his getaway.






He threatened to have Jonathan Kent killed if he didn't steal the jewel-encrusted breastplate of Alexander the Great that was on display at the museum.Things could have ended tragically if it hadn't been for Chloe. With her help Clark was able to outsmart the corrupt cop. Phalen,who had accompanied Clark to the museum,wanted to make sure that he didn't try to pull another trick like the one that landed his father in jail. Phalen had absolutely no idea that Clark and Chloe had set him up. Clark had Chloe call in a bomb threat to the museum a few minutes after they broke in.The security guard that was on duty called the Metropolis police department after he finally noticed that the monitors to the main hall had been disabled. Clark then tricked Phalen into handling the breastplate with his bare hands. Phalen hadn't noticed that Clark had been wearing leather gloves until he took the Breastplate,that was now covered with his fingerprints,away from him. Hearing the rapidly approaching sirens of the police Clark threw the incriminating evidence out of one of the windows and into the street. Phalen,realizing exactly what Clark had done tried to shoot the super powered teen but he dodged the bullets and rushed from the scene. Phalen was killed by museum security as he tried to escape. If Chloe hadn't been there to help him there was no telling what would have happened. As he thought about Chloe his eyes fall on the prefect corsage for the beautiful fledgling reporter that he loved.Three golden tulips seemed to call out to him as he moved toward the display case.The tulips were tightly bond together and accented with baby's breath.Clark's smile could have lit up the darkest sky as he picked it up and paid for it.




As Clark left Nell's shop he never noticed the pair of angry eyes that were looking at him from a alley across the street. Lightning literally lit up Jeremy Creek's eyes as he watched the teen get into his truck and drive off. Creek's anger was bordering on the homicidal as he watched Clark Kent's truck vanish from sight. As he stood there all that he could think of was how Kent had cheated him out of his revenge. He would pay for what he had done. Jeremy Creek would see to that. As would the fools that made his life hell. The bullies who tied him to that cross were still out there and they would have to pay the ultimate price for their cruelty.Electricity sparked the length of his left arm as he looked at the poster advertising the Spring Formal.




The Spring Formal.




He never got to go to his. Not that anyone would have gone with him anyway. Creek tried to get his anger under control as he thought about where he spent his formative years. He spent twelve years languishing in a coma. He was trapped in his own mind until he was freed from his prison by that electric storm. That storm woke up both him and his powers. He got his revenge on three of the five men who destroyed his life. Because of Kent the other two had eluded him.He discovered that one had left the country a year ago. The other one was still in the states but he had vanished shortly after his first friend had been fried. Creek would find him and he would make his pay for his bullying ways. Nothing had changed since he was turned into the Scarecrow. An object lesson still needed to be made. The bullies had to be taught that their actions had consequences. In this case deadly consequences. Kent was a fool. Creek thought that Kent would understand why he had to do what he had done. He had felt the pain that came from being victimized by others.Yet,he had stopped him at the Homecoming Dance. Creek walked deeper into the alley his thoughts on what he had to do. His first encounter with Kent had proven one thing to him. It had proven just how ineffective his powers were against the other boy. Creek remembered running a few thousand volts through Kent;s body and nothing happened. Creek's powers had proven to be totally ineffectual against Kent. He knew that if he wanted to get his revenge on the bullies of the world he would have to destroy Clark Kent first. To do that he would need much more power then he currently had. Creek would have to increase his powers somehow. The only question was how was he going to do it.He had the feeling that he could drain all of the power out of the Smallville Hydroelectric Power Plant and still not have enough juice to get the job done.As Creek pondered over the problem a discarded issue of the Smallville Ledger caught his attention.Picking it up Creek began to read the front page.A slow,malicious smile crossed his face as the solution to his problem presented itself.It would seem that Smallville's wealthiest resident,Lex Luthor had chosen Reeve's Dam as the testing site for his company's newest generator. The XPJ Electron Super Collider was being installed at the end of the week.It was designed to generate over five million gigawatts of electrical energy an hour. As he jumped into his truck Jeremy Creek began to laugh. His maniacal laughter only got louder as he made his way to Reeve's Dam. The path to ultimate power and his revenge was now within his grasp.




tbc..