"Someone's coming," Oliver radioed to Bruce.
"I thought Mera and Hal were supposed to distract campus police and you and Arthur were supposed to keep a close watch on them," Bruce spat.
"Mera and Hal are distracting them," Oliver retorted. "But one of them escaped and is on his way there."
Diana looked at the doorknob. It was moving.
Think, Clark! Think! Clark thought to himself. He had an idea. Concentrating on the knob, he stared at it until it glowed red hot like a sheet of metal in a smithy's furnace. From the other side of the door came a loud scream and swearing.
"Good job, Clark," Bruce said, before resuming his search.
"What's this?" Diana said, picking up a piece of Sticky Note. "'Take her to the shack.'"
"Question is...where is that shack? This isn't enough!" Clark said, losing his cool. He rarely lost it. Tonight was one of those nights.
"Relax. We'll find her," Diana assured him. "Trust me."
This seemed to pacify Clark and the search resumed. While Bruce carelessly threw papers around and removed every drawer from its place, Clark methodically inspected every drawer and every filing cabinet with his x-ray vision until he found something. At the top of a pile of papers inside the drawer of one of the desks was a map of Boston. Clark opened the drawer to take a closer look. Thompson Island was circled with a red marker.
"Thompson Island," Clark mumbled. "They've taken her to a shack in Thompson Island. Every minute is crucial—let's go!"
Clark raced to Thompson Island, running on the surface of the water like it was pavement. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a streak of red and yellow zoom past him. Barry! What was he doing here? Beneath the surface of the water, he could sense some movement. Probably Mera and Arthur. To his right, he noticed a jet black speedboat, silent as the night. Bruce. In the boat with him was Oliver, hand tightly gripping his bow, itching for action. Above him was a streak of green light. Flying beside Hal were his other best friend Diana and his cousin Karen. The only person who was not present was John. He's probably in class. Clark was touched that his friends were more than willing to help him to save a friend. He smiled at the thought that there were still people in the world who were dedicated to justice. They landed on the island and planned their move.
"I suggest we split up," Bruce said.
"I say we stick together," Hal said. "Strength in numbers, right?"
"I'm with Bruce on this one," Diana said. "We can cover more ground that way."
"Huh. I never thought of it that way," Barry said. "They're right. Besides, we've all got our radios. If something happens, we radio the others."
"That's settled then," Clark said.
"Question," Karen said, raising her hand. "How do we split up? Who's going with who?"
"We split into three groups of three people each," Bruce suggested. "Clark, Diana, and I together. Hal, Karen, Barry, you will be team two. Team three will consist of Oliver, Mera, and Arthur. Are we clear?"
"Crystal," Barry said, nodding.
"Good. Let's get to it."
Be quiet, Lois reminded herself, struggling to free herself from her bonds. She couldn't grunt or her captors would wake. They'd know she was trying to escape. She couldn't let that happen. She rolled her wrists around, trying every direction. Clockwise, Counter-clockwise. She hoped it would help loosen the rope eventually. She bit her tongue to keep her from screaming when the rope bit into her skin. Her wrists were probably raw now. But she had to try something. Anything.
"Team Two, this is Team One... Do you copy, over?" Bruce whispered into his radio.
"Team One, this is Team Two; we copy, over," Hal radioed back. "Where are you?"
"We are watching the shack from a high vantage point as we speak," Bruce responded. Where are you?"
"We're in a cemetery, it looks like," Hal answered.
"Then you're close to us," Bruce said. "Good. Keep a close watch and warn us if anyone else is coming."
"Roger that, One."
"There are two cops inside," Clark whispered. "I see Lois. She's tied up in a chair."
"How many are outside?" Hal asked.
"Two more."
"We're on our way," Hal said. "We take down the two guards while you get Lois out of there."
"Negative," Bruce warned. "You will stay where you are and warn us of any danger."
"Fine," Hal muttered. "Go."
Near the site of the weather station remains, Oliver searched while Mera and Arthur watched for signs of aggression. None so far. They were still undiscovered. Or were they?
"Well, well, well," a corrupt campus policeman said with a grin. "What have we here?"
"Come to rescue your little friend, eh?"
Mera screamed in anger, knocking two of the men out with her hydrokinesis.
"You will pay for what you did to my roommate," Mera warned.
Just then, Mera turned to see another corrupt member of the campus police standing behind her. He had a look of agony and horror on his face. He gasped and fell back. In his hand, Arthur held a bloody trident.
"He would've hurt you," he said. "I couldn't let him."
"I know," Mera said, nodding. "Thank you."
"Tracks," Oliver said. "This way."
"How many of these campus police are there?" Arthur wondered. "Wait. Are they campus police or Boston PD?"
"They're campus police," Oliver said. "The uniform is a giveaway. Boston PD's is different. Did you really just stab a man in the back with a trident?"
"I did what I had to do. I'm sure you would do the same."
Oliver nodded.
As the trio watched from the trees, Clark scanned the shack and saw Lois being water boarded.
"They're trying water boarding," Clark whispered.
"Sons of bitches," Bruce mumbled, taking a look through his binoculars.
"Water boarding?" Diana asked, confused.
"It's an interrogation technique," Bruce answered. "They stuff the victim's mouth with rags and cover his or her mouth with cloth. Then they pour water down the victim's nose until they can no longer take it. They remove the gag and question the victim again, hoping they'd talk. If they refuse, they repeat the process until the victim finally talks. Or dies. Either way."
"It has the same effect as drowning."
"Great Hera," Diana exclaimed. "We must do something."
Leaping down from the branch they had been perching on, Diana ran at full speed toward the guards keeping their vigil outside the shack. Whirling her lasso around, she managed to tie both men up. She then signaled for Bruce and Clark to follow. Just as they were about to enter the shack, however, Clark fell to the ground as though knocked down by an invisible force. His eyesight dimmed. He could see nothing but green specks floating before his eyes. He tried to get up but couldn't. It was as though his strength had been sapped. Was he dying? Did someone shoot him with a poisoned dart or knocked him out with a heavy object? Was he shot? None of those were possible. His skin was impenetrable and nothing could knock him out—except maybe this one. What could it be? What could have such an effect on him? He felt nauseous. Cold, clammy sweat blanketed his forehead. He grunted. Bruce rushed to his side to see what was going on. Not too far from him lay an agonized Karen, suffering the same symptoms as Clark.
"The rocks," Bruce observed. A pile of green glowing rocks was on the ground near Karen and a chunk of it lay beside Clark. He collected the rocks and put them in pouches on his belt. Much to his relief, both Karen and Clark recovered.
"Lois!" he screamed, charging in, knocking the door down. This drew the attention of the corrupt police and they fired.
Diana blocked the bullets with her bracelets and Clark blocked them with his impervious skin. The pair heard a whooshing sound and a scream. Then another whooshing sound. One of them had dropped his gun and held his bleeding wrist in his hand. Bruce had used one of his handy batarangs.
The second man, the one who did most of the questioning, lay wounded on the floor, a green arrow sticking out of his back.
"I see we came just in the nick of time," Ollie said.
"Thank you," Clark said.
"Yes," Lois said. "Thanks to all of you—now get me out of here! I am not Anastasia Steele, I am not supposed to be tied up like this!"
"Seriously, Lois?" Clark said, raising an eyebrow. "A Fifty Shades of Grey reference? You're a smart girl, Lois. An intelligent one. You know better than to read garbage."
"Shut up and get me out of this thing, will you?" Lois said impatiently.
The group laughed. Clark snapped Lois's ropes off like it was the fragile stem of a flower. Lois flexed her wrists and threw her arms around Clark, burying her face in his chest.
"Thank you," she mumbled. "Thank you so much."
Diana raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Jealous much?" Hal teased.
"No!" Diana retorted. The group laughed.
"It's time to go home, Lois," Clark said comfortingly. "You're safe now."
"Thank you again, all of you," Lois said, looking up. "Thank you, Clark. Oh, and for the record, Clark and I are just friends. No need to worry about that