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Songs in the Key of Longing - Chapter One
His intention was to destroy them.
The last two chunks of meteor rocks in Luthorcorp's possession, one green, the other red and Lex made sure Clark was nearby to watch as they were disintegrated, this time safely and for good.
Or at least he tried to make sure their destruction would be safe and permanent
Lex had so wanted to make things right again after his split into two personalities, one, just Lex, the other, a madman named Alexander. A madman who'd done so many unspeakable things that, fortunately, Lex couldn't remember, but in his heart he knew great damage had been done, most of it to his uneasy friendship with Clark.
He'd gotten hints of what havoc Alexander caused here and there, from Chloe's cold brusqueness to the Kent's uncomfortable silence around him, but the wary way Clark watched him when he thought Lex wasn't looking, hurt the worst.
Lex wanted to do something, make some grand gesture as a way of showing that Alexander was dead, exorcised from his soul, but there was little he could do, besides destroy the last vestiges of the dangerous material that had set the evil creature loose.
And make sure Clark knew that he wouldn't be coming back. Not ever again.
With a sigh, Lex put on his safety glasses. "Are the shields raised?" he asked the attending scientist, who gave him a thumbs up in reply.
He'd walled off the entire lab with lead shielding, along with huge sheets of indestructible plexiglass, a foot thick. There was not going to be a screw-up this time, there just couldn't be ... he wouldn't allow there to be.
Turning around, Lex gave a thumbs up to Clark, who nodded back. A thin droplet of sweat trickled down his neck, but Lex kept a big smile glued to his face, even as Clark stuffed his hands more deeply into his jeans pockets and turned a cold eye on the procedure.
Lex hadn't seen his friend smile in weeks, especially not at him. The easy banter they'd shared over the years had turned into stiff conversations about the weather and about when Lex might finish the cleanup of the Luthorcorp Science Department for good. Not pushy, but not friendly either -- the coolness emanating from Clark was worse than any yelling, Lex thought.
But maybe ... maybe after he'd proved his intention to make things right, maybe Clark could relax again and their friendship would be the stronger for it.
Maybe.
"Proceed," Lex ordered his employee, who set to work heating up the lasers. A three point shot straight into the center of each rock, a triangle of destruction and nothing would go wrong this time. He'd calibrated everything himself, twice, to make sure, not trusting anyone else to do the job. His degree from the Princeton science department had to be good for something, Lex hoped.
"On five," the scientist intoned and Lex watched intently. "One ... two ... three..."
Behind Lex, Clark was leaning forward as if to capture the moment and Lex was just about to say something to him, something encouraging or funny or anything to lighten the moment, when it happened.
Again.
But much worse than the last time. Lex's last coherent thought was that a bachelor's from Princeton must be good for exactly nothing as the laser malfunctioned, heating up enough to make both rocks glow, but only shattering the red one. The green meteor heated, then superheated and changed into that dark rock Lex never had wanted to see again -- a black meteor.
The lead shielding did little but bounce the meteor matter around like a bullet ricocheting, shattering the foot-thick Plexiglass like a cheap wine glass.
Lex felt one of the black beams hit him hard in the chest. He staggered then fell -- it was as if someone had dropped a safe on his ribcage.
God, no, not again, Lex thought, feeling once again the split begin. That awful, ripping sensation of his soul being torn in two separate entities ... himself and the loathsome other -- Alexander.
He tried to crawl away while he was still somewhat whole, but his arms and legs were useless. From the corner of one eye, Lex was horrified to see that a writhing Clark had also been hit by something and he could hear his screams of pain through the haze.
I'm sorry, Clark, Lex thought miserably. I'm so, so sorry.
An acrid smell of smoke and burning fibers filled Lex's nostrils. Swallowing hard, he could taste the bitter copper of blood in the back of his throat. Above him a hazy, leering face wavered in and out of Lex's view but before he could shake himself back to complete consciousness, the face that looked liked a mirror reflection mouthed two words, the sneer obvious on his face.
"Nighty-night," smirked Alexander, before bringing his fist down and plunging Lex's world into darkness.
tbc ...
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