Chapter 2

[Luthor Mansion—four hours later]

Lex scanned the Internet searching for attacks by the blue skinned maniac. If he can shrug off Clark and Byron, we're in for it! He frowned at the reports from Go City and the developing one now out of Metropolis. What's going on with Ron?

"Lex?" Lana called from the door while stepping into the room.

"Lana, hey, how's everything at the café?" he asked with concern.

"According to April and Alicia, everything's under control there. Sheriff Adams took statements from everyone. She wants to talk with the Protector about things," Lana reported.

He snorted. "Good luck on that one. How are Miranda, Byron and Clark?"

"Clark's okay and sitting with Ryan. Byron's dealing with a burn from where that punch hit him. Miranda's being treated at the Med Center. Jasmine's sitting with her," she continued. Then she paced the room. "The Protector's already driven Ron from Metro."

"Great. Get him mad and locked onto a target and he's not going to stop. At least he's keeping Zorpox from his targets," he noted knowingly. "Hopefully Metro PD stayed out of the way and let them fight it out." He saw Chloe rush into the room. "Hey, Sullivan, you missed a party."

"I got to see the rematch. Are you all okay?" the reporter worried while embracing him.

"We're fine. Byron and Miranda took the brunt of it. Did the Protector cause a lot of damage?" Lana pointed out.

Chloe shook her head. "He pulled that blue skinned guy off of Met PD. They exchanged energy blasts for about fifteen minutes. Then that fire creep showed up and pulled Mr. Blue out of the picture. At least the Protector kept the damage to a minimum. Then he disappeared too."

"That's twice. He's really going to be pissed," he assessed while rubbing his forehead.

"It's about to get worse," Chloe indicated while dialing his office phone. "Hi, Wade, this is Chloe Sullivan-Luthor. Can we pull you up on screen?"

"Sure. Just a sec," the computer genius agreed. "Your laptop?"

"Yeah." Chloe opened her laptop and turned it on. "Okay. Go for it."

Wade's face appeared on screen. As always, the chubby African-American teenaged genius sat in front of his computer with other tech gadgets around himself. He sipped on his soda cup and typed on the keyboard. "Everyone okay there?"

"Two of us are hurt but otherwise all hands are on deck. Alicia's been to Japan. She looked really shaken up by the whole thing," Lana detailed. "What's going on, Wade?"

"Best guess. Dahak set Ron's dark side loose. Four confrontations so far. The rest of Team Possible is still missing. Your scary bodyguard's been busy too. Global Justice told the Metropolis police to back off since he saved a large group of people including a beaten SWAT squad and kept that downtown block without a scratch," Wade informed them.

"Thank them for us," Lex expressed with relief.

"No sweat. I'm working on something to reverse the effects. We'll need to get Zorpox down to use it. Mind helping to search in the meantime?" Wade continued.

"Clark and I are on it. We'll find them, Wade," Lana concurred.

"Thanks. I'll keep looking here too," Wade agreed before logging off.

"Ouch," Chloe realized. "Wonder if we should call out Uncle Sam?"

"He can't deal with that, Chloe," Lana disagreed. "Clark and I need to deal with Zorpox ourselves."

"You're not going in without the rest of the Legion. You think Jasmine's just going to sit and do nothing? Or the Protector for that matter? Besides this guy's got magic too. Remember what that did to Clark and you?" he reminded her.

"We've got to stop him though," Lana pointed out.

"We'll figure something out," he assured them.

"Indeed we shall, Alexandre," Heloise concurred as she and Rick Trousseau entered the office.

"Hey, guys. Anything on our blue threat?" Rick greeted.

Chloe nodded. "We do. Hey! Are you okay? Wade said you all were missing."

"I brought him to Althanor for treatment. The animal is fine as well," Heloise explained.

"HEY!" Rufus retorted sharply while sticking his head out of Rick's belt pouch. He skittered down Rick's leg and across the carpet. Then he climbed up the desk and looked at the others.

"Sorry. She didn't know," Lana apologized. "Did you see Zorpox at the school?"

"UH HUH! An' fire!" the mole rat responded.

"What about Kim and Yori? Anything?" Rick asked them.

"Nothing. Wade didn't have anything new," Chloe indicated. Hearing his communicator go off, she motioned with her eyes. "That might be him now."

Rick nodded as he answered it. "Hi, Wade. What's up?"

"Rick! Where have you been? Everyone's been looking for you!" Wade replied anxiously. "Have you seen the girls?"

"No." Rick clenched his fist. "I'm scared for Kim. Rufus and I got treatment. I'm going to report in with Dr. Director in a few minutes. I'm at Lex Luthor's mansion."

"Deep breath, Rick," Wade advised. "Chill."

"I'll chill when I know Kim's safe! I…." Rick bowed his head. "This is what Ron must've felt like when Monkey Fist grabbed us last year." He shook his head. "What else has been going on with him?"

"Zorpox has been busy," Wade reported. "He trashed Go City and took out Team Go. Then he was in Smallville and Metropolis. The Protector drove him off both times."

"He fought Dubois' dark side? Is he nuts?" Rick gasped.

"He is being egged on by that demon. Could be. Magic isn't my stuff, Rick. Science is. I'll keep doing global scans and get back to you," Wade concluded before signing off.

Rick shook his head. "Terrific! No sign of anyone. Sensei's still out cold. Ron's out of control. Wish we'd have taken his fear more seriously."

"That's water under the bridge," Heloise told him bluntly. "We can see Miranda."

"I'll meet you both there," Lana declared before taking off at super speed.

"We'll check back in," Rick advised the remaining couple before disappearing into the mists with Heloise and Rufus.

"Anything from your source?" Lex queried.

"Nope," Chloe replied while shaking her head. "What do you think?"

"I'm hoping it isn't a trap. Knowing Dave, it's playing on both him and the Protector. It would still want to get its claws on Clark and Lana too," he worried.

"But the Protector's beaten Ron twice," she disagreed.

"They were standoffs before Dahak pulled him out. This reeks of one of those deals from when I was a kid." Lex poured them both cups of coffee and handed her one.

She sipped it with a bit of worry. Let's hope not! Keep your eyes open, guys!