Former Smallville High jocks Wade Mahaney, Scott Bowman, and Derek Fox had each faced a bleak future following their high school graduation, and had eventually turned to a life of crime, searching for a big score. By early 2002, Wade and his gang had discovered that tattoos comprised of liquid kryptonite would allow the three of them to temporarily phase through people and objects. They'd used this knowledge to rob Smallville Savings and Loan, as well as Lex Luthor's mansion. The tattoos would last them about an hour each time they'd ink themselves, though had started to fade sooner and sooner, giving them less and less time in which to commit their crimes. Hoping to rectify this problem, Wade had recruited Whitney Fordman, who at the time had been a jock at Smallville High facing the same bleak future as Wade and his gang. Initiating him into their group with a tattoo, they'd proceeded to blackmail Lex with a disk they'd found in his mansion, but Clark Kent had intervened, convincing Whitney to turn on Wade and his gang. Furious, Wade had held Whitney underneath a suspended car, relying on his newest tattoo to save him. However, just as the car had dropped, the tattoo had faded, and Wade had been crushed. Fortunately, the kryptonite wearing off had allowed Clark to superpeed and save Whitney, and Wade's remaining friends had been taken into custody afterwards.
The effect of the kryptonite tattoos S1: Kinetic |
