Chapter Twelve

Ares

Sheriff Adams leaned forward on her elbows. A lazy finger circled the rim of her coffee mug as she contemplated the situation.

"So, you're sayin' that all those times that you were Johnny-on-the-spot …"

"He was really there doing the hero thing," Chloe elaborated.

"And why are you tellin' me all this Mister Kent?

Clark leaned in and crossed his arms on the table. "To prove Lana's lying."

Green Arrow yelled from the living room. "Whoa, hold up. Lana Luthor?"

The costumed figure walked in the kitchen. "I thought she was dead?"

Chloe rolled her eyes in mild annoyance. "She came back."

Green Arrow looked down in contemplation, and Clark continued. "See, there are certain people in the League that are – well, rich, and I have my own source of money. I don't have any need for what Lex can put in his safe."

The Sheriff's eyes tracked to Green Arrow and then back to Clark. "And the whole 'Clark is the love of my life' bit?"

Clark moved his hand to cover his fiancé's. "Chloe's the love of my life, and she pregnant with our daughter. We're engaged to be married."

"BABY!" screamed Dee from the hallway as she ran to the kitchen.

Sheriff Adams took in the very pale girl with dark circles around her eyes and watched as she wormed her way in Chloe's lap to listen for the baby.

"I'm only a couple of months along," Chloe squealed a little as Dee tickled her sides in her attempts.

"And she's?" the Sheriff asked with a nod in Dee's direction.

"That's Dead Girl," Clark answered.

At her codename Dee popped her head up from under the table, and grinned. "Baby!"

"Ain't she a little young for the superhero biz, Mister Kent?"

Clark shrugged a bit. "She's really hard to hurt, Sheriff."

Curious, the sheriff inquired. "What's her power?"

Dee chirped from where she was. "I'm dead. That's my power."

"Dead?"

"Uh huh," Dee nodded eagerly.

"Chloe," interrupted Green Arrow. "Can you access the computer at the watchtower?"

She nodded. "It would be easier with the password."

Green Arrow smirked. "JL52931GA"

Chloe typed away at her laptop, and Clark saw the expectant look on his friend's face. "Do you know something?"

Green Arrow nodded. "I think I know how Lana's come back from the dead."

At that Sheriff Adams took to her feet. "Now that would be very helpful, Mister … Arrow."

The archer smiled at her. "I seemed to remember a project that Lex was working on last year when we were in Egypt."

"I'm in," Chloe said. "What am I looking for?"

"Do a search for Remus."

The clicking of the keyboard ended and a couple of seconds later Chloe looked really interested in what was on the screen. "She's a clone?"

Green Arrow nodded. "Sort of. Cloning is illegal, but he found a loophole." He paused and saw the attentive looks of his friends. "She's not exactly a clone, just biometric flesh grown over a robotic endoskeleton."

Chloe gave him a nauseated look. "So she's the Terminator."

Green Arrow nodded. "Pretty much. The way I think is Lex has found some way to have her picked up and delivered to the police where she answers specific questions pointing the finger at the one person who always winds up destroying his plans."

"Mister Kent," the Sheriff concluded.

"He probably figures that Clark won't expose his own secret to get out of jail thinking that 'the truth will set him free' or something. So with him tied up with you," he pointed at the Sheriff. "He's free to do what he wants."

"Project Ares," Chloe offered. "Oh no."

Clark turned back to his fiancé. "What?"

"I think I found out why Diana's been so paranoid. Look." She spun the laptop around to Clark and he began speeding through the files.

A picture of Lois's old military boyfriend popped up on the screen and Clark's face went white. "Ol … Arrow, we need the whole team. We've got to stop this before they're activated. And we need all the explosives you can get."

"Whoa, whoa there Mister Kent," the sheriff interrupted. "I have to draw the line there at …"

"Sheriff Adams, you don't understand. Through his 33.1 experiments Lex has found a way to meld the powers of a lot of Kryptonite infected people into one person, and I'm guessing that's what was under the dam before it burst. I had a hard time bringing one of those guys down, I can't imagine what an army could do."

He turned around. "Diana?"

The Amazon came into the kitchen and saw what Clark was pointing at on the computer screen. He watched as her eyes hardened.

"It's them isn't it?" he asked.

She gave a nod and he turned back to Chloe. "We have to find them now."

The Sheriff stood and leaned forward on her hands. "Mister Kent, I can't have you goin' off killin' these people. This is a situation for the police."

Clark's face was hard when he turned to face the Sheriff. "If I'm right then Lex has stepped up his program to include these terminators in Project Ares. They aren't people any more than that thing you have in your jail posing as Lana."

"You can't be one hundred percent sure and I won't have you put another person's life in danger even if they are as dangerous as you think," argued Sheriff Adams.

"I can tell."

"How?"

Chloe pulled the top to her laptop closed. "Clark has X-ray vision. He can tell if their skeletons are metal or bone."

A look of skepticism overcame the Sheriff's face. "Mister Kent, I broke a bone in one of my arms and the doctors put three pins in to fix it. Where are they?"

He glanced at one arm and then the other. "Your left humerus, right above the elbow and actually there are two pins, and by the way you might want to get a cholesterol test. There is a forty percent blockage in your brachial artery. Have you been having circulation problems in your fingers?"

The Sheriff grabbed her left hand and her eyebrows clinched in concern. Clark could see that she was flexing her fingers.

0

The next morning was a banner day for LuthorCorp stocks with news that Lex was actually found innocent in the murder of his wife. Upon his release he took the company helicopter to the decimated Ridge Facility that coincidently was destroyed the previous year by Green Arrow and his Kryptonite infected mutants.

Doctor Williams, under cover of wrecking and cleanup crews constructed and opened a large laboratory and holding facilities underneath the once thriving refinery. Therein, on hundreds of multileveled tables lay the objects of Project Ares.

"Begin transition protocols," he said with a hint of anticipation.

The assistant punched in the proper release codes and began the individual automated injections.

Lex walked down the hallway at a brisk pace, a slim smile showed on his face. When he reached the reinforced door leading to the lab proper the four armed guards stood by as the closest punched in an entry code and the vault-like door opened smoothly.

"Status," Lex snapped as he stepped up to the viewing window to observe his personal army to be.

Williams grinned. "Good news on all fronts, Mister Luthor."

0

Chloe was once again seated in front of her computer searching through shipping manifests, invoices, and delivery truck routes trying in vain to determine Lex's current base of operations.

Diana paced on the front porch as she looked into the sky at regular intervals. Clark stood by the front door lost in thought and the girls were out behind the house running through their daily drills.

"Kryptonian," whispered Diana as she turned once more in front of the screen door.

Clark snapped out of his contemplations and glanced up. He saw Diana motion with her head toward the barn and then started off. Clark glanced back to his fiancé and the determined look on her face. "I'll be right back."

She didn't look up but nodded in acknowledgement.

Clark leisurely walked out to the barn and up into the loft where Diana waited by the window. He stood patiently at the top of the stairs knowing that she would speak when she was ready.

"Years from now we will look back on this day, Kryptonian."

Clark tilted his head in confusion. "Why?"

"For the mistakes we made, for the lives we did not save, for the innocence that those we train today will be lost."

A sinking feeling dropped in his stomach and a knot built itself in his throat. "Today?"

Diana turned and he saw the sadness in her eyes. "Tonight, after sunset. The stars were in conjunction to my vision. You must prepare yourself."

He turned around and looked at the floor of the barn. "What else can I do?"

Diana approached him from behind and laid her hands on his shoulders. "You must gather the glory of Apollo unto yourself, and when the time is right strike swift and hard without compassion or restraint. All depends on you, Kryptonian."

He closed his eyes and dropped his head against his chest. "Tell me your vision, Diana."

The Amazon's voice took on a distant pitch.

"When the Age of Heroes comes upon the face of Earth,

Ares blood rains the unclean across fields of grain."

"They will come here; an army of those that are alive yet not. They are the unclean."

Clark spun on his heel. "Here?!"

Diana lifted her eyes, looking through her lashes at the man who stood a half foot taller than her. "Why do you think I have had the young warriors train on this terrain?"

Uneasiness spread throughout his body. "Who will die?"

He watched as her lips thinned. "I will not tell you this."

She turned away, but Clark grabbed a hold of her upper arm. "I need to know."

Stopping her steps away Diana turned her head. "You cannot change the mind of Atropos, Kryptonian; the threads of Fate will be cut in their appointed time. Even Zeus has no sway on the tangled skein."

Frustration rained on Clark's emotions. "What are you babbling about?"

Diana turned to face him. "The three aspects of Fate, Clotho: she that gathers the raw material of life from the void of Chaos and spins the threads of life, Lachesis: she whose far seeing eyes measure each creature's life, and Atropos: she whose shears cut the measured threads and chooses where life begins and ends. Each of them weaves the skein of life, Kryptonian.

"There is no power above or below that can interfere in their judgment lest their thread be cut."

At his lack of voice Diana continued. "Before the battle begins Apollo will rain down fire from the sky that will increase the odds in our favor."

Clark backed up against the railing of the loft. "No, not another meteor shower."

Diana shook her hear. "Only a single bolt amid the center of the army. The resulting concussion will reduce their numbers by half. From there on it will be up to us."

The whomping sound of a helicopter sounded in the distance and Clark focused his X-ray vision in the direction. "Lex."

0

The members of the Justice League that were present assembled in front of the house with Clark, Chloe and Diana in the front.

"Wait here," Clark told the rest as the three of them went out to meet their opponent.

Lex alighted from the helicopter and stuffed his hands in his pockets and he leisurely strolled forward with a smug confident look on his face.

"Clark," Lex smiled as he greeted his one time friend. "I've got to say you really need to lay off the steroids."

Clark glared. "I know what you're doing, Lex. I'm giving you one chance to end this in peace."

The billionaire leaned his head back and chuckled with mirth. "Or what? Your little band of Meteor freaks will slap my hand?"

He looked behind Clark at the girls. "Recruiting a little young don't you think?"

Stepping forward Lex grabbed a hold of Clark's jacket. "You didn't think that hiccup last May was going to mean the end of me; did you Clark?"

Diana unsheathed her Falcata and held the blade at her side. "Withdraw your hand, mortal or I will take it as a trophy."

Lex glanced down at the very large blade and sneered slightly, but he did back away. "Got others to do your dirty work, Clark. I must say I'm disappointed."

"Should I end his life? We might be able to avoid the unpleasantness," said Diana with a bite of steel in her voice.

Clark bit at the inside of his lip for a moment. "Leave him."

Lex's eyes widened and a large smile took to his face in delight. "Excellent. Shall we say swords at dawn?" Lex teased.

Clark stepped forward. Lex showed no signs of backing down and stood his ground. "How about your army against mine," Clark spat.

Lex's eye twitched slightly, but the mirth stayed on his face. "You have no idea what you're talking about, Clark."

He turned to Diana. "Remove the pilot."

At her nod she raced over to the helicopter and raised her Falcata. Slicing down she cleaved through the pilot's door and grabbed him by his arm tossing him twenty yards to the side without any regard about harming him.

Lex turned and watched. "What are you doing, Clark. That will cost you money you don't have."

Clark grinned slightly. "Well I guess I might as well make it worth my time then."

He focused his heat vision on the fuel tanks and sent a large burst forward. The Helicopter exploded sending a large cloud of flame and smoke into the sky. Clark stepped in front of Chloe to protect her from the raining debris and left Lex to his own devices.

The billionaire spun around and the moment of fear on his face was worth the giant mess that Clark would later have to clean up.

"You're one of them!" Lex spat.

Clark steeled his face in response. "Bring on your army, Lex. I'll destroy every last one of your abominations, and then I'll come for you."