[color=gray][center][sup][i][b]Author’s Note:[/b] If you are an existing player, I have retconned my previous posts to have specific scenes set in the past while having changed some of Clark’s details in his Character Sheet. 
Moving forward, Clark went into space two years before the present. If you’re a new player, carry on, all previous posts are in line with this one.[/i][/sup]
[img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/019a2712-4c90-7008-93dc-efe48ef687f0.webp[/img][/center][INDENT][COLOR=SILVER][SUB][SUP][H3][b]EARTH[/b][/H3][/SUP][/SUB][SUB]Sol System - Milky Way Galaxy[/SUB]
[SUP][i]Now[/i][/SUP][/color][INDENT][color=#e35338]“It has been two years, Ryan,”[/color]

The male in question let out a heavy sigh as he continued to fold laundry before looking up at his fiancé. Lane’s disarming green eyes were full of nothing but genuine sympathy as she reached across and put her hand on top of his.

[color=#ff9900]“Clark was only supposed to be gone for a year and-”[/color]

[color=#e35338]“There’s been no word, I know, he didn’t reach out at all?”[/color] She asked, [color=#e35338]“That’s not like him is it, I always thought Clark was something of a homebody, the fact he took the trip at all was unusual. And especially to see the Pogues?”[/color] A sad chuckle came from the pair at the remark. 

[color=#ff9900]“Trust me, Lana, I did everything I could to get ahold of him. Especially after everything with Dad, I still can’t believe he wasn’t there-”[/color]

[color=#e35338]“It nearly broke your Mom’s heart, I could see it in her eyes, but your mom isn’t just anyone. Martha Kent is a fortress.” [/color]

[color=#ff9900]“This is all Lori’s fault,”[/color] Ryan exclaimed, suddenly standing.  [color=#ff9900]“If she hadn’t connected with her heritage in Trit-”[/color] Ryan froze as Lana paused to look at him. [color=#ff9900]“Tri-, Tr-, uh Trinidad.”[/color]

[color=#e35338]“Trinidad?”[/color] Lana laughed, caught off guard by the absurd notion that Clark’s former university girlfriend; a pale skinned redhead, had any relation to Trinidad.[color=#e35338] “Must have been a pretty distant relative.”[/color]

[color=#ff9900]“You could say that,”[/color] Ryan replied, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. After everything that had happened and with Clark having now essentially abandoned them, he couldn’t help but wonder why he was still protecting his secret. Clark was likely out there on some planet, reunited with his ‘real’ family, living the life of a king with others like him.

There was no way he knew how much pain and suffering he had left in his wake when he left. 

[color=#ff9900]“Sorry, Lana, I need some-”[/color]

[color=#e35338]“Actually,”[/color] Lana cut her fiancé off,[color=#e35338] “I was actually hoping we could talk about something else. Like maybe finally setting a wedding date?”[/color] She asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. [color=#e35338]“I know, it’s callous, but other than filing the paperwork, Clark has essentially been declared dead at this point and I really don’t want to keep putting our lives on hold if he’s not coming back.”[/color]

Ryan couldn’t really find a counter-argument inside himself. It wasn’t like they couldn’t afford a wedding, Mr. Irons and AmerTek had been extraordinarily good to him, and especially through all his time off with his Dad. It really didn’t look like Clark was going to return and Ryan knew it would mean a lot to his mother if he and Lana officially tied the knot.

[color=#ff9900]“How soon were you thinking?”[/color] He asked, forcing himself to smile in spite of the conversation that had led here.

[color=#e35338]“Well, as much as I’d like tomorrow, I’d also want to do this right and getting vendors together takes some time. Smallville was always lovely in the late spring, right as everything starts to blossom, how do you feel about May?”[/color]

[color=#ff9900]“It’s a date,”[/color] Ryan replied, leaning in and kissing Lana, his thumb tracing the ring, suddenly reminded of exactly how he’d been able to afford such rock barely out of school. Clark had forged the ring for him, a show that he had truly buried the hatchet between the days when he and Ryan had competed for Lana’s attention.

He pulled away from Lana, bringing a hand to his side of his eye as he subtly wiped it.

[color=#ff9900]“Sorry, I’m just going to step out for a moment, I have an errand to run.”[/color][/indent]
[img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/01999ab1-cb01-748d-bd12-afb19d17251c.webp[/img]

[indent][color=#c27ba0]“There’s a story here, Mr. White.” [/color]

Lois pleaded with the older man who seemed to only be half listening, too busy being distracted by the alluring smell of street meat while he dressed his hot dog with a single strand of mustard., finishing it with a healthy topping of chopped onions and pickles. Tipping the vendor, Perry White turned back to Lois, taking a bite of his food with one hand before perusing the photos she had provided with the other.

[color=#cfe2f3]“Look, Miss Lane, let's say I believe you, you didn’t exactly bring me Pulitzer level material here. Couple of pictures that are mostly black inky and blotchy images and, the kicker here being the story you want to run is that Lionel Luthor, the man about to become my boss, orchestrated the raid on his own company and had his own people killed.”[/color]

[color=#c27ba0]“I mean, I think he’s working with someone, they say it’s Morgan Edge-”[/color]

[color=#cfe2f3]“Who are they?”[/color] Perry challenged, 

[color=#c27ba0]“Y’know, other reporters, the news.”[/color] Lois gestured broadly around herself, [color=#c27ba0]“It’s basically common knowledge.”[/color]

[color=#cfe2f3]“And if I put it in print without a source, it’s libel.”[/color]

[color=#c27ba0]“Yeah, but you’re Perry White,”[/color] Lois argued, [color=#c27ba0]“You’re like a dog with a bone once you get a story, there’s not one you can’t break wide open.”[/color]

[color=#cfe2f3]“Those days are behind me, Miss Lane.”[/color] Perry snapped back, [color=#cfe2f3]“Great Caesar’s Ghost, Lane, the integrity of the paper is gone, print media is almost dead. You want front page material, go bat your eyelashes at the next superhero to plant himself in Metropolis or otherwise get a shot of Lex Luthor with his pants down. No one cares about Lionel Luthor’s power plays, people are complacent sheep who hide behind a keyboard but wouldn’t lift a sign at a picket line. And why should they when someone in a mask will show up and save them?”[/color]

He took a bite of the hot dog, angrily mashing the tube steak while onion and pickle spilled onto the sidewalk.

[color=#cfe2f3]“We used to expose the good and the bad in the world, we used to be relevant. But now, unless you’re in a fancy costume, they don’t care. Villains like Lionel Luthor are remarkably unremarkable compared to some kook in a whacky costume spraying ketchup and mayonnaise at people.”[/color]

[color=#c27ba0]“That can’t be real-”[/color]

[color=#cfe2f3]“Would it matter if it wasn’t? You have to pause to consider it. Look, even ‘Thor’ eventually got greedy, he used to do his saves in the shadows and now he’s giving interviews.”[/color]

[color=#c27ba0]“I don’t actually think ‘the Blur’ and Thor are the same hero.”[/color] Lois argued, [color=#c27ba0]“But I also don’t think the Blur has been in Metropolis for nearly two years, I think he disappeared and Thor moved in soon after and just let people assume they were one in the same.”[/color]

[color=#cfe2f3]“And see,” [/color]Perry replied, [color=#cfe2f3]“That’s a story I’d love to publish for you. Forget Lionel Luthor and focus on that.”[/color]

[color=#c27ba0]“I-”[/color]

[color=#cfe2f3]“Focus on that, Lane, prove that Thor and the Blur are two different people, hell, find Thor’s real identity and you’ll never need to write another story again.”[/color] Perry yelled as he walked away. [color=#cfe2f3]“And don’t ever interrupt my lunch again!”[/color]

[color=#c27ba0]“What happened to you, Perry?”[/color] Lois muttered as she found herself alone on the busy Metropolis street. Suddenly a chorus of gasps drew Lois’ eyes skyward as something entered the atmosphere above them, streaking across the sky in bursts of reds, orange and yellow. It passed over Metropolis, continuing West before vanishing over the horizon.

Not even a minute went by before the roar of a powerful energy created a sonic boom that shook the city. A trail of billowing black smoke chased after the original object before slowing above Metropolis. Pulling her phone out, Lois opened the camera and zoomed in on the object as it began to circle the city.

Riding atop of what looked like a motorcycle was the largest man she had ever seen, pale as a ghost with wild black hair. 

And then suddenly he looked back at her.[/indent]
[img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/01999ab1-cb01-748d-bd12-afb19d17251c.webp[/img]

[indent]
A crimson crystalline pod shot through the black of the Milky Way galaxy, hurdling towards the Sol System. Fragments of the exterior chipped away by the sheer velocity as it exited the warp point and continued to accelerate through the stars. Weapons’ fire ricocheted into the unknown abyss, blasts immediately deflected by the shield surrounding the figures inside. 

Entering the Sol System, it continued on a path towards Earth, not slowed by Saturn’s rings or Jupiter’s gravitational pull. All the while its pursuer continued to close in, the Czarnian atop the space hog letting out a wild whoop like an old west cowboy in pursuit of a loose steer. 
[center][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/019a260c-47ce-71ea-937f-1cffd4cc3868.webp[/img][/center]
The pod suddenly ejected numerous glass like fragments, firing them towards the pursuer and lacerating his skin in several places. The charged sunstone fragments burned like a plasma cutter and at their current speed were packing enough force to cripple even a Ravager M-Ship.

An engine on the space hog suddenly sputtered, the sunstone fragments severing the fuel line and damaging the thermal exhaust. The crystalline pod gained the lead again as the Czarnian cursed his prey. 

The pair rounded Mars before approaching Earth’s moon as the pod slingshotted around the satellite before entering Earth’s atmosphere. The friction started to exhaust the last of its energy supplies as it burned across the sky. Dropping out of the stratosphere above the East Coast of the United States, it left a brilliant trail of red, orange and yellow across the blue sky as sunstone refracted sunlight.

Slowly the pod disintegrated, revealing a figure inside. Clad in a black suit with silver panels and a large emblem across his chest, he was tightly clutching a hold of a white canine before the pair began to lose altitude. The figure plummeted from the sky, his path almost unconsciously guided as he flew through the American Midwest. The sky above Smallville was streaked by his path, a sonic boom shaking the down below before the figure crashed to the dirt with enough force to send a tremor through the entire town.

Splinters flew in all directions as he blasted through the ‘For Sale by Bank’ sign outside of an archway from which hung an iron sign that read ‘Kent’. Finally coming to a halt in the front yard of the empty farm.

The pair lay there motionless, slowly soaking up the sunlight, before the wolf-dog suddenly moved, letting out a small whine before licking the young man’s scruffy beard as he slowly groaned awake. His eyes went wide as he looked around at unfamiliar surroundings. A small groan escaped his mouth as he pushed himself into an upright position.

[color=#6fa8dc]“[img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/019a260c-7a2a-758b-9353-2f565c67559c.webp[/img]?”[/color][/INDENT][/INDENT][/COLOR]