Looks like that snag still hasn't been fixed. :\ I'm still not getting e-mails telling me that there are reviews, so I again apologize for not replying. Please keep reviewing though! I love to read them. :) I might be able to reply through private messaging when I check the reviews every so often. So if I find the time I'll try and reply that way. ;)
Disclaimer: I don't own Smallville or other any DC character from the DC universe.
A/N: Another week, another update. I hope you all enjoy Chapter 10. It's about 6 pages long in MS Word – it's on the shorter side. I'm updating today because I've got a dentist appointment tomorrow and I didn't want to leave you guys hanging. :P After this there's only Chapters 11-13 and the Epilogue left. Enjoy! :D
Please comment! :)
Here's Chapter 10 of Cause & Effect…
Previously in Cause & Effect…
Ignoring her, he continued, "And let's just say you will be put through tests. But what we injected you with when we kidnapped you will stop you from feeling the pain, but your partner will feel it full force… Hopefully by the time Clark catches on, you all will be in so much pain that he'll naturally blame himself and want us to put him out of the misery of seeing you all in agony."
"You're sick," Lois shook her head.
"And guess who's first?," Lex looked smug. Joker stepped forward and grabbed Lois by the wrist. Jimmy tried to stop him but all he got was a sucker-punch to the gut which caused Kara to hunch over with a groan of pain.
"See?," Zod said, "Take him too… and Mr. Queen. Any funny business and you'll hurt your partner more than necessary."
"So how does this work with me?," Tess asked.
"You'll find out," Zod said. Joker let go of Lois' hand and just gestured for her to go first to the door. She gave him the dirtiest look in the world and if looks could kill he would've been dead on the spot. Jimmy and Oliver followed her out the door, looking back at everybody remaining in the room.
Zod and the Joker left the room with them and Lex stayed behind one more moment. Martha took one step forward, "What happened to you, Lex?"
"I became the son my father always wanted," Lex replied and turned on his heel, following his companions.
"What do you think is going to happen?," J'onn came up behind Martha.
"I'm not sure," Martha shook her head, "But I hope Clark and this Batman find us soon." J'onn nodded and put his hand on her shoulder with a sigh. They exchanged empathetic looks and looked to the door their friends, no – their family just left through.
Now in Cause & Effect…
Chapter 10Bruce's plane still en route to Metropolis
"Why do you get all the cool toys?," Clark was in awe. Bruce had just finished explaining all the gadgets he had in his arsenal. And he had already dropped the outer portion of the plane's wings. They were nearing Metropolis.
"You get all the cool super powers, I get all the cool toys," Bruce answered with a small smile, "We're nearing Watchtower."
"Whoa!," Clark fell forward when he landed, "You need to work on those landings, Bruce."
"I wanted to land quickly so nobody would spot a giant bat-shaped plane landing on a roof in the middle of the day," Bruce got out of his seat and lent out his hand for Clark to take.
"Good point," Clark took it and stood up, "I hadn't thought of that."
"You should run over to Police Headquarters to get your Martian friend," Bruce said, "I'll be inside."
"Okay," Clark nodded, "And I'm assuming you're good with computers?"
"Yesssss," Bruce was a little suspicious, "Why?"
"When you get down there, could you see if you can turn the power back on?," Clark asked, "When J'onn and I came here before the power was out. Joker probably did it."
"If that's the case then I can for sure get the power back on," Bruce replied.
"Thanks," Clark nodded and super-sped off.
"I don't think I'll get used to that," Bruce muttered to himself and headed inside the building.
Metropolis Police Headquarters
Clark slowed down as soon as he stopped in the alley next to the station. Jogging, he trotted up the stairs and went to the front desk, "Excuse me? Could I see Detective John Jones, please?"
"Is it an emergency?," The cop seemed nonchalant.
"I'd appreciate it if you got him or just directed me to him as fast as you can," Clark said.
"Then you can just go back there and ask around," the cop gestured behind him.
"Thank you," Clark was still polite, but as soon as he passed the desk, he rolled his eyes. He went for J'onn's desk and he wasn't there. He looked around and saw that nobody was looking. In a split-second he ran all over the police station with no luck.
Clark started panicking. It wasn't like J'onn to not be where he said he was going to be or give him any message about where he would eventually be. The only things on his desk were assignments and miscellaneous papers.
He stopped another cop walking by, "Uh, excuse me… have you seen Detective John Jones recently?"
"Not since earlier this morning," she shook her head, "Sorry, kid."
"Thanks anyway," Clark said. She started walking away, but he stopped her, "Do you know who would know where he is?"
"You could always just contact Jones," she smirked.
"Right," Clark nodded and she walked away. He went out the front doors and took out his phone, dialing J'onn's number. It kept ringing, "Damn it."
Clark put his phone away and muttered to himself, "Something must've happened to him." He super-sped back to Watchtower to find everything up and running again.
"Where's J'onn?," Bruce asked when he saw Clark enter alone.
"He wasn't there," Clark looked scared, "And nobody knew where he went since I was with him last this morning. I called his phone but I got no answer… I think he may have gotten kidnapped too."
"Looks like they're abducting all of your friends and family," Bruce observed, "I wonder why."
"Lois had a theory on that," Clark said.
"What's that?," Bruce walked up to him.
"When we went to the past…," Clark started.
"Wait, stop right there," Bruce put his hand up, "When you went to the past? You time traveled?"
"Yeah," Clark nodded.
"You failed to mention that," Bruce said.
"It was a month ago. Zod thought he could get rid of me in the past and so he time traveled to try and kill me. Lois found out when she went up to our boss' office to try and get an interview with you coincidentally," Clark realized.
"Go on," Bruce said.
"She told me about it and we were able to follow him," Clark continued to explain but was interrupted once again by Bruce, "You have a time machine?"
"It was from some technology of my planet," Clark said.
"Right," Bruce sighed and motioned for him to continue his explanation.
"While we were in the past, all of Zod's attempts were thwarted by my loved ones so Lois thought that once we got back, Zod would try to get to me by using everyone I care about to his advantage," Clark finished.
"So he kidnapped your mom, your girlfriend, your cousin, your best friend, your teammate, and your only other alien confidante," Bruce nodded in understanding.
"Yup," Clark said, "I just hope he's not doing anything to them and if he is, I might not be as merciful as I usually am."
"Something tells me I wouldn't want to be on your bad side," Bruce said.
"Just remind me to keep myself in check, I'll need that reminder," Clark said, looking him straight in the eye.
"Of course," Bruce nodded as best he could with his cowl on, "I wouldn't want you being submitted to their level."
"Can you think of any way to locate them?," Clark got his usual puppy-dog, hopeful look on his face.
"Do you think that one of your friends would have their cells on them?," Bruce thought of something.
"Lois always has her phone on her and so does Jimmy," Clark answered, "But I don't know if Zod, Lex, or the Joker confiscated it from them."
"Even if he did, he'd dump it or keep it wherever they are," Bruce said, turning to the computer, "The Joker has this little habit of wanting to get caught."
"Plus I'm sure Lex and Zod want me to come and rescue everyone," Clark stood behind him, "It's all probably a trap for me."
"That works to our advantage," Bruce started typing away on the computer, "Give me your girlfriend's or Jimmy's number."
Abandoned Warehouse outside of Metropolis
"Welcome to the play arena!," Joker gestured with his arms thrown up, "This is where all the magic is going to happen."
"And just what is going to happen?," Lois asked.
"Come over here," Joker beckoned them over with the 'come hither' motion of his finger, "All three of you… come on... COME ON!"
Lois looked to Jimmy and Oliver and after a second of hesitance they all walked up to the Joker hand-in-hand with Lois in the middle.
"Sweet," Joker commented when he looked down at their hands.
"You're going to be put through a series of tests that you have to get out of, they'll be challenges of a sort," Lex started to explain.
"Fortunately for you it won't hurt you a bit," Zod said and Lex continued, "But unfortunately for your partners it's gonna hurt like hell."
"Now you three just stay right there… it will all start in a moment," Joker started backing out of the room. Through his hand, Jimmy could feel that Lois was going to try and make a run for it, but he subtly pulled on her arm to signal her to not even try. Lex and Zod left with Joker leaving them all in a huge dark room.
"This is just great," Lois said, "I don't want to do anything that will hurt anybody."
"Do you think we want to?," Oliver said, "We just have to play along and buy Clark and Batman some time before they come get us."
"We don't even know if they know where we are," Lois said.
"They're on the case, Lois," Oliver replied.
"They'll find out soon, I'm sure," Jimmy tried to keep the mood up. Lights flashed on in the room and giant clear-glass containment equipment that appeared to be as big as small rooms were now visible. They all had sticky notes labeled on each one for everyone.
"Get in," Zod could be heard over what they assumed to be a PA system. They all took a deep reassuring breath and grabbed each others' hands one more time for comfort. With a conceding sigh, they each went into their specified container, closing their eyes at what they didn't know was coming.
Watchtower
"Got a location yet?," Clark sounded eager.
Instead of biting back a retort Bruce replied, "Almost… the system here is incredible. It's almost up to the same level as the one in my cave."
"Almost?," Clark raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, well you know," Bruce shrugged. A few seconds later another window popped on the screen, "Got it."
"Where?," Clark leaned into Bruce to get a better look at the monitor.
"Metropolis," Bruce said and grabbed Clark's arm before he could speed off, "And before you go out there half-cocked, I'm coming with you. I'll be able to help."
"Fine," Clark replied, "Where in Metropolis are they?"
"Well this was just from Lois' phone, but if they're all together that means they all are in an abandoned warehouse just on the outside of Metropolis but still in the city limits," Bruce told him.
"Hop on," Clark said.
"I beg your pardon," Bruce looked at Clark like he was crazy.
"How did you think you were coming with me? We're getting there as quick as we can, remember?," Clark told him.
"We can take my car," Bruce said, "Like I said before, you can't piggy-back everyone to safety."
"That's too slow," Clark protested.
"Wanna bet?," Bruce smirked.
"Won't that grab attention?," Clark folded his arms. They were both standing in front of Bruce's tank-car.
"Not if we take a shortcut," Bruce said and Clark looked a little worried.
TBC
Any guesses as to what the "shortcut" is? You never know with Bruce. :P Do you guys think the incredible duo will make it to the warehouse before anything happens? Or will they be too late?
Please comment you guys! I love reading them all. I hope you all are still enjoying this story and I thank those of you who are just reading as well. :D
Clois Forever! :D
PS: I hope that glitch in is fixed so I can reply to your reviews. If you don't receive a reply from me and the review is signed, it's most likely because it still isn't fixed. :( Just know that I appreciate all of them. The good and the "bad" I take into consideration and think about them. So keep those reviews coming! :) And this document manager thing is acting weird so I apologize if all the text is in bold/italics or both. :\