Post by Stardrifter on Oct 31, 2011 20:32:28 GMT -5
by
Stardrifter001
You Can't Go Home Again
The night sky over the Kent Farm is full of bright stars. The moon, three days from full, shines upon the ground in a pale light. A chill is in the air, causing Lana Lang to shiver as she walks along with her ex-boyfriend. Clark's first instinct is to put his arms around her, or even just offer her his jacket, but he thinks better of it and remains quiet.
"So," Lana begins, neither sure what to make of the whole situation. "How's Metropolis?"
Clark watches his feet as they walk. "Not bad. It's a totally different energy than Smallville. I'm enjoying it. How's New York?"
"I..." Lana's voice waivers. She stops and leans against a wooden fence and hugs herself. "I'm not visiting Smallville. I moved back." She looks up at Clark's face to see his reaction. In a mere moment it goes from surprise, to questioning, to concerned. There's no pity. She isn't sure if that's good or bad.
"What happened?"
"Mom got sick," Lana says matter-of-factly. She avoids his gaze while reaching up to wrap a lock of her long red hair behind her ear. "We can't afford home care so I had to come back."
Instinct gets the better of Clark. He reaches out to put his hand on her arm. "You should have told me. I would have..."
"Would have what?" Lana barks, pushing his hand away. "Would have asked Lex for money? Would have flown over and used your powers to make everything better? You can't fix everything. I don't want you to." She sees the hurt in his eyes and it both breaks her heart and infuriates her at the same time. She hates herself more for not being able to stop caring about how he feels.
Clark lowers his arms to his side and a steely look comes over him. It's a new look for Lana. Composed, powerful, even heroic. Now she sees what the rest of the world is seeing in him. "I'm sorry."
Before they can continue, Lex and the Kents rush out. "I don't mean to interrupt, but there's an emergency back in Metropolis."
Clark turns to Lex, "What happened?"
"I got a call from my office. A S.T.A.R. Labs facility exploded. It's..."
So fast none of them can see, Clark kisses Martha on the cheek and flies off. The sonic boom as he leaves echos through the night sky. A silence returns to the Kent farm, heavy and foreboding. Finally, Martha walks over and puts her arms around Lana.
"What was it you came to see me for, dear?"
It takes Lana a moment to remember. "I just wanted to talk. And to see if you could stay with Mom tomorrow. I have a bunch of errands to do."
"Of course sweety."
After goodbyes are said, Lex and Lana both walk back to their cars. "So I bet you're having the time of your life." Lana remarks, sarcasm in her voice.
"Hmm?" Lex raises an eyebrow.
"Well sure. Big shot billionaire and his best friend the super hero. Even palling around on the news. How much did your stocks rise after that one?"
Lex crosses his arms and looks down on her. "Enough to hire twenty nurses for a year for your Mom, I'd wager." Lex smirks when Lana's eye twitches at that remark. "But I'm not motivated by money. Clark is my friend."
Lana scoffs and turns to her car, fumbling with her keys "Sure. You've always been motivated by friendship."
"You might recall that I was his friend before I learned the truth. You're the one who couldn't handle it. If his parents and I hadn't been there, I don't want to think what would have happened after what you did."
Lana pauses for a moment. She tries to form some kind of retort, but nothing comes. Instead she gets in her car, slams the door shut, and skids off into the night.
***
As the explosion rages around him, the shriveled purple being crackles with electricity. He grabs the unconscious body of the Electrocutioner by the ankle and drags him behind. It's a slow but methodical pace, the raging fires around not fazing him in the slightest. The scent of burning flesh reaches him, mingled with the smoke, and only elicits a slight curve of what remains of his lips.
As he emerges from the lab, body in tow, he makes his way to a nearby alley. Dropping the leg of the unmoving body to the ground, he takes a moment to turn and survey the horror left in his wake. The fire dances before his eyes. The heat emanating from it is intense but not uncomfortable. Finally he looks down at himself. He stands before the fire naked, his skin purple and wrinkled. His privates are shrunken and misshapen, but there's no concern for it. There's no concern for any of it. No feeling. Only a need. A need for...
Electrocutioner moans softly on the ground in front of him. He looks down and the need takes over. Straddling the Electrocutioner, he rips open his shirt and puts his hands onto the Electrocutioner's bare chest. His fingers dig into the skin. In the back of his mind he's aware of the screaming, but he pays it no mind. All that matters is the power. The energy. The hunger.
Sirens blare from all around. Loud enough to break his concentration. A vague memory and an instinct cause him to rise to his feet. He weighs his options, fight or flee, and decides it's not time yet. Leaving the blubbering man on the ground, he turns and rushes off into the night.
***
Superman arrives at the site of the explosion to find emergency crews have the situation well in hand. Rather than creating a spectacle, he quickly changes out of his costume. He begins to walk amongst the remains, questioning the police, EMTs, and firefighters about what happened.
"Don't you ever sleep?" a voice interrupts as he finishes talking to the Fire Chief.
Clark turns to find Lois walking over with Jimmy in tow. Jimmy lets out a big yawn, then halfheartedly takes some more pictures.
"About as much as you it seems." Clark says as he scribbles down notes in his pad.
"So what's our story?" Lois asks, trying to peak at his notes.
"Our story?" Clark snaps. "Since when are we partners?"
Lois and Jimmy both stand there for a moment, not sure how to respond. They've never seen Clark angry before. Clark sees the look on their faces and realizes what he did.
"I'm sorry," he says sheepishly. "I just had a bad night. I didn't mean to..."
"Run in with your ex?" Lois asks inquisitively.
"What?" Clark asks, shocked. A different kind of anger rises up in him. "Did Lex..."
"Calm down Smallville. Lex didn't tell me anything. I just know that kind of anger can only be brought on by an ex from a bad break up." There's an uncomfortable silence until Lois points at his notepad with her eyes. "So?"
"Oh! Right." Clark reaches up and adjust his glasses. "So they're not sure what started the fire. They do think it was foul play since there are reports of gunshots heard before the explosion. They found three bodies. I couldn't get much out of them but one of the EMTs said from what she could tell, fire wasn't the cause of death."
"I'm betting it was corporate espionage'" Jimmy chimes in with a yawn.
"Corporate espionage?" both Clark and Lois say together. They share a quick smile at that.
"Yeah I mean, it was probably some big company like Zeus Corp or Queen Enterprises or LexCo..." Jimmy stops when he sees the look on Lois face. "Well some company could have wanted some technology that S.T.A.R. Labs was working on and sent a black ops team in. Shit goes down and boom!"
"Shit goes down and boom?" Lois repeats, a look of confusion on her face.
"Well there's our headline for tomorrow."
Lois turns to see the smile on Clark's face. She tries to stop it, but uncontrollable laughter erupts from inside her. It doesn't take long for Clark to join in too. Lois has to put her hand on Clark's shoulder to steady the both of them, all while Jimmy looks on with a glare of disapproval.
"Hardy har guys. Real funny. I was being serious."
The laughter finally dies down as Lois and Clark get themselves under control. "I know you were Jimmy," Clark says. "I'm sorry."
"Anyway it was more likely Intergang." Lois offers.
"Intergang? Why would you say that?" Clark asks.
"Well earlier today a high profile witness in a case against Morgan Edge is taken from police custody by a mercenary team led by a lightning throwing super villain. A few hours later a S.T.A.R. Labs facility rumored to be in Intergangs pocket blows up under mysterious circumstances. Sounds like more than a coincidence to me."
Clark looks off into the remains of the explosion. "Me too."
***
He wanders aimlessly. He remains in shadow, crawling through gutters and skulking in alleys. When feeling particularly brave he climbs onto the rooftops and leaps from building to building. Always moving with no destination in mind.
The odd passerby that happens to notice him regrets it immediately after. He grabs them, hits them, breaks them, and takes their energy. It sustains him but only for so long. Soon the hunger returns. As he goes he becomes more confident in himself. Soon he doesn't simply take in defense when seen, but hunts and stalks his victims like a wild predator. There's no malevolence behind his choices, only need and opportunity. After a variety of samplings he does start to form a preference. The young and energetic ones are more energizing than the old, infirm ones.
He comes across a group of the younger ones in an alley. Their clothes are baggy and dark. They wait for others to come to them and then exchange objects for wads of paper. Knowledge flickers in the back of his mind, but too far to grasp. He climbs up the fire escape and silently makes his way above them. He waits for the passerbys to thin and the moment to be right. He waits and waits, time still but for the burning desire inside him.
Finally the moment presents itself. Leaping from above, he lands on one of the young ones and tackles him to the ground. Grabbing the young one's face in his hands, he feeds. Two loud pops come from behind him and a pain runs through his body. Standing up he looks down to see purple ooze coming from two holes in his chest. The pain is excruciating. He looks up to see the other young one pointing at him with an object. He doesn't know what it is, but it's threatening.
He feels a feeling. An emotion he doesn't recognize wells up inside him. It's not hunger. It's not pain. Rather than fight it he lets it take control. He lets out a gurgling roar and leaps at the young one who hurt him. Another loud noise and more pain comes but he ignores them. He tackles the young one and grabs his head. His hunger overwhelms and he gives in to it, feeding while he smashes the young one's head repeatedly into the ground.
When it's over, he gets to his feet and looks down. The oozing holes are gone. His flesh is as it was. He understands.
Shouts startle him. People gather and scream. Most run. He growls and hisses at them before leaping onto the fire escape to return to the rooftops.As he leaps and runs, he feels a new feeling. A new sound comes from his mouth, but it's not like before. It's a good sound. He is content.
Out of the corner of his eye he sees a building. It's no different than the others but something compels him to stop. He looks out and something grabs at him. Something familiar. Cautiously, he heads toward it to investigate.
When he lands on the roof, he turns in circles, trying to grasp this feeling inside him. Finally he settles on a direction and heads toward the ledge. He slowly climbs down one of the fire escapes until he reaches a window. The feeling grabs at him again but he can't understand it.
Inside the window he sees four people. Two are older ones, dressed in dark blue outfits with the same things that caused him pain earlier at their sides. One is an older one with long brown hair. The last one is small, with long brown hair as well. These last two bring out more feelings. Looking upon them makes something well up inside his chest. It's not a good feeling. Not at all.
Glass goes flying as he leaps through the window. The two in blue raise their paingivers and the loud noises come rapidly. He doesn't stop moving, rushing toward them and grabbing them. The two with long hair scream and run. He fights through the pain as he feeds on the two in blue. Once they're taken care of, he rushes after the others.
They run out the door and down the stairs. He follows. The hunt is invigorating. They get out onto the street and into the open. Instinct tells him to hide but the hunt is too strong. He wants them. He needs them. The two run to a car and stop to open the door. It's a fatal mistake. He leaps onto them, throwing the small one aside and pins the big one to the car. She tries to fight back. He likes it. Finally he presses his body against her and feeds. He doesn't stop until there's nothing left.
The small one beside him cries. The cries ruin his pleasure. He growls and reaches down, not even bothering to feed, simply smashes her head into the ground until the crying stops.
More sirens fill the air. He looks up to see cars surrounding the street and more older ones with paingivers around him. With nowhere to flee, he charges toward one group. Pain erupts all over his body. He slows and staggers, but does not stop. He reaches one of the older ones and feeds. Another starts hitting him from behind, but he just turns and grabs him as well to feed. The mix of pain and pleasure is overwhelming. More continue to cause him pain and he continues to reach others to feed.
It's all interrupted by when a sudden impact sends him flying into a nearby wall. The pain is incredible. He falls to the ground and looks behind him. As he begins to lose consciousness he sees an older one floating in the air. His clothes are colorful. He can feel the energy coming from this colorful one. He desires him more than any he's seen before. Desire alone isn't enough and he falls unconscious.
***
Lex arrives at the Lexcorp building by helicopter. He rushes out onto his private helipad and walks briskly to his private elevator. When he arrives at his destination, the doors open to a chaotic scene.
"I want this thing under a level 3 containment lockdown!" Dr. Irons is yelling to his assistants and the Lexcorp security chief as they walk by. "Reports indicate it kills by touch and we can't afford any screw ups!"
Ms. Graves rushes over to Lex to hand him a report. He glances at it briefly but hands it back when he sees Superman talking to two of the MPD detectives. "Detective Turpin, Sawyer," Lex greets them. "I was told you two were pretty banged up. What are you doing here?"
"I'm fine, Luthor!" Turpin yells vehemently. "With S.T.A.R. Labs gone it was very generous of you to let us use your facilities, but this is our case and we're seeing it through to the end."
"Your case?" Lex asks, confused. "I thought this was just a random metahuman attack?"
"Not so random," Maggie says while rubbing her head. "This thing attacked and killed the family of the witness we were protecting. It's obviously working for Morgan Edge, whatever it is."
"Edge employs low level metahumans, thugs," Lex tells them. "Whatever this is, it's not Edge's style."
"I don't care what you think, Luthor!" Turpin shouts in Lex's face. "This thing killed Rudy Jones' family the same night Edge had his goons kidnap Rudy himself! It's his doing!"
Turpin storms off and Maggie gives a tired look and follows him. Lex and Superman get a moment alone in the chaos and Lex whispers, "What do you think?"
"I don't know. Whatever this thing is, it's not your run of the mill metahuman. I don't even know if it's human. But if it's not Edge's doing, it's one hell of a coincidence."
Lex and Superman walk up closer to the lab window to oversee what's going on. Dr. Irons and his assistants are getting ready to go in. The creature is strapped to a table in the center of the room. Electrodes are placed on his chest and head in order to shock him should he wake up and try to fight back.
"All right," Dr. Irons says as he puts the last of his protective gear on. In order to protect themselves, everyone is covered head to toe. "Let's go in. Start the recorders." The doctors, security guards, and police officers go in. The guards and officers take up defensive positions around the room.
"The creature appears to be 5' 9" or 5' 10" in height. Approximate weight is one hundred and fifty pounds. No visible hair on it's body." Dr. Irons reaches out and opens it's mouth with a pair of instruments. "No teeth remain in it's mouth, but it's clear it had teeth at one time. The eyes...are jet black with purple irises. It..."
Dr. Irons jumps back when he lets go of the creature's eye and it doesn't shut. The other eye opens on it's own and it's eyes move frantically about the room.
"It's awake! Step back everyone!" Tension rises throughout the facility as everyone watches to see what the creature will do. He continues to look about frantically.
"Can you...understand me?" Dr. Irons asks. He warily steps closer, trying to get the creature's attention. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"
The creature shows no signs of understanding. As Dr. Irons gets closer, the creature gets agitated. It starts to pull at it's restraints. When he finds he can't move he begins thrashing about.
"Shock him!" Dr. Irons shouts. "Shock him!"
One of his assistants pushes a button to activate the electrodes. There's a loud buzzing and the creature tenses up. When the buzzing ends he keeps thrashing. They shock him again and he starts to thrash more violently.
"Get out of there!" Lex orders. "Get them out and gas the chamber!"
The creature manages to break one arm free and lashes out, grabbing a security guard as he runs by. The guard swings his baton down and activates the taser in it. The creature makes a sickening laughing sound and rips his other arm free. He reaches up to grab at the guards face but his arm is caught midair. Superman pulls the guard free and pushes him away. He turns back to the creature but feels a sickening feeling throughout his body. Superman falls to a knee and the creature sits up, breaking the remaining restraints and grabs him with both hands.
"Aaa....aaaah....thaa....thaaat....fee....feels good!"
-to be continued-