Chapter Four: The World’s Our Oyster

Things were progressing well for Lex Luthor.

Despite the some minor set backs, his Section 33.1 project was back on track again and would be past the development stage in six months. He’d be ready for these ‘Kryptonians’ if they came back. Not if, Lex told himself, when. Too many of these aliens with unbelievable powers were appearing in his life lately and the last one had driven home the lesson that he needed to be ready for them. Dark Thursday still loomed in his mind like an ever present nightmare ready to happen again.

Watching the fire cackle in the fireplace, he took a moment to enjoy the present as he sat on the leather sofa, Lana Lang resting comfortably in the crook of his shoulder, watching the flames. If Milton Fine had wanted to know what fulcrum had turned Lex into the man he was now, the Construct needed to look no further than the young woman who had become the jewel of Lex’s life. Every step that Lex had taken to his point was driven by the need to be with this girl who had brought down his principles like Helen of had brought down the walls of Troy.

He regretted some things, the dissolution of his friendship with Clark, the understanding that his father’s teachings had been relevant to the man he wanted to be but these were minor and could not stand up to the weight of having her. She was carrying his child and poised to becoming his wife. There was even the added bonus of her tolerance to what he was doing, even if she didn’t understand the full scope of it. Lex knew what he had sacrificed to have Lana Lang.

He just didn’t know that the world would weep as well.

For now however, dark thought and evil futures were far away and he was with the woman he loved, holding her as they watched the fire burn, consumed in thoughts that neither would ever reveal to each other, living with the illusion of honesty. It was as close to perfection that Lex could expect.

Suddenly klaxons started screaming throughout the house. No sooner than Lex had reacted to the sound, doors burst open and his security team entered, brandishing guns as the lights around them died.

“What is it? What’s happening?” Lana demanded, clinging to his arm even though they had both stood up.

“Mr. Luthor, we have a breach,” Hawkins, the leader of the black, commando team explained. “We need to get you to the safe room now.”

“What’s the code?” Luthor demanded, wondering which one of his charges had escaped now.

“No code Sir,” the man replied and Lex saw something that chilled his blood as gunfire broke out not far away. “He’s not one…”

His sentence was cut short by a scream.

“Mr. Luthor, we need to go now!” Hawkins exclaimed reaching for Lex’s arm while this partner, did the same for Lana.

The gunfire grew louder as the screams continued, one after the other. And it was getting closer.

”We have to move,” Hawkins cast an apprehensive look behind him as other sounds began to rumble throughout the mansion along with gunfire and screaming. Glass shattering, what felt and sounded like collapsing mortar, a groan of steel. It created a cacophony of sound that could only mean destruction. “Now.”

Lex took Lana’s hand even as he was being herded towards the door, towards the safe room he was starting to have serious doubts would be able to protect them at all. They almost left the large parlor where Lex did most of his entertaining when the entire wall crumbled following a deafening roar. As brick and mortar continued to crumble, a body was flung through the opening, bloody and broken.

Lana let out of a scream of fright as two men stepped through the opening.

“Oliver?” Lex exclaimed with shock as he saw the tall, blond CEO of Queen Industries stepped through the ruptured wall, dusting off the collar of his dark suit with indifference and barely casting a glance at the man who was lying dead on the ground. However, Lex’s question stopped short when he saw who else was with him.

“Fine…”

Fine did not speak but Oliver took a step towards Lex.

“STOP WHERE YOU ARE!” Hawkins shouted, bringing a weapon to bear at the blond man.

Oliver did not stop and Hawkins opened fire with the automatic machine gun. The first bullet impacted against Oliver’s cheek before promptly flattening to a lead lump before falling on the carpet harmlessly. The others followed suit and when the barrage was over; Oliver turned to his assailant and incinerated him with one concentrated burst of heat vision. Hawkins scream was short and final.

When the dust cleared, there was barely ash.

“Oh my god…” Lana started to shake even harder. “Oh my god,” she muttered. “Zod.”

Lex turned sharply to Oliver, trying to catch up with the leap that Lana had made and realized this was why Fine was present. “You used Oliver?” Lex accused him angrily, recalling how he had been tricked into creating a vaccine when in truth, he was creating his own doom.

Zod took another step towards Lex and the second security guard raised his weapon to fire. Before he could pull the trigger, Fine’s hand shifted into a spike and he was impaled to the wall like a fly on piece of corkboard. Blood escaped his mouth as he sputtered into death with a violent spasm.

Alone now, Lex clutched Lana’s hand, facing his own death in Oliver’s cool green eyes.

“You seem smaller from out here,” Zod remarked with a little smile.

“What do you want?” Lex hissed.

“What belongs to me,” Zod replied, not mincing words. “You are in possession of my property. I would like it back.”

Lex didn’t understand, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He said with genuine puzzlement.

Zod nodded and Fine raised his hand, fingers tapering into a sharp spike that stopped inches from Lana’s belly.

“Consider your next words carefully,” Zod warned. “Where is it?”

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN!” Lex burst out desperately, taking a step towards Lana and was stopped when the spike extended even further, pressing into Lana’s flesh without actually breaking skin.

“Lex, they mean the device!” Lana blurted out terrified, her lovely face contorted with terror as she tried not to look at what was ready to impale her.

Lex shot Zod a look. “It was destroyed!” He explained desperately. “One of you people came here and took all its power. There’s nothing left!”

“And being a product of a slightly evolved simian species gives you the acumen to make that determination?” Fine snorted. “Drained of its power, the device reverts to its base components until it is re-energized.”

“There were only particles left, dust!” Lex glared at Oliver. No, not Oliver, Zod.

“Bring it to me,” Zod said coldly.

“It’s at the lab in Metropolis,” Lex answered, eyes darting between Lana and Fine. “I can show you where.”

“That you will,” the General nodded in agreement. “I promised Kal-El that I would leave you for him but I made no such agreement about her,” Zod’s eyes fixed on Lana. “If you do not return my property, I will make you watch while I take her apart, one limb at a time.”

“I got it,” Lex nodded understanding perfectly but wondered how it was that he kept hearing the name Kal-El during these encounters.

Who was Kal-El and what grudge did he have against Lex?

~~~~~~~~~

Sprawled across plain cotton sheets, Lois Lane lifted her head and groaned when her body ached in protest at what she had been endured the past few hours. Through the miasma of pleasure and pain, of Kal making good on his promise to make scream his name over and over again, Lois’ belief that something terrible had taken place had no doubt now.

Unfortunately, there was no way to stop Kal when he decided he wanted her because he was relentless in his desire. Over and over again, Lois felt herself taken and was ashamed because she couldn’t even call it rape. It was being consumed alive by the god of dark lust who just so happened to be wearing the face of the man she loved, using his voice, his hands to touch her like no one had ever done. And no matter how much she tried, Lois knew that Kal was Clark too, a dark reflection of suppressed wants and desire.

To some degree, she was almost flattered by the passion Clark felt for her, the passion that Kal had no restraint to deny and was happy to exploit to its fullest. Still it was Clark that Lois wanted back and somehow, she had to play this charade to understand what it was that had happened to him. The sheets of his bed smelled of sweat and sex, the product of hours of repeated couplings. He was insatiable and when she pushed herself off the bed, keeping a sheet around herself as she moved past the bureau, Lois swallowed seeing the bruises in the mirror.

“Talk about rough sex,” she muttered before searching around for something to wear since her suit was nothing but tattered remains on the kitchen floor.

Like most young men his age with a mother too busy these days to keep up her house keeping duties, most of his clothes were in the hamper and she reached in for one of his plaid shirts. Lifting the flannel fabric to her nose, she took a deep breath and felt a surge of sorrow because she could smell his scent on it. Not Kal’s scent but Clark’s. She held it to her cheek for a moment, struggling to compose herself because Lois Lane did not believe in weeping or doing nothing.

For all the times he had come through for her, for all the times he saved her, Chloe and everyone else in his life who came into harm’s way, Lois made a vow she would not abandon Clark now. Whatever it took, whatever she had to endure with Kal, she’d do it without flinching because she loved him. Wherever he was, trapped in his mind possibly, Lois was going to find him. This silent oath gave her some measure of calm, some resolve and like all hurdles, Lois applied her determination to some tangible form of action.

She needed to talk to Chloe.

~~~~~~~~~~

He wasn’t downstairs either when she finally made her way to the kitchen and noted with some surprise that everything was tidied. There was no sign of their tryst and for a moment, Lois would have believed she had dreamed it if not for the aches in her muscles and her body. Noticing the phone was off the hook; she put the handset back in place and was immediately treated to a shrill ring.

“Hello?”

“LOIS!” Chloe Sullivan burst out as she drove down the highway towards Smallville. “Where the hell have you been? I have been trying to call you for hours!”

“Chloe, Chloe,” Lois interrupted quickly, grateful to hear her cousin’s voice for more reasons than one. “Listen! Clark’s back but he’s different.”

“Different?” Chloe’s insides froze at the implication.

“His calling himself Kal.” Lois continued, oblivious to this.

“Oh my god,” Chloe gasped, beginning to understand. “Lois, this is important, does he have any red meter rocks on him?”

“What” Lois exclaimed. “What’s red meteor rock gotta to do with it? For that matter, since when is there red meteor rock? I thought it was all green.”

“Lois, listen to me,” Chloe said firmly, “when Clark gets near red meteor rocks, it changes his personality. He loses all his inhibitions, it’s like he’s riding on nothing but the fumes of pure impulse, nothing else matters.”

Lois listened and as incredulous as it sounded, her description seemed to fit. If Chloe was right then Clark’s desire for her had been unrestrained and Kal was doing everything he was normally too afraid to do himself. Even before Chloe had told her why, Lois had made that leap but that still didn’t explain how a meteor rock could affect him so adversely. With the meteor freaks it was due to some form of exposure and even then it wasn’t turned on and off just like that.

Suddenly, she heard the familiar rushing of wind that she had gotten used to whenever he came over. “I gotta call you back.”’

No sooner than she had hung up the phone and turned around, Clark or rather Kal, was standing in front of her. Still clad in his expensive clothes, she had to admit, the guy looked real good in those leather pants. Seeing him like this was like staring into Mirror Universe Clark… it was just unnerving.

“Hey,” he smiled happily pulling her to him again in another passionate kiss that made Lois’ head swim. However, she prayed he didn’t want to have sex again. She was sore enough as it was. “You’re awake.”

“Yeah,” Lois smiled putting her arms around his neck, playing the part. “Where have you been?”

“Well since I wore you out,” he smirked proudly at that, “I thought I’d go to Metropolis for a minute. I wanted to get you something.” Kal grinned like a little boy with a secret as he ran his large hands up and down her back.

“Ooh I love surprises,” Lois returned and looked over his shoulder to see a bag from her favorite eatery in Metropolis. It was just around the corner from the Inquisitor and recalled trying to convince Clark to try it. The man of steel apparently wasn’t that much of a fan of spicy food. Go figure. “You went and got me Thai food?”

“Among other things,” Kal laughed, taking her hand as he led her to the kitchen counter where the bag was sitting. “Look inside.” He instructed with a playful smile. Even now, he was on a high and if he wasn’t painfully aware of how human she was, he’d be mounting her again. Flashes of memory filled his mind at how wonderful she felt, how great it was to hear her voice screaming his name.

“You’re awful smug Smallville,” she teased, trying to sound like herself instead of the girlfriend going crazy with worry about what had turned the Eagle Scout into Sex God Supreme.

“Kal,” he stated firmly, his eyes darkening for a moment before he broke into that smile again, like the sun breaking through the storm cloud. “Open it.”

Lois reached into the bag and while there containers of food, there was also something else. Knotting her brows in puzzlement, her fingers grasped the object and pulled it past the brown paper. Dangling from her fingertips was a bracelet that glimmered with sapphires big enough to be M&M’s set in gold. She had been around Oliver and expensive jewelry enough to know that this thing alone could pay off the Kent mortgage in the trade in value.

“Oh my god Kal,” Lois gasped openly, glancing at him momentarily before returning to stare at it with awe. “Its beautiful.”

“Do you like it?” he delighted in her reaction. “You deserve nice things Lois. From now no, that’s all you’re ever going to get.” He wanted to lavish her with everything he had never been able to afford, all those times when he had to check just how much money he had to buy a gift or take a girl out. No more. He was finally going to treat the women in his life the way they should be treated.

“Come on, let me put it on you,” Kal said affectionately, not thinking on how he had put three store clerks and one customer in the hospital when he smashed his way into the place to retrieve this bauble. He had moved so fast, he doubted they even know what had happened until it was over.

Unable to think of a thing to say in protest, Lois let him take her hand and wrapped the expensive bracelet around her wrist. “Where did you get this?”

Stupid question, she told herself almost immediately. With his powers, he could walk into any jewelry store in Metropolis, snatch this thing and be back in Smallville before they even knew there was a robbery.

“Doesn’t matter,” he ignored the question and continue to fasten it to her wrist before pulling her to him and claiming her mouth in another brutal kiss, hard and demanding. “This is how its going to be from now on Lois. You and me. We’re going to own the world. Now you rest up cos when I get back, we’re flying to Paris. You always said you wanted to go.”

“You’re going to find the Concord?” She teased.

“Something like that,” Kal laughed before turning to leave.

“Wait!” She called out to him and noted his expression at the sharpness of her cry. Recovering quickly Lois went to him. “Where are you going?” She put a slightly seductive lilt to her voice. “I thought we could…” Lois smiled at him.

“You’re insatiable,” he grinned and kissed her again. “But I got to go do a few things right now. When I come back, you can show me what you got in mind.”

“Sounds like a plan,” she smiled half heartedly back at him and watched him leave after another quick kiss. Like a streak of blue, he vanished into the distance and Lois waited for a good ten minutes before she picked up the phone again.

“Chloe, where are you?” Lois asked.

“I’m an hour out from Smallville,” Chloe’s replied. “Is Clark still there?”

“No,” she shook her head. “He’s gone but he’s going to be back. You and me need to do some talking. I’ll be waiting at the Talon.”

“Not safe,” Chloe’s answer was short and to the point, “you know where the Kawatchi caves are?”

“I’ll find it,” she said firmly, recalling something about a reserve that was under Luthor Corp’s administration until recently.

“Good I’ll meet you there as soon as I can and Lois?” Chloe added. “If you find any green meteor rocks, pick it up.”

PART FIVE