"Mr. Kent the time is drawing closer."

Clark slowly lifted his head and stared at the man in front of him but let it fall in defeat without uttering a word. "Ha, and here I thought you were supposed to be a little more quarrelsome. What a pity. I mean after all Mr. Luthor did go on about you quite a bit during our conversations saying how you were always so energetic and ready to spring into action."

Once again Clark did nothing in response, he just stood there with his head held in defeat and waited for the doctor to give his orders. "Fine Mr. Kent let us get started then if you don't feel like talking. Set up onto the platform and, oh wait. Why am I explaining this to you? You've done this enough times to remember how his goes, oh well, proceed."

With that Clark removed his coat and shirt revealing his chiseled features and discarded the garments to the floor. Turing away from the doctor Clark began to ascend the stairs towards the platform revealing the monstrosity he had to bare on his back. Along his spinal cord was an artificial spine designed by the Luthor Corporation to help those with spinal issues, but this one was different. Laced within the metal were shards of kryptonite that caused Clark so much more physical pain then he had ever experienced before in his life.

Reaching the top of the short staircase Clark walked to the center of the platform and grabbed the handles and braced for his "medication." Over on the other side of the room the doctor chuckled to himself as he operated his evil contraption and sent the machine into action. Overhead the cords slowly lowered and locked themselves into his external spine and began to lift him in the air. Clark cringed in pain from this but he knew it wasn't over yet. Next his feet became locked in some sort of high tech shackle that sapped away all the energy he had in his legs. Finally his arms, the handles he held onto turned and wrapped around his wrists and spread until they reached his shoulder. With his entire body bound the machine lifted him in the air and displayed him like Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man. "Is there anything you would like to say to me before we begin today's treatment, Mr. Kent," the doctor asked with a crooked grin.

At last Clark responded. He lifted his head and stared deep into the doctor's twisted eyes and said, "Go to hell."

"Ha! There's that fighting spirit I heard so much about," the doctor responded. With that he pressed the final button and administrated the "medication" straight into Clark's spinal cord.

Above him, Clark felt the radiation of the liquefied kryptonite slowly start to flow through the cords. The various colors started to fill the room as they fell nearer to Clark's spine and enter into his body. When this happened Clark couldn't even find the words to describe the agony he was in or even think for that matter, all he could do was feel. It felt as though his spine was on fire but in a few short seconds the pain branched out to every part of his body. Every nerve, every muscle, and every bone felt as though it was on fire and it caused Clark to scream out in agony. But the physical pain didn't even begin to match the pain he was going through mentally.

The kryptonite mixture entered his brain through his spine and it worked its magic. Every experience of pain Clark had ever felt, both physical and emotional, began to surface within his mind and forced him to relive them. Everything from a breakup to being shot in the heart, no matter how great or how small, he was forced to experience every last excruciating second of it. "Now for the finishing touch," the doctor proclaimed.

Turing back to his control panel the doctor pressed the play button on the audio sequence and stepped back to watch his masterpiece at work. Overhead the most beautiful words rang through the room in an angelic voice, loud enough to be heard by Clark over his screams of anguish.

"To stop the pain you must die," said Chloe.