2 Weeks Later
Naruto was placing Martha's bags into the back of a truck for her trip to Metropolis to pick up the winnings from the scratcher and visit her family at Naruto's insistence, with it being the anniversary of her marriage to Johnathan, Naruto wanted her far away from the farm, things were back to normal, well without the obvious addition of Johnathanwho was still missed but Naruto and Martha were at a great place
"What else? Oh, don't use the upstairs bathroom. It's backed up. I have to snake the pipes." Martha said walking up to the ttuck
"I'll do it as soon as you get in the truck and leave." Naruto said
"Okay, I left the number of the hotel on the nightstand. I think that's everything. If you need anything-"
"Call. Relax, it's a night in Metropolis. I'll be fine." Naruto smiled causing her to take a deep breath "Just have fun."
Martha smiled and hugged Naruto after kissing his cheek before she got into the truck and drove away as Naruto smiled watching her leave before he walked back into the house and quickly fixed the pipes, and anything else he needed to before Chloe and Pete arrived and the three were walking to the bus
"What are you gonna do now that you're officially home alone?" Pete asked
"I was thinking of having a few people over." Naruto shrugged
"Do my ears deceive me or are you actually suggesting a party?" Chloe asked
"A small gathering. You guys, a few other people." Naruto shrugged
"You mean Lana, with or without her possible action-figure boyfriend." Chloe smiled
"8 o'clock. And remember, the key word is small." Naruto said getting onto the bus
"Small" Chloe said looking at Pete
Later
About a 100 teenagers were partying at Naruto's house, he had charged the girls $10 and the boys $20 when they tried to complain he happily told them that no one was forcing them to be there, and if they didn't like it they could turn around which caused them to cough up the money
"So, this is what you call a small gathering, right?' Chloe asked behind Naruto
"Do you even recognize half these people?" Naruto asked causing her to laugh "I'm going to kill Pete."
Standing up Naruto began to walk into the party and caught a vase that was about to fall and put it onto a table, as he sat on the couch before a sweating partier sat next to him
"Dude, I think I'm gonna hurl."
The world slowed to a crawl as Naruto grabbed the kid and sped him outside off of the property and left him there
With a groan, he reclined backwards looking up at the ceiling "Pretty cool party."
Looking down Naruto saw Lana smiling at him
"It was meant to be a small gathering but Pete being Pete invited almost every teenager in town." Naruto said as Lana sat beside him
"You alright?" Lana asked causing him to raise an eyebrow "If I had a hundred people trashing my house, I'd be a little freaked out."
"Could be worst." Naruto shrugged
"I don't think I'd be brave enough to risk something like this."
"Don't sell yourself short, Lana. I bet you're braver than you think. So you're flying solo tonight?" Naruto asked
"You mean what am I doing here without Whitney? I am capable of enjoying myself without him."
"Never said you weren't, it's just you came to a party so I assumed that Whitney was with you is all." Naruto said getting a nod before they heard fireworks and got up before looking out the window
"Fireworks? You're full of surprises tonight." Lana smiled
"Tell me about it." Naruto grunted before he walked outside with Pete and Chloe following
"Nate, man, how cool is this?"
"Pete, why didn't you just call the cops? It would have been a lot easier." Naruto said
"Hey, I can't claim credit. It wasn't my idea." Pete said
"Well whoever idea it was I'm going to choke the life out of them."
"It was mine." Lex said behind them causing everyone to look at him while Naruto raised an eyebrow "Call it a party gift. I hope you like it."
"Thanks for the thought but it was unecessary." Naruto said
"Don't worry about the police, it's covered. I know this kind of party can make or break a reputation and I wanted to make sure yours was a hit. I hear you're taking a tour of my plant tomorrow." Lex said changing the subject
"It's a class field trip." Chloe nodded
"What'd you do wrong?" Lex asked
"It's that bad, huh?" Naruto asked getting a shrug from Lex who's date came from using the restroom before they left
Later
The party seemed to have calmed down as Naruto as talking with Chloe and Whitney arrived before he took Lana outside to talk "That doesn't look good."
"None of my business." Naruto shrugged "Hey there's something I want to show you, it was why I wanted you here, but I'll show you after everyone has left."
Chloe rose an eyebrow "Wow talk about secretive."
Naruto scoffed "Nate! You better get out here." Lana said running inside, before she lead Naruto and Chloe to the loft
Whitney was in the loft holding a pitchfork as the trio entered, "Kent, get up here." he said before Naruto with a flashlight walked up and turned it on, the two walked over to a moving heap of cloth before Whitney lifted the cloth and a man was underneath "Got him!"
Naruto saw who it was and his eyes widened "Earl!" he said before he pushed the pitchfork away "Back off I know him. Earl, what are you- what are you doing here?"
"I came to see your dad. He's the only one I can trust."
Naruto frowned "My dad died in a car accident a few months now." Naruto said causing Earl to frown
"I didn't know."
'It's alright, what do you need help with?" Naruto asked causing Earl to look at Whitney before he faced Naruto
"Find out what they were using on Level 3." Earl said
"Earl, you're not making any sense." Naruto said as Chloe and Lana came up
"When I got that job at the Smallville plant, I was assigned to clean Level 3. They were doing these hush-hush crop experiments, a new kind of fertilizer supposed to make corn grow twice as fast. There was something in the fertilizer that was unstable. There was a huge explosion. I was cleaning at the time, and this stuff... it got under my skin. And the next thing I know, they shut it all down and I was transferred to Metropolis. Then, two months ago, the jitters started."
"Did you see a doctor?" Naruto asked
"I must have seen 50. But nobody could tell me what was wrong. They needed to know what I was exposed to. But when I went back to the plant, they told me that Level 3 didn't exist. That it never had. I got to find out what they were using. That's why I need your help. I can't control it. I'm running out of time. The jitters are getting worse. It's already cost me my job, my marriage, my baby. I gotta get back into that plant or I'm gonna die. Help m-"
Naruto and the others backed away as Earl began to seize but not in a normal way, as the loft began to shake, and his body was seizing so fast that it was all a blur
"Call an ambulance."
Later
After the ambulance left Naruto ended the party and sent everyone home before Whitney forced Lana to walk him to his car which was across the street at her house,
Naruto and Chloe stood beside each other as they looked at the mess that was his house
"Wow." Lana said walking back into the house
"Yeah." Naruto frowned
"Where is Pete?" Chloe asked
"Took Jody home." Naruto frowned before he took a step forward and turned to the girls "I'm glad you stayed, what I'm about to show and tell you, you have to keep to yourselves alright?"
Lana, and Chloe shared a look and nodded slowly before they gasped when there was a explosion of wind and they watched as Naruto turned into a blur of lightning as he sped around the house and in a minute he was in front of them with the house spotless
"Y-you were affected by the meteors too?" Chloe asked
"Not exactly." Naruto said causing them to blink, before he motioned them to follow him back into the loft, and he picked up the miniaturized ship and walked down where there was enough space "This brought me here."
"Really?" Chloe asked before Naruto's necklace glowed and the ship glowed briefly before it enlarged between Naruto and the two girls
"I come from another universe, from a planet named Krypton."
"The day of the meteor shower?" Lana asked getting a nod
"When my planet exploded and sent me into a black hole where I was de-aged and the counterpart to my planet here was already destroyed as well." Naruto said
"That picture of your parents?"
"Is real, the only thing besides this necklace, and Gideon that I have to remember them."
"Gideon?" Chloe asked before Gideon's head shined above the ship causing them to scream and back up
"Hello Lana Lang, Chloe Sullivan."
"Gideon is an Artifical Intelligence I made with my father." Naruto smiled as he observed Gideon and smiled before he dragged his hands across the edge of the ship causing it to glow before moments of Naruto's life appeared as if it was a movie
Chloe, and Lana watched as Naruto received awards for his achievements in science, declined a position of leadership in the military and his many adventures in space before his planet began to explode and he be knocked out by his mom, and the last recording of Gideon being of Krypton exploding and the ship being sent into a black hole
Turning to Naruto who was sitting on the steps, and smiling at them he asked, "You don't think I'm a freak now do you?"
"No never." Lana said shaking her head, causing Naruto to smile as Chloe nodded in agreement
"Who else knows about this?"
"No one, besides Mar-my mom."
"Are there others?" Chloe asked
"No, I found scraps of another ship and put it back together but the baby inside of it didn't make the journey." Naruto said
"We will keep your secret." Lana smiled
"Yeah, we won't betray this show of trust." Chloe nodded getting a smile from Naruto
Smallville Hospital
In the elevator Earl was in a wheelchair handcuffed with a single deputy to be transferred to Metropolis for murder, when he began to shake
A little girl looked up at her mother, "Mommy, I don't want to go to the doctor's. They're gonna give me a shot." she said
"They're not going to give you a shot." the mother smiled as her daughter pouted
"That's what you said last time." the girl said before the elevator opened and her eyes widened, "Mommy!"
The mother looked up to see the deputy unconscious with the wheelchair tipped over and the handcuffs empty
LuthorCorp Plant
The students of Smallville High, stood bored in the cortex of the plant, "Hello, everybody. I'm Gabe Sullivan, plant manager and proud father. Hi, sweetheart." Gave said smiling at Chloe causing her to hide behind a chuckling Naruto
"Hi, Dad." Chloe said
"Welcome to LuthorCorp, where we give a crap." Gabe said
"Okay, somebody kill me now." Chloe groaned
"A little fertilizer humor there. All right, before we go inside, I need you to remove all your cell phones, pagers, jewelry. Anything that jangles, dangles, or rings needs to go in these plastic trays right here. All right, any other questions?" Gabe asked as Naruto placed his phone into a plastic tray
"Yes. O heard there was a third level to the plant. Is that true?" Naruto asked causing Whitney, Chloe, and Lana to glance at him
"Yeah, yeah. That's where we do the alien autopsies. I think we better get started." Gabe said causing Naruto to sigh
"Don't encourage him." Chloe said
"Trying to figure out what happened to Earl."
"This way, everybody. All right, people. let's stay together." Gabe instructed
Elsewhere
Earl was in a broom closet looking at the back wall, breathing heavily as hw began to panic, "No, no, no! This can't be. This can't be. This can't be. This can't be happening! Where is it? Where is it?! Where's the damn elevator!" Earl shouted enraged
Later
Gabe lead the class through the plant, "Watch out for these babies. 262 degrees. They get hot . This is it. The plant's mission control. 100,000 tons of animal waste is processed here every year. Trust me, the results can be pretty explosive. So if any of you had beans for lunch, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Gabe said
"Among his peers he's considered witty." Chloe said to Naruto and Pete
"You mean corny?" Naruto asked causing Chloe to scoff before the handle of the door began to rattle getting their attention
"What the heck? Excuse me." Gabe said walking up to the door just as it opened and Earl with a gun grabbed him causing everyone to back up
"Don't move! Take me to Level 3. Now!" Earl demanded
"Dad." Chloe said in shock
"Earl what the hell are you doing?" Naruto asked
"Shut up!" Earl said looking around
Later
Word got out of what was happening and a returning Martha was front and center with the other parents, when Lex arrived and parked his car before he walked over to the gate, "Let her in. Just her." Lex said allowing Martha inside while others tried to follow but were held back
"Lex, what's going on here?" Martha asked having talked to Naruto earlier about everything that's been happening
"There's a lunatic inside demanding to be taken to some place called Level 3. We've managed to evacuate the plant, but he's taken the students hostage." Lex answered as he lead the widow to the command center for the SWAT team
"Is anyone hurt?" Martha asked
"Not yet." Lex said causing Martha to sigh
"What's his name?" Martha asked
"Earl Jenkins." Lex answered causing Martha to look at him in shock
"I know Earl Jenkins. He used to work on the farm." Martha explained
"Well, what's he doing in my plant?"
"According to Nate, he claims that LuthorCorp is doing some crop experiments on some secret Level 3 and that's what made him sick. He's convinced that it's the only place he can get a cure." Martha explained
"Then we've got a serious problem, because there is no Level 3." Lex said frowning as video footage of the class being held hostage was shown
Inside
Gabe was seated at a chair, as Earl with a gun circled him "I swear, I don't know anything about Level 3." Gabe said as Naruto saw blueprints on a table and grabbed them before looking them over,
"You're lying." Earl said
"He's not lying!" Naruto said getting up and walking forward with the blueprints, "I found these blueprints. There is no Level 3."
Earl snatched the blueprints and looked them over while keeping an eye on Naruto, "Every night, I go down to Level 2, I follow the red pipes down that long hallway, I go to the door, I open it, and I take the elevator down to Level 3! You're just like everybody else. Now you get back over there and you sit down!"
Naruto sighed, "Your losing it man. How is taking anyone hostage going to help you."
Outside
A helicopter arrived getting everyones attention, "Who's that?" Martha asked
"My father." Lex sighed
"Mr. Luthor, we have a hostage situation." A SWAT agent said
"I was briefed on my way down. Lex! How did you allow this to happen?" Lionel glared at his son
"I didn't allow anything." Lex glared at his father
"Then how did this man get inside?" Lionel asked
"I think-" Lex began
"You think? Why don't you know, Lex?" Lionel asked
"Can we focus on what's important? We got innocent kids in there." Martha frowned
"This is Martha Kent."
"It's been a long time, but I never forget a face." Lionel said looking at Martha
"Her son is inside and she knows the gunman personally." Lex provided
"What's your assessment of this lunatic?" Lionel asked
"He's sick, he's desperate, and he blames your plant for his condition." Martha answered
"This Level 3 nonsense?" Lionel scoffed
"I've assured everyone there is no Level 3. That is the truth, isn't it?" Lex asked
"Of course it is." Lionel said causing everyone to glance at eachother not believing him
"People's lives are at stake, including my son's. What are you going to do about it?" Martha asked
"I'm going to let SWAT do their job. When he makes a mistake, they'll move in." Lionel answered
"What about the kids? You need to get on the phone and talk to him!" Martha said
"Mrs. Kent, I understand how you feel. I want everyone to walk out of there alive too, but I do not negotiate with terrorists." Lionel replied
"He's not a terrorist! He's sick and he needs help! If you won't talk to him, then I will!" Martha said turning to leave when Lex stopped her
"You're not the one he blames. Is she, Dad?" Lex asked causing Lionel to look at him
Inside
Naruto was still talking to Earl, "Just let us go, Earl. We don't know or give a crap about this plant alright." he said getting nods from his classmates, "Your wanted for murder and that may have been an accident but this entire situation is not helping you."
The phone rung causing everyone to look to Gave who answered it, "Lionel Luthor."
Earl pushed passed Naruto, "Speaker. Mr. Luthor, I've finally got your attention, haven't I?" he asked
"Earl, why don't you come out? We've got a lot to talk about." Lionel said
"Just tell me what you were using down on Level 3." Earl demanded
"You're sick Earl. Let everyone go. We'll get you help." Lionel said
Whitney ran forward and grabbed Earl who began to seize and Whitney was pistol whipped to the ground, and shot in the shoulder as Earl continued to seize before he grabbed the valve and broke it
"Oh no. See what you made me do? See what you made me... See what you made me do?" Earl said into the camera as he calmed himself down
Outside
"Way to go, Dad. I see you haven't lost your touch." Lex shouted at his dad,
"Your methane gas-valve just broke. The whole place is gonna go up." Earl said
Inside
"That's enough." Naruto said walking forward, "Earl! Your digging this hole deeper."
"Sit down!" Earl said
"No." Naruto said looking at Earl, "Give me the gun, and I will help you find Level 3, no one else has to get hurt."
"And why would I believe you?' Earl said
"Well because I could always do this." Naruto replied before he grabbed the barrel of the gun and with a swift twist and yank and twirl hand it aimed at Earl causing everyone to stand up, "Everyone get out of here!"
The kids and Gabe quickly got up and ran out leaving Naruto, and Earl, before Naruto twirled the gun on his finger and held it out for Earl to take, "I said I'll help you find Level 3."
"Why?'
"You were my dads friend." Naruto said causing Earl to frown before he took the gun, and the two walked out with the gun back on Naruto
Outside
S.W.A.T, The Luthors and Martha watched as Naruto freed the hostages and put himself back in a hostage situation, "What is he doing?" Lionel asked
"He saved his classmates and your employee. He's going to help Earl see that there is no level 3." Martha said
"I'm going in to help." Lex said walking away through the class that came running out
Inside
With blueprints in hand, Naruto and Earl walked down the corridor, "Nate, Earl." Lex said in the next corridor
"Lex? What're you doing here?' Naruto asked
"I'm here to help."
"I never meant to hurt anybody. I tried talking to your father, but he wouldn't listen to me."
"I know the feeling. Earl, you say that everybody's been lying to you. I'm gonna tell you the truth. My father doesn't care about you. He doesn't care about anybody in this hallway. Because if we all die, his P.R. firm will spin it, his insurance company will pay out, and you, Earl, will go down as the bad guy."
"I'm not the bad guy. I'm just trying to get better." Earl frowned
"I believe you, lets find Level 3." Lex said
Naruto looked at Earl, "Let's go Earl." Naruto said before Earl had Lex and Naruto walk in front of him before three walked to the broom closet
"Theres nothing here." Lex said as Naruto looked around
"This cement wall is newere then those.'
"How can you tell?" Lex asked
"The paint is fresher here." Naruto said before he found a sledgehammer, and with a grunt he began to wail on the wall before a large hole was in the wall with an elevator door being seen by the three
"Son of a bitch!" Earl smirked as the three walked into the elevator
"I can't believe it. Two buttons, two levels I'm sorry, Earl." Lex said as they took the elevator down and walked down to the ramp,
"I told you it was here. Huh? Where is... where is everything? There used to be- there was a field of corn with sprayers all over it. And every night they'd spray this green mist on it. What have you done with it?!" Earl yelled placing the gun on Lex
"Earl!" Naruto yelled as Lex put up his hands
"I don't know. They lied to me too, Earl. I had no idea this was here." Lex said
"Earl. Let's go back upstairs and talk about this." Naruto said
"It's all gone, Nathan. How am I gonna get better if I don't know what poisoned me?" Earl asked
"I didn't know about this place, Nate. You've got to believe me." Lex said
"I believe you, Lex." Naruto said having sensed the surprise in Lex when they found the elevator
"He's lying. He's just like his father!" Earl growled before he grabbed the railings as he began to seize shaking the bridge
"Run!" Naruto said pushing Lex before the two began to run for the elevator and while Naruto made it Lex had stumbled and the bridge went down
"Nate! Oh, God!" Lex yelled going down before Naruto made it back and caught Earl befire Lex fell and grabbed Earl's waist hanging on
"Shit!" Naruto yelled as he held Earl's arms, wishing he could take his necklace off and use his super strength, placing his feet onto the rail, Naruto began to use his legs to force his upper body back onto the stable part of the bridge allowing for him to pull the two men up as exhaustion raked his body
Climbing to his feet, Naruto panted as he looked at Lex, "You good?' he asked getting a nod before they looked to Earl who slowly began to seize, "Your shitting me.'
Earl began to violent seize and quickly, Naruti and Lex tackled him into the elevator where Earl was knocked unconscious, "Nate, how did you pull us up?" Lex asked
"Adrenaline and lifting with my legs I guess." Naruto laughed slightly causing Lex to scoff
Outside
Naruto and Martha hugged each other tightly, "I have never been so happy to see you in my life!" Martha said as Naruto smiled
"Not the best way to be welcomed home." Naruto said causing Martha to laugh as the two watched as Earl was stretchered out,
Lex was being given a fake hug from his father while watching Naruto and Martha smile as they hugged like a real family.