For Alex, this situation couldn't have been more convenient.
The underground chamber hummed with a cold, sterile silence. Rows of cylindrical pods stretched across the dimly lit hall like a mechanical graveyard, each containing a slumbering, mutated human — people who had once lived ordinary lives in Smallville before meteor radiation twisted their fates.
And now, they were all unconscious, suspended in stasis.
Neatly arranged. Helpless.
The perfect setup.
Perfect for him to quietly "harvest."
No resistance.
No conflict.
No interference.
He could simply take what he needed — and when everything was done, not a single person would remember anything had happened.
Not messy. Not dramatic. Just efficient.
He raised his hand to begin.
BOOM!
A thunderous crack tore through the silence like a whip, the air trembling with the shockwave.
A sonic boom — familiar. Too familiar.
Alex's expression didn't change, but the corner of his mouth tugged upward.
Clark Kent had arrived.
The red-and-blue blur resolved into a tall figure landing at the chamber entrance, cape fluttering in the stale air. His face was grim — almost haunted.
He'd been chasing the recent disappearances in Smallville for weeks. Every missing person, every dead-end lead, every strange incident… they all pointed here.
And he had finally found the source — only to discover someone else was already here.
Someone he knew.
"Homelander," Clark said, voice low, eyes narrowing with palpable tension. "What are you doing here?"
Alex answered with a lazy tilt of his head, as if greeting a younger sibling who had wandered into his room.
"Clark, I'm your big brother. Did you forget already?" he replied with a smile that was both teasing and cutting. "Little brother shouldn't pry into big brother's business."
Clark didn't take the bait.
His gaze swept the chamber — and then froze.
The sight of the pods hit him like a punch to the chest.
"These… these are the missing residents of Smallville," he said, disbelief sharp in his voice. "People everyone thought were dead… They've been kept here this whole time?! Like experiments!?"
Shock gave way to fury.
"I have to free them!"
Clark didn't hesitate — that was his way. His moral compass didn't bend or pause.
He moved toward the control system—
Only for Alex to instantly appear in front of him, blocking the console with unhurried confidence.
"Clark," Alex said calmly, "I'm not stopping you from saving them. I just need to finish my business first."
Clark's jaw tightened.
There was no world where he accepted that.
"Homelander," he growled, voice like stone, "what exactly are you doing here?"
His eyes glowed faintly red — not enough to attack, but enough to warn.
At first, he had assumed Alex came for the same reason he did — to help.
But now…
Something else was happening. Something he didn't understand.
"My purpose doesn't concern you," Alex replied. "And it won't harm them. Give me a few minutes, and you can rescue every last one. I'm being more than reasonable here."
And he was — objectively speaking.
But Clark Kent wasn't a man who negotiated morality.
"No," Clark said, voice firm as steel. "We free them now. Whatever you're doing ends here."
Alex exhaled slowly, a faint sigh of disappointment.
"That's unfortunate," he said, tone shifting — smooth warmth cooling into something sharper. "Because I am not changing my plans."
He hadn't forced conflict.
Clark chose it.
"For anyone who gets in my way," Alex said softly, "I can only apologize — after."
BOOM!
Alex moved first.
A single punch — clean, precise, devastating — slammed into Clark's chest.
It was like being hit by a small star.
Clark flew across the chamber, shattering the reinforced floor where he landed, dust exploding upward in a violent plume.
He groaned and tried to push himself up—
But Alex was already holding something between two fingers.
A shard of radiant green crystal.
He tossed it. Casually. Thoughtlessly.
The Kryptonite clattered against the floor beside Clark.
"A—AH!"
Clark's muscles seized instantly, his limbs shaking uncontrollably. Every breath became a blade. His strength evaporated like water under fire.
He collapsed fully — powerless.
"How… how do you know about that rock?!" Clark gasped, voice strained with genuine shock and pain.
Alex's smirk was quiet and infuriating.
"Told you already," he said lightly. "I'm your big brother."
With the matter settled, he simply turned away.
He placed his hand on the first pod.
Zzzzz—
Energy surged.
Subtle but potent — like the echo of a meteor storm in human flesh.
He moved to the next.
And the next.
No screaming. No injury. No resistance.
Just a gentle touch — a transfer of power.
The chamber slowly brightened with soft cosmic radiance, the air humming with energy waves.
Clark watched through clenched teeth, eyes wide with dawning realization.
This was the same thing that happened with Davis.
He was telling the truth.
Alex wasn't killing anyone.
He was taking something else — something invisible. Something intrinsic.
But what?
What was he absorbing?
Clark had no answer — and no ability to stop him.
——
Meanwhile, far away, inside Lex Luthor's mansion—
The atmosphere was tense.
A suited operative stood trembling before Lex's desk.
"Sir — Base 03 has been completely overrun!"
Lex paused mid-writing.
Base 03 was vital — a cornerstone of Project Ares.
"Who?" Lex asked, voice calm but edged. "Who did it?"
"We don't know," the subordinate whispered. "The entire feed cut out. The intruder moved so fast that the cameras only captured a blur. The base fell in less than three minutes."
Lex lowered his pen.
Three minutes.
That wasn't random power.
That was intent.
A calculated, overwhelming force.
His lips slowly curled.
"Deploy Ares," he said. "And bring me that superhuman — alive."
"But sir, the project isn't—"
"Then this will be the test."
His smile was thin and hungry.
——
Back in the chamber—
"And that's the last one."
Alex withdrew his hand from the final pod.
He felt energized. Newly sharpened. Strengthened.
This trip had been worth it.
He estimated the total gain — about twenty thousand origin points.
Not bad at all.
Finally, he turned to Clark, still curled on the ground, breath ragged.
With a flick of his fingers—
Whoosh.
The Kryptonite lifted from the floor and flew back into Alex's palm.
The oppressive agony evaporated instantly.
Clark gasped as his body finally loosened — air rushing into his lungs like salvation.
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