Although Clark was thinking of quitting football when his body was inhabitated by Lionel Luthor, cooler heads prevail, and Clark is just about to carry his team to the state championship. Fancying themselves some sort high school version o fthe Jacksonville Jaguars, using the last play of the game to propel them to victory. Oddly enough, with Clark Kent playing football, the team from Smallville had been able to play their way into the state semi-finals. This game comes down to a last minute play as well, with Clark executing an option pitch to his running back(no B-side, nobody on the team is named Randle-El), who seems to have a clear path to the end zone. Inexplicably, the running back fumbles the ball, but before Smallville's dreams are completely shattered, Clark waltzes in, recovers the fumble, and takes the football the last few yards for the score. Just before reaching the end zone, something strange happens. Clark trips, loses control of himself for a minute, and slams the last remaining defender to the ground.

For those of you who don't follow Superman or Smallville, Clark Kent doesn't trip, or really have any misstep whatsoever. Every time he makes a motion, or touches another person or thing, he has to be aware of his strength and hold back. It turns out that the exchange student, Mikhail Mxyzptlk (pronounced mihks - il - PIHT -uhl - ik), is a bookie and uses his powers of persuasion to make sure that the house never loses. He caused the fumble, and then Clark's near stumble. Clark didn't completely fall, but it did break his concentration enough that when he hit the defender while going into the end zone, he broke the defender's collarbone in two places. (A broken collarbone is a *very* painful injury, and takes months to heal.) Mikhail was surprised at what he saw, but thought it was just dumb luck. It looks like he'll end up having to pay the bet of the person who bet on Smallville to win, one Chloe Sullivan.

As you might imagine, Chloe placed her bet as part of an exposé on gambling for the Torch, but she is not the only person that has taken an interest in Mikhail. Lex Luthor, while reviewing the details of his father's exchange program, noticed that Mikhail was only an average student, and wondered if his dad saw something in Mikhail that others may have missed. When Lex confronts Mikhail, who dances around the question, and only says Lionel saw potential that others haven't. For spite, he makes Lex cut his finger while Lex attempts to cut some food. He leaves the Luthor mansion to meet up with Chloe, and she confesses that she is writing an article. He asks her not to use his name, and in return will show her the seedy underbelly of Smallville. Um, yeah. Their first stop on this tour? Why a trip to Metropolis of course to watch the Sharks (who also don't have Antoine Randle-El) and bet on the game, at 8 - 1 odds of course.

Things aren't going so smoothly at the Kent farm. Clark's parents knew right away what happened when the injured player on the other team was down, and Jonathan said that Clark had to stop playing football. While at the party to celebrate their place in the championship game, Clark tells Coach Teague they need to talk. Earlier Jason had mentioned to Clark that the head coach believes that Clark may be using steroids, there is just nothing else to explain how Clark does some of the things he does, including going from a farm boy to throwing sixty yard passes. Before Clark can say anything, a bunch of cheerleaders come in, they bring a big cake, and the head coach tells them that they have a great chance to win the state championship, and a lot of the reason for that is Clark Kent. Clark sees how much his teammates want the victory, how their performance in the championship might mean scholarships for some people, and decides that he can't quit, but wonders if there is any way he could level the playing field. The next morning, he tries a little experiment, placing a small piece of Kryptonite in his hand to make his abilities more human. He can't throw for shit of course, and Martha walks in and discovers the Kryptonite. Mrs. Kent tells him that it's too dangerous to play with Kryptonite, but that he must find out what caused him to lose control in the game if he wants to play on Saturday.

Posted by J-Unit on November 4, 2004 8:53 AM