Chapter Twenty-Four: Last Will.
The amazing nature of the Fortress never ceased to amaze Chloe. She had visited it several times already, but Lara performed some upgrades. She thought a person could only do so much with a Fortress which had been located in the midst of the Arctic. When you were out in the middle of nowhere, it was hard to get a lot done, but Lara proved she could make something out of a whole lot of nothing.
'Alien technology, it's just amazing sometimes.'
Now, Chloe found herself sitting inside the Fortress. The last time she had been sitting in the Fortress like this, Lara had been extracted from Chloe and slipped into a brand new body. Now, Chloe entered the Fortress to get scanned. The incident with the meteor mutant caught Lara's attention and rightfully so.
Chloe was initially surprised she had meteor powers of some sort, but at the same time, it wasn't a huge surprise after all. She wasn't at Ground Zero during the first meteor shower, but the second one she was. Plus, she wondered if proximity to those who had been exposed, constantly, many times throughout the years, made Chloe acquire some kind of meteor powers. It would make sense, but how did it happen? And more importantly, how did Chloe trigger a power like this? There had to be some way for her to access it, it couldn't be shut on or off at a whim, could it?
'Just some really weird things going on here,' Chloe thought. Maybe there are some things which can't be explained by logic, or common sense.'
Chloe took a second to sigh. The warmth of the crystals flooded over her body. Raya, the woman Clark and Kara liberated from the Phantom Zone, walked over towards her. She studied Chloe for a moment before speaking.
"So, how are you feeling?" Raya asked.
"Well, to be honest, about as good as I normally do," Chloe responded. "Am I supposed to be feeling any different?"
"There are no aches, no pains, no sense of…..well hearing the echoes of the person you absorbed is there?" Raya asked.
Chloe closed her eyes and focused on the thoughts going through her mind. No, no thoughts, other than her own. The spunky blonde opened her eyes up and responded with a very firm shake of the head. Raya surveyed the subject for several minutes and backed off, seemingly pleased with her answer, at least for now.
'I guess all I have to do is wait,' Chloe thought. 'See if there are any consequences.'
Chloe sat rigidly and waited for the examination to continue. The captive girl wondered where Lara ran off to under all of this. Lara had been distracted, and given what Chloe had found out, she did have a good reason to be distracted.
'Poor woman has a lot on her mind,' Chloe thought. 'Someone escaped from the Phantom Zone, and….well they haven't attacked yet. Which is good. Unless they're plotting an attack, which isn't good. Guess we're going to have to wait.'
Chloe figured they would find out sooner rather than later and they would find out in one of the most painful ways possible. All the girl could do now is lean back and rest.
'What a last couple of months this has been,' Chloe thought.
The doors opened up and Lara walked in. Chloe watched the Kryptonian walk in. She wore a look which was hard for Chloe to piece together. Chloe didn't know if it was a good look Lara wore or a bad look. Oh well, time to bite the bullet and see what was going on here.
"So," Chloe said. "What's the damage?"
Lara's long gaze hit Chloe. Chloe could feel like something pierced her very mind with those bright blue eyes just staring a hole through her head.
"As you've figured out, you have meteor powers," Lara said. "And I'm not certain how this happened, but I have a few theories."
Chloe leaned in with a smile and motioned for Lara to jump into those theories. She was equal parts curious and a bit intimidated to hear them.
'Well, it's just better you get them out of the way, because it will be over before you know it if you do,' Chloe thought.
"You were near the second meteor shower, therefore the latent metagene you had activated," Lara said. "All of the meteor mutants have meta-genes, or had meta-genes, which activated upon their exposure to the radiation of the chunks of Krypton falling from the sky."
Chloe just nodded, she understood where Lara was coming for with this.
"Or, the proximity to the meteor mutants over the years, caused the residual radiation to cause you to develop your powers," Lara added. "It's just a theory, that's all."
Chloe allowed all of this to sink in and wordlessly nodded.
"No, it's one I had as well," Chloe said. "I don't know if Clark mentioned it to you, but I've had more than my fair share of encounters with your average meteor mutant of the week. Seriously, it was at least once a week, and I'm not really exaggerating either."
Lara answered with a smile. She doubted Chloe was exaggerating given the look in the girl's eye.
"Regardless of the origin of your powers, you can heal, or heal others even," Lara said. "When you extend your healing abilities outside of your body, there lies the trouble. You can heal other meteor mutants of their burden, to an extent."
Chloe realized something, and she looked towards the woman in front of her.
"Wait, do you mean….do you mean I can heal them of their powers?" Chloe asked. "As in removing their powers?"
Lara thought it was a good question. The scans of Chloe she ran showed that there were still some limitations to those powers. And it would be unwise to push Chloe too far too fast.
"It's a temporary fix at best, as far as I can tell," Lara said. "And it will be a great burden on you. I suggest you don't do it unless it's absolutely necessary."
"And it's best to keep this from everyone until we are able to run some more tests, "Raya said. "Naturally, you can tell Kal-El, and I suppose Kara as well….if you must."
Lara could tell there was still some small amount of distrust between Raya and Kara, and she knew of the reasons why. Still, they had to be on the same page. Lara thought about the steps needed to be taken so Raya was complacent and on the same page.
Lex Luthor found himself in a padded room, leaning back against the wall. The accommodations were not too bad, other than the fact he had been put inside a cell without any way to get out of the cell. His arms were currently tied, certainly for his own protection.
Everything could have been far worse, given how Lex still breathed, and if Lex could still breath he could still act. Now, he tried to reason how to find a way out of here.
'The real sign of insanity is when you try and rationalize things can be much worse than they are now,' Lex thought. He cracked his neck back and tried to offer a smile.
Unless Lex had mistaken the time, it was about time for his daily visitor to show up. The bald young man could hardly wait, why he was practically sitting on pins and needles just waiting to talk to this particular gentleman. Lex wondered if bouncing up and down would be a sign of further insanity. Not that it would matter, given he had been locked up in a padded cell. But, surely it could have just clarified any insanity?
'Likely so,' Lex thought. 'So, I doubt I'll even bother with it."
The one and only, thankfully, Professor Hugo Strange walked up to prepare for his session with Lex. Lex looked towards the man on the other end of the cell. The balding man offered Lex a smile.
"Mr. Luthor, how are you feeling today?" Strange asked.
"I'm sitting in a cell, talking to someone who is attempting to perform a psycho-analysis on me," Lex said. "One would think someone of your intelligence could figure out exactly how I'm doing."
Strange simply stared at Lex for a moment and the staring just caused Lex's lack of comfort to increase. The doctor studied enough about Lex and his past to understand he would be an extremely difficult one to crack. Strange prepared himself for an interesting conversation.
"And yet, you've made an admirable amount of progress," Strange commented to Lex. "Just a short time ago, you could barely talk, and you are able to form coherent sentences."
Lex hated when people spoke to him in such a way.
"This would be more amazing if I was an infant," Lex said. "Could you please drop the formalities, and skip straight to the point? I'm certain you have better things to do, even if I don't."
Strange answered with one of those smiles with Lex really wished he could reach over and slap off of Strange's face. There were two things preventing it. Lex's hands were tied and there was a rather thick wall in between the two of them, which prevented any escape. Lex found himself between a rock and a hard place.
'Better make the most of this situation,' Lex thought.
"On the contrary, Mr. Luthor, you are in fact the most mentally stimulating part of my day," Strange said. "And I would like to get to know you as much more than a series of medical reports and evaluations."
Lex took a moment. It wasn't like he had a choice. And to be honest, things could be worse. The only thing good thing about Strange being here was it blocked Lex's view from seeing his father across the hallway. Lionel had entered a very sad state.
"So, what do you remember about your adventure?" Strange asked. "You were possessed by some force…..you claimed to be someone called Zod, for a short amount of time. But, you mean to tell me you don't have any memories of being this person, Zod?"
Lex reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose. A couple of seconds passed.
"As I told you the first time we talked, I don't remember anything," Lex said. "The last thing I remembered...Milton Fine was going to create a super serum which was going to help make people immune from disease."
"Well, Doctor Fine isn't available for comment, and you're the only person who can tell me anything," Strange said. "If this super serum exists, why hasn't anyone been able to find it?"
Strange arranged for some of his people to take a closer look for the serum should it turn up because he had people who would be more than willing to pay a fortune for it, more than a fortune in fact.
"Well, either someone at LuthorCorp stumbled upon it, or the military confiscated it," Lex said. "Those are your two most basic options, I think."
Lex didn't remember much of anything from a period of about forty-eight hours which he blanked out. Whether or not he should remember was another debate for another time.
"Let's talk about something else since you haven't received your memories back from your ordeal yet," Strange said. "Although, I'm certain they are well within reach, you just need to grasp them."
Lex blinked and frowned at Strange.
"Believe what you wish," Lex told Strange.
"Oh, it doesn't matter what I believe, Mr. Luthor, but rather what your mind still comprehends," Strange answered. "I'd like to talk to you about your relationship with a Mr. Clark Kent."
Lex wondered what Clark had to do with anything, but he was by all means very curious what road Strange was going to take here.
"It's curious how someone of your status made friends with someone like Mr. Kent, a common farm boy," Strange said.
"I don't think you're as ignorant as you pretend to be," Lex said. "And since you aren't, I know you know there's nothing in Smallville which is common."
Strange didn't respond to Lex's comments. He made a couple of notes.
"It seems like you and Mr. Kent are destined to be intertwined, in some cosmic way, almost as if fate decreed it."
"I don't believe in fate," Lex said. "I'm the only one who controls my actions."
Strange thought that didn't jive with the notes he made on Lex. Regardless, he allowed the young man to have his moment, and humor him. The Professor wrote down a few more notes.
"It seems like you are obsessed with him, to beyond basic infatuation."
"What are you implying?" Lex asked.
"Nothing, Alexander, just merely making an observation," Strange said.
"I know you think there's something to with destiny, but I'm in control of my own actions."
"And yet, you feel like you're destined to be greater than anyone, including your own father," Strange said. "And speaking of which, let's have a discussion about him."
Lex only just barely abstained from rolling his eyes. He figured this conversation was coming, it always came back to Lionel Luthor.
"Yes, let's. This should be as painless as a trip to the DMV."
Patricia's adrenaline pumped when Clark descended down to the ground. The flight had been about as amazing as she thought it was, in her wildest dreams.
"Sorry, the flying's a bit of a work in progress," Clark said.
Patricia answered with a shrug, brushing it off. "No, sweat, really, all that happened was I lost a shoe, that's really no big deal after all…."
Kara flew through the air and dropped down, holding Patricia's shoe in her hand.
"I think you dropped this."
Patricia broke out into a round of laughter at the deadpan nature of Kara's words Then she slipped the shoe she dropped in mid-air on. With both shoes on, Patricia Swann turned over towards Star Labs.
The handsome and tall building towered over many buildings in Metropolis, which really said something. The walls looked pretty sleek and were resistant to weather damage. The doors inside were state of the art as well and scanned Patricia to allow her entrance.
The main part of the building was the state of the art observatory, which archives of information, for over thirty years of work from her father. The archives of the messages which brought together his group of stargazers were somewhere in this building, although Patricia hadn't had a chance to go through much of anything. She spent some time dealing with all of her father's other business ventures.
"Well, this is Star Labs," Patricia commented. She looked towards the two people who mattered the most.
One stolen gaze towards Clark who took in every inch of the building around like a kid in a candy store made Patricia almost break into laughter. Karen smiled when looking around the building. The technology was pretty state of the art, to be honest, and she really wanted to take a look.
"This facility was intended to help the Traveler, which is what my father's group called you before you came to Earth," Patricia said. "They knew, three years before you came…before they received a message from Krypton….and…they prepared….even though the group splintered apart, with varying goals."
Clark wondered what Patricia meant by varying goals. The woman took a second to calm herself before turning towards Clark.
"The Veritas organization split into two factions towards the end, well not cleanly, but they split over whether they wanted to help the Traveler or if they wanted to use the Traveler for their own purposes," Patricia said. "At least, that's what I've been able to figure out by talking to a lot of people."
"So, who was all in Veritas, or do you know?" Clark asked.
"Well, my father, obviously, Lionel Luthor, the Teagues….."
Clark pulled a face at hearing that particular name. Given all of the problems he had with the Teagues, over the stones, he was pretty much glad to see the back of them. That family was nothing, but trouble.
"Then there were the Waynes and Queens, who sided with my father, on the fact they should help the Traveler," Patricia said. "And the heiresses of those two families are in agreement with me….we should help you, and here we are."
Kara walked into the lab and looked towards a screen. She noticed some really weird waves flashing over the screen, so she turned around to Patricia.
"So, what's that picking up?"
"Weird disturbances of energy," Patricia said. "They might be interdimensional irregularities…some people have the theory this Earth isn't the only Earth, rather there are multiple Earths throughout the universe. There are at least fifty-two different versions of Earth."
"How long has this been happening?" Clark asked.
Another sigh and Patricia answered.
"It's been happening on and off ever since the second meteor shower," Patricia said. "And it's getting worse ever since the portal to the Phantom Zone had been opened."
Clark had no idea what was going to happen, but he was pretty sure things were going to get a bit rough from here on out. It was just a hunch he had, call it crazy, but it was there.
'Wouldn't be Smallville without insanity.'
Lara finished the tests on Chloe and sent her off on her way. She came up clean on all accounts which Lara approved of. She returned to looking at Alura's AI. It had gotten pretty busted when she had been transported to Earth. Lara knew it could be repaired, but to configure it wrong could be bad.
'The last thing I need is to misconfigure it, and make her come out like Jor-El,' Lara thought. 'Or Brainiac.'
Lara looked up towards the Fortress ceiling and several lights started to blink on it. She had been running some scans based off of all of the portals which had been opened.
"Is that what I think they are?" Raya asked.
Lara decided to pull herself away from fiddling with Alura's AI, deciding to leave it as a lost cause for today. The scientist rose up and looked over. While medicine was her field, Lara studied other disciplines here and there, and what she didn't study, Lara had the ability to learn, mostly through common sense.
"If you think they are interdimensional irregularities, then yes, they are what you think they are," Lara said. "The portal to the Phantom Zone disturbed something."
Lara looked at everything around her and frowned. She thought all of the answers would come easily, but perhaps not.
"These type of dimensional disturbances are pretty rare, especially on Earth," Raya said, "It's almost like multiple universes crashed together, and we are living on a different Earth, created anew."
Lara stared at Raya for several moments. The assistant wondered if she had spoken out of turn or said something which would upset the woman. Raya held Lara in the utmost of esteem and tried to backtrack from her conversation as well.
"It's rare, but it can happen," Lara said. "It's called the Crisis Effect when redundant worlds are erased, and new ones are born from the elements of those worlds combined together. Everything has to be aligned properly for it to happen. It may seem absurd, but no, it's not absurd, it's merely rare."
The most reliable scholars talked about how fifty-two distinct universes existed, each with their own version Earth and other neighboring planets. Some also said there was a prime Earth where these universes branched off of. No one could access the Prime Earth which was a good thing.
Lara thought it was now time to deal with a pressing situation, while she performed a deeper scan to see the depths of the universal tear.
"So, what do you make of Kal-El?" Lara asked.
Raya had been caught off guard by the question. Was this a test of some sort? Lara had been looking at her, and Raya knew she overstepped bounds earlier by being critical of Kara in Lara's presence.
"He's changed since the last time I've seen him," Raya said. "Given he was barely a few days old, I guess it's easy to see how much has changed."
Lara answered with a smile and leaned over to give another smile.
"He has changed, and he has grown," Lara said. "He's preparing to take his role as the guardian Earth needs when it moves on through history."
Raya understood Lara had some great expectations for her son, much like Jor-El did, even though her guidance was different than Jor-El's. The assistant couldn't state with a straight face Lara's method was wrong. In fact, Raya would have to say her method was more than right.
"Do you ever wonder what might have happened if the Council listened?" Raya asked.
An impish smile spread over Lara's face when moving closer to Raya.
"I don't think about the impossible," Lara said. "I'm sad to see Krypton gone, but we now have a new world to help guide along. We should make the most of it."
Raya understood where Lara was coming from. The older blonde reached over and placed a hand on Raya's shoulder.
"One thing that has not changed is the fact you have a duty to the House of El," Lara said. "You are to serve them, no matter what, without any argument."
"I understand this….."
"Do you?" Lara asked. "Maybe I should give you a reminder of your duties."
Raya wasn't going to lie. Something about Lara's tone made shivers come down her spine.
Patricia concluded the tour with Clark and Kara through Star Labs, explaining what she could to the best of her abilities. The tour jogged a few memories and filled in a couple of gaps, at least to the point where Patricia was comfortable with speaking to them.
"Well, I'm very impressed by the work Doctor Swann has done, and the work you continue to do on his behalf," Clark said.
Patricia shifted on a smile, and she moved closer towards Clark. She stopped short, feeling it would be inappropriate to do what she wanted to do.
"Well, you were what inspired us to do this kind of work, and you're going to inspire a lot more people," Patricia said. "I think there will be heroes, legions of them in fact, who will be inspired by your work. And to think you've come from such humble beginnings, that's even more impressive."
Clark smiled and was very pleased with how everything just fell into place.
"I try to remember where I came from," Clark said. "Both Krypton and Smallville…"
"There is a wider world out there for you to explore," Patricia said. "And I hope you'd accept my help."
"Of course you didn't have to ask," Clark said.
Patricia smiled, happy they could work together. She really did hope to get to know the man beyond the legend. If half of the stories were true, then Clark certainly was extraordinary, and she could not wait to get to know him better.
"Once we track down my father's journal, we should be able to fill in a couple more blanks," Patricia said. "I just hope it isn't in the possession of an undesirable person."
Clark wondered if the person might have had the last name "Luthor." That could be a problem.
"I just hope this next generation is able to not fall to the same misfortune as the last generation did," Patricia said. "There aren't many surviving members of Veritas left, just Lionel."
The door opened and an attractive blonde woman dressed in a white lab coat, a professional looking button up blouse, and a long black skirt came into the office.
"Doctor Danvers, I'd like to introduce you to a come of friends….." Patricia said. "Clark, Kara, this is Eliza Danvers...Eliza this is….."
The woman almost backed off in surprise when seeing Clark.
"You're him, your Kara's cousin."
Chapter Twenty-Five: Following the Trail.
This particular statement from Eliza resulted in Clark being taken aback in shock. Maybe he didn't hear her right, actually, there was a pretty good chance he didn't hear her right. Something clicked in Clark's mind, though, and one stolen look towards Kara showed they were thinking along the same exact lines.
'Could we have gotten lucky enough to find her?' Clark asked. 'Could this be true?'
Eliza smiled when looking at him. Yes, he was just about like she would imagine. Eliza wished she had put two and two together sooner, but dealing with all of these problems which occurred, it was much harder to put everything together.
"Wait, are you saying….you….know where my cousin is?" Clark asked.
"Yeah, the younger Kara, you know where she is," Kara said. Eliza turned to the older girl, and Kara smiled. "I thought I was Kara for a long time, well technically I am, but not the Kara we all know, not the one native to this universe."
Eliza had been studying the matter rather carefully, Unfortunately, there was only so far a person could go with Earth-based technology.
"Well, that's not one hundred percent certain either," Eliza said. "As you might have seen, we're studying the Crisis Effect here at StarLabs, and there has been a merger of some sorts…..where multiple universes collided and weaved together. Certain elements have been retained, while others have been interwoven."
Clark and Kara looked at her. Even Patricia, who was about as smart as anyone, could feel this particularly complex bit of science going completely over her head. She looked at Eliza and cleared her throat.
"Maybe at another time, then," Eliza said. "But, yes, my oldest daughter found your cousin….and I adopted her."
Clark and Kara both smiled in relief. They were glad Kara was adopted by someone, and not found by the government, any government for that matter, or something. Someone who would intend to bring her harm, or worse, even use her as a weapon. That was a big problem.
"I've worked with Doctor Swann for years, well myself and my late husband," Eliza said. "I started as an intern for what became Star Labs when I younger, and worked for him for years."
"Were you part of Veritas then?" Clark asked her.
Eliza responded for shaking her head. "No, I wasn't a part of that group. It wasn't because I wasn't invited…I was invited to partake in it…it just wasn't my thing, or my late husband's….and some of the people involved….well we were more down to Earth they were."
"My father would have appreciated another ally," Patricia said.
"Yes, I know, but given all of the drama and the betrayal involved, I'm very glad I didn't get a chance to be directly involved in this," Eliza said. "Despite not joining his inner circle, myself and Doctor Swann talked until his death. We talked about many things, including his expectations about who you would be."
Clark shifted a moment later. Eliza could see his discomfort and decided to appease him, at least the best she could.
"No, he never told me who you were, because Virgil respected your right to live a life of privacy, for as long as you can,' Eliza said. "Even though someone of your stature, unfortunately, could not have a private life for very long."
Clark thought as much. Every time Clark used his powers, the threat for detection always lingered very close. It was a very real risk.
"So, you're saying your oldest daughter found Kara," Kara said, trying to shift the conversation back to the intended purpose, as interested as she was on hearing about how Eliza came to work here.
Eliza answered with a smile at the other girl's eagerness. She had to have been a version of Kara, or at least related to her.
"Yes, my oldest daughter, Carol, she found Kara's pod crashed down on the ground, right outside of our garden," Eliza said. "She brought her inside, and the poor girl was shaken….rightfully so because she lost everything and everyone she held dear."
Kara gave a sad smile at the thought of that. She had been down that particular road and adjusting he been a very hard thing to do. She figured the same would happen for the younger Kara.
"It took her a while to come to terms with what happened, and also….it took some time to reassure her that Kal-El was fine," Eliza said. "I should have pressed Virgil to arrange a meeting but….I knew he might not have budged….because he wanted to protect your privacy and let you grow up for as long as possible until your destiny could not be avoided."
Patricia looked towards Eliza and put a hand on the older woman's shoulder.
"I'm certain my father would have made an exception, given the circumstances," Patricia said. "He wasn't completely cold….even if he grew distant in those later years."
Patricia recalled, very sadly, the lack of times she had any kind of substantial interaction with her father over those last couple of years. The times could be counted on one hand, and still, have fingers left over. It was an unfortunate tragedy the two of them didn't completely come to peace with each other.
"I have a picture of her in my office if you'd like to see her," Eliza said.
"That'd be great," Clark said.
Eliza walked the short distance down the hallway to her office. The door opened and there was a bit of clutter, folders, and various notes on the desk. Eliza smiled when moving over towards a photo. A photo showed a trio of girls. One of them was a very tall blonde with a good figure, who looked to be older than the other two girls. The second girl was a dark haired girl who looked to have been dragged into the photo by her youngest sister and had a slight scowl on her face, although it threatened to break into half of a smile.
The third girl wore glasses and a rather goofy smile. She looked to be about fifteen, or sixteen years ago, the legal definition of adorkable.
"Yes, that's her," Kara said. "That's most definitely her."
A few new memories trickled in Kara's mind and resulted in a throbbing of her temples.
"I ended up in the future and had to return…to protect both of you…at least in this timeline," Kara said. "It's really…strange."
"It is," Clark said. "So, can we meet her?"
"We'll arrange something," Eliza said. "Kara would like to meet her cousin….both of them."
Eliza also thought her other two daughters would have liked to meet Clark as well, even if it was for slightly different reasons than Kara did.
Tess Mercer wanted a drink and it was barely ten in the morning. She walked down the hallway, Indy walking off to her side, and putting some more notes in her arms.
"Are you sure this is everything this time?" Tess asked.
Indy answered with a nod. She also slipped a cup of coffee into Tess's hands. Test just smiled, appreciating the cup of coffee in her hand, but also considering some other things.
"I could have done with something a little bit stronger this morning," Tess said. "But, I suppose coffee would do."
Tess almost forgot what it was like to run a business, especially one which had been veering dangerously close to the red due to Lionel and Lex's various obsessions. The Board demanded answers yesterday, and they were going to put Tess out into the line of fire to try and get them. They thought she was a soft target, boy were they in for a shock when things were all said and done.
"I think you need to keep your wits about yourself, ma'am," Indy said. "And yes, I can tell you with one hundred and twelve percent certainty all of the information you need, including all of the information we've dug up on the various members of the board are here."
Tess answered. She only had one further thing to say before stepping inside of the Board Room.
'Let's do this."
Tess walked into the Boardroom, coming across the old boys club, sitting around the table with shrewd looks on their face. Shrewd might not have been the best way to put their looks. Smug might have been an even better way to describe them.
'Just wait until we're done here today. Those smug looks will be replaced by something else pretty quickly. You'd look more like someone who has been force-fed lemons by the time I'm done with you.'
The members of the Board Directors all stared Tess down when the time had passed. One of the bolder members, who had taken a seat at the head of the table, smiled at her.
"Ms. Mercer, I'm so glad you can make it here today."
"Yes, Mr. Jacobs, I'm certain you're thrilled," Tess said. "You're so thrilled in fact, you're keeping my seat nice and warm for me. But, why don't you get out of my chair, and take a seat of your own."
The man, Jacobs, rose from his chair, like a puppy being reprimanded by his master. The other members of the Board laughed when the man made his way to a chair far from prominence. Tess took a second to settle herself down on the chair across from the man and kick back, relaxed and smiling in response.
"I'm not going to lie, Luthorcorp has seen better days," Tess said. "And I'm coming into this company, where it's about ready to perform at its fourth money-losing quarter in the world."
"It's all down to Lionel, and then Lex Luthor," one of the board members said. "I would have warned them that it was going to sink this company if they kept putting their money into pursuits that were a bit further away from Earth."
Tess could have scoffed. She doubted very much these people would have been so bold, had Lex actually been here in the flesh. Her feeling grew pretty strong the more she looked at these men. They gave the sense of people who tried to cover their own asses.
"Well, they're no longer here, as they're both on an extended sabbatical," Tess said. "So, we need to figure out what it's going to take to earn more money and to get us out of this hole."
"Ms. Mercer, if I can be honest with you for one minute," a member of the board said.
Tess could have smirked and maybe even laughed a little bit. A member of the LuthorCorp Board of Directors being honest for any reason most certainly would have been a first. She waved the man off to continue, so he did, plunging into his explanation.
"We need to form a partnership with a reputable company, one who has commanded a great deal of respect," the member of the Board of Directors said. "A company which needs a fresh angle as well, and where the two companies combined would be greater than any solo effort from any company. We can raise the profiles of both companies, and assure investors we're willing to go along to explore new angles."
The redhead businesswoman lifted a cup of coffee and calmly drank from it. Buried inside all of the corporate double talk, there was a pretty good angle if she had to say so herself.
"Well, I hope you didn't come to this meeting just to blow smoke up my ass and had some good ideas," Tess said.
The man nodded so quickly, Tess thought his head was going to fall off.
"Well, I thought….we could try and form a deal with Queen Industries…."
"Queen Industries?" Jacobs asked, finally finding his tongue. "Are you trying to send this company further into the red? Sure, it's undergone some bold new directions, but we both know it's not going to last."
The man who offered the idea sat up and looked very bold. Tess didn't say anything, more wanting to see how this little conversation progressed.
"All I've been hearing from you is criticism about every decision I make," the man said. "If you think you're so smart, Mr. Jacobs, then why don't you actually contribute something productive to this meeting?"
Tess whistled, very amused with how this particular situation was going to end up.
"Well, fine, I'll have an idea, and again I'm going to have to save this company," Jacobs said. "Wayne Enterprises is the better company if you want to make a solid deal….let's give a minority share to them, and see what magic they can make."
"Wayne, are you…you want to do business with a company based out of Gotham City?"
Tess listened to the board members squabbling. As amusing as listening to them yip at each other like dogs going after the same bone, such behavior did not conduct to business.
"Why not both?" Tess asked. "I'll make the necessary calls, and see what I can do to make something happen."
Tess needed to make the necessary moves, with both Lex and Lionel indisposed. The Board would follow her if they knew what was good for their continued existence.
Lois took a second to really take in the beautiful woman before her. There were a lot of things Lois could just take in stride because those were just the curveballs life threw someone. One of the things which were hard to take, though, was the fact Clark Kent, of all people, knew an actual living breathing Amazon Princess.
Diana dressed in a pair of tight spandex shorts and a tight white top. Lois watched her bend over and tried to not to look. Every now and then some mysterious force dragged Lois's eyes towards that very well shaped ass of the Amazon Princess.
Lois walked over, dressed in some tight yoga pants, and a black tank top. Her dark hair had been tied up in a ponytail. Lois tried to keep pace with Diana, but she wondered if that really was a good idea because of how fit the Amazon Princess was.
Diana smiled, Lois's attempts to keep the pace with her workout almost caused the Amazon Princess to break out into a smile.
"It's a beautiful day," Diana said.
"Yes, not an alien invasion to be seen, well at least one I can see anyway," Lois said.
Lois tried to tear her eyes away from Diana's posterior. It had been very eye catching, to be honest. The woman was a pinnacle of beauty, and Lois's heart had gone aflutter. It was very mind-blowing, to be honest.
"It still blows me away," Lois muttered to herself.
Diana could barely hide the smile. She stretched out further and held the stretch, showing the flexibility which had been trained through many years of constant practice. It did not come easily, but Diana thought it came in handy.
"What blows you away?"
Lois almost grew red, Diana really wasn't supposed to hear what she was saying. It was only fortunate Lois didn't say anything more incriminating than she already did.
"Um, well, the fact that Clark of all people, he knows a living breathing Amazon Princess," Lois said. "It's just weird…how things like this happen."
Diana answered with a smile. She was willing to accept this particular answer from the younger girl at least for now.
"You seem to be having a bit of an interest in what Clark's up to," Diana said. "Or rather you've spent a lot of time thinking about it."
"Well, yeah, he's…well, I can't really figure him out sometimes," Lois said. "I mean, he's pretty frustrating to figure out. You really want to bang your head against the wall to try and figure him out. It's almost frustrating. But….I don't know, he shouldn't be this interesting, but he is."
Diana smiled when turning towards Lois. She placed a hand on the younger girl's shoulder.
"You do seem interested in him," Diana said. Lois looked about ready to protest, but Diana just smiled. "Aren't you?"
Lois tried to feign confusion, even though the look on her face betrayed her otherwise. "You and Kara have been talking together, haven't you?"
Diana feigned innocence. Lois just looked amused by that particular look.
"Do you like him, or not?" Diana asked.
"Well, it's not as much as I like him, it's more like I tolerate him…fine, yeah, he's fine, as in he hasn't annoyed me, too much," Lois said. "But, at the same time, he's annoyed me a lot, if that makes any sense."
Diana flickered into a smile when looking at Lois. Oh believe her, it did make a whole lot of sense when thinking about where Lois was coming from.
"You never know what you're missing until you actually go for it," Diana said.
"What do you think I should do?" Lois asked.
Diana hated that question, for the simple fact, it was pretty loaded. She didn't want to give Lois any bad advice which would cause problems. The Amazon Princess decided to give the same general advice she always received. Hippolyta gave Diana this advice.
"Just follow your instincts, and don't second guess what your heart truly wants," Diana said.
Lois placed her hands down and sighed. She was almost afraid Diana was going to say something like that. She spent a lot of the last couple of weeks trying to figure out what to do. Kara and Diana asked some questions which pierced her armor and made it extremely frustrating.
'Emotions, they're never easy,' Lois thought.
Lois tried to shut herself off because of the abandonment issues suffered at an early age. You don't raise those expectations, there were no real problem for them, at least that's what Lois suspected.
A familiar car pulled up the driveway of the Kent Residence. Lois looked outside, frowning in response. No, that really couldn't have bene who she thought it was, could it?
'No way…of all of the times for her to show up.'
Lois walked down the steps and came face to face with her sister. Lucy stood in the driveway and gave Lois a smile. Lois didn't return the smile.
Diana stepped out to get the closer look. The Amazon Princess saw the tell-tale signs of two sisters who had a lot of tension with each other. Boy, did she ever live that a lot of the time.
'Well, this could get awkward,' Diana thought.
"What are you doing here, Lucy?" Lois asked.
Lucy answered with a winning spike, one which Lois didn't buy for a moment. The older Lane sister stared down the younger one.
"Do I really need a reason to visit my favorite older sister?" Lucy asked.
Lois knew from Lucy's jaunty demeanor something was up. The last time Lucy came into town, she brought trouble. Lois wondered if the General even knew she snuck away from wherever she was to come for a visit.
"Aren't you supposed to be….."
"Bored, figured I'd get some country air, and visit you," Lucy said.
Lois tried to receive some assistance from Diana. Diana responded by shrugging in Lois's general direction and smiling as if to say she was Lois's sister and she would have to deal with it.
'Okay, why are you really here, Lucy?'
The visit to Star Labs had been a very productive one. Kara and Clark returned to the Fortress.
"So, we're finally going to meet her," Kara said. "I'm going to have to apologize for not being there for her…"
Clark reached in and grabbed Kara's hand, smiling, before squeezing it. Kara relaxed underneath the strong grip of his hand.
"There were circumstances, explain them to her, and I'm sure she'll understand," Clark said.
Kara answered with a nod. The two of them made their way to the Fortress.
"So, we're going to visit them for dinner," Kara said. "And Eliza has two other daughters….it might be interesting for you to meet them as well."
Clark answered with a smile. He knew, without a shadow of a doubt, what Kara drove out. She encouraged him to expand the group as much as possible. Clark didn't disagree, but he wanted to look at these people as much as they could.
"Oh, and….I think to cut down on confusion, when I'm with the younger Kara, you should use the name I used in the future," Kara said. "Karen Starr, remember?"
"Yes, I do indeed," Clark said.
"If you wanted one of us to come to bed, it might be confusing if neither of us knew who you were talking to," Kara answered with a smile. "Of course, if you wanted both of us…actually, we might get some signals crossed even anyway. And no one likes confusion in the bedroom."
Clark could have laughed, seeing her point. The two of them stepped into the Fortress.
"She's a bit too young, by at least a couple of years," Kara said. "Get her time, and she'll…mature."
Clark swore Kara purposely folding her arms underneath her chest to empathize a certain point, and Clark got it. Clark leaned and kissed Kara on the lips. The older version of Kara responded with another long kiss.
The two of them entered the Fortress, and Clark had been caught by a rather enticing sight, one which made him wonder if he should consider it enticing. Lara dressed in a sheer black top with her nipples poking out, along with a pair of see through black panties, stockings, and a garter belt. She walked across the Fortress, her toned, tanned body on display.
"Mother….."
"Clark, you're back just in time for me to begin another lesson for you," Lara said.
Lara wrapped her arms around Clark's muscular chest and squeezed him in close. She was pleased to feel him harden against her.
"It's about how to properly take care and tend to a pet," Lara whispered in her son's ear.
Lara led Clark into the next room to show him a very enticing looking sight. Raya sprawled out on the bed, dressed in next to nothing. Lara tied her spread eagle, she had been gagged. A couple of toys lied on the table, and they were sopping wet. Clark could tell Lara already had her fun.
"She did tell you she had been bred to serve the House of El?" Lara asked.
Kara looked towards Raya with a smile. The fluids rolling down her thighs proved the woman's arousal.
Clark turned from Raya to Kara and Lara. The two women already melded together into a steamy embrace which melted even the coldest region. Both of them kissed each other, their tongues melding against each other.
Raya looked up at Clark as he approached her. The Kryptonian's heart beat when she saw the outline of his package on the other side of his tight leather pants.
'Take me, Kal-El,' she tried to will to him.
"Here, let us help you, and get you nice and ready for her."
Lara dropped to her knees in front of Clark and pulled out his nice large cock. She wanted a piece of him for a long time, and she did intend to take a more hands-on approach with all aspects of his training. Lara rubbed Clark's large throbbing shaft which caused him to twitch.
Clark could not believe his mother stroked his cock.
"Don't worry, I know there are taboos to this sort of thing on some parts of Earth," Lara said. She licked his head. "But, It just makes it all that much more exciting, wouldn't you agree?"
Clark couldn't really argue with his mother on this one. Lara leaned in and wrapped her hungry lips around Clark's throbbing hard penis. The beautiful blonde Kryptonian sucked Clark's rock hard cock and fondled his balls. She really did an excellent job in simulation pleasure.
Kara crawled between Raya's legs. The Kryptonian survivor placed her hands on Raya's thighs and looked down towards her with a predatory smile crossing over her face.
"While Lara prepares Clark, I think I should prepare you a little bit more. Because otherwise, it might hurt."
Raya dripped wet. Kara didn't really think much more hurt, to be honest. She bent down and forced her tongue between Raya's lips and tasted her. Kara licked Raya to get her nice and wet so Clark could just as easily slide his big cock inside of her.
Clark grabbed Lara's head and thrust deep into her mouth. The smacking of Lara's lips around him made Clark throb. He pushed closer to her throat, groaning every time she swirled her tongue around him.
Lara gave a few more hungry sucks and pulled off of him.
"We wouldn't want you to cum, just yet," Lara said. "Let's make her wait for a little bit, I want a piece of this handsome thing, and I want it now."
Lara grabbed Clark and shoved him down on the bed. Clark could feel Lara's ripe round breasts push against his face when she ground against his crotch. It just made him throb even more.
"Oh, that feels hard," Lara said. She kissed Clark on the side of the neck. "Don't worry honey, Mommy will take care of you."
"Damn, you're so…you feel so good."
Lara missed her old body sometimes, but she had to admit, this new one did the trick nicely. So young, so supple, so firm, and she could tell Clark appreciated it. He squeezed her breasts when sinking down on them.
Raya could see Lara impale herself down on Kal-El's large cock. Kara made sure most of Raya's attention was on her, licking her out.
Clark enjoyed the warm sensations of his mother driving her dripping hot cunt down on his engorged rod. He lifted up to caress Lara's tits when she rose and fell on them. He could feel her cum for her.
"This is your fault, I can't resist," Clark managed.
Lara encouraged Clark to attack her breasts, to suckle on them.
"We're just making up for…lost family bonding," Lara moaned.
Kara ate out Raya and the stifled moans coming from the woman made Kara increase her motions. She could feel something brush against her nether lips. Lara fingered her with victor while bouncing up and down on Clark from the other end.
Lara rose and fell on her son. An orgasm spread over her body when coming down on Clark's pelvis. Her son sucked on her breasts and sent further tingles through Lara's body.
"Oooh, this is good," Lara moaned. "I need more….but….I can wait until later….as I think Kara needs you, so why don't you go over and fuck her?"
Lara pulled away from Clark and released his cock. She leaned down and kissed it a couple more times. It twitched up to meet her lips.
Clark pulled away from Lara, with slight regret. Regret only lasted for so long when Clark found his way towards Kara. He pushed apart her lips and slipped inside her.
"I've missed this pussy," Clark groaned.
Kara was too busy eating Raya out, otherwise, she would have made a comment how much she missed him as well. Regardless, Kara tried to encourage Clark the best she could.
Lara ripped Raya's gag off of her and smiled. "You're going to get a brief taste of where my son's cock has been before he rams it into you."
Raya accepted Lara's gift when she sat on her face. The Kryptonian reached up and started to massage Lara's legs while Lara pushed down on her. Raya slipped her tongue inside Lara with practiced ease.
"Good thing you didn't forget your duties to the House of El," Lara commented.
Lara enjoyed the tongue being rammed deep inside her pussy. Raya really knew her way around and all of the spots which Lara liked. They were slightly different with this new body, but Lara remembered what she liked.
Kara only had half of an idea at the debauchery going on right across from her line of sight. She could only focus on two things right now. The first was the sweet, and savory sensation she got from eating out Raya's pussy. It tasted so good, she could barely describe the goodness without gushing.
The other thing was Clark's huge cock drilling into her repeatedly. Her pussy clutched around him. Clark just kept driving himself into her like a well-oiled piston. Every time those heavy balls slammed into Kara, she thought she would come undone with more pleasure then she could encounter.
Clark enjoyed the contractions around him. He spurred on to delve deeper into Kara. A couple more thrusts brought her to another orgasm. Clark grabbed Kara and thrust deeper into her.
Lara smiled and waited for Kara's latest orgasm to be ridden out.
"It's time."
Clark understood and pulled out of Kara which caused her to sigh. Kara rolled over onto the bed, and Lara slid off of Raya's face to join her.
Raya's face dripped with Lara's juices. She looked up to see Clark approach her. His long cock dragged against the smoothness of her belly when he leaned over and kissed her on the lips. The two exchanged heated passions.
Clark broke the kiss, and Raya looked up at him. She still had been secured to the bed.
"Kal, I need you," Raya said. "Please, give me everything….so I can make you happy."
Clark ran a hand down Raya's soft leg and smiled before positioning himself at the front entrance. One solid thrust resulted in Clark submerging deep inside her. And she was really tight.
"You're perfect."
Raya appreciated this particular sentiment from her lover when he plunged inside her. Her hips moved up to meet Clark when he thrust inside her.
"Yes, thank you," Raya said. "Please, give me more...I can take as much as you give me, please!"
Raya tried to encourage Clark as much as she could when tied to the bed. Clark drank in the sight of her body, and his eyes on her, treating her like a desirable commodity made Raya shiver.
Lara leaned down onto Kara on the bed and the two of them exchanged a long kiss with each other. Their pussies scissored together. Lara kissed and nibbled on Kara's neck. Kara responded by gripping onto every inch of the skin.
Kara leaned back on the bed and could feel Lara's intense work over her. Lara knew how to stimulate all the nerve ending.
"Yes, mmm, I forgot how much I enjoyed this."
"Well, it's nice to have a reminder now and then," Lara said.
She sucked the little spot between Kara's ear and really got her motor running. Lara made sure Kara could feel everything, and Kara responded in kind, hitting all of those pleasure spots on Lara.
Raya focused only on the cock of her former employer's son driving into her womanly depths. Her wet pussy squeezed Clark's invading rod when he rode inside of her. The sound of hot flesh against hot flesh increased with each passing thrust inside her. Raya almost lost it around him, cumming hard.
Clark appreciated the first of many orgasms. He sped up the thrusts, feeling the load which built a steady bit of momentum from his balls. He thrust inside her.
Raya tensed and stretched around him. He pounded Raya with more fury. The bursts of pleasure shot through Raya's entire body. Raya wished she could wrap her legs around Kal-El and squeeze him.
"You've done so well," Clark said. "You're going to serve me well…go ahead, cum for me again."
Raya didn't argue or be denied. The latest orgasm was even more intense than all of the ones which came before it. Clark rode it out with even more vigor than before. All Raya could do was take him inside her.
"You're amazing," Raya said.
Clark drove himself into Raya. The muscles tensed up and it was getting close to time.
"Who do you belong to?" Clark asked.
"I belong to Kal-El and his mates...I live to serve them!" Raya yelled.
The servant succumbed to Clark's deep thrusts. Her words and clenched pussy made Clark finally lose it and send his immense load inside Raya's wet, dripping pussy.
Raya's womb filled up with Clark's cum, burying inside of her. She breathed heavily with Clark submerging himself inside her, filling her completely up with his seed. It was a thrill she never thought she had.
Clark pulled out of Raya and immediately, Lara and Kara pounced on him, cleaning his cock up with their tongues. It twitched back to life with the hot tongues and lips of the two beautiful blondes.
No, he was not done, not today, and Clark was perfectly fine with that
Chapter Twenty-Six: New Flames Part One.
A little gas station at the edge of Smallville was owned by an old man who had seen a lot in his time. He had lived through two meteor showers, but even before then, there were a lot of strange folks rolling into town. The man's eagle eyes could see a lot. He looked towards one of the patrons who moved away, getting some supplies he needed. The two men locked eye to eye with each other.
"Going to be a quiet day, isn't it?" the younger man asked cheerfully.
The older man responded with a very obvious chuckle. Some of the younger ones were very naïve, unfortunately.
"Son, there's no such thing as a quiet day here in Smallville," the older man commented. "You remember that when you go out there, it won't steer you wrong either."
The young man shrugged, paying for his gas and purchases. He hoped for some peace and quiet. Generations after generations of his family lived in Smallville, and it had never been this strange, to be honest. The young man walked outside of the gas station and almost stopped. Two uniformed men stood up in front of him. They wore matching scowls on their face.
"Um, good morning to you, fine sirs," the young man said.
The young man received nothing, other than some pretty cold stares for his politeness. He just shrugged and pulled himself out of the way. It looked like they were going somewhere, but where that was the question. There were a lot of weird vibes the younger man received from these particular gentlemen.
'Maybe the old man was right, maybe there is no such thing as a normal day in Smallville.'
A bus pulled up across the street. The man didn't really pay the bus much attention until he saw someone get off of the bus. The young man's attention fixated on a young redhead who exited the bus. Flaming red hair had been pinned back and she wore sunglasses. A nice leather jacket came on her body, along with a tank top, and tight leather pants.
Really tight leather pants, to the point where the young man found himself fixated on a certain part of the woman's body when she turned around. The man turned around and reminded himself of the fact he had a wife.
A wife who didn't fit tight leather pants as well as this hot young thing, but a wife never the less. The young man made his way to the car and stole one last glance towards the woman. The woman appeared to be looking for something. She didn't have much other than the clothes on her back.
The young man took a deep breath and tried to calm down when the woman passed. His heart started to beat heavier.
'Easy there, Tiger, this is the type of woman who would have laughed in your face if you tried to ask you out to the prom.'
The man looked towards the woman, and despite her cocky self-assured demeanor when getting off of the bus, there was something about her which seemed rather off. Her eyes darted about looking for something. The young man watched to see where those particular eyes fell and realized they fell upon the two uniformed men in the gas station.
Those same men who gave this young man shivers. They were cold and unfeeling, almost as if they did not have a soul.
'Don't really blame her to be honest. They don't have any sense of humor at all…and they're just standing around…..what are they up to anyway?'
The young man offered one more distressed look and got into his car. He thought about offering the young woman a ride but thought better of it. He backed out and left the gas station behind as quickly as possible.
'It's really sad to think this is going to be the most exciting part of my day.'
The redhead woman watched, nervously looking over. She saw a family exiting the gas station. The woman offered them a nervous smile.
"Excuse me, where is Johnson County?" she asked. "I have some friends there who I want to meet…they're not just the best in giving directions."
"Oh, that's an easy one," the wife said. "You just take this road and keep going south, until you reach King's Pass, and then you turn West, and then keep driving until you reach the signs. You can't miss it."
The woman responded with a nod, feeling grateful. Every few seconds, a look of nervousness passed over the woman's shoulder.
"Great, thanks," the woman said.
There was a moment of awkward silence between the two women, with the older woman noticing the redhead looking around a bit nervously. She took a moment to grab the girl by the arm. The girl almost jumped ten feet at first, but relaxed her stance and turned towards the woman.
"You're not in trouble, are you, dear?" the wife asked.
Trying not to jump high in the air, the woman answered with a smile.
"No, I'm not in trouble…it's just….well there's a storm coming," the redhead commented.
The youngest of them, a male, likely the son of the family, decided to pop off at this point. "Yeah, let's hope it's not a meteor storm or something. We don't need any more of those in Smallville!"
The boy's mother looked at him with one of those looks. This particular young man wilted underneath the burning gaze of his mother, having said so much, so soon.
"Well, if you're sure, you don't need any help," the oldest man, the father of the family said.
"No, I'm good…you better get home, you wouldn't want to be caught out in the middle of what was happening."
The redhead woman watched the family leave. It really was the story of her life, seeing people come and go just like that. She waited for them to leave and turned her attention towards the men in the uniforms off in the distance. They had not spotted her, at least not yet. The woman wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible. The cat and mouse game continued.
'I've got to keep going.'
The two men in the gas station turned towards her and were about ready to move out. One of them spotted her.
'Well, so much for staying under the radar.'
The woman mentally complained about sticking around. She charged about as far away from the gas station as possible. These men were not going to back off. In fact, they followed her from behind, in hot pursuit. The woman lifted her hand and concentrated on what needed to be done.
Flames flickered off of the hand of the redhead. They grew hotter before a fireball shot into the air.
"FREEZE!"
The woman shot the fireball and bolted in the other direction from where the fireball connected. A gas explosion came up and caught the two uniformed men.
The women kept running, slipping down a side road in the confusion. If she made it to the corn field, she would have a chance to ditch them. At least for now, but there would be others.
'This is my life, for the past five years.'
The sounds of a car starting up only made the woman run off of the road and deep into a field. She hoped these men could be lost in the underbrush of the cornfield.
X-X-X
Clark returned after business had been concluded at the Fortress of Solitude. The moment he dropped down, he came across a very smug looking, smiling Diana. Clark had never seen her look so amused.
"So, what's up?" Clark asked.
Diana smiled and motioned for Clark to come over. There was some kind of feeling about something weird happening.
"Oh, Lois's younger sister just stopped by for a visit," Diana said. "And it's made her…well, kind of uncomfortable."
"Lucy, she's back in town?" Clark asked.
Clark could have very easily seen why Lois was very uncomfortable in this situation. The last time Lucy rolled into town, there was trouble following her. Clark was going to keep on his toes and see what kind of trouble this particular visit brought now.
'Lois and Lucy together in the same place, there are going to be some trouble.'
"Yes," Diana said. "I guess I can see where Lois is coming from. No matter how much you love your little sister, there are times where she can annoy you. Especially when you have a responsibility to look out for her, and she does things which gets her into trouble."
Clark figured Diana spoke from plenty of experience. The two of them made their way over to the farm house. The moment they walked around the corner, Lucy marched over. Lois walked about half behind Lucy, practically dragging her feet in an attempt to walk over.
"Clark Kent, there you are," Lucy said. "Oh, it's so great to see you…it's been so long….have you been working out?"
Lucy reached over and caressed Clark's bicep with a smile on her face. The younger Lane sister looked quite shameless with what she was doing, how she practically felt up Clark. Clark looked towards Lois, who was about ready to spit fire. Clark had no idea what she acted this way. Maybe it was because Lucy acted so shameless, but Clark said it was for other reasons.
Diana gave a sympathetic smile towards Lois, which just had fallen on deaf ears.
"Oh, all of those farm chores have made you filled out, nice and firm," Lucy said. "I bet someone like you can go all day long, and all night long."
Lucy smiled when pulling back from Clark and winked at him. Clark just responded with a nod and a violent smile.
"It's good to see you again, Lucy," Clark said. "You've been staying out of trouble?"
Lucy laughed. "About as much as I can."
Slowly, the younger sister turned around to face off against the older sister. Lois's scowl looked very obvious, and Lucy just gave a shifty little smirk.
"So, Lois, have you actually pulled your head out of your ass, and asked Clark out yet?" Lucy asked.
"Lucy, I don't see why that's any of your business, who I ask out," Lois said.
"So, I take that as a no," Lucy responded. "You really don't know what you're missing, do you?"
Lois responded with a frown. She had been dealing with some mixed feelings with Clark. Regardless of whether or not she wanted to see where anything with Clark would go, it didn't give Lucy any excuse to tart herself in front of Clark like a shameless little tease. Lois balled her fists up.
"Hey, Clark, I want to ask you something, since Lois obviously doesn't have the nerve to," Lucy said. "Lois said she was busy and didn't want to go into the city…for a night out…so I was wondering if you would do me the honor of escorting me into town?"
Clark looked at the girl, who was looking up at him with the most prominent of puppy dog eyes.
"I don't know….."
Lucy responded with a whimpering whine and grabbed Clark's hand briefly.
"Please, Clark," Lucy said. "You can show me around, and help keep me out of trouble….or maybe we can find some trouble to get into…together."
A knowing smile crossed towards Lucy's face. She could see Lois gnash her teeth.
"Actually, I have nothing else planned," Clark said. "I'm sure I can spare a couple of hours for you."
"Great, thanks, Clark, you're amazing!" Lucy squealed, grabbing him around the neck with a hug and kissing him on the cheek.
Lois's eyes shifted over, and Lucy appeared to be dragging Clark off already. The dark haired woman looked towards the two of them leaving.
"Well, it looks like the competitive spirit between sisters is alive and well," Diana said.
"He deserves better than her," Lois said.
Diana answered with a chuckle in response and leaned closer towards Lois.
"Right," Diana said. "Do you think you can do something for me, and tell me how a normally fearless woman like yourself is scared to death of asking someone out on a date?"
Lois turned around and watched Clark and Lucy get into the car Lucy had rented, likely "borrowed" knowing her sister. The two of them disappeared into the night in Metropolis. Lois clenched her fist.
"Remember, you could have acted first," Diana said. "Maybe you can learn something from your younger sister."
There was nothing other than teeth gnashing on Lois's part. Lucy was just shameless, no sense of being subtle at all. And she was throwing herself at Clark, really shameless.
Lex Luthor sat in the cell and just waited for the moment to happen once more. The accommodations of this particular place weren't exactly the worst. They weren't exactly the best, but they were far from the worst. Lex kicked back in the cell and frowned when waiting to see what was going to happen next.
The sounds of the footsteps came down the hallway. Lex leaned back and checked the clock.
'That time already?' Lex thought to himself.
The form of Hugo Strange could be seen on the other side of the door. He walked towards Lex and pulled out the usual seat on the clear wall separating them. Lex only looked Strange straight in the eye.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Luthor," Strange said.
"Good afternoon, Professor Strange," Lex said. "You're right on time, as usual."
Strange nodded from the response given to him by the young man. Their conversations ended up in the same routine manner, which wasn't really a problem, to be honest. Strange found during his years of studies that a routine was the best way to exhibit trust with a patience.
"I have to be right on time because these conversations are needed to piece together your mind from what you've been through," Strange said. "And I think we've found during these conversations, you've been through a lot."
Lex nodded at Strange's words.
'At least he doesn't ask how I am anymore. Those questions were always infuriating.'
"But, yet, there are certain parts of your memory which are gone," Strange said. "I've found that people who are trying to escape the trauma of past failures find a way to erase certain parts of their memories."
The bald heir just stared at Strange. He heard a version of these words every single time they mate. Strange fished for information. Lex refused to give the doctor any more satisfaction.
"Let's face it, Mr. Luthor, you're in pretty sound mind," Strange said.
Lex laughed at Strange's statement. He did not believe for a single minute this diagnosis was spot on. "I may be in sound mind, and yet I'm still sitting in this cell. Surely, you can understand why this is a problem."
Strange lifted one hand and looked at Lex. The seconds on the clock kept ticking by.
"You didn't let me finish, my friend," Strange said. "Yes, you're in sound mind, but there are a few things which are still wrong with your mind. Namely, the fact you still have an unfortunate fixation on one man."
"No, wait, let me guess," Lex said. "You want to talk to me about Clark Kent, don't you?"
Lex figured they were going to get to this subject in a roundabout way.
'And people think I'm obsessed with Clark.'
"He does tend to be a common topic of conversation," Strange said. "And there's so much of his life, which has been tied to yours. You would have died in an accident five years ago if he hadn't saved you. You're intertwined in this way."
Lex thought Strange was being a bit rich in talking about the obsession he was supposed to have with Clark. Given, the doctor made most of the comments about Clark and kept talking about it.
"And the fact you're missing these three days is preventing you from coming to terms," Strange said. "And I wonder how much more could you be repressing."
"Are you certain you want to delve deeper into my mind, Professor?" Lex asked. "I don't want to delve deeper into my mind….there are things which the human mind was never meant to comprehend."
Strange made a note on the pad of paper, and Lex just sighed.
'Demonstrates the subconscious thoughts needed to understand something happened but refuses to acknowledge what happened on a conscious level.'
"I have one thing to suggest, and I want you to give it serious consideration," Strange said. "I believe these memories could be useful…..and could give you closure. And if you have closure, I can arrange for you to get out of here."
Lex figured whoever was paying Strange to keep him here, it must have been more than enough for Strange to keep him here. The reminder of his father sitting at the end of the cell made him wonder who exactly was paying to keep him here, if not Lionel.
Did the LuthorCorp Board of Directors really have that much ambition to keep both Luthors committed? Granted, Lionel really did deserve to be in there, even though Lex didn't. Lex refused to believe anything he did could have put them there.
"I believe the best case would be to perform hypnosis," Strange said.
Lex had been curious to see Strange's angle from this situation. Just because Strange was a doctor, it didn't mean Lex had to trust him one hundred percent of the way. He almost touched the clear wall but thought better of it. Lex wanted to leave as few fingerprints about as possible. He managed to scrub his dishes clean of all fingerprints before they had been collected from his cell.
"There are thoughts in my mind which shouldn't be brought back up," Lex said. "I want you to think about that very carefully."
The good doctor responded with a long nod.
"Yes, I'm well aware of that, Mr. Luthor. But I would like to consider it…and perhaps sleep on it."
"Sleep, trust me, I don't see the allure of seeing what's in the depths of this disturbed mind."
"Very well, Alexander," Strange said. "Do give my suggestion some consideration."
Clark Kent almost laughed at the force of Lucy dragging him. He was supposed to be showing her around, but it appeared Lucy had a pretty good idea of where to go. Or at least some kind of sixth sense of where the excitement was.
"It seems to me like you've been here a couple of times," Clark said.
"Nah, a good girl like me likes to stay out of trouble," Lucy said. "But, maybe, I can be a bad girl sometimes…and maybe I need a nice strong man to give me a spanking."
Lucy wasn't being exactly too subtle of what she wanted. Clark watched her walk into the bar. The pair of jeans made Lucy very fetching, and every time she moved, the top she wore showed several enticing inches of skin. Clark watched when she walked off, way too much.
'I wonder how many girls are too many.'
Clark shook his head. He wondered if Lucy was just using this opportunity to get under Lois's skin, and the skin of her father as well.
'Her father, that reminds me,' Clark thought.
"Lucy, can I ask you something?"
Lucy smiled and leaned forward to make sure her cleavage shamelessly was positioned in front of Clark's line of sight. It was very hard for him not to look at the cleavage which had been positioned in front of his eyes.
'Easy, Clark, she's just….a rather beautiful young woman who obviously is not being subtle about the fact she wants to get in your pants.'
"Anything, Clark, you can ask me to do anything, and I might say yes," Lucy said.
"I want…does the General know you're in Smallville?" Clark asked.
Lucy looked towards Clark, frowning. She did a pretty good imitation of Lois when frowning at him. So much so, Lucy must have realized it and came back into a very calm tone.
"Clark, don't worry about him, let's worry about us…whoop!"
Lucy dropped her wallet when getting it out. She bent over, in front of Clark. Clark modestly tried to look away from her, although it was hard for any man or woman not to appreciate the view.
"Let's worry about the fun we can get up to together," Lucy said. "I'll get you a drink…you look something to loosen up."
"I should be the one to buy you a drink," Clark argued.
Lucy giggled and leaned towards Clark, before kissing him on the cheek one more time. She leaned towards him.
"Clark, it's the 21st century, a girl should be able to buy a guy a drink," Lucy said. "Besides, you agreed to come here with me, and keep me out of trouble…the least I can do is buy you a drink."
Lucy smiled and walked off, swaying her hips. It was getting harder and harder for Clark to look away.
The door opened and Clark caught sight of a redhead entering the bar. She dressed in a pair of eye-catching tight leather pants, a white top stretching over a fairly large chest, and a leather jacket. She wore a pair of sunglasses, although, for a second, Clark could see the woman's eyes on him.
The woman looked to have been giving Clark a long look as if checking him out. The moment Clark properly noticed her, she turned away.
"Sorry, the line is pretty long," Lucy said. "Why don't the two of us dance?"
Clark looked towards Lucy, who answered with a smile. Lucy grabbed Clark and dragged him off onto the dance floor. She wrapped around Clark and pressed against his body.
"Oh, this is nice," Lucy said.
Clark couldn't really argue all that much. Lucy's hands got a little bit grabby until Clark gave her a stern look.
"Sorry, I couldn't help myself," Lucy said, not seeming too sorry at all.
There were moments like this where Clark could see Lucy and Lois as sisters, because of the similar snarky demeanor passing through at times.
The music outside of the club started to go faster and faster. Several people stumbled out of the club, some having a little bit too much to drink. One of them got into a fight with his buddy.
"Hey, hey, I can still see, so I can see drive!" one of the men yelled in response.
"No, you can't, you've had too much to drink," the man's buddy said. "Hand over the car keys, and hand them now….."
A flash of light came through the sky. A figure dressed in armor dropped down to the ground. The men all looked up, and they could see nothing other than a pair of glowing eyes looking from the other side of the door.
"Who are you?" the patron slurred.
"I am a hunter, and I'm here to collect all meteor mutants for my collection," the mysterious man said.
"Well, you should go all the way to Smallville there, that's where all of the freaks," one of the men said.
The man in question raised a hand and a blast of light flashed in distance.
"Do not lie, I see that they're there," the hunter said.
The hunter reached towards the door and casually blew the door off of the hinges. He walked into the club, the sounds which passed for entertainment. He needed to approach this situation.
One blast of the loudspeaker silenced it forever. A brief backlash went through the club. Everyone in the club turned their attention towards him.
"I'm known as the Preserver," the man in armor said. "And I've come to take away the Meteor Mutant. I suggest none of you get in my way."