Beyond Smallville: Fan Fiction

Chapter 3:

Angels in the Cornfield

The angels had been on the road for hours, choosing to drive the Guardian Angels’ SUV to Smallville and Metropolis, rather than put their identities on the grid by flying commercial into Metropolis International Airport. Carlton Townsend’s private jet would have also been too conspicuous.

Krista, Nikki, and Victoria had spent the last few hours getting to know each other. Most of the conversation was cordial and professional, but the close quarters of the SUV was starting to gnaw at their nerves. After all, the three young women hadn’t known that each other existed two weeks ago.

"Next stop, the charming agricultural town of Smallville, Kansas." Krista quipped, doing her best tour guide impersonation. "Are you sure that this Smallville even exists?" Victoria asked petulantly. "With a name like that, how could it not?" Nikki joked. "Kris, can you double check the GPS? We don’t want to miss it." Victoria added facetiously. As if on cue, Jack Bosley called their SUV phone.

"Hello Angels." Jack’s irritatingly cheerful voice crackled across the hands off speaker phone. "Hello Bosley." The girls playfully chorused. It was becoming a running joke that the girls would all reply at the same time. "How’s the trip going?" Jack continued. "Seen anything interesting?"

"Oh, just about a billion stalks of corn." Victoria answered sourly. "Yeah, put it this way..." Nikki added with a slight whine to her voice. "We’ve been on the road so long, I had to pick a few amber waves of grain out of my undies. Next time, can we use a nice luxurious RV?"

"Here! Here! Nikki!" Krista seconded the motion. "I’ll speak to Carl about it." Bosley quipped. "I told her to go before we left!" Victoria teased. "What am I, a camel?"Nikki retorted half seriously. "Are we there yet?" Krista chuckled as she drove. "Now you sound like my little sister, Noel. I swear that there was never a time that she didn’t spout that phrase on a family outing." Victoria contributed.

"You miss her, don’t you?" Krista pried. "Yeah, I guess so." Victoria admitted. "At least she’ll be out of college in two years. Maybe she can move back into our mansion." Krista and Nikki exchanged glances. "You have a mansion?" They asked simultaneously. "Yeah, but I’m rarely ever there...too many memories to walk the halls alone. Watch it!" She shrieked, startling Krista.

Out of the corner of her eye, Victoria had seen a huge pothole in the rapidly dimming sunlight. Krista’s reactions were spectacular. She swerved the SUV just in time to avoid it, and somehow managed to keep the SUV’s tires on the roadway and out of the ditch. "Nice move, Kris!" Nikki praised. "Ditto!" Victoria agreed. "Are you girls alright?" Bosley’s panicky voice blared over the speaker. "We’re fine, Bos. Thanks to Kris’s reflexes." Nikki praised.

"That pothole seems to be...glowing?" Victoria glanced in the passenger side rearview mirror. "Let’s stop and check it out." Victoria suggested. "I need to stretch my legs anyhow."Krista slowed the SUV to a stop. "According to the GPS, we’re nearing Smallville. Probably about thirty miles out." Krista informed them. "That’s good." Nikki opened the door, got out, and stretched her long, tan legs.

"I’ll look at the pothole. It was probably just a trick of the light." Victoria suggested. "We’re taking a time out, Bos. We’ll give you a call back as we enter Smallville’s city limits. Actually, city likely isn’t the best way to describe the place." Krista said sarcastically.

"Ladies, check this out!" Victoria had waved them over to her. The other two girls warily glanced around, making sure that their unlocked SUV was safe, and ventured over to the hole. "There seems to be a few glowing rocks within it." Nikki observed. "They’re probably covered with phosphorescent algae." Victoria analyzed. "I don’t know." Krista rubbed her thin chin. "They look to be pure green minerals."

"You want to take them with us?" Victoria laughed. "Sure. Why not?" Krista smirked. "Maybe we can make a necklace out of them or something." Nikki hesitated. "What if they’re radioactive?" Victoria grinned. "Then we can sell them on E Bay or something!" She remarked sarcastically.

"Either that, or make damn good watch crystals out of them." Krista joked. They decided to pick up the glowing rocks, and hope for the best. Krista tossed them in the back of the SUV alongside their luggage. The girls had opted to pack lightly, in case there were some things they needed to bring back from Metropolis. Carlton had given them each an expense account to get them started.

Moments later they were back on the road. Victoria spotted a Smallville sign along the main road. It featured a number of animated meteors showering some corn stalks. "Meteors?" Krista searched for some information in the back of her mind that Bosley had given her. "Oh yeah!" She snapped her fingers.

"Smallville was famous for being hit by meteor showers twice." Krista recalled, informing the other girls. "In 1989 and again in 2005, Smallville was hit by horrible meteor showers. They decimated much of the farmland and actually injured and killed people both times."

"Wow! Talk about bad luck!" Nikki said. "Either that, or the town is cursed." Victoria teased. "Let’s call Bos back." Krista was on the phone first. "Okay Bos, we’re here...not much to see, though." She turned down an access road. "I assume that Smallville has a motel or two."

"Actually, we came up with a different plan." Bosley’s eyes sparkled. "Really?" Victoria scowled. "Did we get to vote on this plan?" Bosley flashed them an exaggerated frown. "Angels, this is not a Democracy." He pretended to chastise them. "How are your acting skills?"

"Fair to average." Krista replied. The other girls cast a puzzled glance at her. "You three will play the damsels in distress." Bosley chuckled. "Drive the SUV down these two roads." He highlighted them on the GPS. "At the end of this road..." It flashed on and off. "Pull to the side, and disconnect the distributor cap on the engine. Then walk about a mile to the Kent Farm." Jack instructed them.

"I don’t like this." Victoria grumbled. "Kent? As in that hottie from the video screen, Clark Kent?" Nikki grinned lustily. "The very one." Bosley confirmed. "He’ll never buy it." Victoria downplayed. "Don’t be so negative." Jack argued. "Don’t underestimate the young man’s unceasing good will."

"What if he’s not home?" Krista groaned. "This is Smallville, ladies. Where else would he be?" Victoria countered. "Point taken." Nikki affirmed. "He could be out tending the fields." Krista added. "True, but if my calculations are correct, the sun will be setting in about a half an hour." Bosley checked his watch.

"Our Mr. Kent would be just coming in from a hard days work in the fields."

"Ooh! A young, cute, smelly, farm boy." Nikki joked. "My heart’s one true desire." She exaggerated her tone. "Nicely acted, Nikki, very Shakespearian." Krista playfully praised. "We have to turn here." Victoria pointed to the GPS. "Okay girls, show time!" Nikki fluffed up her matted black hair, and Krista slipped on some extra lipstick. Victoria rolled her eyes at them.　

Predictably, the sun was just setting as the girls slowed their SUV to a stop. It was exactly one mile away from the Kent Farm. Nikki disconnected the distributor cap and for good measure unhooked one wire. Krista checked the SUV, and of course it wouldn’t start. "Voila!" Victoria grinned. "Three damsels in distress." Nikki cleaned her hands to look more helpless. "Let’s go ladies." She urged.

The angels walked steadily through the gravely access roads until they spotted the bright yellow, three story, ranch house. One light was on in the kitchen. Krista quickly used her disc camera to snap several shots of the property, in case they needed to return.

Victoria winced. "I’ve never smelled an actual, working farm before." Krista giggled. "Yeah, it certainly clears up your sinuses." Nikki wasn’t too worried about the situation. "Beautiful horses, though." She commented. as the angels walked past the corral where two horses contentedly ate their hay.

"Here goes." Krista playfully waved her hands in front of her face. "In character...and go." She clambered up the front stairs of the wraparound porch. Taking a deep breath, she rapped on the front door’s window, while Nikki rang the doorbell. Another light flicked on in an interior room.

The door opened, and to their surprise, a young blonde girl answered. "Mrs. Kent?" Nikki asked, with an air of disappointment in her voice. "Uh...no...my Aunt Martha is Mrs. Kent. I’m Kara, or Miss Kent, if you prefer. Can I help you with something?" The teen alien was immediately suspicious of them.

One of Kara’s first bad encounters with humans were with three meteor freak girls involved in a beauty contest some years ago. "I’m sorry to bother you, but our truck broke down about a mile from here." Nikki played her role well. "Can we use your phone?" Krista asked as she quickly hid her cell phone in a back pocket. "You ladies don’t have cell phones?" Kara’s eyes narrowed.

"We were trying to get away from it all." Victoria tried to cover their tracks. "We left the phones in our hotel room in Metropolis." She elegantly lied. Kara wasn’t truly convinced, but gave in. "Sure, come on in." She offered pleasantly. The angels filed in, their novice detecting skills were evident, as they quickly looked over the house’s floor plan. "The phone’s on the wall in the kitchen." Kara invited.

"Maybe my cousin can take a look at it?" Kara realized that she’d heard Clark coming in the back door with her super sensitive hearing. "Clark? Are you home?" Kara shouted convincingly. He’d already checked the angels out by speeding along in back of them. "Yeah, Kara. What’s up?"

Clark entered the den wearing his common blue flannel shirt, denim jeans, and work boots. He’d washed up and changed clothes before the angels had crossed the threshold. "These damsels in distress say that their truck broke down about a mile from here. Can you look at it?" Kara’s tone belied sarcasm.

Nikki was very impressed with Clark. In her estimation, he looked much better in person. He was a good foot taller than any of the girls, and smiled warmly at the roleplaying angels. "I’d be glad to." Clark said as he approached the angels. Krista and Victoria wouldn’t take their eyes off of him.

"We’d appreciate that." Victoria gathered her thoughts as Nikki continued to gawk. "I’m Victoria, and these are Krista, and Nikki." She introduced them. "Clark Kent." He shook Victoria’s hand, quickly making Nikki jealous. "So. You’re visitors to Smallville and Metropolis?" Kara pried.

"Yes. We were actually looking for a friend of our boss’s." Krista began their cover story. "Would that be someone I know?" Clark fished. "Maybe." Victoria evaded, but offered no more information.

"Anyway. I’ll grab some common tools from the barn." Clark eyed them suspiciously. "What seems to be the problem with your truck?" He asked, holding the door open for the angels. Kara crossed her arms, and casually used her x-ray vision to check if the girls had any weapons on them. She noted that each one had a cell phone. The blonde hairs on her neck stood up. As she suspected, the girls were lying.