Yo.

I honestly can't believe I took so long to get this chapter out, but it's here now.

Hope you all enjoy the chapter.

"You look like someone with a strong sense of justice. Tell me, have you ever considered a career in law enforcement?" A gruff-looking man asked, standing next to a booth, which had 'Police Academy' on it, written in bold, white print. Around the main hall in Smallville High, there were similar booths and tables set up.

"No thanks. Sorry." Jeremiah said, walking away from the booth. As he'd expected, this job fair didn't have anything that appealed to him. Well, not that he would have agreed to work for someone else in the first place, but still.

"Yo, Jeremiah!" Pete called out, jogging over to him with a smile. "Guess who just landed a summer job at the mayor's office."

"Hmm... Well, let's hope that you still make time for Jodi. You'd have to be pretty dumb to mess it up with a good girl, like her." Jeremiah said, sticking his hands in the pockets of his gray and blue, zip-up hoodie, which was left unzipped.

"Don't I know it..." Pete said, smiling. He and Jodi had been dating ever since Lana's birthday party, and he definitely didn't want to let anything ruin it. Although they were both still young, she was the type of girl he could see himself marrying in the future. It helped that his parents, especially his mom, liked her quite a bit.

"I thought you were helping your mom at the courthouse." Clark said, walking over to them.

"I'm sure judge Ross can get some KSU student to help her file her papers. Besides, who wants to hang out with their parents all summer long?" Pete said, chuckling. "No offense, Clark." As they continued walking, Pete spotted Jodi, making him smile, before he turned to Jeremiah and Clark, saying, "I'll see you two in class."

"Don't you think it's time that you got a girlfriend, too, Clark?" Jeremiah asked, watching as Pete weaved through the crowded hallway, making his way to Jodi.

Clark sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's not like I haven't been trying..."

"Hmm... You want my advice?" Jeremiah asked, getting the young Kryptonian to look at him. "You're too hung-up on Lana. I mean, you've been infatuated with her for so long, that you haven't even taken the time look around you."

"What do you mean?" Clark asked, with a confused frown.

"Lana is a good girl, Clark. She's smart, kind, beautiful, honest-- pretty much the whole package." Clark nodded at that, completely agreeing. "Despite all of that, she isn't the only the only girl out there. You've been so focused on her, that you've ignored all of the other girls around you. You might not know this, Clark, but you're actually kind of popular with the girls."

"Yeah, right." Clark scoffed, not believing that for one second.

Jeremiah shrugged, saying, "Believe what you want. Look, Clark, all I'm saying is: don't let yourself be held back by your feelings for Lana. You shouldn't be afraid to try a relationship with a girl that isn't her. You two aren't even dating, so it isn't like you'd be cheating on her."

Clark frowned, looking down at the ground. "But... If I did that, and she saw me with another girl, then wouldn't it be like I'm saying that, that door is closed?"

"Clark, you've already wasted ten years of your life crushing on Lana, and your relationship still hasn't changed much. You might not want to hear it, but I think that door closed a while ago." Clark balled his fist, not wanting to believe that, but knowing that it was probably true. "Do you really want to spend another ten years of your life waiting, hoping, for her to finally fall in love with you?"

Clark didn't know what to say. Fortunately for him, they spotted Chloe walking towards them, saving him from having to respond. When he saw that Jeremiah now had his attention focused on her, he decided to take the chance to slip away. He needed to do some thinking.

Jeremiah, of course, noticed Clark "sneak" away, but he decided to just ignore it. Instead, as Chloe reached him, he pulled her into a big hug, making her laugh as he lifted her off of the ground.

Clark could deal with his own relationship problems. Right now, Chloe was more important.

Around twenty minutes later, Chloe hummed a happy tune as she went through her locker. It had been a few days since her birthday, and she was still on cloud nine. She was still getting used to the fact that she was actually dating her dream guy.

As she was pulling some books out of her locker, the blonde-haired girl felt someone put a hand on her shoulder, making her blink, before she turned around, only for her eyes to widen slightly in surprise.

"Justin?" She said, watching as the boy smiled.

Said boy had fair skin, with curly, dark brown hair, and brown eyes. He stood just a few inches taller than her.

"It's so good to see you!" Chloe said, smiling as she hugged him. "When did you get back?"

"Yesterday. Listen, Chloe, I wanted to thank you for all those e-mails you sent me while I was in the hospital. They really helped me get through a tough time." Justin gratefully said, once they separated.

"Don't mention it." Chloe replied, waving her hand. "I'm sure lots of your friends kept in touch.

"Yeah, well, you'd be surprised. For most of my friends, it was out of sight, out of mind."

"Oh. Sorry to hear that." Chloe apologized, before deciding to change the subject. "So, when can you start drawing your cartoon again? Everybody's been looking forward to the adventures of the Flaming Crows Feet."

Justin just gave her a grim look, before holding up his left hand, allowing her to see the blue brace that was on it. "I'm afraid my drawing hand is kinda shot."

"That's too bad." Chloe said, feeling bad for him. It seemed like life was just kicking him while he was down.

"It's alright." He responded, looking away. "I'm, uh, in the process of re-evaluating my life." Shaking his head, Justin then took a deep breath, before he put on a smile, asking, "So, listen, is there any chance that maybe I could buy you a cup of coffee, or one of those lattes that you like?"

"Oh, um, you're sweet, Justin, but I have a boyfriend. Sorry." Although Chloe felt a little bad about having to turn him down, she couldn't deny how good it felt to admit that she had a boyfriend. "You're a good friend, though, so I hope we can keep that relationship."

"R- Right. Yeah, definitely... Anyway, I should get to class. See you later." After saying this, Justin quickly walked away.

Chloe watched him go, before she gave a light shrug, turning back to her locker.

A few hours later, Chloe walked into The Torch, where she found Jeremiah sitting at her desk, waiting for her.

"Hey!" She said, a smile almost instantly blooming on her face.

He didn't respond verbally. Instead, he simply pat his lap, looking at her with a small smile.

With a light blush, Chloe put her bag on her desk, before she sat down on his lap. Just a few days ago, something like this would've given her a massive blush, but now that she'd had sex with him, something as simple as sitting on his lap didn't really faze her anymore, especially when they were both fully clothed.

As she started typing on her computer, editing the paper for the week, her blush slowly increased when Jeremiah started kissing her neck, and she could feel her body start to heat up. "J- Jeremiah?"

"Don't mind me." He whispered in her ear, making her moan when he licked her neck. "Keep working on your paper."

Chloe tried to do just that, but, after about two minutes, she could already feel that familiar heat rising inside of her, making her eyes flutter. She could feel his erection pressing against her through their pants, and she unconsciously started rolling her hips. "I- ah~... I can't f- focus like th- this..."

This only seemed to spur Jeremiah on, as he began to suck and lick on her neck, making her release trembling moans, feeling her panties start to get soaked. She couldn't believe how easily he was able to effect her like this.

"If you don't keep quiet, we might get caught..." Hearing him whisper this made Chloe more wet than she cared to admit. "Hm? Does that turn you on? Such a perverted girl..."

"Y- You're wrong..." She tried to deny, gasping when he suddenly pinched one of her nipples through her shirt. "I'm n- not a pervert~."

Jeremiah chuckled quietly, before he suddenly stopped.

"W- What happened? Why'd you stop?" She whined, now intentionally rolling her hips.

"Well, I'd imagine that you don't want him to see us like this." He replied, confusing her lust-addled mind. Before she could ask what he meant, however, she heard a knock on the door, getting her to slowly blink a few times, before she looked at the open door, seeing Justin standing there.

"J- Justin? Hey. Did you need something?" After asking this, Chloe's eyes widened, and she quickly looked behind her, only to blink in shock when she realized that she was no longer sitting on Jeremiah's lap, and that he was nowhere in sight.

There was no way she was so horny that she just imagined all of that. After all, she could still feel his saliva on her neck.

"Are you alright, Chloe?" Justin asked, getting her to turn her attention back to him.

"Yeah, I'm ALRIGHT!" Chloe ended with a shout, with her eyes widening as she looked down, and widening even further when she saw Jeremiah underneath her desk (she had absolutely no idea how he even fit under there, given how tall he was), looking up at her with a small smile, while holding a finger to his lips. Also catching her attention, was the fact that her pants and panties were gone, and she blushed crimson when Jeremiah winked at her, before he kissed her lower lips.

Jumping in surprise at the shout, Justin looked at Chloe with a confused, yet also concerned, expression. "Are you sure? You're acting really weird... And your face is really red."

"I- I'm fine." Chloe said, struggling with all her might to keep from moaning as Jeremiah began to eat her out. "W- What did you need?" She needed to hurry this up. She was already on the verge of cumming, and she really didn't want to do that with Justin standing just a few feet away from her.

"Oh, um, I was wondering if you could help me get some information." Justin began, looking nervous for some reason.

"In- Information?" Chloe was unable to keep a moan out of her voice, but she quickly played it off as a cough. "On w- what?"

"The license plate of the car that hit me." He said, rubbing the back of his head. "I, uh, just thought maybe I'd go try to talk to the person responsible, see if I can at least get an apology."

Chloe knew it was wrong of her, but, at the moment, she honestly couldn't really bring herself to care too much about what Justin was saying. Jeremiah was teasing her with very short, light licks, constantly stopping just before she could finally reach her release.

"...Are, ahem, are you sure you're alright, Chloe?" Justin asked, blushing at the look on her face.

"I'm... fine." She gritted out, not needing to look down to know that Jeremiah was probably giving her teasing smile. "W- What was the... the license plate number?"

Shaking his head, Justin replied, "Uh, all I remember is that it started with 'DDI'. I was hoping that, with your tech skills, you might be able to somehow piece it together."

Underneath the table, Jeremiah suddenly stopped licking Chloe, and she had to fight not to whine and beg for more. Remembering that she had to respond to Justin, she nodded, saying "I'll s- see what I can do."

Justin smiled. "Thanks, Chloe. I knew I could count on you."

In response, Chloe just put on the best smile she could muster.

"Well, I should get to class." Justin said, waving as he turned to walk away. "See you later, Chloe."

"S- See you." Chloe replied, watching as the boy walked out of the room. Once she heard his footsteps disappearing down the hallway, she finally allowed herself to release a moan, before she looked under her desk, and was once again surprised to see that Jeremiah was gone, along with her pants and panties being back on.

"Have fun?" She heard him ask from behind her, making her jump in surprise. Spinning around in her seat, she saw him leaning against the wall, looking at her with a calm, small smile.

"Why didn't you finish?" Was the first thing that came out of Chloe's mouth, coming out as a whimper.

Jeremiah raised an eyebrow, before he cupped her chin, staring into her eyes. "I'm quite possessive, Chloe, and, though I may not seem like it, I can get awfully jealous. I won't ever let another man see the face that you make when you orgasm, nor will I allow them to hear the beautiful sounds that you make. You are mine, and mine alone."

Chloe would never have imagined that she could cum just from listening to someone speak, but that's exactly what she experienced in that moment.

Still cupping her chin, Jeremiah blinked, before his eyes twinkled with amusement. "Cumming just from my words? What a pervert you've become, Chloe, and in just a few short days... But, that's fine. I'll love you regardless." He punctuated his statement with a soft, warm, loving kiss, and Chloe wrapped her arms around his neck, while her eyes grew watery with joy.

She honestly didn't think her life could get any better than it already was.

A few hours later, after school, Justin was standing alone in The Torch, curiously looking at the Wall of Weird, before his attention was drawn by the beeping of a machine.

Turning around, he saw a piece of paper coming out of the fax machine, and he quickly walked over to it, snatching the paper up with his good hand once it was done processing.

As he read the information on the paper, his eyes burned with rage, while a few objects around the room began to float.

He was unaware of the pair of eyes watching him.

Later that night, it was storming outside as Justin sat in his bedroom, staring at the paper on his desk.

'Principal Kwan... You hit me with your car, and couldn't even be bothered to stop and check on me.' Justin thought, glaring as he used his telekinesis to draw on a large sheet of paper. Unnoticed by him, there was a small, light purple, almost ethereal-looking creature on his shoulder. Some might think the creature cute, were it not for the malevolent aura it was emanating, with a dark glint in its big, yellow and red eyes.

"Kill... Kill... Kill... Kill him... Must kill him..." Justin heard a strange, airy voice whisper in his mind, making him grit his teeth.

'I have to kill him. He deserves to die for what he did to me, for what he took from me!' Justin thought, his eyes burning with hatred as he looked down at his useless right hand.

Feeding off of Justin's hatred, the creature on his shoulder grew in size.

'I'm gonna kill you, Kwan.' The boy thought, storming out of his room with murderous eyes.

Around thirty minutes later, Justin was standing outside in the heavy downpour of rain, but he didn't care about that, nor the thunder rumbling and booming in the sky.

He was on a mission, one that he wouldn't let something like bad weather interfere with.

Hiding behind a bush outside of a house, the boy watched as a car pulled into the driveway, before Kwan stepped out, holding his briefcase above his head in a feeble attempt to block the water pellets raining down on him.

With anger and hatred fuelling him, Justin stood up, fully prepared to get his revenge, only to be stopped when he felt a hand firmly grip his shoulder, making him quickly spin around in shock, as well as anger at being interrupted, though his expression shifted to one of sheer surprise when he saw who the culprit was.

"What the- Jeremiah?" Justin said, shocked. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Trying to stop you from making a big mistake." Jeremiah said, removing his hand from Justin's shoulder. "You don't want to kill Kwan."

"And why the hell not?" Justin snarled, balling his one good hand into a fist. "He deserves to die for what he did to me!"

"You'd be killing the wrong man." Jeremiah said, making Justin falter for a moment, before he grit his teeth, narrowing his eyes.

"You're lying!" Justin shouted, just as thunder boomed overhead. "I gave Chloe the first few letters of the license plate from the car that hit me, and the only match came from Kwan's car!"

"Justin, listen to me. Earlier today, I did some investigating of my own, and I found out that it wasn't Kwan that hit you. It was his son. He was the one driving that night." Jeremiah dropped the metaphorical bomb on Justin, making the boy's eyes widen in sheer disbelief. "I spoke with his son earlier, and he realized that he had to turn himself in for what he did to you. If you don't believe me, we can go down to the jail, and you can see and speak to him yourself."

Eyes wide open, Justin stared at Jeremiah in mute shock, trembling. He couldn't even describe what he was feeling at the moment.

"Y- You can't be serious..." Justin mumbled, gripping his wet hair. "Then, what am I supposed to do now? What am I supposed to do with all this anger, with all this hate?!"

Jeremiah sighed, looking up at the sky for a moment, letting the rain fall on his face, before looking back to the distressed Justin. "Let me show you something, Justin."

Before Justin could react, Jeremiah suddenly spun him around, before he placed both of his softly glowing hands on either side of the boy's head.

"What are you-?!" Justin abruptly cut himself off when he suddenly saw a purple beast floating above him. The creature looked like a cartoonish bat, and was the size of a small house. "W- What is that?" The boy questioned in a mix of shock, horror, and fascination, having never seen anything quite like it.

"That, Justin, is what's known as a phantom, and it's been following you around all day long." Jeremiah said, making Justin's eyes widen, while a gasp left his mouth. "These creatures feed off of people's negative energies, which, in turn, makes them stronger. They also amplify whatever negative feelings you've been having, whether it be depression, envy, anger, hatred, and so on. That's what this creature has been doing all day long. It's been leeching off of you for strength, while, in turn, making you feel more and more hatred and anger. Originally, this phantom was so small that it could fit in the palm of your hand. Now look at it. Are you okay with that? Being used by a creature such as this?"

Justin couldn't believe what he was hearing. This... phantom, had been following him all day? This thing was the reason he was in a near constant state of anger? This damn thing was keeping him in the depths of despair, anger, and hatred, just so that it could get a power boost?

"How do I get rid of it?" Justin asked, his eyes blazing with fury.

Jeremiah, now standing beside Justin, simply held out one of his hands, and Justin watched in surprise as a beautifully-crafted sword appeared in it.

"You have powers?" Justin asked, surprised. He had seen Chloe's Wall of Weird, but this was his first time actually seeing someone else with powers.

"It's a big world, Justin." Was Jeremiah's response, before he held the sword out to the boy. "Use your telekinesis to launch this at the phantom's head. This phantom is still pretty weak, so it should only take one or two attacks."

Not even bothering to ask how Jeremiah knew about his powers, Justin just nodded, using his telekinesis to take the sword, before he set his narrowed eyes on the phantom above them.

Using his telekinesis, Justin made the sword spin at great speeds, before he shouted, launching at the phantom, watching as the blade went clean through its head, shooting out of the other side.

Jeremiah and Justin watched as the phantom burst into a flash of white energy, with the sword also disappearing in a flash of light.

Placing a hand on Justin's shoulder, Jeremiah asked, "You still feel it, don't you? The anger?" Justin just nodded, looking down at the ground. "I know, it doesn't just instantly go away, just because the phantom has been killed. Still, it's a start. For now, how about I heal your hand?"

Justin's head snapped up at that, and he looked at Jeremiah with wide eyes. "What are you talking about? My doctor said that this would be the best I could ever realistically hope for." He said, holding up his braced hand.

Jeremiah just gave a small smile, patting the boy on the back, before he gently grabbed the braced hand, covering it with both of his own.

Justin gulped, watching in anticipation as Jeremiah's hands glowed a dim gold, before he felt a strange energy pass through his hand, and all the way up his arm.

After about ten seconds, Jeremiah finally pulled away, taking a step back. "Take off your brace." He said, and Justin once again gulped, his heart thundering in his chest as he reached for his brace, undoing the straps, before he pulled it off.

With a deep, shaky breath, Justin then tried to move his fingers, releasing a sharp, disbelieving gasp when they moved just as well as they had before his injury, if not better. As his eyes watered, the boy released a soft, joyous laugh.

For the first time in six months, Justin Gaines actually felt happy.

That's a wrap for chapter nine.

I actually don't really have much to say this time around. I hope you all liked the changes I made with Justin.

Anyway, that's all for now, everyone. Hope you all enjoyed.